The Lessons of Job

This post is mainly for those of you who got a strange text message from John-David last week. Apparently John-David sent a text that wasn't as clear to some and some wondered if John-David was taking out someone's appendix or if John-David was having his own appendix taken out. Unfortunately it was the latter.

Last Wednesday night John-David complained his stomach wasn't feeling great and went to bed at 9:00 P.M. I was awakened at 2:00 when he got up to go the bathroom and came back to bed to say he thought he had appendicitis. He let his pain slowly get worse until finally at 3:30 a.m. we called our diligent home teacher to come give him a blessing and a ride to the hospital. Thanks in large part to the exercise of a righteous priesthood holder, the remainder of the day went as expected and without complication. Sure enough, being worked up by his friends in the ER, John-David was told that his appendix was indeed enlarged and inflamed and would need to come out. Having worked with the general surgeons for 4 months he picked Dr. Schadt to do his surgery. Two small incisions and plenty of anesthesia later he came out of surgery. Because they thought his size would impact his metabolism of the anesthetic they hit him with a big dose... which only lead to 2 hours in the recovery room before he was really awake.

Dad and his little monkeys prior to surgery

You will also notice in these pictures that his left arm is wrapped with an ace bandage. That is because a week prior he had somehow contracted an aggressive impetigo, which had kept him from operating. John-David knew that bad things tend to come in threes, so when he was discharged from the hospital he said to himself, "Self, I can't wait to see what #3 is all about." Well, within a few hours of returning home, and John-David feeling relatively well with the impetigo clearing and the incisions not too painful, #3 struck with a vengeance. Bending down to put Bryce in his bouncy chair John-David's back suddenly seized, warping him from a 30 yr old to an 85 yr old man in an instant! He's been struggling to get up and get moving ever since, but has seen some slow progress. As a result, however, he has yet to return to work. Now that he's started with some Physical Therapy he hopes to return next week.

The irony of all of this is that this past week's Sunday School lesson was about Job, a man who suffered far more than John-David has. This slice of reality, perspective and humility is tough to swallow, but we feel grateful for all that we've been blessed with. Thanks to all of our family, friends and ward members who, unlike Job's family and friends, have not abandoned us. It's nice to know that Heavenly Father knows us, loves us, and has a great sense of humor as well!