almost there

I can safely say this has been the hardest week of my life. I don't feel overly dramatic here, and I am prone to drama. But the scenarios, worry, and concern that having been swirling around in my heart have been unbearable at times. And then, out of the blue, a sense of calm will come over me. The worry will cease, and life seems almost normal for that moment.

I guess more than anything I wanted to thank everyone for their words, comments, emails, and prayers. We have felt them. I am certain it is the only thing that has kept me from being buried under a mound of pillows this week.

I wanted to share some encouraging things this week, just the small ways that God has given us encouragement.

- this surgery lands at the beginning of two big breaks for Josh. If all goes well, Josh essentially misses two weeks of school, which is mostly semester review and finals.
-One of josh's good friends from Birmingham has had a laminectomy in recent years and was an encouragement to Josh.
- One of Josh's coworkers has a husband who just recently (like a few weeks ago), also had a laminectomy. He is doing well at home.
-Josh's nurse for his pre-admission testing shared with him how her mother had a spinal tumor removed and was doing great and pain-free.
- One of my coworkers also shared of a family member who had a spinal cord tumor removed last year, and is doing well.
***we've gone our whole lives never hearing of this and to have 2 people share their experience is wonderful.
- December is a 3 paycheck month for me! This is encouraging, because I am essentially taking the next two weeks off without pay. I used up all of my vacation time having Amelia this year- so again, if all goes as planned, then this month should look fairly "normal" for us.

I suppose the biggest encouragement to me is seeing Josh be so brave. He has had a difficult week, too, but he has seemed so calm and at peace the last couple of days. It helps me stay focused.

Pray for us this weekend, as we clean and get organized for the week to come.

Also pray for Mille and me- Were are going on two straight weeks of an EPIC cold. The amount of snot my body has produced is truly note worthy:) This isn't helping matters, and we all need to be well this week.

keep praying.

Brooke