On August 17, 2021, I received a call at about 10:30 am, from the care home that daddy's health was declining rapidly. They suggested to bring in palliative care to sit with him as there was not much else that could be done for him.
We called our kids and our oldest, Joshua, lives about a 1/2 hour away and he went in right away to the care home to say goodbye to dad and to FaceTime with us so I could talk to daddy too.
It was hard...
Harder than I ever imagined...
but I told him it was ok for him to go and be with Jesus, that I knew he was tired...
we said goodbye and then we made sure that Josh left as well so that the palliative care nurse could come in to sit.
Just a few minutes past midnight on August 18, daddy went home to be with Jesus.
He is now free of his mortal shell and all the pain that he experienced here on earth. He is able to walk and talk. He got to be the first one of our family to meet and hold our daughters baby, Theo, who also went to meet Jesus on August 8... 10 days before daddy got there.
My heart is broken at my daddy's passing but I also know that he will be there to greet me when I go home.
It has been an emotional rollercoaster the last 12 years and this I believe will be one of my, if not THE, last post here about Sammi! Thank you so much for all the love, prayers, shoulders to cry on and just listening to my rants and raves for 12 (good grief TWELVE!!) years. it just hit me that our Sammi was 12 when this happened and he is now 24, so I have been writing about our journey with brain injury for half of our sons life. what a perfect way to come full circle and end this part of his story here!
Our Sam was in the Adult and Teen Challenge (ATC) Program for a year, where he worked hard to overcome his addictions and build a new relationship with our Lord! It was a hard fought year at times and it was never boring! We not only got to see our son grow and flourish, we grew our own hearts as we met and added many more to our family! we got to know and become family to so many of the students in the program (both the mens centre and the women's in Brandon). We made wonderful friends with some of the staff at ATC.
As Sam got closer to finishing the program he had many moments of reflection and 'this is how its going to go' moments ... BUT GOD... and when God steps in to clear your thoughts, step back!
Sam lived with us for a while once he got out of the program (he finished in April), he found an amazing job in Crystal City - welding even! And looked for a place there and eventually found one nearby his job! He works for a godly company that isn't scared to say it or show it! And we all couldn't be happier about it! Shortly after Sam started he wound up with 6 weeks off after a double hernia surgery - and since Dennis and I were moved into our motorhome already we moved to Crystal City (where Sam was living in his brothers camper trailer) to help him during his recovery.
During his time with this company, Samuel made the decision to follow Jesus and be baptized, so here is where I will leave the blog - beginning with what we called Samuels second birthday, since we got to se him relearn how to do everything all over again to his new BIRTHday and new life with Christ! His baptism, where all he needs to learn and do now is to trust, obey and follow His Saviour!
Thank You Abba for being a Father who cares about ALL the things in our lives; the big, the small, the pretty, the ugly, the ups and downs... ALL of the things! Thank You Papa for being faithful to follow this tragedy to rejoicing, to go from despair to joy, from broken to healed ...Thank You. Thank You. Thank You. I know there are still miles to go but he is now going those miles with You. I pray he will continue on this road with You, Jesus, and as he shares his story, I pray that it is ONLY YOU that people see in his miracles! And that they rejoice.
Thank You Father. For it all, because I had to lean and rely on You as well and I know I could have done a better job at that and so many other things, but without You it would have been an even wilder ride I am sure. Its all because of You. Al this I pray and rejoice and praise in YOUR name! Amen
Sammi's testimony!
Sammi's baptism!
I will continue post as I will about my daddy. He is still in the care home and our visits are few and far between right now due to covid and changing rules it seems all the time! My concern with him is what he actually retains mentally. Does he realize I am not there as much? As Dennis and I prepare to for our 6 months in Mexico with YWAM will he notice I am not there? He is getting more and more quiet when we see him, he aspirates more and more too it seems (which is "normal" for him).
If you are interested in following Dennis and I on our God adventure to Mazatlan Mexico with YWAM (Youth with a Mission) you can check out our new blog/website at God, the Ginters and You and you can subscribe to updates there too!
Thank you for being a part of this great journey of Brain Injury with me, Sam, my Daddy and the rest of our family! We truly did and do appreciate it all!
... there is something you would think that maybe I had a handle on by now! Trusting in His plan and His time. I mean, really... but here I sit and worry and stress and worry again (just for good measure maybe?!)
Sam has been in the Adult & Teen Challenge Program for over 6 months!! (6 months and 13days to be exact!) HALLELUJAH!! He has had struggles with things and he has come through from tough stuff but yesterday we received a text with some answers to prayers that I had been struggling with myself. I am not going to go into details but I cried when I read the text then sat on a rock (we were processing calves and I was in the corrals) and thanked my Heavenly Father...
The One True King!
The Great Physician!
The Great I Am!
The Alpha & Omega!
He who knew me before I was even born, before the stars were set in place...
The One who I talk to a crazy amount of time each day.
And I cried... for my unbelief (in His timing), for my feeling like He wasn't hearing my cries, my prayers, my aching heart...
And yet He did and it was all in His time.
He knew that Sam had to get to a certain place before things were revealed to him. He knew that Sam needed to be crying out for Him...
As I sit at my desk everyday I see a quote from Alexander McLaren that reads:
God's help comes not too soon, lest we should not know that blessedness of trusting in the dark; and not too late, lest we should know the misery of trusting in vain.
and every day I would pray and worry about issues that I needn't have worried about - I have been humbled by answered prayers! Because prayers are being answered, the eyes of the heart are being opened and the Lord is being praised!! All in His time. I need to remind myself of this daily and trust, in the dark and in the sunshine!
I have been smiling and rereading the text in my head and I can't stop praising!!! God is good - all the time! And all the time - God is good!
