Stuck in Cleveland

Silly me....I thought that being stranded in Cleveland was only the premise of a sitcom.  It didn't occur to me it could/would actually happen.


Yesterday my husband and I left home with the intention of flying to Houston, where he plans to participate in the National Senior Games.  On the way to the airport, he received a call from Orbitz indicating that our departure time would be delayed.  We realized we would probably miss our connecting flight in Cleveland.


As soon as we arrived at the airport, we hurried to the ticket counter hoping that we could get on an earlier flight or some other flight that would allow us to make it to Houston.  The airline agent was very helpful, but so many flights had been cancelled or delayed, that he could not find us a flight that had empty seats and would accomplish our goal.  We finally decided to go ahead with the originally scheduled flight and hope for the best.  i.e.  Maybe the flight out of Cleveland would be delayed too???


Our flight was about 2 hours late.  Since the time between flights in Cleveland was only about an hour, the situation was pretty much hopeless.  On arriving in Cleveland, we optimistically went to the departure gate, but the flight was long gone.


I got on the phone and made a hotel reservation while my husband waited at the airline's customer service counter to get us booked on an early morning flight to Houston.  By the time we got to the hotel, we only had about 5 hours to sleep before we needed to head back to the airport.  Difficulty in settling down, resulted in only 4 hours sleep.


Being stuck in Cleveland may be a joke, but we certainly did run into some pleasant people....the airline rep, the hotel staff, the taxi drivers to and from the hotel.  They were all very congenial.  We didn't encounter anyone rude or surly.  We did not run into Betty White, but they were all nice folks.  


Being stuck in Cleveland wasn't so bad after all, and now we are "Hot in Houston."

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

I recently attended a community event, where my table as a vendor was positioned right across the aisle from a vendor who was selling strawberries dipped in chocolate.  I had no sooner arrived and set up my display, when a man with whom I am acquainted…and who is a real character….approached.  He started joking with me about the position of my table and the temptation to spend the day gorging myself on chocolate covered strawberries.  I pointed out that while I was just across the aisle, I would have to walk quite a distance around several tables to get to the chocolate covered strawberries.

My “friend” apparently didn’t want me to have to surmount this barrier in order to indulge myself.  He walked right up to the display of chocolate covered strawberries, picked up an entire tray, and more or less stuck it under my nose.  I, of course, caved in, took one of the luscious looking berries and gave him the 50 cents to take back to the vendor.

That was an amusing start to the day.  But, as the day progressed I was horrified with what I saw the dipper-of-strawberries doing.  She did NOT wear any gloves while she dipped the berries.  She handled the money and went back to dipping berries without washing her hands.  She cleaned off the chocolaty spoon with her fingers.  She dropped the papers on which she was placing the berries on the floor, picked them up and used them.  As she spread out the papers, she licked her fingers in order to separate the papers.  AND between dipping berries, SHE LICKED THE CHOCOLATE OFF HER FINGERS!!!!

The vendors on either side of me were raising their eyebrows and guessing what would happen if someone from the state health department happened in.

I was reminded of the 3 months of psychiatric nursing experience I had at Chicago State Hospital many years ago.  We students lived on the grounds and ate in the hospital’s cafeteria, which was staffed in part by patients.  One day as I stood in line, I had a view back into the kitchen.  There a patient was placing dollops of butter on little square cardboards.  As she spread out the cardboards on the tray, she licked her fingers to help in separating the cards.  I did not eat any butter the rest of the time I was there.  Most of us gained weight during that 3 month experience, because we figured out that the baked goods came sealed in plastic from an outside source.  If someone was licking things, at least we didn’t know it.  Ignorance is bliss.

Chocolate covered strawberries are also bliss, but I will not be eating any if I attend that event again!

Strawberries Fields

Oh, what a glorious June day, I thought.  The sky is blue, the sun is shining, a gentle breeze is blowing and the newspaper says the U-pick strawberry fields are open!

I had something I needed to do this morning, so as soon as we finished lunch, I hopped in the car with a very large plastic bowl and a roasting pan.  If you bring your own container to the strawberry field, they weigh it on the way in and on the way out, and you pay by the pound.

The first fields I saw were full of weeds, and I felt a bit concerned about the U-pick business I had chosen to go to.  However, those of us ready to pick climbed on a wagon behind a tractor and had a slow bumpy ride nearly a half mile back from the road to a wonderful field with few weeds and loads of juicy red strawberries.  It took me a few minutes to find an area that had not been picked in yet, but once I found it, I was able to pick large handfuls each time I bent or squatted down.  This is important once you are in your 60s.  You don’t want to be squatting down for just one berry.  Each squat or bend needs to be maximally productive.

That lovely sun was pretty hot and the breeze wasn’t quite as breezy as I had thought, so I soon had perspiration running down my face and off my chin.  For the most part, I ignored it.  My minor discomfort made me think, however, about what it would be like to be a migrant worker and have to pick all day.  I decided I was too old to take on berry picking as a second career.

I had to get over my distress at the fact that it was impossible not to step on a berry occasionally.  I found many stepped on by others before me and did my share of squashing too.

When I first saw the fields, I noticed daisies growing wild in the vicinity, and I thought about picking a bouquet.  But, by the time my two containers were heaped, I had no desire to do anything but catch the wagon ride back to the weighing station and my car.  I hoped no one was looking as I tried to stand up with the bowl under one arm and the roasting pan under the other.  I guess I haven’t done deep knee bends often enough to keep myself in shape.  It was a struggle to stand up with the additional weight and no use of my arms to push off.  Note to self:  next time take a container with a handle…a small pail perhaps.

When I got home, I filled seven plastic containers….five for neighbors, one for my father-in-law and one for my daughter and her kids.  After delivering those, I somewhat ambitiously decided that I had the energy to make some strawberry jam with the rest of the berries.  Fifteen jars of jam, a very messy range top, and a sticky kitchen floor later, there were still about three quarts of berries left.  Those are now in the refrigerator.  Tomorrow…..

I am tired, my back aches, and my clothes are berry-stained and sticky.

Oh, what a glorious June day!

Breathing God's Name

This past Sunday I had an extended phone conversation with my 91 year-old uncle, who is one of the most stubborn people on the planet.  I love my uncle dearly, but he is exceedingly obstinate by his own admission.  I try not to get into arguments with him, because even if I “win,” nothing is accomplished.  He never backs off of his opinion.

But…when he told me that no Christian should say or sing “hallelujah” because it means praise Jehovah, I had trouble keeping my mouth shut.  His reasoning is that Jehovah is not really the one true God, because Jehovah and Yahweh come from the equivalent of the Hebrew letters YHWH, which he claims represent 4 different gods.  His claim is that each of the 12 tribes of Israel had a different god, and that at some point 4 of these god’s initials were combined to form YHWH which becomes Jehovah or Yahweh.  When I pointed out that in my multiple readings of the entire Bible, including the Old Testament history of the 12 tribes of Israel, I have never seen this notion, he changed the subject.

Since then, I have been thinking again about YHWH and Yahweh.  Several years ago while exercising on my NordicTrack, I realized that my heavy breathing sounded a great deal like Yahweh.  I inhaled and said “yah.”  I exhaled and said “weh.”  This was a sort of epiphany for me, as I pondered:

*The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.  Genesis 2:7

*The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.  Job 33:4

*And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.  Acts 17:25

What if every human breath is intended by God to speak His name?  Yah-weh, Yah-weh, Yah-weh….we pant it when we are exerting ourselves.  We whisper it in our sleep.  It is the first thing we do in life and the last thing we do before death.

I have seen these significant moments close up on multiple occasions.  A baby is born and has not yet breathed.  The baby’s body is flaccid; limbs hang down without any apparent muscle tone.  The baby’s color is white with blue tinges.  It has an almost plastic appearance.  Then the miracle of breath occurs.  Suddenly the baby is pink; arms and legs contract.  The much anticipated cry means the baby is alive.  At the other end of the life span, an older person struggles for breath.  He may stop breathing for a few seconds and then with a gasp begin again.  But finally, there is that one last breath followed by silence.  Color quickly leaves the skin.  The body becomes nothing more than a shell, which once contained a living being.

Yah-weh, Yah-weh,

With every breath I acknowledge you.

The pagan,

The agnostic,

The atheist,

The believer,

None of us can stop breathing,

And with every breath,

We speak your name.

Shortly I am going to quit working.....

Eight days ago my mother-in-law had two seizures.  She had been in a nursing home for the past two months, because of a stroke.  The seizures seemed to indicate a new stroke had occurred.  She was transferred from the nursing home to the hospital.  Between Sunday and Tuesday, she seemed to be making progress toward recovering sufficiently to go back to the nursing home and resume rehab.  We expected the transfer to occur Wednesday morning.


But...
Tuesday afternoon she went into atrial fibrillation.  Her heart rate became way too rapid.  Numerous attempts to bring the rate down with both oral and IV medications were unsuccessful.  Her urinary output dropped significantly in spite of being on IV hydration.   She began having difficulty swallowing.  By Friday, it appeared that she had developed aspiration pneumonia.


Thursday night, my husband and I got out her living will and reread it.  Friday morning, I told the doctor what she had indicated in the living will.  He said that we were now at a point where we needed to decide whether to attempt aggressive treatment or switch to just "comfort measures."


Over the prior two days, she had on several occasions indicated to me that she was tired of fighting and just wanted to go see Jesus.  When my father-in-law arrived on Friday morning, although she had seemed increasingly weak, she stated forcefully, "Now, I am going to tell you something you probably already know.  I am going to see the Lord soon."


Later when the doctor asked for the decision, he said that he just wanted her to be comfortable.  Some of her medications were discontinued and the IV hydration was removed.  Pain medications were available as needed.


Late Friday she said to me, "Shortly I am going to quit working."


I have pondered that sentence.  Because she has experienced some confusion, I could imagine that she thought she was a young mother who had spent the day tending to her children, doing the laundry, working in the garden and a host of other tasks.  She had worked hard all day and was about ready to sit down and relax.  I could also imagine that she knew that she was in her nineties and living in a worn and fragile body.  She was so, so tired and needed to give up the fight and rest in the arms of Jesus.  Either way her opinion on what needed to happen was clear.


Family arrived to say goodbyes late Friday and on Saturday.  We brought a keyboard into her room and played and sang old hymns of the church that were her favorites on Saturday evening and Sunday.  Sunday afternoon we decided that some of the family members were in need of decent sleep.  The plan was for my husband and me to stay with her until 2 AM Monday morning and then my husband's two brothers would arrive and take the next shift.


Shortly after 11 PM on Sunday, she decided she had worked long enough and hard enough and it was time to quit.  She had been breathing very rapidly for several hours.  Finally and mercifully, two quick gasps were followed by silence.  She went to heaven for a much deserved rest.


Her work is done.


I am grateful for her life and for the rest she now has because of her trust in the Savior.

Perspective and Perception

I have been reading a book written by someone known to me.  The author is not a close friend, but is an acquaintance.  A mutual acquaintance made the comment that 60% of the book is true.  I know that neither of these people would intentionally lie about anything, so how can one present the contents of the book as true, and the other say that only 60% is true?


We all interpret what we experience in life within our own context.  We bring our unique past background to each new situation.  Two people can be in the same place at the same time living through the same moments together and cast those moments in completely different lights. Witnesses to a crime can "see" different things.  Family members can remember family events differently.  Someone recently told me that she and her brother had read the same article and come away with very different conclusions.  An ant crawling around in an oriental rug has a much different perspective than a person standing looking down on it.  Hence, they have different perceptions.


Several years ago, I had a very painful experience.  I was verbally attacked by someone whom I had considered to be a close friend and coworker in a volunteer setting.  The person had for nearly 10 years repeatedly complimented me and expressed gratitude for my input on a board on which we served.   Within a very brief period of time, there was a dramatic change in our relationship.  I sensed a wall had been erected between us.  Shortly after this, the person told me that I had spent the last nearly 10 years undermining him, and that my input had been destructive.  When I questioned how he could be saying that when he had previously complimented me and thanked me, he said, "Well...I don't think I was lying."


Clearly there was a change in perspective which altered his perception of our interactions.  At the time, I said to my husband, "It is as though he has picked up someone else's glasses and is now looking at me through those glasses rather than his own."


What is my point?  I have four of them.
1.  We need to be aware of our own biases.  What are we bringing to the interpretation of a situation?
2.  We need to be forgiving.  Those who see a situation differently than we do may well be doing the best they can within their context.
3.  There is such a thing as "true" truth.  I do believe in absolutes.  However, we need to be careful not to mix up truth with our opinions.
4.  We need to be grateful for the glasses through which God looks at us.  
     Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.  Isaiah 1:18


The truth about each of us is that we are flawed and sinful.  But God's perception is that we are sinless, because his perspective is through the sacrifice of His Son.  And that is true truth!

The End of the World?

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.  No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Matthew 24:35-36
Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.  Matthew 25:13


Over the past few weeks, there has been considerable hype about the world ending today.  A member of a fringe religious group has predicted the Rapture on May 21 (today), and the world completely ending in October.  He has based his predictions on mathematical calculations which are in turn based on rather arbitrary dates he has come up with for the Flood and the Crucifixion.  He claims that his predictions are based on scripture.  Huh?  Has he never read the verses in Matthew which I have quoted above?


It seems to me that these statements made by Christ and recorded in Matthew are very clear.  It doesn't matter how man applies his knowledge in an attempt to figure this out.  Only God knows!


I can think of dozens of reasons why it would be really fine with me if the Rapture occurred today.  There are lots of unpleasant things I wouldn't have to concern myself with any longer.  That would be rather nice.  Also, I really would like to see all of the wrongs in the world righted.  I am grieved that there is so much hatred and evil in the world. Men seem to be able to come up with an infinite number of ways to be inhumane.  


But....
The Bible is clear that it is our job to be faithful to what God has called us to do without knowing when the final day and hour will come.  We are told to be watchful and always ready.  That makes total sense.  The world may not end for all of us today, but it will end for some.  Some of those who die today will be expecting and, perhaps, even longing for death.  Others will be taken totally by surprise.


I am ready for the world to end today, but I was ready yesterday, and I expect to be ready tomorrow.


Even so, come, Lord Jesus.  Revelation 22:20