Kirsten's surgery

Praying the Moravian Daily Texts over our day, as Kirsten faces surgery at Harborview at 2.

Psalm 139:17-24 Amos 5; Revelation 9:1-11.

Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.
Psalm 25:16

The Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the
message might be fully proclaimed. 2 Timothy 4:17

Lord, when we are in the depths of fear, pain, and despair, come to us,
we pray. When we are weak and darkness envelopes us, light our path.
When all hope is diminished, hold us close. Amen.

Pray with us? We know God could touch her with a word and she would be well.

• God's healing on her whole body, and on the affected foot particularly
• Surgery to go well, for the medical team and Kirsten
• Recovery: K's insurer offers good coverage "on paper," but with qualifications in the fine print. For example, she pays everything in rehab unless "you stay at least 4 days and have 3 hours per day of physiotherapy," etc. Don't know any place that would give her that much time per day. Guess the company is afraid she's secretly going to a spa where she'll only get a one-hour massage and sleep the rest of the day.
• Insight for W: this is the first time he's doing day-to-day care for Kirsten.
• Focus for me: I have to continue studies during this very stressful time.

Greatly appreciated. The K's

Helpers

Physiotherapy is an interesting process. Some people in the group session for hip and knee replacements are athletes. They swing through the exercises, their strong muscles helping them push through the pain. They are determined to do more and better each time. "Wow," say the PT crew. "You're making great progress and will back to normal in no time."

Some are sedentary older people, for whom this is a delay in a decline of mobility or health. They do the exercises and hope it doesn't hurt too much. Some of them have not moved this much in months or years. "C'mon honey, you can get just a little more out of that hip," say the helpers. "If you want to have good range of motion, you'll have to push a bit."

Our daughter continually gets the comment of "You're too young for this!" from co-participants. (We agree.) She strains through the motions, bending as far as she can, and trying to straighten the knee back out. We watch the effort needed for simple moves. "Keep trying: your knee is doing very well," encourage the therapists.

Each time I stride up the stairs to the third floor room, I am reminded that a healthy body and mind are a great blessing, not to be taken for granted. Thank you God for every working member and the capacity to enjoy life and mobility! And thank you for the encouragers who tell us the truth and our potential.