So we have moved into the hospital and are trying to make it somewhat homey for the duration. Jeremy is bringing Little’s duvet down today and clothes have been emptied into drawers. The walls are bare and that’s where you can help to encourage Little during her wait. You could choose between options one and two but we hope EVERYONE will join in on option three!!!

1.  On the hospital website there are “Cheer Cards” that you can send to patients staying here. You can click-through on the link below,  choose your favorite card,  and personalize your message. Then, the volunteers will print the card and hand-deliver it to our room! They ask for the patient’s name… E. Kicklighter.
Click through here: Cheer Cards

2.  Another option is to send a picture or color a picture for the wall. You could send a Bible verse, image of your favorite artwork, or you could click the link below and print and color a heart for Little! You can send them to us at the address below!

Click through here for a heart! (Oh that it were that easy!)
Other coloring options can be found here (or go to Pinterest and go wild!)

Mail your picture here:

3.  Now, whether or not you send a message or picture, we would LOVE for you to send a selfie/snapshot if you are praying for Little. It’ll take just a minute to snap and send and we are going to print them and hang them on a designated space so she can see the faces of those who are bringing her before His throne. You can send your pic through Facebook Messenger or even add it in a comment on the Facebook thread linked to this post. Feel free to text or email the photo as well. And make sure to put names and where you are living too!

By taking a moment to snap a pic and send it on to us, you will help build our kids’ faith and their understanding of the Body of Christ. Thanks for being a part of this journey with us!!!

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I cannot believe another week is gone! Time has flown by this week, filled with to-dos and people – my temperament’s happy mix!

I ended up staying home until Tuesday so that I could do necessary shopping and packing with KB and Bubba. It was so fun to be with them. There was snuggling, reading aloud, the previously mentioned shopping, and even some time alone while they went swimming. Happily, I think Jeremy really loves being at the hospital.  The mixture of quiet, getting to work, serving Little, and helping his family is perfect for HIS temperament. It was a great start to the week with both of us “taking care of business,” as the 1990 song by BTO says.

The first visitor of the week was a teacher Little had in elementary school. Special Ed. teachers make great visitors because they know fun things to bring and make Little engage in each activity. While she was here Little colored a picture, ate a cookie, AND made a necklace!! We love Blythe with our whole hearts and are thankful for the way she continues to love Little even though she has moved on to middle school. She is what Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony would call a “true, true friend.”

I brought the kids with me to the hospital on Tuesday so they could say good-bye to their sister and the family could all be in the same room for a bit. Everybody did their own thing but my heart was full just being able to put my eyes on all of them at the same time. The nurse took a picture for us. Everyone looks pretty sweet, but one of the kids had just punched another and one had stepped on another’s toes! Never a dull moment with three this close in age! And then there’s the emotion of the fact that I am NOT bending down at all in this picture and seem to be only an inch taller than my kids. Wow. But back to the point… what was the point? Oh, right! My heart was full because we were all in the same room and, in the words of Sister Sledge (1979), “We are family.”

Once the family left for home the Summerall family showed up. The Summeralls were in seminary at the same time we were and lived just a few doors down in campus housing. All of our babies were born within 6 months of each other and, even though it has been almost five years since we’ve seen them, they remain dear and treasured friends. They vacationed in Colorado last week and made a point of spending an evening here with us – such a blessing. Kermit went and got dinner with the kids so that Nicole and I could have time alone to chat.  This extrovert was, as the 1985 song by Loverboy says, “lovin’ every minute of it.”

Independence Day in a hospital is QUIET. We donned our red, white, and blue and talked on FaceTime with the family at the local parade. We passed the time until I had to go to the airport to pick up Aunt Brooke and then the happiness really set it. It wasn’t that Aunt Brooke was here to talk with Little for hours, it was just that Aunt Brooke was here. I have found it interesting to watch our Little over these weeks and learn about what motivates her. She doesn’t need a lot of chatting but she does like having her people nearby. Watching her face light up when Brooke walked in was such a joy.  Why wouldn’t she light up? I don’t know if you have met my sister-in-law but, as the Beatles sang in 1977, “to know her is to love her.”

Brooke went to FoCo to help the kids finish packing and brought them back down on Thursday for me to take them all to the airport. It took AN HOUR for them to check one bag and I got a text from Brooke just minutes before 2:00 PM telling me that they were JUST getting into the line at security!!! Their flight was to leave at 2:30 PM!!! I had this moment where I prayed and considered… here I am trusting the Lord for a heart for my daughter and trusting Him to do miracles for her … would I trust He could get them through the security line and onto their plane in time? I have to say, the plane situation seemed less probable than a heart transplant, but I chose to ask in faith and demonstrate that faith by NOT planning what to do with everyone if they had to wait three days for the next flight. Look at the time on this message from Brooke:

As they sing in Fiddler on the Roof, “Wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles!” Besides getting to the plane on time, the luggage they were told wouldn’t arrive for three days also made it on time! Hallelujah!

Our friend Lola and her daughter Maya came to visit that afternoon with yummy watermelon and berry cobbler. Little had physical therapy while they were here and Maya was sweet enough to do squats with our girl and help with throwing the beach ball they wanted Little to catch. Lola showed Little silly videos of animals and there was laughter and fun, which is great because Cyndi Lauper made sure the world knew that “girls just wanna have fun!”

Some of this I am writing for my own benefit – so that I can look back and remember who was here and how the days were spent. I do know that others come here (or are sent here by my mother) to read about Little’s progress and to find out how to pray. It’s good for me to take moments to focus on this as well, especially when the weeks are slow and it doesn’t seem much is happening.

So, while all of these people were coming and going all week, Little’s body was quietly fighting her C-Diff and on Friday her tests came back negative for the bacteria and we were taken off “precautions” and can finally leave the room! Also behind the scenes, the doctors were sending off blood to continue testing for antibodies that will help them assess Little’s compatibility with heart offers. AND this week we did four days of PT and each day Little persevered and did a great job.

So she LOOKS well and her body is better than it was two weeks ago, having successfully fought the sickness in her gut. Physical exertion has been the reminder that the part of her that’s “broken” can’t be seen. Today we took the elevator down and started laundry together before walking back to the room. When we made the return trip to get the clothes from the dryer, Little got dizzy and I caught her before she fell. When we got back to the room she told me her legs felt asleep and she needed to wake them up! During the week she ended each PT session pale and exhausted; one day she even got sick.  She smiles and laughs but we sing with Christopher Walker, “Give me a new heart, O God!”

We are back in the Cardiac Progressive Care Unit and attempting to adjust. Little seemed to turn a corner on Saturday and glimpses of her “old self” dominated the day. There was laughter and smiles and sweet conversation over puzzles. It was a joy to see her feeling better and enjoying the events of the day – a mercy.

Monica and Debbie cleaned my house AND left food in the freezer. They picked up medication, played games with the kids, and Debbie even took KB shopping for the shorts she so desperately needed! SUCH a blessing. Friday is Jeremy’s day off so he stayed in FoCo with the kids and sent my friends down for the day.  We went out to lunch and sat and chatted into the night.  Again …. SUCH A BLESSING. His mercy.

The big news for the second half of this week is that Little and I will be living at the hospital until she gets a new heart or goes to be with Jesus. The doctor’s have come to appreciate the nuances of Little’s care and the speed with which her health can deteriorate and so they are uncomfortable with sending her home. As long as we remain in the hospital she can remain a 1A and be monitored in order to minimize surprises. While we would both rather be home with our family it is obvious that this is the best option; the next step He has directed us toward.  Speed and safety =  mercy.

I pressed the doctor and finally got a commitment to this plan on Thursday and with this news came a slowly growing panic about what to do with our other two children. I found myself awake at 1AM typing an email to my brother.  He had mentioned that my sister-in-law and niece were eager to come out and help and so I asked how soon they could arrive. My phone rang during the 7 o’clock hour and Andy and Brooke smiled at me through the screen while offering to come get our children and drive them to Birmingham for a few weeks. That began a 24 hour conversation that ended with plane tickets being bought last night and my children heading to Alabama on Thursday for the month of July!!! A mercy.

There have been a couple great spiritual lessons and conversations that have come out of this crazy week. It seem that last week at youth group KB asked everyone to pray that she and Bubba would get to go to Birmingham this summer.  Bubba responded that he wasn’t even going to pray that because he knew it would never happen.  When I told the kids about the trip on Friday, KB squealed and clapped and said, “I prayed and asked God to please let us go!!” Bubba raised he hands and said, with awe in his voice, “It’s actually happening.” What a joy to see their eyes opened to the power of prayer and their faith encouraged in this way. A mercy.

Another encouraging conversation happened today: there had been multiple comments made about things we haven’t done this summer and I found myself answering, “I had planned for us to do that but Lily’s heart situation took a turn.” After the third or fourth time this came up I realized my tone had taken on a whining flavor and I stopped to regroup and remind us all of what we knew was true. I reminded them of all the times we had talked about us making our plans BUT…  and KB finished, “the Lord directs our steps.” My heart soared and we talked a bit about all the plans we had for this summer and the steps the Lord had chosen for us instead. KB was thrilled that the Lord planned for them to walk all over Alabama this summer and Bubba said, “We can just plan to try to do these other things in 2019.” His mercy.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
His mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning, new every morning.
Great is thy faithfulness, O Lord.
Great is thy faithfulness.”

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