Children of the day!/Wait for the Lord with courage/Childlike mother needs me!

My parents on their anniversary on Friday the 30th of August - their 70th!!!  A beautiful banner that my sister-in-law, Angela made for them.  It reminds me of some calligraphy I would do back in my early Catholic Days at "The Farm."  So special!  Thank you, Chach!!

I traveled to my parents last evening after a grueling day studying Anatomy and Physiology with John.  I got here an hour before a huge thunder storm hit, so for once I missed driving through the Cities in torrential rain.  I am sorry that my brother, Jim, probably did though.  It certainly is a year of frequent rain.
My father and I shared morning prayer together... mom was laying down in the bedroom and did not join us even sitting in her chair with her eyes closed.

We talked about how mother is getting weaker and more childlike with her increasing weakness and helplessness - needing our help, and also that dementia element too.  Dad shared with me that when they are in bed together at night he has adopted saying a child's prayer that my parents used to say with us...
1 Jesus, tender Shepherd, hear me,
Bless Thy little lamb tonight;
Through the darkness be Thou near me,
Watch my sleep till morning light.

Reading the first reading from mass today from I Thessalonians these words from ST Paul jumped forth...
But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness,
for that day to overtake you like a thief.
For all of you are children of the light
and children of the day.
We are not of the night or of darkness.
Therefore, let us not sleep as the rest do,
but let us stay alert and sober.
For God did not destine us for wrath,
but to gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep
we may live together with him.
Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up,

as indeed you do.

I Thessalonians 5:9-11
When he ends the prayer he adds a family children's blessing that we would say..."Bless everyone in the whole wide world and in our town."  Becoming childlike in a very sweet and precious way for my dear aging parents!  Always reminded that He doesn't leave this old house!

How I love and cherish our times sharing the prayer of The Church with my Deacon father!  As we prayed the second Psalm from Isaiah, dad shared that he thinks of my sister, Mary, when he says this, and the tears rolled while we shared it back and forth!  Mary died at age 28 from cancer in 1986... 33 years ago.  She and I were very close - she married a farmer and was a farmwife for a couple years and had a 20 month old daughter!

Once I said, *
“In the noontime of life I must depart!
To the gates of the nether world I shall be consigned *
for the rest of my years.”

I said, “I shall see the Lord no more *
in the land of the living.
No longer shall I behold my fellow men *
among those who dwell in the world.”

My dwelling, like a shepherd’s tent, *
is struck down and borne away from me;
you have folded up my life, like a weaver *
who severs the last thread...Isaiah 38

https://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/the-amazing-story-of-13-becoming.html

Mom's chair empty while we prayed for the family - safety on the roads and for jobs are two big and important prayer requests my father prays each day.

The Psalm from mass echoes also the Truth that in these uncertain times on many levels in my life - we know without a doubt that we are the Lords and we belong to Him and need fear nothing that looms ahead of us!
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.

R. I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.

Psalm 27:13-14

Yes, Lord, we trust in you and know that you have The Plan for each one of us.  We will soldier on down the narrow path carrying/dragging our Most Cherished Cross and following you!  We wait on the Lord and are stouthearted in the face of all the difficulties and questions that come to us.  Jesus, we trust in you.  Amen and Hallelujah

 Mom holding their newest great-granddaughter, Eleanor!  Both ends of the life cycle is a thing of great beauty!

 Dad holding Eleanor last week.

My sister, Mary's daughter, Audrey with her two daughters, Emelia and Eleanor!  So precious and I know that Mary is with them in Spirit and in Truth!

 Pat with our youngest grandson, Jude, John and Bobbi's little boy - so happy and healthy!

 Held in his grandpa's huge hands!

 Steak supper on the porch on Sunday night!  Jude loved grandpa's plate - he is now an official grab nabber!  Grandpa had to eat on the serving plate and we were happy that it was plastic as he had it flying in many directions!

2 All this day Thy hand has led me,
And I thank Thee for Thy care;
Thou hast clothed me, warmed and fed me,
Listen to my evening prayer.

3 Let my sins be all forgiven,
Bless the friends I love so well;
Take me, when I die, to heaven,
Happy there with Thee to dwell.

Two more stanzas to Jesus Tender Shepherd that are worth sharing!

Jude is starting to get rice cereal and seems to be interested in our eating food!

 My wonderful parents are at a place where things are going to change for them.  How we ask the Lord to show us the plan and we are loving our time with the two of them.  Keep my mom in your prayers please, as she is getting weaker and we are looking for answers.  Bless-bless, Barb

A memory from 5 years ago when my mother-in-law was a month from 95, she lived to 97 with 2 years on hospice.  We all had the gift of special time with her as we kept her in her own home til she passed on the heaven on Gaudet Sunday 2 1/2 years ago.  

Barb Verly

September 2, 2014 ·

In a month she will be 95! Today she came while we canned tomato soup - a triple batch made by 4 generations! She doesn't just watch - she wants to help! She taught me all I know as a city girl come to the farm 36 years ago, and always with a smile! So blessed to have her still smiling and helping in my life of Faith/Family/Farm! Bless-bless — with Anna Verly.

I wrote this 5 years ago, and it is so true!

 Happy Anniversary to my brother, Dan and wife Angela!!!

Also my sister, Paula and her husband, Bill!!!  WE love you and wish you a great year ahead!

Paul's family think that they found dad!!!

 A few back to school pics as I am praying and thinking about the grandkids a lot!  Bernadette and Gus riding the bus for the first time and heading off to St Maximilian Kolbe Catholic School in Delano!  They walked to school in KC!

 Giving each other support!

Dead man walking 

Christian Music in my chapel on wheels with my 10 decades of my rosary and chaplet of Divine Mercy!