What Can I Do To Help??

I cannot tell you how many times I've heard this question asked over the past 4 weeks.  The truth is, when tragedy and the unexpected strike those we love, we want to spring into action and my sweet friends and family are no different, in fact they embody this to the highest degree!  So, I would love to take this opportunity to share with you all the ways in which we have been helped as a tribute to the ones we love so dearly, and as a spring board for ideas in case someone you love needs help in the future.  Read and be amazed by the ways that the Lord has provided over the past 28 days...

~Prayer.  Prayers, prayers and more prayers.  Those who have heard our story have really just dropped to their knees and prayed.  Very few have asked how to specifically pray (although that is appreciated too) but most have just listened to our story and prayed for the thing that strikes them most personally.  Our Father has created us each uniquely, and there is a part of our story that strikes at the heart of all who hear.  However, it strikes at each heart a little differently.  I am confident that if all pray for the thing that stings most for them, that all prayer needs will be sufficiently lifted up.  The healing, peace and physical strength we have all had are evidence of this!

~Encouraging the hospital staff.  The first few hours were critical in Shelton's road to recovery.  You see, it was the skilled hands of the doctors and nurses (along with the mercy of our Heavenly Father) that made sure that Shelton did not die when he coded on that table.  The ICU nurses were there when we were not.  He laid in that bed for over 12 hours before anyone even knew he was there.  But they were there.  One sweet, anonymous, friend sent flowers to those sweet doctors and nurses on behalf of our family.  Although we will be forever thankful for them, we definitely were not even close to being able to consider doing such a thoughtful thing.

This is one of the verses handwritten and tied to a salad.
This one has been sitting on my nightstand ever since.
How encouraging words of Truth can be!

~Providing during the initial shock.  The first week, a warm meal brought to our table would have gone uneaten.  However, we did receive so many things that got us through the week.  One precious friend provided salads in mason jars along with napkins, forks, dressing and topped with a different scripture handwritten and tied to each one.  We were able to take these to the hospital and eat and share them while in the waiting room during his various surgeries.  People brought food to us at the hospital.  People brought different snacks and bottled water that could be transported easily to throw in our bags when we were headed up to sit in that waiting room, again.  We received bags of quarters for the vending machines.  All of these things were the fuel that we needed to get us through those first 5 days.

~Money for parking and gas.  Due to the fact that Shelton was taken to the best trauma center, it means that his hospital is downtown.  We must pay for parking each time we go.  At $5 a visit, the funds can really add up.  Not only have friends helped provide this for us, everyone went above and beyond to provide multiple $5 bills for Shelton's mom, a woman they have never met.  They did this just because they heard about the how the added burden of parking and gas was adding up for her.  Being also that the hospital is so far away, our gas budget has really taken a hit.  RaceTrac gift cards have really eased our burden.

~Taking Cooper for playdates.  We tried to keep our schedule for little man as normal as possible, so for those first few days he just stayed at home as he normally would, keeping his bed and meal times consistent.  However, after Shelton was moved to a regular room but he wasn't quite ready for Cooper to see him, we both needed chances to go to the hospital together.  Friends invited Cooper over to play, just as he normally would.  Friends took him to the park, and let him play there just as if it was all very normal.  He desperately needed this!

~Help in maintaining our house.  As life continued on, friends offered to come and get my laundry and wash it and return it.  Friends vacuumed the upstairs of my house so I could play with Cooper instead and one precious dear friend, even went so far as to come over and clean our sorely neglected bathrooms.  She got down on hands and knees and scrubbed our toilets, bathtub and shower.  This, people, is really where the rubber meets the road.  And, the strange part, she loved every minute of it because she has truly been given a servants heart.  Oh, that we would all be a little more like her!!

~Providing lunches for Cooper.  It takes every ounce of mental ability I have to make it through the day teaching, and keep my composure.  You see, my brain is so pre-occupied with the things we've been handed and thinking about how our lives have forever been changed and how we will deal with it, that I honestly have to specifically concentrate on NOT thinking about those things.  By the time I get home, I use the energy I have left to spend time with Burns and Coop.  When little man goes to bed, I've got little left to give.  Friends have prepared healthy lunches for him with fresh veggies, etc. and have delivered them both to my door and his school.  What a load off!  One sweet girl took lunch to his school for us.  When I asked him what was in his lunch that day his response was, "Oh mom.  Where do I even start??"  Clearly he's been well taken care of!

~Providing lunches/snacks for me.  For the same reasons listed above, I am too tired to make my own lunches as well.  Friends have taken this on for me.  I have had chicken salad, pasta salad, chopped fresh veggies and fruits, and overnight oatmeal ready to grab and go delivered fresh to my door.

~Picking Cooper up from school.  When possible, two days a week (when I'm not sick) I head to the hospital right after school.  He has gone home with friends straight from school to play for a while, until I can get back to get him.

~Providing warm meals.  I can't even count the number of warm meals we have received now that we've settled back into a "new normal" and it has really eased our burden.  They've been super yummy too.  Ribs, hearty stew on a very cold winter night, baked potatoes, spaghetti & meatballs, baked chicken, and more desserts than you could imagine.  We're definitely well taken care of!

~Gift cards.  There are friends who live too far to drop off a warm meal, but they've sent gift cards to Subway, Chick-fil-A, Chiptole and many other places from which we can grab a quick meal while on the way to the hospital.  Now that Shelton can eat whatever he wants, we never go without food in hand.  The hospital is taking good care of him but the food there is just that.  Hospital food.  He much prefers a good Chipotle burrito!  :)

~Words of encouragement.  I don't go to the mailbox without opening it to find a sweet note from a friend. These words mean more than anyone will ever know.

~Financial help.  Every time we get money from someone, we know it is just the Lord's hand providing for us.  He knew this was coming, and that the medical bills will be taken care of.  We know that we cannot worry about this as God will provide.  He will provide in the most unexpected of ways, we know this for sure and one of the ways he has provided is through sweet friends.  We have taken the money, and placed it in savings to use when the bulk of the bills arrive.

I am positive that I'm forgetting something, but read this list and use it in the future.  I know I will.  There are so many ways we can tangibly reach out to those who are walking a rocky road.  All we need to do is answer the call, and as you can see, those surrounding us have done just that!