#5

It's been 16 days since Aunt Na's accident & I am still blown away by the amount of people praying, sending well wishes, asking how they can help....it's been incredible.  She still has a long road to recovery,  but every day there is progress.  To God be the glory.

In January, I started writing about my Top 10 memories from 2013.  So naturally my #5 memory is one that has to do with my #1 Auntie. 

I think it was the summer I turned 12.  I'm almost positive that was the year I had my first Yosemite camping experience.  My family...I mean my Dad...doesn't really camp.  And when I say camp, I mean tents-sleeping-bags-thin-air-mattresses-1-shower-a-week kinda camping.  The only kind of camping there is, really.

So growing up we were deprived of this privilege.  I have no idea what bet my Dad lost to end up sleeping in a tent for a week, but I'm so glad he did!  Somehow, Aunt Na got our family to commit to camping with her in beautiful Yosemite...and that summer literally started the best tradition our family has.

Our camping group has grown over the years...extended family, grandparents, friends-who-are-like-family, high school friends, college roomies...now that we kids are grown up, we bring our spouses & kids....anyone is welcome, you just can't complain about the dirt. Or the tents.  Or the bugs.  Or the no make-up or showers for a week. 

Going to Yosemite is always a highlight of my year.  Especially now that I get to take Steve.  The first couple years, he wasn't really into it.  Then he learned how to relax & now he loves it!  And we've been taking Claire since she was 5 weeks old.  Just this morning on the way to school, she was asking how long until we get to go...& I love that she still calls it "Yo-Somebody."

After asking how many days til we get to go, she said, "Maybe we shouldn't go this year until Aunt Na gets all better.  She loves to go rock climbing & she might not feel good enough to do that yet."

Yep.  She said it.  What we've all probably been thinking, but don't really want to say out loud.  Yo-Somebody wouldn't be the same without Aunt Na.  She's the most fun to bike with, hike with, cook burgers with, night bike ride with, raft down the river with, play games at night with.  She knows all the best hikes, wild-life areas, cool shortcuts, best fly-fishing spots.  She's the one we all fight to spend time with.  She's the one who makes it a point to spend time with each of us, teaching us, laughing with us, snuggling with us, laughing with us, jumping off bridges into the freezing river with, LAUGHING with us.  She's seriously the best.

Yes, we may still go to Yosemite this year.  And yes, we'll still have fun.  We'll still bike, hike, swim, sleep-in, read, make foil dinners, fish, sleep in tents, not shower, & explore.  And hopefully Aunt Na will get to go, too.  Because it wouldn't be the same without her.  She's the one who made that part of our lives what it is today.  She's made it so important for our family to have our thing we do every year.  She's been the one to go the extra mile & find ways to make it extra special & make everyone feel like sleeping on the ground is the best thing ever.

There are still so many unknowns when it comes to Aunt Na's future.  We're praying hard for a full recovery.  But that just might not be a part of God's Plan for her life.  Yosemite might not be the same kind of trip it's been for the last 23 years.  And so I'm holding on to these memories with all my heart....

Update 3: Aunt Na

Update as of last night:

We've been laughing a lot together which is good....and this definitely made us laugh...s my Mom is out on the phone and Janet, Andy and I are sitting with Aunt Na. She's been a bit sleepy since they gave her a little morphine for pain and discomfort. As we are sitting in her room this younger guy, jeans and cowboy boots....good looking (alright Janet!!)...strolls by her door.  He looks at us and says, "So this is the way you guys spend your Saturday nights around here?  Don't you know there's a casino right around the corner??" We laugh and say…..before we can answer he assertively walks in Aunt Na's room, heads straight for the ventilator and about then Janet says, "WHO ARE YOU????" He turns and says, "Oh, I'm Dr. Cinelli and who are you?" Turns out that he's the trauma doctor that Mom had spoken with Friday. He told us "Naomi scared the hell out of all of us yesterday!! Her lungs were terrible and she was in bad shape!  But today they are 100% better than yesterday." Awesome!! Our prayers are being answered! GOD is listening!

He basically told us they will be doing a tracheostomy tomorrow or Monday.  Many of the docs have also started talking about rehab and are pushing neuro rehab.  That is a huge prayer request....she'll hopefully be to that point sooner than later and we want to get her in the best place possible for her.

As of this morning:
Aunt Na had a good night.  Her GI tract is working and she made a move last night...nothing sacred these days...  The neuro PA came in to see her this morning and said she was better today than yesterday.  So good to hear that, because we see it, too.  He said she's "definitely home".  Like she's "there."  YES!!!  We all felt that was totally the case but sometimes her eyes are open but she looks a little vacant...she definitely tries to track with her eyes and follow our voices, that is another good sign.  Her white blood cell count is down, her fever is down but still fluctuating, her lungs are sounding much better though she is coughing up a lot of junk....good get it out so they can do the traech!

Aunt Na has been giving a lot of thumbs up to us when she likes certain things.  But this morning she had her right hand up and she was using her index finger to gesture to us to come to that side of the bed.  The nurse said, "Naomi you can move mountains with that little finger!"  She also now will slowly shake her head no for an answer and not just thumbs up.  Slow progress....but good progress.

Thank you all for your fervent prayers!  Keep them coming.  God is good...all the time.

Update 2: Aunt Na

It's been a few days since I've updated, but I'm sure many of you have been following the updates my sis, Katie, has put on Caring Bridge.  Yesterday was a very hard day.  Definitely some set backs and it was discouraging.  The hardest part was that my Mom was only one at the hospital when things went a little sideways.  Read all about it here.

My cousin, Andy, and I drove up to Reno yesterday afternoon and got here late last night.  Came right in to see Aunt Na.  I'm so glad for the pictures I was able to see of her this week before getting here, but nothing can quite prepare you to see someone you love so much in this condition.  Seriously, so hard.  Honestly, it sucks.

We came back this morning to see her and she was giving us thumbs up when we asked her questions.  She still just seemed out of it, like it took tons of effort to respond in any way.  Right before we left so the doc's could do their rounds, the neuro PA came in to talk to us.  He was awesome.  Realistic, but encouraging.  He explained the injury in a way we could understand and it made so much sense.

We just came back after rounds and she's had her eyes open a lot!  Andy stood by her side and she turned and seemed to look right at him.  She kept them pretty wide for several minutes.  We're just sitting in her room, praying, playing worship music, talking to her.  Don & Shirley...great family friends....just arrived.  Shirley said she's WAY more alert and responsive than when she was here last weekend, so that's encouraging.

The nurses here are incredible.  So kind, patient, and loving.  We couldn't ask for better care for our sweet Aunt Na.

PLEASE continue to pray.  Thank you for your faithfulness to pray and ask others to pray.  She needs them.  It's going to be a long road to recovery, but we're so thankful for the progress she's already made.  It's been a long week...emotional, tiresome, up, and down.  But the Lord has been so faithful. 
He always is.  He hasn't left her or forsaken her.  We're so thankful she's knows Him, as He will be her....our....Ultimate Peace, Comfort, Strength, and Joy through this healing process.

Give me Jesus....Give me Jesus...You can have all this world...Just give me Jesus.

Update: Aunt Na

Our family is so overwhelmed and blessed by all of your prayers, texts, Facebook messages, tweets, Instagram comments, visits, calls...but mostly your prayers.  We believe there are hundreds of people praying across the US and around the world.  And for those of us who know the Lord, we know how powerful prayer is.

Several of us gathered yesterday at my grandparents house to #prayforna and of course talk about all the things we love about her.  Gramma told us the story of when she asked Jesus in her heart when she was just a little girl...listening to my Grampa play "Jesus Loves Me" on the pipe organ in their home.

My Dad commented on how our perspective through these last few days is so different from the world's because we (our family) know Jesus, because we've trusted Him for salvation, and because we ultimately know that someday we'll be with Him forever in heaven.  He said something to the effect of, "Why would we wish upon a star when we trust the Creator of them?"

I have to say that all of that doesn't make this situation easy.  Of course if we could take it all away we would.  But we know that Aunt Na's life is in the Lord's hands.  She's trusted Him for salvation.  And so we know that if He did take her, it wouldn't be goodbye, just see ya later...or ta-ta, as Aunt Na would say.

And then our family prayed together.  We prayed ultimately for healing, but also that the Lord would be glorified through all of this.

And we know that He already has.  On Saturday night after the accident, the high school youth group Aunt Na was snowboarding in Tahoe with went ahead with their pre-planned worship meeting.  This is the awesome part...6 kids prayed to receive Christ and were baptized immediately!  Amazing!  I can't wait for Aunt Na to wake up and hear that.  She's going to be stoked.

My Mom, Uncle Warren, Aunt Jan, Aunt Janet, and now sis, Katie are all at the hospital with Aunt Na.  I talked to my Mom for awhile today and she said they're all encouraged today.  Aunt Na was yawning a lot, squeezed the hand of the nurse, and when Aunt Jan asked her to blink her eyes, she did (with them closed)!!  She's moving the right side of her body a lot more than the left, but the neurologist said that goes along with where the injury is in her brain.  And so we're hopeful, she's going to wake up soon.

And we're Hope-Full.  That the Lord's good, pleasing, and perfect will is being played out in all of our lives.

Please continue to pray!  We know you are and will continue, and we thank you in advance.  Here are some things you can specifically pray for:
*Aunt Na to wake up!
*Complete healing of her brain
*My grandparents.  It's so hard for them to not be at the hospital with her.  They need a lot of peace and comfort.
*My mom.  I know it's so hard for her to see her baby sister like this.  I can't imagine.
*Uncle Warren.  He's the decision-maker for Aunt Na's care in the hospital.  For wisdom and strength.
*Aunt Janet.  She needs wisdom to know how long to stay at the hospital.  She's a teacher and is missing school this week.  Pray for peace when she makes her decision.
*Aunt Jan & Katie.  To have strength to continue to be an encouragement to the family at the hospital.
*The rest of the family who's not at the hospital, that we can just keep life as normal as possible at home for the family while they're away.
*The 6 kids who prayed to receive Christ.  That they would be surrounded by strong Christians to come along-side them, to encourage and disciple them.
*For those who's hearts are being stirred by this event.  That they would see that Jesus is the Ultimate Healer, Life-Giver, and Way to Eternal Life.  That many more would give their lives to Christ because of the testimony of Na.

Aunt Na

For a few hours today we thought we might lose a family member.  My aunt was in a snow boarding accident earlier today and the message we got was that she was life flighted to the ICU in critical condition.  She's intubated, not breathing on her own.  Getting that phone message from my crying Grams was enough to about send me over the edge.

"Aunt Na??  Really??  Wait how can this be..." have been the thoughts going through my head.  And I said to Steve, "It really is up to the Lord when He wants to take us.  We just have no idea when or how."  And then we started praying.

Facebook pages were immediately updated by several of us.  Instagram, Twitter, asking people to pray.  Texts and messages started going out.  I've been afraid to call anyone for fear of just crying on the phone.  So right now, I'm thankful for technology.

But people are praying.  People everywhere.  People who don't even know my aunt, and especially those who do.  Because that's how the body of Christ works.  We lift one another up and take on each others burdens.  And we begin to think about the fragility of life.  And we say, "I love you," a few more times to those we hold dear.  And we don't do laundry or watch TV because it seems so frivolous at the time. 

But we do continue to pray.  And think of scriptures that talk about life, death, the Lord's perfect timing and how we may never have the answers.

I wish you could all know my aunt.  She's like the coolest person I know.  And if you know her, you agree.  And if you know her and I say to you, "My aunt is cooler than yours," you just nod your head in agreement.  She rock climbs...not just like regular rocks, but like the face of Half Dome in Yosemite...for 3 days and 2 nights.  She backpacks, wake boards, mountain bikes, plays the guitar, softball, & basketball, sings, shoots squirrels with a bow & arrow, rides horses, raises weird pets (snakes, chipmunks, opossums, iguanas, deer) changes her own oil, and is willing to try just about anything.

But what she'd really want you to know about her is that she loves Jesus.  And she'd want you to know that He loves you, too.  That's what it always comes down to with her.  If you were hanging out, she'd want you to know that.  And she'd tell you.  She'd tell you about the freedom she has in Christ because He died for her...and you.  And WHEN she gets back to doing her regular activities, you should ask her about it.  Because she'd love to tell you.  And she'll tell you how the Lord watched over her today and protected her...even though she's still not awake, and we still don't know the full extent of her injuries, I believe she will be back to her regular activities before we know it.  And we'll give God all the glory.

And if she doesn't recover, we'll still give God the glory.  We don't always understand why He does what He does and why He allows certain things to happen.  But we still praise Him through it, trusting it's part of His perfect Plan & Purpose.

Philippians 1:6, "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Please continue to pray.  We'll give updates as we find things out.  Hug those you love a little tighter. And give God the glory for the good things He's done in your life.