Honor

Today I joined hundreds of others at church for the 100th birthday celebration of Irv Mandley.  The fellowship hall was packed with family and friends from around the country.  It was really incredible to see so many who love and honor this true man of God.  My personal history with Bro. and Sis. Mandley goes back 33 years ago, when I first came into the church.

Sis. Mandley was the first person to come and visit me in the hospital after giving birth to Leah.  She became my "mother in the Lord," and saw me through some of the most difficult times in my life.   She and Bro. Mandley would come to my apartment on Simpson Street and help clean or do whatever was needed to be done before Leah was born.  She even got down on her hands and knees one day to wash the kitchen floor - I never will forget that.  They drove me to appointments or wherever I needed to go and would regularly invite my children and I over for meals.  When I had to travel to Minnesota to get married, she was one of just a few who never gave up on me.  She gave me Sis. Luke's corsage to wear and baked a cake for the wedding.  They have stood by, defended and scolded me when I needed it.  They really have been my "parents" in Madison all these years.

Bro. Mandley was always right beside her, saying very little, but supporting her and all of her endeavors.  He was always a quiet, gentle man and I wasn't used to that, as my dad was the opposite.  I eventually understood that he was simply shy.  I kissed the top of his fuzzy head today and felt a surge of love for him.  I had never done that before, and today it just felt right.

The two of them together taught me more about what it is to be a Christian than anyone else. They helped, fed, clothed, counseled, taught and ministered to so many people that it would be impossible to number.  And yet very rarely did they ever receive public recognition for how they lived - but I'm sure they would insist that it should be that way anyhow.  In my eyes, these people are the unsung heroes to my family and so many countless others.

So today, I want to "give honor to whom honor is due," in my very small way through this blog.  I am eternally grateful for the life lessons of love they have imparted to my children and I.  I am so thankful that God saw fit to pair us up as a "family" so many years ago.

Surgery

It's hard to believe that tomorrow I will be having gastric bypass surgery.  A lot of things have been running through my mind during this two week liquid diet.  Will it be really painful afterward?  Will I actually wake up from the anesthesia?  How will I cope from that moment on?  And I'm sure everyone who goes through this has the same questions, excitement and fears.  I am so looking forward to better health and doing all the things I'm unable to do now with my children and grandchildren.  That, in itself, is all the motivation I need.

I was watching a show on TV last night about a 600 pound woman who couldn't do anything for herself - she was bedridden.  She had a husband and a young son, and was traveling to a different state to have bariatric surgery, as that was the only doctor she could find who would operate on a person her size.  It was really interesting but sad as I watched her not follow the program the doctor ordered and she only lost about 30 pounds.  A woman her size should have lost over 300 pounds in the year they followed her, but she continually had her husband bringing her junk food to the hospital.  She whined and cried that it was too hard for her and that their scales must have been wrong.  She acted like a "victim" and it honestly was annoying.  What was really disturbing was the fact that she had a little boy, and that alone should have given her the incentive to do it for him.  I thought, "How selfish she is that all she could think about was herself and not her family."  Overeating is an addiction - I know that better than anyone - but it's also one that can be overcome with the right tools and desire.  She will most probably not live to see her son grow up.  I've watched many of these shows and it occurred to me none of these people were around my age - they die young, sadly leaving children, family and friends behind.

I mean, we all eventually die of something, but why not live life to the fullest while we can?  Time has gotten a lot shorter, the older I get.  It seems like I was just a young mom yesterday.  And if something is holding me back from living a full life, such as an addiction or something harmful to myself or others, it doesn't make sense to hold onto it.  I'm really only hurting myself.  But we do - we hold onto things that are not good for us all the time.  It's really uncanny.  I hope I'm not coming across as judgmental here at all - I've been overweight all my life, and I know just how difficult it is to stop an addiction.  It's taken this long for me to finally try to get back on track.  I think we actually appreciate life much more as we age, because we realize that we're closer to the end than the beginning.  That's true for me, anyway.

So onward and upward, as they say.  This liquid diet hasn't been as difficult as I imagined, but I am looking forward to some baby food soon.  Or maybe not - the thought of it is kind of disgusting.  It will be several weeks before I can graduate to soft food.  In the meantime, everything will have to be pureed.  Yuck.  But this too shall pass.  We shall see.  I hope and pray I can be successful through it all.  And if I don't make it through surgery, hey!  I'll have a perfect body where I'm going so it will be all good!