KAREN ~ good idea to have the helmets handy; glad the tornadoes missed you. We have been sending up prayers for OKLAHOMA since we heard the news this afternoon; and they will continue ...

DEE ~ thanks for your prayers; really appreciated. We had a windy rainstorm here this evening as well; thankfully, nothing like they were getting in the US.

UPDATE -- My sister is feeling better; taking her teeth out now and then for relief. We had a nice roast beef dinner with mash & gravy which she can eat; and she minced the veggies and meat. It's the first full dinner she has been able to eat in a week.

^PRAYERS^ continue for everyone else here, as always ...

Praying for you Karen and for those who lost loved ones, missing loved ones and those who lost their homes in OK. Also praying that the storms will settle down and disapate.

Praise God for Numpster healing so well of her surgery.

Prayers continue for all other requests.

Rosebud, I am so concerned about your situation and am praying for a resolution in your favor.I don't know what MPP is bit it sounds like a good resource for you . I am praying for your family members, also, it seems the enemy is attacking your family at this time. God is greater and is in control.
I am also praying for all other requests and especially for those in Oklahoma who have been so tragically affected. I can't imagine the anguish of the parent whose children have perished. It is just heartbreaking.

BARGOO ~ my BIL thinks the same as you. I don't know what is going to happen but we are praying and trusting GOD to turn things to our favor for sure. I have two college degrees: one in Social Work (plus many years working in Nursing Homes & Group Homes with the elderly, disabled, and mentally ill & challenged), and a business degree including Accounting, so I am more than qualified to manage our finances. Add in that I am his wife and there should be no reason while I would not be granted stewardship of his/our financial affairs again. I have been doing a great job all these years, and the government is already aware of our situation for other reasons: we are an open book.

The home nurse will be coming to visit Friday afternoon at 4:30 pm. He and the team's social worker are trying to find out what is going on -- what this kind of trusteeship entails and what we can do. We have been told that this isn't usually done unless the person has no relatives to help them, or there is a very large amount of money to handle (which we don't), or a complaint on how things are being done (which hasn't happened becuz it isn't so).

It was just the way it was handled and how those two CAT members were being so rude; plus it was a surprise since they didn't tell us until the very end. All they had to do was talk to me. I still think that the action they took was unnecessary; and a terrible waste of the government's time and money. I have faith in the LORD that everything will work out in the end; and that He will turn things into good for us too.

THANKS FOR YOUR PRAYERS and kind words of support. We sure have a lot on our plates in this family at this time, but GOD is our strength and will come to our rescue. I spent a lot time last night praying and praising and reading hope-filled scriptures -- that helped me feel a lot better.

Thanks for all the prayers. My son lives down there about 50 miles south and said they were dancing all around him but they were all fine. He texted me every couple hours so I wouldn't worry so much. So all my family and friends are fine. So very sad for so many!

Tomorrow is the 2 year anniversary of the one that hit us here in Joplin. It is still fresh in the minds for so many people.

Rosebud, I am praying that your situation gets straightened out. It has to be exhausting to have to fight all the time for what you know is right.

Need to get busy here but wanted to let everyone know I'm fine and praying for all.

This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm: 118:24

Amen!!

Amen! And it's a beautiful day where I live, too.

Same here -- around lunch time the came out and it is warming up out there with a little breeze. My DAD & GRACIE dropped by on their way to their cottage -- they both look good and are in good spirits. We will see them before they go home again, I'm sure.

I'm feeling better today; had lots of energy so I vacuumed and dusted and cleaned the living-room couch, etc. Now I am resting my legs a bit. It is interesting that the US spell check says that livingroom without a hyphen is an error -- in Canada, we type it as one compound word. Well, there's your grammar lesson for the day ...

DH is doing good still; he said he didn't sleep as well as the night before but he did stay in his room/ensuite. He loved the day-away activity program so much he wanted to back today, but I had to remind him that the next day is Monday. So I got him to help me move things while I did the housechores today and he seemed to enjoy that.

BIL is taking him out shopping in a little while. We are having his favorite for dinner tonight: cheezeburgers. It is DH's 66th birthday and we have this beautiful chocolate, with whipped chocolate topping cake with chocolate sprinkles all over it. You guessed his favorite is chocolate no doubt -- he picked it out, of course. I got him a whole pile of fishing lures and together, we picked him up lots of activity stuff for his birthday; plus I'll give him some $MONEY$ -- he always likes that.

My sister (Numpster) bought some fun summer games: BOCCI BALL and BOLA BALL (it is a three tiered bar that you throw double balls tied at each end by a string). DH learned to play that at a neighbour's place some time ago. We have also ordered a bean bag and ring toss game: two games in one. These are the type DH will be able to do.

I didn't realize that I was gonna chat so much; should have put this into the Encourager's thread I guess. Anyways indeed -- it is a lovely day and we must rejoice and be glad of it ...

^PRAYERS^ continue for you and yours ... BTW, the mental health referral worker is coming this afternoon; we pray for a good meeting and they get the stewardship issue straightened out. The other CCAC home-visitor says not to be concerned about it and that it all should be ironed out already; plus that he is going to correct the misinformation for the record. GOD has given me great peace about this matter -- so I am sure it will all work out in the end, one way or another. Thanks for your prayers and PRAIZE GOD anyways!!!

Praise Him !
Praise Him !
Praise Him in the morning !
Praise Him in the noontime !
Praise Him when the sun goes down !

YAY!! Amen to that!!

UPDATE ~ the Geriatric Mental Health worker came today and we had a long discussion. He and a social worker are trying to sort things out -- so we are praying that she can have some influence even though our file has been sent up to the Sudbury office since we actually live in the north. So maybe our prayers will help her when the financial trusteeship petition is actually processed which could take anywhere from a few to several weeks.

The GMH worker did his research just as I did, and found the same things as well. Some good things have come out of this for future clients at least. He said this is the first time a situation like this has come up, which was kind of funny becuz I had asked that question myself, "surely this isn't the first time this has come up?" But it is ... go figure.

We did get lots of help from the social services, the activity services, the home support services for the future, and some respite, etc. So while we did get a lot of the help we had been looking for; we got a little more than we bargained for. I guess the biggest glitch is giving us a manual or pamphlet on what the group (CCAC) is all about -- sharing what they can do for us; plus honestly & fully explaining what the assessment process entails (leaving nothing out); and they should involve the close family members better than they did in our case.

He hopes all this will change in the future -- well, it will for him at least. This is a new group with new members, so that may have played a factor too. The new co-ordinator has been informed and they are supposed to make sure that they do things differently in the future. The other thing is to make sure they talk to the family to make sure they have all the facts right. It is hard to make the correct decisions on someone's behalf if you only have part of the puzzle -- leaving several dozen pieces out, you can't finish the job right.

Plus if some of the pieces are missing entirely, i.e. like the facts, and the truth -- relying on assumption & insinuation & opinion, and the mixed-up and confused thoughts of an ill client ... you will never finish the puzzle at all. It is much wiser to work with the family than take such an aggressive & adversarial stance against them; that only puts their backs up and who can blame them.

They admit some steps were missed; like bringing someone in to talk about the financial aspects personally, but IMO that should have been done at the beginning, not as an after everything ran amuck kind of thing. Taking such a drastic step without talking to the family was a huge error, and has caused a lot of stress & trouble; will take a lot of time & effort to fix; and cost a lot of money for the family & the government, all of which could have been avoided.

If the GMHW and SW are successful, maybe all that can be thwarted in one full sweep; that's what we are hoping & praying for anyways. Now, if my blood pressure doesn't go up this week from all the stress, that would be a blessing too -- but, our GOD is able ...

THANKS FOR YOUR PRAYERS EVERYONE -- I'll keep you posted ...

EDIT2ADD ~ I heard an interesting video today with, believe it or not, the infamous Alice Cooper. As some of you may not know, he is a Christian and has been for a good part of his life -- admitting that he was the epitome of the prodigal son. He said something very profound -- that he always tells people "Don't think that when you become a Christian, your life will be easier becuz it won't; actually, it will be harder" and he goes on to explain why. When you tell people you are a Christian, they watch you like a hawk; they judge how you live and talk; sometimes you are teased & mocked; and you better not make a mistake or they'll say you are a hypocrite (not Alice's words -- these are mine). We have problems just like everyone else does, and sometimes it seems like we have even more. It isn't that GOD offers us a charmed life -- no, no. He just offers to help us through the difficult times; and they will come, just as we have seen. He just wants us to trust him no matter what. Living the Christian life ain't for sissies, that's for sure ... good thing we have JESUS on our side!


If you want to hear the whole message, google "Surprise -- Alice Cooper is a Christian" on Youtube. I know I was supposed to hear that message today. Oh, here it is; I found it again ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3q7ycY9hbk PS: while I am not a big fan of his music or theatrics, I just found this little tidbit interesting; and this was kind of an answer to a question that I had thrown into the air this past week. GOD does answer us and will use the most unlikely sources sometimes.

Rosebud Looks like things are beginning to come together. I pray God will continue to work things out for your good and for His Glory. Praying continued favor and preferential treatment for a wonderful quick work. Also pray your blood pressure stays steady in the midst of the stress.

Additional pray request for DH With all the pain DH has been in, he has been on a pain medicine for quite some time. The pain management doc is steadily taking him off of it. DH still has pain with his back, but it is better and it is good for him to come off the meds so he doesn't become addicted to it. Please pray with me for help him come off this medicine with no real problems and that the pain in his back will not increase. Thank you for your prayers.

Prayers continue going up for each one of you as well.

THANKS, TRISH -- am still sending up prayers for your DH (Toni). How is his shoulder? Does he still have pain there or just in his back? Hope the pain goes away so he can be med free soon ...

We will just hope and pray that things will get sorted out; that's all I can do really. Just trust GOD that there is a reason all this happened; and that He will turn it all into good for us and others too.

I realize that eventually, DH will have to go into full-time care. Meanwhile, the social workers here have already arranged for personal support care at our own home and respite care at a manor in a neighbouring town. I wanted to check that place out anyways -- so this will be a perfect opportunity. It would be a great transitional phase for DH as well; plus he likes the social interaction with lots of other people as he always has. I call him my social butterfly ...

Plus I am praying ahead now for that time, as I will need advice and wisdom on what to do, esp about our house. I am not sure that I could carry the place on my own, so I am asking GOD to work something out for me ahead of time. So, I will put my trust in Him for that as well. So many things to think about and arrange in complicated situations like this.

TRUST, TRUST, TRUST -- oh, how that rings in my ears so much these days. I pray for strength every day. THANKS for your prayers -- time to go check dinner ...

Prayers for all.

I'm so down right now I can't think of anything else to say, except that I'll be praying. Please keep Mom in your prayers. Looks like we'll be trying for a committal on Tuesday when the courthouse is open. Don't know if it will happen, but, after today, we know we have to do something. Thanks and God bless.