Slow Road to Recovery

I can't believe it's been as long as it has since I last posted. I can't say that there's a tremendous amount of stuff to report. Barbara is doing well at rehab, although progress is predictably slow. She is back to walking again with minimal assistance and a walker. Our biggest struggle right now is getting this Medicaid Waiver stuff taken care of. It's amazing how many people who handle these issues know so little about these issues. We seem to know more about the waiver than 99% of the 99,000 people we've talked to trying to get things started. I've said it before and I'll say it again, anyone who thinks national healthcare is a good idea should spend a day working with government "insurance" programs already in place. This is a great country, but we can thoroughly bungle any good thing we try to do!

Keep us in prayer that the waiver issue will be solved so that I can finally get some help here! I feel over my head most of the time. Nevertheless, God is blessing us in many ways. It's so wonderful having Barbara here and I thank God for that every day.

Just to get you fully up to speed, though, Barbara still does not walk on her own, but is working on it in rehab. She also requires my help doing many things most of us take for granted. She is upbeat about her progress and quite tired from all the exercises she does.

Thanks for your ongoing prayers for our financial situation. I still have no idea how this will all turn out, but again, God has helped us this far and I have no reason to think He'll back off now!

First Day of School

Well, at least it seems like the first day of school for Barbara. That was our joke as we got her ready to go to her first day of rehab this morning. She now has had the blessing of getting to ride in a van IN her wheelchair. There was a bit of trepidation on her behalf, but I'm praying all will go well.

She will be going to outpatient rehab 3 times a week for about 6 and a half weeks. A driver will pick her up and bring her back each of those days, for the afternoon. It felt like she was going to school because I had to pack her a lunch (she actually leaves late morning), and she had to pack a few things to keep her occupied during the downtime. So, it felt like she was preparing to set off for her first day in kindergarten.

Please pray that this will be an extremely successful time of rehab, and that Barbara will soon be able to walk again... on her own.

One other prayer request I'll pass along. Barbara's dad is not doing well health-wise, and she's very upset about it. He needs to know Christ as his savior as well, and I think that's a big part of Barbara's concern. He was able to come up with Barb's mom, his sister, and a cousin yesterday for a visit. I've included a few pictures of that. Please help us pray for Barb's dad... for both his physical and spiritual health.

Aug. 6

Don't know why it has been so hard to keep up with this blog these days. I suspect it has something to do with the wild unfettered clutter of business my life has become. Nevertheless, I am daily mindful of just how wonderfully blessed I am, and how fortunate I am to have my precious angel home with me for a while longer. Hopefully for many whiles longer. Which incites me to point out that it is incredible what such a horrible drama as we've lived can do for a relationship. And I am speaking of positive things here.

Our week spent at camp was just wonderful, and went far better than either one of us could have imagined. After the wedding, we had made camp a secondary goal. At the time, we only had reason to believe that might entail a visit of a day or two. It was so wonderful being their for the week. It was equally wonderful to spend time with my dad and my sister and her family. Barbara loves going to camp about as much as I do, which is a really great thing.

This past week we had my sister's 8-year old middle daughter with us. She had been wanting to spend a week doing crafts with Aunt Barbara. Then, my sister and her family joined us for church here at GFM on Sunday, and spent a good portion of the day here.

Good news came this morning... it seems that we are now on track to get Barbara started on out-patient rehab this Wednesday! Wonderful news. They will pick her up and bring her home as well, which is a big relief for me.

We're also relieved that a member of our church will be coming to look at our dead dryer to see if it is fixable. It's a pain to do laundry and have to dry it at a laundromat, hence laundry isn't getting done like it should!

Keep us in prayer that the rehab will work out well and that Medicaid will come through. Pray for me for strength and stamina to do all the jobs that I have to do. I am so pleased to have Barbara here, but it is quite a job as well.

July 29 - Back From Beyond

This will probably be brief - we're all exhausted this evening - but I wanted to pop a quick post on here to update you. Barbara and I have been in Clay City (IN) this past week for our church conference's family camp. I've gone every year of my life, and since we've been married, Barbara has grown to love going there as well. We had a wonderful time. It was so good to see our many friends. And I could tell it was really good for them to see Barbara. Most, if not everyone, had no idea she would be there. Thanks to a last minute blessing, it worked out for us to go. God blessed us with one of His earthly assistants who gave us a great queen size bed that is perfect for Barbara's needs. I will try to give more details in the days ahead, but for now, I will leave you with a few pictures from the week. For now, I'll just say that Barbara did VERY well despite the fact that we've both come home with colds! This trip to camp was a second goal that we set after Jackie's wedding, so it was a real answer to prayer to be able to go. Here are the pics...

With our nieces... the one on the right is spending the week after camp here with us doing "crafts" with Aunt Barbara!

Barbara with friends from our pastorate at Birds, IL... The Armstrongs and McCulloughs.

Sharing a big hug with Flossie Constable.