Floors and Mr. Marvelous' Health

Mr. Marvelous has chronic sinus problems.  He struggles to completely recover from one infection before coming down with another.  It has been this way for years.  He has had surgery by one of the top ENTs in the country.  He has seen some wonderful doctors here in Alabama (and a few stinkers, I might add).  He has been evaluated by ENTs, Pulmonologists, and Allergy/Immunologists.  They struggle to figure him out.  He is very compliant with the suggestions the doctors make. 

Now step over here a minute and let me tell you about another track of the story.  When we bought our house, the lady who lived here before us had several dogs, some large and some small.  The dogs lived in the house.  We were not able to re-do the carpet when we moved in, and as she was on the verge of a foreclosure, she certainly was not able to do anything about it.  They were ugly.  They were not nice.  We shampooed (and shampooed, and shampooed) but still....

While Mr. Marvelous' sinus problems pre-dated our home, they seemed to be getting worse.  It was almost as bad as when we lived in a little house that was plagued with mold.  I fretted about the floors in this house, but I could never quite find the money in the budget to do anything about it.  It seemed that every time I would make any progress in that envelope, something would happen and we would have to add that money to the emergency fund to cover an emergency.

This past winter, Mr. Marvelous got motivated (multiple bouts of sinusitis will do that).  We started saving our pennies more diligently.  We had some unexpected income that we added to the envelope.  We scrimped.  We talked about the possibility of just pulling up the carpet and doing something quirky with the subfloor.  Pinterest has some terrific ideas for that if you are interested.  We talked about sanding and painting and then sealing the subfloors.  We started surfing the 'net.  I started a new Pinterest board.  Then we started thinking a little more.  In addition to the sinus problems, Mr. Marvelous has some serious knee problems.  We thought about being on hands and knees and sanding the floor.  We thought about the dust from the sanding getting into everything.   Including this.

We started cringing every time we talked about the painted subfloor.  I loved the idea ~ I still do! ~ but we began to wonder if it were really practical?

So we counted the money in the floor envelope and realized we had enough to re-do the living room and the hall way.  Mr. Marvelous was able to get a couple of days off and we got started.  Mr. Marvelous took off Friday and Monday.  He figured we would be done by Saturday noon and could do some other home improvements that needed doing (or play in the garden!) until going back to work.  Hahahahahahahahahahaha!!  I figured it would take us until Monday.  Guess who would have won that bet??

We pulled up carpet.

I pulled up tacks, hammered down nails, and lightly sanded the floors before spraying them down with a very strong vinegar solution.

We put down the underlayment and started laying laminate.  And tried to remember to take pictures for you along the way.  In the middle of the pulling, pounding, sanding, and being the weight to hold down one strip while Mr. Marvelous pounded in another....I sometimes forgot about the pictures.



I would like to inform you that you should purchase the thickest laminate you can afford.  If you can't afford very thick laminate, you might want to seriously consider waiting until you can.  I would also like to inform you that the first three rows of laminate you put down are the hardest.  The process is enough to make a saint swear sweat.  This Public Service Announcement brought to you by the Achin' Akins. 

Half-done

Finished

Or not really.

I am of the persuasion that the job is not done until it is DONE.  I had heard rumors that our trash service allowed their customers to bring one truck-load of whatever to the dump at certain intervals.  So I called our trash service.  Turns out they allow you to bring a load quarterly.  Hurrah!  BUT you have to have a voucher to do that.  Boo!  But they were mailing vouchers that week.  Hurrah!!  BUT I would not get the voucher until later in the week.  Boo!!  I really did not want that stuff on my porch for that long.  The dump is not open on the weekends, and we needed to make that run before Mr. Marvelous went back to work.  I begged.  I told the nice lady on the phone that we had ripped up carpet and needed to get it gone.  I explained that we had been customers for over a year and had never gotten any vouchers, nor brought any loads to the dump.  I promised that if she would let us bring this load this time I would bring the voucher to her as soon as it came.  Bless that dear lady, she completely understood (I found out later that she was getting ready to do her floors). 

So we loaded up the truck and we went to Beverly...

No, wait a minute, wrong story.  Actually we loaded up the truck and we went to the dump.  We had a couple of adventures along the way, but the most memorable one was about the "item" that flew off the truck along the way.  I driving the car following Mr. Marvelous who was driving Little Redneck Truck (it has been worked on and he wanted to make sure he had a ride if it broke down).  We got down off our little road and onto the main road.  Suddenly I saw something fly out of the carpet roll on the back of the truck onto the road.  I thought it might have been one of his work gloves, so I slowed down (thinking I could retrieve it and be a heroine for him).  Nope.  Not a glove.  I did not take a picture, but it looked something like this.

I'm still trying to figure out if it was toxic fumes from the carpet that killed the poor thing.  I knew that stuff was bad....!  And how in the world he got into the roll of carpet to begin with?!

With that torture, I will leave you alone.  Until we can get to work on the rest of the floors.

Friday

The girls and I hope that you find a patch of sunshine today;

and we hope it makes you as happy as it makes us!

God's peace to your homes and your hearts.

Wednesday Prayers

My jars of names and descriptions are growing.  This morning I dipped in and found some names to share with you. 

In John 13:34 Jesus tells His disciples: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another."
Jesus is my Commander. 

If you have any military knowledge at all, you understand some of the implications of this.  He is the one Who has authority to give us commands and our response is to be quick obedience. 

In John 14:26 Jesus is continuing the conversation with His disciples and preparing them for what is coming.  He makes them a promise: "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."

There are a lot of names and promises in that verse.  The one I want you to think about today is that the Holy Spirit will (not might, or could if you do everything on the check list, but WILL) teach you all things.  The Holy Spirit is the teacher of all things. 

Here are some things I would ask you to keep in prayer today

1. Several weeks ago I asked you to pray for Elise (and her Mama!) as Elise was not feeling well.  Elise battled childhood cancer at a very young age.  Can you imagine how difficult that must be for her Mama when Elise starts acting sick?  Yesterday her Mama decided to call the doctor and beg for certain labs to be done.  We prayed that the doctor would agree to do what Mama was requesting.  The doctor exceeded the request willingly and we now have reassurance that Elise's problems are NOT a recurrence of cancer.  That will make you do a happy dance!  Praise God with us for this good result!
2. Nancy's labs were stable enough for her to have chemo this week.  That's a mixed blessing.  Thank God that she was able to do this, and did not have a reaction to the chemo.  Please pray for a quick recovery from the side-effects.
3. Yesterday I asked you to pray for my friend Susan and her family traveling overseas.  As I am typing this, they have just landed on the last leg of the journey and are taxiing to the gate.  Please pray that they will all be able to rest and be ready for the work that God has for them.
4. John is hoping to start easing off some of his medications over the next few weeks.  Please pray for endurance in this process.
5. Larry needs a kidney transplant.  His daughter was hoping to be able to donate one of hers, but has found that she will not be able to do this.  Please pray for peace and comfort for his daughter, and for a kidney for Larry.
6. Please continue to pray for students getting ready for finals, for protection for students going on graduation trips, and pray for the teachers who are finishing up their work and getting ready for a busy summer.
7. Remember the student pastors and ministers as they are getting ready to crank up for the summer.  Pray that they would be obedient to what God wants them to do for these treasures entrusted to their care.

Thank you for your work of prayer.  Please feel free to let us know how to pray for you today!

Sending

A little over ten years ago our family moved from South Carolina to Augusta, Georgia.  I soon discovered that God had already made arrangements for me to have a best and life-long friend all ready and waiting for me.  Susan is a woman of God who is not content to stand still spiritually.  We share many of the same loves, for things like a good book, a good chat, a good cup of coffee, and our families.  Susan's mother came from a part of East Tennessee, a part with which our family are quite familiar.  Mrs. Evelyn used to love to talk with my Dad ~ her pastor ~ about places and people they both knew back in Sequatchie County.  Mrs. Evelyn quickly became one of my "Other Mothers".

When we moved to Georgia I was still wheelchair dependent.  Susan and her husband just happened to have a van complete with a wheelchair lift.  She made it her mission to take me wherever I needed to go, whenever.  I'll never forget the time we were going and neglected to strap the chair down; for some reason I was riding in the chair that day instead of the front seat.  Susan stopped and I went over backwards with my legs straight up in the air!  We got a lot of laughs out of that one.

Susan shared with me the memories of her daughter Sarah, who died just before we moved to Augusta.  I loved hearing her Sarah-Stories and could listen for hours.  She shared with me her precious daughter Rachel.  Rachel may not be able to use a lot of words, but she speaks volumes with her eyes.  Rachel still always checks my hands when she sees me to see if I have painted my fingernails for her or not.

Susan is also married to a Mr. Marvelous.  Her Mr. Marvelous grows flowers, mine grows vegetables.  Neither of us really understands why our men can't grow vegetables AND flowers....or flowers AND vegetables.  Her husband and mine are similar in a lot of ways.  They are both very thoughtful and very deep spiritually.  As our son has grown, her husband has often taught him things that he needed to hear from someone other than Dad & Mom.

Susan was a huge help to me when our Beloved Meaghan died.  She was able to say things about losing a child that I needed to know in order to support my sister.  She prayed with a painful understanding for my sister, my brother-in-law, and my parents.  As my parents age, she reminds me to treasure every opportunity to be with them, having already lost her own parents.

I hope that I am half as much a help to Susan as she has been to me over the years.

Today Susan, her Mark, and their daughter (Her Most Royal Highness and Princess of Practically All) Rachel are getting on a plane.  They will fly to Atlanta where they will get on another plane and fly for fourteen hours.  They will have a four hour lay-over before getting on yet another plane and flying for another four hours.  They will spend a month there with Mark teaching, Susan grading papers, and Rachel teaching folks there about the treasure she is.  It will be a challenging month in so many ways.  Rachel is completely dependent with all of her ADLs (Activities of Daily Living).  While the place they are going is an English Language Learning campus, outside the campus is not.  New culture.  New people.  New world.  They will stay for a month before coming home.  Then they will make a decision about what it is God is calling them to do full-time.

Please pray.  Pray first of all that Rachel does not have any major, frightening seizures on the flights.  They have the medication she needs and they know what to do but Susan is concerned for the others on the flights having to experience those.  Pray that God will protect their health while they are traveling and while they are there.  Pray that God will show them very clearly what He wants them to do.  Pray that He will use all three of them for His glory and His Kingdom.  Pray for protection, especially spiritual protection.  Pray for Mark's mother while they are gone.  As you think of them between now and June 9th, please continue to remember them in your prayers.

As you pray, realize that you are taking part in God's work to spread His Gospel.  You may not be able to travel to where they are going in person this year, but you are a part of the going.

His peace to your homes.

Mark and Miss Priss waiting to board the plane

Mark, Susan and Rachel

Monday Memories Books!

I have a good friend.  The story of how we met and got to be friends is as quirky as we are.  There was a mixture of Home Depot, a Christmas tree, a chainsaw, and church.  For today however we will stop with the simple "I have a good friend".

Back in February I discovered almost by accident that Paul and Elizabeth Musser were not only in the States on furlough, they were going to be speaking in Atlanta at Second Ponce deLeon Baptist Church.  I called my good friend Beth, and one Tuesday morning bright and early we set out for a grand adventure.  I drove, Beth navigated, and we got to the church in mid-town Atlanta with time to spare.

I love church steeples, don't you?

The gathering that day was hosted by some remarkable ladies in the church.  These ladies know their calling in life and embrace this calling enthusiastically.  They are called to pray for their missionaries.  They rejoice in this calling.  They understand the urgency of the need to pray for their missionaries and they delight in being able to participate in foreign missions.  These are also the ladies who taught Sunday Schools and led youth groups while the guest speaker was growing up there.

Elizabeth Musser is not only a missionary working with her husband to shepherd missionaries in a large portion of Europe, she is also an author.  Her work is exceptional.  The best way I can describe it is to say that she writes with excellence for the glory of God.  The stories she writes are well-told, the characters generate an emotional response from the reader, the themes are thought-provoking, and the plots are unexpected and engaging.  I would be hard-pressed to say which of her novels is my favorite.  The Swan House deals with a young girl growing up in Atlanta in the aftermath of the Orly plane crash.  Words Unspoken is set in a part of Chattanooga where I used to live and tells the story of a young lady who is trying to overcome crippling fear and the inner voices feeding that fear (a very helpful theme for me to read).   The adventures of a young missionary as she grows up through the Crosses Trilogy (Two Crosses, Two Testaments, Two Destinies) give an insight into the Algerian refugees in France back in the 1960s and into the life of missionaries in the south of France ~ which just happens to be where the Mussers served for many years.  The Sweetest Thing goes a little further back into Atlanta history to tell the story of two young ladies during the Depression era.  Elizabeth says that this story is about "Faith, fun, romance, and tragedy". 
I'm not giving you the full run-down of Elizabeth's books; hopefully you will be motivated to discover her for yourself.  I can tell you that her books are available in the libraries I frequent and on Amazon. 

Meeting Elizabeth was a highlight of my year.  I had not realized before going that this was the church where she grew up, and these were the ladies who had taught her Sunday School classes and led her youth groups and choirs.  Yet she was so generous with her limited time and visited with Beth and I as if we were the very people she most wanted to talk with.

 The two Elizabeths

 Paul took the pictures; that's Elizabeth's mother on the left, Elizabeth, me and Beth.

 As God brings Paul and Elizabeth to mind today, remember to pray for them and the work that they are doing in Europe.  Pray for their sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren who live here in America.  Pray for their parents.  Pray for spiritual renewal in their countries.  Pray for spiritual protection for them and the missionaries they pastor.  Pray that they will continue to be an example of a loving, godly marriage.  Most of all, pray that God will be glorified in their lives and in their work.

Now go read a good book!

Friday!

Enjoy the beauty of a South Carolina sunrise today.

May the glory of our loving Father's creation fill your heart.

God's peace to your home.

Wednesday Prayers

I am out of town this week visiting with my parents.  We had the memorial worship service for our beloved Roberta, and mother and I are trying to get her things taken care of.  For those of you who have been praying for Roberta in her last days, and for her family as we miss her, thank you.  Your prayers, support and encouragement are greatly appreciated!

Psalm 121 has long been one of my favorite Psalms.  It is the second Psalm I memorized.  It is the Psalm I shared with Roberta the day she died.  The names in this Psalm are particularly helpful during times of distress.  The one name that is repeated over and over throughout this Psalm is this:

Keeper

The Lord is our Keeper.  This name is used six times in these eight verses.  He is our Keeper.  What a blessed relief to remember that!

Prayer needs this week:

1. Lavonda is in the hospital with Congestive Heart Failure.  She will be staying in until Thursday when she hopes to have her pacemaker replaced
2. Nancy is scheduled for more chemo on Monday.  Please pray that her labs will be stable.
3. Please pray for Jody this week.  It has been almost 9 months since her husband died after a long battle with brain cancer.  The grief does not magically disappear in that time.
4. Thank God this week for our mothers, and remember to pray for the young mothers who are trying to figure out how to be the mother God wants them to be.  Pray also for the mothers who have lost children to death, and the mothers who have lost children to sin.
5. Pray especially this week for your pastor's wife.  Her work is so much more than you can imagine (unless you are the pastor's wife!).  
6. Remember the mothers whose children are serving in the military, in law-enforcement, and as fire-fighters.  It takes a special kind of lady to raise these heroes and then send them out to face the danger that they face every day.

Are you picking up on the fact that Sunday might be a special day?!

Thank you for your work of prayer.  God's peace to your homes.

Friday!

Whatever your weekend brings, remember this:

From Second Ponce deLeon Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia

Happy May!

His peace to your hearts and homes.

Wednesday Prayers

Good morning, Prayer Warriors.  Thank you all so much for your help over the past couple of weeks!  There have been some wonderful answers to your prayers and your help is appreciated.  Prayer is not easy work but it is blessed work.  Sometimes in life you just can't quite get a handle on what it is that God wants you to do.  Perhaps you are in a new season of life with the kids gone from home.  Perhaps your season of life is being up throughout the night with a crying baby.  Maybe you don't have the energy any more to do the things you used to do.  In all of these seasons, the work of prayer is calling.  If your home is newly empty and housework is no longer time-consuming, use that time for prayer.  If you are up at all hours with an inconsolable baby, use that time to pray.  If you don't have energy to chase toddlers in the nursery at church, you can still pray.

Take a few minutes as you begin prayer to settle down your heart and mind.  It is so easy to be distracted by the flitting thoughts of what to fix for dinner, or how to help your children, or your frustrations or irritations with family and/or co-workers.  Take a few minutes to think about Who you are going to.  Meditate on Who He Is.  Get lost in the wonder of His goodness and mercy and holiness and justice and peace.  He is infinitely good and He is the source of all that is good (Nahum 1:7).  He is infinitely just and the source of all that is truly just (Psalm 9:7-8).  He is infinitely merciful and the source of all true mercy (Psalm 25:6).  He is infinitely holy and the source of all that is truly holy (Revelation 4:8).  He is your peace (Ephesians 2:14).  You may not get any further in prayer today than to meditate on these things.  I think that is a wonderful use of your prayer time!
However, if you do manage to get to a point of intercession, here are a few things that we need to remember this week.

1. Persis' baptism was a very sweet and precious time for four generations of family.
2. John and Penny are moved into their new home and their children are thoroughly enjoying playing in their big yard.  Please continue to pray for healing for John's knee.
3. Elise is feeling better.
4. Kevin is in the hospital with an MRSA infection on his heart valves.  Again.  Please pray for complete healing, and for spiritual protection for he and his wife during this time.  Pray that the Christian community around them will know how best to show Jesus' love to them through this.
5. Kate McRae continues to battle brain cancer.  This is her third bout of this kind of cancer.  She and her parents are weary.  Please hold up their arms.
6.  Nancy's chemo was cancelled for this week due to some lab levels being off.  She is due to resume in two weeks.  Please pray for protection from infection and for joy in this small break.
7. Please remember the Christians in Nepal.  Please pray for them in the aftermath of the earthquake and pray that God will use them for His glory in the days ahead.  Pray that they will be able to direct their unsaved neighbors to the Light of the world.
8. Please pray this week for the folks ~ whether paid workers or volunteers ~ who staff the nursery rooms in your church.  This is work and it is crucially important work.  Can you think of any job more important than showing babies and toddlers (and their parents!) the love of Jesus?  I still thank God regularly for those who loved my son as he was growing up.  Thank you, Gloria Boy! 
9. update: please add Amber to this list.  She was injured in a car accident this week and is in ICU.  Please pray for Amber, her husband, and their young daughter.  Thanks!

After writing this, the name that is most profound today is the one found in Ephesians 2:14.  I can never read this verse without hearing James Ward sing it.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man i place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

Jesus is our peace.  He surrendered his own peace (Matthew 26:38) in order that we might have peace.  May His peace fill your hearts and your homes.  Thank you for joining in the work.

Homestead Update

Back in the saddle again....

That is my concession to the fact that I have been conspicuously (I hope) absent lately.

Tuesdays are normally for Jack South.  Sadly, Jack is still in a bit of a snit about being left in South Carolina in the car while Mother and I went to Vermont.  Even though I left him with snacks, he still turns his head away from me.

 

Apparently he prefers diet Mountain Dew, and he finds the prizes in modern-day Cracker Jacks less than wonderful.  I can't say I disagree with him.

I'm hoping I can smooth his ruffled feelings over the next day or so to get him back to posing and photo-bombing again.  In the meantime, here is a homestead update.

Mr. Marvelous has been busy being Marvelous and as a result, things look beautiful around here.  He even got enough of a break in the wet weather this weekend to be able to get the (much desperately-needed) mowing done.  It looks, well, marvelous.  Of course.  

Let's start with an over-view of the back garden.

This is the right side as you stand on the steps from the upstairs porch,

The left, or kitchen side...

 ...and the center.

The fire pit is normally right there but I moved it for the mowing.

I am very happy with Mr. Marvelous' work with mowing and weeding and laying down mulch.

I like a tidy garden.

 Now, how about those potatoes in the bins?

 You might think that they are looking not-so-good but the leaves and stalks have to wither before you can harvest the potatoes.  Think on that for a little bit.

The potatoes planted in the raised beds are blooming.  

The lettuce bed has already given us enough for several salads.

April 8th.

April 28th.  

Remarkable isn't it?

We are trying artichokes this year and hoping that we can remember to cut the leaves when we are supposed to.  We LOVE artichokes and have found that we keep about 50% of what we plant, so we planted a few.

Pay no attention to the weeds.  That is tonight's project.

We have a few more to get in the ground

Did I mention that we really, really like artichokes?!

The peppers are popping up

as are beans, peas and cucumbers.

Isn't he marvelous?  Plenty of men can train dogs and children to do their bidding but how many men do you know who can train plants to climb string?!

We are trying corn this year.  Again.  We'll see.

So far so good.  We'll see.

Tomatoes?  Why certainly!  He doesn't even tell me how many plants he is doing any more.  Something about making a hoopla about sixty tomato plants or something.  

 They are already blooming and that puts a marvelous smile on his face.

Let's not forget the squash

or the volunteer sunflower!

Mr. Marvelous has also planted a bunch of sunflower seeds.  He is hoping to have them scattered all around the garden.  They make him happy.

There is lots more going on out front (though not as much as last year), lots going on with the animals, and even a few things going on inside the house.  I'll get to those things later in the month.

We are enjoying what we have been given.  When Mr. Marvelous gets home from work at the end of the day I try to meet him outside.  Before he even comes in the house, we often take a few moments to walk around and enjoy our garden.  We think about how Adam and Eve would walk with God in their garden in the cool of the evening.  We find great delight in the treasure of those peaceful moments.

Wednesday

Names and Prayers

I was excavating my desk yesterday and found a few descriptions of God that I had set aside to write about.  This week has had its emotional ups and downs, like most weeks seem to have.  I was looking at the dozen or so slips of paper with these descriptions and the one my heart settled on for this week is:

Who surrounds His people.  Psalm 125 is a song of ascents ~ one of those that the people would sing as they walked up the mountains to enter Jerusalem.  Listen to these promises:

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people

                                                                                                                         Psalm 125:1-2

The city was surrounded by mountains.  In David's day, that meant that it was protected.  In the same way, we are protected by being surrounded by God.  Sadly, in this day, that is no longer much of a defense or protection for Israel; we are aware of the existence of missiles and air-strikes and advanced weaponry that can penetrate the mountain defense.  God, however, is as much a defense today as He has always been.  The advances of the enemy in penetrating God's defense are no match for the defense itself.  We are surrounded by God who is infinite and eternal (that means without limit in space or time) in His power.  We are surrounded by God who is Above All.

In prayer this week let's start with some rejoicing:

1. MacKenzie entered the world safely on Tuesday.  Her parents and her big sister are thrilled to have her join the family.  And she is a beauty!
2. Persis will be baptized on Sunday morning and her great-grandfather will be a part of the baptism.
3. John and Penny are moved into their new home!
4. Pray for healing for John's knee
5. Thank you for continued prayers for Nancy.  The treatment this week had some unexpected challenges.  Praise God she did not have to stay in the hospital; pray for recovery from these challenges.
6. Please pray for Richard and Melba.  Richard had surgery for cancer and they were not able to remove all of it.  Please pray for wisdom to know what to do from here, and pray that God will be glorified.
7. Please pray for Elise, who is sick, and for her Mama.
8. Please do not forget to keep your pastor in your prayers.  We have a responsibility to hold these men in constant prayer for spiritual protection for them and their families, and that they would do the work well that God has given them to do!

That's all, folks.  Thank you for joining me in this work.

His peace to your homes.

Walkabout!

I am walking to New Zealand by way of Hawaii and a lot of fascinating stops in the continental US. If you are new to the blog, you may look at the labels over there on the right and click on "walking".  Yeah, I have waaaay too many labels.  I will get that cleaned up by Monday!

It's been challenging keeping up with my mileage because my pedometer keeps being ornery.  I have finally learned that when I drop it, that clears all the data and it quits working.  So what I have finally figured out to do after it gets dropped is to drop it again gently from a lower height.  While that does not restore the data, it does jolt it back into working again.  Kind of like a defibrillator.  Kind of.  One day I'll splurge and get a FitBit (or win one in a Pioneer Woman give-away).  Until then, I'll do the best I can with writing down numbers every evening and dropping defibrillating it when I need to.

Since October I have accumulated a mere one hundred fifty-two and seventy-eight one-hundredths miles.  That's 152.78 if you prefer to use the left side of your brain.  I know I have put in a couple hundred more miles than that (at least!); however, I only use the miles that I log on the pedometer and remember to write down before it breaks needs to be defibrillated.

This gives me a grand total of three thousand one hundred eighty-three and eighteen one-hundredths miles (3183.18).

I am still in the Pacific Ocean east of Hawaii.  VERY east of Hawaii.  I have one thousand six hundred eighty-eight and sixty-three hundredths miles to go to get to tea with one of my favorite authors.  If you don't mind, I am not going to put that in numbers.  It does make me even more determined to keep better track of my walking, and perhaps even work on doing a bit more of that.  Hawaii for Christmas sounds good.  Hawaii for Reformation Day sounds even better.

I have noticed something interesting on using technology.  When you go to Google Earth and look at the maps of the Pacific Ocean, you notice very large mountains scattered here and there.  The satellite images are remarkably detailed and make me want to climb around and explore.  Then you pan out and realize that the entire thing is under water.  To me, that makes it even more fascinating.

Here is a shot from Getty Images of what I am "seeing" these days. 

The Majesty of His creation.  Breath-taking!

Wednesday

Names and Prayers

 

Good morning!  It is nice to be getting back into a routine again.  For as much as I can be a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants-impulsive-and-impetuous kind of girl, I do crave structure, routine and organization.

The plastic is coming down off our back porch.  I have a view again.  We love the vast array of green shades this time of year.  I tend to look up and out to see it:

Mr. Marvelous tends to look down:

We are both happy.

I love the longer days of sunshine.  I enjoy being able to hang out clothes as late as noon and still have them dry by supper time (please don't tell my Mama I hang my clothes out that late in the day).

As I was reading in the Gospel of John this morning, I found some names that are especially important to me right now.  

God is the GIVER.  We see this throughout John 3 as Jesus talks with Nicodemus.  God is the giver of all good things (James 1:17).  Because He has given us life through Christ, and filled us with His Spirit, we are able to see Him more clearly in the world He has created.

Twice in John 3, he says that Jesus is ABOVE ALL (verse 31).  That's a good name to remember as we finish our Easter celebrations.  Jesus is ABOVE ALL in authority.  Jesus is ABOVE ALL in honor and glory and power.  Jesus is ABOVE ALL our troubles and hardships.  Jesus is ABOVE ALL the distractions and worries and busy-ness of the world we live in.

Just a few thoughts for your day.

Now, here are the prayer needs this week:

1. Please remember to continue in prayer for Robert and Nancy as Nancy continues chemo treatments.  Pray too, please, that Robert will know how God wants him to balance his responsibilities to his wife, his church, his business and all the other things that are his to take care of.
2. Melba Reid is battling cancer as well.  Her chemo has been difficult.  Please pray for wisdom for Melba and her family, and pray that this season with her daughter will be a blessing to both of them.
3. Larry needs a new kidney and his daughter Tera is hoping to be able to donate one of hers.  Please keep them ~ as well as Vicky and her son ~ in your prayers through this process.
4. Pray for school teachers this week.  In many places students are coming back from Spring Break and this is the long haul til the end of the year.  Pray that godly teachers will be a faithful example to their students of God's grace and of perseverance.

Thank you again so much for your prayers for Mother and I as we were traveling.  We are both grateful for your help.  Mom is continuing to improve and is thankful to be back home.  As am I!

God's peace to your homes.

Home.

I feel like Sam Gamgee again.  "Well, I'm back"

What a month March has been.  A lot has happened and much of it was unexpected. 

Mother and I traveled to Vermont to see her sister.  After talking to my Aunt's nurses on Thursday, we put together a trip and on the following Wednesday I drove to South Carolina.  By Thursday, Mother and I were on the train for our two-day journey to see Aunt Roberta.  We had a good visit.  Roberta seemed to be doing better than I expected and we had a good time together.  There were necessary business kinds of things that were all taken care of.  We got to meet Roberta's pastor and pray together.  Wednesday was the day we were leaving to drive back over and catch the train home.  By noon, it was clear that my Mother was not well.  We drove over to Burlington and checked into a hotel.  Within an hour I had mother in the Emergency Room.  She was admitted.  We spent three days in the hospital, followed by two more days resting and recuperating at the hotel.  Friends made it possible for us to fly home, as Mother was not up to another two day train trip.  Thankfully, the prayers of many kept that from being a problem for me.  I have medical accoutrements that make TSA nervous and make flights physically challenging.  TSA were accommodating and the accoutrements functioned throughout the flight without a problem.  Relief is not a strong enough word for what Mom and Dad and I all three felt to get her safely back home again!

Meanwhile, back in Birmingham, Nancy started chemo.  This time is different.  It lasts for 8 hours or so.  The side effects are a little more harsh.  I was taking care of Mom and I knew that was where I was supposed to be.  My job for this round of chemo was to care for Mom and pray for Nancy.  Nancy and Robert have decades worth of friends in Birmingham, and they are the kind of people that everyone loves and delights in serving.  I am not so arrogant as to think that Nancy could not get through this process without me.  It still hurt not to be here. 

As Mother and I were waiting at the hotel, my Aunt's nurse called to let me know that she had taken a turn for the worse.  Again, my place was with Mother.  There was no question of leaving her to go and see my Aunt one more time.  It would not have been good for my Aunt to have to go through another Good-bye.  It still hurt.

I have learned so much this month about surrendering people I love into God's hands.  I have known this but in March I deepened in my understanding of this. 

It is one thing to daily place my parents into God's hands when they are safely ensconced in their own familiar home and neighborhood.  In a pinch there are numerous people we can call to go and check on them and be with them until we get there.  It is another matter when I have taken Mother 1011 miles away from her home where neither of us know anyone and have her in the hospital and not be able to stay with her at night.  Or when Dad is 1011 miles away trying not to worry over her. 

It is one thing to place Nancy in God's hands when she is off traveling with her girls, enjoying a fun trip to the beach for sand and sun therapy.  It is another matter when she is in the hospital having chemo pumped in. 

It is one thing to daily trust my beloved Aunt to God when physically she is well and she is surrounded by caring nurses.  It is another matter when the doctor says she suspects cancer and is not sure what her life-expectancy is.

It is one thing to trust my son to God when he leaves the house to drive to work every day.  It's another matter when he packs up his possessions into his car and drives off to his new apartment. 
 
In each of these circumstances there is absolutely nothing that I can do to change things.  I am powerless to "fix" things and for a fixer, that is hard.  I tend to be a Jacob in my prayer life, wrestling with God and desperately trying to get a hold on the situation.  I am learning to be a Mary; to sit down quietly and listen to Jesus with a bold trust. 

Surrender.  If I am still planning how to help my parents "in a pinch", have I truly surrendered them to God's loving, tender, faithful care?  If I am making plans for what I think Nancy needs and making arrangements for her (whether she asked me to or not!), have I truly surrendered her care to the One who can take the best care of her?  If I am figuring out what to tell the nurses and doctors to do for my beloved Aunt, have I really surrendered her to His tender provision?  If I still have my hands in my son's business and am trying to manipulate his life to be what I think it should be....well!

As I finish this up, I will take up the work that God has given me to do today (that's another blog post).  With each step, each stroke of the vacuum cleaner, each load of laundry lifted in and out and sorted and folded, I will again surrender my loved ones into His care.  I will ask His forgiveness for having taken them back into my own care and by the help of His Spirit, leave them with Him.  I will rest in the peace and the assurance that He keeps His promises and cares for His own.  In this, I find His peace and His light.

His peace to your homes, my friends.