Respite

Dad has been getting progressively weaker and the staff have been having difficulties getting him in and out of his bed and wheelchair so it was decided that he would go to hospice for 'respite'.

He seemed to be fine with the arrangement so he was loaded into a taxi for the 5 minute drive to his new locale.

His doctor has been so kind to him, and the care she has arranged for him has been amazing.

So now he's in a lovely private room getting the care that he needs in a safer environment.

What an incredible blessing that we live in a country where this is possible.

He arrived on a Sunday and I think it was a couple of days later that he tried to get out of bed on his own and ended up falling, bruising the right temporal area of his head.

Since then he has been become decidedly confused.  He still recognizes all of us and is happy to pray with us, eat his meals and is quite cooperative and peaceful for the most part, but he's not quite with the program in other areas.

He LOVES holding our hands and we are frequently expressing love to him and he to us.

It's a very sweet atmosphere and thankfully there is a big easy chair where mom can sit and keep him company and take naps when she needs to.

So we are taking things day by day, waiting to see how this all unfolds.

Back at the orchard Anita and I had a little funeral service for Birdie.

He was laid to rest under the rose bush at the front of the house.

(It was the easiest place to dig a hole - neither of us were capable of much more as we are both a little disabled at the moment.)

I was grateful for Anita's assistance and how she wholeheartedly entered into the ceremony... as you can see. 

The rather unsettling Sunday ended with a beautiful evening of worship at church.

As tiny as our church is we are blessed with a large number of incredibly talented musicians and worship leaders.  

Norm Strauss & Dean Salyn took us into the throne-room and it was good to be in a community of believers to get re-centered and to feel the love of some of my "forever family"

Around the same time Derek & Jenn returned from their Philippines/Borneo missions trip.

Derek had encountered some large insects that bit him during his forays into the jungle with the locals leaving huge infected wounds so he is getting them treated and is on some heavy duty antibiotics.

This guys is one of those missionaries that wins the hearts of the tribes-people with his passion to learn from them and live as they live while sharing the good news.

I'm glad he came out alive...

He was gifted with a blow type weapon from the tribe he was working with in Borneo.

These darkened tips have a powerful poison on them that will kill.

It made me nervous to see Derek handling them.

They are all locked safely away now, much to my relief.

While Derek was playing with his new weapon I was putting together an electric wheelchair that I ordered for Dad.  It arrived in the mail and I just had to figure out how to put a few of the extra pieces in place before trying it out.  I can hardly believe how affordable and easy it is to get a new wheelchair over the internet.