In life, do you ever wish you knew the end of the story when you are somewhere in the middle? Do you think knowing the ending would change how you behave in the middle?
Last weekend was an absolutely crazy weekend for our family and now that it is over I wish I had known the ending somewhere in the middle.
9:00 am – I was having a nice breakfast with my two beautiful sisters. My cellphone rings and my husband informs me that his grandma had a stroke. At that time, it didn't sound good. Fear started rising up, especially since this is my mother-in-law's mom. April is approaching for our family, which will be one year since Nevaeh passed and the last thing we needed for all of our hearts right now was for grandma to take a turn for the worse. My beautiful sisters prayed for me.
12:00 pm – We decide to go to Milwaukee to visit Grandma in the hospital and to see what was going on since we still had no clue on her condition. We were planning on being in Milwaukee the next day to celebrate my husband's birthday so we decide to get a hotel room for the night. Priceline was very good to us and we get a $2 gift certificate for $25 from Restaurant.com for dinner. It was at an Irish Pub but but my husband called and made sure kids can eat there. They say sure, at dinner time, no problem.
2:30 pm – We arrive at the hospital and rush inside. We find Grandma's room. Thankfully, she is awake and talking in an understandable way. It appears they caught the stroke very early on and that at this point in time, only her ability to find words was affected, but her speech is understandable and none of her physical movement was affected. We are very grateful.
5:00pm – We return to the car, grateful that it appears Grandma will be okay and ready to start our “vacation.” I go to the driver side door and go to get in. I realize that the window has been smashed out and our GPS was stolen. I tell my husband and a little shocked we proceed back into the hospital to head to security to report what took place.
5:15 I inform security of what happened, there immediate response “Those have been a hot item lately.” Arghhhhhh, it would be nice if you would place a sign letting people know!
5:30 I return to the car with security and my husband is there on his cell phone trying to talk to our insurance company. Just so you know (in case you aren't in insurance) your personal property is not covered by your car insurance it is covered by your homeowners ~ even when it is in your car.
5:30-8pm We spend the next 2.5 hours in a 40 degree parking ramp arguing with our insurance company as to why our car, which is full of glass is not drivable with 2 little kids and why we need a tow and a car to rent. Apparently, there is a storm out East which is not helping things, because we probably spent an hour of that time on hold. In the end, we decide to proceed at our own expense and we have our car towed back to Madison and rent a car. At this point in time, the $$$ signs are adding up in my mind and I realize we will be out $500. Of course, Living above our Circumstances, is ringing through my head throughout the whole day and I am trying to pray and trust God that "even in want," He has our back, even though I'm not feeling it right now.
10:30pm We finally arrive at our hotel and decide to walk down the street to our Irish Pub. It is Saint Patty's weekend, we don't drink, we are not Irish and we have our 2 kids ages 4 and 6 with us! We walk into the bar, with Irish music blasting full blast and ask if we can have our order to go. They say yes. We sit on some benches and wait. My son hops up on some benches and does is own version of a jig for our us. It's a beautiful moment and I am so thankful for my easy going kids.
12:00 am We are in bed for the night.
Monday we get the window fixed at our expense.
Tuesday, I spend 3 hours interviewing insurance companies now that I have experience and know what kind of questions to ask. I send a letter to the hospital to let them know about our experience. AAA wins our new service and we now got $20 for getting a quote from AAA, and we will be saving $100 dollars a year, plus having way better service. Things are beginning to settle a little.
Wednesday at 2:00pm I talk to the hospital and they inform me that if I send in the receipts they will be covering ALL our expenses from the break in. The grand total $497! The relief, priceless!
Thank you for reading our saga! Like I said, if I had known the end somewhere in the middle, some of my responses and attitudes may have been different. I wish I could say, I blew through the trial with flying colors but I didn't.
And Grandma, she came home on Thursday!!!!!!!!!!
Not all stories end with “happy endings” like mine did but what I am continuing to learn throughout it all is that I need to keep my eyes fixed on Him even in the storms, and that ultimately we do know the end, and it will be a happy ending.
Last weekend was an absolutely crazy weekend for our family and now that it is over I wish I had known the ending somewhere in the middle.
9:00 am – I was having a nice breakfast with my two beautiful sisters. My cellphone rings and my husband informs me that his grandma had a stroke. At that time, it didn't sound good. Fear started rising up, especially since this is my mother-in-law's mom. April is approaching for our family, which will be one year since Nevaeh passed and the last thing we needed for all of our hearts right now was for grandma to take a turn for the worse. My beautiful sisters prayed for me.
12:00 pm – We decide to go to Milwaukee to visit Grandma in the hospital and to see what was going on since we still had no clue on her condition. We were planning on being in Milwaukee the next day to celebrate my husband's birthday so we decide to get a hotel room for the night. Priceline was very good to us and we get a $2 gift certificate for $25 from Restaurant.com for dinner. It was at an Irish Pub but but my husband called and made sure kids can eat there. They say sure, at dinner time, no problem.
2:30 pm – We arrive at the hospital and rush inside. We find Grandma's room. Thankfully, she is awake and talking in an understandable way. It appears they caught the stroke very early on and that at this point in time, only her ability to find words was affected, but her speech is understandable and none of her physical movement was affected. We are very grateful.
5:00pm – We return to the car, grateful that it appears Grandma will be okay and ready to start our “vacation.” I go to the driver side door and go to get in. I realize that the window has been smashed out and our GPS was stolen. I tell my husband and a little shocked we proceed back into the hospital to head to security to report what took place.
5:15 I inform security of what happened, there immediate response “Those have been a hot item lately.” Arghhhhhh, it would be nice if you would place a sign letting people know!
5:30 I return to the car with security and my husband is there on his cell phone trying to talk to our insurance company. Just so you know (in case you aren't in insurance) your personal property is not covered by your car insurance it is covered by your homeowners ~ even when it is in your car.
5:30-8pm We spend the next 2.5 hours in a 40 degree parking ramp arguing with our insurance company as to why our car, which is full of glass is not drivable with 2 little kids and why we need a tow and a car to rent. Apparently, there is a storm out East which is not helping things, because we probably spent an hour of that time on hold. In the end, we decide to proceed at our own expense and we have our car towed back to Madison and rent a car. At this point in time, the $$$ signs are adding up in my mind and I realize we will be out $500. Of course, Living above our Circumstances, is ringing through my head throughout the whole day and I am trying to pray and trust God that "even in want," He has our back, even though I'm not feeling it right now.
10:30pm We finally arrive at our hotel and decide to walk down the street to our Irish Pub. It is Saint Patty's weekend, we don't drink, we are not Irish and we have our 2 kids ages 4 and 6 with us! We walk into the bar, with Irish music blasting full blast and ask if we can have our order to go. They say yes. We sit on some benches and wait. My son hops up on some benches and does is own version of a jig for our us. It's a beautiful moment and I am so thankful for my easy going kids.
12:00 am We are in bed for the night.
Monday we get the window fixed at our expense.
Tuesday, I spend 3 hours interviewing insurance companies now that I have experience and know what kind of questions to ask. I send a letter to the hospital to let them know about our experience. AAA wins our new service and we now got $20 for getting a quote from AAA, and we will be saving $100 dollars a year, plus having way better service. Things are beginning to settle a little.
Wednesday at 2:00pm I talk to the hospital and they inform me that if I send in the receipts they will be covering ALL our expenses from the break in. The grand total $497! The relief, priceless!
Thank you for reading our saga! Like I said, if I had known the end somewhere in the middle, some of my responses and attitudes may have been different. I wish I could say, I blew through the trial with flying colors but I didn't.
And Grandma, she came home on Thursday!!!!!!!!!!
Not all stories end with “happy endings” like mine did but what I am continuing to learn throughout it all is that I need to keep my eyes fixed on Him even in the storms, and that ultimately we do know the end, and it will be a happy ending.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
thanks for the word-
ReplyDeletevery timely-
I miss your process- pls keep sharing - its a gift to me and my family!
Very nice...Hebrews 12:11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (ESV).
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
I read this when you first posted it on my Blackberry. I had to read it again and Praise God for your testimony and your song selection, "I have to believe" by Rita Springer! They were a beautiful reminder of how amazing He is!
ReplyDeleteYou are such a blessing J!
xoxo
Love,
Mig
P.S. My boys and I are dancing to your selctions LOL Thank you!