The Servant's Quarters

After I signed off yesterday, Dad and I got in to see Mom, and she was taken up to a room on the 9th floor of the hospital.

Not surprisingly, she looked horrible.

My Mom is always very careful about her appearance. She has the meticulous thing down to a science. She always keeps a clean house, she cleans and vacuums her car at least weekly, and she always makes sure that she well groomed.

Yesterday, I almost didn't recognize her when I first saw her. Of course, it's got to be a problem for a woman to look her best when she's had her side opened up and a lot of important tissue removed. But what I wasn't prepared for was how old she looked. She had aged at least 10 years, and looking at her, I could see my grandmother clearly. I had never noticed a resemblance between them before. Now, she looked just like her mother.

Everything pretty much went according to plan. Mom was settled into her room. She was plenty sore, but the nurses seemed to be keeping her doped up with an ample supply of morphine. I hung around for about an hour or so, and then left at her insistance. The three of us prayed together, and I left Dad by her bedside, promising me that he would keep his cell phone handy all the time in case he needed to call for help. (I had offered to stay the night with him, but he refused.) I went home, and vegged for the rest of the evening. (I actually watched Born Free, a movie I adored as a child and offered this month on Comcast as an on-demand freebie. I really loved it, and the kids seemed to like it a lot too. I remember my parents taking me to see this movie at a drive-in theater. Afterward, I thanked Rita for giving me the lattitude (with so much work to do around the house) to just do something mindless for a couple of hours. She's a wonderful wife. I'm CRAZY about her.)

This morning, we're expecting my Aunt Fran to come and stay for a week. I'm so grateful for this blessing. I also spoke to Dad. He made it through the night just fine. When I spoke to him, he had showered and was dressing. He planned on getting some breakfast and heading into the hospital.

We don't know yet if Mom's going home today. I expect I'll find out soon enough.

Prayer requests - Please pray for swift, painfree recovery from the surgery, good test results from the lab, continued strength and independence for Dad, and provision for everything that we need to get through this difficult season.

Heck, as long as we're appealing to the Lord of the Universe, the only God and Father of us all, let's pray big. Let's pray for healing from MS and cancer. Let's pray that both my Mom and Dad are completely restored to perfect health.

I know HE can do that.

# posted by Tim @ 9:32 AM