Encouraging Words for Those Who are Housebound Again by Jaye Lewis
Hello friends,
Well, I’m in the bed, again. The sky is blue, and the air is balmy,
especially for February here in the mountains of Virginia
I’m very blessed, however, because I
know this is temporary. I’m on
medication that is helping me, and by the time the week is out, I should (I
hope) be out of bed and slowly be on my way.
I think that I know why I’m “laid
up,” as we say in the hills. I have an
inflammation in my right hip. At least I
hope it is only inflamed, kind of like an arthritis attack, because of a fall I
had two months ago. It seems like it was
only the other day that I could fall, get up, and just keep on going, but that
was twenty years ago. I used to joke,
“when I fall, I just bounce.” Not any
more. When I fall, I leave a hole in the
ground, and I’m still in the hole.
It may seem as though I’m depressed,
but I’m not. This is one of those
learning experiences. Do I focus on what
I don’t have? Or do I recognize the
blessings that I do have? I’m not
alone. I have my family, who can’t do
enough for me. If I neglect myself, by
not requesting help in my needs, whether my need is medicine, or my diabetes
testing supplies, or food or drink or just an arm to hold me up so that I can
go to the bathroom, someone is always near to help me.
It is a humbling experience, just experiencing
how much they love me. Their love for me
is selfless, a precious gift, which reminds me just how much God also loves
me. They are God’s perfect gift, that is
as obvious to me as one of the beautiful sunsets that I believe He provides to
delight my soul. You might say that my
family is the delight of my soul.
I have the loveliest daughters,
funny and wise, beautiful inside and out, unselfish, and the joy of my
heart. My husband is tender and
kind. His love for me is expressed in
unusual ways. He has taken a reader,
which he had given me for my birthday, and he has expanded it so that I can do
so much more, like downloading more e-books and reading the news, like the
major news-hound I am. It’s amazing to
me. He is so brilliant, but his heart is
still humble and wise, as he does all these things that make life easier for
me.
You see, I am slowly losing my
sight. As a result, I cannot read a
regular book, and I LOVE to read! I must
have a light behind the letters, or I cannot see them very well. So, he just redesigned the whole thing. Now, I can go to Amazon or Barns & Noble
and buy books that I love to read. He is
so wonderful.
I wonder. If I were busy, busy, busy, would I notice
just how blue the sky is through my window, as I write to you? Would I take delight in the stars, in
sunrises and sunsets? Would I see just how much my husband and daughters
cherish me? Would I take for granted
every breath I take, or the steps that I am able to take just to get a glass of
water for myself? If I were able, would
I take the time to consider the people who don’t have what God has given to
me? Would I understand your pain, as I
think of you, my brothers and sisters, who may be struggling to see the
blessings, within your own life? Would I
take a moment to pray for you, as I am now?
Would I be too busy to really see?
Or feel? Or understand? If I were a hurried, worried person, who
believed that I gave every blessing to myself, would I appreciate every blessing
that God has given to me?
So, I thank God, right now, for
every breath, for every step, for laughter, in spite of my tribulations. I thank Him for my medicines. I thank Him for my diabetes, because I understand
what you go through. I thank God for my
trigeminal neuralgia, and for the medications which erase my pain. I thank God for the chemist who designed the
drugs, and for the Pharmaceutical Companies who provide the drugs which give me
a quality of life that I would not have without them. For all the things and people that I used to take
for granted, I thank God right now. He
is a good God. He is a sweet God, a
generous God, gentle, kind and merciful, and I praise Him right now.
And then, I thank God for the little
things: a warm bed, when it is cold; cool
sheets when it is hot – all those little things that we forget, sometimes, that
God provides for us, too. I thank Him
for my little dog, Happy Dog. For the
fourteen years that God has given me with you, dear Happy Dog, I thank Him for
each day, and all the years that you have blessed my life. What a joy you have been. I love you Happy Dog. I never dreamed that I could have a love like
yours.
Dear
Heavenly Father, I know that every heart beat is a gift from You. I know that You are my provider, my friend,
and my Savior. I know that all the
things that I should remember, and I have forgotten, are also Your gifts to me.
And, Lord, for those who read this, I pray for all the grace they can hold,
that they may know You. And if they are
busy, may they stop and know that those busy times are a gift from You, too.
And, Lord, for those of us who are laid up, may we realize our blessings, and
may we thank You for them too. Thank
You, Lord, and to You be the praise, the honor, and the glory, forever.
A brief
update: I was rushed to urgent care
yesterday. I met a very kind
doctor. Gosh they are young these days! I discovered that I do have arthritis in my
hips, particularly my right hip. To give
me freedom of movement, I have been given a prescription of lidocaine, which is
a gel patch which does what your dentist does when he anesthetizes your
mouth. It will numb the pain while I
increase gentle stretching exercises and give my glucosamine time to help build
up the cartilage in my joints. This requires
a lot of me. It’s not magic, but then is
anything worth doing magic? Or should it
be? I will keep you all informed as to my progress. God be with you!
With love,
Jaye Lewis
