What We Learned

It's hard to believe that it's been over 2 weeks since Nick's back surgery.  He had two full days at home for his recovery, and then - bam! - Ellie arrived on the scene.  In the last 11 days, he's kind of been on the back burner as we've welcomed our daughter and adjusted to her arrival.  Although he still has "tremors" of the old pain and occasional numbness in his leg, he is pretty much pain-free and we are so grateful for this surgery and for how the timing worked out just right.  He might not be able to bend or lift or twist or put on his pants (hee hee), but a huge burden has been lifted - for both of us.

Today, he got his freaky-looking stitches out and had a good report from the doctor.  In 4-6 more weeks, he'll be able to start physical therapy and start moving and lifting a bit more... 

Through all of this, we learned a lot.  Here are just a few of the many things we learned and continue to learn:

1) Prayer - We noticed that our prayers were more earnest and more sincere during this time.  It seems that we pray more often and more fervently when we're suffering or going through a hard time than when things feel ok.  In January and February, we read Psalm 13's "How long, O Lord?" and truly cried out for mercy.  But, we need to pray like this in both good and hard times, because we are always in need of great mercy, and we are always in need of God.
 
2) Marriage - "In sickness and in health"... this part of our marriage vows came back to me over and over again as I cared for Nick when I was feeling huge and pregnant, and I'm sure it has been on Nick's mind as he has served me over the last 10 days. 

3) Selfishness - In the past few months, we both "deserved" to be selfish in a way, as we dealt with physical changes. But we couldn't think about it that way, and we had to consider the other before we considered ourselves.  We will definitely continue to learn this lesson as we now have to consider Ellie's needs, often before or above our own.  I am encouraged and motivated by the verse in Galations, which refers to Christ as someone who "loved us and gave himself up for us."