so this is how it went down.
there was a massive thunder storm pretty much located over our house for about 2 hours in the middle of the night. i mean there must have been some strong magnetic force holding it over our roof- because it wouldn't leave. first to wake us was, of course, zoe- who basically has the auditory system of dog- fo' reals'- and there is something the frequency or the pitch or something of the thunder that drivers her into a panic- like it does to some even very large guard dogs. i can't understand it, but there it is. so while she's whimpering around the house- tail between her legs- brynnie wakes up and gets in my bed. 30 minutes later, it's jude. so i'm sandwiched between them, i can still hear zoe whimpering and rose gets up. it's 4am now. i get her back to bed, try again to comfort zoe, and return for another hopefully hour and a half of sleep. but that old yellow bouncing alarm clock that i thought i'd actually managed to fix, didn't go off. thankfully rose woke me up at 6:20. let the games begin.
but how it really goes down, is then when i get back from dropping the kids- there is an email from mike entitled: really bad news. it turns out that he had stopped at ikea in atlanta to try to replace that silly 5$- yellow-rubber-bounceable- alarm clock, and had all his bags, absolutely EVERYTHING that was packed up the bring back to us STOLEN out of the car. yep. someone pulled a grinch- they stole all our Christmas gifts for the kids, all the gathered items we'd been ordering for a few months, all the medications for the next year, all of my actual diplomas so i could get my medical license here- all the chocolates, our camera, mikes computer AGAIN, the gluten free goodies- my beautiful chocolate brown gown, EVERYTHING.
i know it's only stuff. and stuff means nothing. i know that we are blessed BEYOND measure. i know that the person who stole it, must be hurting or bitter or strung out or trying or deeply sad or angry. i know that it will be fine. but. poor mike. here he is, all packed up, trying to get back home to the family that he's missed so much, trying to get all the needed documents, and the things that we can't get here, and the long awaited gifts for the kids, from starwars lego ships to underwear- and it's all gone, even all his clothes, except the ones on his back.
"man is born broken, he lives by mending, the grace of God is glue." - eugene oneil
broken- so broken. there are so many more examples of so much more broken all around me, that i can't actually feel sorry for myself.
yesterday i did a home visit on a old woman who'd come from the village- sick for 3 months- sick with infection, but an undiagnosed massive tumor in her abdomen, pushing on her vessels returning fluid to her heart and causing massive edema. no money to take her anywhere, or treat her. broken. thankfully, because of those of you who give to the medical fund (and us to enable me to drive to her village and see her for free) - she's going tomorrow for a work up and treatment. the family cried with joy, and loaded me with corn on the cob from their little garden.
we do what we can with the broken, despite of the broken, and because of the broken.
we try to be the part of the glue, we try to be the grace.
we get knocked down, but we get up again.
there was a massive thunder storm pretty much located over our house for about 2 hours in the middle of the night. i mean there must have been some strong magnetic force holding it over our roof- because it wouldn't leave. first to wake us was, of course, zoe- who basically has the auditory system of dog- fo' reals'- and there is something the frequency or the pitch or something of the thunder that drivers her into a panic- like it does to some even very large guard dogs. i can't understand it, but there it is. so while she's whimpering around the house- tail between her legs- brynnie wakes up and gets in my bed. 30 minutes later, it's jude. so i'm sandwiched between them, i can still hear zoe whimpering and rose gets up. it's 4am now. i get her back to bed, try again to comfort zoe, and return for another hopefully hour and a half of sleep. but that old yellow bouncing alarm clock that i thought i'd actually managed to fix, didn't go off. thankfully rose woke me up at 6:20. let the games begin.
but how it really goes down, is then when i get back from dropping the kids- there is an email from mike entitled: really bad news. it turns out that he had stopped at ikea in atlanta to try to replace that silly 5$- yellow-rubber-bounceable- alarm clock, and had all his bags, absolutely EVERYTHING that was packed up the bring back to us STOLEN out of the car. yep. someone pulled a grinch- they stole all our Christmas gifts for the kids, all the gathered items we'd been ordering for a few months, all the medications for the next year, all of my actual diplomas so i could get my medical license here- all the chocolates, our camera, mikes computer AGAIN, the gluten free goodies- my beautiful chocolate brown gown, EVERYTHING.
i know it's only stuff. and stuff means nothing. i know that we are blessed BEYOND measure. i know that the person who stole it, must be hurting or bitter or strung out or trying or deeply sad or angry. i know that it will be fine. but. poor mike. here he is, all packed up, trying to get back home to the family that he's missed so much, trying to get all the needed documents, and the things that we can't get here, and the long awaited gifts for the kids, from starwars lego ships to underwear- and it's all gone, even all his clothes, except the ones on his back.
"man is born broken, he lives by mending, the grace of God is glue." - eugene oneil
broken- so broken. there are so many more examples of so much more broken all around me, that i can't actually feel sorry for myself.
yesterday i did a home visit on a old woman who'd come from the village- sick for 3 months- sick with infection, but an undiagnosed massive tumor in her abdomen, pushing on her vessels returning fluid to her heart and causing massive edema. no money to take her anywhere, or treat her. broken. thankfully, because of those of you who give to the medical fund (and us to enable me to drive to her village and see her for free) - she's going tomorrow for a work up and treatment. the family cried with joy, and loaded me with corn on the cob from their little garden.
we do what we can with the broken, despite of the broken, and because of the broken.
we try to be the part of the glue, we try to be the grace.
we get knocked down, but we get up again.
1 comment:
Kris, I am so sorry. I can't imagine how you got to such a peaceful place by the end of this entry, but you do. And that makes me rethink my day and my struggles, so thank you from the bottom of my heart for this dose of perspective. Please if there is anything we can do... say the word. We would love to put a care package together for you and your family. Take care, and thanks again for sharing this.
Nicole, Nick and Dangiso
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