SOME THINGS I HAVE LEARNED FROM MY ACCIDENT

Denny and I tried to remove a wall bed from our new home shortly after taking possession Friday afternoon. The wall bed came cashing down, ripping away from the wall and slamming into me. My hand was crushed, and bones were sticking out through the tear in my palm. We drove to urgent care and they took such great care of me, finding a hand surgeon at TMC and transporting me there. By 8 pm I was in surgery. By midnight I was home where I was greeted by my brother and family visiting from out of town.
It could have been so much worse, but it was a horror, and Denny is having trouble getting it out of his mind.

Using only my left hand was challenging, but it got really crazy when my mom and Denny got violently sick last night. We heard from my brother that they are all sick also. I wonder if we picked something up in urgent care because I HAVE NOT BEEN COOKING! So here is my list of things I AM LEARNING typed with one finger on my left hand:

1. I have to wear sweats and all of them r in the RV which is in the repair shop.
2. I didn't think I could drive but in a pinch I THINK i could.
3. Eating only what you can open with your left hand is an interesting diet.
4. You can have peanut butter or jelly on your toast but probably not both.
5. You can open the jelly by holding the jar in your armpit.
6. If you leave your bra snapped you can put it on and off over your feet.
7. Cant open any medicine bottles.
8. There are a lot of people with much bigger, sadder, more permanent issues

9. I can deal with this

Our Bee Encounter

We have had quite an encounter with bees in the past few years. They seem to love our house! Denny would tell you the moral of the story is "Get bees the minute you see them." We saw bees hovering again around our roof near the front door just before we left for our trip to Kentucky. Denny had sprayed them a couple of times, and was hoping he had deterred them.  We came home to many bees buzzing around. Again, we tried all the home remedies to no avail. We finally called a bee removal company. Actually, we called several. We had a guy come out who seemed to know his business. Two days and $700 later we have had a hive removed that was over 2 foot by 2 foot...

Here is Your License Plate, Garrett

We have been following the story of Garrett Harper on Caring Bridge. Recently in his Caring Bridge Journal, his parents shared this information:
Hi everyone!  We have enjoyed our week at home although it has been an up and down one.  Garrett has fought mouth sores, especially in his throat, making life miserable and eating difficult.  He has been working to make the barn into a shop/manboy cave.  He spent lots of hours in the heat, but has things set up now.  He even fixed the mower for us.  "Gary's Garage" is his latest obsession.  He wants to decorate it with license plates from various sates and vintage signs but is struggling to find them.  We were discussing the friends we have in different states and were thinking about getting ahold of them to ask for old plates.   It dawned on us that we have friends from all over on Caring Bridge!   So, keep your eyes open.  If any of you have unwanted license plates laying around Garrett could put them to good use.  Just let us know. 
Tomorrow we head back up to the hospital for a methotrexate week.  We want to get it done, but this whole thing is getting so hard.  We will be in touch.
Love,
Beth and Garrett 
Well, Garrett, here comes your license plate from Arizona. When I ordered my speciality plate many years ago, they sent me two: one for the front of my car. Arizona does not require a front license plate and so it has been hanging on the wall in my garage. I would love Garrett to have it.

Hernan Visit

It was wonderful to meet Shari and Bob's family and friends. What a great visit we had. You can click below to see the rest of the pictures.
We weren't sure if we were going to be able to visit the Hernans on our trip home, so we waited until the day before to let them know we would be there on Sunday in the afternoon. They said that was great, so we parked for the night and went to bed. I began thinking about them, and could not sleep. I remember hearing about Garret Harper, the son of a long time friend who is suffering from cancer. Their church came to their home, quietly surrounded the house and prayed for the family and for Garrett. I wondered if we could pull that off for the Hernans. I could not sleep. I finally decided I needed to get up and figure out a way to let people know. I would have liked for it to be a surprise, but I had no idea who of Shari's Facebook friends lived nearby. I finally asked Shari if she could post it on Caring Bridge. She responded immediately. I think it was close to midnight on Saturday night. We did not know until the next day that they were having a very difficult night with Matthew. They didn't even get to bed that night until 3 in the morning. So, not knowing if anyone would show up, we headed to the Hernans. When we arrived, we found out5 that several people had responded, and were going to join us in prayer. Among them was Theresa, Nathan Akins mom, whom we had known in Tucson. She drove 2 1/2 hours to join us. About 20 people showed up and we decided to "surround" Matthew in his room and pray. Matthew lay there peacefully as we led in prayer. It was a great time.

Guthrie on Sad People, Safe Churches

Guthrie on Sad People, Safe Churches

It seems like I am constantly hearing about people who are sad, suffering and dealing with a severe trial of some sort. Just today, I jotted a short message on Facebook to a young man I have known since he was three years old. He just lost his mother tragically. I found myself writing words that probably have little meaning, but what else to say or do? Right now I am traveling across the country and unable to attend the memorial. I am thankful for memorial services because they give us the opportunity to look in the eyes of those who have lost and share from our heart. I think each of us wants to be comforting, helpful, encouraging to those we know who are sad or otherwise grieving. We feel compassion but sometimes cannot find the right words. We repeat what others have said. I remember sitting in a church service years ago when a young woman began to weep. Immediately, the ladies in the church surrounded her and asked her how they could help. She expressed her sorrow in losing her child three years before that. One of them said to her, "Well, you just need to trust God". I thought then how often our words are inadequate to express our compassion for someone such as this young mother. Perhaps these words from Nancy Guthrie will encourage each of us to better encourage those in our lives who are suffering just now.

A Mother's Prayer

Random thought about my mother today, who is 88 years old, soon to be 89. I read this on Girltalk, and thought of the memories I have of my mother praying for me. She still prays for me and thinks of me as her "little girl". I hope my own children and grandchildren will know and remember that I pray for them as well.  http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/a-mothers-prayers

Outdoorsy People Play Lewis and Clark

Finally, after a month with the kayaks on top of the truck, we took them off, put them in a Kentucky River, and paddled on down the tree lined brown waters. It was a beautiful morning, but the water was kind of disgusting. We didn't see much wildlife, but we did see these dragonflies. I did learn to shave my legs before taking close up pics.

Louisville, Kentucky Part II

We have thoroughly enjoyed the people and places of Kentucky. We have found the people of Kentucky to be warm and friendly. They love this place and would NEVER leave. When we say we are from Arizona, immigration issue always comes up.
We have enjoyed championship swim meets with our  grandchildren, visited historical sites and attended the Good Sam Club National Rally.  We have had many interesting and humorous comments about our kayaks on top of our truck ("Where'd you get them boats?") We have yet to use the kayaks. It is just too hot and humid. Today we attended a flea market, and met an interesting guy dressed in camo pants, a hawaiian shirt and a bright blue tiger hat. I asked him if I could take his picture. Denny said to him, "You must not be married, because your wife would never let you out of the house in that outfit!"

Today our friends, Gary and Wanda Lucht attended Sojourn Community Church with us to hear Brian speak. Later they called us to say they had "experienced" White Castle Hamburgers! 

Following Another Caring Bridge Friend

Recently when we were visiting Washington C.H., Ohio, we found out that the son of our longtime friend Jeff Harper was battling osteosarcoma. Garrett Harper is 15 years old. You can read his story on the Caring Bridge website . We knew Jeff when he was a young teenager.  Now many years later he is a husband and dad going through this ordeal.  Garrett keeps busy working in his garage. He wants to decorate his garage with license plates from all over. I have a Psalm 8 Arizona license plate hanging in my garage (AZ sent me two many years ago). So, it's going to Garrett. You can read Garrett's story by clicking here

Denny Bangs His Head Once Again

It is a wonder Denny doesn't have brain damage. This 6 foot 3 inch guy is constantly hitting his head........ HARD! It happens a lot while we are in the RV because he is ducking around under slide outs and awnings and open cabinets. The cabinet was open above the TV (my bad), and he slammed right into the corner. He hit it hard, and it was quite dramatic. Hence, the bandaged head. OK. I am not just the neatest bandager in the world....
He always says, "I should have had a hat on!" Of course he has split his head open many times WITH a hat on, so I am not sure it will help, but...........
I found him a hat I hope will work.....

Dear Out Doorsy Person!

So, I don't do this blog much any more because It is just so much easier to update on Facebook. I know some of you don't do Facebook. Well, this was just too good not to pass on. As many of you know, we are in Louisville, Kentucky visiting Brian and Chandra for a month. We have our RV and our truck, and our bikes, and our kayaks on top of the truck. Afterall, aren't there a lot of lakes in Kentucky? We leave the kayaks on top of the truck because it is just easier. We have had some harrowing moments, like on the fourth of July when we forgot they were there and we tried to drive in a parking garage with low clearance.
So, today, we are parked at Sojourn Community Church in the parking lot, and of course we have parked our truck with the kayaks on top. After the service, we head out and Denny finds this note on our windshield:

Dear Out Doorsy Person!

I noticed your kayaks and was wondering if I could rent them from or (or borrow) sometime? I wanted to go kayaking within the next couple of weeks........

The person left her name and email.......

Grand Canyon Road Trip

Van Andel Creation Research Center

My sister and her husband came to visit my mother, and for a bit of a vacation. We decided that it might be fun to take a road trip. After spending quality time with my mother, we took off headed for the Grand Canyon. As we considered our travel direction, we decided to go from Highway 17 up through Prescott, Chino Valley, and on to Williams, AZ to spend the night. A short distance out of Chino Valley, we saw a sign which said Creation Research Society. Bruce said, "Well, I would really like to stop there." It was just a couple of houses and a large greenhouse, so we snooped around until we found a door. To our great surprise, we had stumbled upon the research center and bookstore for the Creation Research Society. When we mentioned we were headed to the Grand Canyon, the pleasant man (whose name we didn't even get) directed us to some resources and information about the Grand Canyon. Bruce bought one book, and I picked up a field guide of the Grand Canyon from a creationist perspective. Also, he told us about raft trips which are hosted by Canyon Ministries and are taken for the purpose of promoting a creationist perspective. We were delighted to get these materials and information, and headed on to the Grand Canyon.

Bruce and Jill never had been to the Grand Canyon and we hadn't been there in over 20 years. We enjoyed the spectacular views and the interaction with the National Park Rangers. The IMAX Theater presentation gave us a vicarious experience on the river and trail, which we thoroughly enjoyed. We headed from there to Flagstaff, the Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona. We had a great time, and now Bruce and Jill are on their way back to their home in Missoula, Montana.

Tour of the Tucson Mountains

Eric, Denny and I rode the Tour of the Tucson Mountains, just short of 28 miles. It was a beautiful day to be out. Denny fixed one flat as his duty for being Bike Patrol. Check out Eric's state of the art bike and outfit....

Louisville, Kentucky

Well, half of our grandchildren moved to Louisville, KY. We met Carrie, Dali and Sophia in Houston, and flew together to check out their new life in Louisville. A pleasant surprise was to have Mike and Vickie McAllister come from Columbus, Ohio to hear Brian's first message at Sojourn Community Church April 11. Also, Carrie's good friend Corrie Welch and Josiah joined us for a fun day on Monday. Louisville was beautifully in bloom. We look forward to visiting again in the summer.

J.D. Hartman

I read with interest the Caring Bridge update for J.D. Hartman today. I don't know this family, but somehow I started following their story of a near-drowning of their son, J.D., and the rough road to recovery over a period of more than a year. His father, John, who was writing today talks about how difficult it is to keep praying over and over for something (with conviction):

Praying a prayer for miraculous results over and over is hard to do, I want His answer (the one I want) now, not when He wants to give it and I need to turn the timer off and realize God hears my cries, pleas, demands and with persistence, patience and a heart that is true in my belief- He will answer.... I have often told myself and JD, I will be here and we will get through this thing however long it takes. Talk is cheap, now it is time to execute on that commitment and speak directly to God with a "right heart" everyday for as long as it takes.

Dear Lord, please help me have patience and faith while I wait to hear from You. Help me live in excited anticipation for the day when I will see how You answer my prayers. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Haven't you felt that way?
Why do I keep asking?
Am I being heard?
Does it make any difference?
Am I asking for the wrong thing?

I know that prayer is not all about asking, but I know right now, at this time in my life, I am surrounded by hurting, suffering people. Another one brought to my attention last week: Denise, a young woman with stage 4 melanoma. My kids went to school with her. We know her family. We know her sister died as a young mother of cancer. I add Denise and her family to my list. I'm praying for a miracle of healing for Denise, but also asking God to show HIs presence through all this nightmare of a situation they are going through.

Denny's muffins

Denny always makes these muffins. He eats them every day! I go on a diet, and he loses weight, so they must fill him up. Anyway, he wanted to know the nutritional information, so I entered the recipe on sparkpeople. You can view the recipe here . Someday I may even take a picture of them, or him eating one!

Denny yelled "Stop!" and I did!

We were walking this morning, and I saw a snake right in front of me. I jumped over it and screamed. It was little, dead, and not a rattler. We laughed, and talked about keeping our eyes open! About 30 minutes later, Denny yells, "Stop!" I did. To the right in front of us, a live, big rattler in the road. We watched it for a bit, as it slithered to the side of the road and into a pack rat hole. The pack rat came running out of her back door! We stayed to watch. Sadly, she probably had babies in that hole, and stayed near the entrance, but did not re enter! The snake already looked pretty fat, so we assumed it had already eaten. So, again, we said, "We better keep our eyes open!" In response to this picture and story, I get an email immediately back from Carrie:

"MOM! You have to get out of that God-forsaken hell hole you call home! Move to Texas! :)"

I responded: "You have mosquitos bigger than that in Texas!"

Quality Time with Grandson and Grandson's Best Friend?

Cody called me yesterday, asking if I would like to spend quality time with him and his best friend Michael. He also mentioned that he wanted to use our barbeque! I went and picked them up, and found out their desire was to go to Safeway and buy ground beef and cheese to make a "Juicy Lucy" burger with cheese stuffed in the middle. We got the meat, made the patties and they fully enjoyed their big, fat burgers. The only buns we keep in our house are those new Sandwich Thins. I got some out, and Michael said to Cody, "What are these?" Cody said, "I don't know". But they ate them and fully enjoyed their lunch. It is always fun to have the two of them around.....

African Daisies in March

While traveling around on this beautiful Saturday morning, we saw so many African Daisies. They are just beautiful in all of the neighborhoods. They just seem to have appeared overnight! I want to get these going in my yard. What a beautiful welcome of spring in the desert.

the Garden Railroad Tour-2010

We spent this morning visiting several homes in the Tucson area that have Garden Railroads in their yard. They were very amazing. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, and we enjoyed the company of 4 other couples from our church. One of the guys is a model railroad enthusiast, and invited us all to go. It was a fun morning, with lunch at Olive Garden in the middle of the tour.

Effie Brooks Obituary: Effie Brooks’s Obituary by the Tucson Newspapers.

Effie Brooks Obituary: Effie Brooks’s Obituary by the Tucson Newspapers.

Sadie Brooks was a dear friend of ours. We stayed with Sadie and Doodie the first time we ever came to Tucson, in 1982. I remember her as a gracious, dedicated, Godly woman in our lives. She invited Denny to lunch every Wednesday for years, when I was teaching at Rio Vista. We have fond memories of both of them.

Denny's Leg Warmers

Denny and I have been bicycling with the Vistoso Cyclists. They ride Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 9:00 am. It is cool at that time of day, even in Tucson, so Denny decided to go to the bike shop and buy leg warmers. He bought large. Have you ever noticed Denny's legs? Well, the more I diet, the thinner HIS legs get! So, he puts on his leg warmers, and they just fall back down. So, he decides to use rubber bands to hold them up. Nope. They still fall down. So, today, he gets rope and tries to tie them on. I think it is time to return the leg warmers.

Visiting the grandkids in Cali

Recently we spent time with our grandkids in California. We enjoyed going to the park, geocaching, and seeing what they were capable of on the computer. They are going to be moving to Louisville, Kentucky this month, so we were glad to have the time with them while they are still fairly close.