Spiritual Warfare
It is the day before Thanksgiving. We have two vehicles. Usually, one is road worthy. In the past 2 months, we have replaced 2 tires, a few days ago, the TPMS light went off in the van and I discovered a screw in one of the older tires. Yesterday, Hubby went to get an oil change and they told him the serpentine belt was in bad shape and needed to be replaced. We've done this before, not easy, but DIY-able. It has turned into a 2-day project with multiple trips to the parts store, hours of YouTube videos, phone calls and text messages.  I expected when I got back from getting the tire replaced this morning that we would be ready to go. It is the busiest travel day of the year, there are no vans available to rent. Our other vehicle needs brakes and a fuel pump. It is not safe for a 2 plus hour drive in Thanksgiving traffic. This sucks... I am supposed to cook Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' tomorrow. Nana has a very aggressive degenerative brain disease,  so this might be our last Thanksgiving. 😥 Poppie is ready to bring a truck with a tow bar, but Hubby and Number One Son will keep trying.  One might expect that I would be angry or sad, I am just numb.
I am very distracted, I'm having trouble focusing on anything. Now would be a good time to pray and ask for heavenly assistance. I am seriously doing the best I can, I have so many worries and the evil one continues to make life so very difficult for us. 
Pray for us!

Sancte Michael Archangele,

defende nos in proelio;

contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium.

Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur:

tuque, Princeps militiae Caelestis,

satanam aliosque spiritus malignos,

qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo,

divina virtute in infernum detrude.

Amen.

Michael the Archangel by Guido Reni, Santa Maria della Concezione, Rome, 1636

A prayer for Mom

I asked my mother this week if she had a special saint she asked to intercede for her when she was struggling, she gave me a strange look and said, "Mary," like I should have known that! We couldn't quite come up with which vision of Mary she sees, we will explore this further, in the future.
This is a picture of the Althea bush in front of my parents' kitchen. My Mom loves this prayer, I think this is what we will continue to say for her healing. I had copies of this printed to pass out to friends and family but CVS cropped the words so I'll need to do it again.

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

7/16/19 is a day seared in my memory forever. It is the day that we found out that the conditions of aging plaguing my mother were worse than we thought: Corticobasal Degeneration. The rug was pulled out from under me. I knew she had aphasia, memory loss and mild cognitive difficulties but I never expected a Parkinson's plus diagnosis. Reading about the course of the disease made things worse. Mom is 80, well outside the diagnosis for CBD and 10 years past the expected life span. Mom has a good attitude and wants to get better, that is the plan. She will get established with a home health agency and get some much needed speech therapy. She will get Physical Therapy to build her strength and take medications to manage symptoms. Planning ahead is heart-wrenching. Mom is on her own timeline, CBD doesn't know who it is dealing with. Mom is a very strong, resilient woman. It is her family that needs stronger faith and prayers of peace.

I refuse to believe that my mother's life will end unable to speak, understand and physically incapacitated. I DO believe in miracles and will continue to pray for a miracle for my mother!

O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away." Encouraged by your infallible words I now ask for the grace of a complete and miraculous healing of Nana. Amen.

https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/corticobasal-degeneration/

Good News!

When I went for my annual exam, the MD told me that my insurance would pay for BRCA genetic testing. Two of my Aunts and one cousin are breast cancer survivors. Last Fall, one of my Aunts had two surgeries and radiation for a second breast cancer diagnosis, 22 years after the first one. She does not carry the BRCA genes but has a variant.
I found out today that I do not carry the BRCA1, BRCA2 or have a variant BRCA gene! A little bit of stress was lifted from my shoulders. It is crazy how I didn't even know I was carrying the stress until it was lifted! Many thanks to Jesus, Mary and Joseph!

Rest In Peace, sweet Jonny

Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and may eternal light shine upon him, may his soul and the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, Rest In Peace. Amen.

We had a tragedy in our Catholic homeschool community last week. Rainbow Baby's 5 year old friend died suddenly of sepsis. I've been friends with his Mom for about ten years, this is unexpected and heartbreaking, there are no words, none. This lovely family has five more children (15, 12, 9, 7 and 1) Seeing there sad faces today at the funeral was gut wrenching.

From the time Rainbow Baby and Jonny were very little, their siblings called them sweethearts. As loving, outgoing and joyful as Jonny was, I suspect he had more than one "girlfriend."

 

We have been told that he died from sepsis. Sepsis is scary and looks like so many other benign medical conditions.

https://youtu.be/7f_FxKGEk4E

Saint Jonathan Michael, pray for us!