Horses, Hospitals, and Bling

Horses, Hospitals, and Bling

Normally these three things would never go together.  In the Kerr house, however, the last two are nearly synonymous.  I know that my big girl is accident prone.  We found out several months ago that she has a severe vitamin deficiency.  Which one you ask?  All of them!  Pick a letter, she is deficient in that vitamin.  That explains the broken toes, broken feet, broken shoulder, broken fingers, broken wrist,... I could go on for quite some time, however, I won’t.  

I signed my Cynthia up for horseback riding lessons a few months back.  Mom had gotten her a gift certificate for horseback riding lessons for Christmas last year.  She loved it!  However the place that we had the lessons at was rather expensive.  So we looked around.  The prices were very comparable.  However, with 3 children I could not afford $60 an hour horseback riding lessons. That's actually for half an hour of lessons – one time a week. Fortunately, we have a friend come to us and say that she could teach my daughter to ride horses for significantly less each week, and the lesson would be an hour long. We both quickly agreed.  

In case you're wondering, no I did not worried about the risk of falling. If my girl can break her toe while simply jumping on the ground, or break her foot in twelve places while running, or break a thumb getting onto a trampoline - then I should probably just wrap her in bubble wrap.  Believe me - the thought has crossed my mind.  

But I won't do that. The last break she had was simply running. No twist, no fall, no anything. Just the impact of her foot on the ground broke her foot in 12 places. I know the risk, however I choose to allow her to experience life in such a way that she will not look back and regret things. I never want my children to regret not doing something because of the fear. Yes there is a risk of injury, but there's a risk of injury by simply walking up and down the stairs every morning. I know, I have fallen more than once. :-)

After 3 months of lessons I was sitting in the truck, less than a quarter mile away but still on the same property. I had my little man in the truck while he was sleeping, Codie was practicing music, and my baby girl was doing math homework. Suddenly the instructor runs over to me and tells me that Cynthia has fallen. I didn't panic. I'm not sure why. I guess I knew that God would protect her.  That, and I am used to this kind of news.  I didn't think to pray, because the instructor was still telling me what had happened.  I get to my girl and see her on the ground; crying and in pain. Unfortunately this is a very common sight for us. Long story short we check her out and are confident that nothing is broken.  She just had the wind knocked out of her.     I was debating on calling an ambulance or just taking her home and letting her rest.   I felt very comfortable getting her in the truck knowing that I would not hurt her to the extent of irreparable damage.  I did not want to overreact and scare the instructor (and her mom and two brothers), but I didn’t want to under react either. I knew was hurting her to move though.

On the way home I called hubby to let him know what was going on. He panicked. I guess he just heard that his big girl was in pain, and could not see her and help her. Daddy insisted that we immediately took her to the ER. I did not agree, nor did I fully disagree. However I did take her. I love our ER. It is a freestanding ER we have been to many, many times. I pull up to the front and have Codie go get a doctor and tell them that we need a wheelchair because his sister has fallen off a horse. They instructed us to pull around back and immediately there were four doctors that are ready to pick her up, get her in a wheelchair and get her inside.   They asked permission to help her undress and getting her prepped.  I gave them permission – I knew two of the nurses from previous visits.  By the time I pulled around to the front to park the truck, they already had her in a gown, and we're getting her ready for x-ray.

With the amount of pain she was in they gave her an IV, & a heavy pain killer. Skip ahead two hours.

Daddy got off work and joined us for a photo session at the er.  We had a very small quick breakfast and everyone was starving.  I ran to the grocery store and then went home to make lunch.  There is something about going to the hospital that automatically gives you the right to choose the menu for the day.  An hour after I left to make lunch they are leaving the ER.  With 26 x rays, heavy pain killers, & a lot of smiles, we are Praising God!  There are no broken bones. This is a first!  We have been juicing, eating a lot of leafy greens, and taking high doses of vitamins. These were all recommended by her doctor. I would not recommend a high doses of vitamins without consulting a physician first.

I had been debating on taking her back to the doctor to have her blood work redone. I wanted to know if our routine has changed and her vitamin deficiencies were perhaps fixed, or at least looking better. Well, that is no longer needed. If my could break her foot by simply running, or break a toe by simply jumping, but can obtain only a sprain after falling off a horse, I believe she is fixed.  We will continue juicing, eating more greens and taking lots of vitamins.  I don’t want to go back down that road of many broken bones.

One thing my girl loves is her bling.  Every piece of medical equipment she has (boots, casts, crutches, braces) is shiny and girly.

Tested by God

Monday is the only day that we go to co-op. When I'm finished with my three hour commitment, I take Codie and the baby and we go home.  This gives me roughly two hours to grade papers, send out my weekly email update, clean the house, and do whatever needs to be done before the girls come home. 

This Monday did not start out like any other Monday. Something seemed to be a little bit different, class did not go as usual, however, it went really well. Instead of history we had a 20 minute Bible lesson. I simply spoke about Colossians 3:23.  Explain to the class about how important it is to do everything to the glory of God. This means cleaning our room, turning in all work, doing our homework, or simply walking down the hallway quietly. 

We then had two presentations to go to as well today. Due to these presentations we missed our vocabulary test. None of the students were too disappointed about this.  After co-op I got the boys, we went home and I sent out my weekly email updates. Since we didn't have any time in class I started grading papers. It doesn't take too long to grade each writing paper. I am looking for very specific elements, banned words, and a little content. 

I was on the fourth paper when my phone rang. I knew it was Mrs. caseworker from caller ID. 

"Good afternoon Mrs. Kerr, how are you?" She asks. 

I responded with "It depends on why you're calling...."

 She laughs.  She knows what I mean. She then proceeds to tell me about an emergency placement that is needing to happen right now. A little shocked and very saddened to hear what is going on, a, I agree to take two children. An 8 year old girl, & a five year old boy. Then I call hubby and let him know what's going on. 

Hubby, Codie and I all start crisis mode.  Moses is sleeping through all of this.  Not a bad crisis, just a hurry up and let's get this done quickly mode. Codie and I find the spare car seats, vacuum the floor, make sure all beds are made, and the kitchen is relatively clean. Hubby starts cleaning up at work and is talking to his boss about leaving work early.  He also wants me to text him a shopping list so we have more food in the house. 

We stay at home for lunch every day. That means I can serve leftovers for lunch. However, in public school you can't take leftovers and expect a hot lunch at mealtime. I don't keep a lot of lunch meat 1) because it's not healthy 2) its expensive and 3) we don't eat it much.  However when you're at public school all day, or gone all day, you need something to eat. This is quick and easy and relatively nutritious. 

In that same conversation (about food and where the car seats are in the attic) we also discussed taking on two younger siblings. It would be difficult, however, I would rather keep siblings together than have them panic and worry about what is going on with their older / younger siblings and not know where they are. I believe that it would give them more comfort, stability, and be a lot less dramatic if they could all stay together. This would put us over our legal limit of children in the home. After hanging up with hubby, and still rushing around the house, I called the caseworker and asked if this would be possible. She was shocked. I don't recall ever hearing someone just so shocked to have children be accepted. She decided it would be best for us to take the two for now, see what would happen, see how long the children would be with us, then take the other 2 shortly. I saw her point and accepted her wisdom. 

Back to cleaning. It's amazing what can be done when properly motivated. 3 o'clock came and it was time to get the girls. That two hour time window went very quickly! Just as we're about to walk out the door to get the girls and quickly drive 30 miles south to pick up these new frightened children, the caseworker calls back and says stop. 

They had found somebody who was readily available, and legally capable of taking all four children. Along with my energy rush being quickly halted, I felt both a sense of relief and disappointment. I was rather looking forward to meeting these children, being of light in their lives, and trying to help them as much as I possibly could. At the same time I was slightly relieved because having new new children in the house means everybody is adjusting to this new situation. There are a lot of changes that take place, and it's very difficult to explain, but there is a little bit of underlying tension while everyone is getting everyone else. You also have to realize that these children are terrified, uncomfortable, and probably don't want to be where they are. I understand that. I can't even imagine how they feel. However, I do enjoy being the friendly face, loving arms, and willing servant of God that will accept them for who they are, as they are, and bring them in for as long as needed. 

It was still time to pick up the girls, so we left and got them from coop. On the way home I was explaining to them how the afternoon went. As I was going over it in my mind, I realized that I felt like I have been tested by God. The thought never crossed my mind at the time, I didn't have time to think. I have learned to pray daily for God's guidance in decisions like this. Because when the time comes, you almost have a split second decision to make. You don't always have time to take 5 minutes and pray. Sometimes I do, but not always. This time I felt like God was testing me, to take on a challenge that I'm uncomfortable with, to serve him in a way that I have openly stated I am uncomfortable with and to fully trust him in every situation.

Through this I have learned:

It is not what I am willing to do, or even what I am capable of doing, it's all a matter of what God is capable of doing through me. All I have to do is trust that He will equip me for every good work. 2 tim 3:16-17.