A Fresh Start

So here it is, my first blog entry. Writing has always been a hobby of mine (I've even been known to write a poem or two!), and while I rarely have the time to do it, I always enjoy putting my thoughts down on paper or a computer screen so that can reflect on them later. I have had a blessed life in so many ways. Of course, with all the good things that have happened to me, including many incredible "are you kidding me?" moments, there have been tough times that, as my dad always tells me, build character. I hope people will read this blog and find my stories interesting, funny, and maybe even helpful for their own lives.

I am writing this while sitting in a very uncomfortable chair, on a warm, drizzly day in Houston, Texas. I find myself waiting, again, to hear good news from someone wearing scrubs that everything went well, and I can come back and see my wife, Ashley. I am at the hospital, where Ashley is having her gall bladder removed, her fourth surgery in two years. In February, 2010, she gave birth by c-section to our second daughter. Later that year, she was in a different hospital in Houston for a cardiac ablation, a process that involves sticking a wire up through her pelvis to her heart, and burning a node that causes it to beat as much as or more than 200 times in a minute, a heart rate that causes most people to pass out. After another c-section in January of this year to give us our third little baby girl, here I sit, just six weeks later. Praise the Lord, the surgeon just came out and told me she is doing just fine.

I called this entry "A Fresh Start" not just because this is hopefully the first of many entries will enjoy writing, but because, hopefully, today will represent a fresh start for Ashley and our whole family. We know that what we've gone through over the past few years pales in comparison to the struggles many people or families endure. While it has been tough on us, especially with all our immediate family being no less than a thousand miles away from us, we appreciate so much that we have been blessed with a great life here in Houston filled with friends and extended family who are always there for us.

With our little family complete (no, we're not going to try to have a boy!), I hope that we can move forward without any more major health issues and focus on what lies ahead. As I said, God has blessed us in many ways and we can't wait to see what He has planned for us down the road. That's it for now... as they say in my favorite sport-the caution flag is being put away, and they're about to drop the green!