Just A Month

Yesterday, January 15, 2009 was one month since my granddaughter Adalyne had her endoscopy which diagnosed Celiac Disease. It has only been a month, yet it feels so long ago. So much has happened. So much life has been scrunched into such a little bit of time. Lots of education on something new and different has taken place. A new way of thinking has been developed. New cooking habits and new food. Addy is only five years old. She is also a Type 1 Diabetic. I think about this delightful child with wonder. Could I be her? Could I withstand the pain of endless needle sticks, the restrictive diet, having to wear an insulin pump everywhere except the tub? Could I really do this without complaint? Now on top of everything, Addy's diet has to accommodate a new and more restrictive diet than before. I look at my Thomas English Muffins and think, how would I feel and act if I could never, ever have another one again? What if I could never have a bowl of Cheerios, my favorite cereal again? NEVER!

I have been thinking about this a lot. I have come to the conclusion that Addy is stronger and more courageous than me. Honestly, I don't think I could just have my entire world turn upside down as far as food is concerned and smile. But, Addy can. Addy can do many things that I can't do. She has the power to be very brave and fearless. She faces each day with exuberance even though she knows that when she wakes up she can't have her favorite bowl of oatmeal again. NEVER.

Most adults can not face being separated from their favorite food for a week. That's why so many fail at loosing the 30 lbs. most of us need to loose in order to be healthy. Yet, Addy can. And, she does it with a small little "ok." No tears, no complaints, no anger, just "ok."

Adalyne Erin Rose comes from a rich heritage of Life Hero's. Yet, not one of these great people had to do it at five years old. All were adults when their life change moved in and never left. Not Addy, she is only five years old. How does she do it? How does she face the constant change in her life from diabetes and now celiac disease? Addy can do it because she knows that she is loved by Jesus. She can do it because she knows that she is loved by her parents. She can do it because she knows that Kaelyn and Maya love her. She can do it because she has the support of friends who understand and really want to help. She can do it because somewhere deep in her little body she has been given the strength of Solomon.

Every once in while God does something really big just to let everyone know that He is in control. Something big like allowing a huge airplane filled with high octane fuel, with 154 adults and 1 child crash land on a river in the dead of winter without one life being lost. God does do things to catch our attention. He did yesterday, January 15, 2009 on the Hudson River. It was so big it caught the attention of the entire world.

Well, every once in a while God does something small just to get our attention too. Something so small like allowing a little rose bud of loving conception be born. A little bud that should have never made it past the 13th week of pregnancy. This is Addy. This sweet little girl has fought for her right to live even before she was born. She has never given up and she is still fighting a daily battle to do so. Why? Because, life is worth the trouble.

On December 15, just one month ago, God did something big again. Addy was diagnosed with celiac. I remember screaming "God, how could you do this to my Adalyne." God certainly got my attention. He certainly woke me up. And, I have learned boat loads since that day. All I have learned in this past month can be sumed up in the form of a little five year old girl who answers with a small little "ok" when told, "NO YOU CAN'T HAVE THAT EVER AGAIN."

Matthew 21:16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?

The praise of an innocent child is the perfection of praise. Children sometimes speak, in their simpliciy, more wisley than their elders.

Addy did this in the one little word, "ok." She exhibited pure faith, courage and strength. Addy is God's hero.

Back Where We Started From

In July of 2004, Bob and I followed a prompting and bought 20 acres of land in Big Arm, MT. This land was made available to us from my old friend, Mike Grende. The bottom picture is Mike and Sadie, a Montana water dowser. No one digs a well around Flathead Lake without first having Sadie work her magic. We followed her advice and found not just water, but an underground river at 160 ft. There is so much water that it is impossible to cap. Our Montana dream had begun. Little did we know that a few years later, my dear Mike would die from Melanoma, the economy would collapse along with our retirement funds and we would sadly watch our Montana dream fade
And then..... THE REST OF THE STORY.

Maybe because it was a stark winter's day. Maybe because all of the trees were bare. Whatever it was, after a couple of days looking at homes and property we decided WV is not the place for us to put down roots. So.....we are back to our first retirement plan in Big Arm, Montana.

No sense spending time trying to make a place work if it just won't work. And, that is how we found WV. Perhaps, it took Bob back to a place in his life that he never wanted to revisit. What ever it was, WV was not Bob's dream. Me, I can adjust anywhere. Maybe because I have had to adjust everywhere. Makes a difference when someone has to adjust because you have no choice, but to do so. That's me, but it is not Bob.

Just by chance we remembered that the fellow who owned the lot below us in Big Arm, had just finished his house. So, with the ever handy Yahoo address search we were able to find him and his phone number. Gosh technology is great! We found all of this without a name or address to start with. We just searched addresses on Walking Horse Lane. Wa-La, we found our friendly neighbor who was more than willing to share his house building experience. He was very detailed oriented and very budget aware. He had looked all over the valley for an affordable builder who built a quality home. He found one and he was very willing to share his information. He found that builders around the immediate area of Flathead Lake were far to expensive. So, he searched away from the valley. He found a contractor who was willing to work with his design and his budget. Where did he find him? A little town called Ronan. Sound familiar, Wendy? So, we contacted him. Next week we are going to get started on the bid process, again.

I don't know why I was so impressed to check out WV, but I am happy that I did. Maybe Jesus was leading us to a place where we could make some kind of a comparison. I feel that we were sent on a WV search to realize that our dream was in MT and no other place. And, if this is where our dream is, then we needed to take the time, make change, start from scratch, and go forward. Perhaps, we had to be really disappointed in order to have the courage to reach out to the unknown. We had to go on blind Faith. What we found was a next door neighbor who was more than willing to help us. He and his wife are not MT natives. They are from Oregon who just happened by the Flathead Valley on vacation and fell in love with the heaven that it offers. When my dear Montana friend Mike died, I almost gave up on our Montana dream. I didn't see how we could make it work without him. Now we have found Horst, a new friend.

It's funny how Jesus takes hold of our lives and our dreams when we let him. When we give up control to Him, somehow a path is created to dreams that have all but given up on. It's times like this that I have to stop and take a deep breath and say, "Forget me and let God." Last week on this blog I made a statement that is not mine, but I felt pertains to me. I said, "When God closes a door, often times he opens a window that perhaps we didn't even know existed." Well, guess what? It is no longer my belief. For me, it is honest to goodness pure truth.