What a week...........

Some weeks go by like the movie "Groundhog day" where it feels like we are just doing the same old thing over and over, I don't mind these weeks there is something very comforting with repetition, though it can feel boring at times I love the "safe" feeling you get with these kinds of weeks. I kinda should have known this was not going to be that kind of week, when we started it with the police at our house Monday morning at 7:45am. I was in the bathroom getting ready for the day, Adam woke up and did his routine "can I call my Dad?" ( I had the false feeling that it was going to be a "Groundhog day" kinda week) I gave him permission and told him the phone was on the charger, I heard him call his Dad (Adam will only talk to people with the phone on speaker) I heard Dad say "sorry buddy Daddy can't talk now I'm really busy, I'll call you back" click.....Well, when Adam wants to talk on the phone you don't hang up on him!! He usually will call his Dad right back a few hundred times, sometimes leaving a not so nice message on his voice mail, until I come along and rip the phone away. So, when I heard him dialing again I didn't think much of it until, I hear him say out loud (Thank God, he talks to himself all the time so, I have a heads up on things)"I'll call the police" Adam has had issues with calling 911 ever since he was 5. We use to have to keep our phone hidden, but as he has gotten older he has gotten over this urge or so I thought. I ran to the bedroom and grabbed the phone, sure enough he called 911 I hung it up as fast as I could, I truly thought (hoped) it had not connected. Within a few minutes the phone rang (no such luck with it not connecting) and they had to send a patrol out. Back in the old days the police wouldn't even come out they would call and confirm that everything was okay, these days I guess if they get a call they have to come out. I was in a bath towel with a wet head, Adam looked a fright with the worse case of bed head you can imagine, and to top it all off he must have bite his lip in his sleep because he woke up with dried blood all around his mouth! We live on the same street as the police station, we could actually walk there if need be. I quick threw on clothes, and before I could get started on Adam, our doorbell rang! We know a lot of the police officers in our town because we live so close and mainly because of Adam, he loves a person in a uniform!!!! However I had never seen this officer, I wish I had a picture of his face when he was looking at Adam, mainly Adam's lip of course, I said "hi, sorry my son got the phone this use to be a issue with him but I thought he out grew it, so sorry" Police officer pretty much ignores me and continues to look at Adam and asks "Are you okay, son?" Adam decides at this moment to become shy and quietly in a scared voice manages to squeak out "yes" Thankfully the police officer believed us though I keep waiting for social services to come by! The day did get better when I received an email from Dylon saying it's not for complete sure, but there is a very good chance he will be coming home the end of August for a week!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have it on my calendar so, it better happen!! (prayers on this subject are totally welcomed and encouraged!!)

Then one of our neighbors passed away, he was a pretty elderly man, and we really don't know him or his wife all that well, but I loved watching him outside tend to his lawn, and cruise around in his scooter. Again, there was always something so comforting and safe seeing him year after year. Though I don't know him well, I really will miss him and my heart hurts for his dear sweet wife. They had many children which I have witnessed what a true blessing this is, there home has been filled with people the last few days. Next week I plan on stopping by with a card and meal, maybe I'll be blessed with getting to know her more. Please pray for this family, trust me I know when my Dad passed away at age 79, it did not make it any easier knowing he had lived a full life. Yes, that fact was comforting later, but I was not ready to say good bye, Wednesday the 15, marked the 6th year we lost my Dad. It still hurts a little.........

Then my sister called me with some questions, she had just read in the paper that a 33 year old man had drowned in a river in North Dakota with the same name as a foster child my parents had, my parents were foster parents even before I was born, this young man lived with us for 2 years with his 2 sisters. It is because of this exact family, I don't think I could ever foster parent though it is something I go back and forth with thinking about. My brother and his wife have become foster parents in the last year, I give them a lot of credit for doing this. I remember the day the social worker came to take these kids back to their mom, they cried they didn't want to leave, they felt safe at our home and it was probably the most "normal" 2 years of their lives. I was very angry at the social worker, though I know this was out of his hands. We never heard of them again, though I never forgot them. I have googled them before never really found anything, I just found out today my brother had googled them also, he actually knew where they had been living. This young man had lived his last 3 years in a mission home that helps the homeless, he struggled with alcohol, I do wonder what if......... what if they could have stayed with us......would his life maybe been different??? I called the mission where he had been living today, I also searched more in depth and finally found a phone number for one of his sisters, after over 25 years of seeing or talking I called, she said she still thought of us and just kept saying how she couldn't believe we still thought of them and called. It was sad, how she honestly didn't think we would remember them. It didn't sound like life had been easy for them but thankfully she moved far away and she seemed to really have her life pretty together, I am happy to say she wants to stay in contact and was really excited that I had asked if we could, we exchanged addresses and I look forward to catching up more. I wish this "meeting" could have taken place under different circumstances, I wish her brother was still alive and that I could have talked with him and told him how much my family and I loved him and remembered...........Prayers for this family are also requested.

Sorry, I wish I could say it ends there, but I also got news Thursday of one of Dylon's friend/teammate in Middle and High school is fighting for his life today. He joined the Army right out of high school, he in his very short life has already done 2 tours to Iraq and was just recently in Afghanistan when he got shot in the leg, unfortunately it hit an artery and because of the huge amount of blood loss he went into cardiac arrest, they had to cut open his chest to perform CPR, he now has swelling of his brain and is in a drug induced coma. It is a wait and see game, he needs a miracle, he is only 21 years old, he needs a miracle, his name is Ben Kopp, please pray for him!!!!!!!!! I share these stories because I believe with all my heart in the power of prayer, though our prayers may not always be answered the way we see best, prayer is still changing things and helping in ways we may not see or understand. I humbly ask anyone reading this, please pray.......................