Thankfulness

My Dad and Mom arrived last night. I've already been told that there won't be any photos of my Dad included on the blog as he has a pretty nasty wound on his lip from the surgery he had done last week. Isn't it wonderful though that Isaac could care less? He's just so happy to play with his Grandpa. Kids are so innocent in that way. Grandpa seems exactly the same as he remembers him!

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes. I am usually very low-key about birthdays but apparently, through the miracle of Facebook, everybody and their mother gets a reminder that it's my birthday. So now, everybody in the world knows that I am 32. I actually completely forgot it was my birthday until JB kissed me as I pulled the covers up over my head this morning and told me that my cards were on the kitchen counter. And then off to work he went.

He is doing a rotation in Fort Walton Beach -- the hospital in the town that borders the Base. It is nice to see him leave the house in real people's clothes every morning (in contrast to the military uniform he usually puts on), but he is, overall, incredibly ready to be done with this rotation. Monday starts vacation so this is his last day of insanity for a little while.

I also meant to post that our little chunker, Elijah, had his four month appointment on Wednesday and is doing fantastic. He now weighs over 16 pounds. He went from the 15th percentile for weight to the 85th in just a matter of a month! Woah! His height is still a little down from what Dr. G. thought it would be, but she said that delay is due to the growth restriction he was facing his first few months.

Looking back at pictures of Elijah, I feel so horrible that he spent the first few months of his life so hungry and we had no idea. I also feel terrible that my Dad had to have his lip cut open. Or there is me with a scar across my lower abdoment from my c-section. All of these things are reminders of difficulties in our lives but also reminders to be so thankful that our Lord gave doctors the knowledge to help us heal. They are also reminders that even though we all feel a bit frustrated by our sagging economy and the difficulties facing our country, we still do live in the best country in the world.

When my Father asked his dermatologist what would have happened to him 100 years ago with this skin cancer on his mouth, he was quickly informed that his lips would have fallen off and he would then have starved to death.

I asked my surgeon, Dr. S. what would have happened had we not been in a developed country when I went into labor with Elijah. He explained that I probably would be dead and Elijah probably would have been dead. If I would have survived labor, Elijah probably would not have. And there is no telling whether I would have survived the multiple infections that hit me after my surgery.

When I was in Nigeria on our mission trip in 2007, I sat down during morning devotional next to a mother and her eight year old son. His abdomen was incredibly extended and his eyes were yellowed. She started asking our friend Ajit questions about her little boy and after she walked away, I asked Ajit what was wrong with him. He informed me that the little boy was dying of liver failure. "What will they do?" I asked. He just put his head down and told me that in America, he'd have a liver transplant but there, in Nigeria, he would soon die.

When Dr. Chris, who ran Faith Alive in Nigeria made his first trip to America, he remembers thinking, "God . . . you are so unfair." He couldn't believe that we sold ice cream by the gallon or that people could drink water in a fountain off of a wall or leave food on their plates at the end of a meal. How was it that people born into one family could be so much more blessed than in another? He soon came to realize though that Americans could help him care for his country. Faith Alive (Hope for West Africa Foundation) is nearly entirely supported by people from our country giving away their excess.

I pray today that we all remember how blessed we are. We may get frustrated that our 401K isn't doing so well or our mortgage payment is late or that the price of gas has busted $2.00 again. However, we do live in the greatest country in the world. And our medical system is one of the best in the world.

Today I am thirty-two. Without this country and our medical system, I probably wouldn't be here, and I definitely wouldn't be here with Elijah. I choose to put aside my other frustrations and truly count my blessings.