Miracles

I woke up several months ago in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep. I don't remember what was on my mind at that time, but I kept having this overwhelming feeling about miracles. So I pulled out my phone and made a note of what I was thinking hoping it would help me fall back asleep. This is what I wrote, "Sometimes the biggest miracles are the ones that unfold before your eyes. But because you are too close, like a picture that has been magnified 100 times, it's hard to recognize what you are seeing." That was in September. I think that I was referring to my dad. He had been sick for about a year and a half but had, in my opinion, miraculously, been made whole. But little did I know that was just the beginning. I am writing this experience down to document it and so I don't forget it. My mom got Covid in late October/early November 2020. She was down for almost a whole month. My dad was in Wisconsin working on a papermill. Her and Wacey got sick at almost the exact same time, with the same symptoms. They both went and got tested. Wacey's test came back first and it was negative. Because their symptoms were so similar, we assumed my mom's test would be as well. But it was positive. Before my mom got her test results back, my dad came home. I don't think he was overly careful because he thought she was negative. So a week later my dad comes down with a huge rash all over his back and side. We originally thought they might be "covid pox." However, after a doctor looked at them he determined they were shingles. My dad just kept getting sicker and sicker. He was in a lot of pain, he was throwing up or so nauseous that he didn't feel like anything and he kept losing weight. Then a few days after Christmas, he started having chest pains. They called the ambulance who took him up to ShowLow. They kept him for about 4 days, ran every test on his heart they could find but couldn't come up with anything wrong with his heart. So they sent him home. In the meantime, Jamie and I had gotten covid. I had been pretty sick for about a week when I finally asked him to give me a blessing. He blessed me that I would get better but then he blessed me with something I wasn't expecting. He blessed me with peace with respect to my dad. He told me that I could petition Heavenly Father to stay his hand. That it would be conditioned on my faith. I wasn't sure what I needed to do to exhibit that faith. In the meantime, my dad just continued to get sicker. One night my brothers decided to have a family prayer. They all got together and then facetimed me so I could join in. As I looked around the room, I could see each of my brothers and then Shawn prayed. The only way to describe that experience is sacred. I knew that was what heaven would be like. As I listened to Shawn pour out his heart and we all silently joined in on behalf of my dad I knew that as parents, that is what my mom and dad had worked their whole lives for. To have each of their children, have the faith that they could petition their Heavenly Father for the things that they needed. After that I hung up and decided I was going to start a fast for my dad. I started my fast, wrote in my journal and went to bed. I wrote that night that I thought my brothers felt like my dad was dying but I felt at peace. In the meantime, my brothers all went over to my moms. Shawn in particular, but I think maybe Wyatt also and felt like if they didn't get my dad to the hospital that night he would die. So they went and talked to my mom and dad and they decided to call an ambulance. They took him back up to the hospital and ran tests on him. By the time, I woke up the next morning, they had found fluid on his heart and had flown him down here. I felt like my fast was answered. He was in the hospital about another five days before they released him to go home. When they released him they knew he had pneumonia. They had to go in twice the following week to take out fluid off from around his lungs. He is still really weak. But I think he is slowly getting stronger. I know that our prayers were answered. I know that Heavenly Father stayed his hand, not only because of my faith but because of the faith of my whole family - the faith that my parents have spent a lifetime trying to instill within us. I know God lives. I know the priesthood is the authority to act in God's name and I know it has been restored to the earth. I am so grateful to be married to someone who honors it and uses it to bless my life. 

Semi-finals

Emmy had her semi-final game last night. They played Highland Junior High. They were down by 2 in the bottom of the sixth but came back to tie it up. But it was too dark to finish the game so they have to finish it tonight. Emmy played catcher. Her knee is driving her crazy but she did a great job.