kevin and jenna [dot] com

Praying for a corner.

January 10th, 2011

Just wanted to let the blog readers know that I’ve been on hiatus for a little while because of 2 things -

1.  I had foot surgery 10 days ago. Recovery was painful the first 5 days but now it seems to be better.  The doctor says my foot looks great and that this surgery went better than the other 2.  He has researched and changed the surgical technique and added 2 strands of wire in each foot, all because of little old me.  Kevin thinks the doctor should name it the Jenna-knot.

2.  My dad had a heart attack on Tuesday and sextuple bypass surgery on Wednesday.  He had over 90% blockage in each artery.  He spent a few days in Critical Care Unit but is now in a regular room in the hospital.  His blood pressure is still a bit high so they’re not releasing him just yet but he’s off the oxygen and breathing on his own, plus he’s able to get up and walk well.  I will tell the whole story later, but that’s where most of my time and energy has been this week.  I realize that I still need to finish out the 365 project (and I do have the pictures waiting).

Please please pray for my family right now:

- for my dad to be able to breathe well enough to sleep.  If you can imagine, he’s very very sore from the surgery, so taking a deep breath is very hard for him.  It’s hard to get into the good restful sleep he needs, plus he only wants to sit up because it’s more comfortable.

- for my dad’s blood pressure to go down.  Sleep will help this, as will exercise.  His body has been through quite a lot of trauma – the surgery alone took 5 hours to complete.

- for my mom – she is spending all of visiting hours (9-9) up at the hospital, and I’m glad she can and does.  (It’s what I would do.)  And pray that she would be able to rest at night without my dad there.

- for my sister Alicia – she is still in chiropractic college in Houston, so it’s hard for her to be in two places at once.  And, although I know she’d rather be here right now, she has less than a year left of school before she can take over Dad’s practice.  But, pray that Alicia can do well in school and that she can help Dad as a medical professional.

- for my sister Katrina – she is looking for a job.  Pray that God would show her exactly what He wants her to do and give her the energy and wisdom to do it.  Also pray that she could help Mom out with Dad’s recovery and not feel like she’s in the way.  I am thankful that my mom doesn’t have to come home to an empty house while my dad’s in the hospital, because Katrina is there.

- for Kevin and me – we are emotionally and physically drained right now, so I don’t want it to take a toll on our marriage.  Pray for rest and for discernment, especially for Kevin at work and me with parenting.

- for our kids – they have felt the stress of the week’s events and have been at each other’s throats a bit.  Carlee won’t stop saying “shut up”, and the other 2 won’t stop tattling on her.  This may or may not have something to do with the fact that we’ve been watching The Incredibles a lot lately.  Pray that we could take a bit of a break from watching movies (now that I’m feeling better) and we could play with the great toys and games we got for Christmas.  The kids have been great helpers this week, with yardwork and laundry and cooking, so I’m very thankful for that.

The kids were pretty devastated that they couldn’t see their Doc while he was in CCU.  But they have been the sweetest prayer warriors, especially Kennedy, praying for the surgery and for Doc’s heart to get better.  Colby drew Doc pictures of a heart and wrote things like “Doc, I hop your horte gest bedrr.”  [More on phonetic spelling later.]  Carlee asks, “Doc get better?  Go see Doc?” and then lays her head on his hand when she sees him.

It’s very hard for us to see Dad not up and moving about like he usually does, and I know he’s going to have to sit still even longer.  I’m praying against any sort of depression he might have or get from “just sitting around”.  The doctors say there’s a corner you have to turn before progress goes forward faster, and Dad hasn’t gotten there yet.  I’m praying for the corner.

I am very thankful also for this blog and for Facebook, to keep people updated.  I didn’t have to tell the story 15 times at church today – most people knew from Facebook, or heard from someone on Facebook.  (By the way, if you’re on Facebook, I’m Jenna Stephenson Grubbs, and my picture right now is of Cinderella’s castle from Disney World.  I probably should change that, at least for now.)

Thanks again, friends and family, for lifting us up to the Father.

Entry Filed under: Carlee, Colby, Faith, Family, Funny, Kennedy, Life