Three months ago I would have said that I led a pretty boring life. My big adventures included trips to the grocery store (I'm sure Wal-Mart has a search team out looking for me  ), driving the kids to karate and dance lessons and church on Sunday. Don't get me wrong...boring was great! Now days it seems everyday is a new adventure and our trip home from Little Rock was no exception. As I was driving through Transyvania, LA (yes, there is such a place) I thought I heard a helicopter flying overhead. Well, it got louder and louder and I thought maybe it was one of those highway patrol helicopters and it had caught me going 10 miles over the speed limit.  I was pretty sure that at any moment a police car was going to come up behind me and pull me over and give me a good lecture and my first ticket in seven years but after a few minutes I started thinking the helicopter might just land on my car because it was getting so loud. I decided I better pull over and wait for the policeman to arrive and as soon as I pulled over the helicopter vanished! That is when it hit me that the sound was coming from the car. I got out to inspect and saw that I had a flat tire on the back. I got back in and picked up my cell phone to call for roadside assistance only to find that I had no signal and then I started to panic a little. Here I was in the middle of no where with a flat tire, a cell phone with no signal and a baby that has just had a heart transplant. I had never had a flat tire before and for a brief moment thought maybe I should try to change the tire until I realized that I had no idea where the spare was and where the jack was. It was then that I remembered seeing a work crew working on the railroad track a few miles back so I decided I better try to get back to them and ask for help. I drove very slowly and finally came to the work crew and as I drove up two gentlemen came out to help me. They said they knew that I would be back since they too had heard my "helicopter". They changed the flat and directed me to the only tire shop in town which was another three or four miles in the other direction. As I drove there I said to myself "Ok, here is yet another chance to make lemonaide or to just be sour from the lemons" and with as much as I have to be thankful for I decided on the lemonaide! As I waited on the shop to replace the tire I met some of the nicest people and was able to share Brea's story of how God had provided a heart for her and how our faith had gotten us through this ordeal. After an hour or so I was back on the road and as I drove away I wondered if maybe God had put me there in Transylvania at that very moment to share our story with someone to give them a little hope. I may never know but I do now know what a flat tire sounds like now and that there are good people in Transylvania, LA.
We were welcomed home by a hot Pink sign in the front yard from our church and balloons on the mailbox from our neighbors. Danny surprised us with a wonderful dinner of lasagna, garlic bread and seven layer salad and even though it was from the frozen food aisle it tasted just like home to me! Sleeping in my own bed for the first time in 9 weeks was a huge treat and showering in my own shower (with water pressure) was not so bad either! Our little Brea on the other hand was not having such a great time. She barely slept for more than 30 minutes at a time all night and barely drank anything when she got up on Saturday morning. I called the doctor and they started her on her Zyrtec again since it seemed that the change in climate might be triggering her allergies. It did make a difference in her "drainage" but she continued to eat poorly and grumpy would be an under statement. She got up at 3:00 am on Sunday and never went back to bed and had no nap. After three calls to the cardiologist and two calls to our pediatrician I decided to take her to the ER on Sunday and find out what was going on. Our pediatrician called ahead and they were waiting on us when we got there. The doctor that we saw goes to our church and after talking with us he called our transplant doctor in Little Rock and they decided that it might be one of several different things so they ran some test. We had chest x-rays and blood work which both showed everything to be normal so it was decided that Brea is suffering from withdrawals. They gave her some IV fluids and suddenly she started drinking her bottle again. By the time we got home with her she was acting like our little peanut again and she went to bed and has slept pretty good so far. They told us that these were all signs of withdrawal and it was possible for it to last 48-72 hours or weeks.  Please pray for the 48 hours! On a positive note...we got to see one of the ICU nurses that took care of Brea while she was at the ER. We got to tell her how much we appreciated her and thanked her for taking such good care of Brea.
The kids didn't make it home over the weekend. They already had plans to go to their cousins dance competition (in Wichita) and to see their cousins Ben and Anna while there and go to Ben's baseball game. Since Brooke had had a sore throat all week we decided it was best to give it a few more days and they will be coming home on Tuesday. I can't wait to see them and I can't wait to have dinner at our kitchen table together for the first time in what seems like forever. Their friends here have missed them but I think I might have to be selfish and keep them all to myself at first.  I'm sure that will change the minute one of their buddies rings the doorbell or calls. Oh well, it will just be good to have them back under the same roof as me.
So, next time I start to think that my life is a little boring I'll look back at these past nine weeks and welcome the boredom. I'm still planning on making "lemonaide" when life hands me a bunch of "lemons" and instead of asking God why things are happening I'm just going to trust that He has it all in His plans and I'll make the most of it. Thank you Lord for the lemons in life that give us the opportunities to make the lemonaide!
Goodnight from HOME!
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