yes, she even gets to enjoy chocolate cake!

Four years ago Aubrey was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.

I would love to say that we’re better at this diabetes thing than we were four years ago. But everyday we question. “Why is her blood sugar high?” “Why did she drop so fast?” “Why is she waking up in the morning with such high numbers?”

Everyday it’s a struggle.

What is different today is how we handle it. We take each moment as it comes. We don’t let it stress us out. Her health and well-being are our number one priority. But we’re not going to beat ourselves up when she’s high or when we don’t know what’s going on with her numbers. It’s going to happen. Diabetes is unpredictable. That’s just how it is. It’s a 24/7 thing that we strive to do our best at controlling. But we also realize that we’re going to make mistakes, and Aubrey’s body is sometimes going to have a mind of its own. That’s just how it is.

And so we hope. We hope for a cure so that our daughter (and her older brother too!) will one day not have to deal with diabetes. We take each day as it comes. We educate ourselves. We empower Aubrey to learn to manage the disease as best she can at age ten. We encourage her to live life to the fullest. And we pray.

And each day, I give thanks to God that he has blessed us with four amazing, funny, sometimes challenging, but always inspiring kids. It just so happens that two of them also live with diabetes.

I’ve written more about it over at T1 times 2.

Thanks to all who have supported us over the past few years as we’ve stepped into the diabetes world. Your prayers, concern and love have been a huge encouragement to us.

But it’s been good.

For it’s in the middle of all of this that I had a realization. I resigned my pastoral position last fall to focus on building up Front Porch Creative. In order to have health benefits for our family, Lynda went to work full-time at a local hospital. That left me at home managing our kids and most other home-life things.

I became a stay-at-home dad.

I didn’t have that in mind when I made this switch. I guess I really hadn’t thought about it. But four kids, two with chronic illnesses that require constant attention even when they are at school and two that are twin 5 year olds, demand a lot of my time. Add to that a house that always needs cleaned and laundry for 6 that doesn’t fold itself and my day is full.

And with this comes a brand new appreciation for stay-at-home parents. Because I’m one of them!

But all is good. Our family is well. We’re settling into our new home and loving it. The kids are wrapping up another school year. Lynda enjoys her varied critical care nursing roles at the hospital. And FPC has been able to help a few ministries strengthen their branding along the way.

And now it’s time to return to some routine here on the blog — even as we begin summer. So stay tuned — it’s time to begin again!

streamers.

balloons.

a fun dinner.

gifts.

we want them to know that we love them, that they are worth celebrating, that they are special to us.

our Compassion child is celebrating his birthday in a few weeks. and we hope to make his day special as well.

we’ll write him a birthday message.

we’ll send a little extra so he can receive a special gift.

and we’ll let him know that he is special to us.

and special to God.

you can make a difference in the life of a child. If you’re not already, visit the Compassion site and sponsor a child today. You won’t regret it.

via Bruce Lowell

click on an image to see a larger version.

Found via TimShraeder.com

Last night, he serenaded us with his rendition of Jingle Bells…kinda.

Merry Christmas!

Jingle Bells With Sticks from mbort on Vimeo.