Stress Filled Week

Have you ever had a week where there was a mountain of things to do? I hope and pray that the busyness of this week is behind me. The death of a close friend compressed the chores I already had on my list. An unexpected babysitting chore of my granddaughter further tightened things for me to do

Death is never a pleasant happening, but must be addressed eventually. The most difficult aspect of this funeral is that it was the third death to befall this family in an extremely short period of time. First was a son-in-law, then a daughter, but it was the death of the father that heaped the insults to an already injured family; a harsh reality that death is no respecter of people or circumstance.

Sunday is always a busy day for me; Sunday morning service, Sunday school, then Sunday evening services later. Monday I went to the funeral, not that I wanted to, but it wasn’t the funeral parlor where my wife Cindy’s funeral was held. This family and ours spent so much time together, we were like kin. After visiting, I had to hurry to pick up my granddaughter and not be late. I squeezed some time after collecting her to buy needed groceries and get a snack to share.

Now my concern was would her parent get home in time? I had a prescheduled appointment for a haircut. I made it with 15 minutes to spare. Finally home, I fixed supper and put my feet up. Somewhere in the hubbub of the day, my left hip became sore; it was a slowly progressing pain.

Tuesday I was at the funeral home, before having to dash away. I had another prescheduled meeting. I was about 10 minutes late,. That’s not me. I’m always early. The soreness of my hip made climbing in and out of the car made things worse.

In unclaimed minutes, I worked on the Chestnut Ridge Historical Society newsletter. Wednesday is our 4 hour workday and wanted something to share. Wednesday evening is our church prayer meeting. I’m also coordinator for the teen van ministry. Most times I’m part of the crew since two people are required for the children’s safety. Sometimes it takes some shuffling to provide coverage. Wednesday was no exception. I was chaperone-second, but the driver had to cancel. I was promoted to driver. We’d just had the older passenger get child clearance. He’s the first to pick up and last to drop off. He was pressed into service and the van trip was saved. The only drawback after he’s home safely is there’s no one left to talk to, on drive back to the church.