I have a good reason for being gone so long.

The past two weeks have been eventful.

Friday morning, December 9th Stephen (Grande, Capt' Steve) badly injured his right hand while working using a table saw. He is one half owner of a building and home renovation company, and he frequently does a lot of the work himself.

Two fingers on his right hand (ring finger and middle) were the most damaged by the accident. The severity of the injury led us to UAB in Birmingham under the care of a 24 hour on-call hand team. Stephen had a 4 hour reconstructive surgery that Friday night by an excellent orthopedic hand specialist (Dr. Chadhari).

My parents, my brother, and Stephen's parents came to be with us in the hospital. Our siblings took care of our children. Many of you texted, called, came to visit, brought food, visited, and prayed for us. Thank you, truly. THANK YOU.

This whole ordeal has rocked our little world. After all,  it is his right hand. He is right handed. He works using his hands. It has been an all too real reminder of the finality of this life and that our bodies will fail us.

We've had some really low moments. But by the grace of God, Stephen is recovering well. Really - he is. He will be spending the next 8-12 weeks doing much occupational therapy and wearing splints and bandages on his fingers. His hand will literally never look the same or function the same again. But thankfully his long term prognosis is good. It is predicted that he will regain much of his usage and function over time. In a year this will not be the center of our universe like it is now. It will be a part of our life. God works all things for our good. We know this.

So where are we now, 2 weeks out of surgery -- emotionally?

We are grateful. We are grateful that this injury was not any worse. We are thankful for the fantastic medical care we received. We are thankful for the healing that has already begun and that Stephen will return to work after the first of the year. We are thankful for each other and our children. We are thankful for extended family and friends. And we are most thankful for God's work in our life even through bad things. We are thankful for God's healing hand, the promise of His redemption, the birth of his Son, and the hope we have in Jesus. We have experienced much peace throughout this event, a supernatural peace. Our hearts are high. We are enjoying being together. We are enjoying the holidays. God is good.

We hope you all had the Merriest Christmas! Thank you all for reading my blog and for your friendships. This is a fun part of my life and I hope to return back to it soon.

Much love,

all the Spooners

We tried....

Peace I leave with you; 

my peace I give you. 

I do not give to you as the world gives. 

Do not let your hearts be troubled 

and do not be afraid. John 14:27

Set your minds on things above, 

not on earthly things. Colossians 3:2