Car shopping, little things, grandma’s pain, Dr report

At the moment, both Victoria and Brittany are shopping for cars to replace their current vehicles. Brittany is in a slightly disadvantageous position because she wants to downsize her larger Sequoia for a more economical and less expensive vehicle. That is a difficult proposition in our current economy. She is also having to do all the research, negotiating and dealer interface on her own. She really needs our prayers in this. Victoria is simply looking to unload the vehicle she recently purchased. She was rushed into the purchase and has been uncomfortable with the outcome from the first few miles she drove the vehicle. Both will lose money on the exchanges. Both are praying to minimize that loss as much as possible. I am sure they would covet your prayers as they both press forward with these sales and future purchases. Fortunately, for Mama and I, we are pleased with the vehicles we have though neither is an economical vehicle and, for the moment, are not looking for alternatives. Our hope is that we can drive what we have for several more years. That is a matter of continued prayer as well.

Grandpa continues to do many little things around the farm. Mowing for an hour. Brush hogging for an hour. Working, watering, weeding in the garden for an hour. Raking up sticks and leaves in the front yard in periodic intervals. Resting for a bit then picking up those piles of debris and hauling the refuse off with the tractor. Sweeping the front sidewalks. Chasing the blackbirds from the bird feeders. Vacuuming the hallway and living room at regular intervals to keep up with the shed hair from Kobe and Kira. Helping with the feeding of our bottle babies. Yesterday, he “hurried” over at the 5 pm feeding to help corral two of the six-month-old goats that meandered out of the gate as Mama and I were entering to feed the bottle babies. Mama and I typically open the gate to the paddock and expect the anxious little ones to shoot out of the gate as we bring in the chair and bucket we sit on to feed the babies their bottles. That is not normally a problem since they follow the bottles back into the paddock to be fed; however, yesterday, two of the bigger goats used the opened gate to go exploring. They we not anxious to return to the paddock. Grandpa saw the struggle Mama and I were having as Mama carried the bottles of milk (the three little ones were mobbing her) and I carried a bucket of feed (the older goats were mobbing me). It was quite a spectacle but with Grandpa’s help we got all the all goats back into the enclosure and fed. The goats never wander far, but they are not always receptive to the idea of reentering their paddock. So, there is no real urgency when they get out, it is simply a matter of coordinating to have the gate opened when the wanderers are in a position to go back through the gate. That often requires more than two people to accomplish. Although Grandpa does not move quickly, he has an intuitive sense of where he needs to be to help, so he is a big help in situations like that one.

Late yesterday evening, Grandma woke after sleeping most of the afternoon and early evening and was not able to rearrange herself in the bed sufficiently to get herself out of bed. When Grandpa and Mama tried to help her, she screamed in pain. In situations like that, it is difficult to know what to do. Any help that could be provided which requires someone to pull or to lift her in order to maneuver her to a better position is met with a scream. Not a moan or a protest: a scream. I generally do not engage in moments like that. I rely on Mama and Grandpa to do what they can to help. I am available but I wait to be invited into the incident. Eventually, Grandma calmed down, fought through her pain and got situated so that she could get up and go to the bathroom. Sadly, we are having more incidents like this one where Grandma’s pain freezes her in place. So far, we have escaped any issues we could not overcome. We are at a loss to know what to do other than advise her pain management doctor of the struggle and trust that between his understanding of her pain and Grandma’s decision on how to take those prescribed medications, Grandma can make it through her daily pain. Mama and Victoria do not exercise any control with her pain meds, so they are at a loss to know when each of the meds is taken. Grandma, for her part, simply cannot remember what she has taken or when, yet she will emphatically insist that the empty pill bottle is not her fault when there is still three weeks left before the med can be refilled. It is a huge challenge.

What I learned in my visit to the ENT specialist is the my vocal chords are significantly swollen, but otherwise clear of any defect. The doctor recommended I take a couple sessions of voice lessons to see if there is anything I am doing as I speak or sing to cause the obvious swelling. Acid reflux was mentioned, but not considered a contributor per se. The truth is that, like the rest of my aging body, my voice may simple be wearing out. That was both good news and bad news. On the bright side, I am being required to teach less often than in the past and I will be retiring from even that at the end of this year – hopefully. All things considered, a good report. Secondarily, I need to decide if I should give us leading the singing at church. It is becoming more difficult for me to do and I do not want the strain I feel in leading the singing to become an issue. My difficulty in leading certain songs is clear to all who are listening – especially those listening online when my voice is the only voice they can hear. The difficult part is that there does not appear to be anyone to take over that ministry.

It will require much prayer to make that shift in our services, but God is certainly able.