The 12 Days of Christmas - Day 9

What, Me Worry?
Fay Hogancamp

Luke 12:25-26
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do your worry about the rest?

My 17-year-old daughter, Kathy, had broken her neck in a car accident in July, 1971, and was paralyzed from the neck down. She spent her first three months in the hospital, having developed pneumonia. She was so weak that she traveled to Frazier Rehabilitation Hospital in Louisville by ambulance.

I went to visit her frequently, but finally she was coming home for Christmas, the first time she would be home since her accident. The whole family was excited.

Kathy’s older brother was getting married. His fiancée wanted a Christmas wedding, so it was scheduled during Christmas week. Since we are a do-it-yourself family, I was planning to sew my own dress and my youngest daughter’s dress. Also, I had insisted on having the rehearsal dinner at my house because I enjoyed quantity cooking and our large house adapted well to large crowds.

I spent most of the first week of December with Kathy at the Rehab Hospital, returning to a nearby motel to sleep. I had not done any Christmas shopping for my seven children yet. While I was cutting out the fabric for my dress, I suddenly got panicky - how would I ever get everything done?

Once Kathy was home, I would have to turn her over twice at night, dress her in the morning and transfer her to her electric wheelchair. She was fairly self-sufficient during the day, if we cut her food. Then at night I would have to do her night routine plus giving her a bed bath.

I wished we could skip Christmas this year; it was a job just to decorate the house. Around this time the phone rang; it was my brother excitedly calling from California to inform me that his family was coming to celebrate Christmas with us, and would stay for the wedding. This was a sign to me that it would be impossible to skip Christmas. Of course, I couldn’t let my children down, and my parents always joined us for the holidays from their home in Kirkwood, Missouri.

I ordered Christmas gifts from the Sears catalog, and made a quick trip to a department store downtown. Fortunately, my girls were old enough to appreciate clothes. My daughters were a big help in getting the house in order, and David reluctantly put the tree up in the front hall and decorated it.

I also had to make room for our house guests; the girls had to double up in their rooms, and I had to hunt up fresh linens. My once-a-week cleaning woman was indispensable at this time. I brought a station wagon full of groceries and finally we were ready for my extended family and Santa.

I don’t know why I worried! When Kathy arrived home for the first time in six months, we celebrated. It didn’t matter that she was in a wheelchair; she was the same fun-loving Kathy. I was glad that my brother’s family came all that distance to help us celebrate Kathy’s return home and the Lord’s birth.

Christmas was very special that year; we thanked the Lord that although our three daughters were in that terrible July accident, all was well!

The rehearsal dinner kept growing as my daughter-in-law was having a quartet sing at the wedding, and thought they should attend with their wives. In addition, she had invited her friends who were going to serve at the reception. I would have to borrow tables and chairs. It wasn’t the fancy restaurant dinner that she had envisioned, but I thought having it at our home made it much nicer.

The large wedding was beautiful, and I was blessed to have my whole family present. God must have expanded time, as I wasn’t rushed, and everything got done! I was truly thanking and praising our good Lord!

On Day 10 remember; our almighty God, who numbers the hairs on our heads can supply our every need.