Consider it pure joy!

The past few weeks have been a busy one for Arla’s family as we continued to celebrate the graduation of her oldest grandchild Kelsey Nicole.   In our family, we will use any excuse to have a party or a gathering of friends.  And so, Mary Ann, and her husband Joe, hosted a gathering at their home to honor Kelsey.  It was an excuse to bring together family and friends for a few hours this past Sunday.

We began the day with Kelsey and Mary Ann singing a duet in church.  (Click here to access a YouTube video.  They sing at 24 minutes into the video).

The party was held Sunday afternoon.  Homemade ice cream and cake sweetened the palate, and the conversation flowed.  The pictures below tell the tale.

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Many other family and friend gathered who are not in the pictures.  We love you all and thank you for coming to celebrate a milestone in our family and to be able to say, “Hi!”  If you couldn’t attend, please know that you were in our hearts and we love you.   Of course, our matriarch was missing.  But we celebrated with her as a family unit later that day, and that will be another post.

Life is never dull.  There is always something new.  Now, new may not be good, and new may not be pleasant.  In fact, new may not be something we choose.  But life changes, and new opportunities and events come our way.

And life is never dull for Arla.  So how is Arla?  It is still a question we are asked, and it is a logical question…a question people really want an answer to.  Arla is medically stable and doing well.  Life is not ideal; life is not easy.  Arla is very much the same as she was the last time we posted a detailed description of her state.  We will post a short version of how she is again for those of you who have not been able to visit Arla in a while.  As you read it please realize that, short of a miracle, it appears that Arla has made about as much progress as she will make.

Arla is unable to move herself from bed to chair.  It takes two assistants or a hoyer lift to move her.  While she can stand in therapy, that only happens with help.  She is not able to walk, but can move her legs.   The right leg is the one with partial paralysis.  Arla needs help for most mobility.  She can propel herself forward in her wheelchair using her left leg and her left arm.  She has built up enough abdominal core strength to sit on the edge of the bed or a bench.

Arla does eat regular food but sometimes does not have much of an appetite.  She still receives supplemental caloric nutrition through a feeding tube at night.  She also still drinks thickened liquids.  In the last few weeks, her indwelling bladder catheter was removed.  This was an important step.  The catheter was not medically necessary, and we hope its removal will end the frequency of her bladder infections.

Arla is unable to speak.  She does understand what people are saying, knows people, and communicates as she can.   The speaking is more a matter of the brain not coordinating all the muscles, breathing, signals, etc.  Perhaps through time and practice those paths will come back, and she will be able to say more.   Writing for communication is also not something Arla can do.

And so this is life…depending on others to care for you.  Arla will remain at Vancrest where she can receive the care she needs.  Life is never dull.

Here is a picture of her playing war in therapy.  Arla was never a card player, so this is a new part of her life.  Life is never dull.  For now, she is still in the rehab wing in room F3.  She loves visitors, as does Harold.

Everyone seems to have recovered from their stomach flu.  Thank you for your prayers and constant faith as we live each day in these trying times.

Your friendship and faithfulness to prayer means more than you can know.

Well, Arla has the full-on stomach flu.  Harold has not been feeling well this week.  Evan, Arla and Harold’s grandson, has had the stomach flu this week and spent a couple days at home under the care of his mommy. And Mary Ann is sure she and Harold have been battling the same bug in a less severe form than Evan and Arla have.

It seems that many families are battling the stomach bug.  Remember, to wash, wash, wash your hands.  These viruses can live on soooo many surfaces.  Use hand sanitizer when you have been in an area where you touch public surfaces and do not have ready access to soap and water.  Public surfaces….bathrooms, door knobs, pens in banks and sign-in areas, grocery cart handles, office phones, counter tops, and on and on.  Have your children wash their hands before eating.  Avoid touching your mouth, nose, or eyes….these are places where the viruses and bacteria that are on your hands enter your body.

Arla has also been dealing with yet another UTI.  This led to the decision to remove her bladder catheter which was really not medically necessary but rather a matter of convenience.  Long-term indwelling catheter use leads to increases bladder infections and UTIs.  Because of this, Arla has been on many antibiotics, and this is not good either.

Pray for healing and comfort to all involved.  Pray that God will move in Arla’s life to show us His purpose and desire.  Pray that we may hear Him.  Pray for Harold’s strength and peace.  Thank you, God, for the miracles you have done in the lives of all those who have been touched by Arla and her struggle.  Your love is great and unwavering.

Thank God for his patience and tenderness with us.  We are often like toddlers who throw tantrums and act out.  We demand our way and get frustrated when it does not happen our way.  We get very afraid and angry. As a parent, we see our children act in ways around us that they will not act around strangers.  Children do that because they feel safe with their parents.  They know that parents will not leave them no matter how much they beg or plead or throw tantrums.

How many times are we that way with our God?  He gently pushes us in the right direction, just like we do with our children.  He ignores our “childish” behavior and quietly suggests a better, more mature, more productive option.  He sees our needs and understands our fears, just like we do with our children.  He waits for us to “get over” our “tantrums,” holds us close until we are calm, and then quietly asks, “Are you ready to let me help you?”  And sometimes, if we are not heeding his guidance, he uses a little more direct approach to open our eyes to the path we should take. But through it all, God is there.  He will never walk away.

Lord, help us to practice the same patience and tenderness with those around us that you show us every minute of every hour.

Do you ever have someone you know pop into your mind?  Have you ever been wakened in the night and begin thinking about a particular person?  What a perfect time to pray for that person.  God has placed this individual or family in your thoughts.   So take a moment and pray.  Prayer does not need to be complex.  It can be momentary.  In fact, 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to pray without ceasing.  I translate this to mean, pray all day long.  Pray when that person comes into your thoughts.

Lord, I do not know the need but I pray for you to be with this person today.  I ask for safety and health and peace and guidance.  Speak to this person and through her today and prosper her.

What prayer time are we wasting while we make our morning coffee, brush our teeth, wait at the stop light, stand in line, vacuum, wait for the church service to begin.  We may be more likely to text on our cell phone during these times than we are to pray.  Be in tune with God and pray.  As you pray for Arla, please pray for the health, prosperity, and guidance of all who work for her good.  We believe that even those who are helping Arla through prayer are receiving God’s blessing in their own lives because you, too, are working for her good.  We also believe this extends to those who have never even met Arla but who are or will be working on her behalf.  Pray for the network of people that directly and indirectly is currently,or will be, connecting to Arla’s life.  Lord, we may not even know who these people are, but we are led to pray for them.  Amen.

We have become aware that several of our blog friends have been forwarding our blog posts as email.  In fact, we offer a way to sign up for the blog and have it sent to your email.  It is very hard to go to several blogs a day to keep up with what is going on.  However, technology and the internet offer easy ways to keep up with the information you view most often.  One really neat, free, and easy tool that allows you to go to one site and have your favorite updates sent there is Google Reader.  Instead of visiting 5 different sites or getting 10 new emails a day, you go to one site and catch up on all your updates at once.

Here is a link to a YouTube video that explains Google Reader. Click on the blue title to see the video. How to Use Google Reader.  Reader is available at www.google.com/reader.  Once you create an account, you can click subscribe and type in (or copy and paste) arlaallen.wordpress.com.  You can also add links to other blogs.  If you have ever seen the letters RSS or have seen the orange symbol to the right on a website, you are visiting a site that will push content to Google Reader.   You visit your reader once a day and see what new news is there.  So many sites will push content to Google reader.  (Did you know the online bible reading program that First UM Church uses can be sent to Google Reader?)  If you are really tech savvy, you can also download a reader app to your smartphone and get all your reader feeds there as well.  I personally like FeedlerRSS.

People are suffering all around us.  People have physical ailments, depression, relationship problems, financial woes, temptations, anger, lack of motivation, daily roadblocks, and on and on.  Jesus understands all of these.  ALL OF THEM!  Jesus was human and divine.  He understands what it is like to live the daily life.  He was tempted, hated, loved, burdened, and suffered unfathomable physical pain.  I think we who believe in the power of God and the power of prayer logically understand that Jesus is there for us.  That he understands.  But for some reason, as a society, we often are not ready or able to view all problems as worthy of being laid before God.

Think about this question: would you be as willing to ask for prayer for your temptation to overeat as you would be to ask for prayer for your upcoming surgery?  Would you be more likely to ask God to end your negative thoughts or to heal your sinus infection?  Jesus made no distinction between physical ailments and spiritual demons.  He addressed both in the same manner.  Jesus has authority over everything.  Why do we choose to only take some of our problems to Him?  Why are we afraid to allow our “true” demons to be known so that our community of believers can pray for us?  What keeps us from taking everything to God in prayer?

As you know to pray for those with physical ailments, remember to pray for emotional, financial, spiritual, logistical, and relationship healing as well.  Ask for peace and for the voice of God to be clear.  As a family who is dealing with Arla’s massive stroke, we can tell you that the physical aspects of the stroke are actually the easiest to manage at this time. And in fact, the major issues that must be managed have little to do with Arla at all anymore.  The stroke set the needs in motion, but the stroke is not our main concern.  It may seem strange, but our prayers rarely revolve around asking for specific physical healing.  Our prayers have shifted.  We now ask for guidance with managing the financial aspects of Arla’s long term care, for patience, for the abatement of negative thoughts, for a shift in Harold’s priorities, for balance in our lives, for guidance as new choices need to be made, for physical energy and motivation to take on our newly “assigned” duties, for help in knowing what should be our next priority, for a gentle nature in dealing with one another, for the ability to embrace change, and for a heart that is hearing God.

It would be hard to believe that the stroke is just the tip of the iceberg….but it is.  So much more lies beneath that has to be dealt with and managed.  Isn’t your life really like that as well?  Isn’t what people see as your struggles just really the tip of the iceberg?  Are you asking God to help you with only that which others see, or are you asking God’s guidance in all areas of your struggles?  God already knows our hearts and our thoughts.  Why are we not asking Him to deal with our issues?  There really is no reason to do any of the tough stuff alone.