Groundhog Predictions

Several famous groundhogs have predicted the length of winter in the United States since 1886. Some are more accurate than others. I am always drawn to the excitement on February 2 that centers around whether our favorite national groundhog, emerging from his den, will see his shadow or not. It seems this year and last year, he has seen his shadow, indicating that we will have six more weeks of winter weather. Not exactly welcome news for those who dread snow and ice, but happy news for those who love to play and have fun in a winter wonderland kind of world.

I'm drawn to the story of Groundhog Day, especially the part where he comes out of his den in the earth. It was on February 2, you see, that my husband passed away eight years ago. I'm looking forward to the time when Dean will also come out of the earth, when his ashes will come to life and God will give him a whole new, perfect body, one that death cannot touch.

Nothing compares to that prediction. It will be bring us a season of eternal celebration, for God will make all things new. "There will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things are passed away." Revelation 21:4 Goodbye, groundhogs and winter. Hello, Jesus and a new day!

Birthdays in Heaven

 Birthdays mark an individual’s history. There is a time before you were born and a time after you were born. And that time of birth is a cause for celebration.

Sometimes though an event in our lives becomes an additional marker of family history. For my immediate family that marker was the day and year of my husband’s accident. Our lives were forever changed from that day on.

But that didn’t stop us from celebrating Dean’s birthday on December 4, a day I still like to remember. I’m glad it gives me the opportunity to forget the hard times and bask in happy memories of the many years we had together, rather than the ones that were so challenging.

I hope that as you read this, you, too, will relish the good times in your life. Thankfully, it seems the longer we are away from someone, the more the bad memories tend to fade away. My faith even causes me to imagine spending such a long time in heaven that nothing but good memories will be left.

That’s why the day Jesus comes will be the most important day of all. It will be the day we see Jesus visibly coming in the clouds, just as He left us (Acts 2:11). We are then reunited with lost loved ones for eternity. He will cause all tears to be wiped away (Revelation 21:4)

What a happy celebration that will be. Much better than any happy birthday here on earth! See 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.

Here's Kayla and her dad on one of her hot, July birthdays...watermelon cake!

Life Happens

Many times this past year, my friends have had unexpected, life-changing events, mostly that involved falling and breaking one bone or another in their bodies. Whether it was a wrist, shoulder, or leg, one doesn't miss those limbs until they can no longer be depended on to work properly, or at all.

But there are two things most of us fail to consider. Number one, that not every accident has a recovery date to look forward to. Losing a leg altogether is different than breaking it, for example. And number two, these episodes almost invariably affect other people in our lives, mostly family members, who have to carry the slack for the tasks we can no longer do.

This Labor Day weekend, and every Labor Day weekend, my family remembers an accident of my husband's that he never fully recovered from, and it impacted his loved ones in a powerful way. To the extent that we refer to life before the accident and after the accident, because there was such a major shift in how our family functioned after his TBI, or traumatic brain injury. In essence, we were all brain injury survivors after that all-important weekend. It may have been called Labor Day, but it was not a day that worked for us. It added to our labors in unimaginable ways.

Over the years, we were to discover that there were also benefits to be won in our struggle to survive. It strengthened us spiritually by not only drawing us closer to a higher power, but making us more aware of the trials of others and able to reach out to them in loving ways.

Would I change what happened if I could? Perhaps, and then perhaps, it was for the best. It is impossible to know how things might have otherwise worked out without Dean's accident. But for now, I am content that life happens, and we must go with the flow, no matter how high the waves toss and turn us about. Life happens...and then it goes on.

Our Big D-Day

June 6th, 1944, was a big day in history. It was the day the Allied forces stormed the coast of France, beginning the liberation of western Europe from Nazi control. The term D-day, as it's been called, is a code name for any major military action or operation.

In a sense, I can call my wedding anniversary on June 6th another D-day, or rather Dean-day. After three years of postponements and cancellations, we finally found ourselves liberated from our singlehood and embarking on a new life together as husband and wife.

Even though Dean's been gone seven long years now, on days like today our wedding in 1976 feels like it was yesterday. The road wasn't always smooth for us, but we took our bumps and heartaches to God and grew from them personally and spiritually.

I praise God every day for the hope we have that we'll be together again with the Lord on the day when Christ comes in the clouds to take us home. Now, that will surely be a D-day worth celebrating!

Oh, Happy Day!

 Today is one of the four times out of the year that I remember my husband Dean in a very purposeful way. In June, there's our wedding anniversary. Then September holds the day he suffered a traumatic brain injury from a tractor accident, inspiring me to start this blog about caregiving. Obviously not nearly as pleasant a memory with that date. But December is the month of his birthday--a happy time for most people. (Although this past December, I was battling gallstones--so it took some fun out of my life for a bit there.)

This Groundhog Day, February 2, brings me back to another sad time though. It was the day Dean (or Idaho, as some people knew him) passed away in 2018. What these dates are showing me is that our lives are filled with a mixture of happiness and sorrow.

It make me long for the time when only happiness and joy will fill all our days. The Bible says in Revelation 21:4 that for those in heaven "God will wipe away every year from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying." Every day will be a happy day!!! I can't wait for that one!

Save a Life! Give Blood!

September 1, 1999 is a day that is stamped on my memory forever. It was Labor Day weekend when I received a phone call that my husband was in the hospital as the result of a serious tractor accident and was in a hospital in Des Moines, Iowa.

My daughter and I raced to the hospital and found him there in critical condition with the very real possibility on not living through the night.

Little did I know that I would spend the next nineteen years of my life as his caregiver. Most of his injuries healed, but the brain injury he sustained left him with life-changing symptoms that greatly impacted my daughter and I..

During that first week in the ICU, we were told that since Labor Day and the typical increase of car accidents that are seen during all holidays, there was a shortage of blood at the blood bank. All our family who had come to support us immediately went to the nearest donation center and gave our blood. I'm sure it saved many lives, and it just felt like the right thing to do.

I hope you will keep this shortage of blood donations in mind throughout the year and give blood to save others. Isn't this what Jesus did for us? Be like Jesus!

Another Anchor Date--Our Anniversary

 June 6, 1976, was a date which my husband liked. He thought it would be easy to remember our wedding anniversary, because it was a date close to being 666 (a familiar number in the Bible, if you know anything about Revelation).

There's been a lot in the news about D-day this year--the day in 1944, eighty years ago, when the Allied forces landed in Normandy, France, and so many soldiers died to free Europe from Nazi rule.

With so much turmoil going on in the world today, I may contemplate more soberly the deeper meaning of this day. History reminds us that even when things seem about as dark as they can get, there is always a victory waiting just around the corner.

In the case of Dean and I, the victory will be that blessed reunion when we meet Jesus in the sky at His Second Coming. My faith remains strong, as was Dean's, that God will win the war with Satan soon. Without that anchor, my life would be empty and miserable indeed.