Ski to Sea race!

This weekend was busy and somewhat "normal". Nathan's friend Heidi came up to Lynden for the long weekend and hung out with Nathan. It was so helpful for me and enabled me to get a lot done for the team barbeque on Sun PM without feeling like Nathan was sitting back there by himself! I don't spend all my time with him, but I do try to go back and sit with him pretty often when I'm at home.

We headed to Riverside Park about 11 to watch our biker come in and hand off to the canoers. Then we came back home and cranked out appetizers and a salad. BIG THANKS to Jeff and Kathi for helping us! They joined us for the race and were a GREAT help in the food/party department! GREAT FRIENDS! We left home about 1:30 to go to Squalicum harbor where Randy dumps in with the kayak. He got the handoff about 3:10 and he did the 5 mile leg in just over 1 hr. It was so windy and he said there were about 3 foot swells off Boulevard park - but he got it done!


After cleanup we headed to Jeff and Kathi's to sit in their hot tub - ahhhhhhhhhhh!

Today will be a fairly quiet day. Randy and I are going to grab coffee and go return the rental kayak up to Canada. Heidi will probably swing by to say goodbye before she heads back to California and Sunshine (jealous!!). Emily is hanging out at home (a rarity) and Brandon is having some friends for a barbeque tonight at 5pm.

Nathan's birthday is coming up on Thursday - what a birthday it will be - a celebration of life!!!! Nothing big planned - but this momma will be rejoicing all day that God spared her son and allowed him to see turning 22!

Bring on the rain......or is that pain?

Physical Therapy today was good for Uncle Steve (he enjoys inflicting pain - I always tease him that this is why he became a PT), but painful for Nathan. This is a good thing because it means he's being stretched - literally :-)

Pray for Nathan as PT is going to be ramped up to 4 times a week!

This weekend is the Ski to Sea Race and Randy does the kayak leg for the Mt. Baker Ski Patrol C team. It's always so fun. Nathan has a friend flying up from California to visit so he will have someone to enjoy while we are off gallivanting about the race. Afterward we always have the team for a barbeque - and it will be nice for the team to see Nathan - he was on ski patrol with them for 5 years.

I'll get a picture this weekend so you can get an updated peek of Nathan. Can you believe we've had him HOME for 3 weeks already? Again, time flies when you're having miracles. There's not a day that God doesn't amaze me with his faithfulness. We were working on figuring out Nathan's bills and had called WECU to inquire about the balance on his personal loan, and the teller told him it was 0 - nil - zilch - nada, you know - NOTHING!! Parents of one of Nathan's friends had paid off his loan - PAID IT OFF!! Made me cry!! God continues to take care of our needs before we know we have them!!

Enjoy your weekend - I know we will!

"And my God will supply every need of yours according to HIS riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:19

progress?

People are so precious and ask me if Nathan is making progress. This is a hard one for me and I told Randy that I don't know how to answer that because nothing seems to have changed and it's going to be SLOW progress. He still can't handle the wheelchair for more than 1 1/2 hours at the longest, he still is in his bed most of the day...............I know he's healing inside, which is HUGE, but progress??

My precious husband reminded me of the most significant progress we've had - Nathan has cut his pain meds back by almost half from when we came home and he is having less anxiety and we are starting to see more of normal Nathan - laughing, humor, teasing, grateful.............the things I've missed most! With encouragement from Uncle Steve, Dr. Caldwell, and us, Nathan has chosen to really work hard at getting off these meds!! Praise the Lord!

The two biggest things I would ask you to pray about right now, are his knee and his pinky finger on his right hand. The knee is only bending about 30% and it really creates pain in his femur! Pray for wisdom for physical therapy and that his knee will loosen up and start bending - this is HUGE. On the pinky finger, the top half is bent down and Nathan can't bend it up, again- for wisdom for Uncle Steve and that this would start working.

Last night Nathan had a couple friends come by and hang out and I heard him laughing like I haven't since before the accident. Salve to a mother's heart!!

For me - I was thinking the thing I miss most is when Nathan (tall boy that he is) would come up and put his arm around me and lean on me - oh how I miss that! I will so rejoice when he can do this again! He always gave me hugs and was very loving - can't wait!!!

Thank you for continuing to check on him - thank you for praying!!

A verse from my dear and faithful prayer warrior Susi -
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Heb 11:1

1 month ago today........................

Can you believe it? 1 month ago today(almost to the minute as I'm typing), I got the call that a mother NEVER wants to get. Nathan had been in a motorcycle accident. The call came from my sweet sis in law Robin and she told me that they knew for sure he had a broken leg. Call it instinct, or whatever you like, but somehow I just knew it was going to be worse...........I mean we are talking MOTORCYCLE accident.

For all of you that have followed the blog, you know how the story has progressed and I can't believe it's been a month...................time flies when you're having miracles (my new mantra:-)!!

I thought I would post a picture of the accident site.............................

This is the path that he skidded along - I don't know if I said this before, but we've been told that when it's a single vehicle accident, they don't mark it with paint unless they expect the victim not to live - pretty sobering!

This is the curb that Nathan's body broke out (someone has put the pieces back in place)...............................Do you see how close he came to hitting the telephone pole? I'm afraid he would not be with us had that happened.

This is where the motorcycle came to rest and the gas was leaking............

This is a 1/2 mile from our home so I drive by it almost daily - and every time I say outloud "Thank you Lord". My God spared my son without a doubt!!

I am excited for the future and for what God has in store for Nathan, and us! It has been a privilege to get to know God in a deeper way, and have grown to trust Him and his sovereignty even more!!

Thank you for loving, caring and PRAYING! Keep praying - as wonderful as his progress has been and as many miracles as we have experienced, it is still a long road ahead with a lot of unknowns. The only thing certain - is God did not bring us this far to leave us now!!!!

Without FAITH it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that he exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. Heb 11:6

A Good day to watch cartoons..................

Wasn't yesterday a beautiful November day?!?!?!?

Nathan was kind of having a rough morning - we both were. LONG day the day before, I didn't sleep more than 2 hours because of the wind and noise outside, Nathan was having anxiety, etc.

About 9:30 Tanya showed up with Ethan to watch cartoons with Nathan (Ethan has been talking about this for weeks!!!)...........................
Ethan just crawled right in and sat for about 2 hours and watched cartoons. Tanya and I had latte's and played with the new Ipod touch Nathan got me for Mother's Day. A wonderful quiet morning. It picked Nathan's spirits right up, and mom's too.

Thanks so much Tanya - if you had called to ask to come, I would've said no because Nathan was having a rough morning, but God knew just what Nathan needed................Ethan and cartoons!!

Last night G'pa and G'ma Korthuis brought dinner and ate with us. Nathan got up in his chair and joined us. It was fun to sit around the table together and the food was FABULOUS - thanks mom - nothing like meat and potatoes!!!

I went over to a friends house about 8:30 for 1 1/2 hours to say goodbye to a precious friend who is moving away. It was good to sit and visit with friends who enjoy laughter..........and rolos!! :-) I think if Nathan gets physical therapy twice a week, I should do this once a week for emotional therapy!!

Today we have PT, this is always somewhat exhausting for both of us. Randy got home last night - YEAH!! When he's home I do the first 2 meds of the night and he does the 2 early morning ones - such a help! Tonight I will do the 12:30am and then I AM SLEEPING IN!!! No school, no work, no nothing, just sleep (now let's hope I can actually stay asleep!!)

On the road again................

Yesterday our chauffeur (ok - ambulance),
picked us up a little before 8am and we headed back down to Harborview for a clinic with the "Green Team". Nathan actually had the blue, green and red teams all work on him, but the green team handled his clinic yesterday.

They took the stitches out of his knee and hand, and this means that OFFICIALLY there is not a staple or a stitch left in his body!! Woo hoo! They put his left leg in a brace that will allow him to bend his knee, and removed the cast from his right arm and put on a removable splint.

We had thought they were going to do xrays, but they didn't do anything like that. Just the knee and right hand were dealt with.

We headed home at 3:30, traffic and weather were horrible, and it took over 3 hours to get home!! A VERY LONG DAY!

Nathan is now going to Physical Therapy twice a week, and I anticipate things to start getting a little tougher in that department, as I know Uncle Steve is ready to start pushing him through some tough stuff and on to the road to recovery. He is still struggling with anxiety and this is huge, so please continue to pray or him.

Yesterday as we were leaving Harborview, the driver of our ambulance told us they had just brought another motorcycle accident in by medflight. He said that it didn't look very hopeful for this guy. How I am reminded of the hope that we have in God, and when things "didn't look very good" for Nathan - our God knew the plans he had for him..........................
Jer. 29:11,12
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you," declares the LORD,..........................

Not a lot of news

So sorry I haven't posted, but honestly, not a lot of news these days - which is a good thing.

Emily and I had a good trip over to Spokane, and it was SO good to see my Brandon!! The weather was beautiful, and Emily even got some highway driving in!!

Nathan got a haircut Saturday - YES!! I'll talk him in to a picture soon! We had lots of visitors on the weekend and that really helps pass time and keep his spirits up.

Today we had a Dr. appointment, and the Medical supply came with a gel seat for the wheel chair - thanks Uncle Steve!!! Can't wait to see how it works for Nathan tomorrow!

Tomorrow we go to Dr. Korthuis/Physical Therapist (and Uncle :-), for the first time. Wednesday we have an ambulance picking us up at 7:45 AM to head down to Harborview to meet with the Ortho team, hopefully get the left leg into a brace that bends, and get the cast off the right arm.

Please pray that things look great and that the bone in the femur has started growing back - this would mean no bone grafts. Nathan is really stressed out about possibly having to have more surgeries - I'm not thrilled at the thought either - but God is Sovereign and we rest in HIS plan for our lives.
Psalm 108:1-5
"My heart is steadfast, O God;
I will sing and make music with all my soul.
I will praise You, O Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of You among the peoples.
For great is Your love, higher than the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
and let Your glory be over all the earth.
Save us and help us with Your right hand,
that those You love may be delivered."