Reflections on our blessings from a week that was full, very full!

Last week was busy!

Tuesday we ate brunch with Paul and Sev Friskney at Toast and Berry, a breakfast/lunch place opened recently nearby. It’s hard to say which was sweeter, the conversation punctuated with laughter or the French toast topped with luscious blueberry compote!

I set up my tripod on the deck to pose with John and Nettie . . .

Thursday my cousin John Dunlap and his wife, Nettie, stopped by with homemade cookies to go with our coffee and a couple hours of catching up and sharing memories. It had been too long since we’d seen them. We want to do it again much sooner!

Friday Dave and Candy Faust drove from Indianapolis to have lunch with us before leaving to pick up their Cincinnati son and take him home with them for the weekend. I served warmed-over soup and cold meatloaf sandwiches. Candy brought a heavenly homemade apple pie, and we talked for hours.

. . . and with Dave and Candy.

We have known the Fausts for decades, worked with them in a variety of capacities, and shared friendship and concerns in all that time. We had fun as well as going deep as we reflected on the past and caught up with the present.

Saturday I rode with Dale Reeves to Louisville for the funeral of Mike Mack, another friend Dale and I have known in a variety of capacities through the years. Mike followed me at Christian Standard magazine and died too young. He was just 63.

His funeral was another reminder not only of the shortness of life but also an example of how an entrepreneurial spirit coupled with commitment to God can have a wide impact.

Dale and I have also been friends and associates in a variety of capacities and enterprises for years, and time with him is always rich. We didn’t stop talking for all four hours on the road.

The serendipity of the day was an hour or so with Bob and Vicki Cherry who led Northeast Christian Church in Louisville until Bob’s retirement several years ago. They are friends from college years, too; Dale and I have multiple connections with them. What a treat to see their beautiful, new home and be enveloped by their warm, welcoming laughter and concern.

Then Sunday I brought the morning message at Loveland Christian Church. Evelyn’s lifetime friend Jan Cummins met us there, sat with Evelyn during the first service, and then took her home to fix lunch the three of us enjoyed after the church’s second worship. She planned enough to send leftovers home with us for probably two more meals.

I have several reflections on all this:

• God continues to pour out his blessings on us! Some caregivers are isolated and alone. Some Alzheimer’s patients are trapped at home. But at this stage of our journey, our lives are as full as we can bear, and I’m very grateful.

• Thank God for the church. Our lives in the church created most of the connections blessing us last week. And both of Evelyn’s professional caregivers as well as several volunteers are committed Christians. They serve us out of love for God as well as for her. The church gets a bad rap in many circles these days, but our lives would be a lonely desert without all the encouragement and support we’re getting from the church.

• We’re served by serving. It’s extra work to get Evelyn up and out for a 9:30 brunch or worship service (at a church 30 minutes from home). It’s extra work to clean a bathroom, sweep the floor, clean countertops, set the table, and fix food for visitors. Preparing that Sunday-morning message on top of all my other commitments was a squeeze.

But the payoffs far exceeded the effort. What a different week it would have been sitting and staring at each other and the weeds growing in our backyard!

• I’m getting a little bolder with my praying. Afternoons have often been difficult for Evelyn lately, and I prayed specifically that she and our guests would have a pleasant time together Thursday and Friday. Our visits were certainly different than they would have been five years ago, but nothing difficult or embarrassing happened. I thanked God.

• CBD gummies are a gift. I combined my prayers with regular doses of them for Evelyn. “God helps those who help themselves,” they say.

• Food is the universal love language. Good eating was a common thread through all these experiences. (Oh yeah, I failed to mention Dale bought my lunch at Cracker Barrel on the way home Saturday afternoon.) We’re supposed to be cutting back on carbs, but our friends are making us ask, “Why would we want to do that?”

• Sleep is wonderful. I kept dozing off in front of the TV Sunday night after a week whose blessings almost wore me out. What could be better?