Time To Move On!

Mom is being released today to return to the skilled care unit at Heritage Pointe in Warren!  We are sure praising the Lord for His care of her this week.  Today has been a much better day than yesterday.  She did great in her morning therapy, even walking almost to the end of the hallway and back.  

The highlight of the morning?  She got to take a shower!  Oh that made such a difference in how she felt.  It is amazing what will lift your spirits after a week such as this.

She has also had 3 grandchildren and a great-grandson here to see her today and that is always a sure bet to make her smile from ear to ear. I feel so sorry for those who are in the hospital and don't have family to brighten their day.  Mom adores all of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and has sure spoiled them over the years!

Her care here at Lutheran Hospital has been exemplary.  Each nurse has really shown love and concern for her well-being and her Dr. has a great bedside manner.    I am thankful that we live in a country where we have access to modern hospitals that are staffed with people who are second to none.

We just can't thank everyone enough for their love and prayers for Mom this week.  I sat with her yesterday and read everyone's comments to her from Facebook and she was just overwhelmed.  She has touched so many people's lives over her 87 years, and it is wonderful to see others reaching out and touching her in such a powerful way at this time.  We are blessed :-)

Clarification!

Do you know what it is like when you either speak or write something, and you know what you mean...but it doesn't get conveyed in the correct way?  Well that is what happened in my post yesterday concerning Alberta.  I in no way wanted to insinuate that she hasn't taken any pain medicine since her surgery because she has!  It did take some work at first to get her to understand that she would need to take the medicine.  Even though she has been in a lot of knee pain this past year, she has only taken one Tylenol.  

So as long as the pain medicine was in her system from surgery on Monday, she thought she could do without.  But those of us who have had surgeries and knew a little of what was to come, explained to her that those medicines would wear off and so she needed to be proactive in curbing some of the pain.  She consented and has taken things to help her through this time.

Today is a new day.  They warned us yesterday that today's pain would probably be worse, and I'm guessing Mom would agree with that statement at this time.  She just told me that, in the future, she will have much more empathy for people going through times of recovery.  This is a whole new experience for her and she is learning a new definition of leaning on the Lord for His strength and comfort through each hour of the day.

I just can't thank all of you enough for your concern, thoughts and prayers.  How wonderful it is to know that there are those who care enough about Mom to make sure she is getting the pain relief she needs.  Taking the time to share your concerns with me was so thoughtful and I just can't thank you enough.  God is so good and He is Mom's rock and we are confident that HE will see her through this detour in her life!

She's UP!!

And she's off and running!  Well ok..she may not be running but she is doing great and amazing the physical therapists already.  This is my 87 year old mother-in-law, Alberta and she just had knee replacement surgery yesterday.  

This woman has more determination in her little finger than I have in my whole body.  She can already get her knee to 78 degrees (I think that's what they called it!) which the therapist said was really good.  She is walking to and from the bathroom and took a short walk in the hall this morning and is now resting before another therapy session this afternoon.

Her pain meds from surgery were all worn off by this morning and she realized how much pain her new knee could cause her.  But with a gutsy look, she did what was asked of her and said, "Well I knew it was going to hurt, but I also know it will get better."  Yes she has strength that makes me marvel.

I have to be honest, watching her makes me ashamed of how I have whined at times because of where my journey has led me.  Instead of facing adversities with strength and courage and knowing that the days may be rough, but also knowing things would get better, I have wallowed in my time of distress.  As I've listened to the  nurses and therapists comment today on Mom's positive attitude and the inner strength she exudes, I've realized what an impact our attitude choices can have on those around us.  People are watching and listening and we have an opportunity every day to shine God's light with each of our steps. Even if we are at a place we don't want to be...we can still let others see Him in us!

MMM - Monday Morning Memo

I’ve been seeing a lot of posts on Facebook recently about people being all excited because they were going to camp.  Some included pictures of kids on their way to camp and some were of adults who were giving of their precious time to be counselors.

So not to be outdone, I decided last week that I would also go to camp.  Now, anyone that really knows me well would probably be quite shocked at my decision.  The reason for that is that I am not a camper nor would I make a good camp counselor.  I think everyone needs to know their strengths and weaknesses and trust me on this…this girl is not gifted in this area.  Just hearing the word “camp” or even worse the word “camping” makes my stomach hurt a little bit….ok it makes it hurt a lot.  My idea of camping is a nice hotel with indoor plumbing :-)

Maybe at this point I need to clarify what kind of camp I attended last week.  It was called “Joint Camp”.  Now I’m sure you are all feeling just a little jealous right now but I’m confident you will get over it.  If you read my post entitled, “Bitter or Better” (July 15th) you know that my 87-year-old mother-in-law is having knee replacement surgery today.  One of the “joys” of having this done is the opportunity to attend Joint Camp.

I’ll be honest, I probably could have listed 100 things I would have rather been doing than attend this camp.  My idea of fun didn’t include spending three hours in the orthopedic hospital waiting for the medical staff to give us details of what was to come.  But as most things are in life, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be.  Each segment was very organized and informative.  In fact I walked out feeling like I had information overload!

Why is it that we are willing to do what we have to do to be informed and prepared for a surgery…but often resist spending the time to learn what God has prepared for us?  We may not be thrilled to spend time at Joint Camp, but we do it because we know it will be best for us in the long run.  We are willing to sacrifice our time and money to be healthier physically.  But even though we know spending time in God’s Word will also be best for us in the long run…making us spiritually healthier… we come up with every excuse under the sun as to why we just don’t have time to make it a priority.

Are you willing to do whatever it takes to be prepared for what God has in store for you?  I’m confident it will be well worth your time as you study His Word and allow His Spirit to fill you to the brim.  I don’t know about you, but I’m just glad that I don’t have to go away to camp to hear His voice!

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:2

It's Harvest Time!

Harvest season is in full swing at the Fulton’s!  Lettuce and asparagus have been coming on strong for quite awhile in our garden and now we are picking green beans, peaches and zucchini.

I feel so blessed to be able to have this fresh produce.  There just isn’t anything much better than picking green beans and then fixing them right away for dinner.  Cooking them until they just begin to soften and then stirring in some butter and salt and you have a mouth-watering healthy addition to any meal!

The peaches are always much anticipated by me.  Since I am allergic to the chemicals that many fruits are sprayed with, I am unable to eat any peaches from the store.  I can’t even be close to them or touch them because they immediately cause a pretty major reaction.  So having our own peaches that we know aren’t covered in pesticides is a real treat for me.  We put up over 200 lbs of peaches last year and it was wonderful to have them all winter long.

Zucchini is probably one of the easiest things to grow in our garden and is so versatile.  We love to stir-fry it along with yellow squash for a tasty vegetable.  I also use it to make zucchini pie (tastes very similar to sugar cream pie) and then probably our all time favorite is zucchini bread fresh out of the oven. 

There is something so calming about working out in our garden.  Yes it can be a lot of work, but it is work that allows us to see and enjoy the bounty of our labor.  If you have never tried your hand at gardening…I recommend giving it a try next year.  Start with just a small patch with a few plants and you just might be amazed at how green your thumb is.  If you don’t have any land to use, container gardening can be quite successful too.  You know what they say; “Where there’s a will there’s a way”.  Start planning now so that this time next year you will be enjoying your harvest too!

His Purpose Will Stand!

I want to thank you for the outpouring of support that I received from my post yesterday.  It refreshed my soul to be reminded that there are others who are seeing the need for Christians to return to following Him each and every day.

In my reading today I came across Proverbs 19:21 (ESV).  It says, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.”  I felt like standing up and cheering as I read these words!  The disturbing things that we are seeing today are the plans of men and women who have a very deep void in their life and they are trying to fill that hole with worldly things.  Many of their plans are meant to destroy Christianity and the Biblical principles that have been set before us.  But we know that no matter what plans are devised to bring destruction, IT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE LORD THAT WILL STAND!!

Our job then is to make sure that the void in our life is completely

filled with God.  The world is watching us and if our life doesn’t demonstrate the hope we have in Him, why would they want what we have?  Romans 15:13 tells us, “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”  Only when we are filled to the brim and overflowing with His Spirit will we be able to keep our focus on Him and our feet firmly planted in His Word.  Only then will others see His image reflected in us.

If you feel like you are getting sucked into the world with all of it’s destruction… and joy and peace can’t be found…check to see what or whom is filling the void in your life.  No matter what else you try to cram into the empty hole of despair, it will fall short of giving you hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.  He alone is worthy of our devotion and we have the assurance that His purpose will stand!

Spiraling Downward

I didn’t sleep much last night.  My heart was so heavy that resting just seemed impossible.

I feel like the world is on a high speed roller coaster and we are all in the cars going down the track in anticipation of that moment when the cars suddenly start going back up…but that moment never arrives.  It is a ride where the track just keeps spiraling downward and we know that at some point we have to crash and life, as we know it, will be over. 

It is so easy to point fingers these days.  Blaming the court system for condoning same sex marriage and viewing videos of very sick individuals glibly talking about “crunching” babies…comes rather easily for most of us.  But that wasn’t what was on my mind.  What kept rumbling through my thoughts was the fact that this downward spiral began a very long time ago and we as Christians have let it happen. 

How did we allow all of this to happen?  By looking the other way…one compromise at a time.  Oh, each situation seemed rather harmless…none of them seemed to be that big of a deal.  But Satan knew that he could have the biggest impact by just slipping small things into our daily life that would someday lead us to where we are today. 

Some of our daily decisions have included:

*Deciding that PG movies really aren’t that bad…which led us to believe that R rated movies were ok because we were strong enough to handle the bad parts…which led to X rated movies or better yet thinking internet porn was ok because it was done in the confines of our home.

*Allowing TV shows to fill our minds that at first just slipped in a cuss word once in awhile.  That of course led to shows where many of the words were vulgar and so when sex was thrown into the dialogue and scenes, we just shook our heads but kept watching.  Then when the content began including people of the same sex living together and showing physical affection…we didn’t turn the station because even though we knew it was wrong…we stayed glued to the screen because it made us laugh.

*We taught our children that it was important to be in church on Sundays, unless of course there was a ballgame we needed to be at or a lake cottage that was calling our name.  There wasn’t anything wrong with these activities, but when we showed our kids that these events were more important than being in God’s house, our spiraling picked up speed.

*We agreed that it was ok to change the rules on our kids’ sports teams so that all the kids get a trophy; that way everyone is a winner and no one has to feel bad.  This has shown our kids that whatever we do should always make us feel good and make us happy.

*Our churches have decided to lower the standards for those in leadership because we haven’t wanted to step on anyone’s toes and make them feel bad.  Plus we figured that if we lowered the bar, we could find more people to fill open positions on our boards.

*Many of our Pastors have chosen to just preach “feel good” sermons…touting happiness and wealth for those who choose God.  Heaven forbid if hell was mentioned or social issues were addressed…because that wouldn’t make the listeners feel good.

*Christian couples have decided that premarital sex and living together is ok since they planned to marry someday anyway.

*Christians have wanted things to change in our country, but have been too busy to vote at election time.

And unfortunately, my list could continue.  I think we need to remember at a time like this, that as we point a finger, there are many pointing back at us.  It is time for us as Christians to fall on our knees, asking for God to forgive us of those times when our focus has gone astray and we have refused to follow the Biblical principles that have been set before us. 

Each day we face choices and make decisions that will either make us look more like Christ, or make Satan applaud as we experience spiritual death… one compromise at a time.  We may not be able to stop the hideous acts of others, but we can stop our own sinful actions.  The choice is ours to make.