I am exhausted, but this can't wait.  I want to write it down now while the feelings are fresh and the emotions raw.

I am humbled.

Today Adam was scheduled to have reconstructive jaw surgery.  He had an injury from high school (he was kicked in the face while playing basketball) that has become worse over the years.  His bottom jaw has become terribly out of alignment, and it has caused him lots of pain.  The procedure was basically to break both the top and bottom jaw, pull the top forward, and push the bottom back as it should be.  Everything was  to be held together by plates and screws.

My dear friend, Heather, came to our home at 6:15 this morning so that our boys could remain sleeping, and she stayed with them while we went to the hospital.

When we went out to the garage, the tire on our car looked as though it needed air, so we decided to stop and fill it up at a gas station before we made the trek downtown.  Try as he might, Adam could not get the tire to fill up.  We decided to return home and get the other car.  As we got back on the main road, our tire went completely flat.  It was making a harsh grating sound, and it was obvious to us both that we weren't going to make it back home.  It was also obvious that we didn't have time to change the tire.  Adam was supposed to check in at the hospital at 7AM.

Several phone calls later, Heather was on her way to pick me up so that I could get the other car, a neighbor was at our house with the sleeping children, the hospital was notified of the situation, and the police were informed so that they would not be suspicious of the car left on the side of the road with the hazard lights flashing.

Even though we checked in late, the surgery began on time.  Everything went well; he was finished in an hour.  I then had to wait three more hours as Adam was recovering in post-op and coming out of the anesthesia.  During my time in the surgery waiting room, I received a deluge of phone calls and text messages from friends wishing us well, telling me they were praying for us, and wanting to help out.

It was overwhelming.

Meanwhile, I had called our home teacher, obviously rousing him from his bed, and he went to change the tire on the car.  Later in the day, the car mysteriously showed up in our driveway.  That was the work of our faithful home teacher again, along with his good wife (our Relief Society President).

I finally saw Adam about 1:15 PM in his room.  To be totally honest, he barely looked like himself.  His whole face was packed in ice and was swollen almost beyond recognition.  He was on oxygen and had a vaporizer blowing in his face.  He hadn't been cleaned up well after the surgery.  Blood was dried all over his face.  His lips were swollen so much that he couldn't even get his mouth around a straw.

It was tough to see my husband, my rock, like that.

When I entered the room, his eyes fluttered open and he reached out his hand for me.  I spent the next hour with him, talking to him, trying to get him to wake up from the anesthesia, and giving him water with a syringe.  By the time I left, he was mostly coherent.

I went to get my boys from Heather who had had them for nearly nine hours.  Got that?  NINE HOURS.  And when I arrived at her home, McKay was asleep, so she urged me to leave him there.  She had my baby for ten hours total today.  I have never left my kids with anyone other than my mom for that long of a time before.  It's overwhelming, really, that someone would be willing to do that for me.  Did I mention that this is the same friend who, shortly after moving into the ward, came to my home with a massive pizza for my family after I strained my back and could barely get up off the couch?  I hardly even knew her (but she has since grown to be one of my closest friends).  I am awed at such a life of Christlike, selfless service.

I spent some time with my sweet babies, and after receiving several more offers to help, I put them to bed and left them with my sweet neighbor, Gayle, while I went back to the hospital.  And, as another note, Gayle also lent me her VitaMix blender (the kind they use at Jamba Juice) and recipe book to make food for Adam when he comes home.  He will be on a liquid diet for the next three weeks.  And she's not the only one to offer an extra blender, either!

I have two different friends who are going to take my boys tomorrow so I can bring Adam home.  How many people offered to watch them?  Eight, if I remember correctly.  I am not exaggerating in the least.

I can't describe enough, how truly, truly grateful I am today.  I have been fighting back tears (mostly unsuccessfully) as each phone call, each offer to watch my kids, bring over food, pick up my car, etc. has poured in.  I am so humbled to know that I can't do this alone, and that there are so many around me so eager to help.  Thank you, thank you, to all of you who have given me the boost I so needed today.  I feel that each of you has been a sincere answer to prayer.

I am oh, so grateful for my mortal experience, and for days like these when I get to glimpse the divinity within those around me.

My heart is full.

My cup runneth over.