Friday, April 1, 2011
Baby Bear
Sabrina had a Talent Show at her preschool a couple of weeks ago. She was in the story of the three bears. And, obviously, she was the cutest baby bear ever! 
Monday, March 21, 2011
A Spiritual Retreat
There are things I can blog about and things I don't feel comfortable blogging about. The past month has been rough and I don't feel that I can share any details. I can say that as a "diamond in the rough" I was able to get about eight days of really good time with God. I have read through Judges. I have listened to tons of praise music and I have prayed and prayed and prayed some more. I also read some great books: "A Place of Healing" by Joni Eareckson Tada, "God is Closer than You Think" by John Ortberg, "Life of the Beloved" by Henri Nouwen, "Breaking the Rules" by Fil Anderson, and I started "Five Smooth Stones" by Tom Nelson.
I feel very refreshed and that was needed. Now I just pray that I can continue to find the Lord throughout my day. Right now I am going to read my Bible before I go to bed. No Pogo for me!
Things are still hard for our family. Lots going on in many different areas. But our world is in HIS capable hands.
I feel very refreshed and that was needed. Now I just pray that I can continue to find the Lord throughout my day. Right now I am going to read my Bible before I go to bed. No Pogo for me!
Things are still hard for our family. Lots going on in many different areas. But our world is in HIS capable hands.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Love like the Ethiopians!
John 13:34&35
"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples."
Hebrews 13:1&2
"Continue to love each other with true Christian love. Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it."
I have always considered one of my gifts, possibly a spiritual gift, to be hospitality. Since knowing our Ethipian friends my definition of how to love and show hospitality has changed. They know how to really show love, to draw you into their family. This was so evident when we were in the hospital. Two wonderful families drove from Cedar Falls to visit us. Many of their friends visited and loved on us. They brought us wonderful food, mangoes, this yummy warm oatmeal drink, a man who spoke Haydia (Teme's heart language), flowers, companionship and encouragement. When our story appeared on the news, an Ethiopian man came to thank us for "saving one". That means so much.
We are learning how to love. I so hope that we are able to love our friends and family in the way that we have been loved.
I have said that I have been amazed at the friends we have made since adopting Teme. So many of those that have shown us love during this time are new friends, people that we have not known very long. I would just challenge everyone who reads this to show love to someone today. It means so much! Send a card, take a meal, give a word of encouragement. It doesn't take very long or cost very much...and who knows you might even entertain angels.
"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples."
Hebrews 13:1&2
"Continue to love each other with true Christian love. Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it."
I have always considered one of my gifts, possibly a spiritual gift, to be hospitality. Since knowing our Ethipian friends my definition of how to love and show hospitality has changed. They know how to really show love, to draw you into their family. This was so evident when we were in the hospital. Two wonderful families drove from Cedar Falls to visit us. Many of their friends visited and loved on us. They brought us wonderful food, mangoes, this yummy warm oatmeal drink, a man who spoke Haydia (Teme's heart language), flowers, companionship and encouragement. When our story appeared on the news, an Ethiopian man came to thank us for "saving one". That means so much.
We are learning how to love. I so hope that we are able to love our friends and family in the way that we have been loved.
I have said that I have been amazed at the friends we have made since adopting Teme. So many of those that have shown us love during this time are new friends, people that we have not known very long. I would just challenge everyone who reads this to show love to someone today. It means so much! Send a card, take a meal, give a word of encouragement. It doesn't take very long or cost very much...and who knows you might even entertain angels.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Long overdue update
Before I even start the update...Thank you: Stoddard family, Gez and Tarik, Teme's class, teachers and room parents, the Starbeck and Tjaden families, Daigles, Tesfas, Grandpa Al, Tilahun and Nunu, Muellers, Jim, Lynn, Sue, Weimers and many others, I am so sorry if I forgot anyone, Your love and prayers has carried us through these last couple of days.
Friday night after Teme got back to the room Scott stayed at the hospital and I took the girls back to the hotel. It had been a long day for everyone. Thank you Gillette for having nice, well-equipped waiting rooms. Eight hours waiting in a waiting room went as well as it possibly could have gone.
About the time that I came back Saturday morning Teme started waking up agitated and in pain. We spent most of the day managing pain. By 9 or 10 in the evening he was himself for about 20 minutes. He sat up and ate some and talked coherently. It was nice to see after our day. Scott was afraid to leave Noelle and I at the hospital overnight but that is what we did. Teme did great. I woke up every two hours when the nurses came in and struggled to get back to sleep, but better me than him!
We had a great day on Sunday. Lots of visitors, both from Waterloo and from the Minneapolis area. Sunday late morning Scott headed back to Waterloo with the girls for a little school and work. Jake was one of our visitors and he and Teme shared a pizza and a nap. I also took Teme for a little walk in a wheelchair and we played a little Wii. Shortly after we returned to our room Teme's pain became uncomfortable again. We had an uncomfortable night and morning. Lots of drugs. He is comfortable now and just ate a little.
This morning the plastic surgery team removed Teme's bandage to change the dressing. He and I both did better than I expected. He was a little squirmy with the pain of removing bandages from fresh stitches but not too bad. And I saw no sense of emotional distress at this point, which was very relieving. The area that they grafted from his heel is larger than I thought and there are two places where they relieved the stress of some scaring and made "lightning bolts". I told him we will have to start calling him Flash Larson. Later the orthopedic doctor came by. I did not realize that they also grafted bone. The heel bone was attached with three screws. So to prevent any damage to the healing process Teme will be limited to a wheelchair for about 3 weeks. That should be fun, huh, Mr. Nass? Teme is very active but we thought it better to really limit him than leave any room for errors or accidents. He will transfer from a wheelchair to a walker just to keep him at a reasonable speed:) They were able to remove his epidural this morning, so one less tube. They said some patients actually do better on oral meds so we will see.
I cannot express how great Gillette has been. How privileged we feel that our son was able to have a surgery that has been done 7 times EVER. It required, beyond excellent surgeons, a "good" upper leg, "bad" knee and lower leg, and a "good" foot. Apparently not that common. In the long run this surgery will promote much fewer problems with his stump and therefore enhanced mobility. Thank you to those of you who recommended Gillette, Brionn and the Newmans. Thanks you most of all to our mighty saviour Whose plan is so much greater than ours. Who has this whole process in His hands.
Thank you specifically for those of you that prayed for Noelle. She was magnificent Thursday through Saturday. At the thought of going home without mom both girls became a little "fragile". Please continue to pray for Scott and the girls for the next couple of days. And continue to pray not only for Teme's healing but that he and I would have an opportunity to bond in a special way as we are alone for a few days. So far so good!
Sorry no pictures yet. The Tesfas were nice enough to bring me my camera but I did not have my computer cord in my bag as I usually do. So I will update some pictures sometime on Wednesday.
Friday night after Teme got back to the room Scott stayed at the hospital and I took the girls back to the hotel. It had been a long day for everyone. Thank you Gillette for having nice, well-equipped waiting rooms. Eight hours waiting in a waiting room went as well as it possibly could have gone.
About the time that I came back Saturday morning Teme started waking up agitated and in pain. We spent most of the day managing pain. By 9 or 10 in the evening he was himself for about 20 minutes. He sat up and ate some and talked coherently. It was nice to see after our day. Scott was afraid to leave Noelle and I at the hospital overnight but that is what we did. Teme did great. I woke up every two hours when the nurses came in and struggled to get back to sleep, but better me than him!
We had a great day on Sunday. Lots of visitors, both from Waterloo and from the Minneapolis area. Sunday late morning Scott headed back to Waterloo with the girls for a little school and work. Jake was one of our visitors and he and Teme shared a pizza and a nap. I also took Teme for a little walk in a wheelchair and we played a little Wii. Shortly after we returned to our room Teme's pain became uncomfortable again. We had an uncomfortable night and morning. Lots of drugs. He is comfortable now and just ate a little.
This morning the plastic surgery team removed Teme's bandage to change the dressing. He and I both did better than I expected. He was a little squirmy with the pain of removing bandages from fresh stitches but not too bad. And I saw no sense of emotional distress at this point, which was very relieving. The area that they grafted from his heel is larger than I thought and there are two places where they relieved the stress of some scaring and made "lightning bolts". I told him we will have to start calling him Flash Larson. Later the orthopedic doctor came by. I did not realize that they also grafted bone. The heel bone was attached with three screws. So to prevent any damage to the healing process Teme will be limited to a wheelchair for about 3 weeks. That should be fun, huh, Mr. Nass? Teme is very active but we thought it better to really limit him than leave any room for errors or accidents. He will transfer from a wheelchair to a walker just to keep him at a reasonable speed:) They were able to remove his epidural this morning, so one less tube. They said some patients actually do better on oral meds so we will see.
I cannot express how great Gillette has been. How privileged we feel that our son was able to have a surgery that has been done 7 times EVER. It required, beyond excellent surgeons, a "good" upper leg, "bad" knee and lower leg, and a "good" foot. Apparently not that common. In the long run this surgery will promote much fewer problems with his stump and therefore enhanced mobility. Thank you to those of you who recommended Gillette, Brionn and the Newmans. Thanks you most of all to our mighty saviour Whose plan is so much greater than ours. Who has this whole process in His hands.
Thank you specifically for those of you that prayed for Noelle. She was magnificent Thursday through Saturday. At the thought of going home without mom both girls became a little "fragile". Please continue to pray for Scott and the girls for the next couple of days. And continue to pray not only for Teme's healing but that he and I would have an opportunity to bond in a special way as we are alone for a few days. So far so good!
Sorry no pictures yet. The Tesfas were nice enough to bring me my camera but I did not have my computer cord in my bag as I usually do. So I will update some pictures sometime on Wednesday.
Friday, February 11, 2011
In Recovery
We haven't seen Teme yet, but he is in recovery. Things went great. He has a lot of stitches so we will be heading back up to have those removed under anesthesia in about three weeks. About an hour until we get to see him.
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