Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Lemon Meringue





Thankyouthankyouthankyou

for your love, support, good wishes, and prayers.

We made it through the weekend!


Apart from the fairly severe physical pain, Katherine was most distressed about having to renege on the commitment to the Seasons Weekend.

SO.

We convinced Jay to go without her.

You don’t understand.

THIS WAS A MIRACLE.

In addition to being her soulmate, Jay is also Katherine’s nurse practitioner, advocate, and watchdog.

Primary care-giver.

I’m sure he must have felt torn in two.

But after much prayer and talk, he was finally convinced to fly out to LA in the early hours after Katherine’s release from the hospital, and fulfill their joint commitment at Seasons.

Meanwhile, back in Georgia, Katherine battled physical pain, sadness, and disappointment. My husband and I learned some new nursing skills and took turns sleeping on the sofa. (I even mastered the art of giving my own child a shot! Trust me: after years of tears at the pediatrician’s office, this did not come naturally.) Sweet friends came alongside to help us. Delicious food appeared at our door. Beautiful flowers came to cheer us.









And then there was lemon meringue pie. (Thank you, Rachel!)



The pie was delicious. My favorite.

But this lemon meringue was even sweeter:

Katherine got to speak at the conference anyway.

Somehow, techno-idiots that we are, we skyped her in. On prescription pain meds, broken leg in the air, she shared her thoughts with the audience from a hospital bed in our family room. We saw her sisters give big thumbs up as the camera scanned the crowd afterwards. Mentally, I gave God a high-five.




It was a difficult and exhausting weekend for all of us.

But I am so grateful for many things that have come out of it.

Most of all, this reminder:

God’s purposes cannot be derailed by circumstances.


And we can choose to make lemon meringue.


***************


Thank you all for the wonderful comments on the last post. It feels good to be back.

I left you hanging as to what actually happened. Katherine did not fall down the steps. She simply fell.

The “simple fall” shattered her tibia and fibula. The surgery involved inserting a steel rod in her leg. It will be a long and painful recovery. But her attitude is astonishing.

I’m sure Jay will give you a more thorough update when he recovers from his jet-lag. (He arrived back in Athens around 11 p.m. last night

…just in time to take his turn on the family room sofa! (Naw, he’s not tired.)

But he is one heck of a trooper.

They both are.

***************

(By the way, both sisters texted that Jay was AMAZING at the conference.)


9 comments:

Laurel said...

Good for Jay! AND Katherine! What a great solution.

Continued prayers for her pain to resolve quickly and a solid recovery.

Susan said...

So glad you are back and so sorry for the circumstances. Of course, you all are in my prayers. Katherine continues to amaze me. I have missed you so much - it's like having a friend come to visit!

Cheri said...

Well, I cried as I read the last two posts but so glad you are back and that everyone's faith is strong. (Not that I doubted that it would be!) Only wish I were closer so I could bring over my whipping cream pound cake. Still praying for all.

The Retarded Mother said...

So many thoughts and feelings about all of this: bravery, exhaustion, courage, hope, "Are you kidding me!", "Carry On!", joy,disappointment, more bravery.
I am SO SO SO glad you are back. Gosh, we've all missed you so. Marianne

cheryl Doerr said...

Oh.. how we have missed you Kim.. but we have been patiently waiting.. for you to have something to say..just never anticipated it would begin with another shocking "Katherine event".. but only K. and J could carry on with such bravery and courage..love that Jay went on to Seasons.. ya think he had a little more to share that wasn't planned? And for Katherine to skype.. ah ..influencers for sure.. praying for y'all.. from your Oregon friend.. xxoo

Unknown said...

Katherine stated in Hope Heals that God winked through this broken leg disaster by the fact that her right leg will be strengthened by the steel rod that was placed in it. God actually winked twice! The second time he winked, you came back to your blog. So glad you are back!
You all make up the most AMAZING family. God bless you all.

Anonymous said...

I meant to make a comment on the other recent blog entry- but somehow that didn't happen. I just wanted to let you know that I check your blog every day to see if there is something new. I have missed "you" while you were away- but I also know how life seems to suck away any and all personal time and things just don't always seem to get done how we want them to. I know that blogging takes time and sometimes that time just isn't there. Or exhaustion takes over and you just have to nap or plop down in a chair and try to not think about anything. I appreciate the effort that you put into each and every blog post. We all continue to pray for your family. I hope you are feeling well and that you are getting some much deserved rest. Thanks soo much for writing about your honest thoughts and feelings. I appreciate the fact that you are honest. Many people put on a fake front and it is nice to see that you are open with how you feel. I can relate to many things that you say- and it is nice to know that I am not the only one feeling that way about certain things. You have a gorgeous family and they are very lucky to have you! Looking forward to reading more of your fabulous blog entries. You are a true writer/author- and we have missed seeing your genius on the web. :-)

Marielle said...

Praying for you, Katherine, Jay, James, and your entire family!! :) Your blog is so powerful and inspiring.

Kim said...

Wow.

I am blown away by the generosity of these comments. Thank you all so much for your support and encouragement!

Anonymous, I really appreciated your comment about honesty. It gets me in trouble sometimes, but it does help us to know we're not alone in our struggles.

Love, Kim