"God will wrap some blessings in disguise."

I had a pretty crazy Friday.

My day started by taking Bella outside. We've had 4 or 5 kittens running around our backyard...we wouldn't see them all the time, just occasionally. So, I saw three of them. We went outside, they ran off, pretty typical.

A couple of hours later, I took Bella back out and saw one of the kittens laying down. Got a little closer and discovered what I feared was going on. Yeah, little baby passed away.

I'm so stinkin' emotional when it comes to animals. I immediately flipped out, grabbed Bella and ran inside crying. I called Chris and said I needed him to get home to get the kitten out of the backyard. He called animal control and they met him out to help us.

I haven't really seen the others much in the past couple of days. I wish I could get close enough to catch them. They are very cute, and if I could just get them to the shelter, I know someone would adopt them. They are just so scared of people. I worry about the heat, and if these little babies can survive. But, I have learned this over the past few years..."Worry is paying interest on nothing."

I find comfort in knowing this about myself: every pet I have ever had, have now, or will have is taken care of.

Let's move on to the other part of Friday.

Those of you all who know me well, know that my Dad and I have an EXTREMELY rocky relationship. Rocky enough that he and I fought 9 days before my wedding, resulting in him not coming to my wedding. (believe me, that is the SHORT version of that story.) After the wedding, I reached out to try and mend things with him via phone calls, e-mails, cards, etc. I got no response. Chris even called, and my dad told him, "Maybe I'll talk to her in a year."

Chris' dad died of a massive heart attach when he was eight. Chris immediately told my dad..."You don't know what could happen in a year."

Oh that is so true.

Friday I got a call from one of my dad's close friends. She informed me that my Dad is in ICU at Methodist Germantown. She told me it was serious, gave me the limited information that she knew, and said that my dad wanted to see me. So, I waited for Chris to get home from work and we went up there.

I wanted to find out what happened. What was going on! My dad is on a lot of medication and he wasn't really speaking very clearly. Nurses couldn't answer my questions! So frustrating.

It wasn't until Saturday that I learned the full story.

My dad apparently had been having back/abdominal pain for a month. You heard me right...a month. Over the July 4th holiday weekend, the pain got worse and he went to see his regular physician on Tuesday the 5th. When he got to the doctor's office...they immediately took him back. His blood pressure was 70/40. They had to get his blood pressure up to a safe range in their office, and they transported him from there to Methodist Germantown by ambulance. They got him in and immediately took him to ICU. They were running tests trying to rule out things that could be going on with him. They narrowed it down to some kind of infection in his abdomen. They also found that he had an ulcerated sore on his left foot. They took him to surgery and began searching for the problem in his abdomen. They found an infected abscess on his stomach lining, and it had been there so long that they even found gangrene in his abdomen. Not good. He's a severe diabetic. The diabetes complicates everything.

They were able to clear out the infection and the gangrene in his abdomen. He is on a wound vac machine that helps close the surgical site. He's not out of the woods yet because they have to stay ahead of the infection so that it does not inter his blood stream.

His foot was a concern because they didn't know how long that infection had been there. They were worried it had spread to the bone and in that case, he would have to have his leg amputated. He has since had an MRI and it appears that as of now there is no infection in his bone. This is a good sign.

So, I tell you this long, drawn out story to lead you up to yesterday...

Chris and I went to see him after church yesterday. My dad for the first time EVER, brought up our issue and apologized. We had a civilized conversation and it did not end up in an argument.

Did it take my dad knocking at deaths door for this to happen? Perhaps.

"God will wrap some blessings in disguise." - Bruce Carroll, Hope Church

He is by no means in the clear yet. They expect him to remain in the hospital for quite some time. I've also been warned by nurses that things could still take a turn for the worst, but to remain positive. I've placed this completely in God's hands. He's carrying me through...as well as my dad.

Love y'all.

Mrs. KB