"In Nothing Be Anxious"

“In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6,7

I sent an email to my friend, Karen, this morning talking about Mom and everything going on in my life right now (which by the way, is pretty much Mom!). I told Karen about the couple of episodes I have experienced with Mother expressing anger during her crying spells. I told her how I had talked to Christy, Hospice nurse, about the spells and Christy told me if it gets bad enough, we can try some medications that will help with the anger. I don’t want to put Mother on any more meds if we don’t have to and told Christy that it had only happened a couple of times. Well, today was a "doozy"!

Mother woke up this morning about 8:00 and needed pain medication. She didn’t want to get out of bed yet, so I left her to sleep a while longer. Connie came about 10:30 to give Mom her shower and we got her up then. The remainder of the morning was good, but this afternoon and evening was CRAZY!!!

She, of course, did not recognize me and got very angry with me when I tried to convince her that she lives here now, not with her Mom and Daddy anymore. She wanted me to take her outside where her brothers were and was mad when I told her she couldn’t go outside and her brothers were not here anyway. She then was convinced that she was supposed to attend a meeting in Piedmont tonight and didn’t want me to make her miss it. She wanted me to call her 3rd sister, Jeannie to find out about the meeting and make sure she had all the information right, since Jeannie was the one that told her about the meeting. I called for Jeannie, but she wasn’t home.

I remember as a child, my Grandma told me to be careful what you pray for because God answers prayer. She said to be prepared if you pray for patience and understanding that God will answer – patience and understanding are learned through trial and tribulation! I certainly seem to have that going on now!

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12

I’ve said it often, but I am still baffled by how my own Mother doesn’t recognize me; how she can be so lost, living in a world where she knows she is 76 years old, but believes that her Mother and Daddy and all of her brothers are still living. Not only does she bring them up now, but we have moved on to the Ushery’s, who were neighbors when Mother was a child and various other relatives some of whom I have never even heard of before.

My prayer was that God would provide a way that I could have Mom at home the rest of her life and through His goodness and mercy, He has provided that way for me. I am thankful and don’t want to sound ungrateful, because having her at home is the answer to my prayers. I do want to grow in faith, in love, in patience and in understanding of all things and of all people and knowing that to be blessed with those traits means that I will go through trial and tribulation, then I thank God for that, too!

God is good! My life is good! My family is good!

I want for nothing more!

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16 - 18

I wonder if my peacock friend is to keep me focused on, not only these trials, but also the beauty of God’s creation. The peacock has returned and the other morning when I got up to have my coffee, the peacock (don’t have any idea if it’s he or she) – came to visit.

When I get up, I always open the front door to let in the east light. I love the sunshine coming in the door. I was sitting in the comfy chair (hand-me-down from Annie, which is the most comfortable chair ever!), having my coffee, when China went nuts! She looked towards the door and started barking hysterically! Mother was still asleep, so, of course I was trying to get China to be quiet, but she would not stop! I got up and looked at the door and there was the peacock! I had to grab my camera and got some good shots! When I went out on the deck to see the peacock, China came out with me and she was set on running the peacock out of the yard!

I love peacocks! They are one of the most beautiful of God’s creatures, as far as I’m concerned! They’re loud, I had never heard one until the other day when the grandkids were here. When Chance got home, he decided he was going to catch the peacock and went out with his light saber to get it! I followed him outside and I guess he got tired of chasing it because he was relaxing in the chair on his cell phone.

I haven’t seen the peacock in the past couple of days, but I hope it comes back again. It gives me a little something to take my mind off of things for a little while!

Here's a picture of Addyson and China when they tried on their costumes for Halloween! Can you tell? They are both dressed as Cinderella!

Two Little Princesses!!!