Packages and Pillows
First of all, let me thank so many of you for ordering books! It took me several days to package up all the orders. I am mailing a large basket of parcels tomorrow. I am grateful to you all and pray that the information in the books will bless you as you have blessed me. If any of the books arrive in less than perfect condition please let me know and I will send you a replacement.
Others of you — and you know who you are — have blessed our family in other ways. We are very, very grateful.
Last night the respiratory therapist made a surprising statement to Dan. “Dan, you are no longer the sickest person in this hospital,” she said. (And then she said something about the fact that room service wouldn’t be what it had been in the past.) Dan and I just looked at each other until I said, “Well, that’s good news!” What I didn’t ask about was how they figured that out, since I know of at least two patients in this hospital of twenty-some-odd beds who passed away last week.
Dan is going to try a new adventure today. He has been having a lot of back pain (no surprise after ten and a half weeks on his back) so they are going to try to put him in a kind of a reclining chair for a few minutes. Yay! I hope this is going to be a good step forward for him!
Another condition he has, called torticollis, is also improving. The physical therapist Gail said she gave me credit for his improvement because I went and bought every shape pillow imaginable and change him out on them several times a day so that his neck is gently stretched. Horseshoe shaped, crescent shaped, ring shaped, small rectangle, two dogbone pillows, and one that is like a long tube and has a wire in it so that it keeps whatever shape you bend it in — and vibrates.
He is tolerating (and I use that term medically and in other ways) some short visits but conversation (whether aimed at him or just carried on around him) wears him out. Our dear friend Leslie May-Her-Name-Be-Blest-Forevermore Anyanonu has set up a schedule for five-minute visits on a password-protected site called carecalendar.org. If you’d like to come and see Dan, let me know and I’ll get you the password. I know that people that don’t go to our church would like to see him and be assured that it is a good time for him. Just be aware that he may be sleeping or having a procedure done, so even though it’s a short visit you might need to wait fifteen minutes or more if the door is closed.
I have more to share with everyone but can’t write it all now. I will update more soon.
Bless you all for caring for Dan and for loving him. When I tell him about some of the kind, selfless, and even heroic things that have been done for him, he raises his eyebrows and mouths, WOW. We don’t know what we would do without the Mountainside Church of Christ, our extended family, and gracious friends who agree with us that the most significant, effective thing you can do for us is to keep whispering Dan’s name in the ear of the Lord.
Hello, Latayne –
How I wish that there were more that I could do for you two-PLUS!!! But, obviously, God both wants and deserves that the glory should go to Him rather than to mere people like me! So I will continue to give THANKS for what He has done, for what He is doing, and for what He will yet do in this situation. And I thank YOU for posting so much encouraging information for all of us “information junkies” to consume and enjoy; it IS encouraging!!!
We have purposedly stayed away knowing that you have ample and sufficient friends, neighbors, relatives and church family to lend support. Last weekend we were at the Super Bowl and someone asked what my orange wristband was for. I explained and asked for their prayers for Dan. My prayers for my Patroits did not get answered but one heck of a game! I will visit sometime in the near future but keep Dan in my thoughts and prayers daily. Hard to keep a good ole Tennessee boy down!
I’m so thankful to hear such wonderful news! Dan and your family stay in my prayers. Zeph. 3:17
Latayne,
Your words today are the most encouraging I have heard. Its obvious that he still has a long way to go, but I am beginning to see the results of the power of prayer. We also greatly appreciate you keeping all of us updated. Probably, like a lot of others, I don’t write every time you update, but I read every time you do. Thank you so much!
Pete
So thrilled with your news. Praise God for answered prayer. Love you, Sandra
Hello, Latayne –
I have already re-considered my comments above. I think that they are “basically” correct — but need to be amended. When God sets something before us to do, we should definitely DO it. And, when we have done it, we can expect to see Him bless those efforts with results that are far out of proportion to our little actions. I just don’t (yet) see what God wants ME to do, from out here in the state of KonfuSion! So I continue to pray frequently, encouraged by your postings.
Rejoicing. And praying.
Whispering, actually SHOUTING Dan’s name to the Most High!
Love and think of you often,
Janie
It’s such a blessing to hear that you’re talking to him and he’s actually responding!!!!!! Slowly but surely, step by step…he’s finally starting to get better!
What comfort we have knowing that the Lord is our Refuge! Praying!
Psalms 46:1-5 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
Latayne,
Ron and I will be in Albuquerque the 14th thru the16th of February and would like to come to see you and Dan. May I have a password to be set up on a schedule? Always continuing to pray for you both. Love Pamela
Continuing to pray!!!!
Psalms 46:7, 10-11 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.(10-11) Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
The greatest comfort we can ever have is knowing that the Holy Spirit Himself is praying!
Romans 8:26-28 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Hope the interview went well today! Or was it yesterday…I get confused! Rarely know what day it is anymore!
Still praying hard in Seattle!
Psalms 31:1-3 In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me. For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me.