Hugh's News & Commentary

Presiding Bishop Ronald W. Carpenter, Sr. reports today that his 94-year-old mother-in-law, Mrs. Bessie H. Reese, who suffered a fall during the Thanksgiving holidays that broke her hip, elbow, and several fingers, was taken late Monday afternoon, December 13, 2010, to a hospice hospital in Greenville, NC.

The doctors and nurses are hoping to be able to ease Mrs. Reese's pain there in the hospice hospital. Neither the regular hospital nor the nursing home could give her enough pain medication to ease her pain and suffering. That has been doubly difficult for Nan because she not only has had the physical challenge of long hours at her mother’s bedside, but the emotional challenge of spending most of those hours listening to her mother groan and cry in intense pain.

Mrs. Bessie Reese has now been diagnosed with Stage 2 Alzheimer’s and is in a deteriorating condition. The doctors do not give Nan's mother much hope of living until Christmas.

Bishop Carpenter, Sr. will be leaving this coming Saturday to join Nan for what was supposed to be Christmas with their children and grandchildren. They do not know at this point what the next two weeks will hold.

Bishop Carpenter wrote, "Remember our family in prayer and especially Nan and her mother. Thank you for your prayers and support! We love you dearly. May God bless all of you, the IPHC family, over the holidays.

Sincerely,

Ronald W. Carpenter, Sr.

[Editor's comment: I believe that Pastor John Hedgepeth, Northwood Temple in Fayetteville, NC, said it best about the death of a mother when he wrote these words of compassion and love, "Although we suffer many losses during our lifetime, none could ever equal the loss of 'Mother.''"

This is a crucial hour (no doubt like an eternity) for the First Lady of the IPHC, Mrs. Nan Carpenter, Sr. We cannot possibly know what Nan is feeling or going through. We may have had a similar experience with the suffering and death of our mothers, but Nan is a unique person and she needs our love, compassion, and prayers. We can come alongside Nan and Bishop Carpenter, Sr. and their family with our prayers of faith. This may be the final hour for Mrs. Reese to live. My prayer is that she will not fight to live for she is 94-years-old and has lived a full and fruitful life, and that when God makes the final decision to bring her home to heaven, I pray that He will dispatch two guardian angels to escort her soul and spirit into the portals of heaven. When that occurs, I pray that Nan will experience a peace that is beyond all human reasoning, and a comfort that only the Holy Spirit can bring. Now is the time for those of who are Spirt-filled and pray in the Spirit to allow the Holy Spirit to pray through us in languages we have never learned in intercession for Mrs. Reese. When you pray in the Spirit you are praying to God, not man, and when the prayer language ceases, then, quietly ask the Holy Spirit for the interpretation. That answer that heaven will give back will amaze you and fill you with great joy and a sense of the awesomeness of Almighty God.]