It is Woman to Woman time. If you would like to participate please run on over to Seeds From My Garden and let Morning glory know you want to get in on the fun. Here is our topic for the day:
This topic will be particularly relevant to today's young mothers. There is such a variety of baby products available in stores that it can be overwhelming. Add to that the pressure you often feel from your peers to have the latest and greatest of baby equipment. Add to that still the bombardment of products that promise to make your baby smarter, faster. When you want to be hip AND have those things that make mommying a little easier, how do you keep from breaking the budget?
For those women who are past the child-raising stage, do you have difficulty with these pressures in wanting to provide the "goodies" for the grandchildren? Do you see them as a hindrance towards a child's natural ability to develop? What were some ways that you were able to achieve similar benefits without all the bells and whistles?"
"Having the latest baby everything..."I have thought and thought about this topic. I have tried to remember what it was like to want "the latest baby everything" when my children were born and I have tried to relate to it as a grandmother. As I was about to come to the conclusion that I really don't have much to contribute, I happened to recall a family story.This little story pretty much sums up how I have come to view the idea of needing the latest or most popular of anything. Granted, the story does not speak to such things as baby equipment, but it is an example of working with what you have, even without all the bells and whistles. My grandson, S Guy, who was five at the time, provided a real-life illustration of the concept of stepping out of the race for the latest brand name whatchamacallit-especially for children.S Guy is a very creative and innovative child. He loves to draw and make things. While he was at our home for Thanksgiving we had a piece of furniture delivered. It came in a box. S immediately asked the delivery men if he could have the box. No child has ever been prouder of any toy than he was of that box. He entertained himself for the remainder of the weekend!That box became a magnificent pirate ship. S got his dad, Kevin, to make him some swords out of cardboard. A piece of packing material became a pirate hat. He asked for something to use to "tie the boat to the dock." He and I went searching for something he could use for that. We agreed on one of Poppy's ties. Poppy was glad to donate one to the cause--He doesn't wear ties anymore and never did particularly like them!When his family got ready to leave s wanted to take his ship with him. There were TEARS when his parents told him it had to stay at Grandmama's house. I suggested that his other grandmother, who lives next door to him, might have some cardboard. He tearfully assured me, "Nanny never has cardboard!"Now, I know Nanny! First of all, girlfriend can SHOP--Something has to come in a box! More importantly, she would move heaven and earth to get cardboard for that little boy if he asked for it. But at that moment, he thought he would never see a cardboard box again. He was not a happy child as he left with this parents. I assured him the box would stay in the garage. It is still there, ready to become anything he wants it to be.Is it necessary to have all the latest and greatest? Of course not. Is it OK to have it? I think it is, if it is reasonable to do so. Do most people have it all? I doubt it. I imagine most of us have quite often used the cardboard box philosophy--make do with what you have. After all, the old cardboard box can be anything you want it to be!Here's Pirate S Guy to prove it!
Pirate BoyNote the "rope" that secures the ship to the "dock."
Pirate Boy in Hat Labels: Family, Grandchild Fun, Woman to Woman
Woman to Woman is sponsored by Morning Glory at Seeds From My Garden and Lei at My Many Colored Days. You can go to their posts to learn more about WTW. The topic for this edition is Celebrate Me!
FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS
My life has been full of variety and ever-changing phases. I have been a mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, niece, aunt, and friend. I was at one time a stay at home mom. Professionally I have been a writer, a teacher, and a principal. As a student I attended three universities. I have been the wife to a remarkable man. In all of these roles I have experienced many successes--and had a few episodes I wish I could do over!
As I approached this Woman to Woman topic, Celebrate Me, I found myself resisting the urge to explore those familiar roles and, instead, examining the latest phase of my life journey. I analyzed what I consider to be some of my personal strengths: flexibility, intelligence, caring spirit, dependability, and honesty. Finally, I decided to look beyond those characteristics. I attempted to simply answer the question so many friends have asked recently, "How do you do it?"
Who knows,
perhaps you have come
to the kingdom
for such a time as this.
Esther 4:14c (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
The last two years of my life have been a challenge. When my husband became so critically ill that we both were forced to retire, I thought that I would never really be able to meet the challenge. I was terrified and I felt unprepared and unworthy for the task. One of the things I have come to understand in this particular part of our journey is that God has been preparing me for this role all of my life. HE has mercifully given me the required emotional and spiritual strength to face each day's trials. HE has blended into me the personality traits, characteristics, and even quirks necessary to accept detours in life's journey. HE provided me with opportunities--education and life experiences--that prepared me to make difficult and unexpected decisions. Without my realizing it HE was preparing me to meet the challenge.God has been leading me spiritually my entire life. HE has stayed with me even when I was not as receptive as I should have been. HE put some remarkable people in my life to direct me in the right way. My mother, Beulah, who died when I was seven, introduced me to Jesus. I was living with my Aunt Frankie and Uncle Ed when, at the tender age of eight, I accepted Christ as my savior. My dad, Charlie, made sure that, throughout my childhood and teen years, I was in church almost every time the doors opened. My husband, Mr. L. has a deep relationship with the Lord, and has been the spiritual leader in our home. My husband's career in religious publishing has given us opportunities to meet and be touched by some Christian leaders who walk closely with the Lord. I have had the opportunity to study with some truly anointed Bible teachers.Does my relationship with all those people assure that I have a relationship with the Lord. Has our family escaped dark and troubled times. No! NO, of course not. But the foundation has always been there. There has always been a path back to the walk with Him. The struggle will always be there and Christians will experience it over and over. The enemy is going to work to lead us from that path, from that walk. Even in the trials and the emotional upheaval of the last two years I have felt the strength I need for this portion of the journey. Early in this stage I received a very definite message from the Lord. I was headed to bed late one night. My husband had been home for the hospital just a few days and, honestly, I was exhausted. As I went to bed I picked up my Bible. I was really too tired to read, but I felt led. I just opened the Bible and was struck by the passage that appeared before me. I read just what I needed to hear:2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. -- James 1:2-5 (NIV)Throughout my life, as I have faced trials and tests, the Lord has been teaching me patience and perseverance. He has been there all along, giving wisdom and teaching me as I grew. Now, in perhaps the most exacting test of all, He is still there. I call on Him daily, even hourly, for wisdom, strength, and direction. He has given abundantly. My strength comes from HIM.
Labels: About Me, Faith, Marriage, Woman to Woman
Your ways, O God, are holy.
What god is so great as our God?
You are the God who performs miracles;
You display your power among the peoples.
--Psalm 77:13-14
Jesus performed miracles which are recorded in the New Testament. He turned water into wine, he healed people who were thought to be incurable, and he replaced a soldier’s ear when Peter cut it off. But do miracles happen today? Yes, they do. They come in different forms. Some are almost unbelievable; others seem to happen rather quietly as a part of life experiences. My family has experienced miracles.
Two years ago my husband, who has always had a neuromuscular condition and has used a wheelchair for years, became very ill. He had been seeing a pulmonologist for several months for breathing problems and sleep apnea symptoms. He was using a machine at night that assisted his breathing and provided him with an adequate supply of oxygen. However, he did not seem to be making the progress that we had hoped for. Fatigue was beginning to affect him at work and at home. I was very concerned about him.
L went back to the pulmonologist and our family doctor. They adjusted some medications, made arrangements to see him again in a month, and we went on a business trip to Chicago. It was obvious on that trip that he was not improving. Finally, after several discussions, Mr. L agreed to go back to our family doctor for consultation on what we should do next.
We never made it to the doctor’s office. When L called and asked for an appointment and told the nurse some of his newest symptoms, she had the doctor call him back. Our doctor, who we had been seeing for more than twenty years, told him that he wanted to admit L to the hospital and start some tests, He sent us to the emergency room for an expedited admission.
On the way to the hospital Mr. L called his office to let them know he would not be in that day. He never went to the office again. After three hours in the emergency room, where it was evident that L. was extremely ill, he was admitted to the hospital and was sent to the ICU.
L had respiratory failure four days after entering the hospital. He was placed on a ventilator and had a feeding tube put in his stomach. He went through several life threatening conditions including sepsis and a coagulation problem (DIC). When health care professionals hear that he had DIC they invariably question us about it because they have a hard time believing he survived. He developed ICU psychosis that caused him to hallucinate and be anxious and fearful. It was the worst time of our lives.
After a month in ICU we moved to a rehab facility for six weeks. The doctors had hoped that L could be weaned from the ventilator for at least a portion of the day. That was not to be. L had entered the hospital on June 29—the day after our thirty-sixth anniversary. He came home on September 8 on a ventilator and with a feeding tube, with great fatigue and a low-grade lung infection. Our life had definitely changed.
Gone were the trips we had enjoyed—We had traveled to Europe, Israel, Canada, the Caribbean, Turkey, and many places in the US. We left jobs we had loved and knew that God had led us to. L retired officially on December 1 that year. I followed—after taking the many sick leave days I had accumulated—on June 30 the next year. We changed our lives, schedules, habits, and routines.
During the time since we have been home we have returned to the hospital for trach changes, feeding tube changes, and one minor surgical procedure. Until this past February L did not spend a night away from home. At that time he returned to ICU for two weeks after his trach tube became plugged and we were unable clear it. Actually his heart stopped at that time and the emergency room doctor preformed CPR. Although L had not intended for that procedure to happen, we are glad the doctor didn’t take time to find that out and my husband is still with us.
We have been at home for almost two years now. Our children have been wonderful through the whole time. Our sons—and their wives—have shared every aspect of this journey with us from the first day. The son who lives near us is “ on call” at all times and has never hesitated to drop what he might be doing and come if we need him. Our younger son lives eighty miles away and has made frequent trips to be with us. They were both at the hospital when L had respiratory failure and they have been with me for every important decision. As a matter of fact, they both left work early today to come help me make some decisions about care in the future.
As you have read you may have been thinking, “So, alright, Myrna, we understand. Your husband was very ill, he did not get well, your life changed drastically, and you both had to retire before you planned to. Where is the miracle!”?
The miracles are all around us. Some of what we call miracles are really probably blessings—sort of the product of the miracles. For miracles and blessings we continually thank God for His presence in our lives. Throughout this whole journey we have been aware that He is with us and has not left us. We expect there will be other miracles and blessings. There will also surely be additional difficult times before our journey ends. Some of the miracles and blessings we have experienced include:
• Our love grows daily through very trying times.
• L survived extremely life threatening disease and physical problems which, according to the doctors, he would not survive.
• Our family has grown closer and more dependent on God.
• We have been given ”bonus” time for loving each other.
• L has found a new ministry in which to work. He writes radio scripts,as a volunteer, for a ministry that sends the gospel by radio and the internet throughout Asia.
• L had the time and energy to work on a book about the remarkable way God has blessed his life.
• We continue to be blessed by friends and family who love us and care for us.
• Although we did not consider ourselves to be quite ready financially for retirement, we have been amazed and grateful for the way God has provided for us.
Thank you, Lord! Thank you for displaying your power in our lives!
Labels: Family, Precious Husband, Woman to Woman
