Friday, September 26, 2008
Anyone from Colorado???
Short blog, but in Denver, on Tuesday, Oct 7, I'm coordinating a disability awareness dinner. It's to be a fun event, sponsored by Kaiser Permanente (where I work), and coordinated by our disability association within Kaiser. If you live near Denver and want more info, email me at yawbeth@hotmail.com and I'll send you more info. It's a FREE dinner, raising NO money, and we're having a stand-up comedian as well as a performance by PHAMALy, a professional theatrical group comprised of people with disabilities. So, join the fun--it's free!!!
Monday, September 15, 2008
My mom, my rock
I guess this is one of those diary entries, but yet I need to write it.
Since I was diagnosed with MS, my mom has always been there for me. She always listens; we always talk; I can tell her anything. She is my rock--my best friend. She has been coming once a week for quite awhile, to care for Lori, and to help around the house. She does my laundry and that of my daughter's. She waters plants for me. She teaches Lori some of the things I cannot teach Lori. My husband doesn't seem to understand all this, the needs I have, the help I need. Nor, I think, do most people. But this isn't about my needs.
Last week I came home from work and my mom told me she needed to tell me something, and that I would be jealous. She was being funny and it was strange. And then she told me, and I know more today, as one thing led to another. My mom has breast cancer. Tomorrow she'll find the stage of it and determine what treatment to pursue. My mom. My rock. The person who I thought may never age.
She will most likely come through this fine. She has a great attitude and wants to get on with life. I know this is possible. But this rock, this person who was not vulnerable. Why? And what a year it has been, with my dad getting through prostate cancer after being diagnosed last November. So, parents age. I never thought they would. I am still digesting everything.
Friends will say what can they do to help? I don't know. Perhaps give me a hug. Definitely say prayers for my mom. Help me to know that I won't be alone. I don't know how anyone can do that. Give me hope. Help me to find some way to exist without my rock, as she will need time to heal. Is this possible? God has always helped me through tough times. I am hoping this will be one of those, where I feel help.
Since I was diagnosed with MS, my mom has always been there for me. She always listens; we always talk; I can tell her anything. She is my rock--my best friend. She has been coming once a week for quite awhile, to care for Lori, and to help around the house. She does my laundry and that of my daughter's. She waters plants for me. She teaches Lori some of the things I cannot teach Lori. My husband doesn't seem to understand all this, the needs I have, the help I need. Nor, I think, do most people. But this isn't about my needs.
Last week I came home from work and my mom told me she needed to tell me something, and that I would be jealous. She was being funny and it was strange. And then she told me, and I know more today, as one thing led to another. My mom has breast cancer. Tomorrow she'll find the stage of it and determine what treatment to pursue. My mom. My rock. The person who I thought may never age.
She will most likely come through this fine. She has a great attitude and wants to get on with life. I know this is possible. But this rock, this person who was not vulnerable. Why? And what a year it has been, with my dad getting through prostate cancer after being diagnosed last November. So, parents age. I never thought they would. I am still digesting everything.
Friends will say what can they do to help? I don't know. Perhaps give me a hug. Definitely say prayers for my mom. Help me to know that I won't be alone. I don't know how anyone can do that. Give me hope. Help me to find some way to exist without my rock, as she will need time to heal. Is this possible? God has always helped me through tough times. I am hoping this will be one of those, where I feel help.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Love your neighbor as yourself
I'm not going to church tomorrow because I yanked my shoulder and my hip has been hurting, at night and especially in the morning (MRI next Fri for the hip), and I'm feeling guilty about it so was out reading sermons and here's a section of one by my former pastor, Pastor Holub:
"Love your neighbor as yourself." So who exactly is my neighbor? If I take seriously all the biblical connections that this verse ties together, it’s the ones who look a little or a lot like Jesus, that’s who! The ones who are sick, lonely, lost, imprisoned, thirsty, starving, frightened, oppressed, poor, homeless, disenfranchised, displaced, grieving, refugeed, rejected and dying. The ones who look like Jesus on his way to the cross: the victims of devastating hurricanes; those dying of HIV/Aids; starving and orphaned children in sub-Sahara Africa; the unemployed and under-employed; the lonely teen-ager; the abused woman; the forgotten aged, and also the "aliens" among us, who have been branded with a disparaging name by our culture – "illegal".
I like this--the sermon talks about the parable of the good samaritan, where who is most like Jesus? It's perhaps not the person who saves the poor man in the ditch--it is perhaps the poor man in the ditch himself.
Sometimes I feel like that poor helpless person in the ditch, although I put on a darn good act! But there are others who are so often in those helpless situations, and those people did not put themselves there--it just happened.
God, please help those of us who find ourselves in those ditches, particularly those who get stuck there for far too long.
"Love your neighbor as yourself." So who exactly is my neighbor? If I take seriously all the biblical connections that this verse ties together, it’s the ones who look a little or a lot like Jesus, that’s who! The ones who are sick, lonely, lost, imprisoned, thirsty, starving, frightened, oppressed, poor, homeless, disenfranchised, displaced, grieving, refugeed, rejected and dying. The ones who look like Jesus on his way to the cross: the victims of devastating hurricanes; those dying of HIV/Aids; starving and orphaned children in sub-Sahara Africa; the unemployed and under-employed; the lonely teen-ager; the abused woman; the forgotten aged, and also the "aliens" among us, who have been branded with a disparaging name by our culture – "illegal".
I like this--the sermon talks about the parable of the good samaritan, where who is most like Jesus? It's perhaps not the person who saves the poor man in the ditch--it is perhaps the poor man in the ditch himself.
Sometimes I feel like that poor helpless person in the ditch, although I put on a darn good act! But there are others who are so often in those helpless situations, and those people did not put themselves there--it just happened.
God, please help those of us who find ourselves in those ditches, particularly those who get stuck there for far too long.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
The Life of Meaning
That's the title of a book I've been reading. I saw it on Sojourner's, but then the Forward was by Tom Brokaw, so at that point I HAD to have it!!! Now I have it, and it has a valuable place on "the bench," where I put on my shoes on in the morning, and tend to collapse when I get home. This book is compilation of interviews and writings with various people of various faiths. It's great because all the entries are short, so when I have 10 or so minutes of collapse time, there's something to do (I hate just sitting there). One of the first essays--maybe the first--I read on a woman with Crohn's who talked about having Crohn's, but then further about how going into medicine for physicians is about the power to serve. And I read an essay written by a pastor who has Parkinson's where he has a positive attitude, but ends the essay with "Damn it." My thoughts exactly! I love how this book, with these short essays, is a calming force. I read about how some people spend so much time praying or meditating. I guess this is my way of doing that. If I were to pray or meditate for a long period of time, especially in the morning (thanks, Valium), I am pretty sure I would fall asleep! :)
Now, I suppose I should go post a review on Amazon or something. Then again, maybe not. Too many things to do, too little time. So if anyone actually reads this, you should buy the book! It doesn't really matter if you are religious or not. And, like I said, Tom Brokaw wrote the Forward!!
Now, I suppose I should go post a review on Amazon or something. Then again, maybe not. Too many things to do, too little time. So if anyone actually reads this, you should buy the book! It doesn't really matter if you are religious or not. And, like I said, Tom Brokaw wrote the Forward!!
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