It turns out, I was right in feeling {unprepared} for all that the last two weeks have held for this gang.  Until you’ve lived through something like this, there’s really no way you can fully prepare for the experience.  EVEN if you have the most awesome support network of “been there done that” mommas sharing their experiences and advice.  EVEN if you have an amazing crowd of friends and family praying you through and supporting you practically and emotionally.  Which, I am so grateful to say, I do.  But still. {unprepared} I was.

I’m not gonna lie.  These last two weeks since Mei Mei’s surgery have been hard.  The day of the surgery, frankly, was likely the easiest of the days that we had while IN the hospital. ( We waited. She slept.  And oddly, I only felt momentary flashes of nervous anxiety over her care or well-being. SO. SO. grateful for that.) 

And just this past Saturday we finally experienced the easiest day-into-overnight since we returned home from our four day stay.  In between those good days, we’ve crammed all kinds of hard moments.  Sleepless nights.  Night terrors.  Temper tantrums.  Pain management gone awry.  Lost patience.  Ugly behavior.  And not all of it was Mei Mei.

But in between those good days, we’ve also crammed a lot of really great moments.  Those are the moments on which I am (sometimes hourly) choosing to focus.  Those are the moments that the Lord uses to swing my eyes back to HIM and HIS perfect plan for Mei Mei.  For our family.  It’s an act of discipline, this choosing to focus.  Especially at this time of year.

Mei Mei got the honor of placing the first ornament on her first-ever Christmas tree. Yes, I cried.

I could (and am sorely tempted to) stress over the anger and aggression that comes bubbling up out of her in those difficult moments.  I could keep looking at that “holiday To Do list” that isn’t getting smaller any time soon and despair of ever finishing it in time.  I could sink into the flashing moments of Mommy-guilt and inadequacy, wallowing in the fear that I’m not meeting the needs of the other gang members, in the every day and in the fervor of the holiday.  I could, I could, I could. And really, I’ve struggled NOT to.

But then there are these other moments.  These moments when HE comes to me and whispers to my heart. S nippets of Scripture memorized as a child.  Refrains of songs and hymns buried deep in my heart.  I’ve said it before but it bears repeating. In these moments, I am so incredibly grateful for parents who trained me in The Word.  Who taught me to seek His face in good and in bad moments.  Who encouraged me and lived out the example that joy comes NOT in the circumstances but in the confidence and security of being HIS CHOSEN CHILD.  It has carried me well in these last two weeks.

First cookie decorating party ever! Not sure how much icing went on the cookies. Last year, only 3 of our kids were home for this tradition. This year, The Gang was ALL here. Yes, I cried.

I am convinced, in all of these moments, both hard and healing, that the prayers of the Body of Christ carried us.  I am convinced that His Word is powerful and full of Truth that rises above the difficult moments.  I am convinced, now more than ever, that HE HAS CHOSEN ME for this time.  For this child.  For even in those moments where I feel like I’m failing miserably at all of it, He speaks to me.  In those moments when I wonder if my inadequate and all-too human response to my daughter’s broken-ness is doing more damage than good, He offers me HIS response.
It’s those moments when I get the second wind to go just a little deeper into her heart.  It’s those moments when I get a fresh fire to escort her to the healing He has for her.  Those moments, even the hardest of moments, I remember that they are just that: moments.  By definition, moments (both hard and exultant) are fleeting. He is not. He holds those moments.  Each and every one of them.

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Tracy, aka The Gang’s Momma, has been married to Todd, aka The Boss, for almost 24 years. Together they parent 6 kids (ages 19, 18, 14, 12, 6 & 2 ½).  She loves to read, write, cry over weekly episodes of Parenthood, and share a good cup of coffee with a friend. A confirmed extrovert, Tracy has met her match in their newest daughter for both strength of will and love of socializing. While parenting her two youngest who came home through China’s special needs program is definitely the most challenging thing she’s ever done (between attachment issues & some complicated medical needs), the Lord is also using it to make her a stronger, better mommy. (At least that’s what she tells herself over her 2^nd or 3^rd giant Tigger mug full of coffee almost every day!)  You can find the occasional musings of the momma at www.whitneygang.blogspot.com.