This past Saturday I received a package in the mail. It was from my cousin Harry's wife, Sharon. She wrote that she has kept up with the blog and after reading the posting about Lourdes, she decided to send us something they have had in their home for awhile. They had been to Lourdes, France years ago and she had a bottle of Lourdes water on her mantle. She said she knew that someday she would know who to give it to. They are preparing to move across the country to California and as she was packing, she came across the bottle of Holy Water. Since she had recently read about my desire to get Paul to Lourdes, she knew she wanted Paul to have it.
Jon and I were sitting on our front porch when the mail was delivered. We had been enjoying the incredibly beautiful Spring day and were watching the birds feeding at our 2 feeders. It was a perfect day to receive so perfect a gift! I was so incredibly surprised and touched by the gift. After we blessed ourselves, we decided that we would bless Paul with the water each day as we prayed a 9 day novena to Our Lady of Lourdes.
The timeliness could not be more significant either. Tomorrow, Paul will finally take the neuro-psych evalutaion at Shephard Pathways. We have not been able to schedule it before now because of his intense headaches. last year. It is a 7 hour day of testing and Paul had to be able to endure that schedule. With his headaches and the unpredictablity of his feeling well for prolonged periods of time, we did not want to have them administer the test until we knew he would have a better chance of doing well. The test can be given once a year, as that is all the insurance company will pay for. It is a very costly test and that is why we have waited so long. It was all about the headaches. Paul has been doing so well with the level of pain that we knew it was time to get this valuable assessment completed. It will be used to help determine his needs in college or if he is actually able to do that. Since we have him registered for college, this will help us know if he can be successful. They can use the results to pin point areas of deficiency and also areas of strength. The results will be shared with the college disability department so they can assist Paul in any special needs he will have.
Paul has been very excited about taking this test. He is not showing any signs of stress over it. He has prayed that he will not have too severe a headache. If he does, we will have to cancel it. We have prayed this novena to Our Lady of Lourdes and have blessed Paul each day as we get closer. We have been working with Paul in the area of reading comprehension, increased vocabulary and usage, and math. He has been excercising regularly at the fitness center. I have noticed that he does so well on the days after he excercises. It seems to prove the information I read about increased aerobic activity helps brain functions. I am sure that the increased oxygen to the brain is extremely beneficial to his well being. Not rocket science! We worked out last night and will be there again tonight to do mostly aerobic workouts to help him be ready in all ways.
There is nothing more we can do for him other than to leave it in God's hands. Only God knows where Paul is going and your prayers have certainly helped him reach the levels of competency and spirituality that he now enjoys. We thank you all for your continued prayers. There are a number of days that I know were helped by the outpouring of your love and prayers! There have been some really tough times. We found a 'schedule' of Paul's from about a year ago. It was for him to follow each day to gain more independence and discipline and purpose each day. It went something like this:
7:30 - wake
7:45 - shower
8:15 - eat breakfast/ take medicine
8:45 - rest
9:30 - go to work
10:30- eat snack, drink water/ take medicine
11:30 - get picked up from work
11:45 - rest
12:45 - lunch / take medicine
1: 15 - take Abby for a walk down the street
1:45 - rest
2:30 - drink water / eat snack
3:00 - email a friend or read
3:45 - rest
4:15 - set table
5:00 - eat dinner / take medicine
6:00 - help with dishes
6:30 - rosary
7:00 - read/watch tv
8:00 - sleep
We are light years beyond that schedule! He gets himself up, goes to weekly adoration at 5 a.m., fixes his lunch (which could include more veggies/fruit...........you can lead a horse to water........), schedules his own fun acitivities, reads, writes summaries of what he has read, goes to work for 5 - 6 hours each day, helps with the dishes, does his laundry (after his closet floor fills up....... he definitely has too many shirts, socks and briefs......), walks his dog, goes to the fitness center, shops on line for lots of various things (a favorite!), pays his own bills and keeps track of his checking account. He lives full time at Jerry's, helps with the trash, feeds his dog every day, works on cognitive skills on-line, still loves to play Solitaire and Hearts on-line..............he has very full days and there is no rest time scheduled anymore. He stays up until 10-11 PM every night and is up at 7:30, ready to go by 8:30 AM. He calls me almost every morning to make sure I am ready!! He has periods of great discipline, and then some periods where we have to push him really hard. We can tell when he is in a down period - seems lethargic and not totally focused on his responsibilities. They are more pronounced than they would be for us. There does not seem to be much we can do about it. We have seen these down times last for almost a month. Other times it is only for a few days. Then there is renewed energy and focus and he is back up and running. Very cyclical and very slow progress. Praise God, there is progress.
God is good. Very good. And God is love. I am overwhelmed by how much love He has poured out on us. Praise be His Holy Name. I cannot do Him any justice with words. But I now know my life depends 100% on Him. I am nothing without His love. I pray so fervently that His will be done in my life. I pray so fervently that our world will ask the same for themselves. It is a tough lesson to learn and it is very cyclical and very slowly learned. But I have seen progress. There has been much growth in these past 2 1/2 years. I guess you could say it has been 'Exam Years' for me!! Lots of tests, with varying results. Prayerful perseverance is getting us there.
Love to all and peace of Christ to you in this wonderful 5th week of Easter. May you all be healed in any way needed, through the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes.
I will get the results of Paul's test posted as soon as we learn about them.
Jon and Rebecca
ps - Thank you so much Sharon. We are treasuring your gift. God bless you for thinking of Paul.
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