Thursday, January 25, 2007

Meet Sid...

This is my friend Sid and his greyhound Slick. Some of you guys may know about him already, but for those of you who don't I will share a little bit of his story. I have been working as a personal assistant on the side now for people with disabilities for the last year while finishing nursing school. Everytime I finish one position (for one reason or another) God always provides another one...usually very quickly. Well as soon as we moved to Woodbine I had to end my position with my good friend Nadia because we were too far away from her home. I hadn't really lined up any other work, trusting that God would either provide more work for me closer to our new home or provide a new job for Lew. Well it wasn't even a week after we moved into our basement apartment in the Hendrick's home when Mrs. Hendricks told me about a family that lives a mile down the street who is looking for someone to help them a few days a week (Sid's family). The story is somewhat sad and sobering but I share it hoping that it encourages you: Sid has been an FBI agent for over 20 years. He even had a book written about him called Dr. Snow which was written after a huge cocaine bust that he led in the 80's. He was (and still is) a very well known and respected agent in the FBI, however at the age of 54 had to make the decision to retire early. Only 6 years ago he began to develop a neurological disorder that is still a mystery to numerous specialists all over the world. It begain with just forgetting things and soon became an inability to understand numbers and letters, difficulty getting out his words, and a slow loss of his vision. Now he is still declining and day by day can have a very hard time with the simplest tasks. His brain has a very difficult time making connections and sometimes he will do things like forget to close the door, go out without a coat or walk into a door. His wife (who is also an FBI agent) is a Christian woman who really lives out keeping her vows by loving her husband "in good times and bad, and in sickness and health". She now works full time as an FBI agent to provide for their family (which includes their 14 year old twin girls) and faithfully and unconditionally loves and cares for her husband. Now I have the honor to spend my 2 days off of school during the week with Sid while his wife is at work and help him with certain tasks and make sure he is safe. It has been such a rewarding position for me. Sid, despite such frustrating and uncontrolable circumstances, is one of the most joyful people I know! He is a pleasure to be around and is always so grateful for help! God is so good to have provided me an open door to this family and I consider it a joy to serve them in this way! It is so neat to see the evidence of God's grace in them as I watch a man perservere in suffering....and a women who obeys God's commandments for loving and serving her husband.

The picture above is Sid walking Slick....he has 3 dogs total and goes for a walk just about every 2 hours sometimes more..it's def. been a good workout for me ;)

On another note...
Since school started and I started working for Sid I am having to simplify my meals on certain nights. So tonight Lew and I tried a recipe from my Cookinglight Superfast Supper's book and it turned out soooo yummy and was so easy! It was Chicken with Creamy Dijon Sauce. And the best part was we cut up the leftover chicken and just mixed it in with the leftover sauce and added a little extra light mayo and had chicken salad for lunch tomorrow ;) Worked out great!


Ingredients:
4 (4oz.) boneless Chicken breasts (pounded down to 1/2 inch thickness)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/4 cup light mayo
1 tbs. lemon juice
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 garlic clove minced
1/4 tsp. dried rosemary

Directions:
Preheat broiler

Coat chicken with olive oil sprinkle with salt, pepper, and paprika.
Broil on broil pain 5 min. each side.

Combine mayo and remaining ingredients in a small bowl.

Serve sauce over chicken.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Laura( my little homemaker:-) It is truely amazing to see how God is using all the trials you went through growing up to develop such a heart of love and compassion for those He sends your way!!He is so good!!! and I am blessed to call you my daughter!!! I love you!!!