Hunger Pangs

So, we cut one of Dean's medications in half, in hopes of it harnessing some of his weight gain. His appetite seems to know no bounds these days, but I have to say it hasn't improved since the change. I'm thinking his raging hunger is also due to his brain injury. If he sees food, he will eat it these days.

I have to be super vigilant with grocery shopping. All junk foods are out. Even if it's a healthy snack food, I can't have it around unless it's something that's low in calories, like fresh grapes or bananas. Those are the kinds of things I push for his snacking.

I also have to watch my leftovers. As soon as I feel we've both had enough supper, I have to whisk the food away to the fridge and hopefully hide it, before he "finishes it off". Yesterday I fixed him some of his favorite foods for supper (to make amends for turning down his pleas to go buy ice cream the last two days).

I got detoured on my computer after eating supper, and he comes in the bedroom and announces that he had finished off the scalloped potatoes. I panicked because I had made a really large casserole of this particular entree that he likes so well.

I raced into the kitchen to see how much was actually left and was relieved to see that he hadn't eaten it all the way down yet. But almost. Rather scary stuff. It immediately got stored on the top shelf of the refrigerator. It seems the top and bottom storage areas are the ones he notices the least, so I reserve them for foods he should stay away from.

Lord, please do that with all my temptations. I know you can't eliminate all of them, but put them where I won't be as apt to see them. You can store my impatience and worry on the top shelf somewhere. And please hide that pride somewhere down in the lower bins, way in the back.

There's actually some potatoes left in this 2 qt. casserole dish. Can't believe the two of us ate this much!

A Way of Escape

A few years back one of Dean's annoying behaviors was his taking that little sticker that comes on fruit and putting it on the toaster, microwave, or other place around the kitchen when I wasn't looking. By the time I noticed where it was, it usually required scraping to get the offending sticker off. I repeatedly asked him not to do it, but to no avail.

Then one day it hit me that all I had to do was remove and trash the stickers myself, while I was unloading groceries and putting them away. It was so simple. For years, I have been practicing changing Dean's environment, rather than changing Dean himself. This is one of the first lessons for family members of people with brain injury or dementia, but I had failed to apply it in this simplest of problems.

Lately, another problem has presented itself. Dean loves to feed the dog at the table, dropping her choice bits of the food off his own plate. She has put on a few pounds now and I know it's not good for her teeth, but I just can't convince him not to do it. Then I got smart and lately I've been putting the dog in a bedroom by herself while Dean's eating at the table. That will cut down on most of his "sharing" at least.

Both of these examples illustrate good strategies for resisting temptation of any kind. Removing yourself from the temptation or removing the temptation from you would work in most cases, but we fail to think of it in time. That's where prayer comes in. Ask God how to extricate yourself from the tempting situation. He says He will provide a way of escape. And that's exactly how it's done. Simple stuff and effective. But often we go years without thinking of a way to practice it.

The Captain

I think I'm going to have to place myself as Captain of the Patches. Dean got some pain patches from the doctor to wear over his cracked ribs, but he's supposed to have the patch on twelve hours and off twelve hours. We are already off schedule because he put one on today when I wasn't looking and it wasn't time yet. Hmm, what am I going with that man? I know, hide the patches!

Are there things in my life I should be hiding from me? Of course, food items first come to mind. If only someone would hide certain foods from me in the grocery store. But no, God grants me the power of choice and as long as I'm capable of making those choices, I will be responsible for staying away from those temptations.

But God doesn't leave us to face them alone. He's just a prayer away. I think He'd even help hide them if we asked. Lord, be Captain of My Temptations.

Slipping on Slippers

In the morning, I help my husband with his shoes and socks. Ever since he hurt his foot last summer, he needs this assistance, and I'm afraid I have the job for life. He just seems helpless when I try to get him to do it on his own. The shoes are slippers with Velcro. You'd think he could master them. But it's just easier to accommodate him and do it myself.

Later in the day, after he'd taken his slippers off, our daughter and granddaughters came over for awhile. In order to go outside and see them, I noticed that the slippers miraculously appeared on his feet, without my helping them get there. Without even thinking, he put them on all by himself.

Our obedience to God is somewhat like this. We obey each day, with God as our constant Helper. But someday, that obedience will become second nature to us, hopefully soon after baptism, and we will start obeying without even thinking about it. Our will will become so blended with God's will, that whatever we do, it will just be carrying out the will of our Father. Fortunately, we have our whole lifetime to work on this. But the possibility is there for everyone. God makes it possible. We do it for Him and by Him.

The Old Boot

We saw the podiatrist today and thankfully my husband doesn't have to wear "the boot" any more, just his regular shoes. Six months of "velcro-ing" him up every day was getting old. Yes, it's been six months since he tripped on a curb and injured his foot. First time he has had a fracture from one of his falls. I certainly hope it's the last!

But the sad truth is it probably won't be his last fall. Like everything in life, "falls" are going to happen. Ever since Adam and Eve, we've been considered a fallen race. Satan is out there, ready to trip us up at every turn. We can choose not to go where Satan hangs out the most (icy sidewalks). And another protection is hanging onto Someone (or even something, like a walker or cane).

I'm looking forward to a New Earth where "falls" will be a thing of the past. We won't need to wear "the boot" and our "walker" will be walking by our side, instead of in front of us. His name is Jesus.

Keep on the Meds!

This is a critical time in the life of my cold. I am starting to feel better, and it gets easy to skip medications for my lungs, or at least pace them out further apart, just due to getting busy with life again. But when I get lax with the medicine regimen, I am in danger of my lungs drowning in mucos/phlegm. Not good for me, because if a cough produces mucos that gets caught in my throat, my lungs are so wimpy, I start to choke. I can't cough it up.

We are drowning in a world of sin too, and if we get lax with the "medicines" God has provided for us to take on a regular basis, we will find ourselves without the power to get that sin out of our lives. The "medicine" regimen God has put us on consists of daily prayer, Bible study, and sharing our faith. Let's don't get apathetic or too busy with life to follow His program. We all have "wimpy lungs" when it comes to fighting sin.

So, when temptations start letting up, it is not the time to slow down on God's program. We must persevere on our God-given "meds" as long as we're in this world of sin.

Fighting a Cold

If there's one event that stands out in my daily life, it's coming down with a cold. Therefore today an outstanding event occurred. I'm coming down with a cold! And I do mean DOWN. Due to my restrictive lung disease, an average person's worst cold in their life, rates as one of my average ones.

There's just no way life will go on as normal for me the next few weeks. I will be using a nebulizer and  prescription meds to conquer this thing and not end up in the hospital. Natural remedies don't seem to make a dent in my recovery (and believe me, I've tried them all). With the exception of drinking lots of water to stay hydrated, and resting, at least as much as possible for a caregiver. (Lots of microwave meals this week for hubby!)

It's taken years to master my cold remedy regimen, but I think I'm prepared to tackle another bout with my worst enemy, Mr. Nasty Cold. I got to thinking about another regimen we all had better master though. How to handle Mr. Nasty Temptation. He tries to get us down on occasion too, but do we know how to minimize the effects of his unwelcome visits? And most importantly, do we have the necessary tools on hand to manage this ugly intruder called sin? We must be prepared and ready to fight the enemy, whether it's a nasty cold or a nasty temptation. Check your medicine cabinet NOW, call the "Doctor", and get ready for the fight!