Landmarks are probably a rich metaphor

We went a different way home from Starbucks. Sarah found a landmark in the skyline, and we worked our way back through other slopes in the city until we found the Main Street that leads back to REHAB.

Landmarks are important. They give direction when you feel lost. There's probably something deep and philosophical that could be developed from that, but I'm too lazy to develop something.

Instead, I want to share some of the simple things that I did today and yesterday that are awesome on the surface with no need for existential pondering.

Yesterday was the first day I accomplished everything through the waking day with no help whatsoever from the nurses. (I still needed help in the night, but that doesn't diminish the awesomeness.) I even put my socks and shoes on myself, the hardest part of getting dressed each morning. It was also my first day without my compression socks or blood thinner shots - signs I'm active enough to be at lower risk for blood clots. It's a significant landmark in my recovery (I was fishing for a metaphorical link; I failed). Another big moment for me was being cleared to walk the loop of my station by myself with the walker. Previously, I could only do it with a therapist or nurse by my side.

This morning I showered and dressed myself slowly and laboriously but without the help of any nurses. I also managed to stay in my chair without a midday break for the first time. I had some pretty great motivation though. First, I had a late lunch with Jo which was my first experience with Indian food. Jo called ahead to see if the restaurant could promise a peanut/tree nut/soy free meal. It was, as I've been told for years, delicious. It was one of those life highs like the Christmas I got my first ever box of assorted chocolates from Vermont Nut Free or the time the Multnomah cafeteria chef left soy sauce out of the stir fry so I could eat it. (Okay, maybe not that awesome because I cried both those times, but I was still pretty excited.)

After Jo and I enjoyed our awesome meal and talked for a while about our mutual odd successes and failures of spinal cord injury recovery and all that entails, I was blessed to spend some time with a few of my awesome students. One of my colleagues graciously volunteered to drive a group of five students to visit me. I stand by my biased opinion that I have the greatest students on the planet (and that includes Elyse Bax because I will forever want to claim her as mine when she one day rules the world). The sampling of BFA students who came to visit today are further evidence of how incredibly blessed I am by the teenagers I work with. They are so full of life and leadership, and I can't wait to see how they go on to decrease world suck.

Selfishly, their visit was also a great encouragement of how loved I am. The fact they would spend an afternoon coming to visit says a lot, but I also got a sweet card from the girls at Witt dorm and a letter from a student with a copy of Psalm 20 to bless me. People frequently tell me I'm unusually loved - it's true. I'm ridiculously loved by hundreds if not thousands of people across the globe who listen to my story and care about my plight. As cool as that is, what still floors me the most is the lavish love of a God who sent his son to make a way to restore relationship with me - the same God who, according to Psalm 20 listens to my pleas and fights for me. The same God who gave me a friend like Dayla who watches Dr. Horrible with me before sharing a super raw moment together exposed before the creator of the universe.

I'm still waiting to hear from insurance. Please keep praying for an extension and that I'll be able to secure housing for next year. Please also pray the healing in my body would continue and decrease the annoying leg tremors. Praise God for the awesome progress I do continue to make though.