Pay Attention to Me!

One of the things I've noticed over my years of combining ministry and parenting is that when my family demands too much of my attention, the church acts out, and usually it's a staff member. This time its Secretary. I have been exhausted recently, so now every time I see her she tells me all about how tired she is and how little sleep she is getting. Sunday I heard how she didn't get any sleep Saturday night because her husband was up all night watching TV. Today it was because one of her foster sons was in the bathroom masturbating for 2 hours. (Just what we all wanted to know). I'm being very careful not to say anything about being tired around her, though I know it is very obvious that I am distracted.

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Brother ended up spending the night at the hospital in the ER with Mom. She's number 21 on a waiting list for a bed. She has a raging UTI, so they are giving her IV antibiotics. She seems to be improving, so they think the UTI was the source of all her problems. Sister-in-law stepped off the porch wrong this morning, and thinks she broke her ankle. Her stepfather took her to the ER, where she is waiting amid a huge backlog of patients for x-rays. She called Sister to tell her that she would have to go take care of Mom, because she needed Brother. We think she is something of a drama queen, and know she resents anytime that Brother spends with his family. This just seems to confirm our perceptions.

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I got a phone call this morning. One of the saints was transferred by ambulance from the hospital in Town to a hospital in Big City after a possible heart attack. The latest report is that Big City hospital thinks she just has pneumonia, and she hasn't had a heart attack. For now, I'm not going over there. She's still in the ER, her family is with her, and Daughter has an appointment with Therapist this afternoon that we need to keep.

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Nurse from the workshop called. She is concerned because Daughter seems very lethargic. She wondered if there had been any med changes. This just seems to confirm my impression that she is deeply depressed right now. We see Therapist this afternoon. I've decided I definitely am not going to go deal with Mom. I need to stay here and keep Daughter in her routine. She is too fragile right now for me to do anything else.

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