Listening for God's Voice

When I am busy, stressed out,

in pain, or in temptation,

I shall stop for just a moment,

open the door of my heart,

and listen for God's voice within me.

Things around here have been fairly quiet the past few days. Mother had a pretty bad attack last week and I had to call Hospice on Saturday evening for support. Our nurse Christy (whom we love!) was not on call, but I was able to talk to Jenny, who has also been a big help to us over these past months – especially getting Mom signed up with Hospice in the beginning. Some medication changes have been made and they seem to be helping! She has been calm the past three days and has not had any real agitation.

Saturday with the family was great! I didn’t win the pie contest – but neither did Charlie! Kaitlin won with a banana cream icebox pie. I guess it was good because the judges were certainly raving about it! Charlie, Susan and Summer were a little later arriving and the judges had already made their decision. They did taste-test Charlie’s pie but still concluded that Kaitlin was the true winner!

Aunt Nelda came out Monday and visited with Mom for a little while. They exchanged gifts – Aunt Nelda gave Mom a framed copy of a beautiful poem she had written and we gave Aunt Nelda prints of three different paintings Mom had done before she lost her sight. Aunt Nelda also gave Mom a gown and a pair of house shoes, which are a great addition to her “meager collection” of winter attire! Gerry and Pam gave her money, which we will use to get more winter gowns and robes. Jody and I also gave her a gown and two pair of house shoes. Kathy and Randy gave her two robes, which are really pretty. I had ordered three gowns and a robe, from both Bob and Jeannie and Jody and me, but have not yet received them – so much for mail order! Hopefully, they will come in this week.

Jody and Michael picked up the lift and the chair from Jane on Saturday and the chair has already proved to be a great blessing. It is a lift-chair, which raises her from a sitting position to almost standing which alleviates having to lift her from a sitting position. I am so thankful that Jane thought of us when looking for someone who could use both the chair and the lift. I’m sure the lift will be of great benefit when the time comes as well.

At this point, she is still able to support herself enough to move around the little bit that she does during the day. I don’t think it will be long before she is unable to support herself at all. She sleeps so much of the time now and has quite a bit of pain in her back. She has just recently started complaining of some chest pain, but her vital signs are still good.

When Jane called me last week about the chair and the lift, we talked about what a great blessing we feel it is to be able to care for our mothers. She was able to care for her Mother, too and just recently lost her. I know that this time I spend caring for my Mom will be a part of my life that I will never regret! I am truly blessed that God provided the way for Jody and me to have her in our home for the remainder of her life. Even though it is difficult at times and hard for me knowing that she doesn’t recognize me so much of the time, I wouldn’t want it any other way!

She and my Dad were always there for me and for my siblings. There was never a time in my life when I felt that I couldn’t go to them for help when I needed it – and knew that they would help! I love them for the life they gave me and for the many life-lessons I learned along the way.

My daughter is trying to figure out what direction is the right one for her to take both for herself and for her children. It’s so difficult to see her in the middle of such turmoil and having to decide things she never thought she would be confronted with in regard to her marriage. I pray for her daily that she will be guided by the Lord and make decisions based upon His guidance.

We are all still adjusting to the new living arrangements – it’s new for all of us. It’s going well, I think. Since I have only one son, having two young boys in the house has been a big adjustment for me. They are busy all the time – in a hurry and noise loving! They are adjusting well and learning about “inside voices” and walking in the house – saving the running and rowdiness for outside. They’ve been able to play outside the past few days, which has helped them a lot! They love being outside and it has been hard for them to be stuck inside. I love having them here and it was a lot of fun watching them Christmas morning! Children are so ready to be filled with every experience around them! The least little thing, to them, is so new and amazing! It’s a shame that some of us lose that exuberance as we get older.

Monday was a quiet day for all of us. Jody and I worked around the kitchen – he made shelves and put them up where I had decided they were needed most for additional storage space. We had planned to remodel the kitchen – putting in new cabinets – before I stopped working. Since that is on hold for a while, we are just trying to work things out so that I am able to have more storage space without putting in a lot of money. We had a microwave/range hood that we bought a while back in preparation for the new cabinets and had not been able to use all this time. We were able to figure out a way to get it into the kitchen now so that we can use it rather than just store it! I am really glad to have it up – it’s something I had been looking forward to for a long time.

I am now looking toward the year ahead and changes I can implement into my life to mold myself more into the woman God would have me be in His perfect plan. I am so richly blessed and know that without Him I am nothing! I strive daily to be better than I was the day before and am going to work on areas that I know can be more pleasing to Him.

“Do not despise…small beginnings,

for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin.”

Zechariah 4:10