Grace in Time of Need

And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weakness, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
Hello family and friends,
This verse certainly speaks volumes to me lately. I feel like a fish out of water sometimes with being a single parent. It has been a challenge of late but day to day I keep my eyes on Jesus and rest in His grace. He gives me the strength and wisdom I need daily. It has been busy of late.
-Sarah's surgery went well last Wednesday. Took a little longer than was planned but everything turned out just fine. With some pain meds, Sarah was able to cope with the after effects and has been doing well. Today she had a follow up appointment and the doctor put some new wrapping on her left hand.
-On the Friday before Memorial Day, the family had a placement ceremony at the cemetery for Susan's ashes. Her ashes are buried at the Memorial Gardens Cemetery at 7315 N Government Way in Coeur d'Alene. Pastor Dick officiated at the short service. It was a very close occasion for my family as all lowered the urn into the ground. Here are a couple of pictures.



And then for Memorial Day weekend, we all headed up to Farragut State Park (about 30 miles north) to camp out. Weather was cool the first night, sunny the next day with some drizzle on Saturday night. But then the rest of the weekend was really nice. We played alot of games like Phase 10 (a card game), Frisbee golf and wiffle ball. What a great time. All expect on Saturday afternoon, when I was throwing my Frisbee disk (this one was an official disk, heavier, pointy edge). I really threw it hard and it hit one tree, hit another and came right down on Aaron's head. He went down so fast and was bleeding. By the time I got there, he was still on the ground, but was not bleeding too bad. We went back to camp and cleaned up the wound. He later went back into town with Hannah to go to Emergent Care. He ended up getting 5 stitches. I felt bad. What a freak accident. So pray for his head and proper healing.

Today was Aaron's birthday. Sixteen years old. We had a taco dinner then played kickball in the pasture and volleyball in the front yard followed up with four square on the driveway. It was a nice weekend. This coming weekend will be Relay for Life, our local chapter event for Cancer awareness and charity to fight the disease. We will be partaking in the event on Friday night. Then on Saturday afternoon, a luau for Aaron's birthday with some of his friends, more games and probably a bonfire at our house. On Wednesday evening, I will meet with Theresa, a nanny who will potentially be working for me for a couple of days a week this summer when the kids are out of school. Mary, Laura and Kayla will go with me to meet and talk with her. Pray for peace and that all will work out.
I want to thank all of you dear ones out there that have helped the Vetsch family in so many ways (prayers, meals, cards, letters, emails, contributions to the Susan Vetsch Cancer Fund, cleaning of our house, help with lice issues, driving kids here and there, sewing classes, cooking classes, softball practice/games, etc). You are all blessings and we love you all. Keep praying for harmony amongst the children,
peace and strength for me, keeping to a chore list, and trying to have fun while doing it all. We are doing well considering. We stay busy. Lastly,
"I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.... I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:11,13

Susan's Garden

My girls have been busy getting the flower beds planted. Hannah bought an etched rock with "Mom's Garden" which is such an honor to Susan. Susan loved gardening and loved her flower beds. Check out the angel that is over the garden. One thing Susan requested is to line our garden with sunflowers each year. The garden is being planted and yes there will be sunflowers. We are all doing fine. We do miss Susan. This time of year brings such fond memories of working in the yard. Sarah goes into outpatient surgery on Wednesday morning at 1000 am. Her tendon on her left thumb became detached and frayed. So the doctor will take one tendon from her index finger and use it to reattach her thumb functions. So important to have a working strong thumb. The doctor said it is routine surgery but do pray for Sarah. Especially her recovery and mending of her thumb. Pray she takes it easy and follows doctors orders.

Kayla has been playing soccer in the city league. Here with her team, back row far right. Kayla is 8 years old and has learned a lot about soccer. She has had fun. God worked it out that her games were scheduled after work and during Laura's softball practice in the adjoining field. So I was able to often watch Kayla's soccer game while Laura practiced softball, then we all drove home to eat.

Here is Laura practicing at second base. This weekend we all go camping up at Farragut. Looking forward to peace and quiet. Lots of games and down time. Taking bikes and fishing poles.

Family Update

Thank you all for your prayers and support as we adjust to being a single parent family. There were tears on Mother's Day, but we celebrated with sweet memories of Susan and we attended church together. The younger girls made Susan cards and wrote poems at school for Mother's Day. We also joined up with the Shaw family for a BBQ and lots of fun and games. So that was a very nice way to spend the day.
Here are a couple of photos from the Bloomsday Run (7.5 miles) that we as a family ran for Susan. This is a run with 45,000 people. This has been a family event, with Susan running several years ago. Check out the backs of the shirts. We did our own stencil and had them painted up on the pink t-shirts. A lot of people asked about Susan, so we were able to share with them the specialness of our dear Susan.

Backside shot. "I'm Run'in for Susan"











Upcoming Events:
1. Family Camping Trip on Memorial Day weekend, Farrugut State Park
2. Jason graduates from Coeur d'Alene High on June 6th at 7:00pm
3. Leah graduates from E. Washington University on June 14th at 2:00pm
Prayer Requests:
1. Dealing with the schedule & responsibilities of being a single parent, balance
2. Summer jobs for Jason and Aaron
Praises:
1. Daily calmness within the family, everyone helping out.
2. Meals and house cleaning by loving, caring friends.
3. A deepening spiritual walk that each of the children have with our Lord. Each are dealing with the loss of their mother in different ways but they are looking to God for their strength and hope. That has been special to see. Aaron spoke on "Joy in our Trials" to 250 youth at church. He did an excellent job.

Continuing the Blog!

I have decided to continue putting updates in the blog on a regular basis. At first, I had thought that the purpose of the blog was complete since Susan's death, that it served it's purpose and the journey was complete. But to many that obviously continue to visit the blog, who pray and wonder about how we are doing, well, the journey continues. As the header paragraph says, our challenge is to live a daily life for Jesus. And it must be daily. It is not easy but when we TRUST and OBEY God's word on a daily basis, we receive new mercies, new strength and a new song. "The LORD is our STRENGTH, our SONG, and our SALVATION" Exodus 15:2

Be praying for the children, especially this weekend, as we celebrate Mother's Day. Susan is still the children's wonderful mother and always will be. To celebrate Mother's Day is to honor the special person Susan is and will ever be in our hearts. She is truly missed but God in His infinite existence, continues to embrace us and fill us with hope and a peace. The very creator of the vast universe, loves us, loves you and cares for all. We just need to embrace that and abide in Him.