Christmas day not only represents the glorious coming of
Jesus as a baby into our world to live and later die as a sacrifice for the
sins and atonement for mankind, but it also marked the 3-month anniversary of
Adam’s accident. Not nearly as
significant in the grand scheme of life, but in this stage of our life, we are
still measuring events and abilities in relation to September 25. We often talk about things how they were
pre-accident versus post-accident. We
keep track in our heads of how much time has passed and also realize that as we
inch closer to the 6-month and 1-year windows, we will have a greater idea of
where Adam’s recovery will end up.
We have had multiple Christmas celebrations with family and
have enjoyed having a feeling of normalcy.
Not “normal” quite how it used to be, but still there is a rhythm that
we have fallen into and one that is not too far off from how life used to
be.
Here's a few pics of family that we captured over our Christmas celebrations:
(Sorry, there were a few gatherings in which my camera did not come along)
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| Heath intrigued by the Christmas orange in his stocking. Just after I took this picture, he wound up and threw it. |
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| Everyone looking so nice on a beautiful day. Adam's sister, Jaime, and her boyfriend, Ben. Adam's mom, Debby, and her husband, Kevin. |
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| Same day. Just looking a little crazier. |
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| The Strahm side of the tree. |
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| The grandkids looking so well-behaved and compliant. |
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| The grandkids looking a little more normal. |
Loved having the chance to see so much family and spend time with them.
Adam is doing so much these days.
He is driving. He will still go
through a driver’s rehab program to be reviewed for his CDL passenger license
since he plans to return to driving the church bus, but otherwise, his surgeon
and doctor both said that if he feels comfortable, he’s fine to drive. And I’m feeling comfortable with him doing
that as well, which was probably the biggest clincher to him getting behind the
wheel again. He is very helpful with the
boys and is able to get them breakfast, brush their teeth, play with them. He can hug me and lift me off the ground. He
can do push-ups….one at a time. He says he can feel himself getting
stronger. His walking is getting
better. He says he still has to
concentrate and focus to get everything moving how it should. He is going into work and has resumed much
of his responsibilities at church. He is shooting a bow. It’s a 30-pound youth bow, as opposed to his
previous 60-pound bow. He can’t really hurry doing things, but he can do a
lot. He’s very good at doing dishes….which I’m very happy about since its my
least favorite household chore. He’s
realized he doesn’t sweat at all yet, which also might explain why I think he
smells different to me.
We can still only look back and feel grateful for all that
we have witnessed God doing in our lives.
It’s certainly not all “roses” for us.
We have our tough moments and our moments of longing for how things used
to be.
We also look back and are grateful for what our experience
has done in other’s lives. This has all
been worth it if someone has been drawn back to trusting and worshipping God.
I got in touch with my artsy side a few weeks ago. If you
knew me in high school, which was almost 15 years ago now (YIKES! I don’t feel
that old), art was one of my languages. I’ve
dabbled in it from time to time since I decided not to pursue a career in it. And I still enjoy it, although its just hard to find the time, space, and
priority for it. I did some
simple canvas paintings for some family members with a phrase that is not only
at the forefront during this season, but hopefully at the forefront of every
moment of our lives.
Yes.
Let us come and adore Him.
