At this point in my life, a good day means a bit of a spark in Andy's eye; a bad day is conversation that doesn't make sense, severe tremors and a vacant look.
I never know what to expect when I visit Andy. I go to see him every day, and sometimes twice a day. I'm trying to go every Tuesday morning so that Dawn can see her dad. She takes the kids with her, so it's helpful if I'm there to lend extra hands and arms. He's always responsive to the kids, and they seem to love being with him, too.
This past Tuesday was a beautiful spring day, so we were able to sit outside the facility. Of course, they had to have their ice cream. Then the older kids were able to put their energy into running up and down the sidewalk.
Friday was Andy's birthday so I made a carrot cake, intending to party it up at his facility when I went in to visit him. When I got there, though, he was lying down and saying he felt awful. I had a hard time getting him up, but he finally did when his brother and a high school buddy came to visit. No one else was in the dining area at that moment, so I cut 4 pieces of cake for us.
I told him to smile before I snapped the picture, and this is what I got! He's such a good sport.
Today was Mother's Day and Dawn invited me to join her family at her in-laws'. I was happy to be able to do that. I brought some goodies to add to the meal, having spent most of yesterday indoors because of the rain. It was a happy time for me making/creating in my kitchen.
It's been unseasonably cool so I've put off planting annuals. But I couldn't wait any longer as we got toward the end of the week. Now that all that brown mulch is down, we needed some color to liven it up a bit. And is there anything more cheerful than the color yellow?
I was sad to see the condition of this yellow rhododendron. The bush has all these dead branches, except this one brave stalk.
I came across a youtube video of John Piper talking about God's love: God Didn't Wait for You to Believe. It was such an encouragement to me. I'm so thankful that God didn't wait for me to respond to him, but He initiated. He set His affection on me, He chose me, (Deuteronomy 10:15; 1 Thessalonians 1:4 and 2 Thessalonians 2:13). Ephesians 2:4 tells us that God is "rich in mercy" and because of the "great love with which he loved us," he made us alive, even when we were dead in our sins.
These are beautiful truths to give us the strength to keep on keeping on. It's a great comfort to know God, to experience His faithfulness, His unchanging nature when we face uncertainties and disappointments.
Lamentations 3:19-26, 32-33
"I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion, therefore I will wait for him.'
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
Though He brings grief, He will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.
For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men."
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