Consider it pure joy!

What does a person have to do to get serenaded by a top-notch group of over 40 singers right after lunch on a Sunday?  The answer is simple…. be Arla Allen.  Arla had dedicated 14 years to singing with the First United Methodist Senior Choir.  Today, the entire choir sang to Arla after church.   For those of you who heard Arla sing through the years, you know she was a contributing, reinforcing member of this group.  Arla’s singing was a gift that she used to the glory of God.  Now the choir sings without her physical voice.  But we feel her presence in rehearsals and Sunday worship.  Just as we do other members of the choir and congregation who are also residents at Vancrest and joined us for the mini-concert.

There are many guiding factors in our lives.  One factor is those people who have come into our lives and taught us or mentored us.  Sometimes these lessons are not positive.  Other times they are wonderfully pleasant.  When people change us, we may not really think about it or even realize.  Arla is one of the change agents in many people’s lives.  God also sent us a comforter in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit also helps guide us.  Today, the choir took a risk and sang today’s anthem at Vancrest without accompaniment.  It was a decision that the Holy Spirit prodded us to do, and a decision that created a flawless rendition of the piece.  It was meant to be.

Thank you God for giving us the Holy Spirit, and thank you for the family of believers who surround us everyday and comfort and support us.

Arla seems to have fully recovered from her illness a few weeks ago.  We are still not sure exactly what was going on, but she was one sick, weak lady.  She is back doing her therapies, back to brightening a room with her smiles, and trying to regain the strength she lost while ill.

Please pray that she continues to make strides in her strengthening.  As the family has understood for quite a long time now, Arla will remain in skilled nursing for some time.   We are coming up on 5 months since the stroke.  Improvement in mobility and speech can continue to happen, but we do not expect huge gains to occur quickly.

Harold is now faced with the reality that Arla will probably not be staying in the rehab section of Vancrest much longer.  The rehab area is really an area for short term stays for residents needing to regain balance or mobility after surgery, trauma, or illness.  Arla is becoming a long-term resident.  Eventually, she will need to be moved to another wing of the facility.  Such a move must be coordinated carefully, though.  Different aides and nursing staff work in other areas of Vancrest. These personnel must be trained by the therapists to be able to move Arla in and out of bed.  When Arla first arrived at Vancrest, it was several weeks before any aides got her from bed to chair without the use of a hoyer lift.  Even now, personnel use the hoyer lift with Arla every day to place her on a commode in the morning. However, the hoyer takes up space and time to use.  Therefore, being able to get Arla from bed to chair without it is important.

Arla is still in F3, but a move will happen eventually.  The staff at Vancrest are coordinating and training personnel to be sure everyone knows how to meet Arla’s needs in the new area where she will go.  This pending move has Harold very worried and ill at ease.  Currently, Arla has a private room.  She will not have that in the new area.  Harold is not looking forward to this. If you are not aware, Harold is with Arla from 9 a.m. to at least 8 p.m. most days.   Also, rehab in a skilled nursing facility can be different than the other areas of the facility.  (The stigma attached to skilled nursing rehab will be the subject for another blog).   The residents are often short-term with mobility problems; the dining room is small; and the number of residents is small.  Harold is not looking forward to having Arla in the area of Vancrest where the needs of the residents are broad.  To put it nicely, he is uneasy about spending time with Arla in an area with a more general nursing home population.  And, we hate to say it, but anything people say to him about their nursing home experiences with their loved ones does not help.  (Please don’t tell him how awful it will be to eat in the big cafeteria or how much you hated visiting a relative).   He is just not comfortable with the fact that Arla cannot stay in rehab indefinitely because he is not comfortable with not being with her all day.  Harold needs positive encouragement.  He holds tight to the negative and ponders the unknown.  Simple tasks can become overwhelming for him on some days.  The less negative ideas that are sent his way, the better.

And when Arla gets moved (no, we have no idea when that might happen), we will let our blog readers know.

Arla was always a prayer leader at church.  She was often the one people would call to request prayer.  She would often call those on the list to check on progress or additional needs so she could relay information to the prayer team at church.  We tell you this to help you understand why Kelsey, Arla and Harold’s oldest grandchild (who is a senior in high school, lives in the Akron area, and teaches snowboarding at a local slope called Brandywine) would say, “With Grandma in the nursing home, all of VW won’t know what’s going on because she won’t be putting me on the prayer chain.”

Well…little does she know her mom (Janeen) has some links to that chain too.  And those links are easily connected to Arla’s blog, and the prayer chain is all hooked up…. in fact, it reaches farther than before.

Kelsey has had a migraine headache since Sunday.   Here are the details of what she is going through. She drove to Brandywine Monday to work her shift, but got faint before she even got out to teach her lessons. When her mom went to go get her, she passed out and then started having seizures. Ski patrol worked on her until the ambulance came. They have ruled out the scary stuff, but haven’t been able to break the migraine. They are getting ready to give her yet another combo of meds. Praying that this third cocktail gives her some relief.

Pray now for relief.  These meds go in over a course of 3 hours.  And thank God that Arla’s prayer chain is bigger and farther reaching than ever before.   UPDATE (Sunday morning):  The meds and prayers last night work.  Kelsey was pain free once all the meds had been administered.  Hopefully, she is still pain free and was able to sleep through the night. 

Arla is having a better day.  While she is still not wanting to eat much, she was much more alert and smiling tonight.  She was watching TV and communicating.  She was really focusing on those around her and wanting to have you talk to her.

She is still very weak, but she seems to be headed in the right direction.

Arla has not improved at all today.  She is very weak and not feeling well at all.  The plan is to run blood tests to see if any cause for her malaise can be determined.  Pray she may be comfortable and healed.  Pray for Harold.  This downturn is difficult for him.  Pray for her caregivers and the doctors who will try to help in this situation.

Mary Ann did get Arla to smile when she kicked Harold out of the room when he was talking loudly on the phone.  Arla thought that was funny.

God is with us… thanks be to God.

Arla is still not 100% back to her old self.  She has just had a bad week.  We are wondering if this really was the stomach flu or stomach upset due to a change in her overnight PEG tube feeding or perhaps there is some other underlying cause.  Today her right knee was painful, and she spent a lot of time in bed.   We are also coming to a potential crossroad with therapies.

It is so difficult to understand why Arla must endure suffering of any kind.  What could be the purpose in all of this?  It is also very difficult to zero-in on any changes in her health.  You or I could say…I feel this way… I am just tired… or I need to move my leg a little.  What might take an afternoon or a few hours to figure out with us could take days or a week to figure out with Arla.  Anytime she seems to feel badly the only recourse for determining the cause is observation or tests.  And in the mean time, each day she does not participate in therapy is three or four days of strength lost.

God is answering prayer….BUT… it still is a difficult journey.

This comes from the Daily Hope website by Rick Warren.  It seems appropriate to share it today.  

“If you want to know what God really wants you to do, ask him … but if you don’t ask in faith, don’t expect the Lord to give you any solid answer.” (James 1:5-6 TLB)

God wants to direct you in life, but two things need to line up: You have to ask the right person, God, and you have to ask with the right attitude — in faith, expecting an answer.

Have you ever asked God for something and didn’t expect to get it? That’s why you didn’t get it. God works in our lives according to faith. So many times we say, “God, please guide me!” and we walk away not even waiting for guidance. We just immediately start to work. We say, “God, I want you to give me wisdom; help me make the right decision.” But we don’t really expect him to do that. We think it all depends on us.

God has promised to give us wisdom, if we will ask. Wisdom is seeing life from God’s point of view. Wisdom is the ability to make decisions the way God makes decisions.

Think about this: God never makes a bad decision. He never makes a mistake. He says if we trust him and listen to him, he will guide us. But we must ask in faith.

In the last few weeks, I have been praying for what I truly need and for what it the best way to tackle a problem.  And God has answered prayer.  The problems are not completely solved, but the solution is becoming more clear.  In fact, I cannot expect my life on earth to ever be problem free…I will only have that in Heaven.  The thing to remember is that God may not fulfill our needs in our timeframe or in the way we were thinking they should be resolved.  It is easy to believe that God is not listening.  Sometimes a problem is solved by God in stages.  And sometimes the trial we are in is the solution….it is strengthening us and preparing us to fulfill our purpose and God’s will.  Do not become discouraged.  God is working on it, and God is in charge.  He really does know what He is doing, and He is working for our good.  

Through Arla’s stroke recovery, it has been amazing to learn about how other people live and to find that the life we have is so often taken for granted.  I think it is human nature to accept our reality as our own and not consider the struggles of others.  I guess that is why there is that saying, “Smile at people.  It may be the best part of their day.”  One thing has been constant in all of this experience… Arla has NEVER lost her smile.  She was even smiling through her heart attack.  I am sure the sight of Arla smiling has been a source of comfort for many over the years, and her smile still is a comfort today.

Arla is smiling again today after several days of being sleeping and “out of it”.  She was given nausea medication as the stomach flu began to rear its ugly head, and the medication knocked her out.  Tonight, she is alert again; feeling so much better; and smiling.

Remember to get to know people.  Get to really understand what they go through and where they need support or help.  Learn about the struggles of those you may not usually come in contact with.  There are so many in our communities who are lonely, need help, or feel unneeded.  What can you to do to help another find their purpose?  What can you do to help others–and help is not just financial….  Can you pray? Mentor? Support?  Listen?  Create? Encourage? Invite? Laugh? Visit?  Transport? Run errands?  What are you good at?  The list is endless.  God blesses each of us with talents that can be used to help others.  Who is out there that needs you?  Arla is ready any time you need a smile.  She is glad to see everyone.  If you need to feel needed or loved or encouraged, just see Arla. If she can use her talents to bless others, so can you!!!!!   Thanks be to God.