Skip to main content

Safe to Shore

One of Theodore’s favorite movies to watch is Finding Dory. Near the beginning of the film when Dory meets Hank, an octopus who can’t stand the thought of being released back to the ocean, he brings to light a very peculiar human interaction. Hank pokes fun of our response to the question “How are you?” He is flabbergasted at our human nature of simply saying “fine” or “good” when presented with this question. He cannot fathom why all humans seem to have the same fake answer. For the first time in my life, I truly have to pause when asked “How are you doing?” or “How is your day?”
As a father and husband I have been confronted with the fact that I am in a situation that I cannot fix with my own strength. I am left feeling powerless and drifting at sea. The only fix I can provide is to turn the situation over to the Lord. It is His strength that has allowed me to keep going. Learning to trust in Him and in His plan is a struggle that I try to overcome on a daily basis.
Recently at church we were introduced to a new song entitled “My Lighthouse”. The lyrics paint a beautiful picture of where my faith is right now.

You are the peace in my troubled sea
You are the peace in my troubled sea
My lighthouse, my lighthouse
Shining in the darkness. I will follow You
My lighthouse, my lighthouse
I will trust the promise
You will carry me safe to shore…

That is my prayer each day. I pray that I am able to trust in the Lord to carry me safe to shore, no matter where that shore may be or the challenges I may face. Through these rough seas, my hope and faith are centered on my Lord and Savior to be my Lighthouse.
So, how am I doing? How is my family doing? We are doing as well as can be expected. Through the love and support of the family and friends around us, as well as the prayers that have been lifted up for Oscar and us, we are navigating these troubled seas together. Somedays are tougher than others. It at times is very hard to calm your mind and focus on the day to day tasks that never seem to stop coming. So Please keep praying. Your prayers are a great source of strength and are felt on a daily basis by Julie and I.
Let me end this entry with another Theodore favorite movie reference. What do you do when life gets you down? JUST KEEP SWIMMING, JUST KEEP SWIMMING. Thanks for the advice Dory, I think that is exactly what we will do, swim all the way until we are safe at shore.

Comments

  1. So very raw and so very true- thanks for sharing Brian!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pulmonary Atresia with Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD)

To everyone that has prayed for Oscar. Please keep praying. Today at his fetal echo cardiogram we found out he has Pulmonary Atresia with Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD). What this means is that there normally is a pulmonic valve that opens and allows blood to exit the heart through the right ventricle. Oscar's pulmonary atresia valve is permanently sealed or absent. Along with that, the main pulmonary artery is very small about 1/4 of the size it should be and it is much smaller than the Aorta. Oscar also has fluid surrounding his entire heart which was not there on the August 1 ultrasound. His heart function is okay, but it is not good. During the 2 hour fetal echocardigram there were also signs of fetal arrhythmia of Oscar's heart rate dropping lower and more quickly then it should. Going forward we need your prayers for our son's heart. We believe in a God that heals and does miracles. We don't know if Oscar being born alive is going to be that miracle we are gi...

3 years

3 years today since Oscar left us and went to Heaven. I can't help, but replay his last days in my mind and vividly recall certain details. For any parent with a sick child whether that child was an infant, child, teenager, or adult those last days, hours, and minutes are such a blessing to have, but still so painful when you allow yourself to really remember them. You look back and you can't help, but wonder if you made the right decisions, did you push them too hard, why didn't you see how sick they really were. Those are things that after 3 years I still wonder and I am sure always will.  To someone that hasn't lived through their child dying you are probably thinking that doesn't seem healthy, but for us that have lived through this I beg to differ that I think it is completely normal. You see as a parent you always want to do what is best for your child to make sure they are happy, healthy, and feel loved. My child is not here to think about those things prese...

Meeting some of Estella's Team

Brian and I headed for the MFM office Tuesday, August 1. Our appointment was at 10:45am and we got called back around 11:00am. Our ultrasound technician was wonderful. She was so kind and it turned out she lived in the same town we did. It was a long ultrasound and one where questions were asked, but answers were not able to be given. Estella was moving a lot during the first half of the ultrasound which was fun to see and good to hear her heartbeat (155 bpm). Throughout the ultrasound the technician had to leave from time to time to talk to the doctor and to see what remaining images he wanted. About 12:30pm the ultrasound was finally completed and into the room came the maternal fetal medicine specialist doctor and genetic counselor. The doctor told Brian and me that our baby had some significant birth defects: a bilateral cleft lip with possible palate involvement, a VSD heart defect, and Dandy Walker Malformation that affects the cerebellum in the brain. I sat on the ultrasou...