Back Where We Started

We are back where we started, on the SICU floor at HCMC in downtown Minneapolis.  Joel came here by ambulance yesterday afternoon and had a surgical procedure done by the ENT team at about 11 pm.  Dr. H went through his mouth to access the abscess (sounds like a song, "OK, everybody, access the abscess with me!") , remove all infection, irrigate the cavity, and insert a drain tube through Joel's nose to hold the incision open until the air pocket underneath can heal from the bottom up.

Saturday, when Joel felt even worse than Friday, my heart sank.  It sank even lower when he spiked a fever that evening, and when the home health nurse recommended an ER trip.  At midnight as I lay down, I decided to take Pete's advice and put something edifying in my mind.  "EM Bounds on Prayer" caught my eye and I opened to the first chapter - "Prayer and Faith."    Tears filled my eyes as I read that we should not fret if the Lord delays His answer, because He has a greater work that needs to happen first.  "Jacob had to be changed before Esau could be."

On Sunday morning before Pete took him in, I read the passage to them and we all agreed it was what we needed to hear.  The sermon by visiting pastor B also spoke to my heart:  "If your situation has changed dramatically for the worse, like the exiles in Babylon - get on with your lives."

I cried when making the announcement in church, and got plenty of hugs afterwards.   At 3 Pete informed me that the ambulance left Willmar to head to HCMC.   Today we have heard from at least four different teams of doctors, and I am glad to be here where I'm confident they won't let Joel go until this problem is solved.  Lord, may we patiently wait for Your greater work to be completed.

One Day at a Time, part 2

Early Friday morning I woke up and thoughts started pouring through my mind about Joel's future.  I pictured him in a wheelchair forever, pondered all the things he wouldn't be able to do (work, play guitar, have children) and worried and fretted until I had to get up.  I knew these thoughts were of the devil but couldn't seem to banish them or "take them captive to Christ."  My insights into living one day at a time seemed long ago and far away.  I was in the future, and it was no good!

Sometime during the busy preparation for the wedding weekend, an idea struck me on how to banish those pesky future frettings.  I started asking myself, "Do I have what I need to get through today?"  My fears about tomorrow may come to pass; then again, they may not.  Unless there is something I specifically need to do today to get ready for tomorrow, I should forget about tomorrow (as Jesus recommends).  Today has enough troubles of its own.  And Friday certainly did, as we packed for the weekend and the wedding, traveled to Plain View Farm, helped prepare, rehearsed with the wedding party, and celebrated at the groom's dinner.

Just as my worrying about the helicopter bill (Musing about Money, September 10) proved baseless, so will most of these concerns.  If Joel doesn't recover fully, there will be plenty of time to help him deal with those challenges.  So my new goal in living one day at a time is to keep asking myself, "Do I have what I need to get through today?"  and get started on today's tasks.  Lord, help me remember this goal!!

Count Your Blessings

On the Monday after Joel's accident, I realized I'd better start "counting my blessings" to feed gratefulness and faith in my spirit.  As of this morning, I have recorded over 400 separate items for which I am truly grateful.  Reading them helps me remember that "no temptation (or trial) has overtaken you that is not common to man.  God is faithful and He will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide a way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." (1 Cor. 10:13)  I read somewhere that the new translation of the Lord's Prayer, "Save us from the time of trial" instead of "Lead us not into temptation," points out that the Greek for "temptation" is more along the lines of being tempted to doubt God because of the trials in our lives.  That clarifies the above verse for me; it's not a temptation to sin as in doing bad things, but a temptation to sin as in doubting God's goodness, power or love.  So here are some of the things, specific to our situation, that have helped me to "endure:"

Many entries - Facebook, Caring Bridge, and every phone call, text, letter, card, gift, email, post and visit

#3 & #4 - My job isn't an issue; Svea covered the music

#6 - Sunshine pouring in our hospital room window in the mornings

#10 - Pete's knee is so much better than it was even a week ago

#11 - Philip is 12; the kids are all self-sufficient in many ways

#12 - It's summer; we don't have to worry about snow and ice

#13 - First Responder Matt Erickson's testimony - "the most peaceful call I've ever been on"

#23 - Wonderfully caring and competent staff at HCMC

#32-35 - Sister Julie and husband Dave live close, Dave isn't teaching this summer, and they are very willing to help

#36 - People have stuffed our fridge at home with food

#47 - Great sermon on prayer at First Covenant across the street

#50 - Sisters Mary and Julie have kept me supplied with healthy food

#93 - Fleece blankets from two sets of girls - essential in the cold hospital room

#110 - YMCA in Minneapolis and New Hope allow me to use the facilities with my Willmar Y card

#180-182 - when the van alternator broke down, Pete was able to get it to the repair shop without towing

#234 - Pete was here when Joel got moved to Regency

#242 - Jesus Calling book

#247 - Joel's so patient with poor lip readers

#263 - Daniel (and friends) and Grandma & Grandpa Norling came to be with Joel so I could go home and to Sioux Falls

#300 - Great hospitality from various people in the Cities

#332 - It's summer; I'm not homeschooling

I've also enjoyed eating out at various restaurants, especially downtown.  

When I can focus on what's good, positive and helpful, my attitude remains good, positive and helpful.  Lord, help me continue to do so - Amen!

Bad Days

I'm tense and crabby today.  It might actually be PMS, which I've never had before.  I snapped at the kids for leaving house chores undone or not doing them well, resented Pete for making reasonable demands upon me, napped for over an hour and am just as tired after getting up.  I have a few abdominal cramps, but mostly feel lethargic, unmotivated and irritable - although, of course, I was fine at the church, hosting a bridal shower this morning.  No crabbiness then!  I criticize the kids for acting politely and kindly to others, but rudely to us.  Wonder where they get it?  Not a good day.

We're dealing with an abundance of bad news around us.  A friend's father just found out he has pancreatic cancer; we've never known anyone personally with this disease, but now know two who will, barring a miracle, leave this earth this year.  The other friend with pancreatic cancer had her second CT scan, revealing that her liver tumors have tripled in size and making chemotherapy irrelevant.  Another friend got a DWI and lost his job because the court process disclosed that he is, in fact, an illegal alien.  Of course he got himself into this mess, and certainly it's probably for the best that he get home to his family he hasn't seen for ten years, but we still love him and hate to see him suffer.   A fellow home school mom died of breast cancer a few weeks ago, leaving nine children, including two in high school.  Two couples who belong to our church are probably divorcing - and apparently the two breakups are connected.    I sang at a funeral the other day; the family is so dysfunctional that a day with no blowups was considered a success.

Of course there are some bright spots; one couple who has been having marriage troubles is doing better, another who's been living together is getting married, and a good friend's daughter stopped taking anti-depressants because of her pregnancy and is doing fine.

I suppose we should be grateful that for over fifty years, our lives and those of our friends and relatives have been so relatively smooth.  Many people have trouble and trauma all around them every day of their lives.  But it's hard to take a seemingly sudden change.  Our hearts hurt for many, and especially some who don't seem to know the Lord very well.  I can't imagine trying to deal with crushing blows without the hope of eternity and a day with "no more tears."  I've been convicted of my need to spend more time in prayer, both to plead for our friends and to reset my perspective.  Truly this life is but a vapor, and the trials we face are not worth comparing with the glory we shall see.  Now can I remember that when the chores are left undone?

More Basement Woes

A week after our basement flooded, the carpet and pad had finally dried out and Joel & Daniel wielded the Rug Doctor over the whole house from 4-10 pm on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday morning, Joel's first class didn't start until 9, so Daniel took off for his 8:00 class and Joel stayed to finish the other half of the basement carpet. As he was getting ready to leave, Andrew came racing up the stairs and said, "Water is pouring in again!" Sure enough, the septic system had backed up because of the frozen drainfield and we had more water in the basement. This time, thanks to Andrew's quick response, the carpet was mostly untouched. Joel left without the Rug Doctor to bring Sarah to softball practice (Willmar had spring break this week so practices were in the morning), Pete & Andrew cleaned up the mess and used the Rug Doctor on the part that had gotten wet, and then I returned the Rug Doctor and picked up Sarah. We couldn't run any water until the septic tank pumpers came and did their work, then we gratefully started using water again - until Thursday morning when we again had a leak! I forget who caught that one, but after a while Ross the plumber came over in the afternoon and blew out the pipe, and we were back in business.

Friday morning I had the thought that I should check it. There was some water on the basement floor, which could have been from before, so I just put a bucket under the pipe outlet where it had gushed out earlier, and decided to check on it when the load of laundry started draining. I told Sarah, "I'm going down to check the septic; if it starts leaking, I'll call you and tell you to shut the washing machine off." Unfortunately, I said this right after Andrew had pointed out it was April Fool's Day, so she suspected a trick. When I saw that water was gushing out again, and called her on the intercom, she queried, "Are you serious?" and didn't shut off the washer until I hollered it and she heard the water in the background.

This time Ross came out and finally discovered the true problem - a tree "root ball" had grown into the pipe and plugged most of the opening. The slow draining in our bathroom sink, which had been going on for a week or more, was now explained. The guys had to dig up the pipe with a backhoe, pull out the ball, repair and replace the pipe, and fill it all in again, but now everything works.

I didn't think of this before, but how often do problems in our lives work that way? We think we've solved it, only to find the same symptoms coming back, because we identified the wrong problem.

Anyway, as Sarah said while we were using the office bathroom, "If we were used to an outhouse, it wouldn't be a problem!" We take so many things for granted, and only appreciate them when they're gone. Thanks You, Lord, for running water, working septic systems, electricity, people who can fix all of the above, AND Your gentle occasional reminders that all these things are extras. The people we love are our true treasure.