Day 25 - January 15, 2013

I can't speak too much about the first half of dad's day because I was at work. The bottom line: dad was ready to get out! When Nathan, Amber, Mom and Tom told dad that he was leaving it took him exactly 2 minutes to change into his jeans and a sweatshirt. Dad was also able to get his shoes on (and tie them without any help).

Today has ended on an amazing note! As you can see in Chantel's previous post from today, dad is out of the hospital and has transitioned into a rehabilitation program. Nathan, Amber, Dad and I drove out to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital. The entire drive out dad was joking around with us. He was SO excited to be out of the hospital! He said that when he met his doctor he would tell him/her that he had a brain injury, then introduce himself as Barack Obama. ;-) What a funny guy!

When we arrived to the hospital Nathan dropped us off and we walked right into the rehabilitation center. The staff were all shocked to see dad walk in, stick his hand out, shake their hands, and introduced himself by name. Dad did amazing. He spent two hours answering questions, getting looked over by the doctor, meeting different staff, etc. We were all very excited that he was able to focus for so long. He answered everything so well! He struggled with remembering the date and answering a few questions, but over all he did amazing.

We were able to take dad on a tour of the new facilities. Shortly after the tour they delivered food... Good news: Dad LOVED the food. Tomorrow after breakfast dad will start the hard work of his recovery. I am confident that we will see drastic improvements in dad. I am so thankful for everyone who prayed for my dad. Please don't stop.


During the first week of dad being in the hospital I heard this song. I am pretty sure the song was written for us. At first I couldn't listen to it without crying. I wanted to share the song with you:

"Long Way Home"

I set out on a great adventure
The day my Father started leading me home
He said there's gonna be some mountains to climb
And some valleys we're gonna go through

But I had no way of knowing
Just how hard this journey could be
Cause the valleys are deeper
And the mountains are steeper than I ever would have dreamed

But I know we're gonna make it
And I know we're gonna get there soon
And I know sometimes it feels like we're going the wrong way
But its just the long way home

I got some rocks in my shoes
Fears I wish I could lose
That make the mountains so hard to climb
And my heart gets so heavy with the weight of the world sometimes

There's a bag of regrets,
My should've beens, and not yets
I keep on dragging around
And I can hardly wait for the day I get to lay them all down

I know that day is coming
I know its gonna be here soon
And I won't turn back even if the whole world says I'm going the wrong way
Cause its just the long way home

When we can't take another step
The Father will pick us up and carry us in His arms
And even on the best days, He says to remember we're not home yet
So don't get too comfortable
Cause really all we are is just pilgrims passing through

Well, I know we're gonna make it
And I know we're gonna get there soon
So I keep on singing and believing
What all of my songs say

Cause our God has made a promise
And I know that everything He says is true
And I know wherever we go
He will never leave us
Cause He's gonna lead us home

Every single step of the long way home
(Keep going, we're gonna make it)
(I know, we're gonna make it)
(We're just taking the long way home)
(Keep going, we're gonna make it)
(I know, we're gonna make it)
(We're just taking the long way home)
(Keep going, we're gonna make it)
(I know, we're gonna make it)
(We're just taking the long way home)
(Keep going, we're gonna make it)
(I know, we're gonna make it)
It's just a long way home