Wednesday night's visit

Last night Roy, the kids and I only had a short time for visiting due to a meeting I needed to attend. But that short visit was one of the best visits ever! When I walked in and saw mom sitting up with a tray of food in front of her and feeding herself I was so excited. Then Adam told her to say Hi Melissa, and she did!!!!! I was so overwhelmed with emotions! It was so exciting and encouraging. I also took joy in finding out that she played the Wii and liked it! :-) I'll be going in this afternoon and maybe I can challenge her to a game. God is so amazing!!! I know that only He can work such miracles! For her to even have a sense of humor during this is amazing in itself. I love to see her smile and hear her laugh. I can't wait to hear her throw out her own jokes soon!!!! I can't thank everyone enough for the love and support shown to our family during this journey.

~Melissa~

Wednsday Dec 30 2009 5:45 pm

Mom ate her breakfast this morning, real solid food. Her lunch got cold before she started it, so she never ate that. She makes better progress every day in all her therapy sessions, the people here are just awestruck at the pace shes moving along at. They tell me that "no one recovers this fast!".

Its the power of prayer, of that i'm certain. So lets just keep on praying!

Also, after therapy she rested for 20 minutes, then she wanted to do somthing. So I asked away without success for about 10 questions or so. Finally I asked if she wanted to play the Nintendo Wii, she got all excited and said yes! So we did some Wii bowling today too.

'Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus

~Krista~
The chorus to this song is the one that was going through my head while we were on our way to the hospital, the day that Mother had her stroke! 'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus!

~Words: Louisa M. R. Stead, 1850-1917 Music: William J. Kirkpatrick, 1838-1921~

’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,

Just to take Him at His Word;

Just to rest upon His promise,

Just to know, “Thus says the Lord!”

Chorus

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!

How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er

Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!

O for grace to trust Him more!

O how sweet to trust in Jesus,

Just to trust His cleansing blood;

Just in simple faith to plunge me

’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!

Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,

Just from sin and self to cease;

Just from Jesus simply taking

Life and rest, and joy and peace.

I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,

Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;

And I know that Thou art with me,

Wilt be with me to the end.

Tuesday Dec 29 2009 4:32 PM

Mom had a fantastic day in speech therapy, she sang twinkle, twinkle, little star, row, row, row, your boat, and she can say many other words now. She needs to take some time to think about the word, but she is able to speak on command now, Praise God! She ate her lunch orally today, and tomorrow they are going to try to feed her all 3 meals puree.

God is answering so many prayers,so quickly! His hand of mercy, love, and power is over us.

Purple and Scarlet

Mom Laughing

Yummy!

Monday Dec 28 2009 7:50 PM

Mom had A tiring, but very sucessful day in therapy today, she was able to swallow without coughing, water, thickened apple juice, tomato juice, and apple sauce. I am praying she will be able to get rid of her feeding tube soon!

Today she walked further than she has yet, about 140 yards! Today her occupational therapist hooked her up to this electro stimuli doohicky, hope that wasn't to painful. I tried one of those when craig bought it for isolated muscle workout, felt like being roped to an electric fence! All of her therapists were extremely pleased with her efforts and her ability.

Sunday Dec 27 2009 11:12 am

Mom's feeling good this Sunday morning, we both got lots of sleep last night. We read the first epistle of John for devotions, and for a teaser, listened to Keven Swanson's Generations Radio program, his Christmas day's broadcast.

Yesterday they had to put a catheter in Mom because she can't control her functions fully yet. So you can pray that she would be able to lose the catheter soon too. Her medication from the hospital has he plugged up, and that problem has only surfaced in the last 48 hours, they wait so long to take care of constipation, that by the time they take measure against it, its a bigger problem than it needs to be. Anyway, that's torture for her and they keep asking her if she wants pain medication (the culprit) and she keeps turning it down. Thankfully they are trying a natural method, prune juice!

Saterday Dec 26 2009 9:32 am

Adam:

I think this will have been one of the most memorable Christmas's for my family. In the Roy took a turn spending the night with Mom on Dec 24, so Christmas morning I was able to go eat breakfast with the Clark family, and we just had a great time of fellowship there! Krista taught them how to make Egg Butter, a Van Cleve Christmas morning tradition. We ate taco's for Christmas dinner, your taco's are a hit with us Mrs Macdonald!

We spent most of the day with Mom, and were excited to see she had learned new tricks! she can now move her right ankle and toes! A large part of the Criss family came to visit Christmas night and Mom was So happy to see them.

Mom had a really hard night and did not sleep much at all Christmas night. The staples that held Mom's Skull together been have been pulled out today.

Prayers are being answered every day, her right side is coming back now. It will take a lot of therapy to get her strength back, but we have great faith in Jesus that he can, if he wills, restore her strength and health.

Mom's New Location

Lynden Christian Healthcare Center

Room 505

855 Aaron Drive

Lynden, WA 98264-9396

(360) 354-4434

Thursday Dec 24 2009 11:09 pm

Mom walked 964' today! Her longest walk without a break was 120+ yards! Another breakthrough with her therapy, today she moved her right arm 3 times while I was doing some excersizes with her!

Psalm 89:1-2
1I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.

2For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.

She is working extra hard so she can make it home. The Lord is answering prayers every day, since coming to Lynden Christian Healthcare Center; I have not ceased to hear stories of how long it took people in the facility to get where Mom is at physically.

Wednesday Dec 23 2009 7:14 pm

Adam:

Big news for today, Mom is out of the hospital as of 1:30 pm. She was transported to the Lynden Christian rehab facility. I don't think we will have to stay here long, she is doing well. Mom is no longer hooked up to a catheter, she is getting a lot more excersize going to and from bathroom; good therapy. She is walking so much better, she is getting out of bed herself and scaring Dad.

We had a hymn sing tonight at 7 pm to 8:30 pm. Mom loved every second of it, we had 22 people in her tiny room singing.

Dec. 22/23 update

Debbie Criss:

I had the sweetest visit with my dear friend Cynthia yesterday!  Answer to our prayers… Bill was finally able to get permission for Teddy to see his Momma in the hospital!  Thank you for praying! When Mindy and Kelsie Weese, Krista and Teddy, Sarah and I arrived, she was sitting in her chair with Adam and Bill on either side of her. Her face was so bright and her sweet smile was much fuller on the right side!  She had just finished therapy, which included walking down the hall (I was told she walked 200 feet!). When she saw all of us, she put on her biggest smile and started making the sweetest sounds to welcome us!  Teddy was the first to hold her hand (actually, she was the one who reached out and took hold of his!)  As we visited, she continually smiled and giggled—it was so much fun!!  When she needed to get back into bed, rather than calling the nurse, Mindy, Adam and I decided to snuggle her back in ourselves. :-)  Cynthia did great walking back and sitting on the edge of her bed with Adam right next to her.  Then came the fun! We three stooges tried, not so gracefully, to get her back in bed.  I was lifting and arranging her legs, and the other two pulled, tugged, and yanked her upper body. :-)  Everyone in the room was laughing and having a great time!  Finally when we thought we had her in a good position, we looked at her and realized not only was she too far down in her bed, but she was lying crooked as well! To top the fun off, Cynthia was laughing uncontrollably!   Proverbs 17:22 is so true! A joyful heart is good medicine!  The little things in life which are so often taken for granted are so dear to all of us right now!  Thank you dear friends and family for lifting Cynthia up before our loving Heavenly Father in prayer and for all your love and support!  God is doing good things!!

Bill just called my husband, Dean, saying that Cynthia will be released at 1:00 this afternoon to be moved to an extended care facility!  They are not sure at this point which one it will be. Please pray that they will be able to get in at Lynden Christian Health Care, as it will be so much closer to home for the family.  

Bill just picked William, Krista, and Teddy up from our home. Praise the Lord, Bill just found out that Cynthia will be moved to Lynden Christian Health Care!!

It has been so precious to me to see the peace on Cynthia’s face through all this, and knowing my sweet friend, I confident that she is trusting God to do good things through this!

Love and Hugs to all of you!

Tuesday Dec 22 2009 10:30 pm

Adam:

At 4 am this morning I woke up to hear Mom moaning. I looked across the room and I was shocked out of my mind, she was sitting on the left edge of her bed!!! She had gotten there all by herself, thank God she never fell! I scolded her because apparently she had no reason, that I could find out, for even doing it. Besides showing off! When I scolded her, she just laughed at me, making me feel stupid.

Her therapist (Kim) was thrilled to hear what she had done at 4 am. Remember in yesterdays post, how I asked for prayer specifically in her right side? God saw fit to answer that prayer at 4 am, she could not have moved to the side of the bed, and swung out to sit up, without being able to use her right leg. She walked about 200' total today, with control of her right leg. We are praising God first, and come before him with another petition; pray that she would regain her speech.

Her friends that came to visit her are such a blessing. After she had done walking for the day, she was just all pooped out. Mrs Criss, Mrs Weese, and Sarah Criss all came in at once, and she just perked right up, and she was very encouraged by them.

Tuesday Dec. 22nd 3:52 PM

Krista, from Mom's room!

Mother is doing much better! Praise God!!! She used her right side today...and she walked down the hallway outside of her room! Thank you for all of your prayers! God is surely answering them! Part of the Ws and the Cs came today, to see Mother!..they brought Teddy and I from the Clark's house! TY!

They are moving her from the chair to her bed right now! She laughed lots today! They let Teddy come up today as well, Mom really enjoyed seeing Teddy again!

Monday Dec 21 2009 6:29 pm

Adam:

I think Mom got more rest last night than she has yet. It was quieter and she just seemed more restful, she had to have extra pain meds and that helped. But she rested well.

Mom walked the whole outer perimeter of her room two times today, she was pooped! It was more of a real walk this time, not a shuffle, the therapist made her take real steps. Her ankle gets no muscle movement at all Dad says he felt her right fingers pressure down on his hands. Pray specifically for the right side of her body.

Today doctors and therapists talked with me and Dad about moving her to a special therapy facility, we want to take her home but we need to rig the family room up for her to stay in. Help Mrs. Weese!!! We will need a hospital bed rented and other things like that. If she does move into a special care facility it will only be because we don't have things ready for her to be moved.

We have gotten Mom to laugh a lot today; she has a lot of spirit.

Sunday Dec 20 2009 11:06 pm

Adam posting from Moms bedside:

I stayed all night with Mom last night, and Dad relieved me at 8:45 am, so I could attend church and take a nap. I got about 4 hours of sleep in the hospital, so I took a nap after church to be able to stay with her tonight.

They tell me that by Friday, she will need to be moved from hospital, to a therapy specialist or taken home. We will take her home; I know she believes in family care over assisted living facilities. If we have to hire a nurse, so be it. But we want Mom at home. We will have to get a hospital bed, therapist, and all kinds of other details worked out before Friday.

Mrs. Weese has been a great counselor; she has a lot of experience that we can draw on when it comes to caring for people. Thanks Mrs. Weese!

Mom can smile with the right side of her lips now! She did more walking today than she has done yet. She has such a sweet spirit, she has made an impact on the nurses. The hospital seems quieter tonight, and that's a blessing, last night a patent in the neighboring have got ward was hacking and coughing all night long. I ended up praying for him to be healed so Mom and I can rest. And he is doing better tonight too Lol.

Pictures of Mom and Others

(Above) Adam, Kelsey and I seeing Mother!

Mom had her bandage around her head taken off, now she has a pillow case hat on! We hope to get a pretty scarf and put that on instead!

Yesterday the Crisses and the Hainlines came to see Mom...and sang hymns!

A pic of Mom still with her bandage on.

Earlier before when Gram and Gramps were still here, we got to spend some table time together in the cafeteria!

Mrs. M came to see Mom yesterday too!

Mom when she was moved to her new room that she has now! I like this one!

Gram and Gramps!

Will and Melissa in Moms room that she previously had.

Mom with Roy and Melissa!

Maybe I will post more pictures soon!

Sunday's update from Melissa

Today Roy and I arrived around 2pm. At that time mom had just finished her therapy and was sitting up in her chair. She was quite worn out. She looked so much better today. She is much more alert due to the change in her pain medication. Her eyes are open wider and looked brighter. The doctors were also very happy that she was able to go to the bathroom. I wasn't sure I should post that but dad said it's such a huge step in her progress that he felt we should share it. This morning we received the news that if she continues to improve at the rate she's going they will be able send her either to a rehab facility or home Friday! What an incredible Christmas present that would be. We ask that you pray that she will be able to come home and not have to go to a facility. This is a difficult decision dad is faced with at this time. If she comes home there are a lot of adjustments that need to be made and we are praying a rehab specialist will be able to come in daily to help her do her excercises.

She has had a calm rest of the day so far. It is now 6:30pm and Adam is reading the Bible to her and we are gathered around her listening. She has a  very peaceful look on her face and is very pleased to hear God's word.

We ask everyone to continue to pray for healing and that this all be for God's Glory! Praise God for the progress already made! He is the Almighty healer and provider!

Sunday Dec. 20th

Hello all, Krista typing...Mom is doing great today! She used the restroom normally! This calls for a celebration...thanks all for your prayers, they are really a blessing! Mom also took some steps as well!

Later today around 5:45PM they had Mom do some breathing excercises! She didn't get it the first time, but the second time when the lady asked her to do it through her mouth, she got it! Mom only did it a little bit but, hey, its her first time, right?..she will probably have that thing down in no time!

We had a visitor today that we havn't seen in a long time! I gave her this blog's address.

Adam is planning on staying with her through the night like he did last night. When she comes home we are planning on having her bed down in the family room, so she can be with family!

Gotta go.

Sat Dec 19 2009 7:06 pm

Adam posting from Moms bedside:

Today Grandma & Grandpa both left at 1:30 pm, they visited with mom from 11 am up until they left. They promised our family they would be driving back up to visit soon. We are holding you to that Gram an Gramps! Mom is now moved into a private ward that they usually use for quarantine patients. They gave us this ward because the knew from past experience that Mom attracts a lot of visitors! The Hainlines, Criss's, Shorts, and our family all sang Hymns to Mom, we sang about 5 before a nurse showed up. I thought that she was going to scold us for noise (that had happened in ICU) but quite to the contrary! She asked us to go through the halls of the 4th floor singing Christmas Carols! So many people were blessed by the singing, both nurses and patients. We had smuggled contraband up to the 4th floor (Teddy) and he went with us through the halls singing. As we went by wards the reactions were varied, waving, crying, and all one fellow was able to do was smile brightly. Thank the lord no rotten tomatoes were present to be thrown.
 Mom was doing therapy by the time we were done caroling and she is making great progress! She stood for longer than she has yet and she took several steps, Robert (her therapist) says shes doing things within 3 days that most of his patients are not able/willing to perform in 3 weeks! That gave us such hope praise God! We are seeing his hand in swift recovery.

Another exciting thing; we have established a method for communication that works great!!! One of us holds her hand, and ask a question. She is then told to squeeze the hand to indicate "yes" or "no". The method can be perfected, but it's fun being able to meet needs through this new way of communication. For instance, we now know that even though she cannot move the right side of her body and face, we know that her nerves are able to sense, and feel pain. We know that moving her fingers and limbs doesn't hurt her, so I can feel free to massage her limbs to stimulate her brain, and so she does not lose the use of her limbs.

I read her Isaiah from Chapter 6-11. I kind of read the chapters and commented on what struck me. The Shorts, Steve Baker, and my family joined us and we did devotions. It's been a good day and we have been reminded "his mercy endureth forever".

Moms Location (as requested)

I updated the location of moms room, as it changed during the night. Thank you to all the people that visited the poor soul in 437!

Room 431* 4th floor. Visiting hours so far are 11 am to 8 pm.

St. Joseph Hospital
2901 Squalicum Parkway
Bellingham, WA 98225-1851
(360) 734-5400

Its Friday. Dec. 18th

Krista:

4:24PM
This morning Teddy wasn't able to see Mom, and is spending most of the day at the Criss's house...thank you Crisses! They will let Teddy see Mom later today, when she gets moved to a different room!

For Mom's therapy today they had her stand up to get into a chair, so they will be able to move her to another room of her own...Praise the Lord that she is doing even better!

The Clarks got to visit with us and Mom ten minutes ago! While we were in there Adam was telling mom some funny storys. It was great to see her smiling again!
When William came in, Adam had him hold Mom's hand, then Adam told Mom to squeeze it hard, so Mom squeezed it as hard as she could, while smiling this big smile!!
    Thank you all for praying that she would respond in the therapy!
Our cousins are soooo great! They are making sure we have enough provisions and that our house is staying nice and clean...thank you very, very, very, very, much Cousins! And also a great thank you to our good friends the B's...for making 2 huge casseroles!

4:34PM-They are moving Mom right now to floor 4.
   
Thanks to everyone!

Friday Dec 18 2009 2:05 pm

Adam:

10 am to Noon
This morning Grandma, Grandpa and I did devotions with Mom, we all took turns reading Gods word to her. She was so peaceful, and had this perpetual smile of peace on her face. We sang Mom a hymn together too, "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" that made her so happy. A little after devotions we were just talking to her, and I reminded her how she had told me a few times that someday we might have to take care of her like she had taken care of us kids, she laughed for the first time audibly! Her chest was just heaving with laughter! It was good to see that! John Mink also came and read to her from the bible, mostly Psalms. He is a really good reader, I enjoyed listening, and I know mom did too.

1:20 pm to 1:55 pm
Mom had therapy and progress is continuing rapidly, today she stood up and was able to take a step! Her right side is still paralyzed, but she swung her body to step. The therapist said she had a lot of inner strength.... Not news to us boys!

Thursday night's visit!

Hello! This is Melissa Van Cleve! Mrs. Van Cleve's daughter-in-law. Or as mom likes to say, daughter-in-love! I just want to share the incredible response Roy and I received last night while visiting mom. Yesterday morning I was running around doing some errands and came across a rack of beautiful scarves. I instantly thought of mom! Gracelyn (my daughter) helped me pick one out. We picked out a purple one b/c that is mom's favorite color. I decided to bring it with me up to the hospital to see if the nurses would allow her to keep it with her in bed. When we arrived we went in to see her for a few minutes and then went down to the cafeteria with the family. After dinner Roy and I went in to see her. I brought in the scarf in a bag. I took out the scarf and showed it to her and she had such a big smile on her face and a gleam in her eye! My heart was filled with joy and excitement to see such an incredible reaction. I touched it to her arm and cheek so she could feel how soft it was. Then I put it back in the bag and just had is setting on the edge of the bed. After a few minutes she lifted up her hand, with her "boxing glove" as we like to call it, and set in on the back and pulled closer to her and gave a big smile. I couldn't believe it! I was even more excited! So I took the scarf back out of the bag and held it up for her to see again. Then I draped it over her shoulder and arm and she shrugged up her shoulder and tilted her head to snuggle it. It was such an amazing feeling to see her do that! Roy took her hand out of her "boxing glove" so we could hold her hand. She held on tight! Every couple of minutes she would let go of our hands and grab onto the scarf. It's amazing that such small gestures can make such an incredible impact. Praise God!!!!!
While we were in there with mom, her and Roy would lock eyes for periods of time. At one time I said, "I think you two are reading each other's minds!" She looked up at me and grinned! 
At one point William came in and said (in a joking tone of voice) he thought Roy and I were wearing mom out and we should leave. At the time she was holding mine and Roy's hands and squeezed them harder, pulled us closer and gave William the look!!!! She definitely still has her sense of humor! And life with the Van Cleves wouldn't be the same if there wasn't a little teasing going on!
Thank you all for your prayers and support! It is well received and is making an incredible impact!


God Bless!
~Melissa Van Cleve

Thursday Dec 17 2009 11:10 pm Alpha Team Report: Mission "soul therapy"

Adam VC:

Therapy is a keyword now for Mom. The Doctors and nurses are giving Mom steady therapy now, so her brain can re-learn how to speak and how to move her whole right side of her body. Dad and I have a goal to meet a therapy need that doctors can't provide, so we are ministering to her soul. We are read Bible to her for hours today, Cousin Beth Short, and Connie Brink did too, I was kicked out after some 3 hours with mom. I was hogging her. She responds so well to the scriptures, and I sang to her, and she was smiling and crying the whole time! The best part about that for her was, all the noise that the people were making in the ward, and outside of it stopped completely. Everyone just shut up, and silence was heard, and it was very good! At the time I decided to start singing mom had been told to get some sleep, wasn't gonna happen with all that noise, so I decided to entertain her. Mrs Brink sang to Mom and read to her as well.

When Grandma and Grandpa showed up! Wow! They held hands and response was great, she can give a grip now with her left hand! They held her hands for a long time and kissed her several times, then I got to hold her hand, for 2 minutes or so, then I got dumped as she pulled her hand away and she reached out for her Mom. She was so happy to see her parents! Praise God she is doing so well!

Mission Accomplished.

Count Your Blessings

Thank you to everyone who has come to comfort us and bless us...what an encouragement! All of your prayers are wonderful!

So far many, many, many people have come to see Mom and us! It is a great blessing!

~Count Your Blessings~

When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Refrain:

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

Count your blessings, see what God hath done!

Count your blessings, name them one by one,

*Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

[*And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.]

Refrain...

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?

Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?

Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,

And you will keep singing as the days go by.

Refrain...

When you look at others with their lands and gold,

Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;

Count your many blessings—wealth can never buy

Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.

Refrain...

So, amid the conflict whether great or small,

Do not be discouraged, God is over all;

Count your many blessings, angels will attend,

Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

 

Krista VC

Devotions with Mom. Dec. 17th

Tonight our family went into Mom's room to have devotions with her. We all prayed and gave thanks to God before reading Advent Fortold.

Mom must have known when we were all praying, because she had her eyes closed the whole time. Thank the Lord that she is doing better!

Today the nurses worked with her on therapy two times...Mom won't respond to them telling her to squeeze her hand, but when the nurses squeeze Mom's hand then Mom will.
Please pray that she will be able to respond to the nurses in the therapy. We thank you very much for all of your prayers already! They are a great blessing to us and her!

May He get all the Glory,
Krista.

Psalm 100 Dec. 17th 5:39 PM

Psa 100:1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

Psa 100:2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before His presence with singing.

Psa 100:3 Know ye that the LORD He is God: it it He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.

Psa 100:4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless his name.

Psa 100:5 For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations

Posted by: Krista VC

Dec. 17, News from Home

This is Laura Criss on the home front.

Tuesday evening Daddy and Momma went to the hospital to be with the Van Cleves, while we prepared our home for the Van Cleve children. Adam stayed at the hospital with his parents, and Daddy and Momma brought William, Krista, and Teddy here at 11 PM, tired and emotional. On the way home, Momma was encouraged by listening to the children talk: they believe in a powerful God, and trust Him with their whole hearts! They hadn’t eaten a proper meal all day, so we scrambled up some eggs and toast for them as we loved on them and tried to help them feel comfortable. Fortunately, they are like second-family to us, so they started acting like their normal selves before long. We got Teddy to bed by midnight, and when I went in to check on him and see if he needed anything, he said, “Well, I need a drink, there’s a jingle bell on the bathroom door that’s making too much noise, and everyone’s running around the house!” :-P William and Krista were far too wired to fall asleep, though, so they didn’t go to bed until 3 AM! Jon and William talked on the couch, and Krista watched a Lone Ranger episode and talked with the girls upstairs. She wanted to stay up later, but the girls didn’t have the adrenaline she did :-).

The next morning we slept in some. Mrs. Bryan and Leanne came up from Port Orchard to help. Anyone who knows the Bryan family knows of their caring and serving hearts whenever there is a need! The two Bryan ladies, Momma, Susanna, and Krista went to the Van Cleves’ home to get it spic-and-span and to make some meals. Teddy stayed here, playing games, reading books, and just having a good time with the boys. Then after a quick dinner, the Van Cleve children, Daddy and Momma, and the Bryans headed to the hospital. Mrs. Van Cleve’s sweet cousin, Beth Short and family from Eastern WA, were at the hospital when they arrived. Momma was touched that when she went to leave, Mrs. Van Cleve held out her hand to her. Of course Momma couldn’t leave then! The VC children went to the Van Cleve home with the Shorts that evening, and our home remains open for them whenever they need it! We will be watching Roy (their oldest son) and Melissa's children this evening as Daddy and Momma join everyone at the hospital again. I’ll try to keep up on the home front news. We praise God for the miracles He has already performed in Mrs. Van Cleve’s body, and pray for continued healing!

Thursday Dec 17 2009 12:43 pm

I am posting from Mom’s bedside! Praise the Lord! I have been reading the Bible to her for hours now, with Dad and I taking turns. First I read her some Psalms, chapters 146-150, and some others that I had selected. When I first came in the room, she was very unsettled by the nurses, who had just put a feeding tube through her nasal passage, but when I greeted her and started reading, she became peaceful. I also read to her Ephesians chapter 5, just to give her an idea what was taught at church while we were away, and what Mr. Murphy would be preaching this coming Sunday. She really smiled when we came to verses 15-16 because I stopped reading to remind her of how many times she had used those verses to exhort and prod me. Then I read her some of Job, and I got a great response from her when I cracked a joke about how camels were cars in the Old Testament, and since Job had 3000 camels, he owned a camel lot. I told her we really have a long ways to go to match that! She both smiled (laughed) and cried during scripture reading, praise God!

Another thing, Miranda called with something that had been on her heart. None of us had taken into consideration that mom didn't know what was going on! We took for granted that mom knew that she had a stroke, and what condition she was in. Miranda alerted us to this, Dad filled mom in on her own condition: exactly why she was here and how well she was doing. She understood everything and was grateful.

Joe Murphy just stopped by, and he encouraged Mom, Dad, and I greatly through prayer.

Thursday Dec 17 2009 12:02 am

Adam:

We finally got the doctor’s report from yesterday morning’s cat scan. He said everything looked good in there, and he seemed pleased with the progress. He is planning on trying to get mom to eat orally later today and he will be starting her on therapy as well! This is definite and marked improvement! We are so blessed by our cousin's arrival, their encouragement to us, and most importantly, cousin Beth's encouragement to mom has been a tremendous blessing. We feel so loved: our brother in Christ, Steve Baker, stayed with us all day long in the hospital encouraging us. So many others have also dropped by or were visiting their loved ones in hospital. We hope we were able to encourage them as well. Dad especially has been reaching out to others in the ICU waiting room.

We continue looking to God, waiting on Him, and seeing what He has in store for us.

Command:
Heb 4:16
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Power:
Psalm 146:8
The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:

Answer:
Psalm 34:17
The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

Our prayers are that God be glorified through this trial and let the glory be His alone. Only He knows what He is going to bring to pass. May we be His tools.

Wendsday Dec 16 2009

Adam:

Mom looks so much better! Praise God! She is not out of the woods yet, so keep praying. She has some color in her cheeks again. When we went into her room, they were testing her breathing so they could take her breathing tube out, and she has been freed from that now. We talked to her, and she was responsive. She looked at us, and we just put our hands on her to let her know her family was there. When we prayed over her, she showed more emotion than she has this whole time—she coughed and tried hard to speak, but she is still unable to bless us with her voice.

I will get dad’s version on here soon.

Psalm 106:1 Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Psalm 25 & Psalm 46

Adam's perspective:

It started out a pretty average day, with the usual activity. Mom looked bright and smiley, as she normally does in the morning. Dad, Will, a friend, and I had some errands to run in Bellingham, so we yelled goodbye to everyone in the house and took off. We had been in Bellingham for about an hour and a half when we got a call from Krista saying, "Mom won’t talk to us." We figured she must be deep in prayer, so didn’t think much of it. When we got home, we ran up to check on mom, and were, quite literally, shocked. She was mostly paralyzed (had completely lost the use of her right side), and could not talk. Dad yelled at me to call an ambulance, and I quickly ran downstairs to do so. I then ran to clear the driveway for the ambulance. I really want to thank Lynden Fire Dept, as they were so quick to respond and were there by the time I had moved my car! Praise God! Dad went with mom in the ambulance, and I called the family to prayer. My sister-in law Melissa drove us to the hospital, and I spent most of the way there calling everyone in my dad’s cell phonebook, begging for prayer. I called my sister Miranda, and she hit the road from Portland Oregon area.

Upon reaching the hospital, we received very little news from the ER desk, so we waited in the waiting room for about 15 minutes before Dad came in. The diagnosis was a stroke by the time she had made it into the hospital, and it had already hemorrhaged, leaving few options. Dad opted for surgery. All the kids got to spend 10 minutes with mom before she was taken into surgery. We spend that time praying over her as a family. During those prayers she responded better than she had through the whole ordeal—she opened her eyes, and I saw a tear escape. That indicated that she had retained enough of her functions to understand what was going on. The nurses were convinced that was a really good sign.

Surgery took about 2 1/2 hours, and I knew by that time that hundreds of prayers were being raised for her all over the country. We definitely spent our time before the throne of grace too! We were blessed by Dad’s co-worker, Clary, who came to comfort him, as he too had undergone the same procedure in 1991. What a blessing—it gave us hope! Clary didn’t recover 100 %, but our hope was renewed nonetheless! Krista Lebrant came to comfort us too, and strengthened us through the Word. Jeff & Connie Brink came too, and greatly encouraged us. By the time Mom came out of surgery and into ICU, Mr. & Mrs. Criss, Mr. Murphy, and the whole Clark brigade had made it to ICU waiting room, warmly receiving us. We held a group prayer in the waiting room, praising God for Moms successful surgery, and praying for her complete healing and recovery. When I went in to see her after surgery, I talked to and prayed over her, and she responded, even while under sedation! Her blood pressure rose while I was speaking, and dad said that was a good sign. I got teased later that I raise dead people’s blood pressures. Whatever. :-) We are now waiting on God and praying.