On the Road - Day 39

Jim slept pretty good, I woke intermittently. We got up around 7 a.m., did Bible study, had breakfast, and then then fell back asleep.

A Scripture verse Janice gave me last night - Zephaniah 3:17,  I re-read, including previous verses. It says -- 

"Sing, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem! 
The Lord has taken away your judgments
He has cast out your enemy.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
You shall see disaster no more.

In the day, it shall be said to Jerusalem;
Do not fear;
Zion, let not your hands be weak.
 The Lord your God in your midst;
The Mighty One will save

He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love;
He will rejoice over you with singing."
(Zephaniah 3:14-17)

I write --

Our God is faithful
He seeks our faithfulness
our trust
in Him, The One
who never leaves us
nor forsakes us
The One who saves us
who rejoices over us
with gladness, with singing
The One who quiets us
with His Love

The Lord, our God,
is in our midst
We have no reason
to be fearful
when it is His Army
we are surrounded by
in front as we move forward
in back as we fall
to the left and right
as we change direction

Be glad and rejoice
with all our heart
as He, The One,
who is glad and rejoices
over us
When we are one in The Spirit
One in The Lord.
(c) Cathy Orrick Luders

Reminds me of the song,  "We are One in The Spirit," written in 1966  by Peter Scholte.  Here are the lyrics:

verse 1
We are One in The Spirit,
We are One in The Lord.
We are One in The Spirit,
We are One in The Lord.
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored

Chorus
And they'll know we are Christians by our love,
By our Love,
Yes they'll know we are Christians by our love.

verse 2
We will work with each other,
We will work side by side.
We will work with each other,
We will work side by side.
And we'll guard each man's dignity
And save each man's pride

verse 3
We will walk with each other,
We will walk hand in hand.
We will walk with each other,
We will walk hand in hand.
And together we'll spread the News
that God is in our land.

A version found on YouTube.com

We have come so far.
Let us not forget from where God has brought us
and where He will have us go
Let us always look to Him
Let us make every effort
to seek His will for us
before we seek our own.

Saturday was a most restful day. Jim and I did things that were not on a must do, have to do list. And we did it at our pace. After lunch, we headed to Quincy, Ill., and shopped at Big Lots! and Kmart, two stores that are no longer part of the Cedar Rapids scene. I found skirts, Jim found a pair of lounge pants (look like torn jeans) that are much easier on his incisions, as the waist band on his regular jeans is too tight. We bought a few other things too, including a DVD of country western movies for he and Larry to watch. It was such a peaceful time, I could have done with 10 more Saturdays just like this one. We watched movies, or talked, or napped, or read, or had mini-massages.

Thunderstorms and tornado watches ruled the night hours. It was so still and humid beforehand, with temperatures in the 90s during the day.

Jim's pain is still present; he takes one pill in the early afternoon and then two at bedtime. His back hurts frequently when we're in the car, so he has a backrest, and he puts a pillow between him and the seatbelt to make the area of the incisions less painful.

We went to bed at 10 p.m.

On The Road - Day 38

We're taking a weekend road trip, leaving this morning. We both woke up early and got a lot done - Jim has a bit more energy,  but didn't exactly leave by the proposed 10 o'clock hour. Jim had blood drawn at MedLabs downtown and they were backed up, with only one person working. It will probably be closer to 11 before we actually leave.

We arrived in LaGrange, Mo., at 2 p.m. It took 3 hours - 30 minutes longer because we stopped 3 times. I was so tired, my eyes were heavy. 

We had supper at 6:15 p.m.  I reminded Jim often to eat slower ... you don't want to upchuck it. But I suppose sooner or later, that will happen anyway. Later, a mini-Bluegrass jam / practice session  that we thoroughly enjoyed. Larry Gillespie and his brother, Kenny, both played guitar; Larry's daughter, Pam Stewart, played the mandolin. Larry's wife, Dorothy, played bass, and Kenny's wife, Donna, played the accordion. Friend Janice Wieland, who writes poetry set to music by Dorothy, sang. It was so relaxing, restful.

Jim took a pain pill early afternoon while we were traveling - for his back and two more in the evening while listening to Bluegrass music.

We went to bed at 10:30 p.m.

Home Again - Day 37

Today is the first full day Jim has been home from the hospital and it has been a busy one .. .

Jim woke up at 7 and I slept in till 8.

He is very tired so has slept frequently during the day. His appetite also isn't up to snuff. He didn't have any breakfast, had pudding after noon and the pasta at 4:45 p.m.

My devotional study this morning brought me to Jeremiah 29:11 -- "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."  

My thoughts --

Jesus sets the pace
Not us
We may have much to do
but first and foremost
we must focus on Him,
keeping our steps in line
with His
instead of us moving
on our own thinking.
That is not easy.
We have appointments
to keep
and new ones to make,
but along the way
we need to keep
our primary focus on Him,
so we don't become discouraged.
Discouragement comes
from our own way of thinking,
from our focus on things
other than Christ
and His goals, His mission,
for us
Discouragement is at the back door
moving to the front
when we think our plans
are the best plans
and they should not fail.
We need to keep in mind
who is in charge of all life.
It is not us.
(c) Cathy Orrick Luders

Our day --

I already had two appointments for today and made two more for next week before both of us (and Bandy the Bunny) left at 9:30.  Bandy had a 10 o'clock appointment for a nail trim. Then we went to MedLabs so Jim could have blood drawn. He's back on Coumadin for his Afib (a complication of his cancer surgery May 12) and will stay on it for several months to see how things go. The doctors at UIHC said that if his heart stays in rythym over a period of time he may be able to discontinue the Coumadin.

After I dropped off Jim and Bandy at home, I went to CVS Pharmacy to pick up 9 prescriptions for Jim plus stop at Klauer Optical to pick up and of course pay for the left contact he lost in the hospital over a week ago. Then there was a noon appointment for the car - just an oil change and tire rotation... Ha! It's not often you can take the car in for one thing and be done, so today was no exception. We needed two back tires which we got at a somewhat reasonable price, plus the free alignment. That whole process took 1 1/2 hours -- you'd think I would have the waiting process down by now.

By the time I got home Jim wanted to go to the Fareway grocery store to find things to take tomorrow morning for our mini-road trip to NE Missouri. And then we got some nutritional protein drinks to help put some weight on him. His current weight is in the 130s. And then we stopped at Zio Johno's for good tasting pasta, which we had soon after arriving home. Jim can't eat very much and he gets full rather easily, but I gave him 5 Tablespoons of mostaccoli (sp?) and he ate all of it, plus a small glass of apple juice.

It's now 5:15 p.m. I have meds to put in the pill container for the next several days and evening meds as well. A suitcase to pack, a car to pack. And the things I didn't get done today, won't be done tomorrow either; it will probably be Monday afternoon, after morning appointments.

Tomorrow morning we have to get blood drawn again at MedLabs. By 10 a.m. we hope to be on the road heading south.