Case closed:  Two weeks ago, I accompanied my parents to Troy Beaumont because my mom had to have a “quick” surgical procedure to see if the infection had returned to her knee.  My mom’s temporary knee has been giving her lots of problems, and one theory her doctors were tossing around was that the infection had returned.  Her knee has been swollen a lot, and there’s been an unusual amount of pain in the area.  After a visit to her surgeon’s office, he determined the best bet would be to do another knee aspiration to check the fluid around the knee.  The procedure itself would only take 5 minutes, but given it had to be done under general anesthetic it would became a full-blown surgical experience that would take a whole 5 hours from start to finish.
 
Just minutes before they were ready to wheel my mom down to surgery, her doctor came into the room and joked with us that he might even beat us to the surgical waiting area.  After he left, we prayed together and then said our goodbyes.  My dad and I then gathered our stuff and began the journey to the other end of Troy Beaumont where the surgical waiting area is located.  My dad dutifully checked in at the desk and gave them his cell phone number.  We then got the usual instructions of where to get coffee, how to watch the board, etc.  Given our family has “frequent flyer” miles at Troy Beaumont, we know the drill all too well.  My dad and I found a couple of chairs near the main hallway and just as we were sitting (I don’t even think I made it into the chair), the doctor appeared and said the procedure was over and it would be about five days before we knew the full results.  It was going to take that long for all the cultures to come back from the lab.  He did say, however, that the fluid around her knee looked great and he was pretty confident the infection had not returned.  My mom got the official “all clear” five days later.  Thanks be to God!  Her body just seems to be irritated with the temporary knee joint.  She anticipates having the new knee put in after Christmas.
 
So, back to the story.  While my mom, dad, and I were sitting in pre-op chatting away, my mom started talking about my dad’s knee issues.  She was telling me he’s been having issues going up and down stairs lately.  This is something we’ve been watching, but my mom made it a point to say all of this in front of me … which, translated, means my dad has been ignoring the issue, it’s been getting worse and now she’s raising the bar a bit by telling the “General” (me) which means she’s now on record and wanted reinforcement from the “General” and his “Army” (my sisters).  She knows the “General” would be on a group text with the “Army” in a matter of nanoseconds, and my dad would be bombarded by incoming texts and thus be outnumbered.  So my ears were all tuned in for this conversation.  My dad was also pretty tuned in because he knew he was “in trouble” … again.  As my mom (who mind you was sitting in a pre-op bed waiting to undergo yet another surgical procedure on her own knee) was giving my dad “the business” about needing to see the doctor about his knee, he listened patiently and said nothing for a few minutes.  When my mom was all said and done with her masterfully crafted “closing arguments,” hoping to get some positive response from my dad to the point he would give in and actually go see the doctor, he said with a tinge of sarcastic laughter: “Nooooooo WAY.  After seeing you go through all this stuff with YOUR knee, with 2 weeks in the hospital and then 6 weeks on an IV antibiotic in a rehab center, there is absolutely NO WAY I’m going to see a doctor about my knee.  FORGET it! It isn’t happening.”  He certainly had a valid point and my mom wasn’t going to win any arguments on this one no matter how carefully crafted her closing arguments were … ESPECIALLY from a hospital bed as she was waiting for another surgical procedure on her own knee!  Case closed.  Period.  Even the “General” wasn’t going to take any actions on this one!  I just wanted to get to the surgical waiting area at this point and then wander over to Starbucks for the usual coffee and chocolate chip muffin.
 
Evening Prayer in Church:  Last year, we began a journey of praying Evening Prayer in Church at 7:00 p.m. Monday thru Thursdays.  The goal was to gather as a parish community before every evening meeting and pray the official prayer of the Church.  It was a great way to pause in the midst of the busy-ness of the day and remember that God needs to be the center of our lives.  Unfortunately, our grand plan didn’t work out the way we wanted or hoped.  There has been a variety of reasons for this.  One of the biggest reasons is that all of our groups have different start times for their meetings, and the 7:00 p.m. time just wasn’t working out for everyone.  Many made valiant efforts to stop their meetings and come over to Church if they started earlier.  But then the schedule would get disrupted at times because of liturgies or events in Church that couldn’t get moved (we’re a busy place); as a result one didn’t always know for certain whether Evening Prayer was on or not.  So, for a variety of reasons, we will no longer continue praying Evening Prayer in Church at 7:00 p.m. during the week.  However, those groups who want to keep praying Evening Prayer before their meetings simply need to contact the Parish Center, and we will print the booklets for you.  Our plan now is to come up with a standard prayer format for all of our groups with the expectation that EVERY meeting on campus would begin with that prayer.  Groups could add to the prayer we “script,” but we want prayer to be at the center of everything we do as a parish.
 
SJA’s Facebook Prayer Warriors:  Speaking of prayer, did you know about SJA’s Facebook Prayer Warriors?  It's a private group with close to 500 members. It's a nice way to request prayers and pray for others in our own community in a personal way.  If you have a Facebook profile, you can request to join. If you don't use Facebook but would like to request the group to pray for your intentions or would like to request prayers anonymously in the group, please send a note to [email protected], and she'll post your prayer needs.
 
Enjoy the week.  Know of my prayers.
 
In Christ,
 
gmb
[email protected]