|
... His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Thy faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23
|
July 21, 2006
Dear Friends
and Family,
We will never
forget the morning of Monday, June 19th. Linda had
just phoned her parents, Ralph and Toini (Gertrude) Hansen, only
to find that her Dad was in the middle of a crisis; Mom had just
suffered a stroke. Linda encouraged Dad to call 911 and summons
an ambulance. Little did we know when we woke up that morning
that our entire family was at the beginning an “uncharted
journey.” Each morning we realize afresh that our God is
faithful and that His compassions fail not.
Mom spent the
first five days in the hospital in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, with
Dad constantly at her side. Saturday morning, June 24th,
Mom was to be transferred to a nearby nursing
home/rehabilitation center to begin physical therapy. Mom’s
doctor had just given Dad a rather discouraging report on Mom’s
progress. Dad’s phone call early that morning said it all:
“Please come as soon as possible. I need you.” Dad was
completely exhausted, both emotionally and physically. He had
only “slept” part of one night out of the last five. We flew to
Rhinelander the following day, June 25th.
We all sat in
the therapy rooms when Mom first began her three therapy
sessions: physical, speech and occupational, Monday morning.
The stroke had greatly affected her speech, right arm and right
leg. Her memory was still good, which was a good sign. In many
ways, Mom has made a remarkably progress the past 3+ weeks. She
can now be understood more of the time as her speech is slowly
coming back. She is beginning to walk a little, with the help
of a walker. Just today she had a swallowing test at the
hospital. She is now able to eat minced food but must still
drink thickened beverages.
We are happy to
report that Dad is now doing much better. Just having us with
him at home each night and spending time with him and Mom each
day has been a wonderful blessing. We could see Dad getting
stronger each day. It was difficult leaving them on Tues. 7/18.
We were able to
purchase dial-up internet service through Mom and Dad’s local
phone company when we were in Wisconsin. This allowed us to
work on our NTM Medical Plan, Life Insurance, and Medical
Emergency Evacuation Insurance ministries each evening when we
came home after visiting Mom. In some ways, it was like being
at our office in Sanford, as we could log on to the NTM
Headquarters computer as well as to receive and send e-mails.
We also kept in touch with our office by telephone. We are
thankful to our son, David, for lending us his laptop computer.
Thank you for
praying for Mom, that she would continue to get stronger,
especially in her right leg and arm. It is very important that
she will be able to get around herself, when she goes home.
Please pray that her speech will improve as well. Thank you for
praying for Dad, that he will continue to be strong in every
way. Dad just celebrated his 88th birthday in June.
He would dearly love to have Mom come home. Both Mom and Dad
are relying on God’s faithfulness and grace each day. Thank you
for praying for us all.
Thank you for
your support of our ministry with New Tribes Mission. We
appreciate your partnership with us, as together we are part of
the team of those who are reaching tribal people with the Gospel
around the world.
New
Tribes Mission
1000 East First St
Sanford, FL 32771
www.GoYeMcGhee.com |
Joyfully in Christ,
John
& Linda (McGhee) |
|