The Faith of her Friends

 Well, the Johnny Appleseed Festival has come and gone here in Fort Wayne, the days are getting shorter and cooler, the trees are turning red and gold, and most importantly, pumpkins have once again invaded Trader Joe's. And since this blog is called "The SUMMER of Faith Experiment," I am going to take a break and return next summer  with more stories, more reflections, and more examples of God's faithfulness and abundant generosity.  My plans for this fall are to continue with hybrid caregiving and trust the Lord to continue to make that better and better. On November 20th, I will go down to Memphis to be with my family, and will stay through the beginning of January. It will be a very full visit, with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year, plus four birthdays, and I can't wait to hang out with everyone! Then I'll return to the dark, cold Indiana winter that feels like it goes on forever... but I have plans to make it cozy and cheerful, too. They include cand

 I realized that I told you about my new caregiver and the agency, and some of my friends have been hired by the agency to help... but what about the other 25 ladies who have been on my team since last year?  Well, a lot of them are continuing to come over on a regular basis to help me during the day with bathroom breaks, meals, and shopping. In fact, it's pretty cool that I have two friends who are available to help on almost every day of the week. So for example, there are two ladies who can cover the midmorning time on Wednesdays, and they have each other's phone numbers, so they can communicate about their schedule and trade with each other if something comes up. The ladies who used to spend the night with me are now taking a Saturday or two each month to spend time with me, and it gives us a chance to go out and do some fun things together.  With all the shifts, I think it is taking a lot of pressure off my friends, so they can be here for me without getting burned out...

 When I was in high school, I really wanted to be able to drive my van. I took driver's ed, and I did all my hours of road practice in a ginormous boat of a van that was equipped with a raised platform, smaller steering wheel with zero resistance, a t-stick gas and brake, and a touch screen pad for starting the engine and turning on the lights and windshield wipers. (This was super high-tech for the year 2000!) I passed my written and driving test and got my driver's permit at the age of 17, and my independence on the road was so close, so real I could taste it. The only thing to do was get my own minivan and have it equipped. Handicap vans are expensive... like, double the cost of a normal van. And that cost is for the standard of a lowered floor, a ramp, an automatic door, and a safety lock or tie-downs. Add to that the cost AGAIN to afford the high-tech driving equipment. There was no way me or my family could afford that. So I put in a request through Vocational Rehabilitat

 Last Thursday night was the first time I met my new caregiver from the home care agency, and it was her first shift to spend the night here. I was expecting her at 9:00, and all I knew was her name, so at 8:00 I was feeling the weight of anxiety and started to pray. It went a little something like this:  "Lord, what if she's crazy? What if we don't click, don't connect? What if I don't feel comfortable with her, can't trust her? There's no way I'll be able to sleep, and I really need to sleep!  Lord, what am I doing?  Is this even a good idea, is this wise?  It feels so risky, so scary, and could go really wrong.  There's no way I'll be able to sleep, and I really need to sleep!  Lord, what are you doing?  I have 25 sisters with me all week... It will be such a let-down if this new person isn't a believer... There's no way I'll be able to sleep, and I really need to sleep!"  She arrived right on time, an older woman, short in s

 After working all summer on getting set up and approved for Medicaid services, it finally happened. And let me tell you, I've seen God working in all of it... About two weeks ago, I got a letter from Medicaid saying I was approved for the MED Works program, which basically gives me access to the services I need without limiting my income to the poverty level. If you aren't aware, many Medicaid services have an income cap, so basically if you work more than part-time for more than minimum wage, you make too much to qualify... but that is a subject for another soap box or blog post, and I do not want to digress here. The big takeaway here is that I don't have to minimize my work now or stash money under my mattress because this program looks at the physical/medical needs instead of economic status. What services did I need, you ask? Well if you've been following along this summer you might remember that I've been trying to figure out how to make my caregiving system