Try, try, try again - - -

Last night I began to type and something in my computer bumped me off and everything was lost. I'm trying again even though I've already been bumped once with this try. Computers are great when everything is working properly and really frustrating when something is amiss in the system.

We are on the other side of the bad weather, trying to decide if warnings of more snow should be taken seriously. Our city/county schools have been out since last Friday and are finally going back tomorrow. City streets, for the most part are good, but the smaller back roads have been slow melting and the buses haven't been able to run. Two melting snowmen remain in our back yard, three other small ones having melted earlier in the week. The grandchildren had a great time in the snow and having no school.

The best news we have is that Tom is coming home Friday. There are pros and cons: he isn't as strong as he needs to be, but we think he may eat better at home. Tommy and I plan to pull out all the stops and feed him whatever he wants beginning with homemade biscuits and cane syrup this weekend. His balance isn't good and he needs practice walking, but he won't get that until he's home. He is not allowed to walk at the nursing home without the assistance of a therapist and has to ask for a CNA to help him any time he stands or transfers from the chair to the bed. I've always heard that "practice makes perfect" and know his walking won't improve until he does it more and more. Even the staff saw and commented on the difference in him when his medication was changed back to the original dosage. We are all excited about his coming home and pray that he will be safe and be in a continued state of improvement!

The time between December 22 when he entered the hospital with pneumonia and today when we are finalizing plans to bring him home has been fuzzy. I think some days I operated on auto-pilot, wondering, yet knowing where I'd get the energy to get through the day. There were days I feared we were facing the end of his life and then that day when I had to let go and release him to God. What a freeing experience! I didn't quit advocating for him or his particular needs, but I quit fretting and worrying about all the human elements involved. I've learned a lot. My trust in God has grown. I am not dwelling on tomorrow or how I'll handle it; I am living today with the assurance that I am not the one in control. I have learned to let Tom live with what he has just as I learned a long time ago to live with what I have--and not die from it. Together we will live, glorify God and enjoy Him forever. That's what life is about.

Blessings,
Pastor Margaret