Delaware Grammy

This day was truly a gift from God — wonderfully relaxing, it was, it was!  And the women’s seminar on mentoring with Goldie Fretz this weekend is causing me to do great pondering! 

The emphasis tonight was a quote from Howard Hendricks:

“You cannot impart what you do not possess.”

Ah-h-h-h-h  Blissful Friday!

No School, so Youngest Daughter can sit with her ankle up when she needs to!

And there are no appointments, so I can mostly stay home!

And it is a beautiful day, so I hope to put some sheets on the clothesline to flap in the wind.

And maybe even pay some bills and do some house work.

Oh, and there is some friendship bread that needs baking.

(Seriously, if anyone wants some, today is the day to get it!)

I wonder what God has in store for this day!

This week has held:

Monday:  Laundry all day — And a lost insurance card for a vehicle that needed to go through inspection.  That wouldn’t have been so bad, but at the very same time a notice of suspension of licence (for an offspringin’) came from the bureau of motor vehicles for a fine that hadn’t been recorded as paid.  There was frantic searching, as CMW was sure that the fine had been paid, but she could find neither record nor ticket nor receipt and no one would answer the telephone anywhere concerning it.  This caused a great consternation, and CMW wondered if she were losing her mind in the fracas.  Adding to that was the fact that Certain Man took it upon himself to go through drawers and cupboards and desktop looking for the insurance card, and occasionally, CMW heard the shredder going and was greatly bothered by that sound.  “Whatever was he shredding????”  However, the magical hour of 4 o’clock came and the offices that wouldn’t answer were closed, anyhow, so everything would have to wait for the next afternoon.  There was a young friend who spent the day, and then a Leadership Team Wives’ meeting in the evening.  And so that long day ended.

Tuesday:  There were two Appointments for Our Nettie Girl — one in Seaford and one in Lewes.  And inbetween a visit to McDonalds that left CMW very, very sick for 24 hours.  She came home from the last appointment, called the out of state bureau that was asking for the license suspension, and found out that there had been a clerical error — the fine had been paid.  They faxed proof of it to the home fax machine, Certain Man took it to the right people and got that straightened out.  He also procured a new insurance card and got his dilapidated old pickup through inspection for another two years.  (Thank you, LORD!) CMW was quite aware through all these proceedings that she was feeling worse and worse, and finally took herself to the upper lair and threw up and went to bed before 5 pm. (This has to be almost a first.  She cannot ever remember a time of doing such an unheard of thing!) and stayed there until 6am the next morning (except for numerous fast trips to the restroom). Sometime after CMW went to bed, Youngest Daughter was out running, stepped off the pavement, turned her ankle and howled loudly until Middle Daughter heard her clear up in her bedroom and called for the assistance of Certain Man.  Certain Man assessed the situation, threw her over his shoulder and carried her into the house.  She was plunked on the La-Z-y Boy and assessed by her (almost nurse) sister and made comfortable for the night with ice and anti-inflammatory meds and her foot up.  Which is where Certain Man’s Wife found her the next morning.

Wednesday:  After an appraisal of the situation Certain Man’s Wife decided that Youngest Daughter really needed to get that ankle checked out.  So after the ladies were off and CMW had managed to sleepily get herself around, it was off the the emergency room.  And after a surprisingly short stay of only about an hour and a half, they were on their way again with an air cast and crutches and instructions not to put any weight on it for a week.  “A sprain,”  they said, “That’s all.”  CMW came home gratefully to her chair.  Her tummy still didn’t feel so great, and she was so sleepy.  Around 4:30, she realized that if she didn’t get the house straightened out for small group, it wouldn’t get done, so she bestirred herself and hustled about as fast as she could.  She motivated some helping hands and everything got ready in time.  Small group was well attended, and people went home in a timely fashion and so, looking blearily at the clock, she headed for bed by 10:30.

Thursday:  That would be today!   This is the regular Bible Study morning, but CMW had a mandatory medicine class at Stockley Center.  So while the girls met here, and went over their lesson, and settled the squabbles and heard about funerals for dead cats that had been found, CMW found herself in the medications class.  To be honest, it was the most enjoyable one she has been to for many a year, and the 104% on the test at the end of it was indicative of how many times she has had to take this material.  It got over early and she came on home — to find that the cord on her fax/scanner/printer had shorted out for good this time.  So she hopped into her car, took it to Radio Shack for replacing and found that it couldn’t be done.  It had to be ordered.  Maybe back ordered.  (BAD, BAD RADIO SHACK!!!  Why is CMW so loyal to you???)  While standing in line at Radio Shack, her cell phone rang and it was Youngest Daughter, asking for a ride home because she was so exceedingly weary after being in school all day with her crutches.  So CMW flew to the Center to pick up Our Nettie Girl, then drove to Greenwood to pick up poor crippled Youngest Daughter, and finally came home again to the house on Shawnee Road that really is her favorite.

And that is where she wants to stay for a while.  Hopefully all day Friday!

When days go wrong,
(as they sometimes do!)
And life is hard
(as it sometimes is!)
And the hurts in the hearts
of people I have chosen to love
Seem more unfair the longer I think about it
Then strangely, to my soul
Comes an ache, a longing, a homesickness.
I need to talk to my Dad.

I have a sweet Mama.
An understanding husband
Sympathetic daughters
Tender Sons.
Wonderful Siblings
Incredible friends.

But they aren’t Daddy.

(I wonder what he’d say to comfort me tonight.)

The 83º weather earlier today made me antsy to get outside to do some yard work.
So, after Bible Study was over and several other diversions, I ventured forth.
The weather had changed rapidly.  A strong wind from the north east had knocked
out a window candle and brought a rapid change in the temperature. 
As of this evening the temperature is a chilly 46.4 º.

Remember my barrel from last spring?

The tulips from last year had been planted at various and sundry places around Shady Acres, (They are actually coming up profusely this spring) and summer flowers had been planted and carefully tended in the barrel.  In the fall, the flowers had been pulled out and the barrel has lain dormant over the winter.  A few days ago, I noticed two volunteer tulips coming up, and it reminded me that I had a bag of tulips in the pump room, waiting for planting. 

So, out I went into the wind and chill and planted those 100 tulip bulbs (using the barrel and four other containers.)  Now it is time to wait for what might happen.   At least with the promised rain tonight, they will get a good watering for starters, and I will let you all know how this turns out.

On another note, I saw the doctor this week in regards to the trouble I have been having with a lame arm.  You see, it happened like this:

The right arm of Certain Man’s Wife gets used for a great many things — stirring soup, kneading and shaping bread loaves, scrubbing counters, clicking the mouse on the computer, and stuff she doesn’t even think about until something complains.  It literally is a “right hand helper”  (duh!)

About two weeks ago, there was this very nice pen that wasn’t co-operating.  It hadn’t co-operated for a while, and for some reason, CMW was constantly picking it up in time of need, and it would not even budge into a writing position.  It was stuck in the retracted position.  (CMW was of the opinion that this may have started when she used a pen to unstick the opening in a tube of super glue one day when she wasn’t thinking about possible consequences to the pen, but this story isn’t about that incident, so why bring that up?)  The problem was, there was nothing visibly wrong with the pen.  It looked like it had ample ink, and it was otherwise in great condition.  So every time CMW picked it up (usually when there was a very important person on the other end of the telephone line instructing her to make a note of something) it caused her great frustration when she realized that once again, she had picked up THAT PEN.

In a moment of brilliant inspiration, she decided that she would either fix or break that pen.  There was a magazine lying on the cupboard and she seized that pen in a death grip and brought it top down upon the magazine with great force, causing the plunger to go crashing down, forcing the writing end into position.  This was good.  Except it looked a bit like it might be stuck now into the out position.  Investigation proved this to be so.  So, CMW upended that offensive pen and brought it down “CRASH!!!” on the magazine again, and the writing end went back inside. 

Almost immediately, there started this annoying pain radiating from her elbow down towards her wrist.  It really didn’t register until she went to lift something and then there was this alarming pain, and a decided inability to perform the task.  Also, a strange sounding clunking noise somewhere inside the elbow when the lower arm was moved in a particular direction.Over the next couple of days there were varying degrees of discomfort — some rather in the “excruciating” range at times, so it was decided to pay a visit to Dr. Rowe’s office and have a consult with Fred, the engaging PA employed there.

Sometimes it is comforting to have a medical person come in, ask about four pointed questions and come to a diagnosis in less than five minutes.  “You’ve got yourself a good case of tendonitis.” he announced cheerily.  And he explained how it happened and what all was involved in the inflammation.  “You need to get a brace to go just below your elbow, use heat on it, do some range of motion exercises in a gentle sort of way, and just be patient.  It will take up to five or six weeks to get all better.  And you need to exercise a little caution in using it.”  He did an X-ray for good measure, and it showed no chipped or broken bones, no dislocation, no large cancerous tumors growing there, and so he said there was nothing to really do about it except to come back in six weeks.

Oh, dear.  This has to be punishment meted out upon Certain Man’s Wife.  You see, back when she and Certain Man were planning their wedding in 1973, CMW’s Sweet Mama took it upon herself to repaint most of the inside of the old farmhouse on Greenwood Road.  (Just the thought of such a daunting task causes CMW’s courage to fail, but then, Sweet Mama was only 44 years young at the time — as opposed to CMW’s current 53 years OLD–It makes a difference!!!) The resulting beauty to the old farmhouse was pretty incredible, but the resulting tendonitis in Sweet Mama’s elbow was so bad that she could not shake hands with her right hand at the wedding.  In some indirect way, CMW has always felt responsible for that.  So, now it has come home to roost, causing a great deal of sympathy for her Sweet Mama all those many years ago. 

Middle Daughter had better be getting ready for a crash course in bread baking. 

And bring on the Ben Gay, Heating pad and Arthritis medicine . . . CMW needs it all. 

They set the stone that marks my Daddy’s grave today.
I traced his name —  and wiped the tears away
And thought about the days that just keep marching on
And wondered if the time will come when tears are gone . . .

When my days are full

Of the many demands

That are justly mine.

And my heart feels empty of good and true

And full of the ugly and the lies of our time-

Lord Jesus, hold my hand steady.

And when my “cup” is jiggled,

Make me remember that

What spills out in those unexpected trials

Is what I have chosen to already put there.

It isn’t what others do, or say, or think

That makes me do or say or think.

It’s those same old choices,

Coming out of that same old nature

Spilling across the pages of my days

Leaving their colors there.

Ah, my Heavenly Father

May the love of your Sweet Son, Jesus

Fill this heart of mine in ways that overflow

In Living Water, so that what “gets spilled”

Is only more of You.

It has been a week of interesting challenges.

Our Nettie-girl has enjoyed some months of relative tranquility.  But about a month ago, she started to show signs of agitation and depression.  I tried numerous tactics to divert attention, improve the mood, speak hope and finally, requested consultation.  This resulted in a medication change which certainly holds promise but did very little for the immediate behavior.  There have been days when I have prayed fervently that my Heavenly Father would gift me with wisdom way beyond myself, for we do believe that He brought Nettie to us and that He wants to bring her to stability and peace.  God has been merciful to us all.  (Of course, crashing in on the end of this week was full moon.  I am thankful that things are no worse.  I am hopeful for better days.)

And then, at the beginning of the week, Cecilia came down with bronchitis.  Her doctor agreed to see her first thing Monday morning, and got her started on antibiotics.  On Wednesday, she was coughing as much as ever, and she was still running a temp.  So we had a medication change and added a cough syrup.  And she has slowly improved as far as her illness.  She has developed some interesting behaviors that appear to be designed to make me sigh.  (Why would someone who is coughing alot already want to run her feeding spoon down her throat until she almost throws up????)  Sigh.

And this week was Science Fair.  Enough said.

And Beloved Son in Law was gone this week for a training class.  The nice side of this was that we got to see a whole lot more of Eldest Daughter.  That bad, bad side was that we all miss him intensely when he is gone.

And this was the week that we refilled our chicken houses with baby chicks.  Certain Man has worked himself silly.

I’ve been pondering alot this week about how our hearts respond when there are things that are not in our plans.  There have been moments of glory this week that have left me breathless with wonder and amazement at God’s incredible gifts to us.

Right now, outside the sliding glass doors that lead to my deck, to the East, there is a phenomenal Lunar Eclipse.  Certain Man made sure I knew.

I spent precious hours with my Sweet Mama and with my Bible Study Girls and with a new friend and with my daughters and my incredible husband.

I prayed for my far-away sons and thought about their hearts, and about the men they are becoming and missed them intensely and was comforted by the knowledge that, though they are out of my sight, they are not beyond the reach of my prayers.

I listened to my Youngest Brother tell of a recent dream he had about my Daddy, and it felt like I had word from Heaven, somehow, and it made me cry, and it made me laugh and it made me think about the eternal and how very much we have to look forward to.  I thought of my Friend, Ethel, and about how that what was once “through a glass darkly, is now FACE TO FACE”.  And I wondered what she would say to me if she could talk to me now.

I’ve been so blessed this week by a poem that I found in the November/December Discipleship Journal and for those of you who are still with me, I want to share it with you.

A PSALM OF WANDERING
by Joseph Bayly

Lord, You know
I’m such a stupid sheep.
I worry
about all sorts of things
whether I’ll find grazing land
still cool water
a fold at night
in which I can feel safe.
I don’t.
I only find troubles
want
loss.

I turn aside from You
to plan my rebel way.
I go astray.
I follow other shepherds
even other stupid sheep.
Then when I end up
on some dark mountain
cliffs before
wild animals behind
I start to bleat
Shepherd Shepherd
find me
save me
or I die.
And you do.

Ah, yes, my friends.  He does!  He does!

What a gorgeous, windy, sunny, sheet-drying day this turned out to be!  I almost can believe that spring will actually come!  Certain Man spent time out in his garden today, “evaluating” and I saw the green sprigs of tulips on the front side of my barbecue pit.  I am anxious for some nice warm days.