Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Life With Lynnette


On today’s walk down memory lane I thought I would share some memories of my daughter Lynnette from when she was little.

Lynnette was born  just17 months after her older sister Lisa, and I was a very busy young mother caring for an active toddler and my newborn. One day I went to the bathroom while I left 3 mo. old Lynnette sitting in her little infant seat on the floor. Her then 20 month old sister was playing with her doll in another part of the room pushing her little doll buggy with her doll inside. To my horror, when I returned to the room just a couple of minutes later, Lisa had removed Lynnette from her infant seat and somehow lifted her and put her in the doll buggy! I was so shocked that she could have done that. From then on I always made sure Lynnette was safely in her playpen if I had to leave the room. (:>)

As Lynnette got older she loved her walker and she could really get around well in it. Well I put her in it on the sidewalk one day as I was just a few feet away hanging clothes out on the line, and she got going pretty good and one of the wheels went off the edge of the sidewalk into the grass, and the walker fell sideways with her in it! My heart jumped when I saw it and I ran to her, only to find her smiling and unhurt. Once again I was thankful that she was ok. (I see why they stopped making walkers in favor of stationary bouncy seats,…because those things were dangerous!)

Lynnette was standing and taking a few steps at 7 months old, …but she didn‘t actually take off walking until she was 10 months. But once she did start walking she was everywhere-in-a-minute. She was a climber and always putting me into a panic. (But then, I am a worry wart,…and because of that, I usually was very careful with my children, because I was always presuming that the worst thing could happen).

When she was close to three years old we were on a family picnic at a park and the older kids were watching her for me, and swinging her on the baby swing as we mothers were visiting nearby. They had taken her out of the swing but I hadn’t noticed and she walked in front of a slide just as a cousin was sliding down and she got kicked in the mouth. We had to take her to the dentist and he pulled out her little front tooth which had been broken. So, she was missing that tooth until her permanent tooth grew in years later. She looked adorable and got the nickname,…“Little toothless, shaggy, short stuff!” She was the cutest little girl with big brown eyes and soft curly brown hair, plump rosy cheeks, and that cute little smile that showed her missing tooth space.

Unfortunately I have yet another sad story of the day when she was playing with some toys right next to me as I sat on the couch, and she stumbled over a toy and fell against the corner of the coffee table and got a gash in her plumb little cheek. We rushed her to the ER where she had to get stitches and a little scar is still visible on her pretty face today. It seems that no matter how much we love our children and no matter how careful we are, things are bound to happen.

On a happier occasion, after my third daughter was born and Lynnette was 4 years old, she was looking at her new little baby sister and she said,… “Oh boy, now we can go to Knott’s Berry Farm and ride the log ride,….and we can leave the baby in the car!”. This was said because she was remembering an earlier visit to the amusement park when I was pregnant with her sister, and they wouldn’t let me ride the log ride because I was visibly expecting. (:>) I don’t know why she said we could leave the baby in the car,…unless she figured out that they wouldn’t let a newborn go on the ride either,…but it was so funny! She was a happy little girl and always singing. There was this old song called, “Crocodile Rock” that she had heard on the radio, and it says in it that “little Suzy had so much fun”,…so my little Lynnette Suzanne informed me that her name was no longer Lynnette,… but it was “Suzy”.

Lynnette was hit by a car once when she was five.. She and her sister Lisa, and some other children were playing outside, and I was in the apartment with her one year old sister Lonna. I heard the tires skid and the brakes squeak, and my daughter Lisa saying “Oh No!” in a loud voice, and then she ran in and told me that Lynnette got hit by a car in the alley. I was in shock and ran out to see her lying there with blood on her face as it gushed from a cut on her head. I nearly left the baby in the house as we headed for the hospital, but ran back in to get her out of the playpen. Thankfully after every test there was nothing wrong with Lynnette except that little cut on her head. It seems that she was so agile that the car bumped her and sent her into a few rolls and the gravel had cut her head. All she got were a few butterfly stitches,… Praise God!

In later years as a sixth grader Lynnette was so much fun. She was always singing into her hairbrush as she looked in the mirror, and I think she wished she would grow up to be a singer. She liked girlie things, but she also had a tomboy side to her. Once she broke her collar bone while playing a game outside with several of her friends. Her dad was out of town so I rushed her to the hospital and as they set the bone back in place and put a brace/sling on her,… she fainted. My mother’s heart was hurting as I saw my sweet girl suffering.

She liked to pull pranks just like most kids do, and once when she was about 16 she and her younger sister Lonna made up a story on April Fool’s Day that she had wrecked my car. Well that was a false alarm,…but one day she actually did have a wreck in my car,…but thankfully she was not injured. I got a car repair and a new paint job out of that one.

These stories of my darling Lynnette when she was a child are just a glimpse of my life with her, and some of the hardships she faced. I wish I could say that she never had to suffer again, but that would not be true. She married and started her family and found herself facing the hardest trials imaginable when she lost 3 of her 9 children. During these years of trials as her children died, Lynnette did not faint as she did on that day when she broke her collar bone, but she found her strength in God as she totally relied on His strength in her weakness.

From these losses she gained so much spiritual insight and so much trust in her Lord and Savior. Thus her book was born,.. “In Faithfulness He Afflicted Me”. Her joy is apparent as you look into her face. Her heart is so tender towards others who are suffering, and she reaches out to them in love. She didn’t give up on living, but lives life abundantly in His grace. As her mother, I did not like seeing her go through great sorrows, but I do rejoice that God has brought her through each time of mourning, and because of her faith, mine has grown also.

Life with Lynnette is always an adventure! And today you can always find her Dancing Barefoot On Weathered Ground. (I had to get a plug in for her Blog site.)
By Linda Hogeland….Feb. 2009

12 comments:

L said...

I thought I was accident prone!!
This is such a sweet post - thank you for sharing these precious memories of lynnette.
lynette x

Kelly @ Sufficient Grace Ministries said...

Oh, thank you for sharing these sweet memories of the Lynette we have all grown to love. She is such a blessing to so many and her journey has touched my heart. She is such an example of God's strength being made perfect through weakness. Her faith and courage to trust Him in the storm are inspiring. And her book is a wonderful testimony of His grace. Love her!

Blessings to you,
Kelly G

Lilyofthevalley - Tanya said...

Thanks for sharing. You are so blessed to have Lynnette for your daughter. :)

I was very accident prone when I was young.... Anyway, I enjoyed reading! :)

Becca said...

This is a cute post. You are so right that no matter how careful you try to be, things are always going to happen. I am learning that now with my wild child of a two year old and another on the way.

These memories are beautiful even though some of them were probably some of the moments you spent worring the most as a mother. Thanks for sharing.

Kristin said...

I loved reading about Lynnette's childhood! She kept you busy, didn't she! LOL Thank goodness she made it through all of her accidents! I know you are so proud of her. She has blessed so many lives, including mine, and I am so thankful to know both of you!!

Mindy said...

What a sweet post about Lynnette! It sounds like she kept you hoppin!

Paula said...

Thanks for sharing this with us

Jilly said...

That was beautiful!

Julie said...

What a beautiful post and a wonderful way to learn more about your amazing daughter! It brought tears to my eyes.

I'm a worry wart too & fear that I will be very overprotective of my boys. Of course I thought I was going to be dealing with lots of accidents because of having boys, but apparently girls can have it just as rough!!

Unknown said...

My kids were teasing me that I'm not much more graceful as an adult. Lynnette is supposed to mean graceful - ha! That's funny. Since our names are supposed to represent us, maybe God plans to make me more graceful in the future. :) (Or maybe he's going to rename me like he did Jacob! ha ha!) I think that Mallory means unlucky - maybe that would fit me better. JUST TEASING! I like my name (even if everybody spells it with one n)

I love you and am thankful for a momma who's been here and loved me through it all!

Abigail Kraft said...

lol. My dearest mother is quite accident prone, isn't she? ^_^ I loved reading this! I've heard all of the stories before, but it was fun to hear them from your written perspective.

Love you Grandma!
--Abigail

Laura Hoekstra-Bettig said...

What a beautiful post! You surely have been through much with your lovely daughter, Lynnette! I am enjoying getting to know several generations of your family on Wednesday's Walks! What a blessing to see your children and their children walking with the Lord.