19 WONDERFUL Years!!! (And a traumatic doctor's visit...)

So really this is two posts in one... I had planned to write about our anniversary today, but then Abby got sick, so I'll tell a little story about that too...

First, today is our 19th Wedding Anniversary!! Wow...where did the time go? We met in college, dated for 4 years and then got married. When he proposed to me, he provoked a fight first and then waited until I had a mouth full of baked potato to pop the question!!! Pretty romantic, huh?! It's just a miracle that I didn't choke to death because after 4 years, I really didn't think he'd ever ask!!

After we married we moved a long...long way from home... Michigan... probably the best thing that could have ever happened to us because we were forced to depend on each other and we didn't have the distraction of our friends or family...some other place to run when we had a fight.

We had plenty of those (fights) in the early years...mostly my fault...I'm still amazed that he stuck it out with me all those years. But he did and when I finally became a Christian, I realized that all those years he had been God's instrument to teach me what unconditional love was like...

Scott is an amazing man...he has a true servant's heart...he's taken care of more than his fair share of sick children...I can't begin to describe the support he gives me to be the Teaching Director for Community Bible Study...and he will even clean the bathrooms for me!

Of course, as wonderful as the 19 years have been, they haven't been perfect...we've had our struggles, some harder than others, but I wouldn't change a second of even the hardest trials because they've shaped us into the couple we are today... It takes a lot of years...a lot of heat and a lot of pressure to form dirty, yukky carbon atoms (otherwise known as coal) into a diamond and I feel like that's what God has done with our marriage!

So on this day, I am so thankful for the most wonderful man in the world! And I want to encourage you... if you're at a hard place in your marriage...hang in there...pray (don't try and be your husband's Holy Spirit) and let our amazing God of restoration and transformation do the rest...in you first and then your husband!!

We were so blessed to be able to spend this past weekend in the mountains at our friend's cabin! They are so generous to share their cabin, with us and others, and we love to go there and hide away for a few days. My mom came and kept the kids and Abby did great...but it warmed my heart to see the smile on her face when we pulled into the driveway!

Speaking of Abby...now for the story about the doctor's appointment. Abby has had a lingering cough and it has been getting worse the last couple of days. She scared me to death this morning when she had so much gunk in her chest that she was having a hard time catching her breath till she got some of it up...

Turns out she has a nasty case of bronchitis...but the doctor's visit was really hard. I LOVE the practice we go to, but I learned a lesson today, when they start their exam, I need to remember to tell them that Abby is still very sensitive to touch.

When he started to feel the glands in her neck, she squirmed and whined and scrunched up her shoulders so he couldn't get to them...touch like that is still very ticklish to her. Then, the light in the ears... YIKES. But it got worse...she has a lot of wax in her ears (apparently very common in Asian children) so they wanted to flush it out with water and peroxide.

You would have thought the nurse was pulling out her fingernails...she cried and cried...which made her cough and cough...finally they gave up and told me to use some ear drops to help get rid of it...that should be a load of fun for the next two weeks!

It was pretty clear to me that the doctor thought I should be a little tougher with her, even though I kept trying to explain to him that we still have some sensory issues. He's a great doctor, so I'm not being critical of him... But hopefully you can learn from my experience, if you've adopted older and your child is overly sensitive to touch...warn your doctor...the nurse...whomever before the exam begins, when you have their full attention and they're really listening...

So Abby is on her first antibiotic (with us anyway) and we have some work to do on what it means to be a good patient...but then, if my experiences had been hers in the last 6 months with doctors and dentists, I might not be such a good patient either. Of course it doesn't help when she tells you, "I never cough like this in China."

Oh...and just real quick...a few of you have asked about Zack... His ankle is badly sprained. He's itching to get back on the soccer field, but I know it hurts because he's not fighting me about it.

Tomorrow and the next day, I have a story of "One Year Ago" to tell you... the start of our journey to Abby!