thread for middle age to older Christian women.

I think many of us can relate to this prayer. Praying for you all today as so many are facing such difficult journeys.

Love,

Nancy

Hi Ade,

My heart sank when I read the first few words of your post thinking Maggie was put to sleep. Then relieved to read the rest of the sentence. It sounds like you all had a wonderful picnic.

I had a lot of medical apts and xrays last week and more blood work. I was a little miffed that my fairly new doctor wrote a very brief message to me giving me the results of the xrays. Nothing broke or fractured in hand or tailbone but nothing to remedy the situation either. There is another situation which I am not sure if I have mentioned or not. An area of inflammation showed up on the tailbone xrays which included areas around the tailbone as well. It basically means that I could have lower abdominal pain or groin pain which I have had. When I asked him what could be done he said it is going to take a long time to heal. He said we could do further xrays and revaluate. I repeated the kidney function tests and they improved but apparently not to his liking because when I see him for a blood pressure check in three months he wants to repeat that blood work again. I contacted him to tell him I had developed ear pain as well. He suggested an oral antihistamine which I can't tolerate but I already take a nose spray antihistamine. He suggested Flonase which I bought and that is helping but he mentioned I should see an ENT. I tried to get in to my new ENT but it was going to be almost three weeks to get in. I talked to a nurse and she said I could get in with one of his associates which I will see on Friday. If I had to have surgery I would want the original doctor as he is tops in this town and I really know nothing of this other young doctor except that he has very good reviews online.

I am extremely worried about my Mom. The good news is no one at her facility including the staff tested has the virus including the person that had it. I am not sure if this person is back from the hospital yet though. I was very upset on Mother's Day. I could not reach my Mom the whole week before and one of the CNA's told me to call on Mother's Day and I could use her phone to talk to my Mom. She said she may not be able to hear you but you can hear her and know she is okay. So I called at 8pm knowing my Mom has always been a night owl like I am and she just is mentally more alert then, When I called they said she is in bed sound asleep and snoring. I was shocked. I said is she sick or is she in bed for the night, They said she is in bed for the night. She said she was not feeling well. They have started her on an appetite stimulant which my sister and i didn't want to do several months ago. She was not wanting to eat at all and only drink Ensure. I asked this CNA if she usually goes to bed at 8 and she said half of the time. That really made me concerned because that is not like her at all. I know these drugs have alot of adverse side effects.

My sister took her hearing aides and will have them cleaned and checked out so that is going to take more time. My communication with her has been sketchy at best so it has been extremely frustrating and worrisome not really knowing what is going on. There is a new young nurse who is the head nurse at the facility and she has been very proactive which is good and so my sister took my Mom to the doctor regarding all the stomach aches she has been having, Do I know what happened there. NO. I felt bad physically on Mother's Day and the next day and felt much better yesterday so went out and got more pictures. I have to get some exercise and my photography is always good therapy for me.

So that is the long story. The crazy thing is that my PT aggravated all of these tailbone and surrounding area issues and I am still on hold with that. I know what will happen when I resume and it will just cause more tailbone pain. I don't think my therapist ever really appreciated how miserable I was during all that time.

Joanne, thank you for that banner. I have been giving my Mom to the Lord over and over again. It is out of my control as so many other things are now for all of us.

Take care dear sisters.

I will have to share some more photos with you later.

Love,

Nancy

I apologize if I posted this already, but I woke up the other morning with the hymn “Great is Thy Faithfulness” going through my head. I guess it’s worth repeating if I already shared that. Have a good Friday everyone.

JO-5, I don't know why, but seeing the words to the song, "Because He Lives" brought tears to my eyes. I don't hear it sung anymore, but I sure did as a kid. I always loved it. It felt so... I guess "powerful" would be the best word to describe it.

IntoLight, I'm sorry you're having to deal with the beach crowd partying and ignoring the safeguards that have been put in place. I hope you have a wonderful visit with your family. How will you handle the social distancing? My sister and maybe my dad are coming down for a visit and I'm wondering how we'll handle that. I will be praying for your liver biopsy

I have a playlist on my phone that I usually listen to as I go to sleep each night. Powerful and comforting songs by Hillsong United, Bethel and Laura Story. I think the entire playlist is about 46 minutes and I often fall asleep before all the songs are finished. Here are the songs:

It is Well (Bethel Music & Kristine DiMarco)
Oceans (Hillsong United)
Still (Hillsong Live)
Perfect Peace (Laura Story)
Not Today (Hilsong United)
Who You Say I Am (Hillsong Worship)
Another in the Fire (Hillsong United)
Blessings (Laura Story)

Have a blessed day, everyone!

Carol

Hershey, that's a great line: "Would you rather wear a mask or a ventilator?" No one has ever asked me why I'm wearing a mask, but as I plan on continuing to wear one, I would reply, "Would you rather I wear a mask or a ventilator?"

We're having virtual church right now, but there's one guy who says he's not wearing a mask because he's depending on the blood of Jesus to keep him safe and feels perfectly fine hugging people. That's an affront to my faith and just plain irresponsible and disrespectful.

Yes, I believe in the blood of Jesus, but I also wear a seat belt in the car, drive (mostly) near the speed limit and lock the doors to my home. I will most definitely be wearing a mask when our small church meets in person again. I will kindly ask him to keep his distance from me and will use the mask vs. ventilator question with him, if needed.

Carol, I just have to ask - is that an Airedale in your picture? Could also be a Welsh or a Lakeland as they all can look similar except for size. Reason being, we have a 10 year old Airedale and get excited when we see another one. )

Chris, we continue to lift you up to the Lord for courage, strength, peace and healing. The Lord is your Rock in times of trouble.

Nancy I'm glad you got to the new ENT guy and have some new treatment ideas. Also thankful he isn't deeply concerned about your head xrays. That must give you some relief. I pray the new rinse will work for you. Sinus issues ARE miserable, and so is vertigo! Your poor tailbone! Does a donut help at all? People are getting out more here too and most without masks. We don't have the mask police here, thankfully. As I said, WE are still wearing for our own protection. I read about the N95s NOT being as good because they can restrict the oxygen by 20% and some folks have fainted because of it. I wear a cloth one (purple with colorful butterflies!) that has 2 cloth layers and an inside pocket for a filter (it came with three). It is still really HOT and I can't wait to get it off. Our temp is near 100 today but humidity is only 10%. We need rain badly so send some down when you've had enough. Can you pin your sister down regarding your mother's issues? Is she being evasive and sketchy on purpose? It would give you so much more peace to have all the details.

Our spunky daughter wants to take off this summer driving across the country with the 3 grandkids just herself without hubby. She's one who is very intelligent but on the low side with common sense....which we all know can be the case. I am the cautious worry wart - she certainly isn't! I DON'T think that is a good idea and pray she will change her mind. Our oldest son just retired from his career at an Air National Guard base and he is now in California training for 3 months into a new position at the same place he retired from. Continuing work is good for him and he is really looking forward to working with his old coworkers again. I pray he's kept safe too. Even moms of adult kids worry and constantly pray for them and their families.

We resumed our Sunday night Bible study group meeting in person last night instead of online and it was so good. There were only a handful there and we spaced apart. More normalcy feels so good.

Thursday James has a virtual doctor visit with the VA and another one on the 27th. We are SOOO glad to NOT have the 3+ hour trips! He continues to do well, is planting a small container garden and watering, and we have resolved to briskly walk for about 20 minutes each morning. Then he waters the plants and I have my coffee on the porch with Maggie and do some intercession praying. Our move back to Ohio remains on hold since houses are cheap here and expensive there for now. It's ok, God has the time table according to His will.

Your banners are beautiful, and your songs and scriptures encouraging. I continue to lift you all up to the Lord. He knows exactly what you need, and He is able to provide.

Hugs to all of you,

Ade

Carol I'm delighted to meet another Airedale lover! We bought our first pair of pups back in the 80s when two of our children were in 4-H. They took them through obedience and showmanship and they did very well. It's so funny that our rather laid back (lazy) son got the laid back dog - and he took all the ribbons! Our daughter, on the other hand worked SO hard with her spunky, strong-willed dog, and found out to her dismay, that whenever anyone clapped (which they do alot in competitions) her dog would run and hide under the nearest chair! Our son went on to become a K-9 handler in the U.S. Border Patrol, and our daughter went on to train my next Airedale to be a therapy dog, and Em became a photographer specializing in pets and children. Our Maggie came to me I think from the Lord. When my last Airedale, Meggie who was born into my hands, died in my arms at 13 1/2, I vowed someday I'd have another girl and name her MAGGIE in honor of my beloved MEGGIE, who broke my heart when she passed away. A couple of years later our daughter (Emily) found a 10 month old Airedale pup for adoption in Indiana 4 hours away and asked if I'd like to go see it. We got there and found a boisterous pup that we both adored. She was purebred but owned by a family with a pitbull, disabled child and a toddler - and they knew nothing about training a rambunctious pup. So Em and I looked at each other, both willing to sacrifice the pup to each other, when Em asked what the dog's name was. IT WAS MAGGIE!!! So Emily knew it was meant to be and we brought her home that day. Maggie can be a rascal but I love every bone in her body and cherish the years (hopefully) that we have left. Thank you for sharing about Jeeves!

PLEASE pray for our dear missionary friends, the Vanderkooi family in Chad Africa. Mark has the virus and Diane (mom) & Sylvie (daughter) may be incubating. They can't evacuate from their remote location and have no near medical help so we petition for the Great Physician to move on their behalf. THANK YOU!

Love to all,

Ade

Hi dear sisters. I hope everyone is hanging in there. The missionary that I support also has a gift of poetry writing so I thought I would share this poem of hers. She is a missionary in Belgium and works with Convoy Of Hope but is from our church. Her teams have been sidelined until things open up there as well.

Nice to see some Airedale love. You will laugh but from a distance I thought Carol's avatar was a beagle. LOL I had a funny thought while at the grocery store yesterday trying to follow the one way arrows. I realized that maybe the reason so many people were not following them is because they are way overdue for their eye appointment. LOL That definitely includes me. I was supposed to have a check up in October and totally goofed on that one. My apt is coming up in June and I am not sure if he will cancel on me or not but I really do need new glasses script for sure.

Ade, I pray for Mark your missionary friend. I pray God will raise him up and heal him and protect the other family members. I was kidding about the mask police. I guess in this strange time we are living in one can't assume anything anymore.

Ade, I loved reading your Maggie story. She was meant to be yours for sure!

I actually got a hair cut on Wed. My hairdresser had canceled my apt in March and offered her home or mine as an alternative. Since I had been sick with sinus stuff so long I didn't think it a good idea to do either. When things got more humid the afro look I was sporting didn't look too good on this ole lady. Interesting thing. After being on my AI for so many years my curly hair started to get straight especially my bangs. I have now been off if it since the end of July and my hair has started getting curlier again.

I do have some VA news regarding my Mom's survivor pension application. I received a big packet on Thursday and that didn't feel like good news. They wanted ANOTHER form and asap. I spend a good amount of time on the phone with my VA advocate and emailing info to him. In this letter is said something like if I can get this form to them within 30 days it could expedite the claim. I wasn't thrilled about spending more time on this but if in the end it finally gets approved then it will be worth it.

I still have not been able to communicate with my Mom. I have been buying flowers as our garden centers were a few of the chosen ones deemed essential at the beginning of May. So that was a good distraction.

My sinus rinse routine twice a day I do believe is helping so that is good. I have been walking as much as I can and that is as good of an alternative to swimming as I can do now.

Chris, I know you will have family coming in next month and I pray that will be a really blessed time for all of you.

Faith, any word on your DH's surgery?

Teka, I can just hear that chipmunk saying I am waiting for you to plant some flowers in those containers so I can dive in and have a little snack while I throw potting soil all over the deck!!!! I am ready to enjoy some summer as well. We are in the midst of a thunderstorm right now and it looks like rain for several days. Oh well.

Take care everyone and have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend even though here in IL parades and events for it are canceled.

Love,

Nancy

Hello everyone and thank you for your prayers for DH. We have had an exhausting, frustrating couple of weeks. DH is still having lots of problems with his urinary tract and trying to use the bathroom. His bladder is not emptied afterwards and it's causing another infection. He supposed to have the surgery on Wednesday and I pray that it's not canceled and that there are no problems afterwards. I've read some of the research DH has done and it scares me. I'm praying that he has the surgery and is healed and that God will guide the doctor's hands. I'm trusting that God will be with us.

To add to the frustration, during a bad storm last week, lightning struck right in front of a large tree in our front yard and must have traveled through the ground and caused a power surge as we lost several electronics including the expensive printer, two DVD players, the router and our garage door opener among other things, and some parts of the computer that may or may not be fixable. We feel very lucky that it didn't hit the house but it was a pain not having internet or phones for two days and we keep finding things that were damaged. Yesterday, I discovered that one of the phone chargers didn't work. Then, three days after the strike, we were driving to get some take out food for dinner (one of a few times since the lockdown) and there was a terrible downpour of rain and a big puddle across the road which we drove through slowly but it did a little damage to the underside of our car. Thankfully that's covered by insurance completely. The other things are subject to a large deductible. It could have been worse but it just feels like bad things keep happening. I'm praying that it is just helping develop our trust muscles and with God by our side, all will be well, especially DH's surgery.

Even though I haven't posted much lately, I pray for all of you everyday.i pray that all your pains and trials are taken away and especially that this Pandemic goes away and we can get back to a semi normal life including worship in church. We were just given some of the guidelines for reopening our church and with the social distancing and all the other requirements, it feels like old people won't ever get back to church and my singing in the choir is a thing of the past as that makes the germs spread further. I pray God has a plan for us because right now, things are very depressing.

Love and prayers and sleep well,

Faith

Faith, I am so thankful that your house was not struck by the lightening bolt. I will continue to pray for your husband's health and recovery. I agree that we older folks may be under stay-at-home orders for a long time. My church is small and doesn't offer online services. Instead, we are directed to virtual services through a sister church 30 miles away. It feels impersonal and sterile at times, but it's the best we have right now. I hope this virus is tamed soon for everyone's sake.

Chris, thank you for sharing the information about your son's Facebook service. I appreciate it.

I sympathize with our pastors and church leaders. They had to hit the ground running when shutdown orders were announced. Many (including mine) had never embraced technology, social media, or apps. My church used to offer summer services at the local drive-in. They were wildly popular but unfortunately ended when the drive-in was sold. I also worry for church finances in these times of record unemployment, company closures, and members' fears. I pray that churches are applying for federal relief under the CARES Act.

Ade, who is that handsome man tending your pretty Pomegranate? Many answered prayers for him for sure!

Faith, we will certainly be in prayer for your DH's surgery on Wednesday and praying it goes according to plan. I am so sorry to hear about all of the other things that have piled up regarding the lightning strike and your car going through flood waters. My tree I brought home in Kindergarten is still at my Mom's house. It was hit by lightning two years ago and it knocked out her phones on the first floor but we were very fortunate that was all that happened. I am sorry that your damage involved more things that will cost more money to replace. I know I have felt like you have with so many things going on at the same time and feeling overwhelmed. I do believe God uses these trials to strengthen us. Sometimes for me I also know that the enemy loves to pounce on these things to drag us down. When I just plain and simple get mad at the devil I feel much more empowered knowing that we have victory over the enemy and we do not have to be victims which is can very easily happen during protracted times of trials. I pray that DH will have a successful surgery and this will be on step closer to seeing the light at the end of this tunnel.

Chris, I am glad to hear your son's church is starting to get back to revised services. Many have had to embrace the new normal of zoom and all the new technology that goes with that. It is very difficult for those who are not into social media. Thankfully our church has live streaming on the Church's Website plus Facebook, otherwise I would be in the dark as I am not on social media at this time. How are you doing? Any word on your liver biopsy date?

I have still not been able to talk to my Mom yet. It has been three or more weeks now. Please pray that somehow we will be able to communicate. I am fearful or her dying without me being able to see or talk to her. She has not been eating and only drinking Ensure but I don't know if that has changed since they started her on an appetite stimulant.

It is hot and humid here today and my tailbone pain has been intense and disheartening. I would covet your prayers for these things.

Have a good weekend dear sisters.

Love,

Nancy

Welcome Wheatfields. Love that name.

My Mom's facility bought an Ipad for the express purpose of scheduling 15 mins of facetime with family. The problem is I have to have an Iphone or Ipad, android will not work. I have to figure something out. Thanks for your input. I appreciate it.

Love,

Nancy

Nancy, you can use "Zoom" on an android. It will work with your mom's facility's tablet. It is free and easy. Then you can use your phone while they use the tablet. Better than nothing!

I just found out my son and his family will be here at the same time my "new family" will be here. Should be an interesting and busy few days!

Nancy, I totally understand about the camera security issues. Praying someone can work something out so you can talk with your mom.

My son and his family are flying in from Missouri--with three boys six and under. It makes car rides with three carseats (four if you count my granddaughter) a little challenging but we can do it. My half-sister lives in Arizona and is picking up my adoptive Auntie who lives close (originally we were going to meet at her house.) Then they are picking up the younger sister from the airport who is travelling from OK. They are then driving to San Diego, staying a few days, then the ladies are driving to Orange County where my Auntie can visit her sister and the others will visit more family and friends. My brother is driving in from a couple of hours more north. Sounds confusing? But I feel blessed that they would do all of this for me. All in all there will be 14 of us in my small condo although the others are all staying in hotels. Hope everyone likes each other! We will practice social distancing as much as possible even having thermometers available, but that may be a challenge. I think we are all being extra cautious so there is no sickness both for me and for my 80 year-old Auntie. My biggest fear is that I will be starting my new treatment by then--or I may delay it two weeks if my oncologist deems it best.