It has been quite a while since I have posted which is a good sign for me! I continue to stay pretty level and that is good as well!
My strength continues to be a challenge that can be frustrating, but I only need to think for a moment about where I have been to contain that frustration. :) Honestly though, I really do hope that I can gain more strength and ability to function more normally. I am making some progress but I have a very long ways to go! Just being able to get through a day without needing a rest would be really nice. If I over extend myself, my whole body begins to tremble and I just feel awful. So I try not to let myself get to that point since it takes time to recover from that.
We made a rather quick decision to go to Montana. We had planned to take this trip nearly a year ago but after all the surgeries and problems this year we nearly decided we needed to wait. Perhaps it would have made more financial sense to wait and it would have been nice to be stronger but we decided that we just needed to go. We needed that time as a family away from the reminders of my illness and I think we all needed to be refreshed and energized. The Lord has been so good to us! We decided to just go, found very reasonable rooms and had a great deal of fun! What a blessing!
I grew up in Montana but had not been back there for 5 years which was when my parents moved closer to us. So the last time I was there was more stressful and discouraging as we packed my parents up and sold most of their things on an auction. It was such a good reminder that "things" don't matter. We can't take them with us when we die and they are so temporal. Anyway, we spent a couple days in Conrad where I grew up. We saw a couple friends and visited with relatives in church. The Flikkema's were so gracious to us by meeting us for breakfast Saturday morning and then having us over for dinner and supper on Sunday. They made the time in Conrad that honestly can be a bit discouraging to me a time to remember good things. It was fun, though, to go back and show our kids where I grew up, where I went to school, etc. The younger two were babies when they were there so it was all new to them and there were fun memories for Tanner and Kylie as we drove past grandpa's old farm.
We spent several days in Glacier Park, again reliving so many times in my past of spending childhood vacations there. It worked out very well for me to rest in or around the van while Kyle and the kids went on several hikes and did some sightseeing. It was such a blessing for me to once again be there, breathe that fresh Montana air, spend time in the mountains and feel the peace of resting in the mountains so majestically created by God for our enjoyment. I don't think I will ever understand how a person could be an atheist after spending time there. The glory of God is so abundantly clear in His creativity in forming such splendor. I think we all needed that time of peace and quiet, a time for reflection and joy.
The traveling there and back was probably the biggest challenge. Both times I hit my wall on one of the days of travel (we took two days each way) and was so exhausted that I trembled like a leaf. My kids questioned how riding in a car can be exhausting but for little old me, it is just difficult and more than I could easily tolerate. But sometimes it is worth while to over extend myself and this was such a time. Besides that I was so glad to hear that people were surprised at how good I am looking. I finally think I am to the point that I am not an obviously sick person. That is a relief because I didn't always like the attention that illness has brought me. It was always attention that was well intended and loving but I would much rather just blend in and I think I am finally there more of the time!
We praise the Lord for this time together as a family. I didn't imagine that this would happen again so for our family to travel and enjoy a time away together was just such a blessing! We are so grateful for the small things and grateful for this big thing in our life to enjoy!
