Sometimes life throws you a curveball

Our curveball?

Photo Credit: Brady Withers via Compfight cc

About two weeks ago, at 3am, we were woken by a phone call we’ve been dreading.

Tony’s mom had fallen in the middle of the night. Would Tony go at once to the ER.

Sure enough, Penelope, a strong Christian who has served the Lord faithfully all her life in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, had fractured her wrist in several places. So, of course, after they had set her arm, we brought her back home with us.

After a few days of looking after her 24 hours a day, it became apparent that we are not able to give her the care she needs. Her doctors also advised us that she should no longer live independently–it was her second fall in two weeks.

What to do? It’s the problem many people face with their elderly parents. It’s a tough decision. Would she do best at our home if we brought in extra nursing care? Would she do better in a facility that could care for her where there were people around all day.  (She loves talking with people and sharing the Lord with them).

In the end, Penelope made the decision for us. She and Tony had passed a skilled nursing facility about 5 minutes from our home while returning from a doctor visit. They both felt they should investigate it. Not only can the facility handle all the rehab Penelope needs for her arm, they had a bed available. She was quite sure this was the Lord’s provision for her. So a couple of days ago she moved in.

Why do I tell you all this?

I’ve been blogging two to three times a week for several years. You may (or may not) have noticed I’ve not blogged in a couple of weeks. It was precipitated by the lack of time because of the situation with Tony’s mom, but I’ve decided to take a break from blogging for a month or so. We not only have to clear Penelope’s apartment in the next few days, we are shortly going to some developing nations in Asia to speak about simple/organic church. Other members of the family will stay here to look after her.

But before I “sign off” for a few weeks, I’d like to share something else with you. My last post was a brilliant poem (Mary Go Round) about the sex trade by Anita Scott. Anita wrote telling me how she came to create the poem. The post garnered a lot of views, so I thought you might be interested in this email from her.