pamela – Page 14 – The Welcome Home

songs for seasons

teacuppamela Just recently I was sharing with my church family the many times the Lord has given me a song for a season — songs playing in the theater of my mind in different seasons. Through the years, here in this blog, I’ve shared clips of songs or meaningful words that have carried me through difficult days or trials. Interestingly (and thankfully!), the Lord has often used music to direct or focus my thoughts. When my mind would tend to wander in caves of worry or despair, songs have been my pillar of fire in darkness; songs have been my anchor in tumultuous seas; songs have borne the truth when the enemy has rushed in with floods of lies; songs have pointed to certain reality when shadows of doubt have been cast over my path.

The gift of music! What blessing the Lord has worked in music – many songs – psalms, hymns and spiritual songs! Five years ago, in the midst of the greatest sorrow I’ve ever known, the Lord used a few songs to carry me through each day and night during that season. In time to come I would experience and see very clearly the truth I’d been singing for months: “Anything that’s shattered, when laid before the Lord, will not be unredeemed… ” (Unredeemed – Selah). I will be eternally grateful to What God did for me in that season and the things He’s continuing to work in me from the lessons those days brought me. I needed to be broken—I needed all the lessons the Lord worked in me through that time.

On the heels of that season came another pressing trial when our son Timothy was so very sick. God again used song to carry us: Great is Thy Faithfulness would ring in our ears over and over. The miracle God provided proved this true: How great! O, how great is the faithfulness of God! Morning by morning new mercies we did see! Later in that same year and into the next, I would face another trial… blindsided, really, and yet God had a great purpose in all that, too. On so many levels I needed what that trial taught me—teaches me still! Having sunk to another lowest of lows, another song would carry me through: (Springtime’s Coming – Hopper). For a few months, my husband set this song to play to wake me every morning. Occasionally, at random points in those days, he would remind me with a smile: Springtime’s coming, and the words and melody would again ring in my ears. On an early April morning, I would receive and open a package containing the biggest surprise we’ve ever received. Truly, right before my eyes, “God had the biggest surprise” just as the song I’d been singing proclaimed. It was more than a dream.

Fast-forward a few years: I shouldn’t have been surprised at how another song would become dear and instructive to me — actually a very unlikely song has been invaluable to me. Sort of like the Happy! song the Lord used to encourage me during my husband’s open heart surgery and recovery… that one occasionally had me dancing and clapping along like a room without a roof! Well, this time, the song that is encouraging me was playing at Christmastime (Count your Blessings – Ray Conniff singers) and I’ve needed the little nuggets of gold contained in the song. I’ve needed to be reminded to fall asleep counting blessings instead of sheep.

In a season of change, I’ve been drawn into worry and fretting and, occasionally at the end of the day, into counting sheep instead of blessings when sleep’s been elusive — I smile when the thoughts prompted by that song ring through: “…we’ll kneel and pray to be shown the way; and when we’re worried and we can’t sleep, count our blessings instead of sheep and we’ll fall asleep counting our blessings!”

Maybe the Lord uses song or music in your life to carry you, to instruct or encourage you as He has in mine. I sure hope so.

The recovery road

wesandmeinhospitalbeforesurgery All the information, booklets, visits from the different therapists and the remarks of different doctors in the days and hours prior to leaving the hospital following my husband’s open heart bypass surgery didn’t prepare me for the recovery road. Yes, I’d listened intently. Yes, I’d taken notes and appeared to comprehend all the information they were giving me — giving us.

I guess I was prepared for what they’d specifically instructed me to do when we returned home, but I wasn’t prepared for the other stuff — the other stuff that they didn’t tell me. And now, looking back, I see that there was “other stuff” they couldn’t tell me –– they couldn’t prepare me for what I’d experience any more than the obstetrician could prepare me for what I’d experience in labour and delivery and for the weeks following the birth of our first child. I marvel at the similarities.

Last July, we were sitting out on the deck of a local restaurant enjoying the airplanes, hotair balloons and the beautiful sunset. In ordering the bacon wrapped tenderloin, I obviously completely forgot that my. husband. had. just. had. open. heart. surgery. We’d walked there so that we could keep with the prescribed daily walking schedule — two to three walks per day, increasing the length of the walks each day. But, yes, I shot us both in the foot with that order.

Through the month of July when our first son was born 35 years ago, each day was filled with the activities of feeding, bathing, napping, dressing, strolls, and extended times of just gazing at him while he slept. I’d gently lay my head near my son’s face to hear his breathing or my hand on his back to feel the gentle rise and fall of each respiration. Each day seemed so long but the weeks seemed to fly by — such an uncanny parallel to the way this past July was spent.

Each day we’d wake up early, the sun streaming in our living room — my husband in his recliner, and I beside him on my temporary bed. The new electric recliner gave him so much freedom to get up or sit by himself, but the tone of the electronic lift was like an alarm clock — the operative word being: alarm. 😉 Though he never complained of my incessant, day or night, staring and asking, are you okay? I stared at him while he rested, stared at him while he ate, stared at him while he read. Each day seemed long — much like those early newborn days, a flurry of firsts, busy days just like the early days of the first baby, my days were filled with feeding, bathing, napping, dressing, strolls and staring at my… husband. Somehow the busyness of keeping each day’s chart filled in — assorted new meds, his temperature, blood pressure, walks, water, meals and doctor visits all served as distractions to what was really going on or what had really gone on.

I wasn’t prepared for the new tentative feel to life. I wasn’t prepared for the feeling that this was all very temporary — that at any time my husband would have another heart attack and we’d do all that all over again. I wasn’t prepared for what felt like the loss of the middle years — suddenly catapulted to the later years — the last years. I didn’t anticipate that there’s be potholes on the recovery road and surely didn’t anticipate their source. I wasn’t prepared for the comments and questions I’d receive and, therefore, didn’t have a ready response. Instead of hearing them as simple conversation, I heard them as attacks and didn’t have the wherewithal to give reasoned answers. I took my husband’s health personally and have felt ashamed that I contributed to it being what it is — that I could have/should have made better choices for the last thirty six years and, had I done so, he’d not be in the condition he is.

In saner, stronger, more rational moments I’ve been able to reason that, first, God is sovereign. That’s a sure plank on which to stand. He’s also Lord of my life, Lord of my husband’s life and has been our sustainer, provider, strength, and guide through all these years. I’ve been careful to be in the Word and in prayer daily and to recognize, ultimately, where the feeling of attack came/comes from. The devil knows my weaknesses and one of them is guilt or shame over things that happen around me — that when bad things happen, it must be my fault; when relationships are strained, it must be my fault; if/when my kids fail, reject me, reject the Lord, or whatever: it must be my fault. So also, when my husband’s health failed, surely it must be my fault and to excuse myself in any way would mean I’m not accepting the fact. It’s a vicious cycle — one I’m very familiar with — one that I must work diligently to accurately see for what it is.

It’s a decision I’m not always quick to react with though, and sometimes I’m in the middle of a pothole when I finally see I’ve fallen into the trap the devil’s set for me on the road. And in that place, I must resolve to yield to the Lord: I resolve to rest in His promises. I used to see as weakness what I now see as yieldedness. I used to see as a copout what I now see as trust. What I used to see as naïve I now see as faith. I often wish it hadn’t taken me so long to see these truths.

No one sets out to have heart disease — but I wish I’d grasped early on what it is to set out to NOT have heart disease. Obviously, I don’t even yet grasp this.

Baby days: ‘Groaning Cake’

teacuppamela

These are exciting days as we eagerly anticipate the call that labour’s begun for the newest grandbaby. I feel as though I, too, have been nesting as I’ve been gathering things for the birthing day, excitedly anticipating, along with our son and daughter-in-law, the birth of this little one.

Kate and I were talking the other day about things she’s still needing for the upcoming birthing day… and she mentioned Groaning Cake. I’d not heard of the cake by that name, specifically, but it sounded a lot like ‘energy muffins‘ I’ve made for labouring and beyond. After a brief search, I found the recipe and saw that the ingredients were quite similar. So, in the next couple of days I’ve be preparing Groaning Cake for Kate.

This, from Ami McKay’s The Birth House, ““The tradition of a groaning cake, or kimbly, at birth is an ancient one. Wives’ tales say that the scent of the groaning cake being baked in the birth house helps to ease the mother’s pain. Some say if a mother breaks the eggs while she’s aching, her labour won’t last as long. Others say that if a family wants prosperity and fertility, the father must pass pieces of the cake to friends and family the first time the mother and baby are “churched” (or the first time they go to a public gathering) after a birth.”

Groaning Cake

— Aube Giroux, Kitchen Vignettes

3 cups whole wheat or spelt flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tps salt
Spice mix: 1 Tbsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1 tsp ground fennel seeds, 1 tsp ground fenugreek)
3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp molasses
4 eggs
2 Tbsp rum (optional)
1/3 cup whole milk yogurt
1/3 cup whole milk
1/2 cup grated apple (loose, not packed in)
1/2 cup grated carrot (loose, not packed in)
1/2 cup grated zucchini (loose, not packed in)
1/2 cup grated coconut
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
For the cream cheese icing:
1 x 8 oz package of cream cheese, at room temperature
3 Tbsp maple syrup

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350F. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spice mix, and walnuts (if using).
Put the butter in a medium metal bowl and place it in the hot oven until it begins to melt a bit. Remove from the oven. Add the honey and molasses and whisk until blended. Add the rum and mix well, until heavy and silky.
In a separate mixing bowl, beat the eggs until frothy. Add the yoghurt, milk, grated apple, grated carrot, grated zucchini, and coconut. Add this to the honey-butter mixture and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold gently, until the batter is homogeneous. Be careful not to overmix.
Pour into an oiled and floured 10-inch springform cake pan and bake for 35 to 45 minutes in a 350F oven. The cake is done when the top is golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Cake should be cooled for about 10 minutes in the pan, and then removed from the pan to continue cooling on a rack.
To make the frosting, blend the room temperature cream cheese and maple syrup, using a hand blender or electric mixer. Refrigerate until cake has cooled. Once the cake has cooled, butter the frosting on top of the cake. Slice and serve.
This cake can be made ahead and wrapped in plastic wrap or aluminum and kept for 1 to 2 days at room temperature. The cream cheese icing should be kept in the fridge until ready to use.

Thanks for reading today, by the way! Hope your day’s a happy one! ♥

Looking ahead, looking back

teacuppamela I glanced down at the clock as I pulled into the parking garage. I rounded the corner and pulled into the same space I’d vacated just 7 hours earlier. Knowing the segment queue was on the :20’s, quickly clicking through the radio stations, I was hoping to hear one of the morning “phone taps” my girls had replayed for me a couple of times. These “phone taps” are pranks a radio host makes on unsuspecting individuals. Twisted, I know. But, given the situation I’d been experiencing, lots of my thoughts were scrambled in those days. Precious minutes were ticking by as I waited in my car at the hospital for the call to be aired. I waited, thinking the radio dj would play just one song – but no, he would play two. Since I don’t listen to the music on that station, I found the first song so annoying. But no matter, I was waiting for the phone tap. Then a song came on that I’d heard once before (yes, I’m really late to the game on pop songs) but I didn’t know the words — except: I’m happy… happy… happy.

It was the morning after Wes’s open heart surgery and stretched emotions and fatigue had begun to catch up with me—but as He did each day, the Lord gave me strength for every hour. I’m so grateful for what I learned of Him in those days.

O, and that phone tap was a dumb — as most are. But the happy song swirled through my mind that day—and because of the great goodness of the Lord, I truly did (and do) feel like a room without a roof!

And, as I look back over the past year and begin a new one, I want to clap along bcz I know what happiness means to me and I want to live my life dancing before the Lord “like a room without a roof” echoing: happy, happy, happy! The Lord is gracious!

The Simple Soap

teacuppamela You’re going to love this soap! When you try your first bar, you’re going to notice an immediate difference between TheSimpleSoap and “commercial” soap company soap. That’s why I’ve been so excited about The Simple Soap giveaway! So… later today I will be selecting a recipient of TheSimpleSoap triple bar soap giveaway!

So… for several more hours, you have an opportunity to have your name added to the bowl of names in the drawing. The only thing I’m asking is that you’ll share one thing you’re aiming to do or achieve or stop doing in this new year. The comments we’ve received thus far have been wonderfully encouraging! Go ahead and share your thoughts! I’ll add your name to the bowl and later today will have the drawing!

Thank you for reading… and for those of you who’ve been faithful readers of The Welcome Home blog, may I say, Thank you for your support and encouragement–I appreciate each of you. I’ve made the decision to begin regularly blogging again and am seeking the LORD how this blog can be a more encouraging and integral part of people’s lives. So, to that end, may this be a fruitful new year!

update! update! I wrote all the names here and on Facebook and had my daughter-in-love select one of the slips out of the pile and… THE WINNER IS: SARA R
Thank you all for sharing in this with me and for participating in TheSimpleSoap giveaway drawing. I’ll be sending the box of three soaps to Sara… many blessings and love to you, Sara — Happy New Year — from me and The Simple Soap!

Y2K15 Inspiration and Notable Quotables

teacuppamela

No matter how many times I set out to NOT make “New Year’s” or “New Years” or “New Year” Resolutions, I end up making mental lists of resolves anyway. Somehow, not writing them down makes them safe to consider. It’s a mind-game — one I usually lose. Last year I set out to continue instead of to begin a whole list of things because that’s all I really wanted to do at this point, one year ago. I’d been having success losing weight using the THM plan and my plan was to simply press on. I did. Another thing I wanted to do was to press on reading my Bible each day. I determined not to again resolve (and fail) to read-it-through-in-a-year but to simply read it each day. Most days I did. I want to improve this. I recall last year’s thoughts — and many previous year’s resolutions, actually, and they were simply this: application, application, application. I’ve learned so many good things. So many good things. I just want to do them. I just want to live them.

This is on my mind because of a recent family conversation. When our children have their eighteenth birthday, we treat them, along with honoured guests (the children in our family who’ve already had their eighteenth birthday), to a special lunch celebration. Wes and I gathered with Naomi and eight of our children to celebrate this milestone. During the course of lunch Wes had us all share two things with Naomi; one being the sharing of a quality we most appreciate about her and the other being something we wish we’d known (or had done) at eighteen that we know now. Each of our children’s answers were such an encouragement — not only to Naomi, but to each of us. As each shared, around the table there were nods of affirmation and comments of agreement. It was actually cathartic to share experiences and evaluate things we wish we’d known at eighteen that we know now and good to revisit things we planned at eighteen or thought were important at eighteen.

As I continue to ponder another year passing and a new one just beginning, I am profoundly mindful this year that these few days before the New Year are as much a time of humble reflection as they are a time of hopeful anticipation. And, no doubt, part of that humble reflection necessitates a bit of repentance and certainly awesome gratitude to the Lord for His great goodness and mercy through the past year. The hopeful anticipation just might take the form of earnest prayer for the days ahead on the unmarred, clean calendar pages.

“A new year is unfolding—like a blossom
with petals curled tightly
concealing the beauty within.”
-author unknown

So, as you think ahead to the coming year, maybe you’re tempted to boldly proclaim making a fresh start — maybe you long to “get it right” or to have another chance. It’s common, especially if your year end reflection isn’t all that terrific. You may feel it’s just another year you’ll add to a string of others that weren’t necessarily stellar years either. I can type this because that’s been me a number of times. And I totally get it when others relate their similar low year’s end conclusions.

Maybe you don’t have all that many things to correct/do over/eliminate. Maybe you need to eliminate some clutter in your life and get organized… here are some great ideas for you. Maybe you need to make some relationship type things right (0r just better!)… maybe you need to accept some hardships or disappointments and press on in faith. Whatever the case, you’ve got a clean calendar in front of you—be wise how you fill the days ahead. And you might be inspired by quotes in a Huffington Post article posted last year.

“A happy New Year! Grant that I
May bring no tear to any eye
When this New Year in time shall end
Let it be said I’ve played the friend,
Have lived and loved and labored here,
And made of it a happy year.”
~Edgar Guest

Note to self: Read more. Dawdle less. Pray more. Fret less. Trust more. Murmur less. Smile more. Critique less. Be thankful more. Envy less. Listen more. Talk less. Be humble. Love more. Be gracious. And in all your getting, get understanding. 🙂

And don’t forget our Fresh Clean Start Giveaway!

A fresh clean start… and a GIVE AWAY!

teacup From The Welcome Home… A Fresh Clean Start to the New Year!

You’ll love this giveaway!

I’d like to introduce you to my dear friend Emily. In the beautiful Pacific Northwest, she and her family run The Simple Soap — a company that allows them to work together creating the most luxurious soaps. Made from the finest organic ingredients, various herbs and essential oil fragrances are combined with natural palm (sourced from Rainforest Alliance certified farms in Columbia), coconut and olive oils to give you a delightful bathing experience. I think you’ll find that The Simple Soap will be your favourite soap!

For the next week I’ll be watching for comments here and on Facebook and will select a recipient. Once selected, I’ll send you a note and you can reply privately with your address so that I can mail your gift — an assortment of three soaps from The Simple Soap — a gift that will add some incentive to your desire for a fresh clean start to the New Year! Once you experience The Simple Soap, you’ll want to browse the variety they offer.

Here’s what you need to do: Share one way you hope to make the New Year a better year in your life — maybe the Lord has been nudging your heart about a matter… maybe one thing you’d like to implement, a habit you’d like to kick or a habit you’d like to form. What’s something you really want to commit to doing in the coming year? Write and tell us about it. Your entry may be the one that receives the gift of three soaps from The Simple Soap!

What might you be looking ahead to doing or not doing in the coming year? You know, it’s a wonderfully freeing thing to be done with _____________ and to rest in the finished work of the Cross and walk by faith that the Lord is gracious, full of mercy and is Lord of all.

A thankful year? A joyful year? A gracious year? A kind-hearted year? A loyal year? A forgiving year? An all-done-envying year? A cheerful-heart year? A grace-based-faith year? A resting-in-hope year? A finally lose that weight year? A trust in God year? A read-the-Word every-day year? You probably already know what you need to do… but maybe you fear deciding to say you’ll do it for fear of failing. Deciding to do something is worth considering… for consider this: Not deciding is still a decision. Press on. It’s worth it to press on in faith. And if there’s something you really need to do, go before the Lord… seek His Face and grace to do what you feel you cannot do. I have seen Him do in my life things I could never have done had He not enabled me to do them. I have seen His great love, His forgiveness, His restoration, His provision and guidance. He can wash you clean and restore the years the locusts have eaten. He can do this… for you.

And, remember The Simple Soap… I’d like to send a little box on its way.

Nevertheless

teacuppamela

Have you considered that the dailiness of God’s Word ever reveals the timeliness and the timelessness of His eternal Word? I mull this over as I reflect on the weeks gone by… the events of different days and the Co-incidents I was so privileged to see in God’s Word — His living Word — His timely, timeless, living Word as well as in experiences and events around me.

O that I could just more plainly see, expectantly grasp what I read each day — each day’s applications are profound but I so often miss them in the moment. But God. But God who is rich in mercy shows me His eternal Word — shows me His abiding Word — shows me that He never leaves nor forsakes me. But I’m so prone to wander… so prone to despair. But God; His eternal grace covers me.

Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.” —psalm 73.23-26

For all God’s done for me, why would I — how could I — possibly doubt Him now? But I do… in the moment, when I let my thoughts wander, I doubt — and then, by the grace and mercy of God, I’m reminded — His timely Word reminds me: I am continually with Him — He holds my hand, He gives me counsel, He will receive me into Glory. Where else would I go? Where else could I go? I have none in Heaven but Him and none on the earth to desire, trust, hope, seek: but Him.

I watched as my husband’s heart was failing — but God was the strength of his heart — and it was God’s mercy to clearly show him (and me!) that He is our portion forever.

I think we get too caught up in the temporal — the things that are happening to us, the things that happened behind us and the things we fear happening ahead of us. And in all these things, we have a tendency to forget God. We look down and around instead of up. We’re prone to forget His eternal presence and His eternal purposes for us. Caught up in the moments, distracted by all the pretty lures or painful pressures in life, we stop acknowledging the eternal Hand that hold us and often forgetting that if His eye is on the sparrow, how much more you and me?

Nevertheless. Consider that thought: nevertheless. It means, in spite of all you see or think, it means the aside from all that, it means regardless how things seem or appear: I am continually with Him — He is continually with me — He is continually for me — His eternal presence surrounds me and His purposes for me (and for you) cannot be thwarted.

He may do for someone else what He does not or has not done for you — His plans for you may include great difficulty or sorrow — pain or illness — things that might tempt you to question His goodness or His presence. But then, His plans for you may also include some serendipities, some marvelously unmerited favours and pleasantness. These are the sweet things in life we tend to think are the best things. But have you considered the sweetest times you experience may well be the most painful or arduous experiences — things you would not have chosen but would never trade away for anything?

Nevertheless… remember these things.

Homeward bound

teacuppamela As I write this, I’m sitting in a large dining room, high atop a mountain overlooking a sweeping valley, many miles from home. In many ways, it feels strangely reminiscent of the time we spent in the hospital. Looking out over the valley, the sun streaming in through the east windows, home seems an eternity away. Nearly five weeks have passed since my husband’s bypass surgery and many of the uncertainties and events of the early post-op days seem a distant memory now — events all covered up with our new normal and activities of each passing day.

How would you like to go home? The nurse’s question to my husband sank down in my ears and into my heart. As I looked across to him sitting in his hospital bed, I thought, well, most all his life he’s lived ready to go home, so ‘How would you like to go home’ was a welcomed question. Regardless how the events of that previous week had turned out, of one thing I was very certain: to live longer would be heaven, to die would be heaven, ever living homeward bound, our times are in His hands. I could never wish for him to remain a day longer than the Lord has planned and, quite obviously, the Lord — our ultimate giver and sustainer of life — had plans for him that seemed to surprise his health-providers.

I forgot how long the process is from the initiation of patient discharge to the actual journey of heading home — it’s sort of like our lives: hurry up and wait, more tests, more paperwork, hoops to jump through and hurdles to pass over and then, finally: homeward bound.

Heading east across the trestle, I was profoundly aware that we were homeward bound together. Our times were in His hands and the Lord had clearly answered our questions and provided for all our needs. I felt sort of like a first-time mama with precious cargo securely seated in the car. That, and the reality that he did not remain in, and I would not return to, the hospital in the morning. Yes, we were homeward bound.

I’d never thought how we’d do things once we got home. I never thought how things would go. I’d never read about it, never set things up to accommodate the recuperating mended heart. And, because I thought he’d be in the hospital for a couple more days, I hadn’t even made preparations for the going home or the finally home process. But I’ve thought about the going home (to heaven) process and I recognize that there’s nothing I can do to prepare for that place except to yield my life to the Lord Jesus and to accept His gift of salvation. In yielding my life to the Lord Jesus, I daily must look to Him for His direction, trust in His covering, wait for His provision and deny my self – self serving/self centered ways and look to Him: the Author and Finisher of my faith. So also in this I needed to just go through each next open door trusting the Lord to guide me — to guide our family.

He received a hero’s welcome as we drove in the driveway; joyful relief on each of our children’s faces. All that evening as he sat in the chair in our living room, I found myself staring at my husband as if he were a breakable doll or fragile china cup. When he was quiet or when he coughed or grimaced with movement, I jumped—are you okay? I don’t know how many times I asked him that — it was many, I’m sure. Every couple of hours taking his blood pressure, temperature and pulse, I recorded the results on a chart. Heart meds, pain meds, water… everything recorded on a chart. I smile today, hindsight being 20/20, at how strong he actually was, and how fragile he seemed at the time.

You know, when you’ve never done something before, the first time’s often not very smooth. It was soon obvious that the chair we had was going to be a challenge—–sternal precautions dictated that he couldn’t push or pull anything which meant that I would simultaneously push the back and pull the foot-rest out in order for him to recline — reversing or repeating the process with each stretch of walking or sitting back down. I nervously jumped up each time he readjusted his position in the chair and again and again I asked, are you okay? I don’t know… what was I thinking? Was he going to have a heart attack?!? I dozed beside him, waking each time he moved, again asking, are you okay? His pain was intense and that first night was long — morning seemed so far away. With each break in sleep I repeated this great consolation: All I know of tomorrow is that Providence will rise before the sun.

Sleeping for a short stretch, just at sunrise, we were startled awake by the slow twisting and cracking sound of a very large, heavy branch of our weeping willow tree. We hurried to the window to see what had happened. We stood there praising the Lord that the limb didn’t come down on our house — still marveling at the intense impact of that great limb crashing to the ground.

I thought the things that were happening were so big, surely the Lord must be in these things. I could only praise Him for our times are in His hands and He only does all things well. Later we’d venture outside to see the tree…

Let pain be your guide

teacuppamela Just as I’d left it the night before, my parking space was waiting for me to pull in. Up the elevator and down the hall, as I rounded the corner I heard my husband talking on the phone. Wait. What? He’s making an order. Is he on the phone with Leisure? Leisure is a division of Keller Supply in Seattle. Yes, yes, he is… he is making an order for pool parts for the boys. Of course he is.

At that moment, I realized he was going to be fine. O, I’d have tentative moments of wavering over the next few weeks, but walking into his room, seeing him all wired up — to his computer, cell phone/blue-tooth and multiple lines to the IV tree, all I could do was nod my head… and observe that had that not been happening, at some point I’d probably begin to worry that that boy was not going to be fine.

So how are you, sweetheart? The hoarse reply was a bit stronger than the day before, Good, good. Getting on top of the pain. Wow, I was thinking, any more on top of it and you’ll be wanting to run laps around this place.

The vent had caused quite a sore throat and pain was managed most of the time… well, at least until close to the next dose. That day was also filled with activity and visits from different therapists — respiratory, physical, and occupational. Though great strides were made with each one, minor setbacks would serve to remind him of his limitations.

Down the hallway of that floor led to a wall of floor to ceiling windows which provided a spectacular view of the Snohomish valley and the Cascade mountains. It was a tremendously rewarding blessing and great motivation for the next walk.

Each time we stood at those windows… the incredible view, brilliant sun streaming in… strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow: I thought of the many times the Lord has carried us in the valleys and the many times He’s set us on mountaintops — we’ve walked through the valley in floods and dry land, we’ve gazed at those mountains each day through the windows of our home in that valley, we climbed the very mountains we could see in the distance and we’ve stood at the top overlooking that valley.

Throughout that day Wes would talk with our boys; sitting there in his hospital bed, the pool biz was carrying on. Those boys all took time off from their own jobs, sacrificed their time, sunup to sundown, each day doing the work they’d grown up doing — work Wes could only talk about. It was remarkable to me each day I’d return home and see yet another pool package or two was missing from the line-up next to Wes’s shop. Each day I’d say, Surely the Lord does all things well; Surely our times are in His hands. Those sons were carrying on for their daddy… amazing… not surprising, but amazing!

When the occupational therapist came back in later that day, there were more exercises to perform, tasks to accomplish, boxes to check. We got along real well with her — spent lots of time talking together. She asked if we had any more questions. Uh, when can we…? And, not missing a beat, she carried the question from there, Remember sternal precautions, Let pain be your guide, if you are feeling well enough, then go for it; just let pain be your guide… no lifting; nothing over 7 pounds for eight weeks. Be careful, remember your sternal precautions, let pain be your guide. You have to know that she gets that question pretty often. It seemed from that moment on, the lights were all turning green… yes, it was time to start thinking about getting ready to go home!

Sternal precautions… ah, yes, sternal precautions… let pain be your guide. I wonder how that works in life: let pain be your guide?