Dad's Doing the Best that He Can-Which Is Pretty Good!

My son, if you become surety for your friend, If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger, You are snared by the words of your mouth; You are taken by the words of your mouth. So do this, my son, and deliver yourself; For you have come into the hand of your friend: Go and humble yourself; Plead with your friend. Proverbs 6:1-3

A few blog posts ago, I wrote to you about how devastated I was that Dad weighed 132 pounds and I near cried on the shoulders of one of the Physical Therapy Assistants. It was now a few weeks later and I knew that Dad's weight was under a 130 pounds when I saw the Physical Therapist Assistant again.

She asked me how Dad was doing. I told her that Dad's doing the best that he can. She asked me how Dad was doing, again. I again said, "He's doing the best that he can, [but added] which is pretty good!" She smiled and she left.

I've prayerfully contemplated that since then. It took the God's working through the Physical Therapist's Assistant's questions to help me learn to focus not on his low body weight and the eventual outcome, but on the good things. Dad is in a good mood. He's happy about his haircut. Dad enjoyed his cheesecake with lunch. He was really doing a great job of pointing out which cards to move for our joint-Solitaire game and he's looking forward to us coming again next week. I'm very blessed that Christ refocuses me when I loose my focus. 

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What a Difference Something Like a Haircut Can Make!

My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding, That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge. Proverbs 5:1-2

Last week, I noticed that my dad's hair was a little shaggy around the back. Nobody probably noticed it, because Dad has little to no hair on top, but my dad likes to be neat and trim. I stopped by and asked to make sure that Dad had enough money on the books to pay for haircuts and they scheduled one for this week.

Actually, I asked her to schedule one for every week. My dad enjoys having his hair cut so much that I told her that if he runs out of money, let me know and I'll put more money on his account, so he can have haircuts every week.

Anyway, when I went to see Dad yesterday, the first thing he said was, "Did you notice my haircut?" I complemented him on it and told him how nice he looked. What a difference something like a haircut can make!

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One Lesson that My Dad Taught Me That Lasted

My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you. Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil. Proverbs 4:20-27

I told you in a recent post that my dad tried to teach me how to not scuffle my feet when I walked, which I ignored out of stubbornness and have lived to regret it after several falls. Well, there was one lesson that my dad taught me that lasted!

Both my parents smoked when I was younger. My dad used to do a trick sometimes when relatives would come over. He would pull the clear film of the cigarette pack about 2/3 off, but still connected to the pack. He would hold the pack and film horizontally while he would touch the center of the film with the lit cigarette, burning a hole in the center. Then, he would take a puff of his cigarette and put his mouth over the hole in the clear film and blow all the smoke into it. He would take a finger and gently tap the underneath side of the clear film making smoke rings rise into the air. I wasn't even in school yet, but thought this was the coolest thing!

I must have found one of his unlit cigarettes lying around and pretended like I was trying to smoke it. My dad caught me. Dad said, "If you think it's so cool to smoke cigarettes, I want you to smoke this whole cigarette, now!" Dad sat me down in a chair in my front room and lit the cigarette for me to smoke. It was terrible, but he didn't let me quit right away. He had me smoke it until I was near nauseous from it.  It may seem like a strange thing to do, but his doing that kept me from ever desiring to smoke cigarettes ever again. Although my dad quit smoking 30+ years ago, he has COPD from all those years he smoked. His lesson that he taught me has saved me undue health problems that cigarette smoking can cause. I'm very blessed that Dad took the time to teach me to hate cigarettes!


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The Years of My Dad's Life Have Been Many, but It Never Seems Enough!

Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, And the years of your life will be many. I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hindered, And when you run, you will not stumble. Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go: Keep her, for she is your life. Proverbs 4: 10-13

I was reading this passage thinking about how the years of my dad's life have been many. Instead of thinking how wonderful that is, I focused on the selfish little girl part of me who thinks it's never going to be enough!

I know Dad's weight is declining and his passing is inevitable, at some point. Although it pops into my head periodically, like grieving on the lay-away plan, it's hard for me to focus on it for long. Instead, I try to focus on how blessed I am to have had all this time with Dad!

I pray that God has me to handle things graciously when Dad does pass, because it sets the foundation of how they deal with death in the future. The control part of me might like to plan out exactly how I should act and what I should say and do. Fortunately, God is in control and I don't have to plan things out. I trust that Christ will have me react to Dad's passing in whatever way that He wants, so I don't need to be preoccupied with it-just enjoy our time together!

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