ann kiemel

today is day seven.
one week under our belts.
first visit to the doctor.
jan was in wheel-chair and i, in
walker, not realizing what jan had
tried to tell me: dr. lian's office was
around the block and five floors up.

i ended up on jan's lap in her
wheel-chair. the walker, folded, on
my lap. and christian, jan's and tom's
youngest, charming, amazing son, stuck our
two purses around us, and pushed us the
entire distance. i, hanging on for my life.

well, we've had a good look at all four of our feet. gruesome!!!
staples and stitches removed, feet soaked in warm,
antibiotic water. re-cast. five weeks to go.

christian, our hired helper, can do it all.
jan dials. one ring, and he shows up. handsome.
sweet. ready for service. 6ft. 4inches. he picked jan
up and situated her in the wheel-chair. anytime we were
remotely hungry, he had snacks. gourmet dishes. favorite
of all, special ice creams, and hot, ginger tea. tonight,
he even gave us a counselling session, and jan wasn't the
therapist. christian was.

especially pray for Christian.
this week.

knowing you all are praying for us is a great
comfort, too. we don't expect to let anyone else
touch our feet again. tough stuff!!

today, is colson's 25th birthday.
and i miss him so much.
he and his girlfriend and brock and
kristi all went out to dinner tonight. we are
always trying to cover each others' backs.

jan and i are learning to try and be patient.
i've never prayed for patience, too fearful of
the doors it might open and what we might
be expected to do.

"oh, to be like Thee.
oh, to be like Thee.
blessed Redeemer,
pure as Thou are.
come in Thy sweetness.
come in Thy fulness. stamp
Thine own image deep on our hearts."

my biggest challenge today is to be quiet.
to over-look the things that irritate us about
each other. God, we plead to you. we seek
you. we wait.