Sunday Morning Adventure

Normally my husband and I attend a different church than his parents do.  However, this morning they wanted to go to our church, because we were having a special missionary speaker.  They know her personally and were anxious to see her.


My husband is out of town on a business trip, so picking them up and transporting them to church was my responsibility.  My father-in-law is 93 and a bit unsteady on his feet.  My mother-in-law is 92 and terribly unsteady, to the point that if she goes outside of the house, it is in a wheelchair.  They should not be trying to live on their own any more, but that is another story.


In any event, I arrived to pick them up in plenty of time, and they were ready.  My mother-in-law was just getting into the wheelchair at the back door, and my father-in-law was "in control" of the situation.  He dislikes situations in which he is not in control.  He had hold of the wheelchair, so I closed and locked the doors.  Meantime, he was pushing my mother-in-law down the ramp.  Hmmm....actually gravity was taking her down the ramp and he was "skating" behind.  It had snowed overnight and the ramp was slick.  I could see him going faster and faster, but couldn't do anything about it.  By the time they reached the flat ground at the bottom, he was literally hanging on for dear life and sliding behind her as if there were runners on his shoes.


We got her settled in the car and while I was buckling her in, he attempted to put the wheelchair in the trunk.  He was unable to do this....should that be a surprise?  Can most 93 year-olds sling a wheelchair in the back of a car?  I finished the job.


Off we went.  I heard some rustling in the back seat.  Usually I pick up my granddaughter, but she was not going this morning.  I said that she wouldn't be coming, but my father-in-law had not heard me, so he was busy trying to make room for her.  There was a brunch after the service this morning, and I had placed a French toast casserole on the back seat.  In the bag with it was a container of raspberry sauce to go on top. He was tipping the bag this way and that trying to make room on the seat for another passenger.  He, of course, had no knowledge as to what was in the bag.  Fortunately, I saw what was happening and caught him before the sauce spilled.


On the way, my mother-in-law commented that we have an awfully long drive to church.  I said that we really didn't find it to be too bad.  The time goes quickly because we listen to Ravi Zacharias on the radio every Sunday morning.  My mother-in-law is both somewhat deaf and easily confused.  
"What," she said, "you mean you've had Ravi Zacharias preach at your little church!"
"No, no....we listen to him on the radio."   
Chuckle, chuckle to myself. (However, I have met Ravi Zacharias, and although he speaks internationally, he is wonderful, humble, man of God, who would gladly speak anywhere God called him to as many or as few as were present.)


When we arrived, I insisted on taking the wheelchair up the ramp.  A friend was out spreading salt on the ramp and called to me that the ramp was glare ice at the top.  I did not want to find out if my father-in-law could skate backwards, so I controlled the situation.


The service and brunch were uneventful.  I know my in-laws couldn't hear much of it, because of the questions they asked the speaker during the brunch.  But, that's OK.  They were happy to be there.


On the way home, my mother-in-law said a disgusted tone, "Humpf!  There were two men sitting at the organ during the service, but I don't think either one of them played it."
Trying to keep a straight face, I explained that they were not sitting at the organ.  The sound system is behind the organ.  One of the men was running the sound system.  The other is his son, who is slow mentally, and sticks tight to his dad during the service.  She should have been able to see the sound system from where she was seated, but apparently couldn't process what she saw.


I helped them in the house and left some food that wasn't eaten at the brunch with them.  Now I am home drinking hot tea.  I have a nasty cold, and everything I said to them this morning had to be repeated about 3 times, until I was finally shouting and straining my already sore throat.  But, I am smiling at the amusing little slice of my life that this morning represents.