A thank you to God and some people on Earth

On December 28th, 2004, our son came out of the hospital. He spent 24 days in fighting a vicious round of pneumonia that ended up costing him the lower two lobes (around 50 percent) of his right lung. Fortunately, he is extremely healthy otherwise, and will lead a full and healthy life. (I'll tell the rest of No. 1 son's story in the extended part of the article a future post (sorry, ran out of time this morning)).

Throughout this period of suffering, God has used a wonderous and diverse set of people to support and bless us. We are members of a Christian homeschool co-op, CHC, and they have gone above and beyond the call of duty to help us. My wife and I went into the second surgery thinking No. 1 Son would be getting a little bit of scar tissue scraped off his right lung, and the remaining air leaks sealed with glue. Instead, he spent 4.5 hours having half the lung removed. We hadn't called anyone to come to us since we thought that it would be a minor procedure, but 20 minutes after calling one of the CHC moms, three people were there to help us and sit with us until No. 1 Son had woken up in ICU. Several others collected Christmas dinner for us, so all 4 of us could eat together Christmas day. Toys for both kids, food, and gift certificates for food sustained us physically through the 24 day stay, and their prayers were such a spiritual strength. Afterward we got home, they've still visited, fed us, and laughed, cried, and prayed with us. If you were to ask any one of them, they will say that they don't feel like they've done much, but for me, I feel like I've felt God's hand from them.

I also have to thank my employer and boss. I had just started a new job Sept. 16th, so I was still on probation and low on sick time when Number 1 Son went into the hospital. My boss could have griped about my being off, or even extended my probation period. Instead, he switched someone else to cover a Disaster Recovery trip I was supposed to attend Dec. 6th, and was very generous with my use of sick time throughout the ordeal. Through my wife's long-suffering patience with my creative use of flex time, I was able to get through this without having to take unpaid leave, which has been a financial blessing.

Finally, I want to thank TheAnchoress for writing about her family's vigil with S, mentioned in several articles (including this article about life in pastels). Her family's strength and example have been a comfort and a blessing for me throughout our own travails. Anchoress, please know that S and your family are in our prayers as well.

Thank you all.