(March 2021)
Well, hi again! What an honor to have you joining our journey 🙂 Just wanted to say ‘Thank You!’
So, we’ve hit the 7 month time marker and you’d think we would be steadying out our ‘eventfulness meter’ by now. Nope.
–We experienced our first real, Northern winter (technically not northeast/New England, but pretty close) as a family.
It was really quite wonderful teaching Justus how to manage himself in the snow, and so fun to watch him enjoy it! We are at the end of a cul-de-sac, so by the time the city plow finishes his job, we get an enormous mound to play on… that blocks our driveway for 3 days (Justus loved it, and it’s not like we had anywhere to go, but our landowners got it figured out for the future). Made some really wonderful memories with Justus.. and then…
–Justus Broke his leg sledding.
There are about two options for sledding in our backyard: a small, slow slope and an steep, dangerous one. Guess which one I chose… Well, let’s back up a little. Justus and I went out sledding several times before he broke his leg, both on the slow and on the steep slopes. We had tons of winter fun up to this particular point in February. He helped me shovel, we slid around in the driveway, we enjoyed the 6ft snowbank plowed in our driveway, and we had our share of exciting snowball fights! Justus absolutely loves the snow and he was itching to get out any chance he got. So we went sledding a LOT.
Then, one day, just before dinner and before the sunset, I decided to take our little busybody to the hill. But last nights snow had been rained over and there was a sheet of ice above the powder. This means that a 35lb kid will operate on the snow very differently than a 150lb man- in essence, I would pack down the ice while Justus simply glided over it. A perfect opportunity to choose the safe hill and have a blast! Nope. the safe hill was a few hundred yards further, so I opted for the steep hill. Yes, the steep dangerous one with a chain-link fence at the bottom. In the past, I could stop our sleds with plenty of time to spare before arriving at the fence, so why not now? Well, after about two rides down, I could tell this adventure was more risky, especially after an abrupt stop flung Justus off his sled and on to his face a moment earlier… it was after this run that I looked up and prayed, ”Lord, keep us safe,” then pushed off.
When I think back, that prayer should have been the signal light- NATE, THIS IS TOO RISKY!!! But the connection was lost on me. Maybe it was frozen. Either way, we began the descent.
I pushed Justus’ sled ahead of mine, holding firmly to the side, then we began to turn around, but not quickly enough to 360 before hitting the fence, so I began correcting with my free hand and heels. I wasn’t able to correct quick enough, so I dug my remaining elbow into the icy snow until doing so forced open my grip on the other sled.
“NO!!” echoed my voice in the valley of ice and emptiness. Can you hear the eerie music? And the almost-worst happened. I watched in horror, and practically slow-motion as my 2-year-old cruised down the hill unable to influence his own trajectory. The impact was now up to the Lord and Justus’ guardian angel.
My eyes followed, first and foremost, the course of his little cranium. Justus endured a fractured skull when he was 8 months old, so another could be fatal. The distance closed between him and the metal post of the fence, but his head was clear. His face did contact the chain-links, giving him a bloody lip, but nothing more. After I had raced to his side, his cries surfaced and his small voice indicated a total surprise: ”My leg hurts, dada!! My leg!!” I was shocked. No, it can’t be too serious. Didn’t he miss the pole completely? I looked down to his leg and his boot looked like it had been almost flung off his foot. Was this like that before? I took the boot off to check that everything was in tact, then touched a couple spots to see where it hurt the most. After getting a better sense for his pain level (difficult to determine with little ones), I breathed warm air on his exposed leg and carried him home.
This was a Saturday night around 6pm. We returned home and talked with Katie about the accident while taking off Justus’ snow clothes. What should we do? We were slightly skeptical that it was a broken bone, but there were a few needs to be met before making the decision to pursue urgent care. We set our wounded warrior on the couch and turned on some Charlie Brown to distract him from the pain. He was in a daze as we brought him dinner and ice packs. We asked him a few questions about the leg, but only after a little while came the true test. He had just effectively become potty trained a few months prior and he was now asking to go to the bathroom. Katie and I exchanged looks and I said the words, preparing myself to catch him. ”Okay, go ahead.” But it only took one step for him to fall to the ground in tears. I embraced him and brought him to the bathroom while Katie called the Urgent Care that was closing soon. We got ready, Justus and I (Katie needed to stay with the baby), and went to the doctor. He was such a good sport through the whole process, though we could only secure a wrap until Monday, when we would drive to a pediatric specialist for a kid’s cast. Justus chose orange. And the doctors gave us a boot to strap on for him to walk around, which he was doing within the hour, hah!
A few blessings along the way: 1. He didn’t hit his head. 2. The Urgent Care hadn’t closed yet, that Saturday night, though we almost missed them. 3. We still had our really good insurance from when Katie was a teacher. 4. Several church families came to support us with meals and company. 5. Justus was a champ and healed in 5 weeks!
A FEW OTHER THINGS:
–We contracted head colds at least 3 different times this winter.
Can you say ”Isolation..?”
–Our church cancelled 3 Sundays because several families contracted Covid 19.
Can you say it again…
–Katie spent a ton of time quarantining inside with two active, needy little boys on very irregular sleep
(talk about cabin fever!!… and she’s my hero)
–I took on one more class than I probably should have (just to get it out of the way while everything’s online, but it added a significant amount of course work)
This semester I took 5 courses: Theology of Evangelism and Missions, Philosophy of Christian Apologetics , Doctrine of God, Greek 3, and Medieval Church.
This workload, along with the other compilation of events, resulted in a theme of thoughts on “Wilderness” which I hope to share sometime. Here below is a prayer that expresses some of those deliberations:
“Here in the Wilderness, Oh Lord, You have brought me. This is what I have requested and this is what you have given. As you led your rebellious son, Israel, through the wilderness for 40 years to cleanse and purify them for the land and work ahead; as you led David first to the sheepfold then devoted him and his mighty men to the chase, for his benefit and ours and especially your great glory; as you brought faithful Job through a time of loss and grief and struggle and revelation; as you led Jonah into the belly of a great fish for three days to refine him and redirect him toward your path; as you brought your Nation through 400 years of silence and exile in preparing them for the revelation of your Son; as you brought up the prophet John in the wilderness to observe the Nazarite vows and pursue a lifestyle of mortification and self-denial, even there proclaiming the way of the Lord; as you drove your only Son into the wilderness for 40 days, both after his baptism, at which point your Holy Spirit descended upon him, and yet before his ministry could begin (for he needed to persevere through the temptation of the devil); as you’ve brought many men before me and will faithfully bring many men after me through the forge of grueling study and financial dependence (which was to the demise of some, who chose the pleasures of the world, as did Demas, in place of your glory) ; So you are leading me into a time of drought, famine and particularly difficult labor so that I may take part in the pool of faithful laborers, under-shepherds, and care-takers of your beloved, yet frequently wavering flock. I, like them, am simply a sheep. But you have called for faithful ministers of your Word and I have set out to be one among many who have gone before me, will come after me, and the many who will go along with me.
Forgive me for doubting your calling and your good pleasure of refinement in this place. Forgive my poor attitude in the midst of this trial. Forgive my lack of time in prayer and in your Word, which I thirst after as the deer pants for water- yet the spring waits ever before me. Allow and drive me, by your Holy Spirit, to spend more time in your Word and in Prayer, that I might see you and know you more, that I might seek you and desire you more, that I might have you and give you more. Have mercy, Lord, have mercy.”
(Prayer journal 3.4.21)
-Katie and I both continued attending some groups.
I continued attending and helping lead a seminary men’s accountability/life group. This has certainly kept up my vitality in the midst of so much isolation.
Katie continued meeting with a few groups of women, or individuals, to maintain her sanity by accumulating other adults to talk with.
-And, of course, Baby Pictures!!
Salem is growing like a sprout! Here are some great memories and moments from the last few months.
Conclusion:
So there you have it! A Broken leg, lots of sickness and isolation, an extra heavy course load, and some emotional hardships, but in the end, we are all together, we are sure that this is where we are meant to be right now, and the Lord is growing us all in many ways.
Please continue to pray for our journey, especially that our faith in God would remain strong, and even grow stronger, as we continue moving within his plan for us.
Many thanks to you, our reader! The Lord be with you.
The Fowler Four 