Crossroads Movement

Check your cabinets before you take the oath for your office.

I am really praying for our troops and their families.  Every time I see a  man or woman  in uniform , I’m thankful for their service.  I am especially reminded of our precious life is when I see  someone in the military  holding their child’s hand or looking at their child’s  picture.  I constantly pray for all of our troops.  And for those of you overseas, I’m praying and believing God that you will make it home.

Well, I woke up this morning feeling like I am coming down with a bug and found out that my voice is completely gone.  Obviously this sucks tremendously for me for several reasons.  First, my wife is recovering from surgery so I sort of need my voice to communicate with her and to take care of and talk to my sons.  Second, I’m a consultant/advisor and talking is a key portion of my job.  As frustrating as this is for me, I’m trying to remain calm.  One of the things that I think the Lord is saying to me is that I’ve been so busy over the past few weeks and in the “GO” mode at home and at work that I need to slow down, relax and listen.  So, I’m going to spend a lot of today listening.  Listening to my wife…Listening to my sons…Listening in on job related conference calls.  Most importantly, listening to God.

Final thought:  Sometimes it’s good to turn the microphone off.  Sometimes it’s good to turn the tv and iPod off.

Anita, my wife, and I have known for months that she was going to have to have surgery. When we found out that her condition would require major surgery, it was a major shock for both of us. However, as the weeks progressed, we were better able to prepare ourselves for this major event. Preparing for an event such as this, when you have 3 small children is no easy task…especially considering that I don’t cook…process that for a second…little BOYS and a non-cooking father is a dangerous combination. So, I started reaching out to some folks in our community (family and friends) who could help me out with meal preparations, because Anita was expected to be on bed rest for several weeks. And I was leaning on several people for their support in prayer and presence–just being there for us.

I have to tell you that I was mentally, physically and emotionally prepared for the surgery. More importantly I was prepared to be a friend and husband to Anita as she was preparing for surgery. Her surgery took place last Tuesday at this hospital in Annapolis. The surgery–actually it was like 3 surgeries in one–took about 3 hours. The surgery went great and Anita came through just fine. This hospital was great in every aspect from the in-take desk, receptionist, nursing staff and doctors. They even gave me some cranberry juice (for those that don’t know me, I LOVE cranberry juice). By the way, I’ve been to and spent a lot of time in several hospitals over the past year and a half and this hospital was by far one of the best.

Well, in as much as I was prepared for everything leading up to the surgery and the surgery, I was not prepared for the recovery. I made sure, with the nurses help, that I was in my wife’s room right when they wheeled her in. Actually, I had been in the room for about an hour before she got there. I heard her coming before I actually saw her; she was in a tremendous amount of pain and was groaning and moaning the whole way from “recovery room” to her room. I wasn’t expecting that. Listening to her surgeon’s pre-game…I mean pre-surgical speech, I was thinking that after surgery she would sleep for a little while and then we’d go get something to eat. OK, I’m exaggerating but I wasn’t prepared at all for the process of recovery. Sitting with my wife for those first couple of hours, in her room after surgery, was a difficult and an enlightening experience. Here’s what I’ve learned so far in this recovery process:

• Surgery is an event, but recovery is a process. In other words it takes minutes or hours to “fix” the disease/condition but it takes days, weeks, months, etc to be brought back to a normal condition.
• It’s easier to recover in community, then to recover alone. Our family has been a tremendous help, especially my mother and mother in law. Also, my church community has been a great asset and support system. I can’t imagine having to go through any type of recovery by myself.
• You can’t rush recovery; it happens when it happens. You have to remember to breathe.
• Celebrate small steps

I think there may be a Part 2 for this post, but that’s all for now, I need to go and serve my wife.