Christmas Skunk

As you know we caught a couple os skunks in a trap this summer. For Christmas, my dad got the best and funniest present. From my sister and niece, he got a skunk webkinz (stuff animal) in a small cage. It was funny, when he opened it up. I did take a pic of him holding the cage, but what you see above is just a pic of the skunk in the cage, taken from three different angles.

Didn't have a white Christmas, that is two years in a row.

Heard from the hospital this morning, my brother's feeding tube was reinserted yesterday, and he is moving to the nursing home this morning. Hopefully, he should only be there a week. I didn't go see him yesterday, but I should have. If I don't see him today, I will definitely see him this weekend.

Merry Christmas

If it weren't for Christmas, we wouldn't have Easter.

Another Timmy Update

On Sunday, my parents visited a nursing home to check it out. Sunday morning, he pulled out his feeding tube, and it had to be reinserited. My brother was supposed to be discharged on Monday. That didn't happen. They were waiting on a certain person to go to the hospital to see my brother, we have no idea if she showed up or not. Then they sad yesterday, and somebody didn't want him going to the nursing home in the afternoon/evening, so they post-poned it until this morning. Guess who decided to pull out his feeding tube again? That is right, Timmy did it again. There was nobody at the hospital to reinsert it, and so it will be out until Friday. He still has the mickey tube, and can be fed through that. As of now he might or might not go to the nursing home on Friday. Timmy keeps telling people, that he doesn't want his feeding tube anymore, but nobody is listening. I don't want him to have it anyway, but there is nothing I can do about it. Sorry kiddo, you will have that tube for the rest of your life. He is not able to take anything via mouth ever again, and he so badly wants to.'

'I saw my family doctor this morning, and I have excema around my mouth, I have had it for about two months. I was told to never use Neosporin, because it makes the rash or whatever it is worse.

Good News

The doctor called here not too long ago. Timmy didn't have surgery this afternoon, but he was put to sleep, so they could put a scope with a camera down his throat. The infection that is in his blood has not touched his heart. His heart and the valves are fine. That is wonderful news! Now it is up to the infectious disease doctor what they will do next.

Not Working

Timmy has been on antibiotics since last Friday, adn they are not working! He had surgery this afternoon, went in about 2 pm. They have been doing blood cultures, and have seen that the infection is growing, not going away. He had surgery to see if the infection is growing around his heart, to see if it is affecting his heart in any way. As of now, he is not transferring to a nursing home.

I am not, will never be ready to give him up. I know that when he dies, he will go to Heaven, but I am not ready to let him go. I will always need him. I call him my baby.I know he is nowhere near being a baby, but that is what I have called him for years. Please keep him in your prayers.

A Nursing Home We Will Go

My mom went yesterday afternoon to see my brother. She said that he looked good and acted fine, just like what I said on Sunday. Doctor thinks that maybe when he has gotten his previous infections, that when they kill it, it doesn't completely die. So it goes to "sleep" and it "wakes" back up at sometime. The doctor wants to prescribe a really strong antibiotic that they will give him every 12 hours for twenty-five days. A pic line is being inserted, to make it easier for the IV and being given the strong medicine. A social worker at the hospital is going to check into the same nursing home he was in last year for him to go to again. Depending on when he can go, will determine if he will be discharged from the hospital this Friday or next Monday. He will be in the nursing home over Christmas. :(

I've made comments to my mom that he has been in the hospital more since he recieved his feeding tube 6 1/2 years ago, than before that time. She said something about asking /making a comment about that to whoever if that could be a possibilty of him getting sick more easily. My brother has to have one on one care, because of him being active, able to get into things, pull out things from his body, etc.

Please pray that there is no problem of him getting into the nursing home, and that this antibiotic does the trick, adn he gets no more infections.

Back in the Hospital

NO, I am not in the hospital, but my brother is, again! This is his fourth or fifth stint in the hospital this year alone. Since re received his feeding tube, 6 1/2 years ago, he has gotten sick more easily than before that time. Before the feeding tube, he was rarely hospitalized since he was a baby (he spent time in the hospital for awhile then.) I do admit he was in the hospital a couple of times after moving to the group home, but nothing like this past year.

He has an infection. The doctors believe this infection started in a kidney, then moved into his bloodstream. The worse part is, this infection is immune to a lot of different antibiotics. A doctor who specializes in infectious diseases is being called in to see about prescribing a much stronger antibiotic, to kill this infection.

I went after church and lunch to go and see him. My brother sure didn't act sick. I was told that he was very sick. I went into his room, saw him and started complaining. Why would I complain? I saw his hands in restraints. I warned my parents in advance, that if I saw him in restraints I would have a hissy fit. Don't get me wrong, I understand why, but I do not like it one bit. My brother can not express himself and tell us what is wrong, but being in restraints is a scary thing. I should know, because I woke up in in ICU on a respirator and my hands in restraints, a little over 6 years ago. That is another story for another time.

When he saw me, he became agitated and started moving around, and trying to get out of the bed. He got his arms tangled up, and the IV to stop working, and causing one of his hands to become blue from not getting any blood to it. They had to undo the restraints, and allowed them to stay off while I was there. They did try to put them back on, but he started to have a fit. (Such a good boy.) I read to him, and it was very uncomfortable to hug him and sing to him, but I did do that. When I was getting ready to leave, one person mentioned how well my brother obeyed me, and not them. He doesn't always obey me. They put him back into restraints after I left. Please keep him in your prayers. I will never be ready to let him go to Heaven, but some day, it will be his time to go home to Jesus.

God Intervenes

Genesis 9:1b "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth." God said this after the flood. Fast forward about 1000 years, and guess what? Do you think they obeyed God's command? No way! Genesis 11:1-9 "Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. And it came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, 'Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.' And they used brick for stone, and they sued tar for mortar. And they said, 'Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name; lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.' And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, 'Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.' So the lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the f ace of the whole earth." Because the people chose not to obey, God came down and created a lot of new and different languages, and cause them to speak them and to scatter to different parts of the world. If we choose not to obey, there might come a time, that God will intervene in our lives so that His will be done. I know thee are times, where I have not obeyed God. Has God had to intervene in my life so that His will be done?

I wonder what was that universal language that they all spoke before God confused their language and caused them to scatter? How many different languages did God create at that time? All of the ones that are spoken here on Earth, were they created at that time, or did they come around later?

God came down to Earth at other times. It was mentioned this morning, another time where God intervened, so that his will would be completed. Mark 16:15, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." We, humans, sure do not like to obey! Acts 8:1b, "And on that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles." God allowed the early church to be persecuted, so they would obey and preach the Gospel to other parts of the world.

There are a couple of others things that I wrote down in my Bible, but that one is in the car. The scripture I typed here comes from the New American Standard, my mom's Bible. I am really enjoying this current sermon series. For next Sunday, we are to read Genesis 12, 15.

Prosperity Returns

"Then I will make up to you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten." Joel 2:25

"Those of us who rejoice in God can trust that even though the consuming locusts of life destroy our blessing/ God will replace them. Though hardship makes us struggle awhile. God turns the situation around and pours out blessings on His faithful people. Prosperity returns to those who love Him well, if we determinedly love Him. In heaven or on earth, the blessing appears again."

I read the above this morning from Everyday Encouragement by, Pamela McQuade. I received this book in September 07 at a women's retreat. I am in the second time through reading this book. I like it a lot.

Genesis Thoughts

At church, we are in the midst of a new sermon series on the book of Genesis. There has been two sermons so far, and they have been good. The first one was on the first two chapters, and this past Sunday was on chapters three and four.

The first chapter was more broad and the second chapter gave details about creation. The first three days was about God forming the earth, and days 4-6 on how he filled the earth. The first poem in the Bible is in chapter 1. The second poem is in chapter 2. God created rest, which is day 7. Rest is good for us.

Chapter 2, God tells Adam that he is free to eat from any tree in the garden. Choice is a good gift from God. God allows us to choose. We make all kinds of choices every day, they can bring honor to God or not to him. Verse 18 tells us that God said it was not good for man to be alone. God already knew that, but that Adam had to discover that for himself, that animals do not make a suitable helper for man, only another human does.

Eve was the first legalistic in the Bible. She added to what God said about the tree in the middle of the garden. I wrote in my Bible, that I always thought it was Satan who said to Eve what God said-in adding/changing what God said about the tree in the middle. It was Eve. Genesis 3:2-5. Compare that with chapter 2, verse 16 to see what God had actually said.

The second half of chapter 3, verse 15 is the first prophecy of Jesus. God says to the serpent (Satan), "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." That is saying that Jesus will defeat Satan. The Israelites kept looking for the fulfillment of that prophecy and were disappointed that it wasn't fulfilled, that when Jesus did come, they didn't believe.

Every time I sin, something dies. Death in the Bible means separation. When Adam and Eve sinned, their death was separation from God.

The first sacrifice is mentioned in verse 21 in chapter 3, when God clothed Adam and Eve. God had to kill animals so that their hides could be used as clothing.

Chapter 4 wasn't mentioned in Sunday's sermon. This coming Sunday, we will study chapters 6 and 7. I've been reading the chapters for the next week's sermon as part of my devotions during the week. Just thought I'd share these with you.