Christmas Eve at home.
Yesterday we got the good news from Dr. Kaelin that Shea could come home for a few hours on Christmas Eve!!!! What a gift for our family! In order for us to bring her home, Steve and I had to take a refresher CPR class and also a Trach class. We had to rent a machine to clear her trach if there would be any blockages while we are away from the hospital. So today we came home with the machine, the walker, the wheel chair and best of all our sweet Shea.
We came home to a festive party! Uncle David, wearing his Santa hat, had "O Holy Night" playing on the stereo and tons of food covering the counters. Aunt Joy was upstairs frantically wrapping last-minute gifts and our sweet dog, Cali, greeted us with a light up Christmas collar! Luke, Jess and Jonathan greeted and helped Shea in the house. I haven't seen Luke smile that big for a very long time. His sister came home. Also, a big "thank you" to the Christmas elves who completely decorated our house with all our Christmas decorations. We didn't think we would be home yet, but I guess they did!! We are grateful for all of you.
John and Liz Anderson and their kids just called from the Atlanta airport -- "Don't get too deep into the party before we get there!" John said. So there is much to rejoice about in our family.
We return to the hospital tonight as Shea is not allowed to be away for very many hours. She's okay with it -- we're enjoying the time we do have together. And, by the way, they're also giving us a pass to come home Christmas Day as well!
"Give thanks to the Lord, our God and King -- His love endures forever!"
Merry Christmas Eve, everyone,
Steve and Susan
We came home to a festive party! Uncle David, wearing his Santa hat, had "O Holy Night" playing on the stereo and tons of food covering the counters. Aunt Joy was upstairs frantically wrapping last-minute gifts and our sweet dog, Cali, greeted us with a light up Christmas collar! Luke, Jess and Jonathan greeted and helped Shea in the house. I haven't seen Luke smile that big for a very long time. His sister came home. Also, a big "thank you" to the Christmas elves who completely decorated our house with all our Christmas decorations. We didn't think we would be home yet, but I guess they did!! We are grateful for all of you.
John and Liz Anderson and their kids just called from the Atlanta airport -- "Don't get too deep into the party before we get there!" John said. So there is much to rejoice about in our family.
We return to the hospital tonight as Shea is not allowed to be away for very many hours. She's okay with it -- we're enjoying the time we do have together. And, by the way, they're also giving us a pass to come home Christmas Day as well!
"Give thanks to the Lord, our God and King -- His love endures forever!"
Merry Christmas Eve, everyone,
Steve and Susan
posted by admin | 5:48 PM
18 Comments:
How awesome!!!!!!!!!!
Merry Christmas,
Denise
Merry Christmas Shea!!!
Well....it's a good thing we didn't see this before church tonight or you would have had a mega party on your hands...LOL!Not only would you have everyone from The Bridge, but also, all of their relatives that were in town visiting. :)
What a wonderful Christmas gift! God is just so amazing!!!!!! Wooohooo GOD !!!!!!!!!!! Enjoy your time at home with your loved ones. Before you know it, you won't be just visiting for a few hours.
GO GOD !
Merry Christmas, Shea, and the rest of the family!!!!
We miss Cali very much!!!
Love you guys!!
Megan Kucala
That is so amazing! What a wonderful Christmas gift.
God Bless you guys!
In His Love,
Kristen
Merry hristmas Shea to you and your entire family.How wonderful that you get to come home for 2 days in a row...God is so awesome. All is a miracle from God's hand and we praise Him
The following was written by a friend of mine and I would like to share it with all of you
Once again we celebrate Christmas. The birth of Jesus Christ
Once again we celebrate the awesome gift of God "Eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord Romans 6:3
Once again we celebrate the greatest love story from the heart of the Father to us: Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved Romans 10:13
Merry Christmas from New York to Georgia
hey shea- this is allison- i was one of your speech therapists at the medical center in macon. i just wanted to tell you that i finally got a chance to read your blog today and i was so excited to see that you could go home for christmas for awhile! how exciting! you are SO blessed! i know the road ahead will be difficult, sometimes strenuous- but your strength in the Lord will pull you through. i wanted you to know that your family was such an encouragement to me- as my family was in somewhat of a same place as you at this time last year when my dad had his 1st surgery to remove his stomach because he had stage IV gastroesophageal cancer. it's been a tough season as he passed away in august.....i see the strength of the Lord in you as i saw in my dad. what a blessing it is to be part of the body of Christ! one of the most memorable moments of my job has been praying with you on tuesday morning when you expressed that you were scared about your vision/eye. i will remember that always. being in a hospital and going through everything i think would be scary- but people like you and my dad who abide in our Lord make/made it look so "easy" :)because you know that God is in control. God is awesome and is worthy of our praise! as a family when we first heard about his cancer, we prayed not that he would save my dad- but that His Will would be done in and through our family and that HE would get the glory! and you know what!? he sure did! it was incredible to see how God continues to get the glory even in what seems to us as such a life-changing/difficult situation. as my dad celebrates his first Christmas in his eternal home- i rejoice also in the fact that you will be able to spend another Christmas with your family. thank you for being an awesome patient- you don't know how much it means to us to have patients who are appreciative- and positive despite everything going on. i pray that you will continue to make fast, unbelievable progress, and i pray that your eye will heal soon. Do not fear, for the Lord our God is with you- no matter where you are, no matter how hard these days of rehab will be, no matter what happens, He is there. by the way- i got a chance to also listen to the 2 songs that are posted on your blogspot- it brought tears to my eyes. your voice is beautiful as is your soul- and i'm so glad i got the priveledge to talk with you for the couple of days that i did. hope to see you again. keep your head up! keep in touch.
Allison allio4@aol.com
God is GOOD...all the time!
ALL the time...GOD is good!!!!!!
He is worthy to be praised!
Hey Shea! Just wanted to say that I've been thinking about you and am soooo glad that you got to have some Christmas time at home with your family!! You have been stronger than I could have ever dreamed throughout all of this and I am so glad to be able to say that I will talk to you soon! I love you, have a very Merry Christmas!
Love,
Kim LeBlanc
Merry Christmas Shea, Luke, Susan, Steve, and Jesse!!
What an amazing Christmas gift!
I hope you heard my voicemail Shea and get the note I left for you in your kitchen!!
Im thinking & praying for you always!
<3 Hannah
Merry Christmas Hickoks!!
Shea I love you bunches, and I'm praying for you every day! Have a great Christmas sweetie!
Love,
Jess
Shea,
I wanted to share a Christmas blessing with you... I have never met you but you have become a daily part of my life through prayer and "blog reading". I go to Houghton College, a small Christian school New York, but Atlanta is my home. The Jones/ Lazzara's are like family to me... along with Blair..the coolest drummer everyone knows! :-) On my way home from Buffalo I had the priviledge of experiencing weather delays because of an ice storm in Atlanta. Gotta love how the south can't handle bad weather! Because of this delay a certain family was able to make the flight I was on. The mom sat next to me. Through casual talk I was able to find out she wasn't a Christian. It broke my heart to look at her and her family without Jesus. She asked a lot of questions and then decided she did not feel good and wanted to sleep. She slept until we made our decent. The whole time I had been praying for some words from God. When she awoke our conversation turned somehow to talk about Thanksgiving break. I was able to share with her all that occured that week. I was able to share the miracles that I read about in your life everyday. She asked, "Is this because of your God?" I gladly answered YES!! He is an amazing God!! She was grief stricken for Mike. I don't know what I said, but I remember saying "I know Mike is in an incredible place". She questioned me and I lightly shared of his faith and our confidence in eternal life. We talked until we parted ways inside the airport. I wished her a merry Christmas with all my heart. She thought for a minute before smiling and replying Merry Christmas back. I wanted you to know that God is continuing to use the tragedy to bring good to others...even complete strangers. I do not know what she will decide, but I know that a seed of thought was implanted in her mind that day, and God used your circumstances to plant it. My heart is always with you, Shea. My fourth grade sunday schoolers made you cards and you will receive them shortly I hope! May you savor every moment at home!! Be blessed this Christmas as you celebrate the life Christ gives us because of his sacrifice!
Dear Shea,
It was so good to hear your voice today when you called to talk to Grandpa Anderson. You surely made his day--and ours. He certainly loves you and continues to be so thankful for all that God has done. And Charley keeps saying, "I wonder how Shea is doing. What does the blog say?" If it's not too much trouble, he'd like an hourly report! :>)
By now you are back at Shepherd's, and you've had your Christmas Eve with the family. I'm sure your time with them was sweet. If your family loves you this much, just imagine how much God loves you! Grandpa keeps talking about how God has blessed our family. There's only one explanation. Grace. Grace and mercy.
Grace to you, Sweetie. We may not be with you in Atlanta just now, but we're there in spirit rooting for you. Have a blessed Christmas.
Lovingly,
Aunt Kathy
Dear Hickoks!
Merry, Merry Christmas! We have all 11 of us here, which is tiny compared to your families, but feels big to this only child from Colorado! Our Christmas was sweeter because of you all--just remembering how much we love our children and our God. So while we passed out American Eagle pajama pants and See's Candy for Papa and other "stuff" it was with a great feeling of thankfulness and an awareness of the memories that I hold dear. These memories were of harder times, and of giving my children to the Lord and of the gift of God's grace to live day by day.
For you, these times will be held very deep in your hearts and we from the outside can only peer in. It's like watching healing and peace and joy in the Christmas windows of the department store. You have the best Christmas display of all--the Lord doing great things for you and we all get to watch. Can't you see it on the HGTV Holiday Windows Show-Shea, you in bed with all kinds of relatives gathered around you with angels flying over the top and your Christmas tree from work over in the corner. Thank you for sharing your hearts--it is a great gift to us all--and Shea--this will be a wonderful Christmas! I'm sure it must come bundled with emotional pain and spiritual joy both unspeakable--believe me when I say--I really understand and I am praying for you.
Blessing to you all! It would be so fun to be there with your crazy little family. I hope it doesn't hurt to laugh Shea!
Love Karine for the Beards
Dear (Lauren) Shea and Hickok family,
Just to let you know we continue to pray in earnest for your healing and the specific needs that come along. What a wonderful blessing this Christmas to have Shea home for a few hours! Thank you for allowing us to be with your precious family through this blog. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!
With love & blessings,
Saundra
Zachary and Natalie Wilder
Hickoks, Andersons, and Pippengers,
While attending a really beautiful Mass last night, it occurred to me what a gift we're given in lifetime-length relationships, ones in which we've seen each other as kids, been there in early marriage years, and then watched each other's kids come aboard. As pastor's children, we have quite a handful of them, but few so treasured as the memories gathered with your family. Today, especially, I'm praying that your time together will be especially wonderful, as I know ours will be for having been able to share this bitter-sweet season with you from across the country. You are very loved, and we're so grateful for each of you...
Love,
Hayes
How great is our God!
Thanks be to Him for all He has done in your family. I was so happy to read of your time together at home!
I pray God will bless your time together, and I pray that this will be a healing time in many ways for everything that needs healing in all of you.
Merry Christmas Shea. Merry Christmas to the whole Hickok family. Merry Christmas to all who are celebrating with you -- in your home and across the country!
Love,
Betty Anne
What a Christmas present! Merry Christmas everyone!
Christy
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