Sunday Evening

Sunday, December 28, 2008

My younger brother (in life), Scott Shuford and his wife Kyle and their son Madison, came up on Friday to visit us and his uncle & aunt (in Lincoln). The drove up from near Aliso Viejo (sp?)in Southern California. Due to the distance, we don't get to see one another much, so ANY visit is a blessing and never long enough. Certainly one of the more significant things that has changed within me, due to this stinkin' disease, is that I NOW value my time and moments with my family and friends as I always should have, not as I have in the past; I value them as I do my ability to breathe. I've known Scotty since he was in 8th grade and I was a sophomore in high school. We have been brothers since that time; inseparable throughout '79 - 85' or '86 and after that, never out of touch. He's my brother. He's my friend. I cannot imagine life without him; he's a part of me, and I'm grateful to God for him.

We spent the day with them on Saturday, which was great, and closed the day at our house, just hanging out over snacks and a wonderful dinner prepared by CC. After dinner at some point, I don't know what time it was, the brain fog hit quick and I became unable to see again, as well as exhausted. CC helped me upstairs and into bed and then went and hung out more with them until they wanted to head home.

I woke up this morning and felt like I had been kicked in the stomach and chest, with my ribs in serious pain; in tears at a few points because I simply couldn't help it. CC had told me to take my meds right when I got up, but I got distracted with emails and thus the pain got worse faster and I ended up behind the pain curve.
I HATE being that way, and I ESPECIALLY HATE being that way around my family and visiting friends. I took my meds and they eventually took good effect and relieved me of the severe aspects of the hurt.

We went to Capitol Christian Church this morning and it was JUST what I was needing, selfishly anyway. If I get my act together soon, I'll post some of the pics I took; they do it up right.

I should also share that CC and I were able to buy a HUGE gift for Missy and Joshy; a XBox 360. Joshy's been on it ever since Christmas night, and now with Madison visiting, the two of them have been playing it like crazy and having a great time (except for when Joshy gets mad at it for beating him). The responses I got from my querey on Facebbok regarding which system to buy, were pretty well split down the middle between XBox 360 and Wii. I did tons of homework and research on both and decided that the XBox was more a better fit for us than the Wii.

I'm really getting tired so I'll be closing, but I need to share with you that one of my closest brothers, Harry Reynolds, was in a car accident on Christmas morning while on his way up from Long Beach to San Carlos. He's banged up and badly bruised but didn't break anything or end up with any internal injuries, praise God. His truck rolled multiple times and is done, so he needs a vehicle now and has very little to work with to make that happen, I think, so I share this because I'm asking for your prayerful support of him while he continues to recover. Please pray for his continued healing and that any torn ligaments or muscles will be supernaturally healed and mended and that God will provide for him another truck or vehicle to meet his needs ASAP. It breaks my heart not to be there with him and help in some way, so this is all I can think to do at this point. Please, do be praying for him during this time.

Also, prayers for the attacks to mellow out would be coveted as well...