Not long ago, I was sitting in yet another waiting room, re-reading magazines I'd read the last time I was there. I was frustrated with so much of my time being consumed with waiting and feeling unproductive. Later that day, I mentioned on Facebook that I wanted to learn how to knit so that I could use my waiting to create something. I was overwhelmed at the number of people who offered to teach me! Thankfully, one of my neighbors brought over some yarn and a pair of needles and patiently showed my how to knit.
God chose for me to be the wife of my husband, Doug, who has ongoing medical issues that require many surgeries, hospital stays, and doctor visits. Doug has Crohn's Disease, which had caused just a couple of simple surgeries and mild health issues over the course of our marriage. But in the summer of 2009, when I was six months pregnant with our third child, Doug's health changed dramatically. A trip to the emergency room with an obstructed bowel turned into a Staph Infection, a surgical wound that took over a year to heal even with the use of a wound vacuum, and multiple other surgeries to remove scar tissue, portions of intestine and colon. He has yet to experience complete healing and currently has a partial bowel obstruction that may or may not become fully-obstructed. We've learned to stop questioning this and are content with living in the middle of God's will for our family.
What a journey this has been and continues to be, for not just Doug and I, but also for our three amazing, godly, beautiful, hilarious, wonderful children: Ian (13), Brodie (10) and Ellery (2). What sometimes seems like a burden is also an indescribable blessing. It's one thing to believe that God is the Almighty Healer; but when you're in the midst of sickness and still believe that, it takes tremendous faith. For God to give my family that kind of faith is a miracle to me! To know that God is using this storm to show us parts of himself that we could not see otherwise is an honor.
We began homeschooling in the fall of 2010, an adventure that both encourages and disappoints me on a regular basis! I love watching my kids learn and grow in ways that I would never witness if they were attending a traditional school. Seeing them wanting to find answers to big questions and listening to them tell me about the latest book they want to read is extremely rewarding. It can also make me crazy when one of my boys can't remember what nine times six is, though they have known how to multiply for a long time or when they complain that homeschooling is way harder than public school. I am grateful to have the opportunity to teach my children at home, especially when life gets messy.
God has also continuously provided for our family, giving us contentment without having a lot of "stuff". I left my full-time job as a Business Office Manager to take care of my family, reducing our income by more than half. I'm glad I didn't know at the time how long this season would last, but so far, God has not let us go without anything we need. We've definitely had to go without many things in the past few years. Hopefully, my children will look back on this time in their childhood and remember how God's hand was on all of it. Knowing that we serve an awesome Lord who will provide for us makes my heart filled with joy.
I am excited that all of the waiting and praying and tearful news has brought me to where I am at this moment and to this new blog about my knitting adventures. Knitting and praying just go together, so I've been doing a lot of both! I've recently opened an Etsy shop to sell what I've been creating. This has given me a feeling of accomplishment and calmness in the middle of what can often feel like chaos! Please visit my Etsy shop at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheRobinsonsHouse and let me know what you think!
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