Good Saturday to you from Northern Iowa where I can look out our large living room window and watch a gentle snowfall. The ground is already covered in white. Even though we expect only an inch or two the moisture is needed for our land. It's a peaceful sight watching this gentle snowfall and at this point peace is what we both long for in this house, in our city, in our country, in our world. The peace that passes understanding.
This past week we've had several duck "couples " milling around looking for food I expect at the neighbor's who likes to throw out corn cobs all winter long. They may have been a little confused by our warm weather, but today mother nature is letting us know that winter is still here.
This past week Joel has continuined to build wooden TV tray tables for the grandkids in between the daily routines and his sermon for tomorrow. I got an appointment from a cancellation, so on Thursday we headed over to Rochester to Mayo Ophthalmology for a day of testing for my eye and the severe glaucoma diagnosis I had. We got home around 2:00 in the afternoon and we're awake before 4:00 the next morning to get ready to head back for a 7:30 appointment. We're too old for this! Travel was good and we arrived in time to relax before more testing and then an evaluation with a glaucoma specialist. It wasn't really what we wanted to hear. It wasn't worse news...... it wasn't good news.... it was just hearing that this doctor, this Mayo specialist doesn't know specifically why my vision changed because so many things are going on in my eye. It could be from the glaucoma that got somewhat worse or it could be from the dry macular that has changed or it could be from the medication that I'm taking that can affect the eyes but he knew nothing about that particular drug. He did suggest that I have laser surgery to open the drainage tubes in my eyes. If that doesn't work then I'll be put on a second medication I believe. Since this began last fall it has been confusing and unclear besides scary to think about losing my vision completely. We're still kind of in the same spot but we're trusting ths doctor to do laser surgery. It doesn't give us answers for if or when I would go blind....or the if we should move to a smaller one level home or if we should live closer to one of our children or.....or.. or. There's no definitive answers. But we have today. The Serenity Prayer says God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
And that Serenity Prayer brings me to the struggle that I am having over the terrible accusations that have come up by Elon Musk saying that the Lutheran services that have been an establishment since the 1800s are money laundrying among other things. One in 50 people receive some kind of services in their lifetime from Lutheran Social Services Lutheran World relief, Global Refuge, etc. Lutherans have been dedicated to serving others the way God has asked us to according to the scriptures. It's confusing, a bit overwhelming, and a bit more irritating to hear the things that are being said and watch what is being done to stop aid to others. In some ways the Lutheran Church and their organizations are being persecuted. It's not the first time.
Speaking of time, Joel got up early this morning and went down to the basement and walked in water. It seems that the meter reading device that they put on the front of our house has malfunctioned and Joel spent a couple of hours cleaning water out of the laundry room area carpet and trying to fix temporarily the problem. You can call the utilities here in town and they will tell you we'll be back on Monday. No emergency number to call. So Joel is off to the store to buy more of this waterproof tape that he just happened to have on hand. Thank you Lord our garage that looks like a Menards of left over materials! For now it's holding and I was able to shower without adding more problems to the basement carpet. Are we having fun yet?
Speaking of fun, well at least sort of, we spent a lot of time sitting and waiting in between testing and we did a lot of people watching. Our world is filled with such a variety of people ! It's amazing! What we find amusing is that when we go to Mayo Clinic Joel manner of dress with the cowboy hat, vest, and boots draws a lot of ridiculous attention. If he remembers he'll take the hat off before we go in so he's not constantly meeting other people's eyes as they look at him. I find this curious since Mayo Clinic is filled with people from around the world all unique and special for their own culture. I guess other people do people watching too!
Tomorrow is Joel's last Sunday as a fill in pastor for a church South of us. He has quite a long history with them having served them as interim before and fill in and having accumulated almost 5 years with this congregation and a smaller one Southwest of there. There is some sadness in saying goodbye while feeling excited for what is ahead for them!
So, today I'm grateful that we got into Mayo Ophthalmology and we have a plan for laser surgery and we have some understanding that I have the dry macular that will eventually cause vision loss and I have the glaucoma which will eventually cause vision loss and then there's that drug for cancer that maybe influencing the timeline for that. Guess I'm saying that I'm grateful that It's in God's hands now as he directs us. Again going back to being grateful..... I'm grateful that I got in over there that I saw a good doctor and then I got all these tests and was thoroughly examined and that there is a plan in place. Grateful Joel has the energy he has to travel like that for 2 days being up at 4:00 in the morning. Grateful for safe travel. Grateful for our Lutheran Foundation. Grateful for all the work that the Lutheran ELCA has done to serve others. Grateful for a gentle snowfall that brings a sense of peace to our hearts. Grateful that Joel is very good at figuring things out and fixing or temporary fixing things to get us through. Grateful for Trader Joe's and grateful for Mr Pizza in Rochester for Joel! Haha Grateful for all the time Joel has served as a fill in pastor for two churches south of Mason City. Grateful for all the phone calls emails and texts we received every week. Grateful for all this and so much more.
Enjoy your weekend!
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