A Year Ago Today...

One year ago today, I wrote a hurried blog post requesting prayers for Peyton as she as back in the hospital once again.  You can read that post HERE.

Earlier that same day, I'd posted a long post about genetics and the possibility of going back up to Boston for a second visit.  You can read that HERE.

As I sit here right now, I am simply amazed that it was one year ago today that Peyton left our home for the last time.  One year ago today, I knew that there was something just not at all right with her.  She was far beyond her normal "self" and was in pain.  It broke my heart each day to see her in pain because she could not communicate to me where she was hurting or what exactly was wrong.  Her health had been declining noticeably for a period of a few months, but this day was a day where things just weren't right at all.

I distinctly remember this day one year ago.  Peyton's nurse and I hurriedly got Peyton ready.  Ron, Moira, Peyton, the nurse, and I loaded up in the car.  Ron dropped Peyton, the nurse and I at the door to the children's hospital ER.  We sat in the ER for ages as the doctors tried to piece together what was going on.  They did discover a new leg fracture, in the same leg as she had had a fracture just a month or two earlier.  "Copper bones", as they would become known.  That's what Moira called {and still calls} them.  Brittle bones caused by a severe copper deficiency.  We wouldn't know that at that time a year ago, really, but that's what it was.

A year ago today, Peyton had a broken leg.  A year ago today, Peyton was admitted to the hospital overnight for pain management.  A year ago today, we had no idea we would spend the next 40 days in the hospital together - she and I for 40 days {I did not leave her to go home once.  I left her room fewer than 10 times in 40 days, for a total of probably less than one hour altogether.}

I did not know how significant our leaving home was on that day one year ago.  I didn't know then that not all of us would return home.

One year ago today, our faith and trust in God began to be shaped in a way it hadn't been before.  Yes, we had tremendous faith and trust in God at this point in our journey.  A year ago today, we began the most painful and difficult part of our almost 7 year journey with Peyton,  It would test and sharpen our faith and trust in God.  It would bring us closer to God than ever before.

One year ago today, our life began to change forever.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  {Romans 8:28}