When Life is Hard

It's no secret that life this side of heaven isn't easy, but sometimes it's easier than others.  In one week it feels like the sky broke loose and I've barely managed not to drown.  I'll (hopefully) try to flesh it all out later, but for now, here's a brief outline of the past week.

Monday was our 7th anniversary.  Despite Ryan working a long day I had a great day with the kids and started this blog, and in the afternoon I spontaneously decided to take them downtown to meet Ryan for dinner after work.  It sounded like a lot more fun than feeding them leftovers at home without him.  And it was.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed Five Guys, as did we.  

Before heading home Ryan offered to let me drive the commuter car home so that I could have some rare "alone time" while he drove the kids in the van.  I jumped on the idea.  35 minutes by myself!

Shortly after getting onto the interstate I noticed a car heading into my lane.  Not just my lane, but same part of the lane that I was occupying.  I reacted and swerved left, but the next thing I knew the car was spinning hard to the right (she clipped me in the back, which sent me spinning).  I registered seeing the driver of the other vehicle  right before the front of my car made contact with hers.  It was all so fast, and so terrifying.  The next thing I knew I was all the way off the interstate on the right.

Thankfully, apart from having whiplash the length of my back and neck, I'm fine, as were those in the other car.  At those speeds it could have been so, so bad.  We know that God was protecting so, so actively.  

It was quickly deemed that I wasn't at fault.  We're now in the midst of dealing with the claim.

The next day, Tuesday, I took Pip in to see a pediatric gastroenterologist. He was diagnosed with FPIES.  It's a lot to wrap our brains around. For more information, you can go to the FPIES Foundation.  In short, he has a very rare condition that causes him to react to the protein in foods--some so severely that he is at risk of going into shock.  My sister has also started a YouCaring page to help raise funds to aid in caring for Pip during this time.

Pip on a beautiful day in early June.

So, we've been thrust into the world of caring for a medically fragile child and recovering from an accident while attending to the rest of life.  I don't have the capacity to sort it all out here right now.  We're just living one day at a time in faith.  Trusting God and that He's here in the midst of all of this.  And He is, even when it feels dark.  We've been shown love from friends, family, and our new church family.  Each being Jesus to us when we need to see His presence so very much.