At Rainbow's End

It's been one of those month's I tell ya. 


One long crazy month...........


and it's only January eleventh.


Below is a copy of my facebook status tonight:

"just got home from the Dr with Ally this time. She has pneumonia and a partially collapsed lung. Her lower lobe on the left side looks to be either collapsed or "congealed" because of the pneumonia. Thank goodness for tender mercies."

Now below is a reply from Gabby:

"i don't get it, how is that a tender mercy?"

Ahhh, the question for the ages.  To the naked eye the above statement does look to be a little lacking in the department of tender mercies but that's because you only have half the story.

Let me fill you in.

I don't know why, but for whatever reason, we have spent many winters inside the sterile walls of a doctor's office.  From the time she was two years old Gabby had chronic sinusitis and everytime she caught a cold, she got a sinus infection.  Round after round of anti-biotic's were administered, and they worked, but with a new cold came a new infection.  That started our frequent trips to the Doctor in the winter.  Gabby was also highly suseptible to strep throat and her sister illnesses, scarlet fever and scarletina.  Since then, with only one exception that I can think of, we have spent wintertime batteling strep throat, viral pneumonia, and the many ills that come with winter.

This winter has been no exception.  Gabby has missed ten days of school, Courtney fifteen.  But Ally was doing pretty well.  No cough or cold or anything else.  Until two days before Christmas she complained of a sore throat.  Knowing our family history I took her to the doctor right away.  Turns out of course that she had the first strep throat of the season.

Ten days of amoxicillian and she was all better, well, mostly.  A few days after she finished her medicine Ally developed cold like symptoms.  Coughing, runny nose,  and this was the weird part, she started taking a nap every day after school.  I wasn't worried, I knew she was coming down with a cold and she could use the extra rest.  In the meantime, Gabby had been having the same cold like symptoms, I even teased her about spreading it to the rest of us.  On Sunday Gabby started complaining about a horrible sore throat and pain in her ears.  Larry took her in to the clinic and turns out she has strep throat and a double ear infection......ahhh, the joys of being a mother. 

Along with Gabby and Ally, Courtney has been having those same cold like symptoms.  But with Courtney's symptoms have come the sore throat.  So Sunday night I determined that I would take the girls to the Dr on the morrow.  I told everyone they were staying home from school on Monday, surprisingly I didn't get any complaints.

If you haven't noticed yet we go to the Doctor ALOT.  Even with insurance the co-pays really add up.  We can spend up to two or three hundred dollars a month in the winter on DR visits and prescriptions.  So with this in mind I thought I would only schedule one dr visit and let the dr check ears and throat of the other patient out of the kindness of his heart.  For some reason I really felt like I needed to make that appointment for Ally, even though Courtney had the more extreme symptoms.  Technically there was no reason for me to take Ally to the Dr today.  She felt fine, she looked fine, she acted fine.  When I called in to schedule the appt, the receptionist asked me what her symptoms were, I told her "sore throat, fever, vomitting", true, she had had a low grade fever the night before and her excessive coughing caused her to "spit up" a little bit but these alone would not have prompted a visit for her under normal circumstances.  But for strange and unknown reasons to me at the time, I felt like she needed to be seen. 

Ally even argued with me on the way to the Dr.,  "Mom, I don't know why I have to go to the doctor, I feel fine."

When we got to the office and the nurse was interviewing Ally about her symptoms, imagine how silly I felt when the nurse said to Ally "so you have a sore throat.?" and Ally says "ummm, no"  and when the nurse asked me why she was being seen I told her, "I just wanted to make sure her strep throat didn't come back......?"  It was true in a way.  I was there at the doctor with Ally and I didn't know why.  The feeling that she needed to be there wasn't overpowering, it was just there.

The doctor came in and did his doctor thing.  He looked at her throat, it was fine.  He checked her ears, they were fine.  He listened to her cough, listened to her lungs, listened and listened some more, and said "something's not right".   He ordered a chest x-ray and found what he was looking for.  The picture of Ally's chest show a beautifully shaped lung on the right hand side.  Clear as day.  On the left there appears to be only half a lung.  He pointed out that the cloudy white portion on the bottom of the left lung was infection or a possible collapse.  He was a little puzzled however because Ally wasn't showing any signs of pneumonia, other than a cough. 

I don't know when we would have discovered this pneumonia if it hadn't been today.  Would I have sent Ally to school tomorrow, feeling fine as she did, only to have this develop into something far worse than it is?  The feeling that she needed to be seen today was definitley a tender mercy.  It reminded me again that Someone bigger than me knows all and is leading me carefully by the hand.

Little gems of wisdom are inside each of us waiting to be spoken.


My mother in law Cindy spoke such words for me today.  A story from her own life that I hope she won't mind my sharing.

First however, let me give you a little background and some insight from my own life.

I knew the Roemers that lived down the road for as long as I can remember.  They farmed next to my grandparents and subsequently my parents.  I remember the great big man that was Lawrence Roemer.  He always waved a great big wave and had a great big smile for the Morrison girls who were outside playing.  I didn't know him as well as I would come to know him one day after marrying his grandson, but I always knew he was a kind man.  Since coming to know him I have discovered a great man who loved his family, worked hard to provide for them and gently taught at times.  It is one of these teaching moments that I want to share with you.

At the beginning of each farming year in January Lawrence would sit down with his family, Audene (his wife), Cindy(his daughter) and Rick (his son in law) and begin to plan the coming year.  The first question he would always ask would be, "what is the prize for this year?"  The answers usually consisted of something that had to do with the farm, 34 ton sugar beets, 400 sacks per acre of potatoes and so on.  Each year started the same.  Lawrence went to the bank with his request for a loan with his goals firmly in place.  Periodically during the year the phrase "keep your eye on the prize" was repeated.  And every year with little exception the prize was attained, the harvest brought in and another year began.

January of 1978 started out much the same with a family meeting.  But by mid  January, unexpected and heartbreaking news.  Larry, then five years old, was diagnosed with a rare disease about which little was known at the time.  Aplastic anemia.  As a mother I wonder sometimes how you hear the news that your  little boy has a limited number of days left on the earth.  The despair that fills your heart at those first uttered words of the doctor "he will only live for a few months" would be all consuming.  This is the position that the parents of my husband found themselves in.  Stepping out of the Doctors office with no where else to go to be alone, they found a nearby phonebooth, went inside, shut the door, held each other and cried.

Thankfully, for me, the story doesn't end there. 

As Rick and Cindy were coming out of their private chapel, Lawrence found Cindy and pulled her aside.  He hugged her tightly and whispered close to her ear "what is the prize?"

Cindy, still distraught over the news, mourned to her father that there would be no prize this time.  Her little boy was going to die.

Lawrence, the son of immigrants, said "No!  There is a prize, he WILL live!  He will be home before the year is over.  That is our prize this year"

Larry came home from Seattle on Dec 21st of that same year.  Years of illness, heartbreak, doctor appointments and airplane rides while he fought with this disease will never erase the fact that the prize was attained that year and every year after.  Larry is now whole and well. 

What a legacy of faith and courage that I have to pass on to my children.

Everyone of us has something that we want to accomplish.  Define it, plan for it, then.....

"keep your eye on the prize"! as you set out to attain it.

Today I had a moment of pure joy.


All day yesterday was a cold, windy, dreary day. Canada sent some of it's air our way and we didn't climb past the mid teens for our daytime high. Clouds hung heavy in the sky. Snow fell late in the day and the sun hid it's face. I love those kind of days. Days when all you want to do is snuggle up under your blanket, read a good book, and sip hot cocoa.

But even more than that I love days like today!

The tomorrows that Annie loved to sing about when the clouds clear out and the sun lights the earth and spreads it's warmth. The sun came out today! Bright and brilliant and warm!

Driving home from Walmart, listening to Christmas music, I felt it! My Joy! I was thinking about the sunshine, how it lights the earth. How it warms the earth. My heart swelled. Peace pierced my heart. I took a deep breath and inhaled the joy around me. The sweetness that the earth feels when it's sun comes out.

My thoughts were then drawn to The Son.

The light of the World.

My warmth, my light, my peace, my Savior in all things. The joy I will one day feel in His presence

My heart swelled to overflowing.


He knows me!


He loves me!


And this Christmas Season I'm grateful for the chance to celebrate Him!

This year for the Acres Organic conference Larry traveled to Minneapolis Minnesota.

But unbeknownst to me, before he left, he left Braden in charge. The day he flew out he took Braden aside and told him

"Son, I'm going to be gone for a couple of days. You are going to be the man of the house. You need to take care of your sisters and mom and make sure things go okay."

"okay dad" was Braden's four year old reply

This conversation took place without my knowledge

Braden was his usual helpful self so I didn't think anything was out of place until Thursday when he announced he needed a glass.

I asked him if he wanted water in the glass.

"No"

"well, do you want ice in it for your soda?"

"no ice, just a glass with noffing"

As our strange conversation goes on I get more and more confused...a glass, no ice, no water. Maybe he isn't thirsty...then why does he want a glass.

Once I'm clear as mud about what he wants I give him the glass. I try not to stare and wonder what he is going to do with the glass because he gets kind of shy when there is unwanted attention on him. So I watch him out of the corner of my eye and see him spit into the glass.
I look at him and say "what are you doing bud?"

He says"I spit in glass like Daddy"

I think, "oh no"

That night he climbs onto my lap to watch a movie, with his cup in hand, and spits throughout the whole movie.

I told Larry about this on the phone that night and he felt a little bit alarmed that his little boy might pick up on his bad habit. Maybe this will be a catalyst to helping him quit chewing.

One other way Braden thought it was important to "man up" was in the wearing of his apparel. Again Thursday night, he was walking around the house with his pants low on his hips. His bumcrack is hanging out and when I pointed this out to him he says

"me just like daddy now"

You won't find a litte boy anywhere who doesn't want to be just like his daddy more than Braden.

This year Courtney went as a 1970's basketball player....she rocked the fro! And got the most attention from the candy givers. Check out her form.

And our very own little superhero. Braden went as Spider-Man. He loved this costume and wore it every day for about a week. He also didn't want mom to put it away with all of the rest of the costumes in storage. He insisted I keep it out....so I did...it's hanging in his closet to be worn at his next whim.

Trick or Treating was fun. We walked around our small town for about an hour then walked back to the church for some trunk or treating. The weather was really nice, high fifties, so it wasn't a bad evening for walking.

Oh it's good to be fifteen!

I remember those carefree days. All the time spent with friends...no cares in the world...all you really had to worry about was, well..........your entire future!

But between the hectic school schedule, seminary, wanting a car, wondering where to go to college, (and soon voice lessons), bugging mom about a car, worrying about how much car insurance will cost once we have a student driver (oh wait, that's me), and being a wonderful big sister, Gabby has some time to spend with her friends.

Just a side note about Gabby's pals. She has known these girls since we moved here six years ago. She was in the fourth grade and hating her parents because we moved her in the middle of the year. She didn't know anyone and she was afraid that no one would like her. But she made friends fast and they have continued to be the best of friends. She has had this group of seven that she does everything with. If she isn't with one of these girls she's with another. As a mom I have felt very fortunate that these girls come from such great families and they are a support and encouragement to Gabby and she to them. I coached them in Volleyball for three years and have watched them grow so I feel a little bit of ownership in them. I know the other moms feel the same way.

This year for Cheyenna's birthday (16th), she hosted a murder mystery dinner. Gabby was supposed to be "Torchy" a lounge singer from the late 1920's. They had so much fun. In the end it was Cheyenna who was the murderer.

Well, we finally did it!

We haven't had family pics since Gabby was three and Courtney was one. Well not "official" family pics, the ones where you all dress in coordinating outfits and you have an actual photographer there. (The ones where we were all posed in front of my christmas tree don't count) Below are a few samples of our attempt at amatuer modeling. Hope you like!