Broken Chair Fixes Man

I witnessed a small miracle this week. Dean resurrected some of his tools, dusted them off, and set about fixing a chair that broke down when he went to get up from it one day. It was an old chair we've had for years that had a lot of memories attached, so I can understand his motivation to get it fixed.

This is what my spare bedroom has looked like all week!

I've never seen him so enthusiastic about getting something done around here. (It took him almost a year to clean off his dresser. You can actually see the top of it now, so even with more clutter there than I'd like, it's a big improvement.)

And then there was the neighbor lady across the street. When a tree was hit by lightning a year ago (see my September 16, 2013 post) and ended up in her backyard, Dean offered to cut it up for her so she could have it hauled away. Dean, who made a living at logging, was thrilled at the chance of powering up his chain saw, even though Alberta and I were trembling at the thought of him falling and/or getting hurt in the process of such a physically demanding job. Unfortunately, his success was denied because the big chain saw, which had been sitting idle in our garage for years, just wouldn't come back to life for him.

After these rare attempts at handyman work, it really looks like he has reached a milestone in the furniture repair field. If his "glue" work holds, it will serve him many more years of happy TV watching in another room. (It helps the cabin fever to have two comfy places in the house for relaxation. We can actually "get away from each other" without leaving the house, if you know what I mean.)

If only he had lost 30-50 pounds while working, I'd be more confident in the lasting quality of this repair job. But at least he's still in the handyman game and I'm glad for that.

Isn't it great how God keeps us useful, even though we feel all used up? I pray that God uses me for every ounce of service He can squeeze out of my old body too.

The finished product!

Place for a Chair

Dean had his Christmas today when they finally delivered his lift chair. Long before Thanksgiving, when the home health nurse first suggested we try to get him one, she said not to get excited because we might not get one till Christmas.

I didn't believe that it would ever take that long. Especially after the medical supply store said they could deliver one the same day, just as soon as they got the proper documentation for it. Little did I know, the emphasis that was placed on the word "proper".

After preparing the place in the living room for the chair, I've been playing phone tag with the medical supply store and his doctor's office for several weeks now. Towards the end, I HAD to be the mediator. I don't think they were on speaking terms from the sounds of agitation in their voices. But we finally got the "proper" coding for his chair approved by Medicare, and Dean got his best Christmas present just two days late. It was well worth the wait. It's a nice chair.

Many of us are looking for Christ's Second Coming with the same excitement as we had for the chair. The wait is hard, and many are losing hope that it will ever come. But, God is using us as His mediators, and soon everything in the universe will be "proper" and the long-looked-for event will take place. We had better have a place prepared for it in our hearts, just like I had a place prepared in my living room.

Spinning Tires

As always, with the first, fresh snow on our streets, I joined the many cars today who found themselves spinning their tires and not getting enough traction to make it out into the intersection after stopping. At least not with the first try. One is forced to rock back and forth, going from drive to reverse, turning the front tires different directions, in embarrassing attempts to grab onto something that allows you to move forward with the traffic.

That's kind of how my whole week has felt. The challenges of Dean's medicines, their side effects versus their benefits, getting his lift chair approved, searching the internet, playing phone tag with doctors, nurses, the pharmacist, the medical supply store, and not really getting anywhere. I feel like I just can't get any traction and get myself out of this slippery slide of caregiving.

But thankfully, tonight is the beginning of the Sabbath. A whole day designed to help me get some traction and move on with my life with a renewed sense of purpose and gratitude. When the Sabbath is done, I'll feel a sense of relief once again. Just like it felt when I finally got into the intersection today and started moving toward my destination. And it especially feels good when your destination is heaven.

Getting a Lift

I was wondering what the physical therapist would be recommending for Dean today. Last year when he was here he didn't get much accomplished because of Dean's foot fracture.

After he went through some exercises with him today, I began telling him of Dean's lack of activity and how I end up waiting on him, probably too much. But when I said it was mostly because it was so hard for Dean to get out of his recliner these days, he said he might qualify for a lift chair.

That would really be nice. Hopefully it would mean that he would get up more often, which would be good for him. And it would be less wear and tear on my old body by grabbing his hand and pulling him up all the time, or just waiting on him hand and foot. So it would be good for me too.

God can grab our hand too to help us up. Or He can give us a "lift chair" to help us up. Even though it feels like we are getting up on our own, God is still doing the work. Let's not forget the source of all our efforts and activities. Whether we are pulled from the front or pushed from the back, God is doing the pushing and pulling. It is God, all the way.

God Blesses

We have taken another recliner into our home and it has passed the sleep test. God is so good. Dean fell asleep in the "new" chair today and I am so relieved that it has worked out so well for him. The recliner he was sitting in was in pretty sad shape. But I didn't know how I would ever afford a different one.

It wasn't just that the old chair looked bad or was uncomfortable for him to sit in. It had gotten to where it stayed in the reclining position and he could hardly get himself out of it. He'd give himself a good heave and ho, if no one was there to give him a hand, and he'd finally stand up. But he'd sway back and forth like a reed in the wind, well, make that a big tree, until he could get his balance and move forward. I would hold my breath every time, afraid he'd have another fall.

It was a coincidence, or rather providence, that the picture of the old recliner that I put on Facebook got noticed by someone who told someone else about it, who both just happened to be at a meeting we were attending. This new chair was graciously donated and I am so grateful. It was a real Godsend for us. And an indicator to me that when God gets His tithe, He will bless the 90% left so much that you won't even miss it. We have seen it time and time again.

Thank you, friend, for allowing God to use you in blessing our 90%.

Dean in the new chair--doesn't he look comfy?!

the old chair--it's had better days...

Fall Prevention

I've been hesitant to leave Dean for more than an hour or two by himself, but yesterday proved that disasters can happen even when he's not alone. It was early afternoon; I was in bed, nursing this cold, when my nephew and I heard a loud thud and moan coming from the living room. We both rushed out there to find him on the floor with a chair suspiciously in the middle of the room underneath the ceiling fan.

The fan had broken a blade last week and he wanted to inspect the damage via standing on the chair. Not a wise choice when you consider he had seven falls in one month last spring. Fortunately, he didn't seem to suffer too much from the spill. Fell on his wrist, which was hurting some, but he could move it alright. I'm afraid it didn't do his cracked ribs much good though, because he woke me up at 1:30 in the morning, complaining that he couldn't sleep and was hurting. Gave him a couple of Tylenol. I'll call his home health nurse tomorrow, especially if it keeps him up again.

Aren't we all a bit like Dean though? We think we are capable of fixing things in our life on our own, when the truth is we're just going to fall and make it all worse in the end. Dean struggles with being dependent on us, but we all struggle with depending on God. Dean needs to ask us before tackling any kind of job, but we should do the same with God. We could prevent a lot of falls that way.

In Grandpa's Arms

Dean took his almost-two-year-old granddaughter for a ride this evening. A quite scary ride, in fact, and we weren't even at the Fair. She loves to see Grandpa, or G-pop, and is always anxious to go to him. So shortly after they arrived, he had her in his arms. Before we knew it, they took a ride from a standing position all the way to the floor, as he mistook the telephone table for his chair.

There were lots of things to catch their fall, though none of them were of the soft variety--the box of DVDs, a jar with pencils, a lamp, and of course, the telephone, to mention a few. A tray and a table will have to be replaced. But thank heaven, both riders survived the crash, with nothing but a scared psyche to mark the event. Grandpa held onto her admirably, thinking of nothing but protecting her during the fall.

If I fall, I want my loving Grandpa God to have me in  His arms too. I know His only thought will be to protect me as we go down. There may be lots of debris between us and the floor, but God will make sure that His precious child will land unharmed, even if there are some bruises and terrors on the way. We will go down together. And He will help pick up the pieces.