Joanne Heim

Lazy Weekends (Toben)

We really use our weekends for rest. That means at least half the family stays in their PJs all weekend. There is a reading, snacking, a little homework, a little yard work, and this weekend a very special event: Audrey has decided to clean her room!

For the last month we couldn't see the carpet, but in the scheme of things it just wasn't worth fighting with her about. Then out of the blue this weekend she just decided to clean. She has literally worked for at least 12 hours on her room and it is starting to look good! I am so proud of her, but I am also a little proud of our parenting--instead of fighting with her to clean up we gave her time to figure out for herself that she just can't live with her floor a foot deep in clothes and trash and who knows what else. So far she has removed 5 lawn and leaf bags of trash. I am so excited and proud of her. Now we just have to see if it'll last. But we will take it as a little victory.

We were hoping to get some deck-sitting in yesterday but if it never really warmed up to the point that we could comfortably sit outside. It is really getting nice out in the back yard. THe flowers are  coming up, the trees are leafing nicely and the grass is getting nice and green. I fertilized a few weeks ago and that seems to have given the yard a jump-start. I even had to mow this weekend! So maybe the thermometer will jump enough for us to get out there for some time this afternoon and enjoy the fresh air.

I have a rare opportunity this week to speak at the Nation Day of Prayer luncheon in Colorado Springs. I literally have no idea why they chose me out of all the people they could have asked. I suppose our story is a pretty good one, and I suppose that prayer has been a big part of the last year plus journey. I have my outline together and I am confident that I have something to say. I just hope it is well received. THe last time I spoke in public was to a bunch of middle school students at Denver Christian. They were a great audience!

In fact, I have been asked to be the graduation speaker for the 8th final grade chapel. That is going to be a tough one because I want to inspire the kids and make them laugh and generally not be boring. I am thinking that I will tell them all the things I wish I knew going into high school. Things like, make friends--high school can be pretty lonely and isolating if you don't make an effort to meet people. Or get involved--high school gives you the freedom to try all sorts of stuff from student newspaper to sports to theater to fine arts. Not too many other opportunities like that in life where you can just pick something and give it a go. Fortunately I have a month to come up with this one.

Joanne is hanging in there. She is glued to her Kindle the last couple of days--apparently she is in the middle of a pretty good book. The Kindle has been awesome for her. She has the Fire so she can get on-line with it but still mostly just uses it as a reader.We are still getting a ton of use out of our iPad. We manage all the family's email accounts through that thing and it is the best device I can think of to do that on. It's not quite a laptop replacement for me, but it has become that for Joanne. Remember, that iPad was a generous gift from Joanne's friends and in the early days she used it to communicate. In fact I still have the screen saved where she wrote "popsicles" for the first time, followed closely by the word "orange." You can't imagine how fast I moved to get her orange popsicles. If I remember correctly that was considered contraband in the hospital but we snuck them in much to Joanne's delight.

I guesss that's about it.

Prayer requests:

1. This is a selfish one but I would really prefer not to bomb on Thursday at the NDP luncheon. I hope that I can minister to the folks that are there and that our story/message would be well received.

2. Joanne is still struggling with depression, loss of identity and frustration with her limitations. She needs a "win"--something good to happen for her to lift her spirits.

3. We should find out next week what sort of financial support we will get from Denver Christian that will either allow us to keep the girls there or force us to go to plan B. We literally can't image having them anywhere else so this is a BIG need.

4. Praise!!! Joanne is sleeping better. I think we finally have a combination of meds that are allowing her to get through the night. This is a HUGE deal as she was sleepless for literally a couple of months prior to this new regimen.

Toben

Here Comes the Sun! (Toben)

Is it really possible that Spring is here and that summer is on the way? I know, just by writing these words that I have jinxed it and we will have snow by the end of the week. But I am so excited by the nice weather. Things are turning green. Our trees are leafing out and some of our bulbs are blooming. With the warm weather we get to add two activity to our list of daily activities: Walking outside and sitting on the deck. Both of these are things that we enjoy a lot. Fresh air and sunshine can cure all sorts of issues! We even got the fountain/pond working so we have the nice sound of trickling water in the background.

We have started ordering Joanne's meds directly from the central Kaiser pharmacy. they send us 3 months supplies of meds that we had previously been getting a month at a time. One corner of our kitchen looks like a full blown pharmacy. I had no idea prescription bottles came in such large sizes! We literally have a dozen massive bottles of various medications. Anyhow, it saves us from running to the pharmacy every couple of days so that's a good thing. Joanne is still on about 10 medications ranging from anti-seizure meds to children's aspirin and everything in between.

The girls are in their last push to the end of the school year. Audrey has a trip to South Dakota in a couple of weeks with her class that she is very excited about. They are going to have a blast but I tell you , you couldn't pay me enough to be a chaperon on that trip. I LOVE these kids and have known many of them for years, but you put 4 boys in a hotel room 500 miles away from home and get them hopped up on sugar and you have a problem on your hands! Hopefully they will be able to wear kids out during the day so that they actually get a little sleep at night. God bless those chaperons. You will be in my prayers.

Before Audrey goes, we need to get her a root canal and a crown. When they told me what it was going to cost I literally lost my breath! Still not sure how we are going to scrounge the money together but I am praying for a solution. I really feel like God has provided a way to make it through these tough times and that he's not going to let us down this time. It is a real test of faith but an honest and good test (as much as I would love to avoid this test).

In a couple of weeks I get to tell our story at a National Day of Prayer event. I think I have about 20 minutes to talk about what our family has gone through in the last year plus. How do you take a year's worth of spiritual/practical lessons and pack it into 25 minutes? Fortunately my mom has helped me process a years worth of lessons into some cogent form. I will post a blog with the four points I plan to make in a future post. Hopefully I don't bomb! My only other presentation about this stuff was two a bunch of middle school students who were more excited about what Joanne's scar looked like then what I was learning in my prayer life!

Speaking of which: I have been asked to be the graduation speaker at the 8th grade graduation next month! It was student selected and that makes me feel like a million bucks! But I have to think of something genuine yet motivational to say. I'm not sure that my, "Life if hard, get used to it" talk is really appropriate. Again, this is another source of great prayer for me. I want to bless the socks off these kids as they move to high school.

So I guess that's about it. Joanne is hanging in there but we are struggling with "what comes next."We are sort of transition out of a season completely focused on therapy and moving toward a more laid back approach to life. Complicate to figure that one out and to strike a balance.

Prayer requests:

1. We will find out about the girl's financial aid pack in the next weeks. We are desperate for a good package so we can keep the girls in the Denver Christian system. Pray for favor as they review our applications.

2. Pray that God would provide a blessing that will help us pay for Audrey's dental work. We are talking thousands that we will be investing into her little mouth.

3. Gran is headed to England for a few weeks. Pray for a fun and safe trip for her!

We covet your prayers and appreciate your care and friendship.

Love,

Toben

 

my new project/spring is here

hi this is emma,

i want to show you my new project, the other day i got some Play-Doh this is some of what i made so for:

spring is here, the other day I went on a walk and there are so many signs of spring outside!!!!!!!!!!!

thanks for reading this                 

 

p.s. this is the first blog i have ever written

Snow! (Toben)

After a few days in the 70's we have snow again today. Welcome to Spring in Colorado. I LOVE it because I got the fertilizer put down this last week so the moisture is all good. I think my lawn is going to green up nicely in the next weeks. My dad came up and helped me thatch the lawn and get the fertilizer done, so a big thanks to him. I think it's supposed ot get warm again toward the end of the week.

It's funny to look under the bench at the entrance to our house from the garage. Half the shoes that we keep there are flip-flops and the other half are warm, snow appropriate shoes. Our family is definitely ready for Spring!

We are sort of in a regular routine these days. Joanne and I have spent a lot of time together over the last couple of weeks. It has been really good for us to keep each others company. We do so well together. That is such a blessing. I can't imagine how hard all of this would be if we weren't so closely connected through this whole experience. If anything, the stroke has brought us closer together, and as I look back at my own life, I can see ways in which God was preparing me for such a time as this. It's hard to explain, but I feel like I was well prepared for something like this to happen. Of course I would have done almost anything to prevent this happening to Joanne, but if it had to happen, I feel like I was ready. That is God's grace.

Joanne and Emma made a list of everything they want to plant this Spring. It took up a whole page on Emms'a drawing pad. We'll have to pull together a number of family and friends to get everything up in sometime next month (or maybe even a little later). We love our backyard and various plants and flowers make it all the more enjoyable to hang out in. I remember last year how a number of friends selected different areas of our garden and came in a planted those areas so that when Joanne got back for Spalding, the plants were all in bloom. How nice that was! We have certainly been blessed by such good friends.

We spend this last weekend at my parents house--that's as close as we get to a little vacation! They are just 45 minutes down the road so it's a drive that Joanne can easily manage. We spent time hanging out, my dad and I took a 7 mile hike (I am still sore) and spent some time at Garden of the Gods--it is very handicap-friendly. We also got to have lunch at La Baguette which is our favorite all time lunch spot. The girls of course love to be there, partly because they love their Nana and Papa but also because they have TV, which they stay glued to unless we drag them out of the house! Joanne sat on the back deck, watching the deer pass by and soaking up the sun. She got a little bit of a sunburn, which I think she actually liked--the first burn of the year is a right of summer!

My folks are getting their kitchen remodled this month so we expect to host them in our home a few days over the next month. It'll be nice ot have them around and it'll put our infrequently used guest room to use.

I guess that's about it. We continue to take things one day at a time--that's the best we can do. Getting beyond today is too scary. We need to stay in the moment and look to God for his daily provision.

Prayer requests:

1. Praise! One of Joanne's many doctors made a change to one of her prescriptions and it is helping her sleep better at night. We are still up in the night at least once or twice, but Joanne is definitely able to catch some good sleep in between those breif awake periods. This is a huge deal and we are so thankful!

2. We are in some transition with Joanne's PT /OT. The in-home therapy that we got from Erika and Deliliah has come to an end. So we are left to do the activities that they taught us. Not a bad thing. We are appealing to Kaiser to approve Joanne to go to Spalding for continued therapy but until then we may be going to a Kaiser therapy facility. It all feels a little up in the air. Please pray for clarity and a clear path as we seek the best care and therapy for Joanne.

3. We are applying for financial aid for the girls to continue on at Denver Christian. We are going to need a lot of support to keep them at the school that has welcomed us in so graciously. As Audrey starts high school and Emma starts middle school it is a crucial time in their school lives and we would do almost anything to keep them in the DC family, but we'll need generous help from the school to make that happen. This is definitely our largest and most critical prayer request. We will keep you posted!

Toben