It seems that Mr. Shurley’s (Patty’s dad) battle with dehydration is something that we will be looking at a little more often than we had hoped, so we have “schooled” the lady sitting with him in what to look for and to be hyper sensitive to the onset and therefore start evasive action.  He bounces back relatively quickly if caught early but still the “relatively quickly” time frame is a matter of 2 days or so before things are back to a normal state.  We had an engagement last week and in a matter of 9 hours he was back in the stages.  Praise the Lord he is doing well right now and we pray he continues the upward trend so we can go home for a few days.

Aside our time with Mr. Shurley, my week has been to handle bills here at moms and to process paperwork as well as do lawn work and general upkeep.  So, Thursday and Friday was dedicated to the yard and today I did the same at Mr. Shurley’s.  I am always thankful to be able to do these things but I have to tell you I’m a bit pooped, too.  ha ha

Our plan, right now, is to drive home tomorrow (Sunday) and handle things there before heading back on the weekend for an engagement just outside of Jackson.

Oh did I mention I’m also in the process of learning the VBS curriculum for this year!  1st one begins June 1st!  We appreciate your prayers as we do all these things.  Please pray that God really speaks to the little hearts and lives in our upcoming schedule.  That, and that alone, is what it’s all about!

Blessings,
John

“And dear Lord, help Mr. John and Ms Patty not be sad cause you took Ms Joy to live with you.”  That prayer began immediately following moms home going.  Within a week the prayer morphed, with no assistance, to; “And dear Lord, help Mr John and Ms Patty not be mad cause you took Ms Joy to live with you.” From the mouths of babes…

Whitley just turned 4 years old and quickly became one of moms favorites.  Mom served on the pulpit search committee that brought the new pastor to First Baptist in Yazoo City in March.  Whitley is the youngest of 2 sweet little girls.  Whitley visited mom on more than a couple of occasions and always brightened her day.

I’ve thought of that often as the days have passed.  While I am aware that “mad”, or anger, is one of the emotions in the grieving process I can honestly say I’ve not experienced that much at all.  Sadness? Well, yes, but one thing I can say…No regrets.

Too often in our lives we find ourselves regretting something in our past.  As a part of the maturing process we look back and wish we had done something different or not at all.  When Patty’s mom was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in 2010, we knew the road ahead was going to be a rough one. Trying to balance the ministry on the road and ministering to parents was going to be tough but we chose to take those two simple words to heart.  No regrets.  We wanted to be able to look at ourselves when that road ended and be able to say that we had done all we could do.

It was the same with my father in 2012 and now with mom.  I told dad I would take care of mom.  She was a very independent woman so trying to do for her was a delicate balance for sure but once she detected a lump, I was with her through the entire process.  Balancing this with the road ministry again proved difficult at times but God was so faithful and I was determined to live with no regrets.

Have the events leading up to her 1^st stroke run through my mind often?  Yes indeed.  Of course it was the 2^nd stroke that eventually took her to her heavenly home and although there is sadness and a void there I know that those feelings are simply selfish for she is rejoicing at the feet of the King of kings and Lord of lords.

And me?  I’m here knowing I did everything I could.  No regrets!