Sisters

I need my sisters.

Julie, Betsy and I are sisters. We lie on our beds and talk. We make sure Betsy's outfit matches on Sunday morning. We read Pride and Prejudice out-loud and then watch the movie version--all six hours of it. We bake cookies together and when something goes wrong we fix it.

I feel like my sisters are miles and miles away and I am waiting for them to return so that we can fix the problem. But they are not miles away. They are stuck in beds on two different floors of the hospital and I go up and down from one sister to the other, wishing I could fix the problem.

I want my sisters back.

So, thank-you to everyone who has been my "sister"--to those of you who've prayed, held my brother and sisters' hands, sat with my mother, fed me soup and let us cry.

I needed you.

Update:

We feel the love of hundreds and hundreds of people from neighbors to friends on other continents. Every need has been met, and beyond. We have enough food that we could have a potlock! If you would like to help but haven't had a chance yet, don't worry. After we measure time in minutes we will begin measuring it in hours and then days and then weeks and then months.

It will be days before Julie is able to leave her bed to go to the bathroom. Aaron and Betsy are still in ICU. Everyone else is recovering "at home." Naomi has a gash in her elbow that will have to be examined to see if there is foreign material still lodged inside. My Mom is feeling better--she feels like she's eighty-years-old instead of the hundred that she felt earlier.

I returned home yesterday afternoon after almost continually staying with one of my siblings from the moment I arrived at the first hospital mid-day yesterday. I meant to sleep a few hours and return to the hospital to stay with Betsy for the night. But Dad and LIbby were able to stay and God granted me much needed rest at home.

I have been living in a cloud of prayers. I didn't even need words Monday and I couldn't verbalize my prayers--I was living them. But I felt hundreds of people lifting my family to God. Monday as I held Aaron's hand moments before they wheeled him to surgery all I could pray was, "Lord Jesus please watch over Aaron during surgery." I would have come unglued had more been necessary. Our friends and family did the rest of the praying for me during the first twenty-four hours.

Tuesday highlights:

~Betsy is wearing a pair of multi-color socks. Hospital walls are drab, regulations can be strict and Betsy loves color.

~Betsy's neck collar was removed and she's been able to suck on ice chips.

~A positive report that Betsy may not have to have surgery for her kidney.

~Mom's friends have cared for her and the younger children at home.

~We found the cell phone that was momentarily lost under the car seat.

~Naomi was able to get a liquid antibiotic so she didn't have to struggle to swallow pills.

~Julie's friends, three daughters of the missionaries with whom she spent two months in Africa this summer, called and made her feel loved.

Requests:

~God will send Betsy color that the nurses approve and appreciate.

~God will give Aaron a bit of pleasure today (yesterday morning was tough and in the afternoon he was highly drugged because of the pain).

~God will give Julie peace as she thinks about the future.

~It sounds silly, but I would like to take some pictures today. It's my therapy along with writing.

~Joel and his family and all my aunts and uncles and cousins. We wish they were here.

~The important things like whether Betsy needs surgery for her kidney and relief from pain and clearness of mind and...

~The other person who was involved in the accident. We don't know anything except he also was transported to a hospital.

~Strength and wisdom and God-honoring relationships with everyone we contact.

Thank you.