RDBowker

 

7/26/10  So many good things happening, and so many acquaintances!  In addition to being with family on Saturday, we saw a number of people we knew at the Summer Bible Conference with Jimmy DeYoung last night.  They all seem so happy--some day when I have a job, I may remember what that feels like.  Pray for Ed and Noel--with loss of jobs, they will be out of insurance at the end of August.  "I felt sorry for myself when I had no shoes, until I saw a man who had no feet..."

 

7/18/10  We spent an enjoyable evening playing Rook with friends last night; but even our good times are overshadowed by the pain and heartache of hurting loved ones and the lack of real job prospects.  Our home purchase seems to be moving along, and we have begun the boxing and storing stage.  Pray for strength--I hate the clutter more than the work itself.

 

7/13/10  Jenny's birthday--30 big ones!  I found out I was passed over for one job, but have applied for 3 others.  Am taking Mom B. to Oneonta to be fitted for a brace for her bad ankle.  Another acquaintance died--pray for the French family.

 

7/8/10  Please pray for the Searles family, whose son Jonathan drowned last night.  He was a student of mine at CBCA.

 

7/5/10  Went to see Mom yesterday; she seemed to be in good spirits, though she has to use a walker because of ankle pain.  Hope to hear from job interview soon.  Please pray for God's wisdom and grace regarding a special event this week.

 

7/3/10  Our census crew was laid off yesterday, until the next phase begins in perhaps 3 weeks.  No decision has been made about the other job for which I interviewed.  Mom and Dad E. are struggling with the long-settled but still unsettling idea that Mom will have to stay at the nursing home and thus they will be physically separated for the remainder of their lives.  Hope to see Mom B. this weekend.  Today's focus is on preparing for a mid-August move.  Your prayers would be appreciated for a dose of strength and a double dose of encouragement.

 

6/28/10  Attended a patriotic rally last night with David Roever, a severely wounded Vietnam vet who now travels ministering to churches and to our troops.  Truly inspiring--check out a bit of his testimony here.  Pray that I might hear about a possible job today.

 

6/27/10  Enjoyed a good concert last night--Soul'd Out Quartet.  Church today, and Census crew meeting.  Census news out of NYC casts a shadow over all our work--will we end up with statistical sampling again this year after all our hard work?

 

6/26/10  Mom E. spent most of yesterday at the Emergency room due to low blood pressure (then high blood pressure) and an unusual test result.  She was well enough to return to the nursing home, but this is hard on Darlene in terms of time, energy, and emotional stress, and on her Dad who wants to be there but is not physically able to stay beyond a brief visit.  Please pray that these health issues would be resolved quickly.  In the meantime, I wait to hear the results from my job interview, and have an appointment next week with an elder-law attorney to make sure we do all our paperwork right in these early stages of our home purchase.

 

6/24/10  We now have a contract on a house, and I have had my second interview for an office job.  Dad E's van is fixed, and things are looking up.  God is good!

 

6/23/10  With summer here and the census almost over, I have started putting a little time into updating the site.  We have put in a bid on a house, and I have made it through the first interview for a new job--in customer service, not teaching.  Preaching tonight at First Baptist of Port Crane--the job of an Ambassador (2 Cor. 5:20).

 

6/21/10  So much to catch up on!  In the past five months I have substituted up until the end of April, and then went to work for the Census Bureau; I have had carpal tunnel and trigger-finger release surgery on my right hand; have lost 45 lbs.; have preached at least twice a month at Northfield Community Church; have edited two books for Pastor Peck; have begun looking for a home to purchase in the area (big enough for ourselves, Dad E., and Mom B. if she needs to move in at some point); and have begun searching for a new career.  A highlight was 6/12 when I was invited to bring the Commencement address  at Parsippany Christian School.  An edited version can be found here. 

 

1/06/10  School is back in session, and I have subbed every day this week.  Our parents each present their own particular blessings and challenges; it is clear that we were right to move when and where we did.

Beth and Charlie fly back from a visit to the Yukon today.  Please pray that someday soon we will be able to see Jeremy, Lisa, and Joshua.

 

10/21/09  Darlene's mom has had to enter a nursing home, so the family found one here in Binghamton and moved her and Dad Edwards from Canton over the past week.  He will stay with us until they can be together again.  (We are close enough that he can visit easily every day.)  Decisions need to be made about their house in Canton; meantime, our apartment house has gone on the market.

 

8/23/09  Dad went home to Heaven at five minutes before midnight last night.  Please continue to pray for the family, and especially for Mom and Edythe.

 

8/11/09  Dad is unresponsive almost all the time.  Doctor and nurses say the end is in days.  I have begun contacting schools for substitute positions--what a hassle of paperwork!  Darlene started her new job yesterday--a good position at a good rate of pay with benefits.

 

7/21/09  Dad seems to have rallied again.  After a day when he didn't wake up, today he was alert, sitting up on the side of the bed, laughing and joking.

 

7/13/09  I visited Dad on Saturday--he was the worst I had ever seen him.  I am not sure that he will still be with us by the time we return from our visit to Canada.  Mom fell a few weeks back, and uses a walker to help steady her.  We have found a home in Binghamton which will allow us much greater opportunity to help out, but still no jobs.  Pray for travel, employment, and our move.  Thank you.

 

5/18/09  Dad is weak and in much more pain.  I have sent out several resumes to school openings, but have had only one contact from a school asking me to apply.

 

4/23/09  Dad is still with us--up and down.  I spent the day with him on Saturday, and he was coherent, but very weak.  As a result of his imminent home-going and the care that Mom is going to need, Darlene and I will be leaving our job, ministries, and home here in NJ to move back to New York this summer.  We believe God wants us close enough to be a help and comfort to her.  This will also put us closer to other family members, such as Beth and Charlie, and Darlene's sisters.  We hope to see our son and his family more often, as well.  Please pray for jobs and for a home.

 

3/24/09  Dad is nearing the end.  I spent time with him two weeks ago, and he was coherent and in good spirits.  Just days later, while he was still in his right mind, he gave clear instructions that the next time infection hits (which it will) he does not want antibiotics or procedures to raise his blood pressure--in his words, just pull the plug and let him go.  (Twice in the past he was at that point, and we gave instructions to treat him, and he recovered.)   On Saturday he was incoherent most of the time.  I am now in charge of their finances, and when Dad goes, Mom will not be able to stay in their apartment and live on her own.  Pray for wisdom.

 

1/05/09  Dad is bedridden, and is confused much of the time.  His hospital bed is in the middle of the living room, and hospice aides and nurses come daily.  He was able to see and enjoy some of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren over the holiday.  I spoke in Mom and Dad's church yesterday--we were hoping he could make it there in his wheelchair, but no go.  The Lord blessed anyway, with a tremendous outpouring of spiritual response to the message.  Pray for fruit that remains.

 

1/02/09  I performed my first wedding--all went well.  Congratulations, Bob and Greer!

 

10/15  Dad has recovered, and came home from the hospital yesterday.  He and mom still need your prayers through these difficult days.

 

10/6  My dad was gravely ill this weekend with an infection that sent his fever spiking upward and his blood pressure plummeting downward.  Though we were advised by the emergency room doctors to remove his medications and let him pass, we opted to maintain the course of treatment and leave him in God's hands.  After about 24 hours of uncertainty, his condition stabilized and he began to recover.  Please pray for him, for mom, and for the rest of us. 

 

9/15/08  Darlene's mom has been told that she needs to go into a nursing home, but her father doesn't qualify yet; my dad has taken a turn for the worse, and will have a brain scan on Wednesday.  Please pray for the role that God may have for us to play in the lives of our parents in the foreseeable future.

 

9/5/08  School is going well.  My students are a joy (most of them, most of the time) and smaller classes allow me to do more writing with them.  Dad was physically low last week-end.  When he grows weakened, he cannot hear well, and he cannot understand why everyone tells him he is looking good when he feels so bad.  I will not be traveling to see them this week-end, as I will be preaching in our church Sunday night.

 

8/25/08  What a difference 5 months can make!  Dad was never able to get his surgery, so he is on the slow decline.  Weekly chemo for the rest of his life, and pain--not a pleasant way to live, but he's still with us.  I spent much of the summer living with my parents, to try to be a help to them.  I was back home just long enough to have my car smashed up, and then we left for a week in the Yukon territory.  Now school's open again.

 

3/25/08  Dad is sick from treatment, but will be through with it in a week; then, 4 weeks and hopefully surgery.  If all goes as his doctor says, he can expect a full recovery.

 

While Mom is dealing with Dad's mortality, now she must deal with the death of her only brother, Marvin Bullis, this past Sunday.  Please pray for the family.

 

1/23/08  Mixed news on my Dad.  The tumor is large and involved in the pancreas, requiring chemo to shrink it before surgery--unless tests show it to be a more dangerous variety, which would require immediate removal.  The good news is that it has not yet involved the blood vessels, and does not appear to have metastasized yet.  More answers due in about 2 weeks.  Keep praying.

 

1/03/08  Dad's surgery went well.  Doctors crushed 6 kidney stones, and Dad may be home in a day or two.  Then they start to work on the mass in the pancreas.  Pray for Mom and Dad as they decide where to have testing and treatments done.

 

1/02/08  We have had a rough couple of days.  Beth and Charlie were in a car accident--thank the Lord no serious injuries.  Derek's grandmother passed away yesterday.  And my dad is having surgery for kidney stones today; but in the diagnosing of the stones, doctors have found what they say is probably a cancerous mass in his pancreas.  Please pray.

 

12/28/07  Please pray for health issues for me, and more steady work hours for Darlene.  In addition, please join us in prayer for our children and their families.