We are fond of saying that we are in relationship with those who follow, pray, and support us, so it is our responsibility to let you know what is going on in our lives. 

Cindy’s father, Roy Shimp, died last month, August 24th. He was in Hospice care at home, surrounded by his family and holding his wife’s hand. Several weeks before, he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, an answer to thirty years of prayer. 

Cindy spends her days divided between her job and caring for her mother. Her two brothers help as much as they can, but hers is the part-time job, and she is the one that drops everything to go when no one can. She is pretty burnt out as well as grieved, exhausted, and afraid her mother might not recognize her the next time she comes through the door. She and her brothers are trying to get her placed in a memory care center.

When I returned from Uganda and spent a little time in Jacksonville with Cindy, I traveled to Memphis to celebrate my father’s 80th birthday. As I was starting out to return to Florida, I received notice that my mother was having heart attack symptoms, so I turned around and got her to the hospital. She is beginning her third week there, trying to survive heart failure, the five surgeries it has taken to get her pacemaker right, blood clots, and bleeding from blood thinners.

Meanwhile, my Dad, who is completely visually impaired, is beginning to learn how to get along without his wife catering to his every need. My two sisters and the neighbors in his retirement home are helping to get him back and forth to dinners and he is learning to cross his apartment alone. 

While the world around me is spinning, my own situation has stalled. Medical clearance for my shoulder surgery was delayed for a sinus infection. I have spent way too much time lying at home, and then waiting for the next appointment scheduler to call. I had hoped to complete six weeks of immobilization before our first grand baby is due to arrive in late October, but those hopes appear dashed. 

As I write this, Cindy, who finally had a day of rest, had it interrupted for a sudden change in her mother’s mental status. She is at the hospital with her now. Tomorrow would have started her three-day shift of mother-sitting anyway, but she just cannot seem to catch a break. 

While you pray for us, keep these things in mind. If you, like me, aren’t sure how to pray, please do it like Jesus did:

“Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.”