Tuesday night my brother called and told me that my mom was in the hospital.   Isn’t that the one thing we dread to hear?  She had excruciating pain and it has been decided that she had a kidney stone.  After a three day stay in the hospital, it has still not been removed, but the pain has subsided.  If there is anyone reading this that has a helpful suggestion for my mom, please leave me a comment.  I am reading everything I can, searching on the internet, calling people that might know something that I can help her with.  Is there a holistic measure that could be used that would dissolve the stone?  I know that she will need surgery, but until then, I do not want another horrific episode of pain.   

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It’s been a week of a lot of prayer.  I would wake all night long, sending out prayers to my Heavenly Father to watch over her and to comfort her.  She is hoping to come to our house on Monday, and I am so looking forward to that so that I can take care of her.  She lives two hours away and I feel rather helpless at this distance.

My two nieces gave us a surprise visit today.  They live four hours away, so this indeed was a wonderful surprise!  I hadn’t seen them since around Christmas time and they have grown taller. They were so sweet.  They told me they loved me multiple times and gave me great big hugs.  This was so special to me.  They both seemed so happy to be here. Amanda sat by me in the parlor and talked for several hours.  I kept reminding her to read her Bible and to pray – Jesus will help you through anything.

 Rachel and Joshua have gone on a weekend retreat. I am glad that they are having a lot of fun, but I’m not sure that I like the chores they have left behind – taking care of the chickens is an interesting task.  The thought of it was not appealing to me, but when I began to look after them Friday night, I kind of enjoyed it.  It wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be.  We’ve moved their small chicken coop off the porch to an area behind the kitchen – we put a tall wire mesh fence around an area so that they could get out of their coop and stretch.  They have grown so fast!  I know nothing about chickens – this is a totally new experience for me.

It's been an emotionally draining day.  Talking to my mom on the phone, perceiving her

frailness and fear of another painful attack, and the visit of my nieces that I rarely see

yet tug at my heartstrings.