Thursday, July 11, 2013

Walking from Earth to Eternity

The last few weeks have been a roller coaster. It began with a trip to the ER just to check Bob out after he had lost consciousness for a unknown length of time. He was very confused and disoriented when he woke up, so fearing a stroke I called 911 and had him sent to the VA hospital. While there he was tested for a UTI (urinary tract infection). Evidently UTI's can be responsible for the confusion. It was confirmed that he had one and we had a choice to treat it at home or admit him "just in case" it flared up. With MSA we have to be careful regarding a UTI affecting the kidney so we were prudent and elected to be admitted.

Remember that slippery slope I told you all about a few months ago? Well it's getting steeper and more slippery.

Bob has been in the VA Hospital for almost two weeks and while there he has been under the microscope of several Specialists, MD's and Practitioners. All of these have opinions and few of them have had to deal with MSA. I feel like I have been trying to fish with my bare hands trying to meet each one and determine what it is that Bob truly needs and who will be providing it. At this point the UTI is gone, His BP is evening out (sort of) he's gained weight and he is bored (no wifi). We have determined, and he has agreed, that he needs a feeding tube to supplement his nutrition as he was burning more calories eating than he was gaining and was becoming malnourished, This tube will not prevent him from enjoying food and can be hidden with clothing. We have decided on this so that we can have as healthy and active a Bob as possible.

We have hit a snag though as his physiology and his issues with anesthesia have proved to be too difficult for our local VA and they are working on finding someone who can do the procedure.  This will mean a transfer to another facility. I'm feeling confident that it will all be resolved as I am comforted by his current Primary care Dr and his Neurologist  who are very much invested in being Bob's advocates.

And so we wait.

And the title of this post?

Last Sunday this was a phrase I saw, I can't remember the context, a song, a reading, it doesn't matter, it struck me as this is what we are doing. Bob has started his walk from this earth to eternity, into God's glorious presence. We are confident in the Salvation that was bought and paid for by Jesus Christ. Bob has always anticipated what his life is going to be like when he gets there. He has a million questions. He believes he has been given some idea as to what his mission will be. I have been personally reassured that the Lord is looking forward to taking Bob into his care. Eternity - what a most glorious destiny, everlasting life in the presence of God! We are told that we can not even imagine it

1Cr 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

This is an amazing promise! This is what Bob is walking towards and I will cheer him on. Is this not what we believe that we were destined for? Is this not what we were accepting when we chose to follow God? Is this destination not the original point of our being created in the first place - to be in a relationship with the God of the ...Everything?

This is the prize, the goal we are all striving for, to be done with sin and it's impact on our lives, to be in an amazing and perfect relationship with God as we were intended to be.

But the journey is hard, the road is difficult even treacherous. We are weary and scared, grieving and clinging to one another. Let's face it this part of the story sucks, big time! We aren't "Giving in" as some may see it. We just are really clear that we will be parted so much sooner than we would choose, if it were up to us. But we will keep our eyes focused on Jesus, we will endeavor to make this walk as honestly and faithfully as we can. We won't hide the pain or the tears but we will also always give praise to God and share our story of His abundant love in our lives.

So...dying sucks, eternity with God doesn't, and that's how we view it as we walk from earth to eternity.