“Things I’ve learned in the past week” by Charlyn Elliott (a special guest post)

Hi friends –

Yes, it is a cliché, but when it rains it pours! As y’all know, my dad had a stroke almost two weeks ago, and I’ve spent most of that time in and out of hospitals helping my mom.  My team was amazing: they stepped in and took everything off my plate so I could concentrate on what was more important.  Whew!

But was that the end of it? Oh, no! My staff director’s father ALSO suddenly had a serious health issue – she was told he needed sudden spinal surgery. She lives in Atlanta; he lives alone in an assisted living facility in Florida. Suddenly, not only were she and the rest of the team trying to do their jobs AND mine, but Charlyn (my staff director) herself had to juggle a sudden parental health crisis, hospitalization, and all the stress that comes with it. She made last-minute plans to fly to Florida.

And that’s where we pick up the story, with her list of “Things I’ve learned in the past week” about her father. Which were so hilarious I just had to include them as a sort of guest blog this week. Because it’s just been that sort of week.

-Shaunti Feldhahn

“Things I’ve learned in the past week”

by Charlyn Elliott (Shaunti’s staff director):

1. When you’re old and you have a “I’ve fallen & I can’t get up” button, you better wear it. (Hellooo, 83-year old dad, did you hear that? …Nope, he’s deaf.)
2. When you’re told that your dad is in the hospital, but you call 2 hospitals and neither has any record of him, just call a certain doctor of his. Because they can give you a play-by-play in detail: The “he checked in at 6:30, they put a C-collar on him, he was complaining of pain, they did an x-ray, and now he is waiting in the hallway for an MRI” kind of detail.
3. When half the world is on spring break and you can’t fly into Ft Myers, Sarasota is not that far away.
4. When you’re told that he’s going to have surgery (which was the reason you rushed down and flew into Sarasota), they might be mistaken.
5. When you’re told he’ll likely go home on Saturday, don’t believe them.
6. When they tell you on Saturday, that it will likely be Tuesday, don’t believe that either.
7. When the kidney doctor mentions getting a CT, jump on it and ask her to make sure that it will give the urologist info that he needs. Because, on Monday, when the assisted living place takes your dad to his appointment that had been cancelled, the urologist will be nice enough to work him in. (And since you managed to get that CT done at the hospital, he’ll have everything he needs.)
8. When the spine doctor realizes that the outpatient procedure that HE was going to do on Friday isn’t going to happen because your dad is in the hospital – he will care enough to reschedule AND give you his personal cell # in case anything goes awry.
9. When you’re an hour from heading to the airport to fly home on Sunday, THAT is when the doctor will decide to discharge him. (Yeah, 2-3 days earlier than expected. Or a day late, depending on how you’re counting.)
10. When the doctor says he’ll discharge him, you best get on the phone with Delta to rebook your flight – because you will be getting one of the last of 2 seats on the last flight out. But Delta will be kind enough to waive the crazy fees. (Thank you, Delta!)
11. When the hospital calls in prescriptions to the drug store without asking you, don’t expect it to be the right drug store. And don’t expect them to actually call in ALL of the prescriptions. They’ll still be giving you some paper prescriptions that you’ll need to fill. And you’ll finally get to the drugstore 30 minutes before it closes – with a 45-60 minute wait time on prescription fills. And your flight leaves shortly, so that ship sailed. Oh well. You’ll get the facility to pick them up.
12. There are some amazingly kind people in the world, who can make you laugh, and help out in wonderful ways. (You know who you are!)
13. And I have the best husband in the world who takes care of my “not-so-little anymore” “little dudes” while I’m gone. And those dudes are pretty cool, too!

#whatanadventure #notdoneyet #backtoRSWonFriday

Sometimes we make our own plans, and God has other plans. And sometimes we try too hard to stick to a plan that we created and we need to allow Him to change our plans. That’s what Find Rest is all about. Stop roadblocking God and when he shifts your plans, go with His plan. And sometimes, He may seeming change the plan multiple times. Just know that He is in control, He knows what you need, and He’ll provide it just when you need it. And not a moment sooner. I have a lot to learn, but I am learning. And most of all, thank you, Jesus, for taking care of my dad, me, and all of these shifting plans. It will all work out. I know You’ve got this!

”For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord…” – Jeremiah 29:11