"When I started my journaey in fresh childlike faith
I believed that the Lord's way was best.
I would read in His Word how He mothered the bird
And grieved when it fell from its nest.
How I felt His delight when I chose to do right
And I prayed I would not make Him sad.
We would meet on the way in the cool of the day
What a pure, sweet communion we had.
Oh, but now more than ever, I cherish the Cross. More than ever I sit at His feet.
All the miles of my journey have proved my Lord true
And He is so precious to me.
The road I have traveled has sometimes been steep
Through wild, jagged places of life.
Sometimes I've stumbled and fallen so hard
That the stones cut my soul like a knife.
But the staff of my Shepherd would reach out to me.
And lift me to cool pastures green.
The oil of the Spirit anointing my wounds.
There I'd rest by the clear, healing stream.
Oh, but now more than ever I cherish the Cross.
More than ever I sit at His feet.
All the miles of my journey have proved my Lord true
And He is so precious to me.
Is love's old, sweet story to good to be true?
Do you find all this hard to believe?
Has the cruel world we live in so battered your heart
That the hurt child inside you can't grieve?
I can't say I blame you, I've been where you are.
But all I can say is, it's true.
You're wanted, you're precious, you're the love of His heart
And the Old Rugged Cross was for you.
Oh, but now more than ever I cherish the Cross.
More than ever I sit at His feet.
All the miles of my journey have proved my Lord true
And He is so precious to me.
Yes, He is so precious to me."
"More Than Ever" - Gaither Vocal Band
Day 39 - This was Monday. Jodi had surgery the week before on Friday and I had been up to see her on Saturday. She had a tube in her nose, catheter in her bladder and a tube coming out of her abdomen, plus two IV lines. She was really "wired"! Oh and an oxygen tube at her nose. She could medicate herself with Demerol and was pretty dopey. On Sunday, she had her glasses on and looked a little more normal. She had been up, sitting in a chair. Still had all the tubes, but was hoping to get them out on Monday.
I didn't go to see her on Monday, but Jen did and told me she looked wonderful. No tube in her nose! And she had been up walking! I was so encouraged!!
ENCOURAGED; ENCOURAGMENT - Those two words have come to mean a lot to me in the last little while. I understand more how people need encouragement in their lives. Not just their physical lives, but in their spiritual lives as well.
When the nurse was getting Jodi up to walk on Monday, he had to encourage her to go slowly and that it would get easier. And it did! But, if he had just said, "Don't be such a baby! Get up and walk!" She probably would have done it, but so grudgingly. But, now she says the more she does it, the better it is.
When Jen called and said how Jo was doing, I was encouraged! That made me feel good and happy and I praised God for allowing the doctors to find what was wrong with her and fix it! Now she is healing the way she should be healing. She wasn't doing that before!
I am thankful for people who encourage us - Craig is a great encourager and Dale is slowly becoming one. Jen encourages with her love and smile. When I get a hug and "I love you" from Jason, I am encouraged. When I see our 5 sweet grandkids playing together so happily, I am encouraged. "God is in His heaven (and here with us) and all's right with the world." (That's a quote from somewhere. It's not really true, but that's how it feels to the person who has been encouraged and feels that God is there with them!).
Day 40 - Tuesday - This was NOT a day for thankfulness on my part. I guess I would have to say I am thankful I had a pretty good night's sleep.
The day started out good. I went to see Jodi that afternoon. She looked really good. One of the student nurses had washed her hair and she looked almost perky. All the tubes, etc. were out, except for the IV's and she had been weaning herself off the demerol. She had been having normal bodily functions and was doing well!! I had a good visit with her. We went for a walk - probably harder on her than on me. At one point she had to stop and cough. Now for those of you who have never had abdominal surgery, this is a very hard and painful thing to do. So, she leaned against the wall, I got behind her and hugged her, holding on to her abdomen. She got a good cough and thanked me for that. Well, I knew what she needed. I had been there before! A few times!!
I waited around for Steve to bring the kids up, but finally had to go. Jodi had said Bethie had an earache and Steve would likely be taking her to the walk-in clinic. I told her I was going to get some steroids for the stupid rash and I'd take her. So, she said she would have him call me when he got home. She actually called me later to say he was taking all three, because Lucas had strep throat again. I did run into them there. That's when the day went downhill. I didn't really have to wait a long time to see the dr - maybe 1/2 - 3/4 of an hour. He was very nice and said he'd fix me up. We talked about prednisone. I took the prescription next door to Shoppers and waited and waited and waited for it to be filled!! There were a couple of people there who had been at the clinic and were in ahead of me. They got their prescriptions and were gone. Finally, I went up and asked and she said, oh it was done a long time ago! I never heard my name called! I was a bit peeved. Then, it wasn't prednisone, but a steroid cream! When I got home, there wasn't a sheet in it for first time users, so I had to look it up on the internet. He had called part of my rash "perioral dermatitis" and the information said not to be used for perioral dermatitis. I was so mad, I just didn't care. Oh, I have to back up a bit.
I got out of Shoppers and it was bitterly cold. The wind was horrific!! I got in the car and drove home and the stupid parkade gate wouldn't open with my remote. It gets like that sometimes in the really cold, but I've never had a problem with it. So, I had to get out of the car into that freezing wind. Find the dumb key, get into the parkade, open the gate and rush to get back into the car and get it through the gate before it closed again. By the time I parked it, plugged it in and got into the apartment, I was frozen and so mad. Then the medicine thing and I was getting pretty livid. Dale told me this morning he was afraid to talk to me for fear I'd kill him! Well, I wasn't that mad, but I was pretty mad!
So, what to be thankful for when things seem to spiral downhill like that? Well, once I calmed down and watched "19 Kids and Counting" and saw their little Josie so very tiny and all hooked up to everything imaginable, I was thankful for health and then, later, for a pretty good night's sleep. What a day!!!
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