Sunday Evening

Sandra Lee passed away a little before 5 P.M. tonight.  Arrangements will be made tomorrow.  Please continue to pray for the Lee and Birch families.

Don Denton

Today Joshua and I were able to attend church.  It is hard to describle what that feeling is like when coming back to church after a lengthy illness has happened.

Don’s illness is considered chronic.  My entire understanding of what “chronic illness” means has changed.  The level of empathy for those suffering from a chronic illness has changed to.

Don will get better.  It has just taken longer than we could have ever imagined.  His goal is to be back at work the fall semester and he is making amazing strides in that direction.  It looks more than ever like a reality that this will happen.

The doctors at “Barnes Jewish” wanted Don to go from there to a full time rehab hospital and Don and I decided not to.  And we are glad we did.

Don is now walking with a cane again back here at home again.  Don has done his own intensive work here at home to get to a place where he can be in “out patient” therapy again.  Don will start that on Monday.

We continue to take “one day” at a time.  And we are learning more of what moving forward looks like and not letting this disease become our life, our idenity.

And of course we have our “set back” days which is normal.  Allowing ourselves the grace to be there is a good thing.

Please pray for us, we have allot to do this week.  Pray for Don’s continued progress.  We are very hopeful.

We give thanks to you all for your continued support of us.  We could not make it without all that you do for us.  I continue to  be humbled by what God does to meet our needs.

Bless you our family and friends.
Diane


Dukes Family

< happy birthday! >
Yesterday was Erik’s 40th birthday. He celebrated it with his wife and kids at Dinosaur World in Bowling Green, KY. I don’t think that was his birthday celebration of choice, though, unless he has become an avid dinosaur guy without me knowing. I think his birthday celebration of choice was to be with his wife and make his boys happy. One of them in particular is quite fond of dinosaurs. He was very happy.

What was probably his best birthday surprise was from Mom. Just a little over a month ago, if you had asked Erik if he thought Mom would ever sing him happy birthday again, he would have probably responded with something like doubtful. But, she did.

She had on her passy muir valve. Dad was on the phone with Erik. Dad asked Mom if she remembered it was Erik’s birthday. She said she did. He asked her if she wanted to tell him happy birthday. She said she did. Dad didn’t say anything about singing, but Mom sang. In keeping with the normal birthday routine, she busted into the tune. She sang Erik the most amazing rendition of happy birthday we had all ever heard, her arrangement including the passy muir valve rasp for effect.

Erik must have smiled. You could almost hear it through the phone.

Another cool birthday thing yesterday. Yesterday evening, Dad and Jen and the kids and I stopped again to see Mom. It was a good visit. At one point, Caleb asked Ammaw if she remembered his birthday. She said September 20th, which is right. Jen then asked Mom if she remembered Katey’s. Without hesitation, she said August 11th, which is right. Abby’s? November…she didn’t remember the exact date, but she got the month. Ella’s? No hesitation again. December 13th was her answer. She was right. Pretty awesome!

Some days it seems like her memory is all there. Other days it’s not quite as clear. But then again, how often do I walk into a room and walk back out hoping to remember what I walked in for in the first place?

Yet another birthday thing. Mom’s 68th birthday is Monday, June 22nd. We are looking forward to a great celebration. Y’all come join us!!!

To say we are pleased with Mom’s new hospital would be an understatement. Right away, they have focused wholistically and proactively on Mom’s health, with the goal in mind to move her to the brain center in Orlando for rehab. Her first day in the new place, they plugged her tracheotomy (which we thought was overdue), sat her up on the edge of the bed (which you can see in the picture), and made advancement in treating her sacral decubitus (the bedsore on her bottom). Pretty amazing.

Today, they already are talking about taking out the tracheotomy, doing another swallow study to get Mom on a full diet, and getting the cranium piece back on. I will keep you posted on the plan ahead. We are very thankful.

Dad and Jen and the kids and I have had a great week. I will post some pics on my blog to give you some highlights. Click here to go there. Erik will be with Dad all of next week. Jen and the kids and I will be back the next.

I hope yall have a great week. Be thankful for your dads. I am very thankful to be typing on a computer next to mine right now.

Oh yeah! Erik didn’t turn 40 yesterday. He turned 39. I like to pick at him since he’s older than me.

I’ll post at you later.
-jason

Sunday

“The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” ~James 5:16b~

Tiffany Bankston Currier is home (Cedartown, GA), but still has pneumonia, pleurisy, and low oxygen levels.  Please continue to pray for her and her family.  Her parents will stay at least ten more days to help take care of Tiffany and her family.

Mattress

mattress.jpgJERUSALEM — An Israeli woman mistakenly threw out a mattress with $1 million inside, setting off a frantic search through tons of garbage at a number of landfill sites, Israeli media reported Wednesday.

The woman told Army Radio that she bought her elderly mother a new mattress as a surprise on Monday and threw out the old one, only to discover that her mother had hidden her life savings inside. She was identified only as Anat, a resident of Tel Aviv.

When she went to look for the mattress it had already been taken by garbage men, she said. Subsequent searches at three different landfill sites turned up nothing.

The Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot published a picture of the woman searching through garbage at a dump in southern Israel.

Yitzhak Borba, the dump manager, told the radio station that his staff was helping the woman, saying she appeared “totally desperate.” He said the mattress was hard to find among the 2,500 tons of garbage arriving at the site every day.

He said he increased security at the site to keep would-be treasure hunters at bay.

For her part, Anat said it could be worse. “People have to take everything in proportion and thank God for the good and the bad,” she said.

Loosing a $1M would be bad; loosing your soul would be a lot worse.

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world,

and loses his own soul?”

Mark 8:36

Posted by Mike Benson at June 11, 2009 10:35 AM


Count your many blessing this Lord’s Day!

Anna Lee


Saturday – Another Update

Dukes Family


< progress…hopefully. >

So sorry for not updating since Wednesday. We have had a busy Thursday and Friday. It has been such a blessing this week to have Jen and the kids here. Dad and Mom and I have all so enjoyed it. It’s been a change of pace, for sure, which has been very good. It has also changed our routine a bit, so the updating hasn’t been as frequent, as you have probably noticed.

Thursday was a good day overall. The highlight to me was Jen getting some focused time with Mom. She really loves Mom, and over the past two years has come to know her well. More than just mother-in-law or grandma. Also as friend. They have spent a lot of time together. Mom has been pretty much a daily part of our lives since they moved to Orlando in June 2007.


Thursday afternoon, Dad and Jen got to hang with Mom for a while. I took the kids and rode around, enjoying the Westbank scenery. We drove down toward the end of the road (near Jean Laffitte toward the Gulf) and through the Barataria Preserve. Didn’t see an alligator, which was the goal of the older two kids. Oh well. They have lots of those in our neighborhood back home, so it’s okay.

Jen really enjoyed her time. Jen helped Mom take in about half a chocolate smoothie that we brought her. She got to care for Mom like the amazing nurse that she is. Her smile afterward, when we met them in the parking garage, was neat to see. I could also see in her eyes a hurt in her heart, missing her friend.

It is hard to see Mom and remember. The hurt is in the remembering and in the imagining. The beauty is in the now. We are thankful for the time now with Mom. We hurt thinking back on time before, because we don’t know yet if we will have that time again. We will see. We are praying. And dealing with the anger from time to time of the driver who wasn’t supposed to even be driving that stole the prime of Mom’s “grandmother” life.

Pray for us in that. And for the driver. It does no good to dwell in that anger. Just admitting it’s there.

Thursday morning, Dad and I went to see Mom early. Then, we headed out to Kenner, LA to tour another LTAC (long-term acute care hospital) for Mom. Ochsner hospital recently purchased this LTAC, and we wanted to check it out. You may have picked up from time to time in our postings some real dissatisfaction with where Mom has been. There are some bright spots for sure, but overall we lost have lost our trust in her care there. We have great trust in Ochsner and a long relationship with them taking care of our family. We trust that this new LTAC will be good for Mom.

Friday evening, Mom was moved there. SHE IS NOW IN THE OCHSNER KENNER HOSPITAL off of Loyola Ave in Kenner. She is in the LTAC there. We are thankful for Mom’s progress. We are very hopeful that it will continue at her new facility with more attention, more precaution, more cleanliness, and more proactiveness.

The New Orleans Baptist Seminary has been amazing in their support of our family. They reminded me again to put the link for the web page where you can donate to help Mom and Dad with the coming medical bills. If you want to do so, you can click here to visit that page. When you donate, you will be donating to the Seminary and notating that the donation is for the “Jimmy and Retia Dukes fund.”

Thankful for all of you and all of your support. Today, we are going to see Mom this morning and afternoon, going to take the kids to the Aquarium in between, and going to take Dad to Drago’s for lunch I think. Some friends from the Tylertown, MS area are down and want to take Dad to his favorite restaurant. They are sweet to do so.

We’ll post at you later.
-jason

Saturday

“What man of you,

having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them,

does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness,

and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?”

~Luke 15:4, NKJV~


The VBS program was wonderful last night.  The children were able to show their families the songs and Scriptures learned during the week.  The average attendance was 205.  Isn;t that wonderful?

The Sander’s baby did well with surgery.  Thank you for praying.

Mike Lambert is having some heart issues and is facing surgery.  Please keep him and his family in your prayers,

Don Denton

It has been one week since we have come back from St. Louis.  Don is doing better this time coming home than from the last time.  He just over the past couple days has shown some more improvement and that is such a good thing for all of us to see.

He continues to work hard at building his strength and endurance as well.

I on the other hand have a sinus infection.  I went to the doctor today and I also will have an ultrasound on Monday of the abdomen/uterus.  The doctor say it is enlarged.

Other than that we are doing pretty good.

Joshua is busy these days playing with friends.  Joshua and I really hope to be in church on Sunday.

It is late.  I will update soon.

Diane


KOMpray

Kids on Mission Pray

http://www.imb.org/main/pray/page.asp?StoryID=6686&LanguageID=1709

Stir

stir.jpgI CARRY SOME coffee stir sticks around in my backpack because I want to remember that I need to be a stir stick…

I want to get into the lives of people and stir them up and help them reach their potential and become all God wants them to be.

Even though I’m over fifty, I believe the best years of my life are ahead of me. I’m not going to stand still and watch life go by.

What gets you up in the morning? What stirs your coffee? Do you have the initiative to attempt great things for God? You can create fire by striking a match, and, in the right environment, you could burn off the dried leaves and undergrowth for a whole forrest, removing the main tinder that lets forrest fires get out of hand and become terribly destructive. You small light could ignite a salutary flame that spreads across the country. But Satan does not want us to ignite the country–he wants to keep our little lights stuck in a container.

God wants us to initiate something, to become a stir stick. We don’t want to reach the ends of our lives and say, “What did I really do for the Kingdom? What did I do for my family? What did I do for my work? What did I do that echoes in eternity?” (Dan Erickson)

“And let us consider one another

in order to stir up love and good works.”

Hebrews 10:24

I hope the list of things you have done is long so you won’t have to even wonder for a second what you have done for God’s kingdom.  We want it to grow!

Anna Lee

Friday Afternoon

Delanie Dean’s ear procedure went well yesterday.  She was back at VBS this morning.

Beth Brabham called to say her sister was a little better.  Please continue to pray for Sandra Lee.

Nathan Daniels told me his little brother was having surgery this morning and he “isn’t even a year old”.    Pray for a quick recovery and for some rest for Steve and Elisabeth Sanders during this time.

Friday Morning Addition

Beth Brabham just called to ask for prayer for her sister, Sandra Lee, and her family.  Sandra had an outpatient surgery related to an arm problem yesterday and apparently has suffered a stroke.  She is hospitalized in Baton Rouge and will be given physical therapy today to determine its effectiveness in helping.  More surgery is possible.  Beth asked that you pray.

Friday

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
His own special people,
that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness
into His marvelous light.”
~1 Peter 2:9~


Please continue to pray for the Bankston and Currier families as they help take care of Tiffany and her family. Tiffany and Brad live in Cedartown, GA now.

Pray for Delanie Dean as she continues her recovery from a procedure on her ear.

From Becky Lindsey, Scott’s mother:
Scott (Lindsey) will be having surgery on Tuesday, June 16th to have his bone flap (the portion of the skull they removed) replaced. Please keep him in your prayers. He is excited to get his skull replaced. We are anxious for him (but not looking forward to going back to the hospital.) He has made such progress and it is hard to see him go back into that setting.

Scott has been discharged from phycial therapy after meeting all of his goals. He is truly a miracle. He is planning on returning to EMT school in August. Thank you for you prayers, calls, visits and cards. We have come a long way since February due to you all lifting us up in your prayers. We still have a little way to go. Please keep us in your prayers.

http://www.romenewswire.com/index.php/2009/06/11/jordan-arrives/

Jason shared this newspaper site with me.  It tells about a young soldier who was killed in Afghanistan on his son’s first birthday and the return of the body to Rome yesterday.  Jeffrey Jordan was a real American hero.  Please be in pray for his family and for all the other families going through the same thing.

A SENSE OF DUTY

Early one morning, a mother went in to wake up her son. “Wake up, son. It’s time to go to school!”

“But why, Mom? I don’t want to go.”

“Give me two reasons why you don’t want to go.”

“Well, the kids hate me for one, and the teachers hate me, too!”

“Oh, that’s no reason not to go to school. Come on now and get ready.”

“Give me two reasons why I should go to school.”

“Well, for one, you’re 52 years old. And for another, you’re the principal!”

Sometimes we have to do things even when we don’t feel like doing them! It’s called having a sense of duty. I think perhaps the concept of duty has taken some abuse in the church. We sometimes talk about the importance of doing things for God because we want to, not because we have to. And I would wholeheartedly agree with that. But if we only serve God when we really “feel” like it, our service would be minimal indeed. Sometimes the feelings aren’t there, and we need to continue to serve knowing that it is the “right” thing to do.

It shouldn’t bother us to think that way because we do many other things in life for the same reason. For example, I am a father of three children. When each of of those babies entered my home, I loved them. And I provided for their needs because I loved them. But, I can honestly say that there were many times I got up in the middle of night to meet their needs when I didn’t “feel” like it. There were times when I got out of bed exhausted and irritable, and the only reason I got up was because I had a responsibility as a father to meet their needs. The love is always there, but sometimes it is a sense of duty that drives you to do what needs to be done.

The same thing is true in our Christian walk. When you get “exhausted and irritable” in your service to Christ, when you don’t “feel” like doing what you know needs to be done, may a sense of responsibility, a sense of duty, drive you to continue to remain faithful.

“And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’ ” (Luke 17:7-10)

Have a great day!

Alan Smith
Helen Street Church of Christ
Fayetteville, North Carolina

Pray the last day of VBS and the program tonight will touch children and their families for the Lord.
Anna Lee