I`ve been away for a week and am quite shocked to find you`ve not been on here for a long time.  Obviously it makes me wonder how you are.  Just want to send you lots of love, thoughts and prayers.

Bless you,

Sheila

What`s up???

Sheila

It's been a very up and down couple of weeks - where to begin?

The "high" was definately going to St. D's and seeing Tony and NL - and hearing Terry Waite preach. If you've seen the thread on the topic in the theolgy section, you'll realise that we all had a great time...

The lows are that my mum had her hip operation cancelled on the day of surgery last friday because they discovered she has heart problems (quite serious) that were not picked up on either of her two pre-op assessments (you'll have gathered this op has been cancelled before.) She's 86 and in a lot of pain and I'd booked holiday and bought the train tickets to go and stay with her after she came out of hospital this time...

All of this has put a considerable strain on us all and taken up a huge amount of time in telephone calls and organising leave from both jobs and so forth.

Matthew loves his course at college (Catering) and is turning out some delicious food. The fishcakes he made on Monday were to die for - and that's saying something from me, because Moday is chemo day and I don't feel much like eating by Monday evenings! I could write a book on the change in him. It's so good to see.

Rachael doesn't seem so happy at college. I think it's taking her a while to adjust and she's missing her friends. She says she enjoys the floristry part of the work, but she's the youngest in her group and all but one of the others have already been at the college for a year or more - so I don't think it is what she (or we, come to that) were expecting. She doesn't like lunchtimes either,because the canteen gets too crowded and one day she went without lunch.

We have still had nobody to look at the house, and, to be honest, I have rather resigned myself to the fact its going to take forever to sell. I'm inclined to forget it's on the market. Instead, I am looking forward to getting my driving licence back and buying myself a car. I do hope they say yes!

I have also preached my first sermon at the new place and it went down a storm! We "broke the rules" but it was only because there was nobody else to do it.

Next stop is back at the old church on 5th October- I could do with your prayers - because at the moment I have dreadful writer's block!

I'm OK in myself - if a little stressed out. This business with mum is getting my down and I'm inclined to take it to the foot of the Cross - and pick it up again when I leave!

God bless

With love as ever,

Lesley xx

Just for today, dear Lord, let me realise that there is nothing that we cannot handle together - and may I pray the same prayer tomorrow.....

As I thought, there`s been a lot going on in your life, much of it difficult.  Your poor Mum.  I can sympathise with her and the situation;  my husband aged 69 needs both knees replaced (keyhole surgery not an option) and there`s less than two years wear left in both hips, yet because of his diabetes, high b p, etc., the surgeon has indicated the risks are high and to operate is not advisable.  So he endures the pain, but if he is fortunate enough to live a good many years - what state will he be in!  It must be very upsetting to have your Mum`s operation cancelled when it was so close and you had prepared for it so thoroughly.  And you must wonder why her heart condition was not detected earlier.

We must pray for Rachael too.  Fancy missing her lunch.

But what about those fish cakes!  I could smell them and taste them!  (How long does the chemo go on for?)

Sorry about the house.  It`s a situation so many people are having to endure at the moment.  We actually complete on the purchase of our bungalow the day after tomorrow.  And we take out our mortgage tomorrow.  Awful thought!    But our house is not on the market yet.  We have obtained permission and plans to turn it into a two-bed house and three-bed house.  But what if nobody buys!  I know you have that special, beautiful house to move to if only you can sell.  But you never know what`s around the corner.  You`ve found that our before.

I had my first meeting with our new minister last night.  She is a probationer and her husband has the same name as yours.  You said not very long ago how pleased you were that you and your husband were welcomed as a partnership in your new patch.  I wondered if that would be the way our new arrivals would feel.  (We once had a minister whose wife said she married a teacher, not a minister and never wanted to be a minister`s wife, and all that entailed, thank you!).  Well, our Rachael has a husband who wants to be involved (so I told her about you) and they have three lovely children.  The eldest is just starting at the comprehensive school. 

Thank you for sharing your life with us, Lesley.  It is always good to hear from you.  Would you have known Tony B if it were not for the board?  I`m so glad you had a lovely time at St. D`s again.

Heaps of love and blessings,

Sheila

In reverse order (like a well known beauty contest) - no, I would not have known Tony B were it not for the board - so as with so much in my life, I have much to praise God for here

St. D's is always wonderful and it's a real blessing to be so close (only about 30 minutes away) that I can nip over whenever I have the time to go. I love it and it's really only cost and time that stop me from being there more often...

The house situation is as I described. I feel most for the folk who have to move miles for work or for some other reason. We are moving mostly for convenience. It's really only a question of 5 miles up the road - and we can manage. It's not as if we have a mortgage now or are under any financial pressure to move - so we are fortunate in so many respects.

I have long chats with Rachael about college. We think the problem at the moment is that they are underestimating her ability - so I have encouraged her to take in photos of the work she has already done. The lunch problem is much harder to crack. We think this is a confidence thing, and will come in time. She insists that she does like college, but I am reserving judgement for a while. I know her well enough to know that she will tell me what she thinks I want to hear.

Matthew on the other hand really does like college! He's changed so much in just a couple of weeks. He's talking more and is so much more confident in himself. As I say, the fishcakes were to die for - and that's saying something from me on a Monday...

By the way, the chemo is low dose and indefinate.

Mum had an echocardiogram yesterday, but obviously we don't know any results yet. It's the second time her op. has been cancelled, but this time it was on the day of surgery itself, so it was doubly distressing for us all. She's pretty fed up at the moment, as you can imagine...Having undergone two previous pre-op assessments, we all wonder why this was not picked up earlier, but I comfort myself with the thought that at least it has been picked up now. That has to be a good thing.

Your poor husband! They can operate under local anasthetic with sedation as an alternative to a general - maybe it is worth asking?

I'm mid-way through completing self assessment forms for a new Carer's Assessment. Trouble is, "they" never anticipated having three disabled children in the same house with two carers, one of whom is ill themselves...so it gives us a total of seven ten page forms to complete. It is deeply depressing to have to beg for help like this (actually to maintain the three hours a week (!) respite care that we currently receive)...not that we have even received that since 21st August.

Anyway, I'm midway through printing out my thesis....Oh yes, a trip to Sheffield looms (hooray )

I must go and shuffle an awful lot of paper - 345 pages to be precise....

God bless,

With love as ever,

Lesley xx (and Desmond)

Just for today, dear Lord, let me realise that there is nothing that we cannot handle together - and may I pray the same prayer tomorrow.....

Let`s try and recall the things Pollyana was "glad about":

There was the time her missionary father had ordered a doll for her for Christmas  -  and instead of a doll, a pair of crutches was received.  (Her response was that she was glad about the fact that she did not need crutches!)

Then on everybody`s least favourite day, she said they should all be glad that it would be a whole week before it came round again! 

Can anyone remember any more?

(My husband sees the consultant again in January, by the way;  he said the risk of infection was a bi factor.)

Blessings,

Sheila