Father Moses Berry gave us this beautiful bench! It used to be in his museum and then when that ended it went into storage. I love it so much and I'm thankful he thought of me. I love having things in our home that once belonged to him and Magdalena.
"Cancer, My Love" by Mioara Grigore has made such an impression on me. I feel such a connection to Mioara, her fears, and her love for her children and husband. I can relate. Mioara married her dear husband when she was 35 and within six years they had five children. When their youngest was just a baby she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. She endured so much suffering and pain with the treatments. But most of her pain came from her fears of leaving her children motherless. Her inability to take care of her family the way she was accustomed to also caused her a great deal of sorrow, I can understand because for months I have not had the energy I am used to and have not been able to bless and serve my family the way I would like too. For some, this is so hard. Some thrive off of serving others and when they can't it's depressing. But Mioara found that through her suffering she learned what the love of Christ meant and I think learned to thank God for her cancer. Sadly, after her breast cancer was treated she developed lung cancer. Through all of this, she was somehow caring for her elderly mother and mother-in-law. She writes so honestly and beautifully. For me, this book is up there with "Everyday Saints".
We are in the third week of Lent and it's been a bit of a doozy. :) But we've made it through, thank God! Monday I woke up with horrible neck pain and locked up muscles. My neck was so tight my right shoulder was higher than my left. I did a lot of heat, magnesium lotion, praying, and I think my husband anointed me. It was an exhausting day because it was so hard to move and I was so uncomfortable. Thankfully, I woke up Tuesday with less tightness. I was so surprised! It felt miraculous considering how uncomfortable I was Monday.
Then Wednesday early Wednesday morning I heard one of the kids get water. Our kids are not early risers so I was worried something might be wrong. When I got up to make our coffee, maybe around 7:30 Athanasius came in the kitchen looking awful! He looked pale, exhausted, and visibly unwell. He had a fever and felt nauseous. Later he vomited, had chills, and continued to look terrible. Then he said, "I can't move my left hand good." The fingers of his hand were basically locked up, and that's when I realized he had been hyperventilating and I had not caught it. He had been breathing weirdly, like out of breath but it wasn't registering until he mentioned his hand. Years ago when I used to have pretty terrible panic attacks I would hyperventilate and my hands would curl up and sometimes I could not move them for quite a while. Athanasius was also dehydrated because he felt so nauseous he was having a hard time drinking. Our doctor recommended taking him to the ER. His hand improved once they gave him fluids. The doctor was baffled by his hand though, but I wasn't. Today is Friday and he still looks puny but less weak and seems more himself, joking and being snarky. :) But man, a scare like that can really take a lot out of you, physically and emotionally.
The kids have been doing school this morning. I read two stories to Moses earlier, Flicka Ricka Dicka and Papa and the Pioneer Quilt. Moses and Felicity are playing with their animals, Clay is sitting with them, work must be slow. I'm glad, usually, he is so busy. Boaz has done math and is now doing his school reading. They want to watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory today, we'll see. :) Athanasius did his school reading and half a lesson in math, he is resting now.
Eleanor is volunteering today at our library. Last night she and I watched the second Hunger Games movie. It was so fun to hang out with her!! She read the books so I thought it would be fun to watch the movies together.
