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I attended a PANPHA conference this week with two other members of our administrative staff. Most of my time was spent sitting in seminars but the evenings were free so we enjoyed a wonderful meal out at a gracious hotel in town on Wednesday evening. I ordered salmon. It was delicious and I thoroughly enjoyed eating it. There were five of us and we spent 21/2-3 hours eating and visiting together. When we got up to leave I suddenly began feeling severe abdominal cramps and thought, "I'd better find a restroom quickly!" By the time I reached the restroom and looked in the mirror my face was beat red, my eyes were bloodshot, my neck and chest were blotchy, my head was pounding and my fingers had become numb. I suffered an overwhelming bout of diarrhea and my heart was pounding so hard that I took my pulse and found it to be 120. I went out to find the rest of the group and told them that I thought I was having an allergic reaction to something that I ate. I am allergic to shellfish and thought that maybe my salmon had come into contact with shrimp which was also on the menue. One of them quickly found someone from the hotel who was able to bring me some Benedryl which I took. My two co-workers then drove me over to the hospital E.R. nearby. When I was taken into the E.R. every room was filled so I was placed on a guerney out in the hallway. One of my friends stayed with me and answered questions for me between my trips to the restroom. One of the resident physicians told me that the supervising E.R. physicians did not think that it was an allergic reaction but something else. She brought me a computer printout entitled, Scomboid Fish Poisoning. It occurs when fresh fish in the Scombroidae family are not iced down quickly enough at sea and bacteria builds up in the flesh which produces high levels of histamine. The toxins are not broken down by cooking, freezing, or subsequent preparation techniques and it may still smell and appear fresh. Clinical symptoms appear in the person who has eaten the fish within 1-4 hours of ingestion. I was given H1 and H2 histamine blocker medication and observed for awhile and told to take the medication for the next three days. The E.R. supervising physician told me that mine was only the 2nd case she had ever seen and she told the resident physicians not to be suprised if they were to see other cases that same night. I was up to the bathroom every hour for the rest of the night but was feeling better by morning. What an experience! I don't think I'll be eating salmon again anytime soon. |
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Looking at the date of my last posting I see that I have been very lax in my blogging efforts. I could tell you many stories but if I did I could also be wearing an orange jump suit and be sitting in a 9x12 cell so I will restrain myself. HIPAA, the health care privacy law prevents me from giving out any information about the dear people I care for on a daily basis. Many people never get that. I am asked on a regular basis how particular residents are doing and when I say, "I can't say," many respond, "but they're like family." The key word there is 'like', legally they are not family and so, "I can't say." Getting older is for the birds. For the second time in two years I have had to have surgery to repair damage that was done during childbirth. It means that I have to take forced time off if I'm going to obey my surgeon's directions but there is nothing tangible to show for all of the time off. My windows are still dirty; the curtains need to be washed; flowers need planting; the bathroom needs a paint job and I'm just sitting and reading. I do enjoy reading but with my personality it is difficult to see work staring me in the face and not be able to do it. Mother's Day has just come and gone. One of my daughters was upset because neither her husband or young children even said Happy Mother's Day to her. I understand that feeling. When I used to get upset because my children were too young to know that it was necessary to give me a special hug on Mother's Day and my husband didn't even come through with a card, "my husband would say to me, "but you're not my mother." Instructions to husbands-to-be about things that will make your marriage smoother should be part of pre-marital counseling and include instructions on how to train your children-to-be to show special love for their mother on this "terrible commercialized day of the year." Going through the pregnancy and childbirth experience with his wife should make any husband who does that willing to express gratitude to her for the rest of their lives for being willing to bear their children and everything that is a part of that process. If you're interested please let me know and I'll put together a step-by-step training guide for husbands and fathers on the appropriate way to train children and themselves to show gratitude one day a year. P.S. My dear husband does give me a card every year because he learned the hard way how upset I was when he said to me, "But you're not my mother." I think that this process is part of a husband's "...learning to live with his wife according to knowledge..." I Peter 3:7a. |
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I received an interesting visitor yesterday and an interesting request. Sometimes I rack my brain for something that I can write about that doesn't go against the privacy regulations that I'm required to follow. If I could tell stories about the incidents that happen here at the Home on a daily basis I would have more to write than I have time to write. I'm not breaking any rules to relay the following scenerios so here goes. On April 1, (April Fool's Day) I received a call from a gentleman that had been calling me for a number of days. Since I receive so many calls from sales people I often don't return calls from people I don't know. On April 1, the receptionist came to my door and said, "this man has called you multiple times and really needs to talk to you, will you talk to him"? I took the call and the man said that he had a friend who lives in London who is writing a novel and the setting is a nursing home in the 1950's and she needed to speak to someone about what a nursing home in the 50's in Pittsburgh would have been like. I said, "Is this an April Fool's joke"? He assured me that it wasn't. I asked him how she got the name of our nursing home and he said that she had gone on line and Googled nursing homes in Pittsburgh, and found that ours was the oldest. Yesterday the woman arrived from London, and came into visit with me. I answered her questions, showed her pictures of what the Home used to look like, gave her a short written history of the Home and took her on a tour of the part of the Home that was built in the 1950's that is still standing. She was very interesting. She is writing a detective novel and wanted some information about how a "Rest Home" would have operated in that time period. It was a great visit and she promised to send us a copy of her book when it's published. I also had a desparate call from a young woman saying that she had set up four classes to be held at her church over the next month to be taught by someone from the Pittsburgh chapter of the Alzheimer's Assoc. They had had their first class last week and then had received a call on Tues. evening saying that the educator was no longer available. The request was could I teach the class that was to be held tonight. There was no way that I could be ready for tonight, but I could be prepared by April 24th so I agreed to teach the class if she could arrange to have the other two classes taught first. So-o-o I have the opportunity to teach a class about communication barriers, the changes that take place during each of the three stages of Alzheimer's Disease and the definition of a challenging behavior and effective interventions. This subject is near and dear to my heart so I'm glad to have this opportunity.
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Last Monday, March 17, St Patrick's Day, B .and I attended a Celtic Woman's concert. B. bought the tickets last October for my birthday after seeing their concert on public television. At the time he was totally entranced with the fiddler who danced and leaped all over the stage with her long blond hair flying all while playing her violin. He was even more delighted to see her in person at the concert. I enjoyed her music very much. I wasn't as enthralled with her dancing around and hair flipping as he was! That being said, I enjoyed the music very much. The four singers sang with a blend of voices that you usually hear in voices from the same family. All of them were accomplished soloists and the backup voices of four men and four woman made many of the accapella numbers extremely beautiful to hear. I also was amazed at how much depth the percussionists added to the numbers. The variety of instruments and the skill of the two men playing them was amazing. The audience was also interesting to observe. The average age of the attendees was probably 50. There was more grey hair to be seen then I had ever seen in one place before! I also only saw one black person in the entire audience of hundred's of people. I am glad that I had this opportunity to see the group in person. Now I will be perfectly content to buy a DVD of their concert and watch it in the comfort of my family room! |
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Along with my four daughters, I have been drawn into the pursuit of reading Jane Austin's novels (again) and watching the myriad of film protrayals of them that have come out over the past 2-3 years. I have enjoyed reading the books; all of the films have not fared so well in my estimation. At least twice I have quit watching before the movie was over! I have been interested in some of the recent comments on the blogs I read,that in these novels and in much of today's thinking today marriage appears to be the end of adventure instead of the beginning of the most complex adventure that two people could ever experience. My husband and I have been married for more than 42 years. We have couples who live here in the long term care facility who have been married for 66 and 70 years. From my vantage point, and as an observer of these people who have been married so much longer than I have, I would like to say that some of the bad press that marriage gets needs to be expelled by those of us who have stayed committed to the promise, "till death do us part". Not in a "poor me I'm stuck for the rest of my life" but in a "see what God has done"! I fell in love with my husband when I was 17 years old. Just seeing him coming toward me across a campus took my breath away. Seeing him after being apart for a whole day still fills me with warmth and gladness. Being married has not always been easy for each of us but I can't imagine being without him. He makes me laugh almost every day and he surrounds me with security and love. He has truely been my spiritual leader. I have learned more about God from him than from any other single person in my life. He gives me hope because I have seen him struggle with areas of sin in his life and with God's help overcome them. He has been a wonderful father to our four daughters and I think that each of them went into marriage expecting their marriages to be good because of his influence in their lives. He is a good man. For me, marriage has been a wonderful, exciting, sometimes trying and disallusioning experience but one that has also been God's way of blessing me and teaching me to be the person He planned before the foundation of the world for me to be. Our wedding was not the end of the adventure but just the infantisimal beginning of a life long journey into what it truely means to become one with another person. |
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The week before Christmas my husband and I were driving from Pittsburgh to B.F. for a Christmas party when we were rear-ended. The damage proved to be significant, $3200.00 worth, so my car is currently in the body shop being repaired and I am driving a rental car for the two week period that it will take to complete the job. This morning I was driving to work with my sister-in-law in the car when we came on a wild-looking man walking down the middle of the road between the right lane and the left lane where I was driving. He approached the car in the right lane that was 3/4 of a car length ahead of me with a threatening gesture so I slowed way down because I wasn't sure what he was going to do. At that moment he turned toward me, caught my eye and walked over to my car, slammed his fist into the side-view mirror shattering the glass and tearing the mirror apart and kept walking down the middle of the street. I was stunned for a few seconds. I called 9-1-1 and reported the incident and thankfully the police responded quickly. I'm still a bit unnerved. Now I have to take the car back to the rental agency and probably pay the deductible on my insurance for the repair of this mirror. The what ifs are going through my head... What if he had, had a gun; what if his hand had come through the window etc., etc, etc. I am grateful to God that neither my sister-in-law nor I was hurt. |
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My mother has been significantly ill for the past month so I have spent more then my usual amount of time with her. She got a staph infection from a break in the skin which gave her a serious skin infection called cellulitis. That infection spread into her blood stream and made her septic which in layman's terms is "blood poisoning". She was in the hospital for eight days and has been recovering back at the Home for two weeks. She is very sad and weak and I hate seeing her this way. All of her life my mother has been the person who cared for everyone else. She raised five children who all dearly love her. My father had a stroke when he was 64 years old and as a result fell off the porch roof where he was taking off storm windows and had multiple additional injuries. He lived for nineteen more years and recovered more than anyone ever dreamed he could because of my mother and her care for him. Since his death five years ago Mamma has systematically chosen one person at a time to help and has significantly impacted that person's quality of life. While Mamma was in the hospital a student nurse came in to interview her. He asked her what word she would use to describe herself. Her answer was "ugly". Hearing that broke my heart. My beautiful, very talented mother who is loved by everyone who meets her thinks of herself as ugly. Mamma was born in Moscow, Russia. She grew up in an all girls orphanage near Konstancian, Poland and came to the United States when she was eighteen with a choir that came to raise money to continue the work of the orphanage. In God's providence she remained in the United States and graduated from Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio. After graduation she married my father, a seminary student with no money, had five children in five years, she taught us all to sing, became a teacher after we were all raised, has written four books and has painted many beautiful oil paintings that she gave away and when she is asked how she would describe herself she says, "ugly". I would desire to be so ugly! If you are reading this please take a minute to pray that my mother will regain her strength and be happy again. |
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The Bible says that "It's better to give than to receive". That is true but if everyone is giving than there are no receivers so then what happens to the blessing? As I watch people like my mother and mother-in-law grieve because they are now in a position to receive help rather than give it I would like to find a way to convince them that being the source of blessing for others in allowing themselves to be helped is just as important as being the giver of help. "In everything give thanks", means everything. I thank God that my "parents" are in a setting where they recieive the help that they need from their families, the facility and the staff that ministers to them on a daily basis. Please pray for them that they will be able to see God's goodness to them in arranging that help for them. |
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Last night after spending three days with the Department of Health I was given the opportunity to unwind by babysitting with my local grandsons. After I put them to bed I sang for awhile which is my usual habit. The youngest, 23 months, would say, "mo pease", as soon as I finished one song so I sang for a good while and finally said, "O.K. this is the last one", and sang the 23rd Psalm. When I finished the four year old said, Why are the pastures green and the waters quiet?" I answered, "because this is a song about a man who is taking care of sheep and he gives them what they need. Sheep need green grass to eat and quiet water to drink so the shepherd takes them where they can get what they need. Jesus is like that shepherd. He gives you what you need. He gives you a mamma and daddy to love you and take care of you, a house to live in, toys to play with, clothes to wear and food to eat. S. then made the startling statement, "my mommy and daddy are going to die while I'm little." I protested a little by saying, "no S. your mommy and daddy will probably not die until they are old". He then said, "Diane died and is never coming back. Zach will probably get over it." It then dawned on me what was weighing on his young mind. A friend of S's mamma had just died leaving behind a three month old baby and a four year old son who plays with S. The conversation continued as S. tried to reason for himself what death was, where heaven is, how Jesus could die but still be alive, why God didn't have feet or a mouth and on and on. I was amazed and overwhelmed with the opportunity to be part of this learning experience in S's young life. I told S. that I didn't expect his momma and daddy to die but if they did that God would still take care of S and his brother because there were so many people who loved them very much who would never leave them alone. Parents have such an amazing mandate from God to teach their children about Him in all of the circumstances of life. I've become more aware lately of the opportunity that Grandparents also have to play a part in that mandate. I was just at the memorial service of a 99 year old woman at which 10 of her 12 grandchildren stood before all of us and spoke of their grandmother's ongoing influence in their lives and their coming to faith in Christ. What a legacy! I pray that my grandchildren will do the same thing at my memorial service someday. |
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I walked into work yesterday morning to find that the Department of Health was in the building for their annual survey. I was both elated and stressed. Elated because the survey will be over before all of the winter holidays and stressed because a survey team is never here to tell us what we are doing right; only what is wrong. There are four surveyors looking at every aspect of our operations. This group is very silent. Every other year I had some idea about what was not going well. I have not been able to read this group at all. Oh, well, unless something dreadful occurs this will be over by 3pm tomorrow and I'll be able to sleep until I receive the report of how we did. I don't expect anything too terrible but I've been wrong about that before. Stay tuned! I'll let you know how things go. |
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I'm embarrased to see how long it has been since I put anything on my blog. I know that I'm disappointed when a blogger I appreciate reading has nothing new for long periods. Here's my update. Life has certainly been full for me. On October 9th we participated in our long planned disaster drill. We actually transported 40 people from our facility to a shelter and got a taste of how difficult it would be if it were an actual situation for which we had to evacuate. As I follow the news of the evacuations in California because of the fires I can't help but be grateful that we had the opportunity to do a trial run before something so overwhelming happened to us. My staff has hinted that I should refrain from deciding to do anything so involved again if I value my life. I do have to say that the staff was great. Those that took part in the drill did so with great enthusiasm. At one point our Director of Social Services was singing "John, Jacob, Jingle, Imer, Smith; His name is my name too..." to keep residents from jumping off of the bus. It was a sight to see and hear! Last Monday, I took a day off and Bruce and I took a leaf peeping trip up to Cook Forest and back down. The leaves were gorgeous. The colors were vibrant reds, golds, oranges and some trees had mixtures of all of the colors in one tree. We've lived in Pa. for 12 years and this is the first year we've taken such a trip. It was the most relaxing day I've had in months and months. Pennsylvania is a truely beautiful state. The longer I live here the more I appreciate it. We were close enough to one of Bruce's nieces to call her up and stop to see her and her family on our way back home which made the trip even more enjoyable. My mother had her 89th birthday on September 26. My siblings sent her money. She decided to order a trampoline for her room with that money. When it came and it was set up in her room, I was truely dismayed. It took up a considerable amount of space in her room; it took the strength of a man to put it up and take it down and although she felt that jumping on it daily would heal all of her ailments, all I could see was her lying on the floor with a fractured hip as she tripped stepping off of it or lying unconscious because of a sudden change in blood pressure as she bounced. She was very upset that I had such a negative reaction to it. I told her that if the Dr. said it was O.K. that I would relent. The Dr. walked in, took one look at it and said, "absolutely not"! I don't think that she has forgiven me yet. Tonight I get to babysit with my two grandsons who live here in Pittsburgh. They will be excited to see me and I will give and get hugs which I love. There's nothing like a good hug! |
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Today is Sunday and although I'm working at the facility where I am the administrator, I didn't have to go in until 8:30 a.m. so when I woke up at 5:30 a.m. I happily rolled over and went back to sleep. The result was one of those dreams that is so-o-o frustrating because nothing is ever resolved and it feels impossible to dig ones way out of it. I dreamed that I was visiting a family with whom I had spent two summers when I was a jr. and sr. in highschool. The house was different and huge and my frustration occurred when I couldn't figure out which room was mine. I went into each room, tried to get dressed only to find each time that the clothes weren't mine and as I was dressing I realized that there was someone else sleeping in the room and I had to get out before they awakened. One of my granddaughters was even in one of the rooms and she opened her mouth to reveal a whole mouthful of cold cream that I then tried to get out without any success. When I finally woke up later than I should have, I was exhausted! Most of the time I don't remember what I dream. It's the middle of the afternoon now and the feelings of this dream are still very clear. Aren't our brains interesting! Part of the family I visited those two summers in highschool is making a visit here in October to visit my mother. I suppose that knowledge has triggered my subconscience and hence the mixed up dream. |
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Bruce and I have both recently listened to a book on tape while driving to and from work that we found very interesting and gave us some interesting topics for discussion. Nicholas Sparks, Three Weeks With My Brother, is written about a trip around the world that he takes with his brother. Each place they visit brings to mind memories of their growing up years and the relationships he and his two siblings developed as they lived through experiences together. Two things especially stood out in this book for me. The first was a practice that Nicholas's mother started when the two boys had their first major falling out when they were approximately 8 and 9 years old. They had, had a serious fight and were not speaking to each other. Their mother laid down on the bed with each of them that night and insisted that before they went to sleep they had to think of three nice things the other brother had done that day. That first time it came down to things like,"well he didn't hit me as hard as he could have!" She continued that practice every night and the result was a relationship between all three siblings, the two brothers and a sister, that was extremely close. The second was the honor that Nicholas Sparks gave his parents. As I read the book and then listened to it on tape I was not especially impressed with what good parents his mother and father were. His father actually demonstrated a great deal of mistreatment in his relationship with Nicholas. However, the last statements in the book are about what good parents both mother and father were. Although Nicholas didn't speak of it as such, what he demonstrated was a real spirit of forgiveness for all of the hurt that he had experienced especially from his father. The book was funny and sad and very well written. I recommend it. |
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"B" and I have 10 grandchildren. The oldest is 11 and the youngest is 13 months. For the first time last weekend we had the opportunity to take care of two of them for three days and two nights at our house. I loved it! It proved to me that they were comfortable with us because neither one of the boys, ages 4 and 20 months, cried for their parents, or cried going to bed or cried in general. " O" did ask occasionaly, "Mamma, Dadda" but was content when I told him, "They went to New York City in an airplane". He would happily make the sign of an airplane with his hand and go back to playing. We read lots of books, sang lots of songs, played in the sandbox pop-pop built for their use, went to the playground, played in the water table on the deck, ran around the yard, played in the basement family room, went out for ice cream, did grocery shopping, went to church, asked and answered the question, "why" incessently. The thing we didn't do much of was eat. "S" is suspicious of all but a short list of foods that he will eat, and "O" is closing in on 2 when eating drops off precipitously for most children. At the end of the boy's time with us I am sure that I want to take care of them for an extended period again but am left wondering how I got meals, laundry, cleaning, shopping, etc., etc., and took care of four children when mine were little. My daughter said that I yelled a lot when I made this statement to her. Maybe I'll do it better the second time around with my grandchildren. I do hope so! |
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Two of my daughters celebrated wedding anniversaries this month. My third daughter and her husband celebrated their 10th on August 9 and my fourth daughter and her husband celebrated their 9th on August 1. Our daughters were married in their birth order and the four weddings were all within five years from 1st to last. Each wedding was as unique as each girl and each had specific things about them that I will never forget. M's wedding was clear across the country from where we lived so I went out for two weeks at the time of the wedding. I completely lost my voice just before the wedding and had to converse in a whisper with all of the guests. I was so tired from the voice strain that I wanted to hide in a closet and not talk to anyone for a week afterward. L's wedding was on a Saturday, two days before we moved from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. All our belongings were in boxes and our guests had to sit on boxes in our condeminium after the reception. J's wedding was in her in-laws wildflower garden. Her mother-in-law ordered live butterflys for release after the wedding vows. The sad thing was that the wedding occurred at the same time as a UPS strike and the butterflys sat in a hot wearhouse for too long and when we opened the little envelopes they were shipped in all but a very few were dead. For # 4 daughter I had to intervene with the person who did the decorations the evening before the wedding and ask her to "unstuff" the tulle across the front of the church choir loft because it looked like a "giant turd". Finding a way to talk to my friend without forever ruining our relationship and calm my daughter so she didn't stroke was quite a fete! Each wedding however was beautiful and God has blessed each marriage. |
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I have gone from the joy of seeing all of my children and grandchildren in the last few weeks to grieving with my cousin and her family who lost their 17 year old daughter and sister in a drowning accident. It is so hard to comprehend how a beautiful, vibrant, vivacious girl could be filling her world with joy and exuberance in one minute and be gone into eternity just a few minutes later. I can't even imagine how I would be feeling in a similar situation. The only comfort at all resides in our belief that a loving, almighty, sovereign God is in control of all all things in this life and has a plan for even the most difficult circumstances that can occur. I have been amazed at God's gracious work in the lives of Anna's family who have had to deal with her loss, the recovery of her body, finding a funeral home, buying a casket and deciding on a cemetery plot all in the space of a few short days. The "Celebration of Life" that was held in memorial of Anna was attended by over 800 people. At it, my cousin was able to stand up before all the people there and give glory and honor to her savior, Jesus Christ. All of Anna's siblings (seven of them) were able to do the same thing, as was Anna's father. The terrible grief was not hidden but it was evident that the grace of God, a loving heavenly father, was surrounding and undergirding the whole family. Jesus came to this earth to overcome our enemy, death. By his perfect life, death and ressurection, he accomplished that feat and everyone of us who acknowledges that death in our place has the hope of eternal life after this life ends. It was evident that when the grace of God is desparately needed that it is given beyond measure. Anna was buried this morning. It was a service for immediate family only. I can't imagine what it must be like to have to drive away and leave my 17 year old daughter's body beside a grave that I know she'll be lowered into or what her brothers and sisters will feel as they drive away from the gravesite. They will probably look out the window of the car until the site cannot be seen any longer in the distance and ache with unbelievable sadness. "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord". All of you who know the surety of Christ's salvation, please hold this family before God's throne of grace anytime this story comes to your mind. |
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From June 15-25, Bruce and I flew to Denver, Colo. with his mother to visit family. The visit was filled with meeting family and catching up on what is happening in their lives but it was just a visit and not long enough to really make a difference in anyone's life. I grew up the same way I'm now living; far away from any extended family. I saw some of my cousins a few times and some of them I never saw. While most of this visit was great the not so great part was the fact that my youngest grandson didn't want anything to do with me. I love babies and although I know that I shouldn't take it personally it still felt bad when he protested everytime I picked him up and held his little arms out to anyone else that was around to get away from me. This is one of the disadvantages of families living far apart. However, its a way of life in our country for the majority of families and I guess I'll live. My daughter took a lot of pictures of our time together and she has put a slideshow together that you may want to see. It will take a while for the slideshow to load so be patient.   |
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I had an experience last night that strengthened my faith in God's loving care. Two friends of my husband's from seminary days were to stay at our house last night. One was from clear across the U.S. and the other was from Ireland. D. was to pick up his friend flying in from Ireland via Newark, N.J., after landing at the airport himself. after waiting several hours and finding that all flights had been delayed an undetermined amount of time he drove to our house where he continued to call the airlines trying to find a way to contact his friend and find out what was happening. In the midst of that he received a frantic call from his wife saying, "You have to come home immediately", because their 35 year old daughter-in-law who is dying from breast cancer did not look like she would live through the weekend. What stress! D. made plans to return home, all the while continuing to try and reach his friend. While he was on his cell phone our phone rang and I answered it. A member of our congregation said, "Margie, this is A. I'm here beside T." I said, "Are you at the airport?" He said, "Yes, here in Newark." Here is the amazing story: All flights out of Newark were cancelled last night due to heavy thunderstorm activity. A. was flying home from Spain and T. was flying in from Ireland, both expecting to fly to Pittsburgh. When all flights were cancelled, these two men who didn't know each other from Adam, were standing in a line of approximately 300 people, next to each other. They started talking and T said that he was in the U.S. to teach a class at a seminary in Pittsburgh. A.asked which seminary in Pittsburgh T. said the seminary in Wilkinsburgh. Laughingly A. said, "Oh, are you going to stay with B.H.?" T. amazed said, "yes, how did you know that?" A. said, "I didn't, B. is my pastor. I was just joking!" As the incident continued to unfold the two of them went to try and rent a car to drive to Pittsburgh. A's wallet had been stolen in Spain so he had no driver's license or credit cards. T. had a drivers license from Ireland which was also a difficulty for renting a car. They were in line behind a young woman who they overheard renting a car to drive to Pittsburgh. They seized the opportunity and asked her for help in getting to Pittsburgh and when all was said and done the two of them, another man and this girl made the trip to Pittsburgh and T. was dropped off at our house at 5:00 this morning just in time to say goodbye to D who was flying back across country to the side of his dying daughter-in-law. I believe that God intentially inserted Himself into this very stressful situation to remind us all that even in the midst of the most humanly difficult experience we ever go through on earth, death, that He is there with us. D's daughter-in-law was leaving behind a husband and a two year old daughter. The question of, "why are you doing this, God?" was on all of our minds. God used this amazing intervention to remind us that even when we don't know why, that He still loves us and is personally very near. |
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Yesterday was the last day for one of our cooks who had worked at the Home for 29 years. She was a wonderful cook and a friend to all of our long term residents so it was hard to see her retire even though we all knew that it was time and that she needed to rest from her labors. After her retirement open house I heard a number of residents decrying the fact that she was gone and how the staff that was left would never live up to her example and abilities. I had to smile to myself when I heard them because I had reviewed her personnel file and knew that she had not always been the ideal employee that she was today. In the first few years of her employment she had a number of written disciplinary statements and had even been suspended without pay a number of times for the more serious infractions. I did say to the residents that they needed to be patient and allow the newer employees to grow in their roles. I hope that they are able to do that because if they continue to complain we will lose some of these people. If they are allowed to grow and learn they will become the loyal, long term employee who is loved by all. It seems to be human nature to jump on the areas in a person's life that don't measure up to our expectations. We conveniently forget that the golden rule tells us to treat others in the same manner that we would like to be treated if we were in their shoes. I need to remember that more than anyone and give time for learning and improvement to be accomplished. My oldest grandson played in a piano recital a couple of days ago. He did a wonderful job and I am so proud of him. Its been interesting to read about the experience from his mother's viewpoint. She was as nervous about the whole experience as he was and maybe even more so. It brought back memoriesof her performances to me. My daughter played the cello as a child and teenager. She was very good and did very well at her recitals. I on the other hand, was on the edge of my seat until it was over. I knew what every note should be and couldn't relax and enjoy the performance because I was so fearful that she would make a mistake. I was the same way with my husband early in his preaching career. I couldn't just relax and be blessed by what I was being taught by the sermon he was presenting. I was holding my breath that he wouldn't make a mistake of some kind, or preach too long and lose the attention of his audience or not live up to the pre-conceived notion in my mind of what his sermon should be like. How much time I wasted. If I could live those days over again with the knowledge that I have now I would just sit back, relax and enjoy the gifts that both my daughter and husband had been given. |
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In about a months time it will be Mother's Day. I've been thinking periodically about being a mother of four adult daughters who now are also mothers of their own children. I'm at the place in my life where I can look back on my mothering of the girls and see so many things that I wish that I could do over again with the knowledge of hindsight. At the same time I have so much for which to give thanks to my heavenly father. I am thankful that in God's providence that each one of the girls knows Jesus. I am thankful that they are each gifted individually with the talents that they need to fulfill God's plan for their lives. I am thankful that each married a man who loves them, provides for them and is a wonderful father to their children. I am so thankful for beautiful, happy, and healthy grandchildren. Every day I hear about families who are suffering because of major issues of health and behavior with their children and God has spared me those kinds of things so far. Someone asked me the other day if the time ever comes that a mother ever is fully free of concern for her children and I had to say that if there is such a time that I haven't experienced it yet. I still wish that I could help each of them when they are sick and need to go to bed and not worry about the demands of their families. I'd love to be close enough to each family to be involved in the lives of my grandchildren on a more regular basis that once or twice a year. I would love to be close enough to each of the girls to be able to share their hopes and dreams and sorrows and joys and in turn share those things in my own heart with them. I can't do all of the things that I wish I could do but I can pray, and I do. Every day I lift up my girls and their families to the Lord and beg Him to intervene in their lives in the perfect way that He can and I can't. I'm so glad to be able to place them in His care and know that He loves them fully and will not allow them to be "tempted above that which they are able to bear". Thank you, God, for making me a mother and giving me daughters who are also mothers. |