Kindly people

9:27 p.m. Today's project was to keep Steve at home with me so he could see his primary care doctor. I was particularly concerned to see how his balance was in the morning, because a couple of falling incidents have taken place in the afternoon or evening. When I called his daycare and asked if he was having trouble walking when there, the nurse told me that he's steady and participates in games like balloon volleyball. But when he gets anxious, as he does when his bus is the last one to pick him and another gentleman up, his gait is affected. But that is in the afternoon. Mornings are his best time.

Mornings are when we are generally most refreshed and least bothered by outside forces, because our busy workday hasn't begun. It's an ideal time for prayer, scripture reading and journalling our thoughts to the Lord. Steve cannot write or focus on reading now, but we can pray together and thank God for our food. Some verses on rising early to seek God:

Psalm 57:7-8:

My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;I will sing and give praise. Awake, my glory! Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn.

Psalm 63:1:

O God, You are my God; early will I seek You. My soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. 

Steve had a steady morning with the caregiver, showering and dressing in peace, eating his breakfast with assistance, and then the two of them took a short walk with the dog. After my prayer time, work on tomorrow's Bible study and household organizing, we left with plenty of time to make a bank deposit, and go to Sprouts organic market where we discovered my cellphone was missing. Back in the Jeep! No luck at the bank, so back home to find it in a pile of Bible study materials. And we still made it to the doctor on time. God is so merciful even when we are careless and preoccupied!

He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.(Psalm 121:3).

God used the staff at Dr. Sirisuk's office to bless us both with their gentle kindness to Steve today. With his walking becoming slower and slower, I had wondered whether the wheelchairs by the entrance to the Riverside Medical Clinic in Moreno Valley were available for use. But even as I pictured them in my mind, I dismissed the thought, because how would I get him into the chair anyway? So we trudged to the elevator, rode up, and made it over to Dr. Sirisuk's reception window. Dear Muriel, always in place, greeted us, took Steve's birthdate to check him in, and then we went to our seats. Steve had his usual difficulty judging the location and height of the chair, but I guided him down into place, and we relaxed.

The next thing we knew, here was Muriel out from her desk with a wheelchair! She sat in it and took the time to catch up with us as to Steve's condition and the meds he's on. Then suddenly, here was Ada the nurse, and and John, an aid to the doctor. The three of them invited Steve to the wheelchair. He looked very scared, probably of looking like an old man or an invalid,  but I reassured him that he was just using it to save time. He had a lot of trouble putting his feet on the footrests, so I placed them on and away we went. Steve sat and dozed very comfortably in the wheelchaair while we waited for the doctor. Nurse Ada helped us out with one of his medication samples of low dose Namenda, which we needed.

After the appointment, Steve had a fully escorted ride back out to the Jeep, enjoying himself, feeling cared for, and the struggle to move was just--gone! He took pride in getting into the Jeep on his own, not exhausted and ready to give up as he normally would be. (Even handicapped parking places are far away from offices at the end of long hallways in a huge facility like RMC)!

For the day it wll be needed, I asked the doctor to order a lightweight wheelchair from Medicare. When God sends it,  this husband and wife will learn together how to negotiate our lives' new pathway.

Isaiah 43:18-19:

Do not consider the former things,
Nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.