Tears in Flood Stage

  The past week has been quite different for us.  We stayed with my daughter as a type of "swing room" for a few days.  She and her husband were wonderful and took care of us till we could get back on our feet.  The grandkids were great, and a fun distraction, yet we could escape at any time to a quiet place and rest or get away from the noise.

  On Friday I awoke with such gratitude in my heart for all the love surrounding me that I could barely stop crying.  I managed for most of the day, however the tears started again on Saturday.  They continued through Sunday, with barely a break on Monday.  The tears finally met their pause on Tuesday.  If truth be told, they were very mingled tears by Sunday.  No longer just tears of gratitude, but also of feeling sorry for myself (which I hate) and tears of jealousy (which I also hate) and tears of overwhelming "just too much."

  Last year it was the broken wrist while having fun with a grandson.  Then I had a bad slip in the shower, breaking my back, and now my rib; and Jim needing major surgery; and his near painless recovery while I had so much pain that breathing hurt!  You bet I was jealous of this smoothe bouncing back to his good old self.   It had been years since I had a really healing cry, so the timing was right, and God's mercy was all over the place.


 Now, with a better perspective and a little embarrassment I am doing fine again.  I have better medicine for the pain and am circling my own wagon here at home.

  Thank goodness that Father's mercies are new every morning!  So great is his faithfulness!

Abnormal Normal/

  This week has been a very different week indeed.  On Holy Saturday evening before I went to bed, I had yet another syncope event and landed hard on the bathroom floor, hurting my left eye orbit, and bruising or breaking a rib in my back.  I think it will not happen  again because I'm getting smarter.  Be slow to rise and quick to sit if I feel anything like I have been.  It always happens very fast., so I must be vigilant.

  Also on Saturday evening  Jim began to have bad stomach pain.  He ended up in the emergency room at 4:30 in the morning on Monday with a burst diverticulum and the beginnings of a nasty infection in his abdomen.  He went to surgery by 8:00 and had a bowel resection.  He is a rapid healer and is leaving the hospital already today, 4/17.  It really amazes me how quickly he bounces back...and how different I am.  It seems my body is slow to shed pain.

  So now we are holed up at our daughters home where her husband has told me, in no uncertain terns, that I am to do no work, only rest and recuperate, and the same will be true for Jim. We will be here for two or three days, until we are both better on our feet.

  Every challenge in life is reason to exult in the opportunutiy God has in front of us to rejoice and be triumphant in Him.  He ALWAYS heals for the Bible says it is already done by the stripes of Jesus.  I know of no other Truth but what God has said.  His Word is always true for He cannot lie.  No matter how much the devil may poke us with his spears and arrows, he never succeeds in the long run.  He cannot win against this provision of the healing blood of Jesus shed for us on the cross.

  So glory to God for His loving provision of a new and living covenant in Christ.  I am so excited.  I wonder what excellence I shall see of Christ and His Body during this time.  Already I am seeing love outpoured and surrounding us in a very tangible way.  This Easter will be one to remember.

 
1Peter 2:24 who himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree,
                    that WE
                    Having died to sins,
                    might live to righteousness
                    By whose stripes  YOU WERE healed1

Governor's New Order

  The governor has called for another month of self containment.  How is that going for everyone?  Being as old as we are, there is a sweet routine that comes with being married for a long time.

  My heart goes out to so many folks, however.  It isn't easy living without a paycheck, having to scramble for a new job,  having to self educate in order to keep school going for the young school aged at home, providing activities for the energetic, stability for the family all the while keeping calm and peaceful in the fluid uncertain times in which we live .   Only with the Holy Spirit can fruit come from this.  Peace in uncertain times breeds peace.  And the Holy Spirit is doing His part.   We must do ours.

   I see folks out walking and being neighborly.  Getting to know each other again because of this self-isolating thing we are all learning.  Even in the midst of social-distancing we are able to help each other out by doing what we can.  

  Romans12:1  Therefore I export you brothers and sisters
                        By the mercies of God,
                        To present your bodies as a sacrifice-
                        Alive, holy and pleasing to God
                        Which is your reasonable service.

The Battery

  On Friday 3/20 I went to AbbotNorthwestern Hospital to get a battery sewed into my chest for the wires from my brain to be hooked up.  I went into that surgery so calm and filled with peace, because I knew Jesus was and is in control, but almost more, because I knew I could sleep through it!  The thing I wasn't prepared for so much is the pain that followed.  Boy did that hurt.

Now, two weeks post-op I am doing pretty well.  The soreness is in control, the staples are out and the incisions are all in good shape.  Jim is still in the homemaking business, and I am just getting back on my feet.  I'm not going to go out and rake any flower beds just yet, however tempting that might be.  The tulips have been liberated from their winter nests and I am eager to clean the beds and see what else Spring has in store for me.

The weather has been so beautiful (until today) and it has been nice to walk.  I am still using a walker for balance, consequently, I don't go very far.  It appears I will be using the walker for some time to come.  Not my favorite, but I do what I must.

Current virus conditions have everybody in the seclusion mode.  We all know friends and relative who are particularly vulnerable, so lets all do our part to live by the guidelines laid down by a caring and concerned Administration.  Praying for those who have compromised immune systems, unemployed, parents at home with small children, school kids needing classroom help, and each other.

Father's love still reigns over all.  He is altogether trustworthy.  He is always and all ways good.  Something good will come of this too.


Romans 8:28 still says " and we know that all things
                                        work together for good
                                        to those who love God
                                        to those who are the called
                                        according to His purpose.