PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 04/30/2008

Trent getting his diploma at his kindergarten graduation. He and his friends were so cute!

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 04/29/2008

The family sedan!
This is how my brother Gord and his family used to travel when they lived in Liberia. Of course, it only worked as long as the kids were very young. Andrea is between Gord and Paula, and Stephanie and Nathaniel are on the gas tank. (Check out those bird nests in the palm trees!)

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 04/28/2008

Looking down from a little one-engined airplane on my childhood home nestled in the African rain forest. Our house was the one in the middle.

Sober bedtime thoughts...

We have our bedtime routine, Coral and I. She sits in her wheelchair all day, and by bedtime (even on warm days) her feet are usually ice cold. So after we are done getting her diaper on, kissing Paul Heil's picture, making Elmo giggle, and turning on the bedtime CD, I say, "Coral, are your feet cold?" She says, "Yes," so I stick my hands under the covers at the end of her bed. It is nice and warm under there because she has a little electric bed warmer under her mattress cover and sheets, but sure enough, my hands find two little cold lumps in there, too. So I start rubbing her feet until I can feel them relaxing as the blood starts flowing.

I watch her face relax, too, as she gets more comfortable. It is a happy little face with some secret joy always beneath the surface.

Will the next caregiver care if her feet are too cold? Will she be able to feel Elmo giggle and kiss Paul Heil goodnight?

Oh, Lord... please take her first...

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 04/27/2008

We had lots and lots of pets over the years when I was growing up. Our mother wouldn't let us have a dog because she was afraid of rabies, and there was no vet where we lived in Liberia. Our cats loved us dearly, but I'm sure there were some days when they wished we would find something else to do!

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 04/26/2008

Me and my Dad

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 04/25/2008

Carol-Ann and me -- long ago!

PICTURE OF THE DAY -- 04/24 & 04/25/2008

My Mum now -- 90 years old

My Mum -- 60 years ago

Picture of the Day

Just to let you know, I'm adding a "Picture of the Day" section to the sidebar. I can't write a new post every day, but I will be changing the picture every day. Who knows who or what will pop up next? Me? You? A baby picture? A pet? An embarrassing moment? Even I have no idea!

ADDENDUM: Well, this idea morphed into something else! Instead of being in the sidebar, this is now going to be at the top of the post column and will be archived each day by changing the posting date to 10 years ago. This will make the "Picture of the Day" posts fall to the bottom of the blog. They can still be seen easily by clicking on "Picture of the Day" in the Labels section on the sidebar.

Singing from the heart!

Coral wanted to watch some of her favorite music videos this morning, and I told her I love to hear her singing. She was stiff with excitement and anticipation at the very thought! I got her up and fed her breakfast and then wheeled her into the living room where I put on a video of The Talley Trio from many years ago and plugged in her headphones.

I fixed myself some brunch and sat at the dining room table to eat it where I could also see the TV and hear Coral singing along with all her heart. Even though she has not watched these videos in many months, she still remembers every arrangement, all the words, every little slur of the voices. If she were going to enter a singing competition today, the panel of judges would shoo us right out, I know, but how sweet it sounds to me!

As I sat at the table this morning, I was remembering an elderly gentleman who sat very close to the center front in church many years ago. He loved the old hymns and all the stories of how and why they were written. With joy and love, he sang those beautiful songs every Sunday. He could not help himself. In his ringing tuneless off-key voice, he sang with all his heart! When he was not around, others talked. They felt he was sitting too close to the microphone that was used to broadcast the service over the radio. They worried that he was making the whole thing sound terrible to those who might tune in. I know they had to be concerned about those things...

Still, I wondered then if God's ears are different from ours, and I can't help wondering again today. Does He hear things the way we do? Or is the pure heart of praise and joy in His presence all that really matters to Him? If so, He heard the most beautiful music in church those many years ago, and He is hearing it again today in our living room!

All These Things...

In a factory building there are wheels and gearings,
There are cranks and pulleys, beltings tight or slack,
Some are whirling swiftly, some are turning slowly,
Some are thrusting forward, some are pulling back;

Some are smooth and silent, some are rough and noisy,
Pounding, rattling, clanking, moving with a jerk;
In a wild confusion, in a seeming chaos,
Lifting, pushing, driving, but they do their work.

From the mightiest lever to the tiniest pinion,
All things move together for the purpose planned;
And behind the working is a mind controlling,
And a force directing, and a guiding hand.

So all things are working for the Lord's beloved;
Some things might be hurtful if alone they stood;
Some might seem to hinder; some might draw us backward;
But they work together, and they work for good;

All the thwarted longings, all the stern denials,
All the contradictions, hard to understand.
And the force that holds them, speeds them and retards them,
Stops and starts and guides them, is our Father's hand.

--Annie Johnson Flint

Blooming...

This is what I saw from my front door on Thursday. Spring in the Rockies brings lots of ups and downs. Just when we think warmer weather is here to stay, in blows a quick winter storm to remind us that we are not in charge!

I was thinking how much like life that is. Things go along smoothly and well for awhile, and somehow we get to thinking that we are doing a pretty good job. Then in comes a "winter storm" without much warning, reminding us that we are not in charge at all.

We have a big thick hedge of cherry bushes along the east side of our house. They are already blooming, and the birds are swooping about hoping for a bumper crop of those sour little cherries. They love to gorge themselves and then flit about "depositing" the leftover undigested pits. Those little pits have grown into stray cherry bushes here and there and everywhere. They are drab little straight shoots sticking up, and we pass them by unnoticed all year long...until spring. Now, just when we are longing for green grass and flowers, there they are! Delicate pink and white blossoms in unexpected places!

I wonder how I compare after a long hard winter?

Does the Lord find me blooming in unexpected places?

In this world of desolate sadness and coldness, when He is longing for green grass and flowers, does He find me blooming?

Don't bother with the vinegar!

Well, here is my update, just as promised!

Despite my attempts at a cure with apple cider vinegar, there was no stopping this bug's relentless march to its death. My immune system, while not as speedy as Coral's, nevertheless cleaned out my digestive system in the same tried-and-true method. Now I am in recovery mode. I have felt a bit feverish today with unusual aches and pains which are slowly improving.

We were not able to go to the prison services, unfortunately, but sometimes things are just simply out of our control.

(In defense of the vinegar, though, nothing works on my heartburn as well as apple cider vinegar. Sounds crazy and impossible, but it is true.)

Sickly-Ickly!

I stole that phrase from my sister because it fits perfectly! Last evening began a nasty episode for Coral with vomiting and diarrhea. Unless you have cared for a wheelchair-bound person who has uncontrolled vomiting and diarrhea, you probably only have a fuzzy picture of this. But trust me, if you could focus, it would not be pretty! It is amazing to me that her petite person could hold that much stuff, but it was clear her body did not want to keep it, so out it came. I can't let Coral lie down at times like this because of the danger of aspiration, so she sat in her chair and we all did the best we could. Dad pitched in like a trooper. In between bouts of retching and the resultant stuff out the other end (which nothing could contain), she gave me wan smiles and an occasional hug. I started giving her sips of Jello-water when it seemed there was nothing left to come up, and after awhile things calmed down.

Today she seems to be much better, but all of a sudden this morning she developed hives from her hands up to just above her elbows. The cause is a mystery to me -- leftover toxins? stress from dehydration? I know they were very uncomfortable for her, but as usual she did not complain, and in an hour or two they were gone again.

Now I have a queasy stomach and a headache...Will I succumb or will I conquer?? This is my first illness of the winter in spite of the awful bugs that have been circulating this year. Others in my situation have tried antacids at this stage of the game, all to no avail, I hear. So...I am taking another approach. I'm drinking apple cider vinegar diluted with water. This is an experiment but the only thing I can think of to try. I sure hope it works, because we are supposed to have two services in the prison tomorrow afternoon, and I don't want to let anyone down...

This sickly-ickly episode just reminds me again what wonderful bodies God has given us! Coral's immune system was galvanized into action and in 3 or 4 hours flat had totally cleaned her digestive system out and wiped out all those nasty little invaders. Yes, the process was unpleasant but it worked very well and very quickly, and what's more, her invisible soldier army is even stronger now to protect her from future attacks. Who but God could have thought of that and then designed a system that actually works? Of course, my little invisible army has wrinkles now but over the years it has built up muscles fighting infections she has never encountered. I will update you later and let you know if my vinegar ploy is one you might try some day!

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." --Psalms 139:14