Day of Rest . . . ahh

I apologize for the gap in posting about Mom.

Here's the update: Today is the first day she is home resting on a school day. She didn't want to, but fell asleep again, so her body must need it.

I'll say this about Mom--she's a trooper. You don't hear her complain. She's always been a 'silent sufferer', whereas I'm more the dramatic one. (One time we ate bad sausages and had to take epicack to get them out of our system. My upheaval was a whole lot louder than Mom's, even though we probably felt the same pain. She also can take things out of the oven with bare hands.)

Dad and I hear comments now and then about how weird her feet feel. (Neuropathy? The nerves in her feet/toes, this morning her hands, get affected by the chemo, and they feel numb). Or that things don't taste the same. She looks forward to eating a nice orange, and then it doesn't taste like an orange. "What does it taste like, Mom?" "Just different." And she says water tastes wierd, too. Like there's metal in it.

The past month, her energy level has been slowing down. Meaning that she will go to school and loves teaching her kids. (Mom does one-on-one educational therapy and has a much lighter load this year, another blessing we didn't know, but God knew, Mom would need--which lets her continue what she loves, but is not too stressful. Glory to the great Organizer!) Then she'll come home and work at home, washing dishes, sorting papers, cleaning, and she'll hit a wall, "Ericka, I can't do any more, I have to go to bed."

I don't know if she feels like she's expected to 'do something'.

Its hard to get Mom to not work. It reminds me of my Grandma Regnier (her mom). She always wanted to help around the house, whether it was folding clothes, mending, or picking up sticks in the yard. We couldn't get her to just sit and be. There's a blessing in that--she continually serves and blesses others. And I learn a lot from her example.

But now it's our turn. Today there was a sweet mercy in 'the plug just being pulled', where she 'can't' do anything, and 'has' to rest.

Today was the first day of very low energy. She has one more chemo treatment next Thursday, April 26. (Her last one was on Good Friday/Passover, and I'll write more about that later. It was a special day.)

This morning I sent a text message to my brothers and my sis-in-laws, to share how Mom was doing. When I typed 'resting', the first word that came up was 'serving'. Yes, Mom has been serving and serving, and now, the Lord serves her, as she rests.

A while ago, my aunt got a picture when she prayed for Mom of an electric blue column going up and down Mom's body, like a big cat-scan, or mri. And she felt like it represented the power of the Holy Spirit (God's presence) being very close and working in Mom's life on a macro and micro level--full body. Amen, in Jesus' name.

"For no matter how many promises God has made [God has made many promises], they are 'Yes' in Christ [Only Christ, fully man/fully God, fulfilled God's word/covenants. So Mom's faith in the Lord Jesus allows her access to these eternal promises]. And so through him [Christ Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, made available to the World, the Saving One] the 'Amen' [Let it be] is spoken by us [us!] to the glory of God [always a great thing--powerful, felt, real, eternal]. Now it is God [not me] who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ [Thank you, God, to the Finish; let us keep believing in you]. He anointed us [called us, empowered us, set us apart for His purposes], set his seal of ownership on us [that means we're His, and there's a mark in the spiritual realm that He and the unseen realm sees and recognizes as 'The LORD's'], and put his Spirit [God's Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit] in our hearts [in a spiritual realm/area within us] as a deposit [downpayment], guaranteeing [sure thing] what is to come [Future glory accessed by anyone through Christ alone]." 2 Corinthians 1:20-22 [NIV, with Ericka reflections]

[Halleluiah, Glory and praise be to you, alone, Lord Jesus, who conquered death and the grave and rose to life and ascended to the Father, and is coming again soon. Thank you for preparing our lives and our hearts to be ready for your return, that we would be a bride eager and waiting for your arrival. We love you, forever.]

Thanks for your prayers for Mom's strength, full recovery, and deep rest, knowing that God is fighting an unseen battle on her behalf, and His is the victorious one, forever.

[It amazes me, as I serve my mom, I am full of love and compassion for her. I don't demand anything. I just let her be where she is. I love just being with her. I think God is like that with us. He just loves to be with us. And the amazing thing is, He, the uncreated one, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, serves us. How beautiful. How amazing. Jesus only did what he saw the Father doing and right before he layed his life down, he washed his disciples feet, showing great humility. Then he told them to love in that way. So I know/trust that the Lord serves Mom today, as she rests. He does it through the prayers of others, through her teacher-friends at work who love mom and cover for her and help her, through me being here pouring castor oil on toast, through all of your prayers and love expressions to Mom. He also doesn't like the cancer and fights to clear her body, soul, spirit, of everything that hinders love and Life. The word of God says Jesus intercedes for us, and the Holy Spirit intercedes with groans, on our behalf. So thank you for being part of His surrounding presence of care. You are loved and appreciated.]

Ericka