John is in the Hospital

By Kyle Heironimus
Monday, May 03, 2004

Last week, we all went on vacation and had a great time, but ended up getting sick with some kind of bronchitis. Most of us are pretty much getting over it, but John got it pretty bad. Saturday morning, his doctor had us take him to the hospital for admission. It seems that our larger bodies took the sickness ok, but his little 8 month old lungs could not handle the inflammation as well.

He seems to be doing fine, but has a little wheezing. He is having trouble getting enough oxygen to his body, so he has been on oxygen off and on from Saturday night until Monday evening (tonight). Since he is nursing, Beth has been staying with him all the time, with a couple of two-hour stretches where I watched him. It looks like he will be able to come home tomorrow, but time will tell.

This experience has been very enlightening. So many people have been praying for him and have offered to help in any way. The other three children and I have been eating like kings, thanks to the generosity of friends. I have had to turn down many other offers for meals, since we already have so many.

I have really enjoyed spending time with my three oldest children, Adam, Luke, and Rachel. Since none of us is feeling very well, we have spent most of our time reading together. They really enjoy reading their Bible Study books and our books from the Rose Years series (more about that coming soon in the Kyle's Books section). We have read over 500 pages of books since Saturday afternoon. I would take that over watching mindless TV shows any day.

The children have gotten stir-crazy, and have had their share of misbehavior, but for the most part have been a joy to be with. There are so many things that can take up the time in our busy days that just are not important. Being away from work for a week and spending a lot of time cooped up with sick family members has really shown me how important they really are.

I have always considered myself to be a family-oriented person, and by the standards of most other people like me in the US in 2004, I am. However, this week has really shown me that quite often, my mind is still on things other than what is really important, God and family. Work, finding a new home, home projects, and time on the computer are all things that tend to draw me away.

Several things have all come together this past week make me have a different outlook on life. I thought I would share them here.

• John's time in the hospital.
• Time spent with the older three children.
• Reading the Rose Years books with the children. These, along with the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, have given our whole family a longing for a simpler life, such as that lived by those mentioned in the books. There are many modern conveniences I would not get rid of (electricity, indoor bathrooms, cheap food) but there are still many things in these books that help show what is truly important.
• Vacationing in a cabin with the family.
• Reading several books by the Maxwells.  They are a homeschooling family that has written several books on families and children. I cannot describe them properly here, but basically, they talk about removing the negative influences of the world and raising your children on the biblical principles of loving God, loving and helping others, and working hard. Some of their ideas are fairly radical, but they have certainly caused us to ask ourselves several questions about how we currently raise our children.