Post Thanksgiving--and Black Friday

I went to Granbury on Thursday morning to be with my son, daughter-in-law and her family. We had a great time. T did all the cooking, since her mom had to work, and dad dosen't cook. A helped some but was mostly just asked to sit down and let her cook. He did. I didn't get there until about 2:30, getting a later start than I had planned in leaving SA.

Black Friday seems to always entice that group of ladies, and I was invited along, but...I have been through the mania once, and have never felt the need or inclination to repeat the process, so I stayed home with A and just rested. They were gone about 6 hours, and came in hauling bags and boxes. I guess that is fun for them. They talked about all the things they saw and showed off some of what they bought...mostly for the babies.

T's sister has a 5 month old girl who is just adorable. But my goodness, she has a temper already! It was a hoot watching her run the gamut of emotions one right after another, from squeeling and giggling, to intense concentration on something new, to squalling like a little Banshee when something didn't go her way. Mama definitely has her hands full!

It's really nice to visit there. I am so appreciative of the fact that not only are they my son's in-laws, but they also accept me right in as part of the family. I can't say how glad I am to be able to call them friends. All in all, it was a very nice holiday.

Thanksgiving

It's my favorite holiday...the only one they haven't found a way to commercialize to death. The one where we get to tell our Father how much we love Him, and thank Him for keeping us for another year. This year, I get to celebrate with my son and daughter-in-law. I haven't been with them together before, and haven't celebrated with my son in about 8 years. So I am off to Granbury for a couple of days. And the birds are on auto-pilot! Have a great Thanksgiving!

I Had the Most Fun...

...handing out coupons at our local grocery store on Saturday. Several of us stationed ourselves around the entrance of our local grocery and gave coupons good for $10 off their purchases to everyone who came in. We had advertised it in the store's flyer the week before, but it seemed that a lot of people didn't know about it. It was fun to watch people as they came through the door with a wary look on their faces, frantically searching for a way around us. They thought we were soliciting from them. When they realized we were giving rather than trying to take, the looks of astonishment were priceless.

And then there were the ones who were aware of our plan, and came just to get the coupon...like "Doc", a homeless man who got $10 worth of free food. And ones like the man who said, "You don't know how much this means!" (Those were the ones I wanted to reach.) One man took coupons and a couple of "spotters" and went to the trailer park and knocked on doors handing them out.

I went back to the store later that evening, and one of the cashieres said they couldn't remember a busier day. People were coming in all afternoon long to redeem their coupons. I remember thinking at 5 PM how full the parking lot still was. What a way to spend a day!

So Glad This Week is Over!

On Monday, we waltzed through the day. I was out on time and made it to Bible study. Tuesday was a different story. I was there for about 30 min. overtime. I don't really like overtime. I just want to be there for my 8 hours, then go home. Wednesday, I actually got off early (yeah!), taking back 45 min of my 30 min over. (Anticipation of coming attractions.) I was actually able to go home for a few minutes before church. Thursday was not good. I was there until 8 PM, got home at about 8:30 and was in bed by 9:30. Today, I think, though topped it all off. We had 34 patients. Surgeries, heart caths, colonoscopies, upper endoscopies, chemos, and an assortment of miscellaneous services that didn't necessarily need a bed, but had to have some sort of procedure (injections and port flushes fall into this catagory.) From about 1PM on, it seemed like everyone knew my name...and used it. "Jan, can you..." "Jan, will you..." " Jan, what do we need to do with..." "Jan, did you write orders for..." At one point, our unit secretary stood in the doorway of the room I was in, waiting until I finished working with a patient, obviously wanting to ask me something. While she was waiting, she suddenly turned back up toward the nursing station, and said, "She's in here, and I have dibs on her!" Okaaaay! Can I run and hide now? Maybe I'll go change my name. Nah, that wouldn't help. They'd just use whatever name I chose and go on with it. I really only had 5 pts today, but I bet I worked on at least another 7, doing something to get them ready for the next time they have to come to see us, and I probably got about that many people ready for their procedures (they don't count as having been my patient unless I take them when they come back from the procedure and keep them until either they or I go home.) I didn't finish charting until about 7 PM. I am tired. I am SO glad it is Friday. I am praying that next week has a little more sanity to it.

Sometimes My Job is Tough

Today I had a patientt who is is in the end stages of stomach cancer which has metatasized to his liver. I have been one of the nurses taking care of him on a pretty much bi-weekly basis for the better part of a year. The first line chemo drugs quit working for him about a month or so ago, and they tried a couple of rounds of the second line regimen. It did nothing. Today, he was on the unit for a blood transfusion. His blood levels were too low to allow more chemo for now. His Dr. came in and talked with the family just before I transferred him to an inpatient room. We admitted him because of his overall condition. After a lengthy talk with the family, he left. I could tell that at least one of the sons (he has family scattered all over the southwestern US) didn't really grasp what the Dr. was trying to tell them. The daughter, who has been here with her father all through this process had been unable to make them understand that their dad is terminal. So I stayed in the room after the Dr. left and repeated what he had told them in slower and somewhat simpler terms. I watched those men and their sister struggle with the knowledge they had been trying to dodge: Dad is dying. There is no cure unless a miracle occurs (the Dr's words). He may not make it through the holidays. I asked them if they believed in prayer. They all started to weep, saying yes, and yes again when I asked if we could pray for their dad. Then they asked if I would continue to pray for them. I asked if I could put him on our prayer list, and again they said yes. So, I am asking for your prayers for this man. I can't give you a name because it would be a HIPPA violation, but his initials are EP. We asked for that miracle...

One Minute Ago...

...I was reading the DeweyHafta Academy blog.

1 day ago--I drove back from Miller Ranch to be at church with my "family." I spent a goodly portion of the day there.

1 week ago--I was at work.

1 month ago--I had taken the day off so I could go spend the weekend with my son and daughter-in-law.

1 year ago--I was trying to adjust to L's being back.

3 yrs ago (2005)--I had been in Texas about 2 years, was working as a night charge nurse on OB. There was just the glimmer of the difficulty that lay ahead for L and me. My son was in Iraq, and was close to meeting his current wife.

5 yrs ago (2003)--I was living in Ohio for the first half of the year and had been working as a real estate agent, moved to San Angelo in August, started a new job going back to nursing. My son was in the Army.

7 yrs ago (2001)--I had met and married L, and was living in Ohio, working as a staff nurse in L&D/OB/NSY. My son was 19, married and was considering joining the Army.

10 yrs ago (1998)--I was living in my hometown in MD, had been working in L&D at one of our local hospitals for about 2 1/2 years. My son was 16, a typical rebellious teen and head-over-heals in love with a girl I really didn't like much.

15 yrs ago (1993)--I was newly divorced, had moved back to my hometown (much to my disgust) and had a 10 year old son to be a single parent to. I was attending college to get my RN and was working 1 night/week (the requirement to be considered for advanced standing for school.)

20 yrs ago(1988)--We were living in Ridgeland, S. Carolina. My ex-husband was active duty Navy, and I was working at Beaufort Naval Hospital as a Civil Service LVN. A was 5 and had just started K5 at a Christian school not far from where we lived.

25 yrs ago (1983)--We were living in Charleston, SC. My ex-husband had been out of the military for a couple of years, and had rejoined, going back into the medical field. A was about a year old. I was working at the Naval Hospital as a Civil Service LVN in L&D.

30 yrs ago (1978)--My ex-husband and I had rejoined the civilian world and had moved to the farm I was raised on. I was driving a rural mail route 6 days/week and he was installing garage doors. During that time, I quit the route and went back to school to get the civilian equivalent of my work in the military--LVN.

35 yrs ago (1973)--I was active duty Navy, living in Santa Ana, CA. I was single and living what I thought was the "good life." I hadn't met the Lord yet. That wouldn't happen until 1975.

40 yrs ago (1968)--I was a Sophomore in high school.

Ok, so now you know more than you ever wanted to about me. Someone else's turn.

...cont'd

Tonight Pastor finished up the series he has been doing from 1 Kings. It was on the widow of Zarephath and her son. Her dead son. The one that had been sustained for about 18 months from the empty barrell that didn't run out and the empty jar of oil that always had just enough. He said sometimes prayer isn't enough, because it can be cold, impersonal. God is waiting for us to take the dead one or thing from the one holding onto it and stretch out over it. God is waiting for a warm body to accompany those prayers. I was reminded of something the Lord told me several years ago just after we had come back to the States from Iceland, and visited the church we had attended while we lived in S. Carolina. I was so saddened and burdened for the struggle and shrinking of that little church in the time we had been gone, that I just started weeping and praying for it. God stopped me, saying, "Don't pray unless you're willing to be part of the solution." Kinda just halted me in my tracks.

I think that's where we still are. Pray, yes; but also be willing to get your hands dirty. Take that dead thing out of the person's arms and lay hands on it, calling out to the Lord. The prayer of faith will heal the sick, raise the dead, and change a life. The miracle of the meal and the oil wasn't enough to bring a full realization of God's love for her to that widow. It took the death and revival of her son to help her grasp the fact that God loved HER! We don't have to accept Satan's verdict. God is a restorer of all good things. But He often uses us to do that. What an honor He offers us, encouraging us to be part of the miracle He performs.

Stepping into Joy

I went to the SAFA retreat this weekend. It was beautiful. The weather was wonderful, the peace was overflowing, the teaching dug deep, making me think of all the ways my joy is robbed...and I let it happen. I am continually caught up in the ways the Lord seems to tie all the little lessons, teachings, preachings together into one cohesive whole. The puzzle pieces are really coming at me fast and furious this last couple of months. It is difficult to figure out just where they all go, but it is obvious that they all fit in the same picture.

Pastor has been preaching from 1 Kings 17 about dry brooks and empty barrels, and how they were actually the answer to the needs of the prophet and a widow woman, saving both their lives, in fact.

Sunday School today was about Job and the severe trial he went through, and how that trial served to show the true integrity of his heart. Imagine learning you have lost all you owned and all your children in less than say, a 10 minute span. The words that lept off the page at me as I studied were, "...and while he was still speaking..."

The sessions of teaching during the retreat were all aimed at identifying ways that Satan comes at us, stealing our joy. Remember, the joy of the Lord is our STRENGTH. My breath was just taken away as she spoke about her daughter. My heart broke for her and for the daughter who dealt with and caused such upheaval in that family. A devastating blow. "...and while he was still speaking..." I found myself thinking about Tim. I have one natural son, Timothy Aaron (Aaron) and one unofficially adopted son, Timothy Karl (Tim). He is gay. He has been so for many years. He was gay when I met him. It has been something he has struggled with, fought against, succumbed to, tried to ignore...if you were to meet him, you would think he's gay. He's married. To a woman. He's still gay. And he's still my unofficially adopted son.

I don't really agree with the idea that people are born with a sexual orientation. I think Satan has many subtle tricks and lies that we fall into, one of them being, "this is what I am, I can't fix it." But how many of us who are straight struggle with the same type of thinking? "I'm fat, that's just the way it is." "I'm just too shy to_____." "I'm not good at much of anything." "I'm not enough to keep a husband's love." But we believe the lie, and so that makes it our reality.

In this time and in this culture, we risk the chance of being sued, defamed, or physically harmed for "bashing." Unless, of course, one is a Christian. Then it's ok. Having been on the receiving end of some of the milder forms of ridicule individually, and identified with the larger body that takes some of the more severe forms of persecution, I find it hard to understand how anyone who names the name of Jesus in on breath, can with the next stereotype and slur those who don't think like we do. If I really do want to win the world, loving in spite of the warts and dirt and stink will be the path I'm called to take. It's what Jesus did with me.

I left early this morning to be able to be back to my own church for morning worship, so I didn't get to hear the last session of the retreat. I pray that the ladies who remained will be able to open their spirits up to the love and joy the Lord has for each of them. I pray that the shock of that one session will have the effect the Lord intended; that we will be skaken out of our complacency and into the world of hurting people where we can show them that there IS joy in the living when the King is on our side.

Time to Pray, Time to Fix Our Eyes on Jesus

..If you haven't been already. I am saddened by but not surprised by the results of the election. Sometimes it takes a hard knock to get our attention. I am praying that the Lord's people will get on their faces before Him and cry out for mercy, cry out for forgiveness (personal and corporate), and cry out for the man who will now inhabit the White House. God is still in control, and as one person said tonight in church, "We have to get there." when we talked about the things that are to come to pass in Revelation. Can't say I'm really looking forward to the events that lead to that, however many of them that may entail, but I am looking forward to spending eternity with my Lord. So I want to look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my faith. It will be alright.

Bein' Sneaky

I was (gently) chastised today for not posting more often (you know who you are ;D), so my question is, "Do two posts in the same day count?"

Some of you know that L and I raise, race and sell racing homing pigeons as a side business/hobby. We have done pretty well in the races in previous years, and our birds sell for reasonable amounts most of the time. We are, however, planning on selling out this year; and my goal is to be birdless by the end of 2008.

All that said, L has a fellow flyer that he has traded breeding stock with in the past, and he still has one pair of our birds. The "breeding fee" is a couple of the babies each year from the matings. L has told this friend that we are going to be letting our birds go, but the friend said he had some babies for us, and wouldn't take "no" for an answer when we said we really didn't want them. Loft space for most breeders is at a premium, and I'm sure he didn't want the extras in his loft, either. So, Wednesday night I came home at about 8:30 to find a message from the USPO stating I had birds to be picked up. I was tired, and went to bed, thinking that I would leave early Thursday morning to get them, wondering as well how I was going to manage to get to the post office and back, get the birds situated, get a shower and get back to SA to work all in the space of 90 minutes.

I forgot the birds. I went to work Thursday morning, worked all day, went grocery shopping that evening and went home. I had no more than walked into the kitchen when I thought: "BIRDS!" Too late now. So I started praying that they would be ok for another 12 hours (no water in those boxes) while they waited for morning. Still same dilemma. At 6:30 AM the phone rang. It was one of the girls from work asking if I could wait and come in at 1 PM. Yeah, that works better for me, too. At 7:15 the phone rang again. It was the lady from the PO asking if I was going to come get the birds and would it help if I was able to pick them up a little earlier than 8AM. Oh, Yeah! So I was there at 7:40 to collect them and found that they had only been in the box for 3 days. That's the normal shipping time. They had been mailed Tuesday and arrived overnight, nearly unheard of even for livestock. So the Lord heard and answered my prayer before I even knew I needed an answer, and the birds are now safe and secure in their (temporary) new home.

OMIGOSH!!!! It's NOVEMBER Already!!!

I can't believe how fast this year has gone. It seems it just started, and now we're looking at the holidays again! Maybe it's because I have a few more responsibilities that make me keep a little closer eye on the calendar. Or maybe it's because this year I will be able to celebrate at least some of those holidays with family. It's been a few years since I've had blood kin close enough to feast and frolic (?!) with. Along with the holidays, there are also a stack of birthdays lining up, beginning with my son on 11/3, my mom on 11/18, the quints on 12/16, myself on 1/17 and ending with my sister on 2/10 and L on 2/16. My new granddaughter hasn't help in that respect. She's due 2/19. They coulda spread 'em out a little bit! I guess the flip side of that is the rest of the year is relatively clear, and I don't have to worry about one of them sneaking up on me before I realize it. "Oops, sorry 'bout that" isn't quite as likely to happen. Guess I have my running shoes on, because A's card and gift are already in transit.