Saturday, October 8, 2011

How You Can Help (Take 2)

I feel kind of weird even writing this post, but many people continue to want to help and ask how they can do that. Thank you SO much for wanting to help! It's always hard for me to tell people what they can do to help. I'm not used to needing help, but in our current situation, we really do. This whole journey has been very humbling for me and my "do it myself, I don't need help" kind of personality. So, please don't feel obligated to do any of these things...this is for people who want to help but don't know how.

1) Food - Being so back and forth all the time, we never really go get groceries or make real meals. If you want to drop off a meal for the freezer or food that won't go bad too quickly (cereal, soup etc) that would be one of the most helpful things. I have always hated grocery shopping and especially now, it's hard to use my free time doing something that I don't like doing. And, honestly, it takes a lot of energy for me to go to the store. That might sound weird, but I often avoid it because I get overwhelmed. All that to say, meals for the freezer or groceries would be a huge help. We have nothing in our fridge, so anything is welcome. Also, if you do want to drop off a meal, please put it in something you don't want back! :)

*I have just talked to my sister-in-law Christine and she said she would be willing to kind of be the organizer/receiver of meals! This will be a HUGE help to me! Some of you have written me about wanting to bring meals and it's just so hard for me to figure out the when/where of things because we are rarely at home for very long. If you would like to bring us meals/food please contact her so something can be arranged. Thank you SO much Christine!!!! Her email address is cjr1978@live.com
You can also email me or leave a comment here and I can forward them on to her. *

2) With bringing Cohen home, we are going to have a few needs for things around the house. This kind of goes with the grocery shopping thing. We haven't quite had time to make a Costco/big grocery store run. But, we are going to need lots of things like: Lysol wipes, cleaning products, hand soap, and hand sanitizer. Anybody that comes in or near the house (including us!) is going to have to be de-germed as it is going to be cold/flu/RSV season when we bring Cohen home and we can't have him get sick. I will be posting soon a little bit more about that soon.

3) Continue to pray. This has been a really long 5+ months for us and as I've said before, we are tired and ready to be together as a family and start our "new normal", whatever that may be. Pray for Cohen's eyes and that he won't need surgery. Pray that he will be able to come home soon! Pray that we will be patient and rely on God's timing.

I feel like I am starting to sound like a broken record, but we really are so grateful to everyone who has followed our journey. We have received more support than we ever thought possible. Someone who sent us a gift wrote on the gift that it was "to help bear each other's burdens". And all of you really have helped to bear our burdens. This hasn't been an incredibly difficult time in our lives and I can only imagine how much harder it would have been without all of the love, support, time, and help we have received from so many people. I don't know that we will ever be able to thank you all personally, but please know that we appreciate you greatly!

1 comment:

  1. Hi Jana!

    I'd LOVE to bring you guys a dinner sometime! I've been following your family's journey on this blog and am happy that a meal would be helpful for you, b/c that's something I can do! :)
    Here's my info: btkooiker@hotmail.com

    -Tessa Kooiker (Hemnes)

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