2014 in Review

I realize I'm a little late in getting this post up, but I still wanted to reflect on our last year.

2014 is a year the Judds were anxious to leave behind. Here's just a brief list of the moments we don't want to relive:

• James' kidney stone and the long car rides he endured in excruciating pain until we could get care
  
• having to lay on top on Catherine and hold her down while a doctor stitched up her face. Oh, and then having to remove the stitches ourselves a week or so later. 
  
• miscarriage
• James back pain and having to endure an international flight until his surgery
• getting a surgical screw removed from my foot with only local anesthesia 
  
• being on the other side of the world as our dear friends lost their 10 day old daughter (This one also just reminds us of no matter which side of the world we're on, we're always missing someone of something on the other side. 

Anyway, that was a brief list of the hard stuff, however, although we don't necessarily want to relive any of those moments, I"m not sure if we'd change any of them.

Throughout all the medical trials, we experience the provision of God in ways we wouldn't have otherwise. If we had to pay the actual price of the medical care we received this year, the cost would have been more than double our adjusted gross income from 2013. (I don't have the 2014 number yet, but probably roughly the same), Instead, we paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $2500 for everything. (Thanks to God, reduced/free costs, and Samaritan Ministries).

We didn't plan to be home now, and in fact even when we came home thought we would be here for only 2 months. We didn't plan to have a miscarriage or for Catherine's diagnosis to be as severe as it was. We thought James' recovery would be smoother than it was. We didn't plan to extend our stay here. We didn't ever plan to have a three year old in public schools. Now in our 8th month, we finally have tickets to go back. But, great things have happened in our time at home.

We've been so blessed with the wonderful people God ordained to help Catherine. Our developmental pediatrician, her preschool teachers, her speech therapists, and everyone involved in her care have been truly caring, gracious, professional, and helpful. We are so thankful for all of them! And we are thankful to God for the progress she's made. When we came home (June 26th) Catherine was rarely putting more than 3 or 4 words together and many of the words were unintelligible. She wasn't using any pronouns, couldn't answer a yes/no question appropriately, and wasn't using any question words. She is now speaking in full sentences, uses pronouns appropriately, pronounces most sounds accurately, and she's making great progress on asking and answering questions. Everyday she says something new that we didn't know she was able to do or say! On our last car ride to Oklahoma James and I actually found ourselves wanting Catherine to stop talking for just a little while, which was a first for our family.

We also never planned to be in Clovis, NM, but we've made some great connections while we've been here. We were able to teach an eight week class/small group on using small groups to disciple people at a local church here, which was one of our highlights of being home. We connected with a church who is using a storying method in a few countries throughout the world and we got trained in how to train others to use it in our area. We were able to broaden the number of people who are supporting us with their prayers.

And, we're thankful that we're healthy now! James having to have the kidney stone surgically removed meant that it could be sent to testing so we know better how to prevent them. His back, although maybe not 100%, is far better than it has been in months. He's back to playing chase and lifting the girls and keeping up his normal routine. As painful as the miscarriage was, having some time in the US while not pregnant and/or breastfeeding, allowed me to have some things checked out I wouldn't have been able to otherwise. Being able to remove the surgical screw has expanded my options for footwear! :) Most importantly, I can stand or walk for long periods of time and not be in pain. (Maybe I could actually run, too, but I'd hate to get showy) :)

Because we were home for half of 2014, we also got to be a part of many special family events that we normally miss out on (a niece's honor choir, a nephew's birthday, James' parents' 40th anniversary, Christmas, birth of a nephew, etc etc).

As ready as we were to move in to 2015 and leave 2014 behind, we also don't want to overlook the wonderful lessons we learned and the great things He did for us! Thanks for being a part of our life in 2014 and we hope you'll stay on this crazy journey with us in 2015!