Mosiah 2:17

...when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God.

Today is January 16, 2011, a Sunday and I have been thinking about this since the beginning of the year.  By the time you read this it will be a new year and resolutions are beginning to be form, but I want to take this time to remember my 2011 resolution:

52 Weeks of Service Project

When I thought this up, our family as with other families had already done several projects over Christmas.  Bringing presents to a mentally disable man.  Our family as well as some other neighbors gifted those in need and ran, without them knowing who we were.... AWESOME feeling, especially when you almost get caught.

The point is....the feelings that we were blessed to have gave me hope and joy.  So I wanted to feel them throughout 2011.  I really didn't know where to start, but I wanted to start somewhere and it started with Aiden's class.  I spend an awe~full lot of time there.  I have been reading with the kids and have come to love them. There is one little boy who has stolen my heart, we will call me Jake that has stolen my heart. 

Toward the end of 2010 I had a prompting to read with him.  He really needed that one on one attention and he really wanted it.  As I came into the classroom everyday, he would rush to me and say, "Are we reading today, Mrs. Strong (all the kids seem to never get the "arm" part of my last name)?"

Jake and I would read and read, grateful for a teacher who sees his need.

WEEK 1:  Then one day I asked him if he thought he could take a test of what we had read.  He was very nervous and scared.  We took the AR test and HE GOT ALL THE QUESTIONS CORRECT!!!

When he saw that he had got a 100% he started to cry.  I asked him, why he was crying, he said, "I never got anything right and I know what the story said."  I obviously, was a puddle of tears and just gave him a big hug and told him I was so proud.  We still read and he still tears up after every test.

WEEK 2:  I had a baptismal shoot at the "Daybreak" Temple.  Instead of heading there via Bangater, I decided to go along Airport 2 Rd.  In front of my was an SUV with a trailer attached, with what I later found out was a full size couch.  The couch was just bouncing all around back there.  As I watched this a voice told me to slowdown and back off!!  Thank goodness I did.  The trailer must of hit a big bump, because the whole couch flew off the trailer and landed about 5 feet in front of me.  I was able to break and not hit it. 

I could have went around and kept going to my destination, but something told me to get out and help pick up all the debris.  I didn't speak with the man driving nor did he say anything to me.  We just did what was needed to be done.  As we did this another vehicle stopped and that man also, did not speak he began to just clean up with us.  He helped put the couch remains on the trailer and we all got into our vehicles and drove off.  No thank yous, no can I help, just getting it done.

I am glad I don't know their names, I am glad that we just worked and got it done.  That was the best service to date.  The only thing I know now, is next time take out the camera and get the shot.

WEEK3:  I wasn't sure what I would do after my service to donate blood didn't workout (iron too low).  But what I have been learning is a great lesson.  I We don't have to purposefully try to find opportunities to serve, they will present themselves to us.  And this last week was just that.  my dear friend got ill and was unable to walk.  Either she could not move or it was very painful.  She sent me a message that she needed some help getting somethings from the grocery store for her family and obviously she was unable and her husband wouldn't be able to because he had to work.  I was grateful that she called on me and felt blessed to be able to serve her and her family this way.

New Year 2011?!?...I hope it's NOT a sign as to how the rest of the year will be

December 31st., I was not feeling well.  I didn't even get to see the ball drop in NYC for the east coast, I was feeling so bad.  But around 2:30am I heard BIG footsteps above my head.  It was our son, Alex, he wanted to see as many New Year's celebrations as he could.  We think he finally fell asleep around 3:00am.

Now, you might say that not all that woo hoo for this post, but it is just the setup.  I assure you that as you continue reading you will see the significance of the information.

The next day, or rather later that same morning, I awoke, worked on getting stuff uploaded to the Rubied Apple store and let the boys sleep.  They got up around noon and we all just hung around.  No biggie, right?

Well, Alex and Aiden decided that they would play the Wii in the gameroom, No big deal while Dave and I discussed what to make for dinner upstairs.  As we chatted we hear Aiden screaming, not an uncommon event when they are playing together.  A few minutes later we hear Aiden, stomping up the stairs and he says, "Mom, Dad, Alex is drooling and I told me to wipe it up and he won't listen to me, he just sitting there staring.  He won't move!" This is don't in a tone as if Alex is doing this to bother Aiden.  But David and I knew what was really happening.

We both bolted down the stairs to find Alex in full seizure.  Eyes completely rolled in the back of his head, drool flowing from the side of his mouth in a stream down his front and his body still, completely still. Frightened, because we didn't know how long this had gone on and we were not able to get him to respond to us, I dialed 911.  They came, no sirens, thank goodness, but they were still noticed by many.  It took about 45 minutes to get Alex to be coherent.  To  be able to speak and tell the paramedics, who he was and where.  The current day and what the holiday was and to get his O2 level back up.  Scary, to say the lest.  They went away and we let him sleep for a bit and gradually coaxed him to come upstairs.  It was crazy and over, right?....WRONG!?!

I decided to make a different dinner than was originally planned.  It was all done and we all sat around the table and enjoyed Alex's favorite...pasta.  We were all smiles and laughing at a dance Aiden was doing to entertain us all.  We reminded Alex that he had forgot to take his meds Friday night and that morning, Saturday, and to go and get that evening meds.  He went to the frig to get some water.  He turned to see Aiden dancing.  He was laughing with the rest of us, then, David saw Alex's jubilant smile quickly fade and be replaced by an absent blank stare.  He was gone, again. 

Alex is tall, he's solid,so to try and catch him was almost impossible, but David did.  He raced to our boy and grabbed him and dragged him into the livingroom and convinced him to sit on the floor.  The seizure had begun, but that was only the beginning of it.  By the time Alex reached the floor he was foaming at the mouth, eyes rolled, and he was shaking and moaning.  His body was contorting in a way I had never witnessed before.  This was not the kind of seizure we were used to seeing.  Alex gasped several times and continued to shake.  It would not stop.  I was again on the phone with 911 and blessed to have had the same 4 men that came earlier there to help us again with Alex.  They couldn't stop it and immediately took him.  Dave went with him to Primary's.

I don't know what it was like for David, but I am sure he was scared and felt helpless like me.

During the chaos of this I had run Aiden to our sweet neighbors house.  I didn't even knock, I just opened their door, dropped Aiden and left.  He ended up at his Tio and Tia's house.  When they had gone, I was left alone with my fear of what was happening.  As I watched them take off in the fire truck, I noticed my Relief Society President from my ward was walking up driveway.  I could only stare at her saying, "How did you know?!?"

I am so glad she was there.  I was a mess.  There was nothing I could have done for Alex in the state I was in.  My other neighbor came and they both sat with me and helped me calm down.  Together we arranged a way for me to get up to the hospital, without me driving, a blessing for Alex, a way home, all of our church responsibilities taken care of and I am sure some other things I am unaware of handled. 

Thanks to a couple of great priesthood holders and friends I was able to get to Alex and Dave fairly fast.  By the time we got there Alex was just rest quietly.  We all were able to find some humor in that evenings events, which was needed.  After a little bit those men and Dave gave Alex a blessing and were on their way back to there families.  It was around 10 til 11pm. 

The doctors said, that after all they had done that really there was not much else they could do for us and decided that Alex would be discharged and we could go home.  Alex put on this shoes and we were ready to leave, but David, bless his soul, had one last question.  The nurse had only step out for 1 minute and we were watching the basketball news highlights.  Alex was oooing and awing and the players moves, just then I looked over at him and he began seizing (beating his head up against the wall right next to a glass picture frame.  His whole body began thrashing and the gasping starting again. 

I ran into the hall right into the ER doc and an army of medical people.  David and I just froze there in shock.  It was like watching a scene from an episode of ER.  We both could not believe what was happening.  They had to give him a shot to stop the seizure and more O2. 

The doctor, just turned to us and said, "He's not being discharged." 

To make this long story not so long....Alex as discharged yesterday.  All of this happened because: He missed two days of meds, lack of sleep, and growth spurt.

He is a brave kid.  He deals with so much.  He has angels, including his little brother, Aiden who watches over him.  He is blessed.  I hope he knows it. And we are so blessed to have him be an example of nor letting the trials of life get you down.

I am so thankful for the gospel. I am grateful that people listen to the Holy Ghost.  He is truly our guide and friend.  I love my neighbors and neighborhood.  The most caring and loving place.  We could not have picked a better place to raise my family.

Thanks everyone for your love, support and kind deeds you give to my family.