I'm Here!

Yes, Ember I am here, thank you for your message. Finally, I am done with the antibiotics and should be back to 100% in no time. Well, minus the nuts and seeds and such, but anyway.


I have spent the last few days reading Carrie McDonnall's book Facing Terror. Carrie is coming to speak at our church on February 8th. In her book she tells of the day that she, her husband, and three others were gunned down on a mission trip in Iraq. She was the lone survivor, a newly-wed, a widow. The story, for some friends of mine, is one of sadness. They knew David McDonnall and miss him dearly.

As I read this story of Carrie and David and their love for the Father. I got so much more. Their verse, the verse that God used to confirm their union was Ecclesiates 4:9-12:

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

As a newlywed and full of a deep love for my darling husband, my prayer is that we will continue to love one another the way David and Carrie did. Ever putting God in His proper place, at the head of our life. A THREEFOLD CORD: God, Vaughn and I, as long as we maintain our walk with Him, we cannot be broken. What a beautiful promise.

We don't know what will happen tomorrow. Surely, Carrie had no idea on that March morning that she would be shot tweny-two times that afternoon, or lose the love of her life, but she followed the Father in obedience. She walked in faith, not knowing what was going to happen. She acted in love, in His love for the people there. She gave it all for God. Now, years later, a world away, my heart was touched. I'm sure I'm not the only one, but my heart was truly moved by the sacrifice that day.

I pray that I can be as obedient when the Father chooses to use me. I pray that He will find me listening for His call. I pray that my husband and I will always remeber that the cord MUST be three-fold.

Thank you all for your prayers for me while I was sick. If I can pray for you now, please let me know.

44th President

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th President of the United States of America. He is the first African American to hold the office, as well as the first President born outside of the continental United States.

On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama defeated John McCain in the general election with 365 electoral votes to McCain's 173 and became the first African American to be elected President of the United States. In his victory speech, delivered before a crowd of hundreds of thousands of his supporters in Chicago's Grant Park, Obama proclaimed that "change has come to America".

On January 8, 2009, the joint session of the U.S. Congress met to certify the votes of the Electoral College for the 2008 presidential election. Based on the results of the electoral vote count, Barack Obama was declared the elected President of the United States and Joseph Biden was declared the elected Vice President of the United States. Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States at 12:05 PM EST on January 20, 2009, in an inaugural ceremony at the U.S. Capitol.

I don't know personally what will become of our nation with this new president. I know that this nation was founded on the basis of Christianity. I know that God knew who was going to be elected. I know that this is all in His capable hands. Have a great day!

Champ

I am still getting better, back at work today and feel the need to blog. My picture today is of Champ. This guys appears to have been dumped in Bunavista and really needs a loving home! He has a place temporarily with the Baker family, but these folks have 5 dogs already and this guy needs some One-on-One.

Here is a little more info on Champ:

Age: about 2 years old

Gender: un-neutered male

Temperament: We have seen him around a child and he was very gentle and just gave kisses. He does not appear shy or aggressive at all. He has barked at other dogs, but will ignore them if it means love from people or treats. We have been around him with food and have seen no food aggression, we have picked him up, crated him, as well as walked him, etc. He does not pull on the leash and has only been loving. We are not sure how he is around other dogs and cats.

Health: The Baker's took him to the vet on Friday and he was checked over. They did a fecal sample since there was blood in his stool. They found hook worm eggs and he was treated for that as well as having colitis, which I was informed was just due to stress and again he is being treated. The vet gave him his rabies shot as well as DHLPP. It does appear he may have been hit by a car and has lost about 4-5 inches on his tail and does have a few bumps and scratches on his back legs. There does not appear to be any severe damage or health concerns, but the vet does say that the new owner may want to have his tail docked a little shorter to keep him from hitting it when wagging.

We are happy to provide all documents we have on him and to answer any questions that we can. Please let us know if you need any other information. Home visit will be made before this dog is placed. Serious inquiries only please.

Choppin Down Trees

Today was work day at the house. We have traded date night for workin on the house. Vaughn asked me if I was ready to get to work and, as usual, my answer is, "No, I'm ready to move in."

We finally have gas line and sewer to the house and spent the day choppin down the trees on the driveway. Well, Vaughn spent the day choppin down the trees, I'm still pretty puny, so I sat on the tailgate and watched.

Eat Your Veggies - cont'd

Sorry, I got tired. Four days in a bed on nothing but IV fluid and chicken broth will do that to you. So, on with the story.

Dr. Dove comes and and informs me that the CT machine at NWTH will not read the CT from Borger and that until they get some results they cannot decide what course of action to take. Yay, I'm going to have to hold my breath until infinity again, I'm just thrilled I tell ya. By this time its after midnight and all I want is to sleep and for get that this day ever happened. I'm afraid that they are going to cut me open, or at the very least, stick a horse needle in my gut. My biggest fear? Can you say colostomy?? I know, no one has mentioned that, at all, but that's all I can picture after my years of CNA work and pharmacy school.

Finally, with no way to go further, the doctor says he is sending me to a room upstairs and that they will hold off on the CT until morning. He instructs the nurse and PCA to get me a room and send me upstairs. You have to understand the PCA (Patient Care Assitant, Advocate, something) is entirely too perky for the wee hours of the morning especially with all the pain I was in and the morphine they had given me (that my body is not liking one bit). My mind and body are EXHAUSTED I keep busting into tears and my sweet cowboy continually reassures me that its all going to be fine.

I am finally in a room at 4am, where some overly friendly litle nerd and his computer want to play 20 questions. I hated the game as a child, and most certainly did not want to play questions and answer session while I'm in pain. Guys, I just want to sleep. Blood pressure checked, twenty questions over, and IV antibiotics started, they finally give respite at 4:30 am. Vaughn and I settle in to sleep, knowing that sometime in the morning I get to enjoy another joyful CT experience.

Seven in the morning, Nurse Barbie (not really her name, but that's what she reminded us of) walks in with a stack of paper cups, not just one or two but a stack of paper cups and a bottle of Barium. Panic struck, I was sure I was going to have to drink every single one of those cups. I'm not yet awake from my 2 1/2 hour nap, and am very pleased when she fills two cups and tells me I need to drink them. I sit up to find myself in the worst case of nausea I've ever felt. The morphine has worn off and I'm not in pain, but I have no idea how on earth I'm going to drink this thick, chalky nastiness with this horrible feeling in my gut.

Nurse Barbie brings me some nausea medicine, the same stuff they give chemo patients and I pray that it helps. Finally, I get the cups drank and wait for my CT.

Vaughn has been faithfully by my side the whole time, except for the amblance ride, since he had to drive my car to Amarillo so we would have a way home. So I told him to go home, get in some comfy clothes and get him a shower. While he's gone, they take me to CT. In CT, my IV tube busts and they tape it and send me back upstairs. By the time I'm back on the fifth floor, there's blood all over me. Nurse Barbie changes the tubing in the hallway and she's very angry at them for not fixing it downstairs.

The doctor comes in late in the afternoon and tells me that I don't need surgery. He says that I will only need IV antibiotics this time. He explains that if we don't eat our vegetables, or at the very least, some kind of fiber, our bowels get lazy and develop pockets in them. Any kind of seed or nuts or even iceberg lettuce can get into the pockets and become infected and that's what landed me in my current position. After today, I can't have popcorn, corn, strawberries, or iceberg lettuce ever again. Nothing with small seeds, no nuts, nothing that can get stuck in those pockets.

Over the next few days, my Vaughn slept in a chair, never leaving my side. Friends came to visit and I realized how precious the time we spend on this earth really is. I had a great, caring team of nurses. I had so many texts and phone calls from friends. I know I am loved.

What did I learn?? First thing, eat something every day that will exercise your colon. Second thing, love your family and friends with everything in you. You never know when, some Saturday morning, everything can change. Finally, and probably most important, no one knows how much precious time they have on this big ball we call earth. Make sure that the people around you know the Lord our God as their Savior. I feel, much more than ever, the importance of Jesus and John the Baptist's message "Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand." We don't know when the end of the world will be. We don't know when the end of our time on earth will be. But we do know that our mission is "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." Matthew 28:18-20

365: 1/14 - EAT YOUR VEGGIES!!!

Sorry I haven't written in a few days. Honestly, I don't know how many people read my blog, or if anyone checks it daily, but if there is someone who does, sorry I haven't written in a few days. Project 365 is going to have a serious gap in it, thanks to my little "vacation".

It all started Saturday, wait, not really, it all started a few weeks ago. I was having abdominal pain at times, but refused to go get it cheked out. I figured it was nothing, maybe a urinary infection, maybe gas, who knows...but I'm entirely too busy to go sit at the doctor just to be told its something as silly as gas. So I avoided the situation, worked through the pain and went on about my life. I cut out sodas and drank more and more water and thought it would just go away if I ignored it. Nevermind that at one point it was so bad that I sat in the bathtub and cried.

So anyway, back to Saturday. We had decided that it was a "house" day. We would go and work on the house. My objecive for the day was to wash down all the walls inside the house so that Vaughn could texture them, while he worked on the gas line outside. Unfortunately, he can't run the gasline to the house until he cuts through like a foot of tree root, yay, gotta love tree roots!!

So with objective "Wash Walls" in mind I ran to Wal-Mart to buy a cheapie sponge mop, to eliminate climbing up and down a ladder, since I was not blessed with height. Right in the middle of the store, the abdominal pain hit me, I was doubled over in the middle of the mop aisle. The pain didn't stop but the intensity waned a bit, so I didn't tell anyone, I just went on. I went back to the house and scrubbed two rooms.

When we went back to the apartment for lunch, I couldn't bear the pain any longer. I laid on the sofa and cried and cried. Vaughn put his foot down, "You HAVE to go get this checked out!" I told him to go work on the gas line and I would go get it looked at and call him if I needed him.

So off I went. To the Borger ER. I waited, painfully, but patiently in the waiting room for probably two hours. Mind you, I'm not complaining at all. The staff was very courteous and at least I didn't have to wait for like 6 hours like I would have in Amarillo. So I guess my POTD (picture of the day)for Saturday is this lovely view of the inside of the Borger ER waiting room.

So Dr. Moriber takes a look at me and the concern on his face was evident. He truly cared about my pain and wanted to find out where it was coming from. There was no sonogram technician available on the weekend so, he said I would need a CT Scan. At this point I was scared, I called Vaughn and I swear he was there before I hung up the telephone.

My friend Kathy came down from X-ray and brought me three cups full of contrast to drink. I told her that she wasn't my friend anymore, but she put some raspberry crystal light in them and restored our friend status. She said that the nurses would be in shortly to give me an IV and some pain medicine and she explained the CT procedure and that she would have to inject more contrast into my IV when we got upstairs in two hours.

Jaime and Monica, already my friends from when I worked at the Borger Hospital, were my nurses and they did their very best to take care of me. (Side note: please remember my friend Monica and her baby boy, Aidan,in your prayers. He is a tiny baby and has to have open heart surgery when he is three months old.) They started me an IV, drew blood for labs, and brought me pain and nausea medicine. They seemed to understand that my sweet cowboy and I were a bit scared and they did their best to lighten the mood.

Two hours later, after the contrast had had time to run through my organs, I was taken to CT. Many of us beleive that we can hold our breath for a long time...yeah, well that time is vastly shortened when you're watching a countdown timer to the moment when you can breathe again. In that machine, thirty seconds seemed like an eternity.

Anyway, after the CT, we find out that my doctor was gone. Shift had changed and a new doc was on in the ER. Since I don't want to make this guy look bad because of his lack of concern and care and his total disregard for people, I will call him Dr. Unhappy and not share his name. So, Dr. Unhappy comes in and with his eyes closed gives me a lot of nonsense about irritated bowels and a pus pocket on my colon. Thanks for being so precise, doc. He tells us that a surgeon needs to look at this and there is not one on at the hospital on the weekend, so they were going to send me in an ambulance to Amarillo. (All this still with his eyes closed. Dude totally refuses to treat us as humans, like he's afraid he might have to deal with emotion or something.) I do NOT want to go in the ambulance, but was told if I go in my own car, the hospital in Amarillo can make me wait in the ER waiting room until the end of eternity. So, off in the ambulance I go.

In Amarillo, I get a really nice doctor and a surgeon that reminds me of the Chief on Grey's Anatomy, just a nice, caring old guy. They are the ones who explain diverticulitis to me. The explain to me that my life has now changed, my diet will never be the same again. They say that I will need IV antibiotics and possibly surgery. They take my CT to their computer to try to read it to find out what to do next.

That's all I can handle for now...to be continued in a little while.

365: 1/8

Here's my picture for today. This is my friend Miss B. She comes to the office sometimes with her daddy and we like to make things. In this picture Miss B is making a snowflake out of a coffee filter and telling me that she most definately IS big enough to use my big scissors. "Only babies need little scissors," she informed me.

Miss B. is pretty darn cute if you ask me and she loves to play with my Bethanie when she's in town. She's in Kindergarten and has two little brothers. When I first started working here, she wasn't so sure if she wanted to be my friend, but now its pretty special when she asks her mommy if she can hang out in the office.

365: 1/7

Okay, so today was day three of TLD and I am just loving this so much! The idea today was to buy something for your spouse that showed them you were thinking of them.

I could have gone with the old standby and gotten Vaughn a card. I thought about that, I really did. But then I thought, "Kaci, you retard, you do that all the time. He looks at the card, absolutely loves it, then it goes in the scrapbook bag. What can you do that will be a continual reminder that you thought of him today??" Seriously, folks, I swear all my creative thoughts collectively shouted "RETREAT" and I was left standing, alone and lost.

EUREKA!! Suddenly it came to me. My poor, sweet man has been sleeping on a flat pillow for a while now. He punches and folds and fluffs and never gets comfy. Praise Jesus! I had an idea. A new pillow. A new pillow would help him sleep better, make our bed look nicer, and remind him every single night (until this one goes flat) that I was thinking of him today.

More greatness, my sweet man had a similar idea. He bought me a candle holder for the new house. It will go great with the decor and every time I place a candle in it, I will think of him and know that he thought of me today. He always finds a way to bring light into my life...even in the darkest hours.

365: 1/6

I spoke a few days ago about The Love Dare. Here is what the writers of the book have to say:

Unconditional love is eagerly promised at weddings, but rarely practiced in real life. As a result, romantic hopes are often replaced with disappointment in the home, but it doesn't have to stay that way.

The Love Dare, as featured in the new movie Fireproof, is a 40-day challenge for husbands and wives to understand and practice unconditional love. Whether your marriage is hanging by a thread or healthy and strong, The Love Dare is a journey you need to take.

Vaughn and I have taken on the challenge. I won't share with you every aspect of the challenge, but I do hope that you will not only read about our journey through The Love Dare, but join us in it. Check out Fireproof My Marriage and read about the movie Fireproof, learn about The Love Dare, and take on this 40 day challenge in your own marriage. What do you have to lose? 40 days? What if in only 40 days you can improve your marriage?

On day 1 of the challenge, Vaughn and I were able to face one issue that made us both angry. We were able to discuss our feelings about it with one another freely and openly and we were able to resolve a problem that was causing us hurt. Funny thing is, the only challenge on Day 1 is to not say anything negative to your spouse. Awesome how God works, isn't it!?

Today was Day 2. As well as not saying anything negative to your spouse, you are challenged to do something unexpected. My cowboy is a romantic man, so I had no idea what to expect. I had a few small errands to run after work and he called me and told me to hurry up and to come in the front door. I must admit I was intrigued.

I ran my errands as fast as I could and hurried home. Kenny, I am sorry for making our chat so quick, but I knew today's challenge and I am not good with surprises, I just had to see what it was.

So as I open, or rather tried to open the front door, I was stopped, before he would let me in he told me to close my eyes. He led me up the stairs where he had a nice, hot bubble bath waiting for me. When I got out of the tub and came down stairs it was so wonderful, there was music playing, there was dinner on the table and the only light in the whole place was a tiny candle on the table. It was so sweet and so wonderful. It was an obvious gesture of his love for me.

I felt a little silly as I handed him the watch I had bought for him, after he went to such extremes. It wasn't expensive, or fancy, just something that would look nice when he dresses up. I know he enjoys watches, so I thought he would like this one. It's kind of my way of saying, "This watch may run out of time, but our love never will."

Already, in two days, Vaughn and I are finding new depths of love inside this little Love Dare. Even if you have a perfect marriage (even though I have never heard of such a thing) I promise you'll find new ways to love each other if you take this challenge.

Like I said before....I dare you.

365: 1/5

I didn't take this picture, my kids' stepmother did, but I just HAD to post it as today's picture.

As we were getting settled in at Bible study, Angie sent me this precious picture of the kids playing with a laser pointer.

I found this poem for my sweet children and wanted to share it today:

Protection Prayer
By Victoria Carrington

Lord, look after my babies
Hold them close to you
Fill them with your love and joy
Show them what’s right to do
Keep them safe from harm,
Dear Lord Protect them with all your might
Keep them on the narrow path
Keep them in your light
Especially when times are hard
Never let them give up hope
Let them know if they follow You
With any problem they can cope
Lord, thank You for these gifts
You have sent me from above
Let my babies always know
They have my unending love

365:1/4

Tonight's picture, I know, some of you are saying, "Why in the world would she take a picture of a firetruck?" Well, you see, tonight at church we watched the movie Fireproof. Not only that, but we honored our city's firefighters with a copy of the book The Love Dare and the couple's guide to the book.

So before I go on to talk about the movie, I want to personally thank all thefirefighters in my life. The Borger FD, my uncle Dale, my cousin Bo, and all the firefighters across the country who place their lives in jeopardy every single day. To all of you, thank you and I pray that God richly blesses you.

That said, if you haven't seen this movie, I strongly recommend it. This movie will change the way you look at your spouse, your marriage, and most of all....LOVE. In this movie Caleb and Cat are a couple on the brink of divorce. Caleb's father introduces him to the Love Dare and changes his life forever.

I won't give away the ending, but I promise you won't regret seeing this movie and I challenge you to take the Love Dare on in your life. Lifeway Christian Store has the book and you can pre-buy the movie.

Whether your marriage is new or old, strong or having problems, you should see this movie together and consider getting the book....I dare you!

365: 1/3

My picture today is of how I spent my morning. We went to the barn and while the guys worked, I mucked out the first stall. I honestly think that there was 20 years of yuck in that stall.

Whomever had this barn last should be shot and then taught how to muck a stall. Its pretty cool to see that this barn has come so far. Soon, Brad will be able to bring his horses.

It's such a blessing to me to be able to work out here in nature. To be so close to God's creation. I am so very blessed.

365: 1/2

Today's picture is of my office. This is the place where I spend my days. This job is such a blessing to me.

God gave me this job in His timing. He blessed me with a boss and his wife who love the Lord and who truly appreciate the work I do.

Everyone should be so lucky to have such a wonderful & fulfilling job.

Project 365

Okay, so today I begin Project 365, a picture everyday of just whatever. Here is my picture for today:

My picture today is actually a picture of this blog. Today was a very difficult day for me. We lost our precious boy Solomon yesterday in a tragic accident. I want to say thank you to everyone who called and commented and emailed. It means the world to me that God has surrounded us with His love in the form of some great Kingdom people.

To my friends in Paws N' Claws, thank you, Sawyer, Cathy, Marvel, all of you, thank you! Words cannot express my gratitude through this hard time. Cathy, thank you for talking to me as I drove to the barn. Sawyer, I know who will cry with me, thank you for your love.

I even made some new friends through this, Shauna Russ and her service dog, a beautiful pit named Phoebe. Marie Vaughn, a proud pit momma in Hot Springs, AR. And Toni Phillips from Mariah's Promise Animal Sanctuary in CO. These sweet ladies spoke some wonderful words of God's promises to me. Thanks girls!

For now, we are sad. Our boy is gone. Today, I stayed busy, tried to keep my mind off of it all. Then tonight, as we sat watching movies, I fell apart, I just started crying. Vaughn looked at me and asked what was wrong and that opened the floodgate. I fell into tiny pieces, just crying so hard. He held me and we both cried. I know that the hurt will not last forever, God promises us in Psalm 30:5 "weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."

And I know that one day soon, my words will be that of Psalm 30: 11-12 "Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever."

If you're wondering what Project 365 is, check out Becky Higgins' site listed in my blog list.

In Memory

Solomon Lusk

Yesterday morning, we lost our boy Solomon. Thank you to everyone who has responded to me already. Thank you for your love and for your prayers and for your concern. Vaughn & I still hurt, but we know that God will heal our hurt in time. Enjoy the slide show of our beautiful boy.