Faithful Fridays With Joy

~

Please click on the icon above to share in Faithful Fridays with Joy.

I am so thankful for each of your prayers for me and for Frank's family.

I am doing well although today I've been very tired. I just did not sleep well last night. I thought I could skip the phenergan (an anti-nausea med), but it helps me sleep and keeps pain at bay too. So tonight I will make sure I take it. I seem to be able to move my arm a bit better today than yesterday. It is going to be painful to do for a while.

Frank's Uncle Henry came home from the hospital on Monday. He had suffered a stroke. It seems to have affected his legs the most. He will have someone come to his home to give physical therapy. He is on a defibrillator for his heart. Uncle Henry turned 80 years old yesterday. Through faith he has made it through much in life.

A Prayer

~

O God, the source of all health.
Fill my heart with faith.
Be near me in times of weakness and pain. Although I know You are in control, I am apprehensive about what faces me. You made me, loved me, and have provided my surgeon with needed skill to perform a miracle in my behalf. Sustain me by Your grace that my strength and courage may not fail; Heal me according to Your will.
Amen.

My dearest friend, Didi, sent me this prayer. Good Friends always seem to know the right thing to do and say :-)

I have to be at the surgical center at 6:30 in the morning. It will be the one morning I will want to sleep in :-) It always seems to work that way... the day I need to be up and going I will be wanting to sleep.

We bought a futon from Sam's Club the other day. I will have to sleep in my recliner a few days and so Frank can be nearby and comfortable we bought the futon. The directions were not the easiest to follow. The illustrations were not clear. Somehow the two of us got it put together. I didn't do a lot, but a little is a lot sometimes :-)

There was help in moving the old sofa out of the house aka known as Tom (Frank's brother) and Dustin (Tom's son). I can remember when it wouldn't be much of a problem for me to help move the sofa. I used to move the furniture around the living room every few months by myself... driving Frank a bit nuts :-)

Of course I had to clean behind the sofa... lots of dust bunnies were hiding there and a dead roach too. The rainy weather we had seemed to have brought the disgusting critters indoors.

Cleaning one thing leads to another. I had all ready cleaned out a storage cabinet in the computer room... shouldn't I call it an office? Then I cleaned the table off that I use as a desk. I have some more papers to file, but they are neatly stacked and ready for my attention when I have the notion to get back to them.

Today I've vacuumed and mopped the floors... finding dead rolly-pollys during the process. I have done laundry and washed dishes too. Leftovers were the fare for dinner. I have house plants to prune and water... then I'm going to sit down with a cup of dark chocolate pudding and relax.

Mama came by after her appointment with her orthopedist. Mama is to get an injection in her back on Thursday for her back pain. The doctor said if that didn't work he would put some temporary implants for pain into her back. Mama has aged so much since December. Hopefully her pain will be soon eased and she can start doing some of the things she likes to do again.

My oldest brother is having low back surgery on Thursday. It is in the same place he had surgery done in 1993... the same as I did (does that make him a copycat?) He will be in the hospital for a few days.

Frank's Dad called this morning. Frank's Uncle Henry, who lives in Mississippi, has blood on his brain and is in intensive care. The doctor thinks medication will relieve it. Other family members in Mississippi are not doing well... Uncle Raymond, Aunt Oralee and Aunt Sue.

Could I ask each of you to say a prayer for Frank's family and for my family... and me? It would be appreciated. Thank you.

PS
Someone asked if Frank would keep y'all posted on how I was doing. The answer is no. He doesn't know how to post a message and doesn't want to know how . He does seem to enjoy reading your blogs :-) I'll post a message as how I'm doing as soon as I can.

Lakes -- Frank

~
The lakes we like to go to are pretty close to home. This sunrise picture was taken at Cotton Hill Park near Ft. Gaines Georgia which is about an hour and a half drive for us. The lake is Lake Walter F. George.

This sunset picture was taken at Georgia State Veterans Park near Cordele Georgia which is about a 45 minute trip for us. The lake is Lake Blackshear.

Both lakes are man-made and beautiful. They both have great fishing and boating. Veterans Park has golfing, but there is golfing near Cotton Hill. We don't golf. We do fish and hike and sometimes we borrow Frank's parent's boat. Our little jonboat is okay in the inlets, but out on the lake it is dangerous if the wind kicks up. The lakes are far enough away from home to be able to relax and forget about work.... even though we don't have jobs outside the home we work!

We hope soon to expand the number of lakes we frequent :-)

========================================================

Frank had his appointment with the oncologist surgeon yesterday. The doctor answered all of Frank's questions.... there was almost a book of them :-) The surgery will be sometime tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon. For those just looking in.... Frank has a mass in his pancreas. The doctors do not think it is cancerous, but the only way to know for sure is to remove part of the pancreas. It is possible they may have to remove his spleen too.

Yesterday was busy. We left the house at 10 am for the doctor's appointment. When we finished there we went over to the hospital and did all of the good stuff that had to be done there. We arrived at the hospital at noon and left at 3 pm. We then dropped some things off at our family doctor's office .

Next was whatever meal that comes between lunch and supper. We were starving and went to Ryan's to eat.

Then we did our shopping. I hate shopping in the afternoon. Sam's Club wasn't bad, but Wal-Mart was awful. They needed at least six more registers open.

We arrived home at 5:30 pm. We took a much needed rest. In the evening we tried watching NCIS, but cable kept going out a lot and in a little. Of course it went out right at the most important parts.

Today is busy. Laundry is being done and then later vacuuming and mopping. Some household duties were missed when we were sick. Frank wants to help out before surgery, so I won't have so much to keep up with afterward. He usually does the vacuuming and mopping.

I am in the process of hemming a pair of jeans for me... I kept hoping they would shrink in length in the wash :-) I also have two pj bottoms to hem for Frank. I'm lost at the sewing machine... I haven't used it much in the last few years. I hope it needs no adjustments.

There was a time I made a lot of clothes for me and our children. I sewed a lot of craft items too. One time I was going to sew some small bears for a church bazaar. I got the pattern from a magazine and the bear looked much better in their pictures than what I turned out. I thought the bear was so ugly and threw it in the trash can by the sewing machine. Of course David... then about 4 or 5 years old picks the bear out of the trash can and claims it as his bear. He named him Ugly Bear and still has him... David is now 36 years old :-)

Okay.. I went back to hemming and as I was threading the machine Frank came in and asked me if I was sure that I could still operate the machine. I told him that he knew me and "that machine" didn't always get along and it would probably like me much better if he left the room. It's fun being married to Frank :-)

Well one more pair of pjs to hem and then I will eat lunch. Frank has to be on just liquids the rest of the day. I'm cooking a Healthy Choice Dinner for my lunch. I hope it will be good.

I'm not sure I will get back on before Frank's surgery to read what is happening in your lives, but I will try. Frank will be in the hospital a minimum of 4 or 5 days.

Frank and I appreciate your prayers.

=========================================================


Prayer is not merely an occasional impulse to which we respond when we are in trouble: prayer is a life attitude. -- Walter A. Mueller

Butterfly Pictures -- Somebody's Praying

~
I read an entry entitled Butterfly over at Mildred's blog, Nalley Valley, and I really enjoyed the entry. It made me want to look at more butterflies. I thought as cold as it is where some of you are living that you might like to see butterflies too. So here are some of my butterfly pictures.

Gulf Fritillary

Spicebush Swallowtail

Common Buckeye

Horace's Duskywing Skipper




Monarch



Cloudless Sulphur



Fiery Skipper

I hope you enjoyed looking at the butterflies as much as I did.

< < < < < < > > > > > >

The MRI of my neck did not show anything that could be causing the pain in my neck and shoulder and the numbness in my fingers. The nurse is going to ask the doctor what is the next step. The doctor's office is closed this afternoon... hopefully I will hear something by Monday... if not I'll make another appointment to see the doctor.

Sleep still is not pleasant, but I don't awaken as much as I did before the injections and the increase in one of my meds.

Thank you so much, Mildred, for pointing me towards this song, "Somebody's Praying" by Ricky Skaggs. I know the power of prayer. I appreciate everyone's prayers for me and Frank.