October 17 – “Until, that is …”

We headed toward Sam’s yesterday to make a run for the church.  But first we had a stop or two to make.  Micah and Josiah had a karate class to get to in League City, so it was easy for us to swing by and pick them up, since Kel was at the hospital with Christina and Jachin was at baseball practice.  And that’s where the “easy” part ended.  First they couldn’t find the right costume (gee, or gi, or however you spell it).  Then the numchuks (or however you spell THAT).  Finally, they realized that both of their karate “go bags” were in the car … with Jachin – or Dad.  Somewhere other than in their hands.  We managed to piece together outfits for the two of them, and they grabbed one of their lesser level (and color) belts.  It would be cutting it close, but we were still on track to get them there on time.  

Until, that is, we ran into traffic.  OK.  That is sometimes unavoidable.  But we still had a few extra contingency minutes.  

Until, that is, we discovered that the exit we needed to take was completely blocked off by construction.  As we passed the exit I told the boys to wave goodbye to the contingency minutes.  We went up to the next open exit (actually two or three further north.  The rest were also closed) and made a u-turn.  That put us back on track, until, that is, we hit the traffic slow-down at our turn.  All things considered, they were only fifteen minutes late for class.  Not bad.  Of course it meant they had to pay the push-ups penalty.  Not sure how pleased they were about that.  Chris and I went across the street to Starbucks for a quick deli sandwich for lunch while we waited.  Oh, and Josh called to check in, too.  Kind of a flurry of last second activity there.

 

Meanwhile, back at the ICU …

There must have been a reason for the bed snafu yesterday (when Christina thought she had one out of the ICU, but they gave it to someone else).  Saturday morning when she woke up she was having a little trouble.  Her chest felt a little tight and she was very tired.  It could be because she was getting used to being off the steroids and forced oxygen.  Could just be because she has been in ICU for a week.  They warned her at the beginning of this journey that she would get tired really easily for a long time.  They scheduled an EKG and some blood work for heart function just to make sure. 

 

Until, that is …

The lung doc made his rounds.  And the internal medicine doc made his rounds.  Back to back.  And both said she was doing really well.  So well, in fact, that it was high time she started to move around … a lot.  And I don’t mean they both said it a lot (although they apparently did).  I mean they ordered her to get up and at ‘em … a lot.  In fact, the official word is … they don’t consider her to be an ICU patient anymore, even though she is kind of stuck up there.  So, Christina, as I often told the youngsters at camp …git up.  Git outa da beh-yud.  Don’t be a grump, ya big ol’ hey-yud!

 

Revelation 5:13 says, “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!’”

 

Father, thank you for the good report on Christina.  Now please help her to grit her teeth and get to work on moving around as much as she can.  Amen.