Jared All Dressed Up to Go Home
Love Is Spoken Here
I see my mother kneeling with our family each day.
I hear the words she whispers as she bows her had to pray.
Her plea to the Father quiets all my fears.
And I am thankful love is spoken here.
Mine is a home where every hour,
Is blessed by the strength of priesthood power.
With father and mother leading the way,
Teaching me how to trust and obey,
And the things they teach are crystal clear,
For love is spoken here.
I can often feel the Savior near,
When love is spoken here.
After spending nearly the first month of his life in the hospital, Jared was well enough to go home. We were so blessed. Many of the children we had grown to love in the hospital were there for five or six months or longer and so many of them never had the opportunity to go home with their parents. We were so excited to be bringing our family together under one roof.
On the day that Jared was released from the hospital, Steve brought Joel and Jordan with him to meet their new brother. When Joel, who was only two years old at the time, saw his baby brother his face lit up like a sunbeam. He leaned into Jared's bed, looked up at me with a gigantic smile on his face and said, "Come on mommy, let's take him home." Joel was taking ownership of his baby brother and was as anxious to take him home as we were. Jordan was a little more reserved. He was only 18 months old and my absence had taken a toll on him.
We gathered up our little boys and headed for the warmth and safety of our home. After getting the boys to sleep, I quietly made my rounds to each bedroom to do a mommy check. I was feeling a little overwhelmed and remember walking out into the living room telling Steve, "there's a baby in nearly every room in this house!" It was overwhelming and exhilarating at the same time. I had the family I had always wanted.
Because Jared's immunities were depressed, we were pretty much confined to our home, our outings limited to numerous visits with doctors. We were so determined to keep Jared healthy that when visitors arrived we asked them to wash their hands upon entering. I washed my own hands so many times a day that they stayed red and sore. We had to keep Joel and Jordan confined to home for fear of them bringing a "bug" home to Jared. It was October so the flu and cold season had begun. I wore a covering over my clothing when holding Jared to try to keep a sterile barrier between him and my dealings with his brothers who were still in diapers.
I missed going to church on Sundays. We wanted Jared to have an official name and blessing in the presence of our friends and church family so we braved a trip to a sacrament meeting long enough for him to receive that precious ordinance. I made him a long white flannel night gown for the occasion. We had to take Jared's tube feedings with us, so I found some place to hang his bag to allow the life-giving liquid to flow through the clear tubing into his stomach.
Steve was working as a yellow page salesman but it became increasingly difficult for him to continue to work. Jared didn't just live, we had to keep him alive. There was a lot of maintenance involved in Jared's feedings and every day care. Having a one and two-year old constituted caring for three babies. It took both of us taking shifts to care for our little ones. Some nights, I would be up all night. Steve would take over in the morning so I could grab a little sleep. I was still recovering from the sepsis infection and had not gained all of my strength back. It was a stressful time and we grew in leaps and bounds through our struggle to maintain some semblance of normalcy in our family.
The traveling back and forth to various doctors and specialists left us depending on our Ward family for assistance. Our church brothers and sisters made themselves readily available to us but there were times when I felt like we were too needy and burdensome.
Early one evening, as I was contemplating a doctor's appointment the next morning, I found myself at our kitchen table in despair with my head held between the palms of my hands. The long drive and appointment would take most of the day and I did not have anyone to care for my two oldest children while I was away. I sat there wrestling with the situation and convinced myself that I could not inconvenience another sister with the care of my children.
At that very moment, as I sat there with my head in my hands, pondering what to do, my telephone rang. There was an older white-haired sister from the church on the other end. She said to me, "Donna what do you need? I've been trying to do my dishes and the Holy Spirit keeps telling me to call you. I know you need something, so please tell me." I was in total disbelief. Once again, God sent an angel into our lives at the precise moment she was needed. The next morning she arrived prepared to entertain my boys for the rest of the day.
We are taught in the scriptures that we are to "bear one another's burdens." That sister entered our lives with tenderness and kindness and made it known that she was on the Lord's errand. She was a true example of a follower of Christ and I shall forever be grateful to her and to my Heavenly Father for, once again, helping to lift my burdens, that they may be light.
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