A whirlwind weekend

Most of you know that my Dad is now on hospice care. He's not doing well and at this point we sit and wait for that dreaded call from the home. Well, Saturday morning at around 1:30 a.m. the phone rings. I was up, but I did not hear it as I was in our school room with the door partly closed and the a.c. on. Edward came down and said "Didn't you hear the phone ring, it's the nursing home?!? They called 2 times!" The phone woke him up, but not enough to answer it before the ringing stopped. I immediately ran and got the phone, looking at the caller i.d. I was actually relieved to see that it was not the nursing home where my Dad was. Instead, it was the home where my grandmother is...my Dad's mom.

I called the home right away, and instead of them asking who was calling, the woman on the other end of the phone said "Is this the funeral home?" Right away I knew that my Grandmother died and that they thought they were calling the funeral home instead of my home phone. What a way to hear that a family member died huh? I told her who I was and then said "Am I to assume that my Grandmother died?" She said "Yes, but I needed to tell the funeral home, not you." Nice huh?!? She was so rude on the phone - no care in the world that someone in my family passed away! I asked if I could speak to someone else. Fortunately one of the good nurses got on the phone. The other woman was a nurses aide and should never have even tried to call the funeral home, let alone my home phone. The nurses just pronounced her dead and the doctor was supposed to call and tell me. Oh the joys of dealing with these people!!!! Fortunately the home where my Dad is, is MUCH better. All the workers know us by name and we talk to them often, so I don't think the same thing will happen when he dies.

So...long story short. My Grandmother died on Saturday, we went to the funeral parlor and made all the arrangements...alone. Once again, no family member has offered to help in any way with her. I am the youngest of 6 grandchildren on her side, and you'd think at least one of them would care...they're all older than me and they should be the ones stepping up to the plate! Anyhow...I've now buried a grandparent, and now I am waiting to bury my Dad. Life has been challenging and stressful (as I seem to say so often these days in my postings), but I know that God is with me. He alone has been my comfort, my joy, and my sustainer! I can't imagine going through all I'm going through, without Him!!!! How on earth do non-Christians deal with such trials?!? By the way...my grandmother lived to be 100. Pretty amazing huh?!?

As I sat here in our school room typing, three sweet little birds hopped onto the fence just outside our window. It was a little reminder that God is with me, He gives us little things in our lives to keep us going. In my case, the little birds reminded me of the passages of scripture that talk about the sparrows.

Luke 12:6 says "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God's sight."

Matthew 6:26 says "Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"

Matthew 10:31 says "Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows."

Here are the sweet little birds:



His Eye is on the Sparrow

Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heav'n and home,
When Jesus is my portion, my constant Friend is He;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Let not your heart be troubled, His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears,
Tho' by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
When song gives place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him; from care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

I sing because I'm happy, I sing because I'm free;
For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

So...that was my weekend. I press on and I wait until the next phone call arrives. The waiting is so difficult. Every time the phone rings, I get a sick feeling in my stomach. For now, we try to keep life as normal as possible for the kids. They still are doing school every day, and keeping up with their activities. They're a month ahead of where they should be in school, so if we need time off later, we can take it guilt-free! I hope your weekend was happier than mine.

The next time you see a sweet little bird, think of how much God loves you and is there for you!!!