Today I am honored to introduce you to the Greening family. I first learned about them through my son Kevin, who is the founder and senior editor of a website devoted to Christian music, CMADDICT.com. Jordan Greening is an aspiring musician and writes a weekly article for the site, called Jordan for Jesus. Her enthusiasm for God and her radiant smile belie the incredible hardships faced by her family in the last ten years. When I learned of all they have endured, I knew I had to share their story with you. This is the first of a three-part series, so be sure to check in the next two weeks for the final installments. You will be inspired and blessed by them, because this family is….Unstoppable.

You and Matthew have three children. What are their names and ages?

Our oldest daughter is Jordan. She is 22. Our youngest daughter is Hannah and she is 20. We have one son, Samuel, who is 2 years old. We adopted him in 2012, a few months before I was originally diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

How has God gifted each of them? What dreams and goals do Jordan and Hannah have for the future?

Jordan

Jordan loves to sing and write music. Not just any music, but music for God. She has loved the Lord and Christian music since she was very young. I remember Jordan singing along with Christian music CDs when she was in kindergarten and even 1st grade. She started singing specials in church when she was around six, and she also loves to sing for YouTube. She loves the Lord very much and I would say her dream would be to work as a Christian music artist professionally. She works day and night on music and taught herself to play guitar and a little on the keyboard.

She hopes to travel one day and share her faith and love for the Lord with others as well as share the music God gives her. She has quite a following on her twitter site where she works to encourage people and share her faith as well. I cannot begin to recall the numbers of people both young and old that have messaged me through the years because they were so encouraged by Jordan and the things she has written to them online. Some were just renewed in their faith, some were encouraged or inspired, some were led to Jesus and some even turned from suicide or self harm after talking with her. She truly desires to please the Lord and hopes that through her faith and walk with Him, she would be able to point people to Jesus Christ.

Jesus is her first and only love.

Jordan is also in college as a part-time student working toward an associate degree. She hopes to transfer to a 4 year college at some point in the future.

Hannah

Hannah also loves to sing and is a self-taught rapper as well. She writes her own music as well as singing music by other artists. She has sung in churches since she was very little and for YouTube for a number of years. Hannah also loves the Lord and lives her life for Him. She has a strong faith and a very compassionate nature. She has been a supporter of children suffering from cancer for many years. She began making special edited pictures and videos of children who were dealing with cancer while she was in her teens. She was careful to ask permission from the families before doing this.

Through time, people began approaching her for pictures and videos for their children. She has worked doing these things for years online and faithfully prays for the children and their families. She has often sent the families and their children messages and words of encouragement or even gifts through the mail. I have often seen her in tears when these precious little ones would gain their angel wings and pass to the arms of Jesus in Heaven. Even after their passing, Hannah continues to support their families and the legacy of these precious children through pictures and videos online.

Through this work, she was asked to help with Talia Castellano’s social media sites. Talia was a YouTube sensation and an inspiration to many people throughout the world. Though she was young, Talia touched many hearts and lives with her spunky and cheerful and inspirational nature. Talia also appeared on the Ellen show a number of times. Talia passed away about a year ago at the age of 12. Hannah has felt honored to be able to work with Talia’s family and friends and help with Talia’s Face Book page, YouTube, and twitter site to keep Talia’s legacy alive and help bring support, funding, and awareness to childhood cancer. Through these things, Hannah decided to work toward a degree in Nursing and desires to work in pediatric oncology. She has completed all of her basics at this point and hopes to apply this spring for the Nursing program in a local community college in our town.

Samuel

What a surprise and joy when our youngest, Samuel Isaiah, became a part of our family! He has been a blessing to everyone. He is a smart little fellow who knows his colors and how to count to 16 at two years of age! He loves to sing, color, look at books, and has a huge interest in cars and trucks. He loves to watch mommy and daddy cook and hopes to one day be in the middle of it all! Samuel is such a friendly little fellow and he makes friends wherever he goes. We were overjoyed when he became a part of our family and we know that God planned him just for us. We really didn’t think we would ever have a son, but God had other plans! Samuel has been with us since he was 3 months old and his adoption began suddenly on my husband’s birthday in June of 2012 and ended on my daughter Jordan’s birthday in November of 2012. We tell Samuel that he was born out of our hearts. Indeed, my cup runneth over!

What is your medical status at the moment? How is Hannah?

At this point, I have relapsed with ovarian cancer stage 3C. I am currently taking chemo once a month for 6 months. If the cancer recedes, and I become once again NED (no evidence of disease), I will then have around 6 maintenance chemo infusions at the end of my treatment. These will also be one each month for 6 months. I have an upcoming CT to let us know how I am doing. We are hopeful that the cancer is diminishing.

Hannah suffers daily from many symptoms including bone pain, joint pain and swelling, swollen lymph nodes, migraines, anemia, chronic fatigue, nausea, blood abnormalities and etc. She has seen many specialists over the years, but none have been able to piece together her symptoms and come up with a diagnosis. We are hoping to soon schedule her with a team of doctors or in a diagnostic clinic where tests can be done in hopes of finding a diagnosis and getting her the help she needs.

Next Thursday: Part 2 – In the Face of Hardship

Learn more about the Greening family here:

The Family’s Donation Page:
http://www.gofundme.com/thegreeningfamily

Anita’s Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/AnitaK316

Jordan’s YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/Jordan1617

Hannah’s YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/HannahNoelle2158

Jordan on CMADDICT:
http://www.cmaddict.com/article_page.php?article_id=430

By PamThorson0 comments

Caregiving Devotionals Information Writing

August 28, 2014

Spinning My Tires

Around and Around

It should have been a banner year. How many people get to be authors? And have an article published in a print magazine? And get to work at a job they love? How many parents see their children and grandchildren living solid lives of faith and hope?

This year I had the honor of working with my daughter Grace, who, by the way, is the best office assistant/publicist ever.
I had the joy of seeing our youngest son get his own place and grow in a job he loves.
I celebrated when our eldest granddaughter was accepted into the college of her choice.
I joined my beloved family for a nine-day trip to my favorite Pacific beach and attended my first Hot August Nights car show in my hometown.
My precious husband and I celebrated forty-two years of marriage with a two-day trip to the Big Town, where we got our Cabela’s fix and my husband finally bought a buffalo picture. He’s maintained for years that a log home needs a buffalo pic. I maintained otherwise. We finally agreed on one that would nicely grace the upstairs hall at the top of the stairs. At a vintage lamp shop downtown, I bought my first Quoizel Tiffany lamp, something I’d been coveting for several years.
The ancient mint and green carpet in our house is giving way to a handsome porcelain slate tile that will hold up better to country living, wheels, and our son’s German Shepherd/cross dog.
I’ve been able to share our story and God’s comfort with others through my writing and speaking. My first book, Song in the Night, recently was re-released in e-book form. I’ve met and re-connected with many wonderful people and heard inspiring stories of faith across this country.
I even learned how to use Google+ Hangouts to make a video presentation at a virtual caregiving conference, no small feat for a sixty-year-old woman who still struggles with the t.v. remote.

Yes, 2014 should have been a great year. In fact, it has been. And for that I’m eternally grateful to my Savior.

So why did I lose steam mid-summer? Why did I feel like I was spinning my wheels?

Mostly, I think, it was because in the midst of everything else, I am, first, a caregiver. Everything that I do comes after and along with my caregiving duties. Simple things like a trip to town involve a a lot of work and planning.

Every step is hard work. Every victory comes with much warfare. The joys have been interwoven with sorrow.

We lost Aaron’s beloved mother in January; my dear uncle in July. Kevin had an infection and sternum injury in May. He received emergency care during our coastal trip and again back at home. My father endured a hard winter of medical struggles. Then I suffered a severe lumbar strain and was completely out of commission for a few weeks. The family had to take up the slack in the daily chores.

It was during that time down in bed that I finally could stop. The enforced rest gave me a chance to re-think what I’ve been doing and what I want to achieve. One thing I know for sure:

I never want to be spinning my wheels on this journey. I want to listen carefully to God and only go where He guides. That may not mean a smoother ride. In fact, that may only increase the warfare in my soul and on the home front. The road to Zion is narrow and often filled with detours. I’m thankful to be on this trip, though. My destination is assured; a room in God’s mansion is already reserved for me heaven. It’s just a matter of staying on course, listening for God’s guidance, and remembering to enjoy the view along the way.

I will not spin my tires.
I will not spin my tires.
I will not spin my tires.

Photo courtesy Kevin Thorson/copyright 2014

By PamThorson2 comments

Unstoppable

June 19, 2014

Learning the Meaning of Sacrifice: Grace Thorson

Today I’m honored to host a guest post by my youngest daughter, Grace Thorson. Grace was very young when her brother Kevin suffered a spinal cord injury and paralysis. She offers a personal look at how Kevin’s injury impacted her life. Here is a fresh perspective on caregiving from the vantage point of a sibling.

When I was eight, my brother, Kevin, broke his neck doing a back flip in Canada. He was part of a music team, and he absolutely loved doing it. With this new injury, and through a difficult round of events, he found amazing care at a hospital in Spokane, Washington. At the time, I was an overly quiet and serious-minded little girl. Most wouldn’t think it, but I had a defiant nature, and I undoubtedly still do.

With all the surrounding chaos, I didn’t fully grasp my family’s predicament. It didn’t help that I often found myself switching between staying at the hospital and the nearby Ronald McDonald House. I was often detached and protected from the serious and tumultuous circumstances surrounding my brother’s care. It was a dark time for me, and I needed a healthy dose of perspective to brighten up my life.

At the hospital in Spokane, Kevin had physical therapists assist him with strength and mobility training. I often tagged along with my parents and watched the therapists with curiosity. One particular therapist that we nicknamed “Sarge” became the reason that I learned the true meaning of sacrifice.

During one of Kevin’s sessions, Sarge told me (more like ordered) to help in the process of getting him in and out of bed. I remember feeling the fire of rebelliousness rising and wondering, “How can she order me about? She’s not my mother.” Reluctantly, I accepted Sarge’s demand and took on the tedious job of rolling up my brother’s leg wraps. It was a mundane chore, and I didn’t understand the significance of doing it.

But, with time, it kind of grew on me, and I relished the idea that I had a role to play within my family’s dynamics. With surging enthusiasm, I showed eagerness to learn and do more for my brother. If I had rebelled, I may never have learned one of the most valuable lessons I’ve ever been presented with: sacrifice.

With being a part-time caregiver to my brother, and helping my family at home, I know how valuable sacrifice really is. Sacrifice is love.

Grace Thorson has been a caregiver to her brother since 1997. She works as an office assistant to author Pam Thorson. She serves as an editor and contributor to the Christian music website http://www.cmaddict.com. Grace enjoys photography, cats, and good books. You can follow Grace’s reviews, interviews, and photography at http://www.gracethorson.wordpress.com

By PamThorson0 comments

Unstoppable

May 16, 2014

Beauty from Ashes: Part 3

The last two days, we have been learning the story of Barb Farrington and her daughter Katie following Katie’s accident in 1998. Today is the third and final installment of their inspiring story. In this post, Barb also shares some important words for new caregivers and shares a tender, personal story of forgiveness.

A New Season

In a short time, Barb’s and Katie’s lives had radically changed. Barb had given up a job she loved, lost her husband, and lost the daughter she once knew. Now she had to bond with the new person who was her daughter now. It took some time to work through that.

There was more, too, with which she needed to come to terms. “In order for our home to be really healthy and happy, we need to believe in a bigger picture.”

She made the decision to fight for her joy. That decision was the beginning of the journey back from despair. “I found myself again. In caregiving, you live someone else’s life so much. So much went into her, I didn’t know who I was. I was a walking, talking body. As I began to remember that I was a person, too, things began to come full circle.”

What’s important to her today?

“My faith, my family, going to River City Church, my friends. I don’t know what I would do without my friends and my sisters who give phone support. Friends are God’s angels to Katie and me.”

“I can truly say that God is good. There was a while that it was hard to get that out: God is good. I can truly say that I’m content. Katie’s happy. She was mad at God for a while. She didn’t really want to pray or anything. But she’s come full circle, too.”

Barb says she feels they are entering a new season. “I can’t put it into words. It’s a new feeling that I have for Katie. Overwhelming tenderness comes as close as I can to describing it. I’ve been tender with her, but it’s just different. I feel the need to spend more quality time with her, to connect on an even deeper level.”

“I need her. She’s always been important in my life, but I really feel I need that interaction.”

Never Give up Hope.

Barb has some important words for someone just beginning the caregiving journey:

There is always hope. Always hope. Never, ever, give up hope. I strongly believe in Jeremiah 29:11: ‘I know the plans I have for you…’
Make sure that you take time for yourself.
Don’t lose who you are, because it’s really easy to do. The person you’re caring for needs you, and they need you whole and healthy.
Don’t be afraid to share all your thoughts with God. Keep going to God, because He will meet with you. Even if you’re mad at Him, He’ll meet with you. I was more disappointed than mad. It was one disappointment after another. Then it seems like you’re not worthy to expect anything but disappointment.
Be around people who will encourage you.
Find something to laugh about every day. You have to have some humor.

A Life Worth Living: A Story of Forgiveness

One of the hardest things for Barb was to forgive the young man who was driving the night Katie was injured. She hated him with a passion. After the accident, police told Barb he never once asked how Katie was doing.

This young man’s family was well-known in the area, and lies began to circulate about the night of the accident. One lie was that Katie was driving that night.

The state took the young man to court. He was sentenced to eighteen months of boot camp. Barb had refused to see or speak to either him or his parents until that day in court. As far as she was concerned, he was spoiled and already an alcoholic at the age of eighteen. She’d heard that he had a past record of bad behavior without suffering the consequences of his actions. This fed her anger.

It was in the courtroom that God broke through Barb’s bitterness. When she saw him sitting there in his jail uniform, she thought, “He’s just a boy.” It was then that her heart began to change toward him.

One Christmas after they moved to Lewiston, the phone rang. It was the young man’s mother, Cindy. She told Barb, “I needed to call you. I was out shopping today, and I saw a woman with her daughter. They were having such a good time together, and I thought of you and Katie. You will never be able to do that. I’m so sorry.”

Barb told her, “That’s all I ever wanted. Just to hear you say, ‘I’m sorry.’ That’s all I ever wanted.”

Barb forgave Cindy, and they developed a friendship. Cindy went around to the schools in the area and gave talks about the horrors of drunk driving.

Cindy asked Barb if their family could come see Katie sometime. Barb agreed, and her dad came over to be with Barb to lend her moral support when the day arrived. When their family walked through the door, Barb’s dad broke down and cried. He told them, “My girl’s just been hurt so terribly.” It was a time of tears and forgiveness.

The young man asked Barb, “What should I do to help you, to try to make things right?” That was when Barb discovered that he had found God. Barb told him, “The best thing you can do is marry your girlfriend, know Jesus as your personal Savior, be active in a church, and be a good citizen. That’s how you can make this better for us. I want you to go on and have a good life and do all the things that a person should do to make a life worth living. If you do that, then you’ve helped us.”

Not long after that, Barb helped him get his record expunged. For her, the reason was simple. She thought about what Jesus did on the cross for humanity. Jesus forgave her sins and wiped her slate clean. She now had the power to do that for someone else.

It was a cleansing act for Barb, bringing beauty out of the ashes of their lives.

Photos courtesy Grace Thorson

By PamThorson2 comments

Unstoppable

May 15, 2014

Beauty from Ashes: Part 2

Yesterday, Barb Farrington shared the terrible accident that left her daughter Katie fighting for her life. Today, in Part 2, Barb describes the next steps in their journey.

From Hospital to Home

Katie was at St. Alphonsus Hospital for about a month, where she began to come out of her coma. She was moved to Elks Rehab in Boise, Idaho, where she was weaned off the ventilator. It was around this time that Barb began to notice encouraging signs of awareness in Katie. A friend of Katie’s gave her a little dog. When they put it in Katie’s hands, she would look at it. On a trip out of the hospital, Barb saw Katie watching the trees go by the van window.

But she couldn’t get the medical staff at the rehab hospital to give any credence to these small but significant changes. One day they announced to Barb that they had done all they could and that they were going to release her. They planned to discharge her on a Friday, leaving Barb and Ron scrambling to find a place for her.

They fought for a few extra days at the hospital, while Barb looked for another hospital for Katie. Ron began to get his house ready for Katie’s inevitable discharge home. The hospital in Burns, Oregon, which was near Barb’s home, graciously consented to take Katie until Ron’s home could be readied to accommodate their daughter.

“This girl’s trying to work with me.”

Finally, a doctor noticed her new awareness. He told Barb, “This girl’s trying to work with me. I know a doctor she needs to see: Dr. Josie Fitzsimons.” Dr. Fitzsimons became a good support for the family. She had them move Katie to Bend, Oregon, so they could work with her every day.

But Barb could only be there on weekends, because of her job as a K-3 library tech at the Burns school. When she did go to see Katie, Katie would turn her head away from her and toward the wall. Barb knew Katie was terribly unhappy. “I knew I had to do something different.”

When Ron’s house was ready, Katie was discharged home. Ron and Barb took turns caring for her. Finding respite care was hard. Barb’s marriage began to crumble.

“Oh, Katie, what have you done?”

When did Barb truly realize that Katie was still there, locked inside her body?

“I always knew that. Here’s one instance: When she was at the Burns hospital, my sister and I were dressing her one day. We knew she was tracking things, and hearing things, but we weren’t seeing facial responses. My sister got after me and said, ‘You’re just too rough when you’re dressing her. You need to be gentler.’ Katie laughed, because we got to arguing about it. It was her first laugh.”

“That did it for me. From then on, she started expressing emotion.” One day while Katie was living at Ron’s, Barb gave in to the exhaustion. She broke down into tears and said, “Oh, Katie, oh, Katie, what have you done?”

At that moment, Katie cried. Barb felt really terrible. She’s never mentioned it again in Katie’s presence.

Still, Barb grieved over the changes happening in Katie’s body. Before her accident, she had been a fairly athletic girl. It hurt Barb to watch Katie’s legs atrophy. “A piece of me was dying. Someone has said that when a woman chooses to have a child, that child is her heart walking outside her body forever. It’s so true.”

Greater love has no man than this…

“It was the first time in my life when things didn’t work out right away. I could not believe it. It was the nightmare that you wished you could wake up from.” Barb’s mother came to stay with her and told her, “You cry at night in your sleep.”

Katie’s world had become hers. “And there,” she says, “I think I made a mistake.” Her marriage to Rex dissolved–not surprising, since statistics reveal that few marriages survive the stress of dealing with a child’s disability.

Throughout 1998 and into 1999, they tried taking Katie to various rehab hospitals in a futile effort to help her improve. In 1999, Barb and Katie resettled in Lewiston, Idaho, to be nearer to her family. Of her decision to care full time for Katie, Barb says, “I couldn’t bear to be away from her. God spoke so softly to my heart this Scripture: ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life….’ (John 15:13 KJV) And I just knew.”

Barb now operates a certified family home through the state of Idaho’s Medicaid program. She also cares for another client, Ted, who is protective of Katie. The state pays for fifty-six hours of nursing care a week to help Barb with Katie’s extensive caregiving needs. Barb calls it a “miracle provision.” Ron comes down every other weekend to help. Katie adores her dad, and they love to watch golf together.

Barb feels that God prepared her long in advance for this new job of caregiving. Before she was a library tech, she worked in special education for eight years. “Talk about God preparing me for what was ahead,” she says with a smile.

Today, at age thirty-four, Katie very much understands humor and sadness. She knows her grandma has passed away. She has favorite people. She shows disapproval by wrinkling her nose and frowning, or yelling. She appears to understand some of the subtleties of relationships and displays jealousy.

She likes giving gifts. She loves to help choose them and watch the recipients’ reactions as they open them. It really pleases her if they like it.

Katie communicates by blinking once for yes and twice for no. Sometime she blinks three times. The doctor says she is messing with them.

Tomorrow, Part 3: A New Season and A Story of Forgiveness

Photos courtesy Grace Thorson

By PamThorson2 comments

Unstoppable

May 14, 2014

Beauty from Ashes: A Story of Provision and Forgiveness with Barb Farrington and Katie Tweit

Today I have the honor of introducing a very special family to you: Barb Farrington and her daughter Katie Tweit. Katie suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car accident in 1998. Barb is Katie’s primary caregiver and cares for her in their home in northern Idaho. In this three-part series, Barb shares her very personal story of heartache, restoration, and forgiveness.

The Accident: Angel on Her Shoulder

It was April 8, 1998. Barb and her husband of one year, Rex, were having a branding on the Oregon ranch. Barb tried to get her eighteen-year-old daughter Katie to come up to help with the cooking for the event. Katie’s roommate, Frances, was coming up to ride and rope cattle.

Katie had just landed a new job at a local farm supply company and was going to school at Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario. Oregon. She decided to stay and work at her new job.

The call for Barb came around 9:00 p.m. It was her ex-husband Ron, Katie’s dad. He told her that Katie had been in a serious car accident. She was being life-flighted to St. Alphonsus Hospital in Boise, Idaho, because they had an advanced trauma center.

Barb knew that meant it was bad. She had been told that no bones were broken, which could only mean that Katie had suffered a head injury. She tried to get more information from the hospital, but no one would give her much information over the phone. They didn’t sound encouraging, though.

It was an awful two-hour drive to the hospital.

When Barb, Rex, and Ron arrived at the hospital, they learned more about what had happened. Katie was the passenger in a car driven by a young man who had been drinking. He was driving 110 miles an hour when he lost control of the care. He had been thrown clear. Katie had not.

The doctors had argued about whether they should try to save her.

The accident was terrible. Barb was told that when emergency personnel arrived on the scene, Katie had “death rattles.” She wouldn’t have lived much longer. Barb also discovered that before she arrived at the hospital, the doctors had argued about whether or not to save her. One doctor was adamant that they shouldn’t try.

The medical team had made the decision together to make the attempt. One of the nurses on the trauma team came to visit Barb later. She told her that as they debated Katie’s care, she felt that there was an angel on Katie’s shoulder, protecting her. The nurse just couldn’t push for a decision to let her go.

Barb and Ron were never given an opportunity to decide whether or not to fight for Katie to live. That decision was made before they arrived at the hospital.

The first time Barb walked into Katie’s room, Katie was unrecognizable. Her face was swollen; they’s had to shave part of her hair off to put a pressure monitor into her head to keep an eye on the the swelling in her brain. They weren’t allowed to touch her or talk to her, because any kind of stimulation would be detrimental to her at this point. She wasn’t breathing on her own and needed a ventilator.

No Hope

Katie’s family was given no encouragement about Katie’s prognosis. “It was such a hard time,” Barb says, “We were given absolutely no hope. Nothing.”

One doctor did say that the worst case scenario was that she would never be better than she was at the moment. The best case scenario was that she might walk or talk again. There were no guarantees.

Katie didn’t look good, either. She didn’t respond to others and appeared to be asleep. Her family was told that the first three or four days would be crucial. Most of Barb’s family were in Mexico to attend her nephew’s wedding, held, ironically, on the same day as Katie’s accident. It was difficult to contact them with the news. But Barb was soon joined by her sister, son Andrew with his wife Angie, and daughter Heather.

At the hospital, Barb saw people come in and be released. She saw others that came in and didn’t make it. It was her sobering reminder that God is not a respecter of persons. “You just never know how your situation is going to turn out.” Barb could only wait and pray.

Photo of Barb and Katie courtesy Grace Thorson

By PamThorson0 comments

Caregiving Devotionals Information

March 24, 2014

The Nurse Who Remembered

This post is part of the #Blog4Care blog carnival being hosted by Caring Across Generations. We’re hoping that by sharing our caregiving stories, we can begin to come up with solutions to the care crisis that is affecting millions of Americans.

Nursing carries heavy responsibilities. It requires long days, longer nights, and impossible schedules. In celebration of one of my favorite nurses, I’ve reprinted an except of our story from my first book, Song in the Night. The nurse’s name has been changed, but everything else is as it happened in the summer of 1997.

More than just a nurse…

One nurse in particular that we loved was named Mandy. She was slender and petite, with lovely dark hair and makeup that was always perfect. She had an exotic air and a husband who was a businessman in Africa. She always seemed to know what to do and did it expertly. Kevin said that she did the best job of suctioning the secretions out of his lungs of anyone on the floor, so I watched her carefully and had her teach us her own technique.

One day in particular, things were very trying. Kevin was still stick, and I just had to go run a quick errand. There was no other family member to stay with Kevin while I was gone, and Kevin kept begging me not to leave him. Mandy saw my dilemma and offered to sit with Kevin until I came back.

Thankfully, I took her offer and rushed out. I knew she was busy, and Kevin wasn’t the only patient that needed her. So I hurried as fast I could and breathlessly returned to find her sitting peacefully at his bedside, chatting amiably with Kevin as she gave him a manicure.

A warm rush of gratitude flowed over me. She could not have realized how little of our human dignity was left after these long weeks. The harsh environment of living in the world of the near-dead had ground us far into the dust. Although people around us had been so good to us, and most of the medical people tried, the very nature of the situation was immensely dehumanizing. We existed on little food, sleep, or comfort. Rehab schedules did not allow time for living. Whoever was staying with Kevin slept on a big chair that folded out into a small bed that was in his room. We often slept and lived in the same clothes. Our world revolved around learning a myriad of medical procedures, basic caregiving, and getting Kevin through another day.

There wasn’t time to truly grieve, to hurt, to process what was happening, or even to feel. We were often treated like machines, pushed and prodded and educated in things we neither envisioned nor wanted to learn. There were days Aaron and I didn’t know who was taking care of our youngest daughter or even where she was. That haunted me, and it caused recurring nightmares in which I had lost her. For a while, she bounced between friends and family. At fifteen, Daniel was learning physical therapy techniques and sitting long hours with his brother. Erik worked full-time down in Lewiston and drove the 100 miles to Spokane every weekend to be with us.

More than “the C2” in Room 210…

I understand that by necessity, the medical world is run by schedules and operates under financial limitations. Faced with the politics of medicine, it’s easy to reduce a patient to “the C2” in Room 210 or “the gallbladder” on the fourth floor.

But Mandy had remembered that we were more. She remembered that we were people – hurting, frightened, and overwhelmed. And she cared enough to stop and give us the help we really needed.

~ Pam Thorson

By PamThorson5 comments

Caregiving Information

February 28, 2014

Podcast March 1st

Join me for a podcast with Denise Brown of Caregiving.com on Saturday, March 1 at 10 a.m. ET (9 a.m. CT; 8 a.m. MT; 7 a.m. PT). Listen live or download the podcast here:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/caregiving

Denise is the founder of a vibrant online community of caregivers. I’m honored to join her for an interview tomorrow morning as I share the story surrounding our son’s disability and my perspectives on caregiving.

Hope to see you there!

By PamThorson0 comments

Caregiving Devotionals Giveaway Information

February 11, 2014

God IS in Control

God…is the blessed controller of all things. 1 Timothy 6:15 (Phillips)

God IS in Control

What a year it has been already! There have been some sad events: burying my mother-in-law, watching my father suffer through a serious infection. There has also been a rumbling in our lives as the stone has been rolled away from the tomb of some long-standing dreams. I can’t share the details, but I have witnessed enough miracles in the last month alone to move me to tears and remind me that God is a God of wonders.

When He closes a door, it’s closed. Solid. No amount of moving or praying can budge it.

When He opens a door, it’s flung wide to let in the fresh air of hope.

Whatever’s going on in your lives, rest in the trust that God does hear your prayers. And He really cares about you. As I’ve shared in the last couple of weeks in recent devotionals When Dead Men Speak and Beyond the Grave at CMADDICT.com, God moves in sovereign and powerful ways far beyond our ability to imagine.

Events of these last weeks have encouraged me to step out more boldly in His steps. It’s a fearsome thing to follow behind the Savior, knowing all He gave up to answer His Father’s call. But it’s more frightening to remain in the shadows of my faith, where fear rules the night.

Come with me, my friends. Let’s push aside the stumbling blocks that have kept us from being all God has called us to be. We can serve with joy, knowing our struggles are not in vain. He is still “the blessed Controller of all things.”

Do you know someone who takes care of a loved one?

Can you imagine how hard it is for them to make it through another day?

You can help! I still need people to join my team for the launch of my new book, Out from the Shadows: 31 Devotions for Weary Caregivers. You don’t need special skills or a great social media following to help. Just read my previous post (click here) and pick 5 ideas there or send me 5 of your own ideas and you’re on the team. There will be a drawing for a Kindle Paperwhite e-reader in March for those who become team members. E-mail me at thesong2008@live.com and put “Influencer Request” in the subject line. Thanks!

By PamThorson0 comments

Devotionals Information

February 4, 2014

Know What You Believe…and Why

A fossil was recently found in Gilboa, New York, in sedimentary rock that supposedly dated back 380 million years. It was the fossil of a spider. What was this spider doing? Nothing new. It was making a web, just like modern spiders.

Ever wonder why a spider doesn’t get caught in its own web? It’s because each silk gland has a specific purpose. They have one to four pairs of spinnerets in their abdomens, along with seven silk glands connected to dozens of tiny tubes. Each gland secretes a substance that begins as a liquid but hardens in the air. The silk thread it produces is fine enough to make bomb sights but as strong as steel.*

If the spider evolved over millions of years, how did it and its young survive without dying in its own web until it evolved the correct glands?

This is just one of the many questions scientists have yet to answer as we explore Earth’s beginnings. The more we study nature, the more complex our world appears. It is not a random collection of organic and inorganic mass. Everything has a purpose. Every species has an unseen boundary built into. Bears always produce more bears. Spiders stay spiders. Nature seems to know its place and thrives there.

Is this chance?

I’m not convinced. If just once, a pack of wolves would have a video conference, a bear would become a beekeeper, or a roomful of monkeys could type a book in a million years, I might be swayed. If just once, a sealed can of peaches produced even a molecule of a new life form (the unsealed stuff in my fridge doesn’t count), you might have me.

But don’t show me a moth that changed its color or a snake with two heads.

Show me a Norwegian that is evolving a fur coat. Show me a youth pastor that is growing a guitar on his chest. I want to talk to a lizard that decided to improve his mind or a teacher with a finger that oozes red ink for correcting papers.

I want to see random processes produce order.

Let’s see mutations make something without using God’s dirt and God’s laws of nature. If you’re going to take God out of the picture, be fair and start from scratch, like He did.

Both evolutionists and creationists believe that all things came from nothing. The Bible tells us that He spoke the universe into being by the power of His word alone. Evolutionists believe that nothing somehow sparked a life form. Some folks believe God started the process and let evolution take over.

What do you believe? Why do you believe it?

Tonight Bill Nye “the science guy” and Ken Ham of the Creation Museum of Petersburg, Kentucky, will publicly debate the tenets of both theories. NPR has announced the debate, along with competing videos from the two men http://n.pr/1frnFz5. The debate begins at 7:00p.m. EST.

Here’s the link to watch it free online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6kgvhG3AkI

Know what you believe. Listen and weigh the evidence from both sides. The truth will always withstand scrutiny.

*From “Origins Issues” by Frank Sherwin, Acts & Facts, vol. 35, #5

By PamThorson0 comments