I have 7 days until I'm headed to Germany for 6 days on a business trip. I'm excited about going so I've been working on my German. I thought I'd share what I've learned so here you go:
Where is the restroom please - Ich muss hier, um zur Toilette oder urinieren Ich werde in meiner Hose.
What are you serving me for dinner? - Was zum Teufel ist das?
Hello, how are you? - Hallo, Sie haben Achselhaare
Do you speak English? - Weißt du, Englisch, weil ich bin zu dumm zu sprechen Deutsch
How did you know I am American? - Wie haben Sie wissen, ich bin genial
I don't have everything down exactly, but a friend who knows German said that this was a good start and people will be impressed when I spout these out, so we'll see. I'm not sure why, but every time I repeated the lines in German, he would laugh profusely..?
Friday, October 24, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
When your world falls apart
Below is a note from a College friend of mine. Bill is an awesome Christian friend and was a solid example to me while at Purdue. His heart is heavy and I know the world seems suffocating to him right now. Please read it and lift up Bill, Natalie, and little Adah in your prayers.
Bill Tibbetts writes...
A father's heart is shattered right now. Adah showed signs of a cold about a month ago, and it was treated as that...a cold. Time progressed and it never got better, in fact, she was worse. After many doctor visits we found ourselves in the emergency room yesterday. One test after another led to the discovery of a restricted cardiac myapothy. This is a chronic heart disease that can be terminal if not properly treated. Essentially, her heart doesn't have the ability to relax; it's constantly working at a high rate (as if you were jogging every minute, of every day, your entire life). Her exrays showed that her heart was about four times it's normal size, pressing on her lungs and stomach. Further, the hurt is pumping a fluid into her lungs and stomach, causing a massive swelling of her body. The first step is to manage the symptoms (cough, liquid, swelling, etc). After which, they will do an examination of the heart. Best case scenario is that she they can remove a film from the exterior of the heart. Worse case scenario is a heart transplant. We honestly don't know that much at this point.
The doctors keep saying over and over that this is a very rare case (less than 2% of children experience this). We don't know if it's genetic or caused by a virus. Because it's so rare, very little is known about it. In fact, there are only 2 or 3 doctors in the US that know anything about it. The doctors keep telling us that we are at the right place at the right time.
No words can describe the devastation that we are feeling right now. No parent should have to wonder if every kiss, hug or "I love you" will be the last. I wish with all that is in me that I could say that my faith is getting me through this, but I feel very weak right now. We can not even wrap our heads around this...she went in for a cold and now we're facing life or death. I want to walk in there and claim the name of Jesus over her, but I feel like I have no emotional or mental strength to gather such faith. These feels like a compete nightmare.
So, friends and family, we welcome your prayers and support. We will not be able to respond to every email or phone call, but don't hesitate sending the messages and words of encouragement. We have been DEEPLY blessed by our friends and family from North Central University. They have gone above and beyond to take care of us in every possible way. When this all hit last night, we felt so desperately alone because we're so far from 'home'. One email was sent out and we had NCU people at our door first thing in the morning. We are working on a CaringBridge website to keep everyone posted. I will provide updates as soon as I get any. Again, thank you for all the love, support and encouragement. Your prayers are being received.
Samantha and I know through our own experience dealing with Caleb's brain tumor the heaviness and desperation you feel as a parent. We also know that God has this same heaviness on His heart for each of his children that has terminal sin in their life and refuses to have that sin removed by the blood of Christ. Our body is temporal and imperfect, but our spirit is eternal and Christ longs for our spiritual healing far more than our physical wellbeing. Please join me in praying for Adah, that this precious little girl will be healed physically and that God will use this for his Glory and that many will be spiritually healed as a result of this situation.
Bill Tibbetts writes...
A father's heart is shattered right now. Adah showed signs of a cold about a month ago, and it was treated as that...a cold. Time progressed and it never got better, in fact, she was worse. After many doctor visits we found ourselves in the emergency room yesterday. One test after another led to the discovery of a restricted cardiac myapothy. This is a chronic heart disease that can be terminal if not properly treated. Essentially, her heart doesn't have the ability to relax; it's constantly working at a high rate (as if you were jogging every minute, of every day, your entire life). Her exrays showed that her heart was about four times it's normal size, pressing on her lungs and stomach. Further, the hurt is pumping a fluid into her lungs and stomach, causing a massive swelling of her body. The first step is to manage the symptoms (cough, liquid, swelling, etc). After which, they will do an examination of the heart. Best case scenario is that she they can remove a film from the exterior of the heart. Worse case scenario is a heart transplant. We honestly don't know that much at this point.
The doctors keep saying over and over that this is a very rare case (less than 2% of children experience this). We don't know if it's genetic or caused by a virus. Because it's so rare, very little is known about it. In fact, there are only 2 or 3 doctors in the US that know anything about it. The doctors keep telling us that we are at the right place at the right time.
No words can describe the devastation that we are feeling right now. No parent should have to wonder if every kiss, hug or "I love you" will be the last. I wish with all that is in me that I could say that my faith is getting me through this, but I feel very weak right now. We can not even wrap our heads around this...she went in for a cold and now we're facing life or death. I want to walk in there and claim the name of Jesus over her, but I feel like I have no emotional or mental strength to gather such faith. These feels like a compete nightmare.
So, friends and family, we welcome your prayers and support. We will not be able to respond to every email or phone call, but don't hesitate sending the messages and words of encouragement. We have been DEEPLY blessed by our friends and family from North Central University. They have gone above and beyond to take care of us in every possible way. When this all hit last night, we felt so desperately alone because we're so far from 'home'. One email was sent out and we had NCU people at our door first thing in the morning. We are working on a CaringBridge website to keep everyone posted. I will provide updates as soon as I get any. Again, thank you for all the love, support and encouragement. Your prayers are being received.
Samantha and I know through our own experience dealing with Caleb's brain tumor the heaviness and desperation you feel as a parent. We also know that God has this same heaviness on His heart for each of his children that has terminal sin in their life and refuses to have that sin removed by the blood of Christ. Our body is temporal and imperfect, but our spirit is eternal and Christ longs for our spiritual healing far more than our physical wellbeing. Please join me in praying for Adah, that this precious little girl will be healed physically and that God will use this for his Glory and that many will be spiritually healed as a result of this situation.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Weekend Crisis
This great nation has entered a time of crisis and frustration. Things have been too good for a while now and it's time for the natural balance to return. You knew it couldn't last forever! The Cubs were swept in the first round of the playoffs and we can all go back to our normal life of crisis and frustration with our lovable losers. The natural balance has returned and there is no longer a member of the National League Central contending for a place in the World Series. I'm amazed that the team that had one of the best pitching staffs and the best scoring offense in the NL was so putridly awful against the Dodgers in the divisional series. Fortunately the White Sox are still in it. As a true Cubs fan, I'll post my "maybe next year" banner and wait to see if the Cubs are able to win a single playoff game anytime in the next century (they've now lost 9 in a row over the last 3 trips to the playoffs).
Two final things: Financial crisis, what financial crisis? Remember it's not the hare that wins the race. And, thankfully it's Football season!!
Two final things: Financial crisis, what financial crisis? Remember it's not the hare that wins the race. And, thankfully it's Football season!!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Oh, by the way...
So, after all of the testing supposedly comes back negative and Bailey is clear to "just having a stomach virus", nasty as it was...that wasn't quit the whole story. Sam' got a call from St. Elizabeth's lab today to inform us that Bailey's test from her panel run on Sunday turned out to be positive for Salmonella. No mater what it was, she appears to be rebounding from it. She played and ate normal today although everything still goes right through her. What we can't figure out is WHERE she got Salmonella in the first place. We are always careful to cook our chicken, meat, and eggs fully and all of the food that could spoil from the hurricane was thrown out a head of time. On top of that, Keaton, Caleb and I are all fine (knock on blog-wood) and we all eat together as a family most of the time. Sam' has had some problems of late, but not anywhere like what Bailey was going through. I guess we'll never really know for sure, but we will be sure to be very careful to try to avoid this in the future. Thank you all for praying for our baby and please continue to do so as she still is trying to put it all behind her (no pun intended).
Free Advice for the Day: If you daughter is ill and happens to drop her toothbrush in the toilet that she just "got ill" in. Do not assume that it is only a small toothbrush and will just flush away down the little hole never to be seen again. While you may never see the toothbrush again, you will likely see some other things you didn't want to see for very long a couple of flushes down the road.
Even if it means leaving some undesirable stuff in the toilet for a little while, please call your husband at work and ask him what to do. If your husband is not a Handy Manny, than call the local plumber before you flush, it may just save you a call to him after you flush it. Not saying that any of this happened in our household, but just in case you are ever in this situation....
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