A Spiritual Day

Thursday afternoon and evening was a pretty spiritual time for us.  We had a visit from the pastor at the hospital. He played a little music for Karlee on his Mandolin and then spent a fair bit of time just chatting with us.  I really enjoyed the conversation; he validated some of our concerns, talked through some stuff and then prayed with us.


I know I have said this many, many times, but all the staff at the hospital are incredible.  We have several nurses everyday who are all incredible and great with the kids and the parents.  We see several sets of doctors and specialists who are all willing to take the time to explain anything and answer as many questions as we can think of.  There is a social worker who helps us figure out what is going on and provides us with a ton of information.  We have a nutritionist who is helping us determine what Karlee is going to need when she gets out of the hospital.  We have a primary nurse who is anything we need - a shoulder to cry on, a knowledgeable source of information, a friend and anything else we need.  There are the child life staff who organize all the activities for the patients and siblings and do everything in their power to ensure both our kids are well looked after.  The pastor is a very nice guy who will sit and chat or sit and pray or come and play some music.  Lastly there are the volunteers... these people are more incredible than the staff.  The give their time for free and are friends with the kids.  This is great to give parents a little break or a chance to talk to doctors or each other without kids hanging around.  There are also volunteer hosts for pizza night who are parents of former patients in the Oncology department.  I am looking forward to meeting these people who have already gone through this experience and can provide some guidance and a friendly ear to talk to.


Thursday evening we listened to Kevin's sermon from the night before.  He changed the plan when he found out what we were going through and did a very timely and powerful sermon.  It is great having a church community behind you when you are going through something like this.  If you want to listen to the sermon here is the direct link: Not On Your Life.  Otherwise you can go to http://www.newhopecalgary.com click on Audio and Video Downloads and then select Not On Your Life.


Everyone has been so supportive of us through this journey.  We have received tons of facebook messages, e-mails and phone calls.  Unfortunately I have not been able to reply to every message, but please know that I have read them all and passed them on to Jennifer, Karlee and Ryley.  Every message and every prayer has meant so much to us.  It lets us know that we are not in this battle alone, but rather have an entire community behind us to assist us getting through everything.  Please keep the prayers and messages coming and know they are helping us stay strong.


Thank you, thank you, thank you
Love
Ron, Jennifer, Ryley & Karlee