Every Day Is a Gift 

Five years ago today on June 4, 2021, my brain tried to kill me with a hemorrhagic brain bleed stroke, but the Lord chose not to take me to heaven that day. I came to quickly realize the truth of Psalm 31:15:

“My times are in your hands…” (Psalm 31:15).

The ER doctors thought I might not even survive the next 72 hours, but now I am still alive five years later by God’s grace and answered prayers on my behalf. I call each June 4^th my “strokeaversary.”

Every day is a gift.

A Celebration of Life 

Today is a day of celebration and thankfulness to God for being alive.

Bob and I celebrated with a special breakfast to begin our special day.

We did some fun shopping together for momentoes to help us remember this day as we go forward.

Of course, another added adventure to end our celebration had to include some chocolate ice cream!

“This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).

My Gratitude List 

I so appreciate the prayers on my behalf by family and friends and those I have never even met. My gratitude list is ever-growing. It must be a mile long by now.

My greatest blessing is my wonderful husband, Bob, who is the best caregiver possible every single day. We experienced a sweet moment in the stroke ward when we renewed our wedding vows together as my therapists cried along with us.

From the very beginning, Bob tirelessly engaged the hospital administration regarding my care to make sure I went to acute rehab for intense stroke recovery therapy. Every day since then (1,825 days) we continue to walk together hand-in-hand, trusting the Lord to care for us.

Our daughter, Marie, took FMLA to help care for me when I came home. Bob and I will be forever grateful to Marie for her loving, sacrificial care and encouragement.

Other family members helped in so many ways—including our nephew, and two sisters-in-law—who each spent a week with us when I was able to return home after acute rehab.

So many friends from our church and neighborhood helped in so many tangible ways to aid my recovery—not only that first year, but every year since.

Our move from the Seattle area to the Florida Gulf Coast has greatly impacted my recovery. Doing daily exercises in our lanai pool is a special blessing.

“Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him” (Psalm 28:6-7).

“Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds” (Psalm 36:5).

Please Pray

When you think of me, my continuing prayer request is that my brain would reconnect with my left arm and hand (“neuroplasticity”). I am so thankful that I am able to walk with a cane (five neurologists warned us that I would never walk again), but I do not have the use of my left hand yet.

“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many” (2 Corinthians 1:8-11).