Discourse on pride/rest

I'm sitting here listening to classical music on itunes, and I think they are playing the Intro to Pomp and Circumstance. Whatever is playing is very familiar in places. We used to play part of the Intro in high school band at good old American Falls High. I played the oboe - and most of the time I was the only one, except my senior year when I had a little freshman nipping at my heels. She was a pretty good oboist - probably better than I was, but I was first chair by virtue of seniority only. One concert we were doing the fanfare from Cosi fan Tutti where the first whole page or something was an oboe solo. I was so dadblamed scared I couldn't even play. It was AWFUL. Then dear little Susan tried to help me, and I got more nervous, because I knew she could probably breeze through this thing while I couldn't hardly get a "blat" out! It was so humiliating! I don't know why I hadn't practiced more and really learned that part so I could play it at least. But I let my "Senior pride" get in the way and totally blew it. The memory is still humiliating and I don't think I have ever shared humbling experience with anyone ever in my life. So why am I now? Don't know. Except I have learned that pride doth go before a fall. Our stupid pride can really cause us pain - mainly because that pride won't let us admit that, 1. We may need a little help, and 2. Needing help is not a handicap! We ALL need help sometimes, and we should admit it and accept it. But then there is the danger of becoming overly dependent on others and perhaps becoming lazy about helping ourselves. Does the Lord only help those who help themselves? I don't think that is scriptural by any stretch of the imagination - I think the Lord would help if we would let him. Ps. 119:173 says "May your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts." And in Matthew 11:28, Jesus bids us, "Come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls." Oh what comfort. What rest! Dump the pretense of being perfect, or even better than a brother or sister, and just become meek and lowly of heart and mind - become more like Jesus! Wow. I learned something today in this blog, blah blah. I knew it earlier, but I just learned it again, with the added dimension of coming to Him and learning of Him creates that same spirit and mind in us as is in our Lord and Saviour! Just rest in Him and let Him take the lead! Thank you Lord that you can speak even through a musing of an old woman. Bless your holy name! Amen P.S. It wasn't Pomp and Circumstance they were playing, but that melody I was hearing surely brought back some worthwhile rememberances, no matter how painful they were! (And now I just heard an oboe solo of some length on itunes. Amazing).

Taxing Tax Time

Tax time - Lee is working on taxes. Always my favorite time of year. ;-{ 'Bout drives me nuts. But I really try not to complain because he is doing them and I don't have to - since I am a total no mind when it comes to all that governmental/legal mumbo-jumbo. Makes no sense to me whatsoever! The creepy crud finally caught up with me and settled in my bronchials. Coughing and have a funny voice. No fevers though. Just hope Mom doesn't get it since she is still here with us. Her suite should be ready in a couple weeks. We probably need to get over to the apartment and decide what to send to the suite and what needs to be sold. Hopefully we won't put it all in storage -"just in case." But I have a feeling that may be what happens. So we will have to move it at least 2 more times!! I have been told that the piano and organ will be moving with her. Don't know where she will put it,. She hasn't played them for a long time. Just hope every piece of furniture in that 2 bedroom apartment will try to move to the suite rooms with her. The suite's about a third or a quarter space of what was in the apartment. No way will all that stuff fit. She WILL need room to move around, a little. Although she sure doesn't move around much! That's about it for this April Fools Day. I don't care for practical jokes so I try to lay low on this day. Have to go out and get beautified this afternoon with Mom. Hair and nails. Such lavishness!

The walk and the boss...

We finally got our walkway to the front door put in and it really finishes the work Lee did on building the wall out there. Adds to our curb appeal too, I guess. It will be so much more convenient! Lee will get some lights out there to assist visitors further to get them into the house - now, if only people would come visit once in awhile! We'll have to have our Community Life Group over again soon.

This is the supervisor of the cement work. He's in this one too, can you see him?

I'm up at 5:45 a.m. again today. I'm starting to get sleepy again now, so may go back to bed shortly.

I was thinking some profound thoughts yesterday to blog about, but wouldn't you know it, the brain is empty again this morning. I think I'll go back to bed now. Maybe I'll be profound after a little more sleep.

Sleep - or lack thereof

Well, I was up at 5:30 again this morning. Wish I would stop that - that little sleep really cuts into my functioning the rest of the day. I wake up and I am UP. Can't go back to sleep! - until 8 or 10 a.m. - right when I need to be either going somewhere or doing something constructive around the house! I'm getting tired of it!

Besides that, not much is going on. We have Mom with us until the early part of April, when they finish her two room suite in the Manor. She seems to be looking forward to living there. She hasn't asked to go to her apartment at all since she has been home. We haven't done a bit of packing, or organizing what we want moved to the new place. Mom does want her organ and piano moved with her. I don't know why she would want that, but I will do it for her because she asked. There is some opposition to it here, but that's what she wants and they are her possessions, so I can't refuse to have them moved! Don't know if she will have room for anything else with the piano and organ there, but like I said, they belong to her. For some reason they seem to bring her comfort, even though she hasn't played either one of them for nearly a year.

Mom hasn't been home to her apartment for 10 months! It seems a bit strange to me that she hasn't wanted to go there since she has been back in KS for a month or two, but there's no pushing her. Course, I resisted when she first came back because I wasn't sure that she could handle being there by herself. She is just kind of unsteady on her feet after having fallen getting on the plane in Minneapolis. She's much better now, except she still stumbles a bit.

Parkinsons Disease - that curse that is making Mom stumbly and causing her to move unvoluntarily - is really a curse! It causes slurred speech, lots of mouth movements without her thinking about it, slowing of reflexes, and a posture that is leaning forward at the waist, which in turn makes the back ache. This is all so new to any and all of us, that we didn't know for sure what it does to a body until we looked it up on line. Then I knew too much and was disquieted a bit by what I had read. Mom may even be getting to end stage PD. Or she may just gradually fail in her health, like she has been doing. She is such a frail little old lady now. But, I guess when you have been on this earth for 94 and 5/6 years, you might be wearing out a little bit. She has always been in better shape than I am, especially since my arthritis has flaired up.

All this aside - My mother is still a joy to have around and we are enjoying her being with us alot. When she moves out to the Manor it will seem extremely empty without her here, but knowing she is just a mile and a half away doesn't let it get toooo lonely. I can't imagine what life will be like when she is no longer on this earth somewhere! I praise God for letting us have Mom all our lives and into our older ages. Never would have thought that I would be taking care of a 94 yr old mother at 62! What a trip - and what a terrific blessing to have her with us. If I can bless her back by just a little bit, it will all be worth it.

A Look at Next Week (since this week is done)

Well, we are still cluttered, just not quite as much. I got one corner of the office decluttered a little bit, then put more clutter there when I moved stuff around from the bedroom that the Ratzlaffs will be staying in. At least the guest room is a little less a mess. Still have a long long way to go. Must keep plugging. The week is at an end, but by no means over for me. Tomorrow is the Women's Conference at church with Dee Brestin. Am looking forward to that, except that I am not sure I will do the all day thing well. I am retired and my body is used to being in a retiring mode, i.e. I may need a nap or two in the middle of the conference! Wonder if I can pull that off. Then after losing a whole hour of sleep tomorrow night, Sunday is here again - with Community Life Group, thankfully NOT at my house. But with Deanna and Eldean coming in on Sunday afternoon, that may cause a little consternation. Haven't asked the man what we are doing about that Sunday. Well - Monday may be a day of rest...maybe not. Depends on if the Ratzlaffs are staying for a few days or not. Its always fun when they are here - good visiting. Maybe we can do something interesting while they are here - unless we have used up all the interesting places with having already done the Salt Mine in Hutch and the Eisenhower Museum and Brookville in Abilene. Is there anything left that is interesting around here? Maybe the Cosmosphere. And Exploration Place. Haven't done that with them yet. On Tuesday I have an appointment in Hesston in the morning, one in the afternoon with my foot doctor in Wichita, and in the evening I have Womens Ministry Council. Ugh. Marathon day again. Come Wednesday I get to have a cataract removed out of my right eye. A 5 to 7 minute surgery and then it's done, and then do a follow up appointment on Thursday afternoon. We are also having a shower for Amber with the Bible Study girls on Thursday noon. That will be a lot of fun, so I hope I can go to it too. Besides, Marjean is making lunch for all of us, and that will be really good, I bet. She is a phenomenal cook! So that's what's happening in the future of Helen. If the Lord tarries....