There are days during mom’s recovery she feels as if she is moving at a turtle’s slow pace. When in her reality, considering the traumatic experience she has been through, she is really moving more like the hare. 🙂
She is an OVERCOMER….
Overcomer – Mandisa
Staring at a stop sign
Watching people drive by
T Mac on the radio
Got so much on your mind
Nothing’s really going right
Looking for a ray of hope
Whatever it is you may be going through
I know He’s not gonna let it get the best of you
You’re an overcomer
Stay in the fight ‘til the final round
You’re not going under
‘Cause God is holding you right now
You might be down for a moment
Feeling like it’s hopeless
That’s when He reminds You
That you’re an overcomer
You’re an overcomer
Everybody’s been down
Hit the bottom, hit the ground
Oh, you’re not alone
Just take a breath, don’t forget
Hang on to His promises
He wants You to know
The same Man, the Great I am
The one who overcame death
Is living inside of You
So just hold tight, fix your eyes
On the one who holds your life
There’s nothing He can’t do
He’s telling You!
As mom and I were driving to therapy last week we heard Overcomer by Mandisa. As I listened to the words I told her “This is your song! You are an overcomer!” Those of you that know mom, know this is very true!!!
As far as recovery goes, she is doing extremely well. Most days are strong. We have stopped counting the duration of the strong days because they are all strong now. There are times within a day she might struggle…most of the time it is at the end of the day when she is tired.
We learned last week she can’t stay up too late! Her body needs rest and more than usual. Mom has always been the last one to bed. Staying up to watch the news…to wind down…to read. So last Wednesday we were watching ESPN’s ESPY awards late into the night. Team Hoyt was being awarded the Jimmy V Perseverance Award. This excerpt was taken from the JimmyV.org website:
Father and son running team from Massachusetts exemplify determination
Dick and Rick Hoyt, a father and son team who have been participating in races together for more than 30 years, will be presented the Jimmy V Perseverance Award at The 2013 ESPYs presented by Capital One on July 17. Rick, now 51, was born with cerebral palsy and though unable to use his hands or legs he and his 73-year-old father have run in more than 1,000 endurance events—including triathlons and marathons—with Dick pushing his son in a custom-made running chair.
We wanted to see this amazing duo receive this prestigious award. They have been such important part of my life these last two years. Even more so now!!! Who knew when God orchestrated my Team Hoyt membership that their example of determination and perseverance would encourage me on a different type of marathon – mom’s recovery? God did! He also knew mom would draw strength from their example. So needless to say, she wanted to stay up and watch it as well. She slept through it in the chair but she was up. 🙂 As we learned that night, strength comes from knowing you can but also respecting the need for sleep. 🙂 The week before the ESPYs mom received this from Team Hoyt…
Yes, She Can!!!
Therapy is going well. Mom doesn’t look forward to these days but knows they will make her stronger. We are seeing the fruit of her hard work every day. She is moving through the house at lightning speed…not really but she is moving faster and more confident. She is coming back center. We are not having to direct her right as much. She is sensing her boundaries on both sides now. She didn’t care for her left side for a while. 🙂 She is overcoming…once again!
Dad, mom and I are laughing a lot. We are enjoying the quality time we are being forced to have…but we are thankful for it. Lesson – don’t wait until you are forced to have quality time with the ones you love! Of course, I miss the rest of my family that I am missing my quality time with but…thanks to my mom’s generosity with her air miles, Mike was able to fly to Arkansas and visit us a week ago. He was a blessing all of us. He helped daddy around the yard and he lifted mom’s spirits with his kind heart. We loved having him here and I hated seeing him go! 😦 He and I both know this is where God wants me now and his never-ending support in that is so very comforting.
So, as you can see….Mom is doing well. We are doing well. We are all working in unison to help mom progress and get back to being ELT! She is on her way. She is taking it one step and one day at a time! If she gets discouraged we remind her how far she has come! This is all a direct result of prayer…we firmly believe that!
Mom is still hearing amazing stories of people praying when this all first started and throughout the whole process. She is humbled. We are humbled. We are thankful for placing such godly people in the right place at the right time to pray mom to where she is now. Prayer works! Keep them coming!
As mom and dad’s child, I am in awe of the community of people who have come together to encourage and lift them up in so many ways! How? Through prayer, through cards, through phone calls, through visits and through meals! I couldn’t be more comforted by the outpouring of love I have experienced from their community. It is often said it takes a village to raise a child….well it takes a village to take care of a traumatic brain injured person as well…and Bella Vista Village has shown this is so true! I cannot express my gratitude enough!
Now, the rest of the story is my story…
Today’s devotional summed up my day yesterday.
Youversion – Praise In the Presence of God Daily Devotional – July 21, 2013
Psalm 16. 8-9
8 I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Deep Down Gladness
If you’ll allow the Holy Spirit to, He will enable you to receive God’s precious Word with faith, hope, obedience—and with joy. The joy He brings is not only personal down deep in your soul, but it penetrates your relationships with other brothers and sisters in Christ.
As God’s redeemed, walking in His Word and by His Spirit, you can enter tomorrow rejoicing that God’s commitment to His purpose in you is absolute. And you can live every day with confidence, assured of the inevitability of His life triumphing in you.
Rebuilding the Real You
God is rebuilding the real me and helping me find my joy in my circumstances! I have figured out during this process I am pretty good at bottling up my emotions – good to bad – and then they all come out on my long runs. Running long is physically draining as it is but when you are a little sleep deprived it makes it a tad bit harder. Then when you have emotions bottled up it makes it even that much more difficult. Have you tried to run and cry when you are TIRED and trying to go up hill? It doesn’t work too well. 🙂
Now, I am not looking for sympathy at all! I know I need a release and that is why I run. It allows me, especially on a long run, to deal with it and get it all out! I listen to praise music as I run. These songs are how God speaks to me! He used Laura Story’s Blessings to speak to me yesterday.
As this song played, I listened and I cried out to Him. I also realized that I had DEEP DOWN GLADNESS as the devotional talks about. I want to be obedient. I want to receive God’s grace. I want mom to heal and to be blessed in the process. Our blessings are coming from unexpected sources as the song describes.
Blessings – Laura Story
We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things
(Chorus)
‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if the thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
And all the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we’d have faith to believe
Chorus
When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
Chorus
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise
God is in control! God is rebuilding all of us! God is showing us how to receive deep down gladness. We are so thankful! God is blessing us through the prayer of others, through the time we are having together, through laughter and heartache, through friends and family, through small steps like the turtle and through eager steps like the hare!
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