Unplanned Adventures

Lately it has felt like my stress level has decreased somewhat.  Maybe I'm getting used to the new normal.  It seems like I'm also sleeping a little better - more nights than not right now - which really helps.  Feeling less stressed and more rested was giving me some motivation to make up a to-do list on Friday evening.  So I sat in my relaxin' chair and wrote out a list of 6-7 jobs that I thought I could accomplish on Saturday.

Just as I finished my list and was looking forward to having a productive day, the phone rang.  Christy called to see if it would be ok if she and the kids came down on Saturday to hang out with us while Christian did some tree work for a neighbor of ours.  Since we hadn't seen them since January 1, I gladly said,  "Yes, come on down!"

I was able to get my grocery shopping done on Saturday morning before they got to our house.  Had to make sure there was plenty of food for the troops.   So what did we do all day? 

The kids did exercises with Andy.

They worked on our puzzle with us.  It's coming along.

It started snowing.  We kept ourselves busy.  I read to Claire, cozy together in my chair.

Then someone asked if s/he could take pictures with my camera.  After they left, I was entertained looking at what had been taken.  I won't tell you how many I deleted!

We had lunch together.  Then Christy decided to make some lunch for Christian and take him some water.  She and Andy drove over to take care of Christian but when they got back, they commented on how dangerous driving conditions had become.  Snow was accumulating and not melting because the temperature was so cold.  

By the time Christian finally finished his tree work and joined us, it was late afternoon.  In talking it over, they decided they couldn't drive home that day but would spend the night and drive home in the morning.  The weather forecast predicted warming during the night with the precipitation changing over to rain.  

We ordered pizza for dinner.  I called in the order two hours ahead asking for it to be delivered by 5:30.  By 6:00, the driver still hadn't arrived and we were all getting hungry.  Christian decided to shovel the walkway for the pizza guy.  While he was outside, the pizza deliverer arrived but couldn't find our driveway in all that snow and drove into our yard over a storm drain at the shoulder of the street and got stuck!  So as hungry as we all were, watching out the windows, waiting for the pizza man with growling tummies and salivating...well, we did eventually get our supper.  Another chapter in our adventure!

The family wasn't prepared for spending the night so they had to sleep in their clothes.  This was somewhat traumatic for little Claire, but she was finally ok with sleeping in one of my t-shirts.  The whole family slept in the upstairs attic room.  There's no heat up there, but we turned on two space heaters which did an adequate job.  There are two single beds and we put down five sleeping bags.  It was wall to wall people in that room.  Just another part of the adventure!

Sunday morning turned out as predicted:  the snow had changed to rain and the roads were clear.  Christian and Grace went out and cleared our driveway while Christy and I fed the kids and ourselves.

All too soon that adventure was over and they headed on home.  

Believe it or not after all that excitement, I still had a lot of energy left, so I worked on my to-do list.  Then Andy was feeling cooped up and wanted to get out, so we took a trip to Home Depot for light bulbs (I know - how exciting!), then stopped at Laurel Acres Park for a walk around the lake.  It was a beautiful day with blue skies, sun shining brightly and warmer temperatures - in the 40's!  I know that doesn't sound warm, but when you consider the last several weeks have been in the teens and twenties, 40 degrees sounds downright balmy.

  When I arrived at the office this morning, the office was all in disarray.  A frozen pipe had burst.  Apparently, an inch and a half of water had covered the floor before the cut off valve had been turned off.  Fortunately, someone had been there when it happened and was able to call in people to help move furniture, get out the shop vac, set up fans, etc.  Also fortunately, my computer, which sits on the floor, was not ruined and is working just fine.  

I guess we'll be doing some renovating in the office.

There's nothing like a little excitement to make life interesting.  Our life is not dull, that's for sure!

Birthday Week

It's been pretty cold and not too inviting for hiking.  But we are "die-hards" and so off we went on Tuesday.  We checked our brochure for a park we hadn't been to yet and chose one by the Delaware River:  Zurbrugg Riverfront Park in Delanco.  That was not one of our favorites.  It was extremely cold with a stiff wind blowing off the river right through our coats.  Brrr.  We walked briskly but didn't stay long.  I'm sure this would be a more enjoyable park in spring or summer, walking leisurely along the river.  Delaware Avenue runs along the river with a nice stretch of grass and mature trees.  Across the street are beautiful houses, some of which could be better termed "manors" with their water front views of the river.  I'm not sure we'll be back, though, because I noticed there was lots of evidence that Canadian geese frequent this park so we had to be careful where we placed our feet.

Well, we can check that one off our list...been there, done that!
 
On Wednesday morning in my devotional time, I read a section in Jesus Today by Sarah Young, that really spoke to me.  In fact, I have read it every day since then to get my emotions, thoughts and feelings turned in the right direction.

She writes as though Jesus is speaking to me, basing her writing on Scripture.  This particular reading she based on Isaiah 40:10, Romans 9:20 and Psalm 100:4-5.

     "I am calling you to live joyfully in the midst of your struggles.  You yearn for a freer, more independent way of life than you're currently experiencing.  You pray fervently - and then wait hopefully for the changes you desire.  When I don't answer your prayers according to your will, you sometimes get discouraged.  It's easy for you to feel as if you're doing something wrong - as if you're missing out on what is best for you.  When you think that way, you are forgetting a most important truth:  that I am Sovereign.  I am in control, and I am taking care of you.
     I want you to accept your dependent way of living as a gift from Me.  Moreover, I want you to receive this gift joyfully - with a glad and thankful heart.  Actually, nothing will lift you out of the doldrums faster than thanking and praising Me.  And nothing will help you enjoy My Presence more delightfully!  Enter My gates with thanksgiving and My courts with praise."

James tells us to consider it pure joy whenever you encounter various trials.  I read Lysa Terkeurst's book this week, The Best Yes, 

 
 
and I like how she expounded on this idea.

"Trials are working something good in us we can't get any other way.  We can find joy in that.
If we persevere, we will become mature, complete, and not lacking anything.  We can find joy in that.
If we lack wisdom, we should ask God and He'll give it to us as long as we don't doubt.  We can find joy in that.
Believers who are in humble circumstances are in a high position.  We can find joy in that."

 My birthday was Friday, the 13th this year.  Thankfully, I'm not superstitious, and it was a very good day.  I got lots of positive attention (who doesn't love that - ha, ha!), Andy brought me a bouquet of roses, and we went out to dinner.

Since he can't drive, it's a little harder for Andy to get me my little gifts.  But he has enlisted his dad to take him to the store for what he needs.  He even got a lovely card, too.  We had a little money left on a Christmas gift card which enabled us to go out to dinner.  

After dinner, Dawn, Kira and Kasey stopped by with pictures of Kasey for us to choose from.  Kira brought a "card" she had made me.  They also brought a giant gingerbread brownie.

We've added another activity to our list of things for Andy to do.  When Andy was first diagnosed, his mom and dad bought a book of easy crossword puzzles for him to do.  They had heard that puzzles are good for exercising the mind.  Well, Andy never did go in for word games and I doubted he would now.  I was right, the book sat on a shelf in plain sight for a while, till I couldn't stand looking at it any more.  I suggested he do one, and he honestly tried, but he was "clueless" on even one of the clues.  So I took the book and occasionally do one of the puzzles.  They are very easy, but I can't just throw the book away!

But then the other day, I wondered if he might enjoy jigsaw puzzles.  I bought one from Amazon.com with a picture of Yosemite National Park.  We loved that park when we were there.  I thought it might be a happy thing for him to work on, at the same time stretching his brain.  Well, after the puzzle came, it sat on the dining room table for a couple of days unopened.  I mentioned to him about doing the puzzle and he didn't seem too interested.  So I suggested that I could send it back.  It sat there for a couple more days, then he opened it up and started organizing the pieces.  

We have now been working on it together for a couple of days and it has been a challenge.  But we are both enjoying it - sort of!  Well, the good thing is:  there's no dead line.  We can work on it as we like and leave it when it gets to us.

We are in the middle of winter weather which is not at all conducive for hiking.  This morning the temperature was 7 degrees with winds gusting to 50 miles an hour at times - a good day to stay inside and dream of spring.

We did go to church this morning and I'm always blessed by the message, the reminder of God's working in and through us.  I'm also blessed by people's concern for us and how we're doing.  If they ask Andy how he's doing, he always says he's doing well.  And he is...his infection is under control.  Physically, he's feeling well.  Mentally is a different story, though.

Here is just one example:

Yesterday my neighbor friend came down to spend some time with me.  Because of the snow on the deck, I put down a towel on the floor by the door so she could wipe her feet on it when she came in.  I didn't pick the towel up so it was still there this morning.  When Andy came into the kitchen, he asked me if there was a leak there.  I told him, no, and explained why the towel was there.  A minute later, he asked:  "Did you say we have a leak in the house?"

I am very thankful that he is still good natured, loving, kind, fun and enjoys a good joke.

Likin' Hikin'

I don't know why I waste the energy to get down.  Thankfully, the Lord doesn't leave me there.  He is so good to me.  Last Monday when I got to work, there was an envelope on my desk, addressed to Andy and me.  When I opened it, I was amazed to see a $100 gift card for Shop Rite.  There was no signature, but God used this dear sweet person to encourage me, to let me know he hadn't forgotten me/us.  

Then a little later that same morning, a friend called to say she wanted to get a group of us women/friends together to spend some time in praying for each other - another bit of encouragement from the Lord.

Tuesday was a beautiful day with blue skies and dazzling sun.  Although it was very cold, we ventured out to explore the Pinelands Preservation Association headquarters.  This is a historic farmhouse built in the 1600's by English Quakers, located near Vincentown.  We were hoping to pick up another brochure that friends had given us, but we didn't see any like what we were looking for.  

I was hoping to pick up another brochure like the one we already have because we have been referring to it a lot, and I am afraid it's going to become worn out.  It's titled Pine Barrens & Beyond for Burlington County and shows 40 parks in Burlington County.  So this is our new "bucket list:"  checking out all 40 parks listed in this brochure.

The brochure is divided into 4 areas: 1)  Heart of the Pines, 2)  Farmland, Forest & Folklore, 3)  Fertile Floodplains and 4)  River's Edge and Ecotones.  Out of the 40 parks, we've already been to only 16 of them.  So there are lots more to explore.  

Hiking is actually a very good activity for us to do.  Since we won't be traveling to National Parks any more, this is a way we can still enjoy the great outdoors and nature.  And we have been so impressed with the beauty of our own back yard, so to speak.  

Yesterday and today were both fairly mild for this time of the year so we ventured out.  The trails are pretty muddy and messy, with snow and ice in sections.  But that just makes the hike more adventuresome.

Yesterday we drove out to Pemberton to check out the Stavola Beechwoods Preserve.  "This site offers easy access and convenient trails through an interesting wooded area in the headwaters of the Rancocas Creek.  Old growth beech trees adorn scenic streamside overlooks where a good variety of plants and animals can be found."

You can canoe the Rancocas Creek 14 miles from Vincentown to Mt. Holly.  I imagine it would be a pretty fast ride in the spring with the snow melt.  

Today's adventure was quite different.  Bear Swamp at Red Lion Preserve sounded somewhat exotic but in some ways was disappointing.  "This preserve is recognized by New Jersey Audubon as an important bird area and offers a wide range of habitats.  Pitch pine lowlands and Atlantic white cedar swamps are joined by remnant cranberry bogs and shrub meadows, harboring many breeding songbirds..."

We parked on the shoulder of the road but there was only a very short trail that led to a utility road for the high tension wires.  The trail in the woods was heavily trashed, with two dead deer by the side of the road and bullet holes in the sign - we're obviously in red neck territory!

Beautiful Atlantic white cedars

 

Well, I'm not sure this one qualifies as a park.  But we can cross that one off our list.  I doubt we'll ever be back.

I'm very grateful that we found something that we both enjoy and can still do with a minimum of exertion.  It's getting us out in the great outdoors for some exercise and the chance for our souls to be restored and revitalized.

Andy is feeling better, but still on antibiotics for another couple of weeks.  We saw the urologist on Wednesday, and he wants us to get an ultrasound of his kidneys to make sure everything is ok.  Then we'll need to go back to see him again in 2 weeks.

We were pretty excited that we had no doctor appointments for 2 whole months (November & December).  But in the last couple of weeks, we've been to several doctors 3 times, plus innumerable trips to the pharmacy to pick up medications.  I think Rite Aid would go out of business if it weren't for us.  But Andy and I have often observed to each other that if it weren't for antibiotics, he would have died years ago.  So thank God for preserving his life through doctors and modern medicines.

Preaching to Myself

It was not a very good week as far as circumstances go.  Andy was struggling physically the last number of weeks with infections.  He was on antibiotics, off for a couple of days, sick again, back on antibiotics, off for a couple more days, then sick again.  This week he really went down hard.  He was chilled and couldn't get warm not matter how many blankets I piled on top of him.  When he gets the chills, it's a symptom of infection.

I called the doctor on Wednesday and was able to get Andy in to see him.  He prescribed another round of antibiotics and suggested we see a specialist.  In thinking about this, I'm determined it wasn't a uti Andy was dealing with, but with his chronic prostatitis again.   Prostatitis is much more serious and complicated than a uti, which would explain the difficulty in licking those bad bacteria.

Andy stayed home and mostly in bed Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  And when his body is struggling with healing with infection, he is so much more confused and forgetful.  

We were planning to join in the celebration of Asher's birthday on Saturday but I felt it was in Andy's best interest to cancel that plan.  Then Amy and family were hoping to come down today, go with us to church, have lunch with us and do a hike together.  But that had to be canceled as well.  The priority is to get Andy well.

All this had me somewhat down.  Our life has changed.  We're not able to be involved as much with the people we love.  I feel the need to protect our time and draw in.  I feel responsible to take care of Andy, protect his health, make decisions in regard to what he does.  

In the psalms, David often preaches to himself, telling himself to hope in God.  And I also need to preach to myself, remembering the goodness of God and that this life is not the end.  So in reading over the things I wrote in my journal this week, I am encouraged.

Jan. 20
A.W. Tozer quoted Samuel Rutherford, who shouted in the midst of serious and painful trials:  "Praise God for the hammer, the file and the furnace."  The hammer beats the nail, the file bites the metal, the furnace is ruthless and savage.  But I love the Master of the hammer; I adore the Workman who wields the file, and I worship the Lord of the furnace for my everlasting blessing.

Zechariah 13:9:   "I will refine them like silver and test them like gold.  They will call on my name and I will answer them..."

 1 Peter 1:6-7:  "Though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."

Jan. 23
Trials are like a fire; they burn up nothing in us but the dross and they make the gold all the purer.  Put down the testing process as a clear gain and instead of being sorry about it, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, for this bestows on you a proof of your faith.  (Charles Haddon Spurgeon)

Jan. 24
You cannot live faithfully in this life unless you are ready for the next.  We pass through death and death dies!  The more a Christian lives in the consciousness of God's presence here, the easier it is to anticipate the unqualified delight that will be experienced in God's presence there!

Jan. 26
Perfect physical health is not promised for this life.  The worst diseases are those of the spirit:  pride, conceit, arrogance, bitterness, self-seeking.

Jan. 27
Afflictions do not make us miserable.
1.  Outward misery cannot diminish my happiness.  "Blessed (happy) are the people whose God is the Lord."
2.  Sometimes as afflictions increase, they bring more comfort and a further experience of grace.
God recompenses outward losses with inner enjoyments.  "For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows."  (2 Corinthians 1:5)  (Thomas Manton)

Jan. 28
The deepest need I have in weakness and adversity is not quick relief, but the well grounded confidence that what is happening to me is part of the greatest purpose of God - the glorification of the grace and power of his Son. (John Piper)

Jan. 29
How can I complain when I see how infinitely greater was the grief and how much more painful the anxiety endured by my beloved Lord and faithful Savior, the Son of God himself, who bore patiently and submissively, and more than that, prayed for those instrumental in causing that agony?  (Martin Luther)

Jan. 30
The mystery of contentment is not so much removing the evil as by metamorphosing the evil, changing it into good.  Grace gives us an eye to see the love of God in every affliction as well as in prosperity.  "All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful."  (Psalm 25:10)  (Jeremiah Burroughs)

Jan. 31
"Find rest, o my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him."  (Psalm 62:5)

Feb. 1
What an excellent ground of hope and confidence we have when we reflect on these three things in prayer:  the Father's love, the Son's merit and the Spirit's power!  (Thomas Manton)

Hebrews 13:20-21:  "May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his well and may he work in us what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen!"

 Earlier in the week, a mega-storm was predicted.  As it turned out, the storm passed us by.  But in anticipation, Dawn and I had arranged for her and Tommy to come over to shovel our driveway and the kids could play in the house with us while they did the work.  I'm so glad that we had worked that out, because Andy was certainly not up to doing any physical work.  Dawn and Tommy cleared the driveway in record time and had "fun" doing it, while Andy and I played with the kids in our nice, cosy, warm house.

Who can feel down looking at that cute little face?

So even though I am tempted to despair, God doesn't leave me there.  He ministers to me through his Word, through others who've suffered, through friends, but most of all, through himself:  the God of all comfort.