Moving on:

I’ve been reading my previous posts from our lengthy stay at Fort Sanders Regional and Patricia Neal and it occurred to me that I haven’t updated the FB world on Gene’s progress in a while. Since my exuberance over this being the next to last day of school woke me early this morning, I’ll take a few minutes to do that now.

Math is not my strong suit but I believe that today marks 55 days since Gene was released from PNRC. He has not quite mastered the power chair (as our walls and any other stationary thing in our house will attest) but has made great progress therein. It really isn’t a very intuitive operation. Gene says I’m a good driver and I’ve found driving the “Quickie” (it’s the name on the chair, I swear) challenging. My hope is that by the time he has it mastered, he can drive it out to the garage, park it and WALK away from it forever!

Due to constant prayers offered on his behalf by those in our family, church and community, his spirits remain good. Only those of you who know and/or are related to a self-proclaimed “Eeyore” know how significant that is. You know the type: they find the dark lining behind every silver cloud! Anyway, for the most part, he remains hopeful and encouraged and for that, I am so very grateful.

Besides the prayers being prayed, he is being well served by a couple guys who tote him back and forth to PT/OT so that I can maintain some normalcy in my job (which, did I mention, is almost over for the summer?!). A huge shout-out goes to Mike Miller and to Steve Shields for stepping in to help here. We have a couple other folks waiting in the wings; be patient, you’ll get your chance!

As for his moments in between therapy, he is reading TONS. I guess he feels like he has to give me a report as to how he spends his time so when I get home I usually get a report on what he has read that day which sometimes leads us to discuss what God is doing in (both) our lives which builds connection between us and serves to remind me that life goes on; chair or not. And one day soon, the chair will be gone but the connection will remain. ‪#‎allthings‬ Romans 8:28

Folks ask me all the time, “Is there anything we can do for you?” and to them I honestly say, “No, just keep praying.” There is much that God wants to do in us, for us and through us as we walk this journey and we want Him to have His way. As for myself, I don’t want to be like “…the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle…” Psalm 32:9 Instead, I want to be instructed and taught in the way I should go, looking so closely at the face of my Father that if He “cuts” His eyes this way or that, I am quick to follow (Psalm 32:8).‪#‎laserfocusonJesus‬

Frankly, I need for “work” to be over; it will be at noon on Friday. For you see, not only do I need time to focus on Gene’s rehab (and oh my, what a plan we have for his summer!), I also need to encourage Hannah as she begins her 4 week march toward her surgery on June 15.

By the time we got to Wednesday night Bible study last night, I was pretty wound up. I really can’t say why but nonetheless, I was. Anyway, I told one of my friends “…my stress level is an 11 out of 10!” And that’s true. Like I said, I need for work to be over! I feel like I have my feet in two totally separate worlds and those worlds are constantly shifting, keeping me seriously off balance.

Those of you who have folks in your home who need constant attention know what I mean: they are never out of your thoughts: every cotton-picking-thing you do is a process that had better be planned out in advance or you’ll never get anywhere on time, when you’re at home you hope things are okay at work, when you’re at work, you hope everything is okay at home, etc., etc. I DESPERATELY want to put both feet on one solid surface and stand there for a minute. After tomorrow at noon, I get to do that.

On that note, if you ask me to do something in the coming weeks and I’m not available, please understand that I still love you and appreciate the invitation and want (truly) to be included, but my life currently MUST be about the health of “my people”. I’m not good at creating margins in my life (think: Wonderwoman) and telling anyone no to anything is just killer to me (because I CAN do it all, right? WRONG!)! Still, you may hear that response and I hope you’ll understand.

Well, that’s it (in a nutshell). Again, continue to pray for us. Pray for Gene’s healing (certainly) but above all, pray that God would be glorified in us as He works out His will for us. No matter the impression I may give at any time, anywhere, this has NOT been easy. There are days when I honestly think (and say out loud to God), “I’m not going to make it through this day.” And then like an ambulance on high alert, God’s grace rushes to my aide and I more than make it through! His grace truly is amazing!