Greetings from Austin Street

Happy Thursday!  The neurologist was very happy with Bruce’s progress. He commended us on the fact that Bruce received treatment so quickly. Bruce was amazed at the x-rays, but seemed to understand everything the doctor told us.  The doctor also said that he estimated Bruce’s recovery to be 6 months to a year. That coincides with what the Doc at CNS said. I think the extra activity last night with replacing glass caught up with Bruce tonight as he was exhausted after his therapies today. The neurologist also educated us on what the symptoms of a stroke would look like since there was no forewarning of this one. The doc said to get help immediately and not wait for things to get better. I have written these words permanently in my brain and hope I never have to remember them!  God is good and love wins.

“Rejoice and exult in hope; be steadfast and patient in suffering and tribulation; be constant in prayer”

Romans 15: 13

 

Sometimes this situations kind of gets to me. When the circumstances of Bruce’s illness, school, house and family weigh me down I usually cry and then I pray. In my prayer time today God revealed to me that as I pray for Bruce to be healed, I need to pray for me to understand. I miss talking with Bruce. Our house is kind of quiet and dinner conversation is limited. We haven’t really been able to talk about school or what he is doing in rehab. We have talked through everything all of our married life. Sometimes I get sad when I talk to Bruce and he understands what I am saying, but cannot respond. I now think I understand it better from his side. He can understand what I am saying, and in his head he is hearing what he wants to say, but cannot respond back in an understandable language.

Each time I pray I lift my soul in hopeful anticipation and now I am hoping to be given the gift of understanding and taking joy in waiting in the Presence of God. The longer I live in hope the more God can bless.  The more we are open to the gift of hope given to us by faith in God the more space God can fill with joy. My best friend says, “Hope never disappoints.” I claim this promise from the book of Romans Ch. 5. I ask you to claim it with me and for yourself.

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope does not disappoint. Wear comfortable shoes, pray with a heart filled with gratitude, let us cast our cares upon the LORD and get some sleep. God is up all night anyway so there is no reason for all of us to be awake. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene

Prayer request:  Tomorrow morning I have a phone interview with the company that is (hopefully) going to help us get Social Security Benefits for Bruce. Please say a prayer that I give all of the appropriate information and that the Holy Spirit will also work on our behalf and through the red tape so he can receive benefits until he can complete rehab and go back to work full time. Thank you friends. Peace, gc

Greetings from Austin Street

Happy Wednesday!  God will make a way and works in ways we do not understand.  Today, after a full day of rehab, Bruce installed a piece of glass in a door for a client. I would never presume to understand the brain and how it retains certain information and loses some because of a stroke, but Bruce’s brain appears to have retained the ability to repair things as well as how to get to the homes of his clients. I do the driving. He navigates and here we go. Tonight I was the repairman’s helper and swept up as he worked. He may not be able to speak in words that any of us understand, but he is most assuredly able to communicate through action and the willingness of the client to connect with what is being communicated. Bruce was very insistent when he arrived home after rehab to get to the client’s home. I was not sure if it was impatience or excitement to do the work.  Either way it was such a joy to watch him work and be so happy. Today I saw a glimpse of God’s handiwork in the hands of my husband. Team Chrystie for the win! God is good and love wins.

“But as for me, I watch in hope for the LIRD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.”

Micah 7:7

The other morning I became overwhelmed by all of the layers of which my life is filled. I became emotional when one more layer was added. As I let my emotions get the better of me I prayed, “Jesus pray for me because I can’t.” Intercessory prayer is powerful prayer because we ask for the Holy Spirit to take our prayers to God with groans that words cannot express. These are the prayers that come from the depths of our hearts and are raised to heaven. These prayers are the prayers that are so heavy that we need help in raising them to heaven. We then watch, waiting on hope to see what God will do.  Here is the hard part; the waiting. We have been walking this road for only seven weeks. It seems like a year. The longer we have to wait the more we have to learn to trust God. Today, I heard God loud and clear through watching Bruce. Speech is not the only communication we understand. We can be witness to God’s handiwork through grace in action. I witnessed it in the confidence the client had in having Bruce make the repair. I witnessed Bruce quietly and efficiently complete the task to which he was called. God’s unfailing love and grace shows up all the time if we are train our eyes on God then we will see and some of us will speak with a mighty story to tell.

I am still going to pray without ceasing for Bruce’s language to return, but I am also going to look for the glimpses of God that happen before my very eyes.  Do I miss Bruce with words? Yes. But am I so grateful to witness to the goodness of God and His faithfulness that I believe all of the pieces of Bruce’s life will come together when it is time.

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope does not disappoint. Wear comfortable shoes, pray with a heart filled with gratitude, let us cast our cares on the LORD and get some sleep. God is up all night anyway so there is no reason for all of us to be awake. Love you all, Bruce

PS Tomorrow we go for a checkup at the neurologist. This is the neurologist who said Bruce would not live through the night. Boy, is he in for a surprise!  Peace, gc

 

 

Greetings from Austin Street

Happy Tuesday!  Well, I messed up!  But not to the point that it is not able to be fixed.  Bruce’s nurse phone this afternoon to tell me that Bruce’s cumadin level was really low and asking me if we had eaten a lot of green leafy veggies recently. I said, “No.” So we continued to talk and finally figured it out. While Bruce was inpatient at CNS they had prescribed vitamins for him. We ran out of those vitamins and so I purchased a basic men’s one a day vitamin. This vitamin contains a large percentage of Vitamin K. Never mix Vitamin K and cumidin. I pulled the vitamins from his pill planner.  I knew about that from when he began the cumadin  with the heart valve replacement, but I had forgotten. Hopefully the blood draws will be better from now on.  Say a prayer.  My prayer each night for Bruce is, “God, I pray the power that resurrected Jesus would embrace Bruce and heal him restoring his language and speech.” Please join me in this prayer and use it for yourself. God is good and love wins.

 

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your mind and heart and with your entire being and with all your might.”

Deuteronomy 6:5

The night before Travis and Sarah were married I offered them one piece of advice, “Remember that both of you are works in progress.”  God looks at us as works in progress.  The best thing we can do to progress in this life we lead is to love God with all our heart and mind and with our entire being. Staying focused on God in all of the parts of our lives helps us to return to God when we mess up.   Instead of focusing on the things that went wrong, the hurt we have experienced, the hurt we may have caused and the places of brokenness we have experienced, let us focus on God’s unfailing love for us. We may need to ask for forgiveness from God and the one(s) we love. God loves us when we mess up big or small. God rejoices when we turn to Him so the sanctifying that work began in us when we turned from sin and turned to God for forgiveness and received His holiness can continue because of His great love for us.

 

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope does not disappoint. Wear comfortable shoes, pray with a heart filled with gratitude, let us cast our cares upon the Lord and get some sleep. God is up all night anyway so there is no need for all of us to be awake. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene

 

Greetings from Austin Street

Happy Monday and a lovely Labor Day!  I hope you got some rain at your house. We got some, but not a lot. I cooked my first ribs today.  They were pretty delish if I do say so myself. Because of the rain they were cooked in the oven and under the broiler. (and the thermostat has gone out on my gas grill and it only heats to one temp.  500 +) Bruce did not have rehab today as the clinic was closed. So we got to spend the whole day together.  Nothing exciting just a bit of grocery shopping, some house cleaning and a wonderful late lunch with Geni and Cody. I like days like this. God is good and love wins.

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Lamentations 3: 22-23

From my evening devotion tonight titled, BROKENNESS “YOU ARE FEELING BROKENHEARTED AND BOUND; ENTANGLED IN WEBS OF DISCOURAGEMENT.”  

My favorite part of the day is when I sit at the table with Bruce, or Geni or a guest. Our dinner table is holy ground. We have gathered around it with the kids, friends, family and other guests for all of our married lives.  It is the space that occupied Casey’s hospital bed for a year and we did not have a table. I never realized how much I missed that time and space until it was no longer there. Our table when filled with family for friends is a place of love, welcome, laughter, sometimes tears , fun, silliness, listening and a place to work things out.

When we bring the pieces of our broken hearts to God it is as if we are being invited to sit down at a prepared table with Him and work things out, laugh, shed tears and talk as friends. It is a place filled with love because we are in the Presence of a loving God whose love is limitless. Just as the wonderful hymn says, “His compassions they fail not.” When we feel like giving up we remember that God has great faithfulness and never gives up on us. And even if we walk away from the table we are always welcomed back at any time.

Yes, our disappointments are real and are broken hearts seem to hurt so hard they almost take our skin off. The Presence of the Living God is very real.  We can never overstay our time at the table as it is there that our broken hearts are mended and our hope is renewed. 

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope does not disappoint. Wear comfortable shoes, pray with a heart filled with gratitude, let us cast our cares upon the LORD and get some sleep. God is up all night anyway and there is no reason for all of us to be awake. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene

 

Please continue to pray for Dave Russell. He will go to rehab for two weeks and then have another surgery that will keep him in the hospital until sometime in October.

Also, keep my Dad in your prayers as he is recovering from surgery to amputate his little finger. He goes back to the doctor for a check up tomorrow. He says he has had minimal pain and is doing well.  Thank you all, gc

Greetings from Austin Street

Blessed Sunday!  What a wonderful day! Two worship services. Lunch with Cody and Geni,  and then dinner with Cody’s Mom (one of my best friends) and family. Italian pasta bar, salad, vegetables and a fantastic cheesecake. A wonderful evening, a delicious meal and families gathered around the table. That’s my favorite way to spend an evening. Bruce spoke pretty clearly tonight. It was such a wonderful gift we were given and even though these moments of relatively clear speech are not consistent, I know they will be. Around here we give thanks for every good and perfect gift because we know God is the author of our faith and one day Bruce is going to have a mighty story to TELL.  Team Chrystie for the win!  God is good and love always wins!!

“You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

Psalm 16:11

The writer of this psalm had a deep and intimate relationship with God. Remember the psalms were written as people’s prayers to God. In these ancient words people spoke of their great joy and deepest sorrow, their anger, grief, and thanksgiving. Each of the psalms except for one ends in a benediction of thanksgiving. These writers knew they were not on equal footing with God, but they knew they could walk hand in hand each day with the King of Kings. These folks prayed each day to their Creator and learned about the heart of God. It is in that knowledge they learned they could come near and God would open His heart in intimate friendship. And when these folks spoke in irreverence God was still a constant in their lives.  God may not have liked their behavior, but when they asked for forgiveness God would rush to meet them like in the story of the father and the Prodigal Son embracing him and eager to return to the life of joy and intimacy once again.

God is greater than our anger, gives us the gift of faith, rejoices with us when we are happy, thankful and takes great joy when find our way home once again. I do love the psalms. They were written by folks just like us as prayers to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Creator of all whose power cannot be measured and whose love is bigger than the sky taking the greatest joy in sitting with each of us as if we were the only living thing created just to say “I love you.” 

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope does not disappoint. Wear comfortable shoes, pray with a heart filled with gratitude, let us cast our cares upon the LORD and get some sleep. God is up all night anyway so there is no reason for all of us to be awake. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene

Greetings from Austin Street

Happy Saturday!  It was a mixed bag of activities today. Breakfast with Geni and Cody where I was presented with a “Mom Box” from the storage unit Geni took over after I retired. It is filled with pictures, a treasured Elvis coffee mug and other wonderful memories. A trip to the grocery store and then Bruce was really tired. I am not sure if he is totally comfortable in certain situations or if it is truly fatigue. It is a question I intend to ask an expert next week. Also, Bruce has asked for books to read. I was so impressed because he asked for books because he does not have any therapy on Monday and does not want to get behind in his skills. Ask me if he is a motivated man or what?!!!  I am going to check the church library tomorrow and see what is available.  I may also check on NOOK and see if there are any titles appropriate for his needs. I love it. God is good and love wins!!

 

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

2 Corinthians 4: 8

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 12: 2

Tonight the title of my devotion is Adversity. “NO MATTER WHAT HARDSHIPS THE WORLD MAY THROW AT YOU, YOU HAVE—IN ME—EVERTHING YOU NEED TO PERSEVERE.”  There are times I do not know how Bruce handles the frustration of speech deficit.  When the language makes no sense at all and he is speaking with me he usually laughs, but sometimes he just says, “Never mind.”  For a man who makes his living repairing people’s homes, he also has to provide customer service which requires listening to the client as well as talking. He also talks to and ministers to prisoners and teaches Sunday School. The skill to perform these tasks has to be rebuilt.  I have yet to see him despair during this time.

 

The only thing I believe that keeps Bruce from falling into despair is that he fixes his hope on the resurrected Christ. These are pretty complex circumstances in which we are involved. It is taking strenuous effort on Bruce’s part and the part of those who work with him to retrain his brain. But what they have not had to retrain is his enduring spirit. Bruce may be hard-pressed on every side, but he is not crushed by these circumstances.  

 

So my friends, when we are faced with difficult circumstances let us remember that God is always near and His greatest desire is to help us in our time of need. When we accept God’s  help time after time then our focus changes from despair to hope.  Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face and the things of the earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

 

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope does not disappoint. Wear comfortable shoes, pray with a heart filled with gratitude, let cast our cares upon the LORD and get some sleep. After all, God is up all night and there is no need for all of us to be awake. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene

 

 

Greetings from Austin Street

Happy Friday! Tonight Bruce and I attended the Ranger baseball game. The Rush Creek Christian Church Choir sang the National Anthem at the game tonight. We had the most wonderful time. It was hot, but we stayed well hydrated and enjoyed Ballpark cuisine. We made it to the top of the 7^th inning and Bruce was ready to come home. Rangers lost, but it was still a fun time. Even though the Rangers lost;  the Chrysties won by being present at the game. God is good and love wins!

“My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”

2 Corinthians 12:9

If you told me on July 16 that I would be sitting at the Ballpark in Arlington with Bruce watching a ballgame I would have said, “No way.” I was not in a place of serenity or contentment or even peace. I was a terrified mess and could not see beyond the next breath that Bruce or I was even drawing. And believe me I watched each breath Bruce took during those first couple of nights. Bruce has made progress in his recovery beyond anything any of the doctors could imagine. I was in the midst of a fear-inducing situation and even though I was praying I was not doing a lot of listening.

Sarah Young, author of the Jesus Calling series says that God offers godly contentment and serenity that flows out of trusting in My Great sufficiency. God teaches us through difficult situations to depend on Him alone even if the path leads in directions we would not have chosen. If we can learn to live in with the provisions God provides for us now then maybe when the tough times come we won’t be so anxious, but we will remember to fix our eyes on God and be confident in His grace and sufficiency. We can ask the Holy Spirit to help us to think godly thoughts that bring peace to our minds and hearts so that we can think clearly and experience the peace even during the storm through which we are passing. “Your grace is enough. Your grace is enough. Your grace is enough for me.” (I love this song.)

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope does not disappoint. Wear comfortable shoes, pray with a heart filled with gratitude, let us cast our cares upon the LORD and get some sleep. God is up all night anyway so there is no reason for all of us to be awake.