Our Family - Moans and Groans

 We had all sorts of experiences raising our children. They had bumps, bruises, splinters, cuts, stitches, colds and flus, infections, burns, blisters, heatstroke, a broken toes, falls from trees and bikes, stitches, wisdom teeth pulled, chickenpox, bead in nose, fainting in a pool, got in stinging nettle, had bug bites, contacts at seven years old, trouble with depth perception, trouble with knees and bones in legs, and everyone had to have glasses and braces. Because of their allergies and chemical sensitivities, they fainted, had hives, trouble breathing, fatigue, shock, puffy lips, skin rashes, special diets, vomiting, and headaches and stomachaches. We also experienced many heartaches as our children were hurt emotionally, family members passed on, and our animals died. 

Garrett added excitement to our lives when he fell off a ladder and sprained both wrists which he didn’t notice for a couple of hours. He also nailed his fingers together with a nail gun, dropped a heavy ladder on his head, and had hernia and TURP surgeries. Besides this, he also has skin cancer which has to be removed every few months, and a few cancers have even had to be removed surgically.

I found out that I have a severely damaged jaw shortly after Laura was born. Later, I learned that I have a compressed vertebra in my neck (a birth injury), a dislocated rib, and a dysfunctional hip. I have multiple allergies and chemical sensitivities, need a special diet, have a heart murmur, a damaged finger, and have trouble with blood sugar, adrenal glands, blood pressure, and extreme fatigue. I’ve spent a great deal of the last fifty years in bed and in a wheelchair and have experienced a lot of pain. I had a cesarean delivery, cataract surgery, and was on complete cortisone support for my adrenal glands for fourteen years. 

Our children and their children have also had many experiences. Our daughter and granddaughter had to have hip surgeries, our son was attacked by a fleeing murderer, a granddaughter needed to be force fed every two hours and had to wear a helmet to shape her head, all had allergic reactions, and some lost jobs. There were three car accidents, a broken rib, nose, and toe, a damaged back and knee, dental surgery, hernia, sprained back, and a lot of trauma. 

Though at times it has been scary, painful, and heart wrenching, this is why we came here. We needed to learn about consequences, and to show that we would choose the right even when we are not immediately rewarded. We needed to develop faith in our Heavenly Father. We had to show that we are willing to trust Him and His wisdom even when we don’t get what we want when we want it. We needed to learn how to love. We needed to develop compassion through the things we suffer and by watching the suffering of those we love. We couldn’t expect a world created to train God’s to be easy, just worth it.