Vigil

My 91 year old Mother-in-law had a massive stroke last Thursday. It is difficult to see someone you love totally helpless, totally vulnerable, and incapacitated.
The vigil begins.
In the first few days she alternated between discomfort, agitation, resignation, and sleeping. Mostly sleeping. She opens her eyes and appears to be looking at you. Are they pleading?, scared?, confused?, in pain? We don't know. The neurosurgeon says there is probably no comprehension, but there appears to be some. At first she would sometimes squeeze your hand on command, . . . or was it just reflex action? She can hear sound, but it is just noise to her, . . . or is it?Brain swelling and morphine suppress her and calm her in the next few days. The eyes are now vacant and there is little or no response to stimuli. Cousin Dr. Jerry got her a very nice private room with a view. We spend much of our time here.
The Neurosurgeon says there is no hope for recovery from this bad of a stroke. Even with a living will that spells out her desire not to have her life artificially prolonged, an explicit health care power-of-attorney, and knowing her desires from conversations with her, the decisions are not easy. Exhortations by Elder Bro. Tom last year at the Goodfield Conference come to mind and are helpful. The decision the family makes is to keep her comfortable and let God take her home.
Then come the conflicting thoughts and perhaps even some guilt. Are we making the right decisions? For the right reasons? We want her to go quickly and painlessly, but is it for her sake or ours? This has become an intrusion on our busy lives. Are we being selfish? We know that she was at peace with God and her desire is to go home where her earthly bridegroom has already gone. And we know that there is a mansion prepared for her there.

There is a calm beyond life's fitful fever,
a deep repose, an everlasting rest;
Where white robed angels welcome the believer
Among the blest, among the blest.
There is a home, where all the souls deep yearnings,
and silent prayers shall be at last fulfilled;
Where strife and sorrow, murm'rings, and heart burnings
At last are stilled, at last are stilled.

We are not the only family with this experience. Thousands of others have gone through similar situations in the past and are currently experiencing them. Praying family, friends, and churches are a real blessings at these times.

Psalm 23
1The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Back Home

The old farmer and his family are back home from California. We had good weather for the most part and a safe enjoyable time. We flew into San Francisco and rented a mini-van on which we put over a thousand miles. Some thoughts and observations:

-- I was worried about driving in San Francisco, but it was easier than driving in Chicago!
-- Driving down Lombard Street is a rush.
-- I still don't enjoy driving California Freeways.
-- Our vacation food budget went out the window when our first night out (seafood at Fisherman's Wharf) cost us $200.
-- We enjoyed walking thru Chinatown and eating out with Matthew and Daniel.
-- We crossed the Golden gate Bridge 4 times but never saw it without fog covering part or all of it.
-- We thought we would stand out like the Beverly Hillbillies in 'frisco, but I don't think we did. At least nobody appeared to look at us strangely.
-- Walking amongst the giant redwoods and the sequoia trees is like being in an outdoor Cathedral.
-- If Mrs. Winchester had read her Bible more and listened to the Holy Spirit, we would not have toured her mansion.
-- The views of and in Yosemite Valley are awesome!
-- We got to see an active forest fire up close and personal -- but fortunately it was a prescribed burn.
-- We enjoyed driving thru Napa Valley and touring Beringer Winery. We skipped the tasting rooms because of lack of time (and the fact that we had two minors with us).
-- After touring a gold mine, I can emphatically say I don't envy any underground miners.
-- We enjoyed Alan and Amy's wedding festivities in Davis (the reason for our trip), and were surprised to see them at brunch the next day (free food, said Amy).
-- We toured the Jelly Belly factory and brought home 8 pounds of Belly Flops.
-- My only regret was not being able to attend church services while in California.

Old Sermon

We heard in church today, that today is the 266th anniversary of Jonathan Edwards "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" sermon. It can be found at this address - http://www.ccel.org/ccel/edwards/sermons.sinners.html

Used Car Lot

With our 4th child now with her drivers license, another used car has been added to our livery. We now have five vehicles parked in our garage and driveway. It is starting to look like a used car lot. The "new" car only has 79,000 miles on it - pretty low mileage for us. Our five vehicles have a total of 805,100 miles on their odometers!

Daughter #2 baked me a peach pie this week!

We baled 1920 bales of straw this week and they are safely in the haymow. The big round bales are baled but still in the field. It never fails that baling day is one of the hottest days of the summer, but we always seem to handle it well. Maybe its the hay balers' lunch we have in the middle of the afternoon under the shade tree. A tradition.

She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in. Genesis 24:25

Wheat Harvest

We finished wheat harvest tonight. We had two beautiful days to work. We had a too warm January, a too cold February, and a too wet March. As a result, the field had thin spots in it that the giant ragweed decided to take advantage of. It was a jungle in places. Some spots we didn't try to harvest, we just mowed it down with our Bush Hog. But it's finished and we had an acceptable yield and the price is great. Now it's time to bale straw. Since tomorrow is Independence Day, we probably won't work a full day. If the Lord and weather willing, we will hit it hard on Thursday.

God Bless America!

Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.