Dear Health Journal: Well it happened again- the second Sunday night in a row. I went to Julia’s and she served the most amazing bbq chicken cream cheese dip. By the time I got home, I had that same intense burning in my rib cage. It curled around to my back to where I couldn’t lay down//I couldn’t sit up. I finally moved to the spare bed and tossed and turned and cried out to God to take me Home. (Apparently Ben woke up to hear this desperate prayer and apparently that’s an unsettling prayer for a husband to overhear 🤷🏻‍♀️) I finally got to sleep about 3 am after I got sick on my stomach for awhile…

My dad called to check on me the next day and his voice was edged with worry “Kendra! What’s going on? Ben says you had a really rough night?”

My poor family- they’re so supportive and caring and I don’t know what I’d do without them…

“Yehhhh, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I don’t think I have the flu, but I got really sick in the middle of the night. Maybe I ate too many tums?”

And at that moment the lightbulb turned on. “Wait! Intense burning! Tums!! Sick on your stomach! Kendra!!! Have they checked your gallbladder? Thats exactly what I dealt with for 15 years until I ended up in the hospital and they removed it!!!”

Could it be?

God had ordained that I had a CT scan set up for the next day as a 3 month check up on the lung with the blood clot (all clear, PtL) and I spent Monday afternoon talking to my doctor and getting an ultrasound added to the testing I was going in for.

And wouldn’t you know, both the CT and ultrasound pointed out a sick gallbladder.

It all makes sense now. I’m scared to hope that this is what I’ve been fighting since May. When you google the list of foods to avoid if your gallbladder is acting up- you will find the list of foods you can eat if you’re in the middle of an ulcerative colitis flare. No wonder I’ve been struggling over here 🤦🏻‍♀️

The surgery wasn’t that big of a deal. I’m pretty sore, but the surgeon said “basically you’re being stabbed 5 times” so I guess soreness isn’t a shock. 😂

So anyhow, this Thanksgiving week looks a bit different than I was expecting it to look. But as I chill here in the LaZboy, my heart is overwhelmed once again with thankfulness.

God cares so much about little details that He even planned our family Thanksgiving a week early so that I could enjoy that precious time with my family.

Thank you all for praying for me. God answers prayers, and I’m so thankful.

Kendra

I always look forward to the Holidays. This year because we’re needing to work around my sister’s inlaw schedules which fall over both Thanksgiving and Christmas, we got a jump start in the holidays. And what a time we’ve had 🙂

In a lot of ways, our weekend really spelled out Thanksgiving:

T for Turkey! Nate was in charge of smoking the turkey and I don’t know what all secret Cajun butter potions he added, but it was a success. The year I was born, the neighbors invited my dad over for Thanksgiving because mother and I were still in the hospital, and no turkey has equaled that one in my dads mind, until now. Great job, Nate 💪🏼

H for Harvest! Today was the end of Harvest ‘22. I can’t believe how little I contributed to this years efforts 🤔 but if you zoom in on the pic, you will notice my replacements being trained in. Grandfather bravely headed to the field with his 3 oldest grandsons and they spent a number of hours of quality time. So so thankful to have everything safety harvested.

A for Aunt! Can’t say enough how much I love this role.

N for Nate and Deb’s visit! This weekend was spent 100% with family and it was such a gift.

K for Kids! Em said that she spent the entire weekend either cuddling the babies or wrestling the wildcats and loving every minute of it. Agreed 100%

S for Sunday Lunch! My parents gave us a wooden extension table as a wedding gift and it arrived last week. Sunday, my family came to help break it in. As I set the table, I realized that other than the tablecloth, the entire setup was gifts from friends and family. Makes me a little teary eyed thinking about it.

G for Gifts! Julia definitely won the prize for the most originally wrapped gift for our family gift exchange.

I saiah’s Goldmine 😂 Earlier this month, Isaiah was helping me combine a field beside a ball park, and we halted harvest long enough to collect about a dozen softballs from the field. Best day ever.

V enison! Ben harvested a buck on his grandad’s farm. Em stuffed and smoked one of the loin for our family dinner and it was 👌🏼

I for Infants. Seriously, my heart can’t handle these two 💙💖

Nephews 💙💙💙 best of friends/worst of enemies. Terrific Twos is a delightful age- I can’t get enough.

G for Guns. A certain Aunt Em bought the boys rubber band guns for Christmas, and the rest of the weekend was marked by rubber bands sailing to and fro. Fortunately for those of us who are unarmed- the marksman are terrible aim at this point. On the pic above, someone suggested that they shoot the ducks in the picture, and everyone around suddenly felt like they were sitting ducks 😂

Thanksgiving the expression of gratitude, especially to God.

Weeks like this bring gratitude to the the forefront, where it should be always… Thank you, Jesus

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kendra