Update on Barbara

photo by Michelle Goodall-Nowels. Barbara with (almost all of) her girls.

Barbara had surgery this past Wednesday afternoon. A plate was used to fix her clavicle and another was used to fix her wrist. There was a lot of damage there. But she came through it. The next goal is to wean her off of her sedation a little at a time so she can then be weaned off of the ventilator that is breathing for her. Her other wounds (broken ribs, punctured lungs, many bruises on her body and face) are continuing to heal.

She is one strong Mama.

Services for her husband, Damon Faust, are pending. Their two oldest children will be making the trip to visit with her this weekend and make some very hard decisions about their father's burial schedule. Such tragic decisions for them to make. But they are wonderful and I know with all of the prayers that are being said for them right now, they will have the strength to do what they need to do.

A trust fund has been set up for the Faust family at Zion's Bank.To contribute or make donations, you can visit any Zion's Branch Office.If you aren't near a Zion's Bank, you can mail checks or money orders to the following address:

Zion's Bank Provo University Office
1060 North University Avenue
Provo, UT 84604

Please, include a note or letter stating that your donation is for Dr. Damon Faust. If you want a reciept for your donation, you must mention that in your letter.

A Time of Mourning

photo by Michelle Goodall-Nowels

Life is amazing and life is fragile. Sometimes you want it to stay simple and easy and when you get bored you call in the chaos. And sometimes you can have all of this and more on any given day, especially if you have kids.... you're especially blessed if you have someone to go through it all with--someone who you can call and knows exactly how you feel and what to say, because, usually, she's been through it too.

I am blessed to have a friend like this. We were married in the same year (she in the spring, me in the winter), and, had babies in the same season (me in late spring, she in early summer). We went through years of babies and daily plans of getting out of the house, with the babies, and somehow maintained some kind of adult social and intellectual abilities.

Our married lives went their own ways. She and her family moved far far away to Utah and comparatively, we moved just up the road to Austin, Tx. Still, we called often, had more kids (she far more than I!) and we visited when we could. Our families grew up and we grew wiser, but we never grew older!!

Barb and I have been friends almost half of my life--26 years. We've gone from wide eyed young girls to mommies, and now she's a grandmother. Our lives are rich, delicious, and fulfilling.

And now my dear friend is in the hospital. She and her husband were driving home to Utah from Nevada when they were rear ended by another car. She was life-flighted to a Nevada hospital and was admitted into the ICU. Damon did not survive the accident.

Barbara is on a ventilator, has a chest tube, has multiple contusions and bruises, and will need surgery when she is stable. She is sedated because she was fighting the tubes in her mouth. She isn't aware of Damon's passing. Her parents are at her side and her children are all together. (All 10 of them.) Their lives will never be the same.

So, take a minute and pray for my friend, Barbara, and her family. Pray for their healing. And take a moment and count your blessings--for your health and for your family's health.

My Little Earth Girl

She came in and asked if she could go play in the rain.

The last time it rained I told her no, it's messy blah blah blah. I felt badly after that and swore I wouldn't tell her no again.

I knew she went outside. I heard the back door close and thought nothing more of it.

Then I heard her laughing and giggling and talking and singing.

Wondering what she was up to (I thought she was playing with the dogs but I knew they wouldn't be out in the rain) I walked over to the window...

A Celebration of Water...

This morning as my alarm pulsed at 6am, I awoke to a bright flash of light that at first startled me then made me do a quick reality check--had I really seen the flash or was it the crushing migraine ramping up in my head? Eyes tightly squeezed closed, the only bright lights I continued to see were the flashing dots behind my eyelids--this was one monster migraine.

I slowly walked downstairs and Brent asked if I had seen the lightening... why yes, I had.

It was raining and had been doing so for awhile, along with thunder. And I had slept through it all--amazing. I have heard deer as they walked through the front yard looking for something to eat. With the windows closed. I have heard the dog's thoughts of being forgotten in the dog yard and wanting to be let into the yard, in the middle of the night, and have awaken from a dead sleep to let them out. And yet I hadn't heard any thunder.

Overnight a front had moved through and slowed. After a 2 1/2 year drought, this rain was desperately needed. The earth had begun to crack, not even supporting the native grasses anymore; they were just clumps of skeletons that fractured when the wind would blow. The animals, especially the deer, lost most of their spring body fat and though had full bellies, their ribs and hips showed through their skin. And they were so thirsty. They came every night and drained the birdbath out front. Trees that have been in the ground for almost 10 years have died while other tree's leaves burned to a crisp from the unrelenting heat. And that's just in my yard.



As I drove to work 35 miles north from here, the weather vacillated between dry as a bone to torrential downpour--a typical Texas storm front.



All morning I sat and watched the rain from my desk as it trickled down through the ligustrum trees and was absorbed as fast as it fell. The skies grew dark and by early after afternoon the sun came and brightened everything. Drops of water were as crystals glinting off leaves, gravels, and rooster tails.



I could feel the earth sigh as she drank in the rain. On the way home it was as if everything had been bathed in a glowing light of clean--refreshed. The skies were bluer, the land was greener, and the air was crisper. There was water in creeks that had been dry for years.



A particular Texas Sage up the street was celebrating in full glory. She was a burst of lavendar and bees. She outshined all other sages on the block and I had to photograph her and her friends the bees. What a celebration!




Hopefully the drought is over. According to this map, we have a long way to go.