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10:42:00 AM EDT
Monday's Musings on Family and Busyness
The past several weeks have been busier than usual for me. I was getting ready to have a garage sale -- my first in several years -- when I got word that my brother's condition was worsening.
Jim has been in the hospital since July 2. He had his 45th birthday there. His lung function is only 30 percent and he had pnuemonia. He has four stents and two wires installed in cardiac blood vessels. He has ulcerative colitis and years of taking steroids to keep that beaten back have wrecked his bone density, so he has four compression fractures in his spine. He has a blood clot in one leg, so is on blood thinners. He has pain from all of the above, particularly the compression fractures, so he is on a combo of very strong pain meds.
The evening I heard that he was incoherant and disoriented part of the time, I knew I should go. He is about 200 miles away and they had been telling me I didn't need to come -- and I read that as meaning Jim didn't want me to come.
But that night's report sounded pretty ominous, so I drove over the next day and got to spend most of four afternoons and evenings with him, giving his wife a chance to get some needed rest and take care of some business.
Jim is the youngest of us five sibs. I am the eldest, with nearly 13 years between us. I left home when he was six years old and we didn't see much of each other after that.
Our visits as adults have been brief and more as strangers than kin. I'd been told he regards me as an 'extremist' because I am a Christian who really believes in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior.
Jim, taking our daddy's lifelong agnosticism a step further, seemed to be an atheist. He had been very insulted when I asked some friends to pray for him during frequent bouts of pneumonia.
I am happy to say that during the time I spent with him in the hospital, we connected in more loving ways and that was sweet. When I left, he told me for the first time I can recall that he loved me.
Jim is still in the hospital, unable to go home until he is weaned off some meds and stronger.
I don't know how the weaning back will go. I know it's tough and he needs a lot of prayers for help. And for the first time ever, he is willing to be prayed for. And I praise the Lord for that.
Once I got home from Missouri, I sprung back into preparing for the garage sale and we set up Wednesday and ran Thursday, Friday and part of Saturday. My dear dil helped me and our dear daughter too. My DH helped me take it all apart, which blessed me a lot since I was tired.
The garage sale can be counted as a success. I got rid of a lot of stuff and we hauled half of what was left to the Habitat for Humanity store and the rest is going to Goodwill today.
I plan, the Lord willing, to have another sale in October. There are still bastions of clutter in the house and I am trying not to leave our children with the World's Largest Estate Sale when we pass on lol.
Amazingly, other than some aches, pains and fatigue, I am holding up fairly well physically. I hope soon to be back working on the Front Yard Landscape Project. More about that another time.
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Hi Karyl- I 'm glad that your brother seems to be softening- even if only a little. I will keep him, and you in prayer, that your love for him and his family, and for Jesus will have a eye opening for him, and that he will sense God's presence in his hospital room. baby steps are better than none at all, and I pray that in God's time, your brother will find Him! God Bless you all! Carolyn
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dear Karyl, hugs sweetie!
I am thinking of you and your family; especially your dear brother . God Bless you all and keep you well.
love,nat -
I'm so glad that Jim was able to reach out and now sees that it's okay for you to be who you are. Sounds to me like he realizes that you only have love in your heart and that you are not going to change who you are... and maybe that he needs your love right now... I'm praying for him... and for you Karyl. I'm glad the garage sale went decently... I have so much stuff, I should just start my own thrift store...
Mik -
Karyl,
I am so happy to hear of the improvement in your relationship with your brother. Only now since I became sick can I say I have a better relationship with my brother. God Bless. Hugs, LU
8/9/07 8:43 PM
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