Fifty-Three Years of Marriage

Today is our 53rd Wedding Anniversary.  It was a busy day but not a festive one.  Ken was scheduled to have lab work, the air conditioning people were coming out to service our unit for the summer season, I had a couple interpreting jobs and the Home Health Nurse was scheduled to come check on Ken.  Also, the Occupational Therapist showed up to do an evaluation.   So see what I mean....not exactly a party.    ......................................................................However, when all the required activities were completed, there was a small nap time and then we drove to Fish Daddys for our Anniversary Dinner.   With the Diabetes diet which Ken is finally following, the grilled fish, cole slaw and green beans were  ligitimate food choices.      Good thing for both of us, we like seafood.    

The desert was not this one in the photo but was berries and we loved it.  We ended the evening with a trip to the hot tub.   Happy Anniversary to us -- we are celebrating life today and living one day at a time.

Memorial Day

We are not doing the traditional holiday today.  No picnic, no lake or swimming or grilling.  Just enjoying life today.   I have a deep sense of gratitude that Ken is getting better and all is well with my soul.  So I am celebrating life -- the life surrounding me.

Daisy's in their very beginning.  April planted these daisys in my back yard by the deck steps on Mother's day while I was spending the day at the hospital with Ken.  These are special daisys because Lily planted them from seed about 3 years ago.   Here is proof that daisys love me and my garden, they are beginning to open up.

The day lilies are now blooming.  Here in Oklahoma, you have to look really fast because they do not last very long at all.  So this is what I see this Memorial Day.  With no traditional activities for Ken and me today I decided to take photos of the world around.   I have so much to be thankful for.    First of all, I am thankful to those who gave their lives for our freedom as Americans.    That freedom is being challenged today by the apathy and immorality of our society.  God help us to fight for that freedom.

But even more than American freedom, I am thankful to Jesus, he gave HIMSELF for me.  I don't believe I would be here today without God's love for me and His strength in my weakness.

THERE IS LIFE!    I posted a photos in the spring of the dead stump from Ken's large banana tree which we wintered in the garage and it did not make it.   But from the soil, has sprouted three new baby banana trees.    LIFE AFTER DEATH!  Thank you  Jesus for your promise of life.

Wax begonias are beginning to sprout their muscle and spread just like they are suppose to do.

Hibiscus and they are flowering so beautifully for us this year.  Thank you!

The pot was barren to the naked eye, but beautiful hope sprouted up.    A reminder of Memorial Day celebration.

The Beginning of cone flowers -- what happened to the pink  ??????  Will that come with the next flower?    These cone flowers are coming back from last year.  Thank God for new life.

PEACE

A product of the peace plant COTM sent to Ken in the hospital.

My Godly Man and His Battle Part I

For Ken's Birthday Feb 28th, Kevin and April's families both gave Ken gift cards to Bass Pro Shop.  He bought a hat and a fly fishing rod with his gift card and began to make plans for a fishing trip.  He decided upon Beavers Bend and went on line to make reservations for a little log cabin.  We were excited about our trip April 28th through 30th.  However about two weeks before that date Ken began to have a battle with diarrhea.  Monday, April 26, he went to his doctor who gave him an antibiotic and he said he was feeling better so we left out around noon on the 28th.  He could hardly eat by that time but kept saying he was better, even though by this time he was suffering from nausea and eating tums by the handfuls. We thought the trip might help.  It is a 4 1/2 hour drive and the beauty begins when you arrive in the park area.  The area has a huge logging business and we passed dozens of logging trucks bringing out tall pine trunks.   We were both so happy to be here, the cabin was so clean and cute and nestled in the woods with only chirping birds and babbling brooks.   The story of our two days is documented on my travel blog so I will not repeat that.  In some strange way, we did have a nice time and the place is beautiful.  http://scrivtravels.blogspot.com/search/label/Beaver%27s%20Bend

After growing more and more sick, I was ready to drive him to the hospital on Thursday night but he insisted he was going to have a good night sleep.  So very early Friday morning, I got up and starting packing the car and told him when we got to Broken Arrow, I was taking him straight to the emergency room to get some intravenous  fluids.  He did not resist too much...just a tiny bit by saying why not contact Dr Biddle.....  No way, he is the doctor that writes prescriptions without doing any tests or checking.  Anyway, by noon, we were checking into the St Francis Hospital South in Broken Arrow, not realizing just how sick he was.   We were at Broken Arrow South seven hours before being transported to the main Hospital where all the specialists are.  There we spent another five hours in the emergency room -- a total of 12 hours -- all the while, pouring fluids into his body as fast as they would go..  He was assigned to room 4313 -- Renal floor, diagnosed with kidney failure and possible the pancreas as well.  Here you can see what I tend to do when one sits and waits for hours and hours and hours.  You start by praying, quoting God's promises, fighting the fearful thoughts, praying, waiting, remembering God's Word, believing, fighting the thoughts and finally, the camera comes out and  you shoot at just anything.

My Godly Man and His Battle Part II

So for the next eleven days, fluids were pumped into Ken's body while all medications he was previously on for high blood pressure, diabetes, and knee pain were stopped.  The goal was to get his kidneys working again and thank God, they did.  The side effect was shortness of breath, gaining thirty pounds in 10 days and tremendous pain in his body.  He blew up like a balloon, lost the use of his right arm and both legs.  Physical Therpay taught him to walk with a walker.
Sunday was Mother's Day and I considered my very best gift was a husband who was getting better.  On Monday evening, May 10th, they sent him home with a list of eight brand new medications, all swollen up and told him to pee it out.  His Creatinine level which had been 13 when entering the hospital was now down to 1.6 and the doctor said that was good enough...normal is 1. 
At home he did pretty good for a couple of days considering he had no energy and had a hard time keeping his eyes open.  He was starting to eat again but still had diarrhea.    But the swelling did not go down and on Thursday, he started down hill again.  He was so lethargic that he could not hold his head up or keep his eyes open.  By evening, he could barely move, could not move his head and his arm was swollen and in much pain. I thought he was either reacting to the new medicine or had had a stroke.  Got him in the car with much difficulty and took him back to the emergency room.   The CT scan did not show a stroke but transient ischemic attack (TIA).  After five more hours in emergency, he was admitted....  Next day moved to room 4331 where he spent five more days running tests which revealed no answers.  This time pouring lasix, potassium, magnesium, etc into his body, the swelling began to go down.  And with morphine, finally got some relief from the pain.    He had an inferior hospital doctor who was no help with information,  I think he just did not know what was going on.   The diabetic nurse came and was far more helpful.  I did not want to go home again with no information and no home help.   So Tuesday evening, May 18, I brought him back home with diabetes training, Novolog Insulin pins, and the promise of a home health  nurse, physical therapy and occupational therapy in the home.  This time my Man is doing much better.    While in the hospital,   blood sugars ran in the high two and three hundreds.  At home, it is much more under control and today, Ken for the first time had cabin fever.  We went for lettuce wraps and a trip to WalMart.  Riding in his little cart at WalMart, I asked him if he was having fun and he said it was equivalent to a day at Disney Land.
I have so much to be thankful for: a loving Heavenly Father who gives joy, grace and strength, a Holy Bible which promises hope, fulfilment and life until we are satisfied with it, and the Holy Spirit with power and comfort. 

A Nose Contest

While at Beavers Bend, Ken took photos of the ole' Indian and then of me....He has a thing for noses.   Tell me now, which one of us wins in the nose world?  Or what about those eyebrows -- surely I am the winner.   Maybe mr Chief wins with the lips.

The Older Brother and His Bride

April had a little birthday get to gether at the Scharpf home.  I was working at that time but Ken took this photo of Kevin and Bonita.  Don't they look so sweet.  I am hearing rumros that Kevin is hired as one of the census takers that will come knocking on your door if you have not mailed in your census.   Hope he does not run into any angry taxpayers because taxes are going sky high......or the angry non tax payers because they are not being given more as was promised.  Pray Kevin only meets happy loving American citizens who appreciate that he knocked on their door.

C3Church & Very Special Servants in Ministry

Sommer and Dan running the children's church on Easter Sunday morning.  Their church is growing in the midst of  hardness in Asheville.  As fun and beautiful as Asheville is to visit, spiritually it is tough.  Joel calls it Bohemianville.  I call it a mission field.  Why do weirdo religions gather in beautiful mountain areas? 
If I needed to move east, I would choose Greenville, SC over Asheville just for the spiritual air I think.  Pray for Dan and Sommer.   By the way, Sommer is so excited because she gets her braces off in a couple of weeks.  http://www.c3asheville.com/

A Walk Through Our Yard Looking For New Life

I grabbed our little Fuji camera and took a stroll through our yard for signs of life -- checking to see what might be peeking up through the soil.    Yes, there were all though the grass, wild violets hidding along with last years pecans which the squirrels were storing away.   all kinds of 'unwanted' items in our grass -- clover, dandelines, wild strawberry plants and much much more. There were signs of Coneflowers -- not a lot, but a few.

And Mexican Petunias were coming up in the wrong place. They travel underground and peep up in the unexpected places.  There were corabells, redbuds, Japanese Maples displaying all their glory.
Last year we had a grove of banana trees.  In the fall, Ken gave several away.  The largest one which was stored in the garage for the winter did not make it.  However, we still have two very hearty musa banana trees by being kept inside the house.  Those two are now very happy to be outside once again.  COME ON SPRING .... COME ON NEW LIFE .....  RESURRECT, RESTORE AND RENEW!
Glory, Hallelujah, see the photo of the dead bananna tree?  I discovered a little shoot coming out from the root.  There is still life in it -- up from the grave it arose!

Times Have Changed -- The Meaning of Easter Has NOT

I love Easter.  A symbol of  promise, of life and a proof of love.   I love Easter for the God's Great Love reality; but I also love it because it is a time when cold and darkness break forth into light and beauty.    Back in the days when I had a new spring Easter outfit was nice -- but that was long ago.  I loved the waving of palms on Palm Sunday and the Empty Cross on display on Resurrection morning.  I loved the Easter songs, the Easter drama's and the giving and sharing among friends.
Today I live in a community where I don't see Easter bonnets and I attend a church where songs such as "Up From the Grave He Arose" are old fashion while the leadership come dressed in blue jeans and casual shirts.   By trying hard to not be traditional, how well we establish new traditions.

Then there is the issue of Easter baskets.  I did Easter baskets for my kids until they were far 'past grown'  -- the age where I was filling the basket with money or under panties or swimming suits instead of candy.  The Pops insisted "this is the last year" for  years.    Then there were the grandchildren baskets until that last year when grandkids were so big they fought over who saw the egg first-resulting in tears in place of Easter joy.     So now we celebrate happy resurrection day without chocolate bunnies.  And I leave the dying of eggs and baskets to my grown up children. 

However, I'm getting my 'payback' with things I appreciate big time.  April, Elijah, Lily and Rosie knocked on our door this morning to clean out our front flower bed and plant my flowers for me.  I love flowers but it is getting where I do not enjoy the bending/digging part of the work.   So my Easter gift was manual labor.  The girls gathered up the fallen sticks from the trees out of the yard while Ken and Elijah cleaned out the blanket of leaves to find hostas already up and hopefully elephant ears on the way.   April did the cleaning and arranging while planting the wax begonias.   All of this adds much joy to my Resurrection Day celebration.  Thank you sweet husband and dear children.

By the time the weekend celebration is done, I will have attended COTM twice, Covenant Church on line streaming and Asbury United Methodist.  With five Easter services, COTM had it's largest attendance of 17,000 people.  Loud, boisterous, booming songs, an excellent 40 minute sermon about conquering death, and invitation for salvations with a offer to spontaneously come forward  for water baptism by being dunked in temporality erected tanks.  Six hundred people responded to the water and over a hundred and forty children in KOTM gave their lives to Christ.   
At Covenant in Carrollton, the music was of the highest order of worship to God.  The pastor on video, greeted us from the empty tomb and then preached in person.  It was so touching.  Finally, at Asbury, we experience the traditions of our childhood Easter:  bell choir, orchestra, robed choir, magestic traditional Easter songs, candles and Easter lilies.     What a weekend.  Have I convinced anyone that Easter is my favorite holiday?