October 17 – “Keep on praying”

We got word the other day that Assistant Fire Chief Winn’s mother died suddenly.  Since we were in Waco at the time, the secretary called Nathan to get Kel’s number to let him know.  But Kel’s family was out of town as well, so Nathan became chaplain for the day and made a trip up to the hospital to touch base with the chief and let him know I was praying for him.  He also offered my help and his own in any way we could be of assistance.  Nice job, Nathan

But apparently it wasn’t so sudden for Chief Winn’s mother.  She had already called her priest and had him read her last rites.  When he left she called her best friend to take her to the hospital.  Not long after she checked in at the hospital she died.  Sounds to me like she was ready to go and be with Jesus.  That’s certainly my prayer for my own Mom, and for myself, for that matter.  Mom is ready to go as well.  I just pray it will a peaceful undertaking.

Speaking of Mom, this has not been a very good week for her.  She had another bout of nosebleeds that were particularly difficult to stop.  And she seems to have another urinary tract infection as well, which has a major impact on her cognitive abilities.  Last night she would manage to get herself to a sitting position on the side of the bed, but then she seemed to get stuck there.  It took a while for Chris to get her to either lie back down or stand up and go to the bathroom.  Several times Chris even called for my help, which is unusual.  We have an appointment with the nurse practitioner this morning at eleven, so we’ll see what the next step is on both of those matters. 

Oh, and we didn’t make it to Houston in time to stop by the ear doctor, so I still have the tip of my hearing aid embedded in my ear.  Guess it’s not going anywhere any time soon, so I’m not going to worry about it.  If I seem not to hear you, though, just walk around to my left ear.  Or smack me one to get my attention.  I’ll understand.  

On top of all that, we are expecting Christi to go into labor at any moment.  Her doctor’s visit on Tuesday showed she was actually in the early stages already.  He was using words like dilation and effacement that I know have something to do with the actual event.  Tough dilemma here, but we are hoping the doctor’s visit later this morning sheds some light.  Deep breaths.  Keep on praying.

Psalms 116:15 says, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”

Father, thank you for placing this verse next in my readings.  Encouraging for Chief Winn and for my own thinking as well.  Amen.