Saturday Night, November 15 - 6 Months
15 November 08 - 23:37
Just a few minutes ago Jim & I had a time of prayer together before retiring for the night and the Lord brought to my mind the Scriptures below. This is important to us, especially now, for the days are long and there is no sign of any progress for Jim. While Jim continues to pray for his own healing, I am more & more struck with the Truth in these scriptures: BE CONTENT. This does not mean I do not pray & long with all my heart for Jim to be healed, but it means that as we wait to see how all this will unfold, we must be content in where the Lord has us now. We must use this time together to grow personally, spiritually, and in our relating to each other. Jim must trust me to be the doer, the one who does the things that need to be done, the one who has a perspective he must listen to; I must learn to not barge ahead but continue to seek my husband’s counsel, listen to his perspective and follow his lead and together we must seek that Counsel of the One who knows what is best, take our burdens to Him and leave them there.
God has allowed this circumstance in our lives. We must not forget that, not forget that He was not surprised when Jim was injured or the result of that injury. He can be glorified in all things, and we must seek His glory and always bring Honor to His name.
As we move towards selling & then leaving the home we love, we must remember all the circumstances that so plainly revealed to us that this home was from Him. He gave us this home when we had nothing, when we had lost all our money, and Jim had lost his job. He will not forsake us or leave us and as He provided then, He will continue to provide for us.
Phil 4:11-13 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
1 Tim 6:6-8 But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
1 Tim 6:11-12 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Heb 13:5-6 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
Many things have happened since I last wrote. I did spend about half an hour writing an entry earlier this week only to have it suddenly disappear. I was so frustrated I just abandoned it for a few days.
First, we have a Van! Through the help of friends Bill & Barb, the Van was located & it is now ours! It is much nicer than the previous one & has 4 point tie-downs that are self-ratcheting. This is really important to secure Jim correctly and also easily.
Miles came last Sunday afternoon and we had our first outing – to church with him at EVBC. It was good to see several of those that helped us out in some practical areas, it was good to be in Worship, but the best was hearing God’s Word taught. After church we even went out to eat – Chinese, of course!
I was pretty nervous and anxious about attempting to take Jim out on my own, but I did! On Tuesday we went to the grocery store & bought groceries. Now I know I can do it alone and am no longer fearful. But, continue to pray for physical strength for me. By the time I get Jim dressed, in his chair & then in the Van & secured, I am worn out. Jim is very sensitive to the cost to me to do all this and very grateful when I do.
We had a home visit for Jim’s Medical Eligibility for AZ Long Term Care (ALTCS) this week. When the interview was concluded over the phone, the gentleman told me Jim would certainly qualify and then told me some of the benefits to us. ALTCS will provide up to 40 hours per week of what they call Attendant Care – someone to take care of Jim so I can work, run errands, take care of business, buy groceries, whatever I need to do; they provide Respite Care, they will provide all the supplies I have been buying, they will provide all the therapies – PT, OT. Speech – and they will serve as Jim’s insurance. You know this is answered prayer, so Praise God with us for this! It will take about two weeks for everything to be finalized and for us to meet in the home with Jim’s case manager to plan his care.
Continue to pray for Jim’s cough. It is not any better, maybe a little more productive than it was and this is always a concern for pneumonia. He has not run any more fever, so he is able to handle his own secretions so far. Thankfully we have a suction machine. Pray we can find some way for Jim to be able to do something, anything to ease the long days of nothingness. Remember, he can only move his head & shrug his shoulders.
We had hoped to delay selling the house until Spring, but we may need to move more quickly. I received a bill this week from Promise for over $9000. It seems Promise was out of network, something I was never informed of until now. Therefore, instead of having a $500 co-pay, we have a 20% coinsurance of the total bill. We have not heard anything about Rehab, so for all we know they may have been out of network also. Our plan right now is to have a custom mobile home build that will accommodate Jim & his chair and move into one of the local Parks, probably in Mesa. Please pray we have the Lord’s guidance on all this, the timing, the down-sizing, our “boys”, Reggie & Cody. I believe some Parks do not allow pets & our “boys” are our kids now that Josh has moved and neither my other son Mark nor any of Jim’s kids live here.
We still have a lot of needs, but so very much to be thankful for: Friends who care for us & help us, hundreds of people all over the US who pray for us, a God who loves us, provides for us & will never forsake us. What more could we ask for? And, I really mean this with all my heart. We are so blessed.
Marilyn
three comments:
Dear Marilyn and Jim, November 16th 2008 As we worshipped The LORD today it was a sermon on suffering.I thought of it once I got to the blog site.The reason as to why God spoke to me was this:The verse comes out of Romans 5:12Therefore,just as through one man sin entered the world,and death through sin,and thus death spread to all men,because all sinned. The two questions the Pastor Ter0ri Christ asked the congregation were.What does suffering teach us about God? And,What does suffering teach us about ourselves? The reasons are apparent,A fallen world,Gods moral law,a spiritual war and the maturing of the saints. As Christians we as a people face trials tribulations every day of each year. It is vital to remember that God turns all things together for the good who are called according to His purpose.So, the Holy Spirit led me to believe that everything in this life is not by accident but an act of providence!The Pastor continued in closing as to release our needs to not know why circumstances occur.He also believed in a better future and to choose JOY over despair.Just like the blind man who was given back his eyesight from our everloving Lord and saviour.There is always hope and miracles that our Heavenly Father creates and performs.John 9:3Jesus answered,Neither this man nor his parents sinned,but the works of God should be revealed in him. God Bless the both of you and your friends and family!Love your brother Garry
Garry Tinger () - 16 11 08 - 17:17
I Just Wanted To Say To You Jim And Marilyn You Two Are in My Prayers….... Love Dee Joey’s Friend…....
Dee () - 16 11 08 - 19:10
Dear Marilyn,
We continue to pray for you both that the LORD will continue to be with you both and that things will get better for you. I pray that you will be able to sell your home in these hard times for the money you need to have a mobile home built that will accomidate Jim’s needs.
We love you both,
Bob & Joy
Bob & Joy Wilson () - 21 11 08 - 22:57
