The rest of the hospital visit...

Sorry its been so long since I posted anything! This past week and a half is very difficult to put into words.

After 8 days in the hospital, Kenzie finally got to go home! She is still on a lot of medicine and in quite a bit of pain (it comes and goes), but they think she may be allergic to gluten, so we are trying a gluten free diet to see if that helps!

You know, Kenzie and I have been through countless hospital visits together, and up until this point, our parents have been there, handling things, so that there was as little stress as possible on us.  But this time, her parents were in Nashville, on a mission trip, working for God.  And while that in itself is amazing, consequently, Mo and I were left to our own devices.  I really was amazed at how well we did.  I don't think that either of us could have held it together so well had we not had one another there.  Clearly, we weren't alone.  God was with us the whole time, and he did some amazing things with our work schedules, so that one of us could be there with Kenz at all times. 

I never realized how draining sitting in a hospital chair for hours could be, but it really is.  Surprisingly so.  And after a few days, I was completely exhausted.  Unlike most people though, when I am tired, I am not one to rest.  I push myself past the limits, and I find other venues from which to draw my strength.  The remarkable thing is, God already knows this about me, so long after I should have crashed, he put some amazing people in my path, and those people found it in themselves to lend me strength. 

Last Friday, I had the morning off, so I went to the hospital pretty early and was tucked into the recliner, lightly dozing when a nurse came in to give Kenz her meds.  All of the nurses had been very wonderful in their bedside manner, but there was something different about this one.  She was the first that seemed to deeply care about Kenzie as a person and not just a patient.  It may be the fact that I was drowsy, but I would lable her with the term angelic. She was so sweet, and when she finished taking care of Kenz, she surprisingly turned to me and asked me if she could get me anything.  I smiled, genuinely uplifted by the fact that she asked, and was about to tell her thank you so much, but no, when she interrupted and offered me coffee.  I was so caught of guard by her random act of kindness, and I promise you that was the best cup of coffee that I have ever had. 

Later on that day, a young man came to take her away for one of her tests.  I had a few moments to talk to him... and he asked what our relationship was.  I thought about that for a moment, considering that best-friend-since-the-age-of-three doesn't exactly cover it, but calling youself "sister" in a hospital can be taken very seriously, so I settled on the relationship we deemed upon ourselves as children. "Cousin." He smiled at me. "How you holding up?" "I'm good. Just tired" Apparently I looked way more than just tired, because he gave me one of those knowing smiles "Well be encouraged. Stay strong." and then he told me he would be praying for her.  Yet again I was knocked out of my socks.  This guy that I had known for all of 37 seconds had been given the precise words to lift me up and give me the boost I needed to make it through the rest of the journey. 

Then when the doctor came in to speak to us, he was competent and calming and even when I had been so upset with him earlier, because of the lack of understanding at why Kenzie was in so much pain, it was clear that he may have actually known what he was doing ;) Every time I began to feel weak again, I would think back on those three instances, and know that no matter how terrible it seemed, God was in this.  He was there and he was holding my hand so that I wouldn't land on my face as I tripped and stumbled in exhaustion. and now that she is home, getting to look back, this is definitely making me a stronger person.  It's not over yet, but it is easier knowing that God is using this in some way to draw us all closer to him.

With some stubbed toes and scraped knees,
Lacy