Marriage Vows June 10th, 2013

We celebrated our 35th anniversary by asking the children how they plan to have a marriage that lasts for a long time and this is what we heard:

JERROL: Showing my wife that I love her through my actions. Taking care of the children when she is exhausted, giving her footie rubs, etc.

LAUREN: Understanding and controlling anger. I'm trying to 'get sad, not mad' when things don't go the way I want them to. I know anger is a secondary emotion and underneath is usually a feeling of hurt or disappointment. So I'm working on digging deeper into that frustration response to find out what's hurting and then sharing that with Jerrol instead of only venting my irritation, which really doesn't solve anything.

CHARIS: I realize that it's healthy to have interests (including ones that are different from each others, although I share his interest just not to the same level), and have encouraged dace to pursue his hobby and have his 'man cave' time with his fish tank.  Being supportive of him in this area affects our spending and budget so this is where our dave ramsey tools come into place to help us communicate regarding his expensive hobby.

DACE: For Charis and I we still utilize the '5 a's' which we learned in our pre-martial class. It helps with communication. Financially we are followers o9f Dave Ramsey which has helped us both be on the same page about money and staying on a budget. No money fights.

RACHEL: Learning to communicate with a more even temper as to help my husband feel comfortable sharing his feelings with me.

BRYANT: Learning to compromise and manage my time between work, school, my wife and my daughter. Not spending all my time indoors if my wife wants to go out.

Now let's keeping praying for these precious ones.

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall APRIL 15, 2012

On April 15, 2012 The 911 call is made to summons help after Tim falls through the patio roof.

The paramedics splint the arm, start an IV to give morphine and monitor the slow heart rate and low bloodpressure. Off to the ER we go.

A few xrays later and admission to await surgery to repair the broken bones in the arm.

Oh my, after going home and unable to walk, back to the CT scanner and discover fractured pelvis on both sides.

7 weeks of no walking and a few minutes up at a time in a wheelchair. Watch out the smile might be fake.

Attempting to work with limited mobility.

Thinking

An Emergency Room story

The paramedic phone rang and soon we were rearranging gurneys and pulling the crash cart over in preparation for the next patient. The story was a young man  unconscious. The team gathered and waited for their assigned roles. The patient arrived in full arrest- no heartbeat and not breathing in laymen's  terms. The doctor quickly slid the tube down his throat. The nurse administered every medication that the doctor called out while the other team members performed chest compressions and pushed on the bag to push air into his lungs. The paramedics told us no family around and suspected an overdose. The team realized this one is dead and nothing anyone can do will change that fact. At that moment I looked down and observed the slender soul as I digested the news that he was 31 years old. Hey my brain clicked...my firstborn son is turning 31 tomorrow. Some mother somewhere has lost her son today. Sadness swept over my heart with curiosity to know the story of this life cut short.

Merry Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas!!

Thank you for being part of our lives in a special way this past year.  With Tim’s Humpty Dumpty experience in April of this year, we are pausing to reflect on our journey of injuries, surgeries, immobility and those who touched our lives during this time.

While we are celebrating this season, we also give thanks for what gives meaning to our daily life. This Christmas season, we will enjoy family, gifts, food, candlelight service with Christmas music and especially, a deeper appreciation for mobility.

Tim’s 7 weeks of immobility and discomfort in a wheelchair (how come we couldn’t find a wheelchair for his size?) has given us even greater empathy to those in poverty that do not even have an opportunity to be lifted off the ground. 

Gifts, they come into all of our lives each and every day and we give thanks.

Blessings,

Tim and Char Krause