Friday, February 25, 2005

Our Friend Mr. Bee


Terry Schiavo

This is simply not right. I know. Our dearest friends have a family member who is living in sub-acute care, and slowly declining from Huntingtons Disease. His name is Bee, (known affectionately as Mr. Bee, to those who love him). He is about my age. He is my friend, and each time we visit him, he always tells me that he loves me; he like to repeat that. A lot.

Bee has an MBA, was once married, and has just about the sweetest heart of any man I know. He is more cognitive than Terry Shiavo, but cannot care for himself anymore, and requires round-the-clock medical assistance. The doctors and nurses who work with him are wonderful.

Bee cannot eat normally like the rest of us. One of the effects of Huntington's is a constriction of the esophagus to the point that choking on food is common. And so, Bee has a feeding tube. If his feeding tube were removed, he would slowly die, and it would not be pleasant. It would be, in my mind, unspeakably cruel. Bee's extended family understands that although his quality of life is not that of ours, he is still persistently and dearly loved by God, and is one of His children. It is not for us to decide that Bee has become too much of a burden and should be allowed to slowly die. We will stand with Bee's family, as long as God has need of him here with us on earth. Life is not neat; yet it is in the messiness that we find Christ.

It seems that Terry Shiavo's ex-husband has been the primary moving force in disconnecting Terry's feeding tube. Might we all agree to pray for this man, that God might change his heart, and change it soon.

My Wife - Gotta Love Her


Building a bit of the Kingdom

For the past 10 years or so, my wife has always wanted to celebrate her 40th birthday by building a home for someone less fortunate. Well, 40 came and went, and what with the busy-ness of two daughters in school, multiple sports, church, music lessons, etc, that trip to build the house slipped by.

However, about two months ago, God provided my Nancy with the chance to go to Tijuana to build a home. She is there right now, and I am home with the girls. The team hopes to complete the 14' by 14' home in three days (with the foundation being poured before they arrived), with the help of 25 volunteers from Southern California. Simply stated, this is a very good thing, and it is my hope and prayer that this weekend will be filled with love, laughter, lots of hammering, a roof that doesn't leak, and doors and windows that will emit the sounds of a happy family for many years to come. Solo Deo Gloria.
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