Happy Easter!

Changes:
I am sorry it has been so long since I have written.  The biggest change in our lives is that we are now officially in the  middle of a remodel!  After months of "any month now" with our former contractor we changed contractors.  It is special to us that we had a two week window to meet the new contractor, Rick.  His friend Lee dated a former co-workers of Chuck's for only two weeks and we happened to meet Lee during the two week period and he contacted Rick for us.  It is hard to find contractors willing to work with the VA and we are thankful Rick is.  Glen is the main worker on our house and we absolutely love him.  We moved out of our bedroom and bathroom into our guest room and guest bathroom, most of our stuff is boxed up and the work began nearly four weeks ago.  (If we had of gone with the original contractor we would have had to have moved out of our house for three months).

Thankfulness:
I reread my blog recently and remembered our hard Good Friday last year when Chuck got the power chair.  It has been nearly a year since then and Chuck has not had to use the chair!!  He is weaker than a year ago but still uses the walker to get around our house and the scooter when we go out.  We are thankful.   This Good Friday I am so sorry I was not able to grab a camera.  Some of you may remember birds built a nest just outside our patio door last year.  On Friday a bird visited the nest, kicked it apart and proceeded to place pieces of straw in his/her beak.  Not just a couple of pieces of straw but more than 20!!  The bird appeared to have a straw mustache!   It was so fun to get to watch and to know that the nest was being torn apart not by a passing animal but by another bird to build a new nest.

Please Pray:
We have noticed that if Chuck is tired mentally or emotionally it affects his phycial strength and ability to function.  The remodel involves a lot of VA red tape and requirements as well as requires many decisions and it is taking a toll on Chuck.  Please pray that he will rest well.  His legs tighten at night and waken him with muscle spasms.  And pray that he is able to navigate the remodel peacefully and without too much energy expenditure.  Chuck is barely able to walk with his walker in the house and his shoulders hurt from the force he is having to use.  And as always we ask that you would pray as
God leads you to prayer.  We are so humbled and thankful for your prayers.  We would also love prayer that the remodel will proceed smoothly without setbacks.

Easter
My favorite quote I saw posted this year is: "After the death and resurrection of Christ Pilate was still in power, Herod still ruled, and the Roman soldiers still rode their horses through the streets of Jerusalem - but everything had changed." Chuck and I celebrated Easter yesterday because our church meets Sat. night.  Sunday's I catch up and get ready for workers to be in our house for the week. Today Chuck rode his scooter to the laundromat; a first for him to ride that far on regular roads and I drove.  (Our wash and dryer were supposed to be available after a week or two and it had been three weeks since I had done a wash and we had a lot.)  It was so sad at the laundromat; people preoccupied and weighed down and not knowing the reason Easter is celebrated.  Jesus is alive and conquered death!  I think it was my favorite quote this year because it reminds me to remember that no matter how weary we are or how hard it is for Chuck God is still victorious, faithful and present with us.