Between a rock and a hard, hard place!!

[exo152 0]

Thank you all so much for the prayers for my dad. He is doing amazingly. Two doctors have already proclaimed his progress as "a miracle". He has been placed in a specialty hospital for his recovery (he had double pneumonia, sepsis and a massive blood clot in his right lung). His survival rate at the time of his admission to the hospital was 20%. His new physician team have discovered he wasn't completely over the pneumonia and are addressing it with more aggressive antibiotics. The sepsis is gone and he is no longer symptomatic of having the blood clot. He is still on a trach-ventilator and cannot eat or talk and he is weak from three-weeks of bed-rest, most of which during he was heavily sedated. But he is awake now, alert and sharp as ever. His heart rates, oxygen levels and everything else they check is wonderful and he is progressing. And his kidneys have taken a hit, so he is currently undergoing short-time dialysis to correct the problem. The doctor expects it to be resolved soon, as his kidneys ARE working on their own. PLEASE continue to pray that all the health issues will be resolved and healed and his physical therapy goes well. He was very active before this attack and being even a partial invalid would be extremely hard on him and very depressing.

Now onto the "hard place".......as some of you know, last winter, my mother was diagnosed with a severe mental illness. She was placed on meds and had a psychiatrist and therapist she has to meet with weekly. This has been a difficult situation because she is convinced she is fine and is a victim. After dealing with her for over twenty years on this (and knowing other members of her family who suffer with the same illness) we realize she is deluding herself. But she declared herself "fine" in May. She quit taking her meds, and stopped going to her psychiatrist. When my dad went into the hospital, she quit seeing her therapist. She has been getting progressively worse and even had to be told to leave dad's room by his nurse, three times.

So, my brothers and I need the wisdom of God to know what to do here. Do we recommit her or do we let her slide and focus on dad getting better. But how can dad come home in the projected three to four weeks when Mom will be his main care-giver? Just do not know what to do. If I was advising anyone, I would say, RECOMMIT her! But it is so much harder when she is your mother and she really isn't hurting anyone.....just living in her delusions and telling her stories and believing everyone is out to get her. But as my brother has said, those are the kind of people you see on Dateline, after the crime.
Thank you for your prayers!!

[dreamster 0]

 can perceive the out come if u leave ur mom as she is,, i think you know wat u must do but are hesitateing, ur mom needs help and support ,,it kud be 2 stressful for ur dad recovering,  

[exo152 0]

The decision to do something was taken out of out hands. The hospital has decided that if she isn't taking her meds, she cannot stay overnight in Dad's room. Now the problem is that Dad has a lot of anxiety about staying alone in a hospital (his mother died because she was alone the nurses didn't come check on her) and with Mom out of the picture of being able to sit with Dad, that leaves the rest of us; who are worn out from doing two and three days shifts to sit with Dad to cover for a couple who haven't stepped up to do it yet. It wouldn't be so bad but we all live from an hour to four hours away from the hospital. Please pray that God will direct us. Our Dad has possibly 3-4 more weeks in this facility.  

[TheWhiteShadow 0]

Praying for you, Exo...

[dreamster 0]

 ugh:imsorry: 

[Deborah 0]

Is there a church in the same vicinity as where your dad is that has a visiting ministry? Maybe someone there could take a shift or two now and then to help relieve the burden on the rest of you. When my brother was dying somebody took a night shift. She was from a local church and it helped so much. Just a thought....

[exo152 0]

What a lovely thought, Deborah! I could ask my uncle. He used to pastor in that city. Although, Dad may not like it. He is pretty much a family is family kind of guy.

[Deborah 0]

Yep I understand, but there's an end to one's strength too....Deborah, speaking out of personal experience

[exo152 0]

I sent out a mass text to extended family....have been getting a few willing to step up and help out. Please pray specifically for Tuesday and Thursday to be covered!! Thank you!!

[Deborah 0]

That's great news!

[astra 0]

I can't remember whether you mentioned this before or not, but if your Dad is a believer you can remind him that the same God that has healed him (doctors themselves admitted that this recovery was a miracle) will keep looking after him and will bring his healing to full completion. He does not leave anything done part way.
He needs to place his full faith into God through Jesus Christ and this will put him at great ease and remove anxiety of being left alone. He needs to see that he is never ever alone :-). Human efforts and abilities are so limited, but God's abilities are unlimited as well as His willingness for your Dad to be well.
I understand that this sort of faith takes time to develop but at least planting seeds by telling him and bringing up this miracle of his own recovery in his memory would start the process.
I do believe in his full recovery because God is willing and able. And I pray that his eyes of seeing his Lord's unlimited Love for him are enlightened and he is set free from all anxiety and fears and instead is deeply rooted and grounded in his Lord's Love :-)

Many blessings to you and your family!!

[exo152 0]

Yes, my Dad is a believer and he has had to trust God thru some very hard times. He is probably less anxious than I am in staying by himself. I called his nurse this morning and she said he told her he'd slept well. I know God has carried him thru this ordeal. Please agree with us for everything to be healed completely, no setbacks and strength in his body to be able to pull thru the physical therapy.

I do not know how to pray for my mother. She denies having any issues. I just pray God's will be done in her. And that He enable me to honor her even when it seems impossible!

[astra 0]

I keep standing on your Dad's complete healing. As for your Mom, you said you pray God's will be done in her. Yes, however it won't be done independent of our FAITH, or with other words us believeing it will be done.

I am studying this subject for a while now and the Lord has shown me amazing things in depth and this understanding keeps deepening and widening all the time.

What I'd like to show you is your Mom does not need to see the problem (or issues). She needs to the the ANSWER! She's stuck in a hole not because she does not see problems. I believe she sees them quite well (even if it's sunconsciously and she acts like she's in denial). The reason she can't get out is because she does not see the answer (does not know how). Actually being in denial is a "protective mechanism" that "helps" us cope somewhat with problems.

What is very important - YOU need to see her as a woman with an answer. This answer is in the FINISHED WORK of Jesus. Finished work means she is complete in Him and before we even start praying, we need to line up our hearts with His Finished Work and see things the way they are in the Spirit through Jesus.
Otherwise our prayers would only be an expression of doubts and fear. And we all know what these prayers are going to accomplish - absolutely nothing.

I have changed the entire way I see people, situations and the way I even approach prayer. The way I used to see our kids was the way they acted - kids with lots of issues. But the Lord, PRAISE GOD, has opened my eyes and now I see (well, am beginning to see) how to approach this situation His way.
I see them as the ones with The Answer and build my prayers standing on this platform and in my heart I SEE them as complete in Jesus and this is how I see their lives even though right at the moment in the natual it does not quite look like it. I know the natural will HAVE to like up with the spiritual.
And I am the one whose faith is going to bring all this spiritual reality into the natural. There's no other way. Without my faith it simply is not going to happen.

Pray Ephesians 1:17-23 and Ephesians 3:16-21 over yourself, your Mom and all your family members many many times. Meditate on each phrase deeply, in your imagination see it as if it has manifested. Make it a REALITY on the inside of you, in your heart and then you will see it manifest in the natural.

Blessings!!!

[exo152 0]

Thank you Astra. You have given me much to think about and hope for. I appreciate your prayers and the time you have taken to share this more than you will ever know! God bless!!