A Little Story of a Big Blessing

I want to tell you a story.

We bought a new house so that we didn't need to invest in any major upgrades for a good while.  Because of JT's injuries and disabilities, he can not do what he use to or go at the speeds he use to.  So, we bought a new house.  When you buy a new house where we bought one, a yard does not come included.  It is up to the owner to put it in.  We didn't think it would be too big of a deal.  Then the snow melted and revealed the amount of work that really needed to be done.

We had a front "yard", but with winter snow and spring mud, it needed to be redone.  I originally wanted to concentrate on the backyard for this summer.  I wanted a place for the kids to play.  So, we started planning.  For several days in a row the kids and I would go out back, pick up stick, pick up large rocks, rake weeds, and attempt to level uneven areas.  We ordered dirt to be brought in so we could throw down grass seed.  The more work I did, the more I was willing to let our back yard be a little wild.  JT did not have the same idea.  There was some miscommunication on what we had in mind for the yard.  There was way more work that needed to be done than we thought.  When the builders cleared our lot they pushed a lot of debris and trees and stumps to the back of our property line.  That stuff was not going to be cleared out with my feeble arm muscles and an 8, 6, 3, and 2 year old.  

NOT going to happen.

Our dirt came in.  It was not going to cover our back yard.  I quickly got discouraged.

We made a new plan.  

Our front yard needed some attention, so we would put our efforts there.  We needed to cover our front yard in dirt and build up a few areas, but one problem....our dirt piles were in the back yard.  So, we bought a wheelbarrow and got to work.  I got to work shoveling dirt in and dumping it in the front yard.  When JT could, he would rake the dirt into place.  It was a lot of work.  Work I am not use to doing.  It was wearing me out.  JT felt bad, because he couldn't do what he needed to do to help.  But it was getting done, little by little and with some friends help, it took us 3 weeks to move that dirt.  

3 WEEKS! 

The last day of shoveling and dumping dirt was my worst.  It was about 9 am, and we had just gotten started.  We had hoped to be finished that day so we could lay our seed and watch it grow.  I was on my 3rd load or so of dirt when the wheelbarrow tumpt (my computer is telling me this is not a word) over...not in the direction I wanted it to go.  I "grrrred" loudly and looked at JT and said, "I will be right back.  I need to go inside before I loose it."  I went inside and used the bathroom and cried.  I couldn't get my muscles to work the way I wanted them too.  I was upset that life was just too much at that moment.  I was upset that JT got injured and the doctors can't fix him.  It was just all unfair!  

I cried and I prayed.  I sat there asking God to just help me get through the day.  I needed to get through the day, and I could not do it with out His help. I prayed for strength and patiences.  

After that I went and did something I knew I could do...laundry.

About 10 minutes later, I went back outside.  JT had picked up where I couldn't.  He is always doing that.  He shouldn't have, but it made me love him even more.  The day went fine, but I was tired. 

It was close to 4 pm, and I was on my last load of dirt and we were ready to seed.  It felt really good.

Then we got a phone call...

Let me back up a week.

JT received an email and in that email, it asked if there were any active duty soldiers that have combat injuries, owned their own home and need assistance to make it fit their needs or to help in areas the soldier can not.  Normally, he passes these up, because he doesn't want the attention.  But he knew that all this work that we had been doing and needed to be done was killing me.  I stretched to my limit.  

He sent a quick email back, and he was told to go into more detail.  So, he and I worked on it.  He talked about his injuries and disabilities and what we needed done to the house.  We asked for a seat in the shower, a wheelchair ramp, a deck, and help with our back yard.  We put no more thought into it once it was sent off.

Let's go back to the day I was praying in the toilet...

The phone call was letting us know that we had been selected.  It was a unanimous decision.

The program is called Operation Opening Doors.  The Associated General Contractors of Alaska put this on every year.  This year, they chose us! 

Talk about God blessing us in ways far beyond our imagination!!

We were and still are very overwhelmed by it all.  We were asked to put more on our list, so we did.  When it is all complete I will post more about it.  As the process is going on, I am posting to instagram...those pictures are off to the side of this little blog.

I love what God did that day.  All I asked for was strength to get through that day.  I didn't worry about the next day (because the bible tells me not too).  I just wanted to get through the day I was on.  Yet, he chose to go beyond that.  He is good.

I am thankful for this program.  These people that are giving of their time and resources will never know how much we truly needed this and appreciate it.  And ever time I hear one of them thank my husband for all he has done for our country, I get a little teary (corny, I know).  It was and is a sacrifice.  And I am pretty sure he would do it all again, even if he knew what the outcome would be.  He has loved being a soldier.

Enjoy some pictures of our front yard now that the grass is in.  These pictures are from the day that we told the kids the grass was no longer off limits.

This was on day 4, our somewhat completed deck.  It still has railing to go and some stairs and a wheelchair ramp, but it is glorious.  The kids ran circles around it.  It was nice for them to be able to play in the back yard on a surface that wasn't covered in dirt.