The Sweetness In Life. . .

Life seems to be so busy and so stressful that it is easy to get caught by the tide of things and begin to feel overwhelmed - I have stated things like "I've tied my knot and I'm hanging on, but I'm getting tired" - "I have a never-ending headache" and other such things recently... as Chip preached yesterday I was reminded to not live for my tomorrows but instead for today - WE are the ones whose journey is the journey of dying - it is those in Heaven are LIVING - he also sprayed a bottle of mist as a visual reminder to show us what our lives are like in the scope of things - what seems so MAJOR here is less than the blink of an eye.

Daddy's transplant went well, but there have been numerous trips back to UMC and to the ER; his attitude stays constant though - my daddy has always been such a strong quiet man of deep rooted faith in the Lord - none of that has changed - regardless of the stints, drains being put in, drains taken out, packing of a wound that wouldn't heal, bouts with his gout, and still not being able to urinate without a catheter.... I know my attitude would not be as great - but he has remained thankful and reminds me that God is in control and that the kidney itself is working beautifully. Please continue to pray for daddy's healing - he is to have more tests run on November 10th. For mom, please pray strength and energy - she had to quit teaching WW in order to help with all that is involved in the care of a transplant patient. My gratitude and praise goes to Dr. Blondeau and his team at UMC - they have given daddy great care through all of this.

With work, there is a lot of stress - just the normal paperwork, plus a new curriculum to be implemented this year, a beautiful new campus on which we are still working out the kinks, a large class load, and we are to be site visited this year.

On a personal level, I am praying for two main things: wisdom in our raising of Richard...he is testing all boundaries and we want to continue to train him up as God would lead us...some days are so hard though after a long day at work and then all that is involved with a strong willed two and a half year old. Also, I seem to have a reapperance of my migraines - I was diagnosed about 12 years ago with migraines, before that I just thought that all people occasionally had headaches like mine... recently I have had so many headaches...I am trying to pinpoint the influence: is it my age, stress, or a health issue - I have have three major head aches in the last month and had to miss work with one of them.

In these times, hold on tight to the ones you love and make sure that daily they know how much you love them....and keep your eyes focused on the ONE who directs all of our paths!