Have you ever been on a team? Football, baseball, soccer? Maybe a team you were on purposed to serve Thanksgiving meals to the homeless?  Perhaps you became a member of a team going on a mission trip to build a house or even a house for parentless children.

But I’ll tell you what . . . Ron and I have been members of a four person team now for forty one years. And we’ve been through thick and thin together! We became friends when Ron was in his second pastorate in New England. That goes back to 1976-77. We each had two children nearly the same age, and they too became fast friends.

The other night, we were sitting in our family room, they having driven for nine hours to get to our home. We started doing some reminiscing, and finding ourselves saying, “What did you say?” “I can’t hear you.’’ Then we’d all laugh. And then one would comment that we were really showing ouradvancing age! Our team members had come because I was about to endure an unusual procedure on my knee. One knee was replaced 17 years ago, and the other had finally given out. I had been putting off a replacement because leaving my ailing husband would be difficult.

Have you ever heard of stem cell procedures? Well, mine was a couple of days in the future on the above day. One of us said, and I honestly can’t remember who, “We are quite a bunch! Ron can’t talk very well anymore, Kenny can’t hear him or any of us most of the time, Nancy has trouble walking and is gonna be crippled for the next few days. The only one doing OK is Donna!” Donna piped up, “I may look OK on the outside, but it’s the inside of me that isn’t always so good. My back aches, I get rotten headaches, and a lot of the time I feel exhausted; kinda like I am 95!” The four of us broke out into hysterical laughter! We decided we were still a team loving and helping each other, but the outings we used to enjoy had become minimal.

Family and friends are so needed and helpful as we age and our bodies begin to break down, here and there. Of course we have our children, and they are wonderful. Our daughter, who lives nearby, has a husband who is more like our son, and willing to do anything to be of help, and he is such a loving guy. Our daughter, the nurse, is also very helpful, benefitting us in many ways. Our sweet daughter and her hubby who live in Illinois are coming on Sunday, just a couple of days from now. They are so missed and always manage to pop in at the most appropriate times! Our friends had to leave, because he runs an extremely busy business, so we will manage for a couple of days ‘til our daughter and hubby arrive from Illinois. We have plenty of food and nothing of great importance needs to be done in the house. I’ll have opportunity to write and rest a lot! For us it has been a crazy few weeks health wise, but since God is the Great Physician and we have great Home Healthcare here, we are on the mend. I claim a promise every day, and God always fulfills it!