Update From Bruce the Sheep

Greetings, my brothers and sisters! I thought it might be a good time to explain why I was absent for a while, and what my tentative plans are moving forward. I use the word “tentative” because our tomorrow’s here on earth are not guaranteed, and we usually don’t know exactly when we will be going home.

As some of you are aware, my wife of 52+ years has dementia and it is progressing. It’s still manageable and the Lord sustains us daily, but it can definitely change the normal flow of day to day living. In addition, my wife also has severe arthritis in her hip, and is awaiting a hip replacement, hopefully within the next three months or so. That bad hip means that her mobility is limited to using a walker, along with considerable pain and discomfort. Once again, it is manageable, but she definitely has limited mobility. 

Our five children, who are all grown up now and on their own, all live in the immediate area. One of our daughters is a single parent, with a four year old daughter of her own, and we spend a good deal of our time interacting with the two of them. Grandchildren are such a blessing and we have been graced with 7 of them, all of which we get to see from time to time, along with their parents. All things considered, God has been very good to my wife and I and we have much to be thankful for.

About three weeks ago, I was involved in a car accident. Another person, pulled out into my traffic lane from a 90 degree angle on my right, on a curving road, about two car lengths ahead of me.  My lane had no traffic on it for quite a distance. There were four lanes, as you can see in the picture below, two in each direction and the person crossed out in front of the first lane, from my right, which was pretty well, bumper to bumper traffic, ultimately heading in the opposite direction that I was going (the other side of the road) and appeared in the second lane, in the lane and direction that I was going. I slammed on the breaks but there was insufficient time and distance to slow down significantly or avoid them. The front end of our car received significant damage and the air bags went off. Here is a picture of my car at the scene of the accident:

 If you’ve never been in a vehicle when the air bags go off in the front seats, let me tell you, those puppies hurt. It felt like I had been hit in the chest with a 2 by 4. Between the seat belt restraining me and the air bags going off, my chest took quite a hit. Bear in mind that I am 77 years old and my body does not recover from injury as quickly as it used to. God let me know that He would heal me, and He did, but it took about three weeks for the pain and soreness to gradually disappear. Fortunately I was alone in the car, driving home from work and the driver of the other car was not injured. Accidents happen and sometimes cannot be avoided. 

I decided to take time off from my blog and focus on maintaining my assistance to my wife, during my time of recovery. Movement of any kind, especially during the first week was quite painful, so it was a bit of a challenge. Once again, God’s grace is amazing. I am amazed at what God can and does do. Had I been going a little faster, the result could have been considerably different. 

Moving forward, I will in all probability, not be publishing on my blog as much as I used to. Definitely not stopping but a tad more sensitive to other requirements that also need to be addressed. Interesting enough, I had been asking God for direction with regard to moving ahead. His response was not what I anticipated or expected, but through it all, God does sustain and gets us through. Really amazing when you stop to think about it.

So, there we are. Lessons learned and cautiously moving forward. I am a sheep in God’s flock and Jesus is my Shepherd. Keeping our eyes on Jesus, day by day, moment by moment, builds our faith, because He is always faithful.

Worthy is the Lamb! Blessings!