Jones Family Updates

"Our yesterdays hold broken and irreversible things for us. It is true that we have lost opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ."Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest. December has been a busy month for Kathie and I: On the 7 th , we went shopping for Christmas for the third year. I am amazed at the people who smile at us, some will talk to Kathie, wishing her a "Merry Christmas." I have become adept at moving her wheelchair though a variety of stores and I know the best elevators to use. The 8 th was a scheduled doctors appointment at Sharp Rehab, a lady recognized Kathie. Two and a half years ago, her son had been a patient at Sharp Coronado and she had asked me about the process I used to prove to the doctors that we could remove Kathie's trach . I was amazed to see her son sitting up i...

We just returned from a Thanksgiving in Montana, this is the first Thanksgiving I spent away from Kathie and it was an emotional struggle to plan and complete such a trip. Madison, Hannah and I had a wonderful trip though and the Montana Jones' hosted a fantastic dinner and gathering. We enjoyed the travel, time with family and the scenery. Right before the Thanksgiving Blessing, each person shared one item they were thankful for, my brother Craig shared memories of hugging Kathie and sharing a cup of coffee with her in our kitchen. Looking outside myself, I sometimes forget how many people miss her and how my family misses her deeply. Our daughter Katie was cooking for her family and Andy was traveling but we made time to contact each other, wishing a Happy Thanksgiving. By Friday evening we were home and after dropping Hannah off at the Mall, I was able to hug Kathie, followed by giving her a bath and sitting at her bedside. When I think of my blessings, I note that in spite of o...

Today is Kathie's Birthday, her life is celebrated and she is missed by many. Her room was decorated last night, Maddie chose Sweet Pea shower gel as a gift and I bathed her in preparation. This evening, I conveyed hugs and kisses, read birthday cards and emails to her telling her how much she is loved. I rubbed her neck and temples until she fell asleep, then I kissed her forehead goodnight. In a few weeks we have an appointment with a neurosurgeon who believes she is a candidate for a procedure to use electrical impulses that will relieve some muscle contractures. Last week she had Botox injections in her biceps, wrist and neck muscles in an attempt to increase her neck movements. My goal remains to keep her comfortable and look carefully at her care. For a third year, Kathie and I will be going Christmas shopping again. From Streams in the Desert, November 22, "We have a God who delights in impossibilities and who asks, "Is there anything too hard for me?" (Jer. 3...

From Streams in the Desert, October 7 (yes I’ve been trying to write since the 7 th ). Isaiah 50:10: Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of his servant? Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on their God. “What is a believer to do in times of darkness – a darkness of perplexities and confusion – a darkness not of the heart but of the mind? These times of darkness come to a faithful and believing disciple who is walking obediently in the will of God. They come as seasons when he does not know what to do or which way to turn. His sky becomes overcast with clouds, and the clear light of heaven does not shine on his path, so that he feels as if he were groping his way through complete darkness.” Since the middle of July I have felt this type of fog or darkness. I had a brief sickness in July brought on by my pace of life, and it seems that pace has continued. Work stress, Maddie leaving for college, my church leaders...

Stay here and watch with Me —Matthew 26:38 “Watch with Me.” Jesus was saying, in effect, “Watch with no private point of view at all, but watch solely and entirely with Me.” In the early stages of our Christian life, we do not watch with Jesus, we watch for Him. We do not watch with Him through the revealed truth of the Bible even in the circumstances of our own lives. Our Lord is trying to introduce us to identification with Himself through a particular “Gethsemane” experience of our own. But we refuse to go, saying, “No, Lord, I can’t see the meaning of this, and besides, it’s very painful.” And how can we possibly watch with Someone who is so incomprehensible?” Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, September 5. Last week, I met the family of a new patient, their twenty-something son worked on a drilling rig and a wayward chain landed him in a hospital bed. Kathie housemates were an author, mechanic, cowboy, musician, bus driver, salesman and now rig worker, their lives c...

I am writing you from the waiting room of an outpatient hospital while Kathie finally has a dental check-up and cleaning. One of my fears has been that Kath has had some kind of dental pain or problem and we weren’t able to detect it. I began the process of scheduling this in May of 2010, but because we were having her tracheotomy reversed, an anesthesiologist was reticent to “put her under.” As I have written in the past, everything takes longer than expected. The good news is that Kathie’s teeth are cleaned, polished and she has been checked for future care. Since I last wrote, Madison has turned 18 years old, we had nice Birthday celebration(s) and I was amazed to think back on 18 years. She and I sat in Church and I was remembering her at a month old being baptized, she was making fun of my remembrances. This has been a summer of transitions and Kathie is in each of our minds as we celebrate a milestone. Four weeks later, Andy flew in from Seattle and joined Hannah and I as w...

Over these last five years, many of you who read this blog have introduced yourselves, thank you for your kind words and prayers of support. I am surprised as I find out that people I see almost weekly quietly let me know that they still follow Kathie. Also, people who have never met us, read, pray and support our family. Thank you. A few weeks ago I received a note from a woman who is a “prayer warrior,” she let me know that years ago, she had to quit reading this blog. She had known Kathie and I as single adults, watching as our romance began and she can mark the moment she heard about our accident. We have never been out of her prayers but she wanted to me to know how deeply she feels this struggle. For the next five nights, I read her note over again during my evening devotional readings; it was helpful to gain strength and peace from such a friend. “Faith is believing what we do not see, and the reward for this kind of faith is to see what we believe.” St. Augustine I am r...

“Trusting even when it appears you have been forsaken; praying when it seems your words are simply entering a vast expanse where no one hears and no voice answers; believing that God’s love is complete and that He is aware of your circumstances, even when your world seems to grind on as if setting its own direction and not caring for life or moving one inch in response to your petitions; desiring only what God’s hands have planned for you; waiting patiently while seemingly starving to death, with your only fear being that your faith might fail – “this is the victory that has overcome the world”; this is genuine faith indeed.” George MacDonald, from Streams in the Desert, July 15. In 2009, I encouraged a friend using this quote; I have used these words personally as a reminder, I read it as a long sentence in prayer, hardly taking a breath, relaxing finally at the quote, “this is the victory…” Last Sunday our sermon was on Psalm 13, “How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?” Th...