Issues of the Heart

I love that Maddie still has her small group on Wednesday nights.  Tonight's story was about the woman who visited Jesus and the apostles with anointing oil that she poured on his feet and head.  There were complaints about the expense and how much could be used to help the poor, but Jesus stopped them.  Interesting complaint, isn't it?  There will always be people who think there is a better use for resources at the church, and the standard answer is that it would be better to help the poor, which on the surface sounds like a reasonable argument at first.  However, it completely ignores the great amount of resources that are already being used for the poor, and for everyone else.  Jesus is right, of course.  Besides, these were her resources, and she can do with them what she wants to without everyone pointing fingers at her.  Of course, amongst those pointing fingers was Judas, who wanted to use the money for himself, in ways that he wanted to use it.  Which again, is just like today.  Everyone completely missed the point.  She was anointing him for what it was that he was about to do, and what he was about to give to all us, something all the resources in the world could never equal. 

Maddie won the game tonight, or at least I think she did.  She was able to do her small group in her room entirely tonight, as there was no piano class tonight.  Therefore, there was no listening to it in the car as we drove in to Gainesville.  We stayed home tonight.

Mom and Nana continued their work in the yard today, and it is just looking so nice out there.  We have these azalea bushes out there, and so many pink blossoms!  Butterflies and bees dance from petal to petal, all on a lovely spring day today.

I was working on the graphic for the small group portion of the youth night, and that apparently came out well.  Either that, or everyone's just glad it's done!  We had a lot of back-and-forth about what the content would be for this series, what the three points would be.  Given my condition, I was happy to just let it play out and simply plug in the words once I got the graphics.  Only... we haven't gotten the graphic idea yet, so... I made my own.  The series is called "Old for New," and is supposed to feature brown.  So I was sort of trying to figure out what to do.  I was just tinkering, and for some reason I hit upon the cover of my favorite CD, Amy Grant's "Lead Me On."  I literally used some of the shapes from that cover, and sort of based things off that look.

I never thought it would be the final look sent to all the campuses, but yeah, there it is.  Maybe someone will spot that.  Surely I'm not the only fan.  Anyway, it's done.  

I did this from home, because I just thought it would be wiser not to overexert myself too much.  I woke up with the blood pressure at 155, and it was worrying.  We made an appointment to the doctor, and I went there this morning at 11:40.  The EKG had normal readings, and the blood work showed everything within acceptable levels.  But even while there, the blood pressure was at 148, and then 140.  Still moderately high.  The trouble came with the exertion of walking across a parking lot, a feeling of just having sprinted in a race across the track.  All of this resulted in a scheduled visit with the cardiologist upcoming a few Fridays from now.  I'll have two or three tests, one a cardiogram and the other a 48-hour test where I carry this device around with me for a couple days.  The third test is one of those where you go on a treadmill, and I'm dreading that one.  Fortunately, that one is not scheduled at the moment.  

So it's been somewhat of a somber mood I've been in lately.  Firstly, I get rather emotional that my wife now has to deal with this as well as all the other things she's going through.  Her own health is spotty, her digestive issues annoying and causing a lack of sleep.  Then there's the issue of Nana.  This may be one reason why my own blood pressure has gone up, the stress of things.  But mom has to deal with that all the time, and it's been straining to say the least.  Even now, Nana is upstairs crying in her room.  Seven months later, every single day, all day long.  If she's not being entertained or having something to do that she wants to do, she's in tears saying the same phrases over and over again.

The good news is that some time later today, my blood pressure dropped to 120.  It jumped up again tonight, but I think I can be okay if I just stay still and calm and... well, I'll have to do that for a few weeks now, until I get to that cardiologist.  Until then, I'm on five pills now, plus that sixth one, and an inhaler to boot!  Six months ago, I took no pills!  Now I've got to keep track of them all!

The feature of the night was "Mighty Ducks 3," which is also a fun movie.  Gordon Bombay's role in the movie is greatly exaggerated in the cover of the movie, DVD and everywhere else, as he's gone for a large portion of time.  But still, he has an impact when he arrives, as does the other "Bash Brother" when he shows up on the ice.  Though it's not the best of the movies, it is still a lot of fun.  Maddie enjoys these, and I'm not ashamed to say that we do too!

We read some tonight, and the best news of the night was a late night reading of my blood pressure.  Throughout the day, it had been high.  So high that I decided to stay home.  But tonight, just before bed, it was at 119 over 89.  That was greatly comforting.  

I couldn't finish the second chapter I was reading tonight of Kingdom Keepers, but I did finish one chapter.  We're almost done with that story, Madison urging to press on with the call for "just one more chapter!"  We also read from Exodus first, covering the Ten Commandments.  We've had these memorized for quite some time, thanks to some rhyming tricks.  

We said our prayers tonight, and for a change, Madison actually tucked me in to bed.  I was so tired that we reversed the trend.  She even gave me a little friend to sleep with, a plush poop.  It's a plush poop emoji, one she likes to throw at me frequently.  He's my friend now!