Rehab: Day 5: Date Night Edition!

Something amazing happened today! Jon was given a 4 hour "get out of jail free" card..otherwise known as a 4 hour trial run outside of the hospital! Our insurance approved coverage for one week in the Acute Rehab Unit and our week is almost up! So Jon will hopefully be coming home Tuesday! (Insert happy dance!!!)  :)

Anyway, tonight we were allowed to leave the hospital for 4 hours. We were so stinking excited!!! 

In Occupational Therapy, we had practiced Jon getting in and out of the car, so he was ready to rock tonight! It felt SO good to have him by my side...

We had a dear friend who made a special dinner reservation for us at Nick's in San Juan...where we were treated to an amazing feast. So blessed...

Come on, these pics put butterflies in my tummy. He is so stinkin handsome!!

After dinner, we drove to Calvary Santa Ana to see our amazing friend Jason Gray. Jason is on tour with Laura Story (author of Indescribable, Blessings, etc..) and Steven Curtis Chapman. 

Although Jon couldn't stay (or handle the sound/lights) for a concert, we were able to see Jason perform and spend some time together as well. 

Only a friend like Jason can bare a matching pirate smile like Jon's, just to make us laugh. And we can laugh, because of who Jason is.... (see below) 

Jason has a beautiful story - he stutters when he speaks, but never when he sings. Jason is incredibly talented and God has used that talent, paired up with Jason's physical weakness, to bring God's hope and love to the world. Could there be a better message/example for Jon to see right now?? And after Jason sang, Laura Story sang - who wrote the song "Blessings." (one of my favorites..I actually sang it to Jon in his hospital bed this morning!) Laura wrote Blessings after her husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor and had surgery!! Um, hello!?! And then Steven Curtis Chapman sang, and he lost his daughter in a tragic accident a few years ago. I just found out his theme song after her death? "Live Out Loud." (The title of this blog, if you missed that) ;) Ok, seriously?!? God planted us with these people tonight. Were all of these things coincidences? Not a chance. Common theme? Brokenness. What does the world say about brokenness? You will never recover. You will never heal. You can't be used. What does God say about brokenness? You can be used to His glory. You can be restored to better than before. In your weakness, He is strong. 

These truths/people/stories were a gift to Jon tonight. He soaked them in. He hid them in his heart. He put them in his back pocket for a rainy day. They are promises. Of hope. Of redemption. 

I loved our 4 hours away. It gave me a glimpse of our new normal. There was his walker. And his scar. We moved slowly. People stared. Kids looked wide eyed. It won't always be that way. Jon's growing stronger every day. But my husband was confident. He was kind. He excused the stares. He told me I looked nice. We kissed. We spoke of God's goodness. We prayed. We were encouraged by a friend's faith journey. We were reminded of the faithfulness of God. 

Tonight?

Tonight was good.

May we have many more just like it.