The Pratt's Guide to Heart Warrior Parenting

With only 24 days left before our planned induction, I find my initial thoughts on the complications of rest in a time of anxious anticipation completely on target. In the quiet of the day when there is nothing to do but think, I am confronted with the reality of what is before us. The feeling settles like a melancholic stone in the stomach- it is a combination of fear and a sense of entrapment that can make the strongest spirit wither. Of course, there are parts of each day which are filled with fun and laughter and I hold on to those beautiful spots the way a social-media-crazed teenager clings to their smart phone, but the depth of emotion is found in the quiet spots when I am confronted by the stark reality that, very soon, I will have to watch my infant son be wheeled into an OR to be split open and rewired for his very survival. This act and all the emotions I already deeply feel surrounding this future inevitability strikes me at my very core. Like Frodo's wound from the bat...

"A word is nothing but a painting of a fire. A name is the fire itself."- Patrick Rothfuss By now, some of you have heard what we've decided to name our son. We had always been torn mightily between two options and the one we've picked (I think) is absolutely the right one. Before I tell you what it is, let me explain why we languished for so long. Some might accuse me of being superstitious, but I believe deep within me that a name is more than a differentiation between two people standing next to one another. It identifies us- it shapes  who we are. Scripture is full of instances in which God renames his people or instructs people to name others. In one instance, a man struck mute only regains his voice when he names his son as the Lord commanded. We named our daughter "Eliza" because it means "God fulfills his oath." That name has a rich story behind it- one that we intend to share with her when she is old enough to understand it and ap...

My feet still  hurt over a week past our move-in date- 54,925 steps over 4 days will do that to you, I guess. The push to get out of our old house and fully into our new home was marked by incredible "just in time" help from a small army of friends and acquaintances which we can never fully appreciate enough and which we could never fully repay. After what has felt like a long and grueling journey, we have arrived in our new home 8 weeks prior to our son's anticipated arrival. WARNING: Nerd Moment Ahead... So, not unlike Frodo's journey, we find ourselves safely escaped from The Shire (naive, pre-diagnosis), past Bree, the Wilderness, and just beyond Weathertop into the restful haven of Rivendell to recuperate from the initial stages of our journey. In total, it was just over 13 weeks since the day we learned our son has HLHS until the day we moved into our home- 92 days of planning, preparation, and non-stop action that culminated in Logan getting the Flu and une...