Tuesday, July 28, 2009

One more thing...

Sorry, folks, I forgot in the last post to give you the update on the news story. This was part two of the story that began on Saturday. It focuses more on the time I spent in GF Strong, and interviewed one of the doctors there. I hope you enjoy it, and that God will continue to use this story however He can!

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/20090726204464/local/news/walking-wonder.html

Six months later...

Well, it's time to check in again, and let you know where things are at. We are continually learning how to adapt to all things "new". Monday was another difficult day, as we had to put our dog, Ginger, down. We've had her for almost 15 years, and she just simply got too old to carry on. She fell a few times on Sunday, and hadn't eaten for 5 days. We are leaving tomorrow for 10 days, and didn't feel it would be right for Jason to have to deal with that during that time. It was hard to do, but we were all together, and actually had a neat time together as a family, sharing memories and thankful for the good times with our special, loyal friend.

Which brings me to the next thing - we have a prayer request for tomorrow. On Wednesday, we (Ben, Aaron and I) will be heading out for the Wiebe family reunion in southern Alberta. In order to get there, we will be traveling the same road that we took almost 6 months ago when we had the accident. Please pray that we will have peace and healing as we take time to stop and consider where we've come from and what we've been through. It will be a tough day, but one that needs to happen. We covet your prayers for not only our safety for travel, but also for mental and emotional healing. Thank you so much in advance!!  I'll keep you informed if I can, as I plan on taking our laptop along.

It will be so wonderful to be with Ben's family for the weekend, and to enjoy their fellowship! This will be the first family reunion without Ben's parents, so that will also be somewhat difficult. We are so looking forward to seeing everyone, though, and having some time to relax and unwind.

Thank you again for keeping up with us! We treasure each of you dearly and cherish your prayers. God is still working great things, and we know each day that it is a gift from Him!! Give Him glory!

Judy

Sunday, July 26, 2009

It made the paper!

Well, the article hit the papers yesterday, and it was much more than we thought it would be! Paste the link below into your browser, or click on it (if it works). If not, just type in www.princegeorgecitizen.com and follow the links. We continue to pray that God will receive the praise for what He has done in our lives!

We also want to thank everyone for either coming out to the open house, or for the many well-wishes for this afternoon. It was a lovely time, and a wonderful chance to see so many people! The only bad thing was that it was so hot no one was hungry, so I have lots of leftovers!! Oh, well, more for the boys!

Have a great Monday everyone!
http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/20090724204268/local/news/hanging-by-a-thread.html


Friday, July 24, 2009

Oops!

Forgot to give you our address, just in case you don't know where we live. We are at 3009 Vista Ridge Drive in College Heights in Prince George. Here is the link to a map for it:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=3009+Vista+Ridge+Dr,+Prince+George,+BC,+Canada&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=49.176833,79.013672&ie=UTF8&z=16&iwloc=A

If you need further help, feel free to give us a call at 250-964-2216. See you Sunday!

Open House!

Just a quick reminder about the open house for this Sunday, July 26th. We'd love it if you could stop in sometime between 2 and 5 for us to thank you in person for your support and care. We'll have some goodies for you to snack on, and looking at the weather forecast, lots of lemonade and water!! Please take time to come if you can. See you then!

Ben, Judy, Chris, Jason and Aaron

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Two Weeks...

Today it has been two weeks since coming home, and it feels so good! There are still plenty of adjustments to be made, but it seems to be working okay. I go to physio 3 times a week, Ben and Aaron go twice.  Plans are being worked on to have me go to the pool for more therapy, and for continuing to build my strength at a gym.  I have help with the housework, and my guys have been great helping out in the kitchen and with shopping. In general, things are going very well. I even went to practice with our worship team, but unfortunately wasn't able to be at church on Sunday morning. I have good days and bad days, but there are more good than bad. It seems I still need to pace myself and not take on too much at a time, surprise, surprise! That was to be expected, I know, but it is still hard to just relax and let others do what I was used to doing myself. Then there's the occasional night that I have trouble sleeping, which makes for a lousy next day. But all in all things are going fairly well. Being home is so good, and being with my family, friends and church family is so fantastic! Everyone has been so encouraging and supportive, and I am still overwhelmed by the love and support we are still getting. So slowly but surely, we are all adjusting to having me home, and that's the best part!

We wanted to let everyone know that we are planning on an open house on Sunday, July the 26th from 2:00-5:00 here at the house. Everyone is welcome, but please don't bring any gifts! We would just like to see as many people as can come, and share some time with you. Please spread the word, no need to RSVP. We want this to be a time of celebration and fellowship, so come and enjoy!

One of the exciting things that has happened since coming home is that we were contacted by a friend who is a reporter for our local paper. He wants to do a story to let the community know that I'm home again. He did the initial stories when the accident happened, which were really thoughtfully written and presented. We spent almost 2 hours with him on Sunday afternoon, and felt that it went well. We're looking forward to reading the article when it comes out, and will let you know when it does. If I can, I'll post the link here for you all to read.

In the past few months, several times I've been asked if I would put our story into book form. This is not something I have ever thought about doing before, but now am seriously considering. I'm not what I would consider a writer, and I'd need some help, but there is definitely some attraction to the idea. I have time now, and lots of encouragement, so with the advice from a few trained people, I am going to try! Like my reporter friend suggested, at first all I should do is "vomit" words out, and format it later! It's an interesting concept! So if anyone has any further advice, or is interested in helping me in this process, I'd love to hear from you. I am open to any ideas or suggestions!

We are really looking forward to going to Ben's family reunion in Taber, Alberta for the long weekend in August.  If you are in the southern Alberta area and have time for us to drop in and say hi, please let us know. We'll also be heading up toward Edmonton after, to help Aaron find a place to live when he goes to school in fall. Please pray with us as we plan this trip.We will be traveling past the accident site on our way there, which will be an ordeal in itself. We plan to stop and have a time of reflection and prayer, and trust that this will help us to all overcome the emotional trauma that still comes from time to time. Also being in a vehicle for that length of time will be difficult physically for all of us, so we covet your prayers for that as well.

In the meantime, I'll keep on posting here as I can, even though there won't be much that happens from day to day. The healing progress continues, although much slower than before. We are all getting stronger slower but surely, and we thank God and give Him the glory for that. God is so good, and we are continuing to be so thankful for His grace that covers us each day.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

I'm Home!

Okay, everyone...I'm finally checking in again, and want to let you all know that I am home! I came home on Tuesday afternoon, and is it ever fantastic!! I was greeted at the airport by about 25 of our friends from our Bible study and church, and my loving family. I couldn't stop crying at first, it was so amazing and overwhelming to finally be here and to be surrounded by so many who have loved and carried us through the last 5 months (to the day, by the way!).

Since Tuesday, I have been busy surprising people! Wednesday we went to Fort George Park for the Canada Day celebration, where we met so many friends, even some from long ago. Thursday morning we went to Lo and Elliott's, where I have worked for the past 10 years. Friday we showed up at a rehearsal for the production of "Tommy" to see many of my theatre friends. Today we will be having dinner with some more good friend, and tomorrow I am looking forward to celebrating with our church family! We are so blessed to be surrounded and uplifted by people who share our joy with us and give God the glory for what He has brought us through.  Even people who aren't 'church-going' acknowledge God's work in our lives. I pray that we will continue to have opportunities to give Him the recognition He deserves.

As we look to the near future, I will be spending most of my time just adjusting and adapting to 'regular' life, and going to physio appointments. Ben is back to work as usual on Monday, having taken Thursday and Friday off to spend with me. Aaron is back at work as well, and still doing physio. Ben finally has a requisition from the doctor to do physio, too. We plan to go to Ben's family reunion in Taber, Alberta, for the long weekend in August, and then travel through Edmonton and see some of the doctors and nurses who took care of us in the beginning, and also check in with some more very good friends!

I'll still take time to write here in the blog now and then, so do keep checking back. Our journey is far from over, and the lessons that we have learned now need to be put into practice. My prayer is that we will never forget where we have been, and what God has taught us. Each day is a new challenge, and an opportunity to give God the glory and rightful place in our lives that He deserves. We thank God for each of you who have followed us and carried us in your prayers, and pray that you will also know His presence in your lives.

This is not goodbye! Please stay in touch!!
Judy