April 21 – “Bittersweet”

The gerontology team professor finally reached the point of what I guess you would call understanding yesterday.  The surgery professor preceded him by a few hours.  It is clear that surgery is not really a viable option for Mom.  Her lungs are beginning to fill with fluid again, as is her abdomen.  She expressed for the first time since she has been in the hospital that she was having some pain, so they gave her some morphine to take the edge off and then ordered some Tylenol every six hours.  All the brothers and their wives have been here.  Jer was even able to stop by last night.  Kel and his family have all been up to see MeeMaw.  Nathan and April and Cailyn were there yesterday, and Josh was able to get into town last night and made his way up to see her.  Her best friend Betty  and Betty’s daughter Liz spent some time there.  We will be talking to the palliative / hospice care team later today to determine a specific course of action. 

Well, that was the bitter.  Now to the sweet.  Awesome how the Lord has a waay of putting the two together.  Makes the difficult times easier to walk through.  But then, that’s what he’s in the business of doing for his kids, isn’t it?  The sunrise service on the beach yesterday was once again amazing.  It was a beautiful, clear day.  The sun rose over the relatively calm waters of the Gulf of Mexico in the East while the moon clung to its position in the western sky.  Seagulls screeched in search of morning morsels.  Pelicans soared past in majestic flight.  And a pod of dolphins frolicked about, greeting the morning with playful dalliances.  And on the shore near 400 humans gathered in lawn chairs, on blankets or simply standing in awe of the coolness of the new day. 

Wow.  What an amazing Resurrection Day morning.  Do have somewhat of a picture in your mind of what it was like?  The service went great.  We presented a Bible and a check for $100 each to the chief of the Jamaica Beach Volunteer Fire Department and the chief of the Jamaica Beach Police Department in honor of our theme for the day – Heroes.  Of course Jesus won out over all comers in that category.  We had scheduled four baptisms in the Gulf of Mexico.  By the time we finished we ended up with eight.  A young man who decided to join his sister in the Kingdom.  A little girl who was following her heart as best she knew how.  And two ladies who were concerned that they had never been obedient to the Lord.  And one of them was wearing a long dress.  Come on in.

We had been a bit worried about having enough breakfast for everyone who comes over after the service.  We needn’t have.  We had so much food that we were able to offer breakfast to all those attending the ten o’clock service.  And they took us up on it.  There were 63 more in that service, and only eight of those had also been around at 6:30.  That’s a lot of new folks.  One family visiting from Maine told me that if they lived closer they would join this family in an instant.  The 1800 mile commute just seemed a bit too daunting for them, though. 

After the second service I changed hats and began making rounds of all the fire stations.  Chris and I got each station a Firefighter’s Bible.  It was great to see the guys who were on duty for the holiday.  Two of the stations were having family days, with lots of food.  Central even had an Easter egg hunt planned for the kiddos.  Just as I was leaving Central and headed out to station two, Chris texted me that my brother and his wife had arrived at the hospital, and Nathan, April and Cailyn were also there.  She wanted to fill me in on the latest details of Mom’s care plan.  I just felt like there was a sense of urgency there, so I went right over to the hospital.  I’ll make it by station two later.  I’m pretty sure the guys will understand.  Families understand about those sorts of things.  You know, family is … well … family, after all.

Galatians 6:10 says, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Father, thank you for my family … well, families.  The blood one that is watching one of us finish out her time here before she gets rewarded with an eternity by your side.  And the church one that is doing its best to follow your lead and fulfill a purpose.  And the fire department one that every day has each other’s back in crisis situations.  Wow.  You have really overwhelmed us with support.  Thank you.  Amen.