Baton Rouge-day three and a story about my mom

Didn't do much photography the third day. More azaleas and robins, with insect mating as a bonus. :)

The azaleas were beautiful and abundant

American Robin

You know it's spring when the mayflies are mating.
Two were going at it when a third one tried to horn in.
It was a wild scene, man.

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So I promised the story of my mother's big scare the day after our arrival.

For those of you who don't know, my mother has Parkinson's Disease. Some days are better than others, but the last several years have really been a struggle. Exacerbating the situation is her hiatal hernia. She has to be very careful about what she eats because when her hernia decides to attack, it's pretty brutal. 

It came on with a vengeance.

It got so bad at one point she began begging God to please help her, to please put her out of her misery. As I sat across from her, wondering if I should take her to the emergency room, she asked me to pray. 

My heart raced.

Yes, I am back in church and getting closer to God, but praying out loud with or over someone has never been a strong suit of mine. I hear people saying these beautiful, eloquent prayers, and know that my own prayers fall far short.

So I clasped my hands and closed my eyes, praying silently that God would give her relief. Quickly. After a few minutes I made the sign of the cross, letting her know I was done. She thanked me.

But she kept getting worse. (So much for my prayer!) I told her we would have to go to the ER. She refused, saying they would just keep her waiting for hours. I explained that if she gets dehydrated we're going to have a big problem, and at least at the ER they can set up IV fluids, even in the waiting area. No, she was not going.

My son sat next to her and held her hand. It was a sweet moment and a dark moment all at the same time.

As the minutes and hours wore on, it was becoming clear that a call to the doctor or visit to the ER was eminent.

She then asked the unthinkable: she begged me to lay hands on her and pray. Yes, she asked of me the one thing I am terrified of: praying out loud specifically for another. 

I remembered I had downloaded the Book of Common Prayer on my Kindle. I began searching in the table of contents for Healing for the Sick. As I was looking, she said, "Hurry! Can't you just say something?!"

I felt like a failure, but no sooner had she said that, I found the section for healing. With my son still sitting beside her, we both placed our hands on her as I read the following:

Betty, Mama, I lay my hands upon you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, beseeching our Lord Jesus Christ to sustain you with his presence, to drive away all sickness of body and spirit, and to give you that victory of life and peace which will enable you to serve him both now and evermore. Amen.

I read two more prayers after that for good measure; one called for anointing with oil, but even though I didn't have any oil, I read through it anyway.

Not long after that, the cheesecake she had for dessert came up. Usually, I am vomiting along with whomever is vomiting, but I found myself cleaning her and the floor up with no problem. No gagging even. I still can't explain how I was able to overcome my normally weak stomach.

She was finally able to rest. Although she said it would take her several days to get over the attack, she felt almost back to normal the very next day.

Now, don't misunderstand me. I'm not giving myself any credit here at all. In fact, I am rather ashamed of my part in the whole thing; for my hesitation, my unwillingness to do what I knew was right. This is a glaring weakness of mine that I need to work on if I'm going to walk this talk.

On further thought maybe I'm missing the point. Perhaps God wasn't looking for eloquent words, but at my heart. Because in my heart I knew our help had to come from Him. And it did, despite my shortcomings.