Caregiving-Isn't There Something They Can Do? (10/12/2017)

My mom has experienced chronic urinary tract infections for the past two years. At last count, there have been18 infections, three of them landing her in the hospital, two them landing her in a short-term care facility for 5 weeks or longer.

We've been given every piece of advice you can think of concerning bladder infections in the elderly. And we've tried most of it, at least once. Advice comes from doctors, nurses, physical therapists, coworkers, family, friends, strangers. Yet, we continue on this journey.

Every time we take her in for another infection, this phrase echoes from those around us "Isn't there something they can do about this?" Sometimes the question comes out of concern for my mom and what she goes through. Sometimes the question comes out of inconvenience being caused to the other person. Sometimes the question comes out of concern for her caregivers. Sometimes the question comes out of disappointment over interrupted plans. Always, the question makes the caregivers feel like they are not doing enough.

Some things in life don't have definitive answers (not to us anyway--God knows the answers and He can be trusted). Some things in life are part of a natural process (in this case, aging). That can be hard to accept in this modern era of instant everything. We don't even ponder questions any longer. If an answer has not been blurted out in less than a minute, then we all reach for some type of electronic device that we can query for a quick answer.

I suggest to you that we might be asking the wrong question. Instead of "Isn't there anything they can do about this?" practical and loving questions would be "What can I do for you and your family that would provide some comfort? What would relieve you in this situation? How can I pray for you?" These questions (followed by action) will relieve the caregivers and the one in pain. These are answerable questions for us.

Caregiving-Calm for the Troubled Soul (10/11/2017)

This has been a hard week for me in terms of caregiving. Mama has been ill. Her memory has been poor. We thought she had another UTI, but she didn't. This got me to thinking such thoughts as "What if her mind is failing? What is the future going to hold? How do I make the right decisions to help her and to help my dad?" It feels too big for me, too many unanswered questions. I feel like I don't have enough resources. I don't know the answers.

I've been reading in Matthew this week, and this morning I came to this passage about Jesus in Matthew 8.

23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” Matthew 8:23-27


Even the winds and waves obey Him. I said to myself. He knows everything. He made everything. O you of little faith, what is there to fear? And with that, there was a great calm in the storm of my troubled soul. 

Cookie Baking Night 10/09/17

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Allison, Rylar, and Enzo. Tonight we decorated sugar cookies in the shape of fall leaves. Clara made the cookies for us on Saturday. Tonight, we made the frosting, colored it, and frosted the cookies.

Clara's cookie adventure from the weekend. 

Side note: My mom, Clara, has a lot of physical difficulties these days. Walking is particularly challenging for her. But she has always been a hard worker, so we give her all the jobs that can be done with one's hands, and she loves it. There is no stage in life that God cannot use you. 

Fast forward to tonight and enter the cookie decorators. 

First, we spent a little time admiring the beautiful maple tree in the front yard. It is in full color right now. 

Then, we tried on the aprons Aunt Katrina bought for us that are just our size complete with pictures of Mickey Mouse, Cars, and Frozen characters. 

Next, we made the frosting for our cookies and colored it with fall colors. 

Now, it's time to decorate. 

Beautiful!

Tonight, for Bible time, we returned to our old favorite, Leading Little Ones to God, by Marian Schoolland. I've yet to find a book that does a better job teaching the whole of Scripture on a child's level without dumbing it down. Tonight we started over with lesson 1 titled "Our Hearts Ask for God". We also read Psalm 105:1-4 together: 

Oh, give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name;

make known his deeds among the peoples!

Sing to him, sing praises to him;

tell of all his woundrous works!

Glory in his holy name

let the heart of those who seek the LORD rejoice!

Seek the LORD and his strength;

seek his presence continually!

We finished the evening with a rolicking game of Mickey Mouse Uno. 

As usual, a fun time was had by all!

Cookie Baking Night 09/25/17

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Allison, Rylar, and Enzo.

Tonight we made pumpkin bars. 

Uncle Greg came home just as we were finishing up our Bible time. We were all eager to see him. 

Tonight we finished our book God's Names by Sally Michael. 

We reviewed all the names of God that we learned: 

Elohim: Strong Creator

Yahweh: Self-Existent, Unchanging

El Shaddai: God Almighty

El Elyon: The Most High

El Kana: Jealous God

Jehovah El Emeth: The LORD God of Truth

Adoni: Lord

El Roi: The God Who Sees

Jehovah Shammah: The LORD is There

A Strong Tower

Jehovah-Sabaoth: The LORD of Hosts

Jehovah-Jireh: The LORD Will Provide

Jehova-Or: The LORD is Light

Judge of the Whole Earth

Jehovah-Maginnenu: The LORE is Our Defense

Jehova-Rohi: The Lord is My Shepherd

Father

Lamb of God, Savior

Messiah, Christ

Helper

Coming King

Overcomer

The author reminded us that "God's names are more than just names. They tell us what God is like. Knowing God's names is a good way to understand who God is. And understanding who God is can help us to trust Him. But just knowing God's names doesn't make us a child of God. You can know all about God but not love Him or His commands." We read about Paul in the book of Acts. He knew about God, but it wasn't until he met Jesus and had his sins forgiven that he truly knew and worshiped God. 

It was a fitting way to end tonight's Cookie Baking Night. 

As usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Cookie Baking Night 09/11/17

Tonight was cookie baking night. In attendance this evening: Allison, Rylar, and Enzo.
Tonight was Aunt Katrina's birthday choice. For supper she chose: Tacos and fruit salad. For her cookie she chose: 7 layer bars.

Before supper, we went out to the backyard garden and everyone picked a few tomatoes to go with our tacos. 

Uncle Greg was able to join us tonight. We love him so much. 

First thing we had to do was scrape the frosting off of the chocolate cookies to make the crust for our 7 layer bars. 

Allison took a very orderly approach to this job. 

Once we crushed up the cookies to make a crust, we added coconut, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, mixed nuts, and sweetened condensed milk. Yum!

It was too nice of a night not to enjoy a walk.

Okay, can I hear a collective "Awww" for this scene. 

Treats and smiles all around. 

As usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Cookie Baking Night 08/28/17

Tonight is Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Allison, Rylar, and Enzo. Just the four of us tonight. Clara has taken ill with an infection and has been spending some time in a Rehab Center, recovering and regaining her strength. Larry is there visiting her tonight. Greg is working at the MN Fair. Ethan and Carissa are attending an open house for school. And Emily is out being a 16 year old with one week of summer vacation left. We had to cancel last Cookie Baking Night because of Clara's illness, so tonight we combined two birthday choice nights. Enzo turned 4 years old on the 15th, and Allison turned 7 years old on the 20th. For supper, Allison chose blueberry pancakes with whipped cream and strawberries, bananas, and stawberry milkshakes. Enzo chose "fishies" aka cheese fish crackers. For Allison's cookie, she chose "blueberry cookies" and Enzo chose "yellow cookies".

For the "blueberry cookie" we used sugar cookie dough and added chocolate covered blueberries to the mix. 

For the "yellow cookie" we made sugar cookies, and Enzo used yellow food coloring to turn the frosting yellow. 

For our Bible lesson tonight, we read from our old favorite "Leading Little Ones to God" by Marian Schoolland. We read lesson #52 titled God's Children are New Creatures, taken from 2 Corinthians 5:17 "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation". We talked about what it means to have a clean heart and how we can have that through Jesus Christ. 

As part of the birthday choice, we also walked to the local gas station for a treat. 

As usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Cookie Baking Night 07/31/17

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Ethan, Carissa, Allison, Rylar, and Enzo (and Larry, Clara, and Greg). Tonight was Larry's birthday choice. For supper, he chose scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, and peaches (this was probably an all-time hit for everyone as choices go). For his "cookie" he chose haystacks (aka bird nests without the eggs, aka chow mein noodles, chocolate/butterscotch, and peanut butter--Larry's favorite treat hands down).

After supper, Enzo hitched a ride to the kitchen

There is too little summer weather in Minnesota to waste it indoors. We took a walk to the local gas station for a summer time treat. 

Aww. Cousins helping cousins. 

On the way back, some walked on the brick wall, some walked on the path. 

Some danced. 

I like to call this one "graduation picture board"

It was a lovely evening and a fun Cookie Baking Night, and, as usual, a good time was had by all.