Our week...Libby Lu again

(Can you spot my Dad in is air cast?)

This week we had our care-group Christmas party at Carrabbas... well, the adults did...they had great time!







My Dad is slowly getting better. He is just now able to put pressue on his ankle, so he is able to do a little bit more then watch movies and play wii all day!

My Mom has been busy mailing Christmas cards, sending packages, decorating our house for Christmas, watching HGTV and Martha Stewart, looking through holiday recipes, getting ready for our annual Progressive Dinner (for anyone that does not know what a progressive dinner is you are missing out! We do it through our church. Here is how it works, there are Appetizers, Dinner and Dessert, and every course is at someone else’s house and for dessert we all met at our Church. There is about two hundred and fifty people that do it, there is a lot of host families. We are hosting dinner this year.).

I have been working on the play Dangerous Journey inspired by the book Pilgrims Progress. It is about a pilgrim that has a great burden on his back and his journey to the Celestial city, read more at our website www.freewebs.com/dangerousjourney/index.htm. My Dad helped me make a top hat/puritan hat out of an old felt cowboy hat and card stock paper. After I spray painted it and was letting it dry, my mom accidentally ran it over with our jeep! ...My heart was pounding!... not my hat that I spent hours on! But it ended up just fine minus the tire marks! I am helping with the props and costumes! There are over fifty characters! But all fourteen of us are more than one character.

All in all it has been a good holiday season! God has been very good to us.....Libby Neu, signing off......

Yesterday we celebrated two birthdays!...Libby again

The first one was our dog Emmy’s birthday. She turned 49 years old! Well... in dog years and we made her a cake.

It was Yummo (to her at least)

hh

And my parents surprised me for my 15th birthday and took me to Mimi’s Café.

I like to celebrate my birthday at the beginning of the month instead of my actual birthdate December 30th because it is so close to Christmas.

They where so sweet to give me cutie clothes, a movie and an ihome for my iPod!

After that, we went to Target and Old Navy then they surprised me again and took me to the movie “Enchanted” we all thought it was great. We finally headed home at 12:30 in the morning!

Thanks Mom and Dad for a such a wonderful surprise!

hh

Here are some family photos we took this week in our backyard

Thanksgiving...Libby's take...

Ok we had to break the tradition, well I had to break our tradition of putting our Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving. I could not wait any longer! So me and my friend Britani put up the tree in our living room two days before Thanksgiving.

Our Thanksgiving was quite splendid!!! While My Dad laid on the couch and watched the Macy’s Day parade, the Dog show and Miracle on 34th street, me and my Mom cooked the Bourbon butter glazed turkey stuffed with a delicious stuffing wrapped in cheesecloth, mashed potatoes, bacon wrapped asparagus, sweet potato casserole, broccoli salad, spinach dip and a homemade apple pie. Yumo!

After we stuffed ourselves till we could not move, a few family’s came over for some pie and games.

And to top off such a wonderful day we stayed up till two in the morning watching Charlottes web.

Joe's flashback to 4 weeks ago....today!!!

Its hard to believe its been 4 weeks since I broke my ankle. Time sure flies when you’re having fun…As you can see I have plenty of time to lay around and Libby just happened to catch me after a hard day of playing the Wii gaming system some friends of ours let us borrow. Thank you Horne family...As I was laying here I was thinking about the whole ordeal. Here is a flashback of the thoughts that went through my mind…

Out on the soccer field…me looking around thinking, “I’m the oldest guy out here, what am I doing?” I’m not gonna let those young guys get the best of me…
I’ll show them that this “old man” can keep up with them. Here comes the ball, I’ll drive it up field right past those young guys. Hurry, hurry you can do it. Just kick it past them. All out now. Oh no they are closing in on me. Oh oh, I misjudged it and now my foot is coming down on the ball….and slipping off the left side….with all my weight bearing down. Wow, that was a loud snap. Get up and keep after that ball. Oh no, that’s odd how my foot is pointing off to the side. Whats that lump under my sock? Oh no, this looks bad. Its funny how it doesn’t hurt but I know it should. “Hey Joe, you alright”. No, I broke my ankle and I need some help. Why me? Boy this feels awkward lying here on my back with everyone looking down on me. Who’s hand is that in mine. “I’m here for you daddy”. Oh Libby you are so sweet sitting next to your daddy holding his hand comforting him. Who’s that guy? “Hi my name is Scott Brady, I’m a doctor, can I take a look at your ankle.” By all means please do. Thank you God, where did he come from?…yes its broken…he needs medical attention…compound fracture…maybe surgery…anyone have a splint? Thank you Jeff Merwin for using your shinguard for a splint. Oh no, I have to teach childrens ministry tonight. “Hey Amber can you go tell your mom that I need a replacement for cm tonight?” “ Nate can you get Tammy she is in one of those campers playing scrabble with Kristen and Kelly?” “ Libby can you go get my gear from the sidelines?” I can’t believe how calm I am and there is still no pain. Thank you God for your grace in all this. It has to be the peace of the Lord. “Oh Honey are you alright?” Oh Tammy it is sooooooo good to see your lovely face. “Yes I’m alright. Sorry for interrupting your scrabble game.” “Do you have a way to get to the hospital?” Oh here come the Thompsons with their Suburban. Good thing this car has a smooth ride down this washboard entry to the camp. Keith, How much longer to the hospital? Oh no its starting to hurt a bit now. I knew I should have gone to the bathroom earlier. Oh no, my leg is starting to cramp. Ow ow ow ow ow. Ok now its better. Oh no now the other one is cramping. Oh God please help me. Ow my foot is starting to lean to the side and I can’t reach it. If I can just get my toes in the crack in the seat. Ok, now shift my weight and it’ll move my foot back. Oh yeah, much better. Oh oh here come the cramps again. Are we almost there yet? Good here’s the hospital. I can finally lay down in a comfortable position. What, they don’t bring stretchers out to the car and I have to go in a wheelchair. What no foot rest on the wheelchair. Please hold my foot up straight Tammy as they wheel me in. Ok now what!?! “My husband needs some help, he broke his foot and needs pain medicine.” “Just fill these papers out and we will be right with you.” I’m in pain now please give me something, anything. Thank you Sue for keeping my foot propped up. I can’t believe they are going to let us sit here in the middle of the waiting room when my foot is falling off. Oh no, oh no my other leg is cramping again. Let me reposition myself to stretch the cramp out. Oh no big mistake! owwwwwwwwwwwwwww. My foot hurts. My foot, my foot, my foot. Owwwwwwww. “What can we do?” “ I don’t know but it just started hurting really really bad just please make it stop.” Sue, “I felt something crunching when you shifted your weight.” “It hurts when its tilted, please straighten it up.” “Is that better?” “Oh yes, that’s better.” “Can you hold your foot still while we try to get a pulse from it.” I’m trying to hold it still but it wont stop shaking uncontrollably. Lets get him into an exam room now. Can someone bring me some dry clothes? We’ve been playing in the rain and I am freezing. By the way can I go to the bathroom? Bedpan or urinal? Oh great, this is going to be an interesting time. Oh Libby made it to the hospital, great to see her. Jeff Getz thank you so much for the dry clothes, I’m freezing. Nurse 1, “what happened?” “I was playing soccer out at Kamp Kulaqua where we were having a Christian retreat….whats that guy doing to my foot? I need to get a pulse from your foot to check for circulation but I can’t seem to get a pulse. Oh great! Who’s this other guy now. No wonder you can’t get a pulse that’s the wrong machine. Well they didn’t tell me which one to use they just told me to get a pulse. That’s a fetal monitor, you need the doppler machine. Oh, I didn’t know. Great, what kind of place is this? Do these people even know what they are doing? Good, here the doctor finally comes. Well we need to get xrays and then we will know for sure whether you need surgery or not. Surgery?!? I was just playing a simple soccer game. I can’t need surgery. We are on a Christian retreat. This kind of stuff doesn’t happen. I’ve never had a broken bone before or been in the hospital or even had any kind of surgery. I’m hardly ever even sick. Nurse 2, “are you the one who broke his ankle playing soccer?” yes. Yikes. Can you hold your foot up here so we can get an xray. Now turn it that way. Please pile the blankets up so I can,t see it. It will gross me out. Nurse 3, “Can you feel it leaning over to the side like that?” No, and I don’t want to see it either. “You’re the one who broke his ankle on the soccer field right?” Yes, word sure does travel fast around here. Good, the doctor is back. Yes you will need surgery it is broken in 3 places and its dislocated. I’m going to need to reduce it(put it back into the socket) first before surgery. Will it hurt? We will need to put you under for about 10 minutes while we reduce it. You won’t feel a thing. Ok as long as it doesn’t hurt. Nurse 1,”I want to be here when they reduce it. I want to watch. You are in luck because doctor Maxey is on call tonight and she is a foot and ankle specialist and she will be doing the surgery tonight.” I would call it the sovereignty of God rather than luck. Thank you God for providing a specialist on this auspicious occasion. Nurse 2, “you sure did it up good. Good thing it happened today because Dr Maxey is on call.” Nurse 3,”yes, Dr Maxey is the best.” So I heard. I can’t wait to meet this Dr Maxey. Yes Lord, you are in control of this whole thing. I definitely see that. Oh, hi Dr Maxey. I have a choice. Surgery now or splint it and send me home to Titusville so I can find a doctor there to do the surgery. No way, lets get this over with now. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. So Tammy when are they going to do the surgery? What, I’m already done. I can’t believe it. A plate with 8 screws on one side and two screws on the other. Wow. 6-8 weeks before I can walk on it and then another month before returning to work. I’m sure glad I have the sick time to cover it. Thank you God for giving me the integrity to save my sick leave for such a time as this. Thank you that I didn’t use and abuse the sick leave throughout my 20 years with the Post Office. Lord, please allow me to heal up properly so that I can work as a mailman with no problems walking.

That reminds me. The session that Friday morning during the praise and worship time, I was praising God and asking him to help me to be more dependent on Him. Wow. That’s kinda like the people who pray for patience and then watch out. Lord, I am definitely learning to be more dependent on you now. Please give me the grace to walk this out. Well, that’s about it except for the 2 ½ hour ride home in the back of our Jeep laying on a blow up air mattress with Jeff Getz at the wheel. Ya hoo eee. Thank you Jeff for doing that for us. Tammy was in no condition to drive home with two days in the hospital with little to no sleep taking care of me and a hundred other things. Thank you God for being with us and encouraging us with visitors at the hospital and for using your family to care for us the way they did packing all our stuff up and taking care of Libby and everything else involved behind the scenes. This will definitely be a Celebration that we will not soon forget.

Sunday Afternoon Over and Over Again.........

Do you remember groundhogs Day? Well, I think we are living it! Everyday seems to feel like Sunday afternoon.....We are slowly moving forward....Joe has some good days and some bad days. Sleep doesn't want to come...pain doesn't want to end... and slowly the days are turning into weeks....Joe has had some very helpful visitors....Dr. Greg Goode who came by to check on the patient...He thought all looked well...Thanks Greg! ...And Nurse Sue Thompson who faithfully gave Joe his shots every day for 10 days...his blood should be very thin by now! Thanks Sue! Thank-you seems so small to all the love that has been shown...Many Many meals...many many phone calls...many many visits with dear people that we love so much! Thank-you dear friends for your care...It is heartfelt!

Last week Joe got his staples out. It was a painful experience, but he survived it. i think the apprehension was killing him~ but he did survive! He is slowly getting through the pain which has changed from all over pain to an aching bone pain.... God has been so faithful to meet at us every turn though....He will come out on the other side and we will be better for it! Thanks to the love of our God........


Joe has watched several movies, read half the bible, conquered many bowling and cow races courtesy of the Wii that Sydney Horne has so graciously sacrificed and special thanks to the Horne family for your love and care for us! We have loved the apples, and juice and chips and...meatballs which we will enjoy I am sure with the great sauce you sent!I am sure I have missed something in there...but we don't want to miss saying thank-you for loving the Neus!!! We love you guys!!

My mom and step dad Irvin are here for a visit...We have enjoyed the break in monotony! We went to the commisarry today! (Just me and them...)it was so fun! I got a ton of errands done and it was nice to get out for a little while. They will be here til Monday and will be heading out to my brother Scott's in Delaware.

Here is an update on all of us:

Joe is worried he is going to get fat....He has got on the scale to make sure that he is not losing his teen-age weight...I will keep you up on the progress...He is getting in alot of surfing....the internet that is :) He was able to go to his work and talk to his boss. The first thing his boss said was"Man Joe, you are getting gray" I think he is looking up hair color as I type...hmmm....

(Just kidding!) he is getting to know the furniture real well.....all kidding aside...He is facing this change in his life with strength and he is trusting God with his recovery... We know it will be long, and we are praying that God's grace will be there for every step of this journey....

I am doing well....I fell and hurt myself before we went to Celebration and I am feeling much better. I have some bruising on the bone, but am doing well...I am tired and need God's strength for this season of life...Right now, I just want to be the best help I can to Joe as he walks this out...so life for me has changed and slowed way down.....and I know that God has a plan for me too:)

Libby is well...she is one of the greatest people I know! She has cared for Joe and I and has served us so well..all the while being patient and kind and stopping to pray for us when we know we need it, but just can't think it through.....She will say, can I pray for you? She is so kind and loving and I can't understand why God was so kind to Joe and I to give us a girl so sweet and kind...We love you Libs! She is working on a play that she will be in in the Spring of next year...homeschooling, chores, voice lessons, soccer...well....maybe not for a while on that one....~smile~ and serving her family....

well..that's about it for now...Joe and Libby will be catching you up next...

Cele"break"tion

Well.....The second half of our week wasn't as wonderful....We left the Cabin for "Celebration" It is where a group of Churches from Florida (for more info, look at the link on the side Sovereign Grace Ministries) all related to Sovereign Grace Ministries gets together for some fun time, teaching time, and just enjoy each other! It is a hilight of our year everytime we go! This year was no exception! We headed to High Springs on Thursday Morning and met up with some friends. We spent the day unpacking and waiting for the rest of our room mates to arrive. We stayed in a lodge that holds about 26 people...We were packed in there! As soon as we get there, we notice this horrible smell! yuck! It smelled like a dead animal. We proceeded to unpack and put our stuff away. with the doors open, the smell was not that bad...except for when we left and came back in! We didn't let that bother us...we were at Celebration!! We enjoyed the rest of the day and the next morning! I want to back up for a minute...at our personal retreat, and for those of you who have no idea what I mean by that....we took some time away and were asking God about different areas our life..What would he have us doing...are we doing too much? not enough? We prayed about growing in godliness, our work at home or at a job, loving our family, relationships, what should we be working on...I felt like I needed to be more focused on caring for my family. I tend to be too others oriented and I believe that God was bringing my heart back home....Joe felt like he wanted to be more dependant on God...little did we know...God would put those words into action Friday afternoon....

I was playing scrabble tucked away in an rv,trying to shut the world out...me...some good friends and a scrabble board....oh yeah...Joe and Libby were on the soccer field...getting dirty and working off some energy...

I was getting phone calls and was ignoring them....We only had a little time to play and I wanted to just enjoy the moment...I didn't answer this last call from my friend, Lisa Taylor...I thought, I would just call her back when we finished....well...shortly after that, a knock came at the door and there was Lisa's husband, Nate...he peeks in the door and asked if I was in there and shouts...."Tammy, Joe broke his ankle, he needs you!" (or something close to that) Oh My!!!!!! I ran to the soccer field and there was Joe laying on the ground, Libby sweetly holding his hand...people all around...By God's grace, there was a doctor that attended...he was setting Joe's leg in a soccer shin guard and telling me that Joe has broke his ankle and needs to get to the hospital...I start to feel panic rising...Someone had called an ambulance, but they tell me we should just go by car.. Several guys get him into a suburban and a dear sweet man from the Gainesville church offered his wife to show us the way...I am totally panicked now...Every one is trying to tell me what they think I should do and I am just in slow motion...I cannot even think! We make our way to the hospital which is 20 minutes away. I felt like it took forever. We got there and they are very slow getting us in. I of course want to say things I shouldn't and I did have to go back and tell one lady sorry for being rude...She said it happens all the time...but I explained that is no excuse for being unkind...

He gets back in a room and I knew it had to be bad when they were all talking about they thought it would have broke through the skin....It looked awful! yuck! The bone was sticking out on the side and it looked like his whole leg was shifted to the side...I know then this can't b e good....

The ER doctor tells me to come and look at the xrays..He says there is 3 breaks and his ankle has popped out of the socket. He says that he will set it and the take xrays again and send for the surgeon...WHAT??? I am thinking? this can't be happening! Joe is the strong one....I get the sense that this will be a long day....

We arrived at 3:30 or around there and by this time it has been atleast 3 hours and Joe has had no pain medicine or nothing to drink..He is asking but they tell him no...He makes a comment that he sort of understands how Lazarus felt....(read Luke 16:19-31 in the bible and you can see what story I am talking about)

The ER doc comes back in and says that he needs to set Joe's ankle before he gets more xrays and goes up for surgery.I gladly leave the room and our friend Sue Thompson stayed (an ER nurse friend of ours) it took a few minutes..I went back in and Libby got to come in and see her daddy...

after a little bit, we head up to the Operating area...before we go, the ER doc makes a comment, he is saying we are in luck...the Doctor on call is an ankle and foot specialist!! (luck? with God, luck has nothing to do with it! He was taking care of us and he saw fit to bless us with this wonderful Dr. Maxey!)

around 8:30 that night, after being there since 3:30, Joe is now heading back to surgery...He broke 3 bones in his ankle: the tibia, which goes up the leg and bones on each side of the ankle. So...altogether he dislocated his ankle, broke 3 bones...The tibia was broke completely in half, the bones on either side of his ankle were busted up and pieces broke off....my poor baby!!

I meet Dr. Maxey who is now my hero! She tells me she will do an open reduction internal fixation. She hopes that it is all done inside. He will have plates and screws and he broke it up pretty bad. If the skin was messed up from being swollen so long, she would have to do the outer one with screws on the outside...Was she kidding? I would throw up every time I saw it!! I was doing some serious praying...

The surgery took longer than I thought..I was brave up until the end..I was pacing and praying and hoping for the best...her she comes...God give me strength...it was all done inside...Thank-you God! She put 8 screws and a plate on one side and 2 screws on the other. She said she was trying to fit the back in, which is attached to ligaments, and she could not get it to go back right...she had to go in through the fracture and saw that there were chips embedded in that bone and they would need to be removed..so.... out goes the screws, bone pieces removed and everything put back together.....I thanked her, and she left...at this point...the tears are coming down and the praise is going up....Thank-you God for your hand upon Joe's body...for seeing us through when fear overtook me...I will praise you all the days of my life...

What was that God showed us earlier? That I would be caring more for my family..and now, there was no doubt what I will be doing and Joe? I believe that he walked out dependence through this!

We were 2 1/2 hours away, so getting home was tricky. we ended up loading Joe up in the back of the jeep on an air mattress and propped up with lots of pillows! We are home!

we spent 2 days in the hospital and missed Celebration, but we were full...of God's kindness on our life.... There just happened to be a Doctor on site...Thanks Dr. Brady and we just happened to have an ankle specialist at the Hospital! thanks Dr. Maxey! and We were above and beyond cared for....There are people cutting our grass...meals coming......people stopping by...phone calls coming...prayers being prayed...What are we lacking? absolutely nothing! God has been very good to us....Our savior, our friend.....Thank-you God for your kindness!

Joe will be out of work for about 3 months....he won't be able to walk on that foot for 2 months....We are thankful that he has 1600 hours of sick leave....No driving a mail truck for him! and God has provided for our family as we await his recovery! I think we are very full...very full indeed!

Life as we know it-October 2007

We thought it would be fun to let you in on what goes on in our life...! We will get started right away... We thought this would be a great way to stay in touch and let you see into our lives with a better view....

This past week, we went away to a cabin in Branford, FL. for each of us to have a personal retreat. It was so fun. We were right on the Swaunee River. Joe and Libby took a canoe ride and I stayed back at the cabin and took a nap. We experienced so much nature there...Huge spiders, a sturgeon jumping, lots of alligators, a hawk, a pileated woodpecker, squirrels, and so much more! It was also Joe's birthday..We had a celebration and really had a good time away as a family....We stayed in an A-frame chalet and it was so cute! It was really in the middle of nowhere....We enjoyed just hanging out and we all took showers outside...enjoying the beautiful Florida wilderness... We stayed several days and then will be heading off for a retreat with several other churches just a short distance away in High Springs, Fl...