An emotional rollercoaster fortnight has given me some profound lessons. The teacher I am in awe of this evening is my dear friend, Remle. I hope that those of you who are journeying with Abbie have been blessed, as I have, to follow Remle and her husband Jim as they travelled a narrow, uphill path that led Jim to Heaven on July 2.
On Tuesday, July 17th, Jim's 39th birthday, there was a celebration service at the same spot where Jim and Remle were wed over ten years ago. Under palms swaying in the breeze, overlooking Jim's beloved ocean, I saw the glory of God made manifest more radiantly than I have ever witnessed with my eyes. My precious friend, now a young widow and single parent, glowed in her white dress and haku lei. Not only did she summon the strength to welcome each of us with a smile and hug, but she danced in praise of the God she is depending on to "never let go"...as she raised her arms and face to heaven during her hula, I observed the truest worship I have ever seen, that which flows from a broken but trusting heart.
True strength is not always brutish power covered in armor and sweat, sometimes true strength is noble grace, clothed in white and ornamented with flowers. Rem, if you are reading this I am exquisitely blessed to call you sister and friend, and am so terribly proud of you.
Abbie is well, and in the midst of another cycle of healing. Like an alarm clock, complete with bell ringing, Abbie's body "goes off" at 9pm each night. She goes from breathing normally to needing 3 or 4 liters of oxygen within minutes, and continues this for about 2 hours. This is related to her "Triple Warmer" meridian, which is the first cycle we really noted her experience back in February. It seems that her body goes through cycles in most of the meridians and then circles back to the beginning again, perhaps to begin another round of deeper healing. Who knows? That is just my guess.
My mom, who we expected to be here through the end of July, had to leave yesterday to tend to my father who is enough under the weather that his doctor told him not to come to Hawaii this Friday as planned. Please pray that he would recover quickly! We had three other houseguests (Linda & Adrienne Carver, and Brittany Currie) depart yesterday as well...so if you are in Los Alamos there are a lot of hugs on the way via Linda!! Our house is feeling oversized and quiet tonight!
Abbie lost yet another tooth last night...one of what I called her "pirate smile teeth", her oversized canines that were a bit dracula-like. Whenever I saw them in her smile, I knew she was up to no good, she was being my pirate princess. She's thrilled about racking up more Tooth Fairy Treasure, but I have mixed feeling about seeing another bit of my old Abbie transition away from me. The sadness only flickers briefly however, because she is so happy these days, and her big girl, or rather old-almost-toothless-lady smile brightens my day too much to gaze in the rear view mirror for very long.
2 comments:
I know what you mean about that little toothless smile... you know Izzy's front teeth were removed and she has quite the toothless grin. At first it made her look so old and bothered me a little, but I have learned to just love that little gummy smile and I joke to her it is a slot to which I can insert all kinds of things, like cheerios or cookies. She can't resist :o).
Still riding those waves ~
Annie
I found Jim and Remle's blog through your blog quite a while ago and have also followed their journey. You are so right about Remle and what an amazing spirit she seems throughout everything! I can't imagine living in her "shoes". I am always inspired when I come read about Abbie - her progress and about your faith. I can't say that I know you, of course, but from what I am able to discern from the things you say in your blog, you are very much a woman of Godly faith as well. I'm glad you wrote about Jim and that I was able to read about his family's journey. It always puts things in perspective for me - seeing what Godly women can create within their own families! I feel blessed to be able to share (a little bit) in your faith-driven journey! Thank you.
In His Love and Blessings,
annb
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