Fresh Air Kids

My anti-racism training began early.  I must have been only about six or seven years old during the summers when my parents hosted several little black girls from a nearby city.  (The term “African-American” was not in common use in the 1940’s or 50’s.)  During several summers, these new friends spent a week or two on our little farm with our family as some of their city neighborhood children spent time on the farms of other members of our church.

None of the children had ever been on a farm before.  So we called them the “fresh  air kids.”  None of us had ever had the chance to make interracial  friendships.  

So it was a learning experience for all of us as well as a vacation  for the “fresh air kids.”
Most of the time they followed us around and helped with our normal farm chores: feeding the chickens and gathering the eggs, walking back to the pasture to help us bring the cow up for her evening milking, feeding the pigs, pulling weeds in the garden, freezing or canning fresh garden produce, helping fix meals and wash the dishes.

Some of us planned special excursions with our new friends.  Our family took them with us to the zoo and art museum in nearby cities and the public library in our local small town.  Of course they accompanied us to church and Sunday School and any church events during the time they were with us.

But around the planned events, there was plenty of time to become friends and ask many innocent and child-like questions. From questions such as “Are collard greens  something like golf greens?”  or “You have two  pairs of shoes, even in the summer?” 

We learned a lot about our differing lifestyles and cultures.  

Sunday was home going day for all the guests as their hosts returned them to the downtown city church that had coordinated the program.  This downtown black city church was an active member of the Council of Churches which had developed the “fresh air kids” as an outreach program to their own communities.

There were many mixed feelings on homecoming day: thanks for new friends and new experiences, a new  feeling of security with people different than themselves, fun in new places, homesickness overcome (perhaps), the similarities between people that are hidden  behind differences.

Mixed feelings, indeed, but not as vicious as those that have erupted on city streets in 2020.  Has it been the passage of 70 years that has made the difference or the  perspective of  a child?

7 June 2020 - mshr

A Year with Hospice Care

On April 16 we celebrated one year of hospice care for MarySue - a year marked with some anxious moments but with even more moments of joy, happiness, togetherness, and blessings.

We have both commented frequently that when MarySue signed the Hospice papers a year ago neither of us expected that she would still be alive one year later.

We rejoice that not only is she still with us, but that she is still able to enjoy life and continue to do some of the things that make her life meaningful, including listening to audio books and coordinating the Prayer Team of our church.

There were several  times during the past year when the future for MarySue seemed rather limited - such as when there were infections, etc. Also we have seen several times when her need for oxygen has increased. However in the past three months her oxygen needs have remained quite steady.

The past year has been marked by a lot of togetherness which has brought much joy to both of us. Granted, caring for the activities of daily living has consumed much time and energy, but we do enjoy each other’s company even when doing the mundane daily tasks of dressing, caring for oxygen equipment, etc.

But there have been other enjoyable experiences also. A special treat for both of us has been afternoon car rides seeing the sights and becoming better acquainted with the environs of Columbus and Franklin County.  We have discovered the beauty of many of the Franklin County Metro Parks, enjoyed the scenery of the Scioto River Valley, the Alum Creek Dam, the Olentangy River, and the environs of the Hoover Reservoir.

On the tenth of March we enjoyed celebrating MarySue’s 80th birthday online with a Zoom party with online guests from around the United States and across the globe.  Soon afterward we made the difficult decision to discontinue the use of outside caregivers and to self-isolate to avoid the risk of infection with the coronavirus. So in the month since March 17 we have had only two outsiders in our home and they were hospice staff on a required visit and they were wearing masks. Other than that visit, hospice care is currently being done through phone calls and Zoom video conferencing.

MarySue does enjoy trying to function as independently as possible, even though much of the time she needs to rely on assistance.

The arrival of warmer weather means that it is easier for us to get out of doors. MarySue enjoys walking eight to ten minutes very slowly in our Condo drive and parking areas at 15 LPM of oxygen. Frequently after she completes that walk, Bruce will help her into the wheelchair equipped with an E Tank of oxygen and Bruce will push her in the transport chair for 1 ¼ to 1 ½ miles around the neighborhood - thus getting his exercise while MarySue enjoys the sights and smells of spring.

It has been a year of hospice care and we do not know how much longer we will have together, but we have learned together to be thankful for one day at a time, to celebrate the time we have together, and to praise God for all blessings far above measure.

COVID-19 Questions

“For God so loved the world that He…”

Whoa  there, God have you had a change of heart?  It certainly was not love that caused You to  let  loose a worldwide stampede of COVID-19!  That  unknown and invisible virus has infected millions of people around the world and  killed thousands upon thousands.  It feels more like punishment than love.  What are You doing to our world? And to us?

An unfamiliar whisper responded:  “I gave you a beautiful earth to live on filled with plants and animals, fish and birds.  But you are ruining it. Air and water are being polluted and animals are being driven off to extinction.   Mining and drilling for oil destroy much of nature’s natural beauty.”            

“But me, how have I messed up the earth?” I asked.    

“By your materialistic lifestyle of littering, hoarding, buying beyond your needs.  You have ignored my counsel, Your worship of gold has replaced the worship of God.  In many places, hatred has replaced justice for people who are different.

“You do many things that injure the earth, damage your neighbor, and hurt yourself.  That grieves me as deeply as the COVID-19 grieves you! When you can answer my questions, perhaps I can answer yours.”  

18 April 2020 - mshr

PANDEMIC

A worldwide invasion of humans
by a vicious and deadly virus.
       In 2020, 
       it was one of the coronaviruses,  
       COVID-19. 

Pandemic,
       pandemeeek, 
               pandamnic!
Oh God, we are scared.
                               We are angry,
We feel trapped and helpless!

Worldwide over a million have felt its sting; 
              thousands have died. 

It’s vicious enough to drive mass murderers 
              back to their hideouts

God, Creator of  everything 
              Did You send this plaguer?
              Did this invisible threat come
             From Your hand?
    I can’t believe that because
I’ve known Your Son
Jesus, God in the flesh.
                He suffered, but never caused others to suffer.
                He wept, but never caused others to weep.
        He died, but never caused others to die,
  And rose to give others life and peace.
  
                                 No, God.  
It’s not Your hand that has sent us this vicious virus.
It’s a mystery that we must learn to live with
          -- focusing on the good!

27 March 2020 - mshr

Angels

I’ve  been so blessed in my four score years.
I led a busy and happy life
Until a mean, lung freezing disease
Cut through me like a knife.

My  blessings now come in secret
They are  angels that fill me with awe.
They don’t have six wings as Isaiah said (Isaiah 6:1-2).
Nor the ladder Jacob saw (Genesis 28:10-19),

My  angels  wear T-shirts and blue jeans.
No halos adorn their mussed up hair.
No shimmering  silky white robes do I see,
For they specialize in care!

If there’s anything at all that I need:
A meal, a phone call, greeting or  prayer,
An angel comes quickly to do it for me,
And to overcome any despair.

An angel’s full time job, you see,
Is to care for those in pain.
They fly and sing and praise just for fun,
And bring peace like gentle rain.

21 March 2020 - mshr

Stepping Stones

He was approaching the end of his life and he welcomed the visits of the chaplain. He appreciated hearing scriptures read and praying together, but what he really enjoyed was telling some of his own personal memories. His favorite was a story about stepping stones.

He and his buddy had found a secret pathway to the schoolhouse. They could leave home after the school bus had gone and could still arrive at the schoolhouse just as the teacher was beginning to ring the bell for classes to begin.

The best part of their “secret pathway” was that near the end as they approached the schoolhouse they had to cross the creek on stepping stones they had discovered. It was great fun keeping the other students wondering how they had come without the help of the school bus!

There was a potential problem, however. They learned about it as the cold winds of November had begun to blow. They were so proud of their secret path that they were laughing and joking with such pride that they missed the smooth, dry stepping stones and had to spend the rest of the day at school in wet and clammy clothes!

I've thought of this little tale often and wondered: have I taken the time to choose the smooth, safe stepping stones through the rivers of life? Have you?

28 Feb 2020 - mshr

Preparing a Place

Jesus said, "...I go to prepare a place for you...." (John 14:2). So then why does it take Jesus so long to prepare a place for us while we have to plod through our daily tasks and wait? Haven’t we been helping him to prepare that place everyday of our Lord-led lives? 

Perhaps, but most of us have overstuffed ourselves  like German sausages. Like overinflated balloons we are stuffed full of ourselves. We are so attentive to our own activities and projects that we have little time or space for the Lord. Imagine what a task it is for Him to either carve out the place to fit our size or trim us down eliminating our wants and needs so that we will fit the place He is preparing. No wonder it takes a while.  Some of us will have 70 -- or even 80 -- years to help Him complete that task! But it is never too late to replace our overgrown selfishness with His love which is designed to just fit the place He is preparing.

22 Feb 2020 - mshr