Sunday

I picked up Mom around 7am at the lab. I think the paper work took longer than the actual study. Perhaps they should let them fill out the paper work before they start the study because it would put everyone to sleep. She said that she doesn't think she slept much but they told her that she slept long enough to get a result. We won't know what that is until later.
Dad said that he didn't sleep much, but he was snoring when I left to pick Mom up.

Mom and Dad are trying a new arrangement with the aides this week. We are going part time, 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the evening. I asked them to practice as if there were no aide for the remainder of the week, but I don't think they did. Mom is back to doing most of the cooking but will leave the house work to the aide. I have tried to instruct them on the safest way of doing things without assistance so I hope they will be okay.

Pray for them this week.

God is good.

Thursday

I am spending the night with Dad tonight while Mom is at the "sleep" lab. Having spent a night at the lab myself, I hope Mom gets more sleep than I did.

Mom and Dad are doing well and are adjusting to apartment living. Mom is having to learn how to cook on an electric range but seems to be figuring it out.

Chanetta has returned to Pine Bluff and will not be back. She was such a wonderful nurse and companion during the most difficult time while Mom was recovering. We will miss her. Her absence has presented a new challenge in that we will have to decide how to proceed from here. We are still using an agency but it is very expensive and much of the time they are with Mom and Dad is wasted. We would like to find someone who can provide the assistance they need when they need it. We are praying for a solution and trust God will provide as He has during the last year. If anyone has had any experience or has and idea, we are love to hear from you.

God is good.

Friday...Happy Re-Birthday

Happy Birthday Dad!
Today is Dad's 87th Birthday and the 1st Anniversary of his by-pass surgery.

We hope you all have had a blessed holiday season and wish for you God's continued blessing during 2010.

In many ways 2009 was a very long year and in other ways it has flown by. So many life changes and challenges for many members of the Jones clan as well as our family of friends.

For me, the events of this year were both energizing and exhausting. About the time one adrenaline surge was subsiding, another stimulus required a response. Each new adventure into jeopardy or adjustment to a modification in life's pilgrimage demanded more epinephrine until finally the benefits of these hormones ceased and I had to rely on sheer will and the wonderful assistance of my siblings (especially Nancy), Charlotte and our terrific children (especially Nathan) as well as so many friends and the "angels" that seem to appear with solutions at the most desparate of times.

We have experienced countless periods uncertainty and feelings of inadequacy this year and for me, pangs of guilt due to these deficiencies. But perhaps the regret I rue the most is my inability to express gratitude or make recompense to the level deserved by those mentioned above (especially our Heavenly Father).

God really made life simple. Creator and created. We are the ones who make it complex and pretentious by trying to fill a role we were never meant to play. So humbly, I once again bid you a simple thank you.

Philippians 4
6-7 - Don't worry over anything whatever; tell God every detail of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer, and the peace of God which transcends human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 54
[6] With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to thee;
I will give thanks to thy name, O LORD, for it is good.
[7] For thou hast delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

God is good!