Cyber-Weird

August 10, 2008 at 10:15 am (Family and Friends, Just Life)
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The internet is a strange phenomenon.  Through blogging, I “know” people I have never met.  Some of them even sort of feel like friends.  I feel like I’ve seen into their lives and yet I wouldn’t recognize their homes, vehicles, or spouses if I encountered them on the street.  I probably wouldn’t even recognize the cyber-friends themselves.  But that doesn’t negate their influence on my life.

An example of this is that I dreamed last night that my friends known in cyberspace as the Rusty Badger and his wife, Roberta,  (who recently stepped out from behind her blogonym) came to my front door unannounced.  Now I have known Roberta and the Badger since the late 80’s so thus far the dream isn’t impossible (although they live more than 3000 miles away so it is definitely improbable).  But in my dream, they brought with them their friend Tex and his wife.

I only know Tex through his blog and facebook page.  I don’t even know his wife’s real name!  Why were they featured prominently in my dream as house guests?  And why were they staying with me because their flight was delayed?  I live a little less than 2 hours from the Atlanta Airport.  That’s quite a detour!

I’m sure they will all be happy to know that in my dream we were delighted to have them, and we took them sightseeing.  We had a great time, and were still having it when my daughter woke me this morning.  Maybe it’s prophecy, but maybe it’s just a sign that I’m spending WAY too much time online.

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Farewell Computer, I Knew You Well

August 5, 2008 at 6:39 pm (Family and Friends, Just Life)
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The good news: My Jonathan has just been accepted into a Master’s Program at Whitefield Seminary.  I am so proud of him.  He has felt his Bachelor’s degree to be inadequate ever since we left Middle Georgia, but this is the first time he’s been able to do anything about it.  The classes are all extension, so he can do everything from here without missing a day of school.  It will take some discipline and a lot of work, but I know he can do it.

The bad news: Jonathan’s computer is a six year old clunky desktop that sounds like a prop engine when it starts up.  He’s going to be doing a LOT of writing, so I think my laptop may just become HIS laptop.  Oh well, it’s all for a good cause.

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And Then The Phone Rang

July 26, 2008 at 1:11 pm (Rohkohls)
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I was writing a post about Mackerdoodle’s milk allergy, and then the phone rang.  It was our friend Chris - the one I have been asking you to pray for.  So Mackerdoodle’s milk allergy will have to wait.  This, oh y’all, this is so much more important.

Quick summary:

In December of 2006, Chris was working on the rebuilding efforts in New Orleans.  He was a passenger in a traffic collision - the facts of which are still fuzzy - and barely escaped with his life.  The vehicle in which he was riding was uninsured.  The other vehicle (if there was one) ran the scene of the accident.

Chris has permanent back, nerve and tissue damage, but with a family to support, he has attempted to return to work in order to support them.  This has, in Chris’ words, wrecked his body.

Today, after leaving his final job, he can barely walk.  He is in constant pain, and his doctor is tellig him that if he doesn’t have another back surgery followed by six months of complete inactivity, he will never be pain free.

Today Chris, Adrienne and their three boys are living with Adrienne’s mother.  On Monday Chris, against every fiber of his personality, is filing for disability.

Y’all they need prayer, they need support, they need help.  Chris has tried to be faithful in providing for his family, and it has beaten him down at every turn.  They have medical bills from his past medical treatments still unpaid, and now he’s facing another surgery followed by six months with no possibility of work.

But what they do have is faith and hope.  As Chris was talking to Jonathan, he kept saying “This is all for God’s glory.  He’s still on the throne.”  They are doing their best to train up their boys in the gospel.  They are still trying to be faithful in this trying time.

I wish I could fix it.  I wish I could pay all the bills, and give them somewhere to live and make Chris’ pain go away.  I wish I could, but I can’t.  But I can pray.  And you can pray.  And maybe together we can lift them up spiritually and physically.

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Perspective

July 1, 2008 at 3:46 pm (Family and Friends, Thoughts and Musings)
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hot thermometerMy parents, and several friends and aquaintances who reside in varying parts of British Columbia Canada are experiencing a heat wave.  They are hot, and have been letting me know about it.

We, on the other hand, have been having an unseasonable cool spell.  We’ve been working in our yard, and going for walks in the afternoon and we haven’t even needed our air conditioner at night - our ceiling fans have been just fine.

On Vancouver Island (on which dwells most of Jonathan’s family), it is 22 degrees celsius, while I am writing this.  (That translates to roughly 70 Farenheit)  In my home town it is 31 degrees celsius. (That translates to 87 Farenheit)  In fact, our low tonight will be 21 C/ 69 F.

I say this, not to poke any fun at people I love, but to illustrate that heat, like a lot of other things, is all what you are used to.  I’m not volunteering to visit B.C. in mid-January any time soon.

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Just What We Needed

June 23, 2008 at 10:12 pm (Family and Friends)
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Let’s just say that the last week has been a real let down.  Not only did we leave our family behind, but several of our friends here in town have been out of town, so it’s been REALLY lonely.

Then, we were supposed to have an evening, and a full day with our friend Chris, but that didn’t happen - more on that in another post.

Then, I got a really nice e-mail from the mother of a high school friend of mine.  It was a great e-mail, but he’s a mess, and I’ve been burdened about his state ever since.

Today all I had planned was to re-organize my book shelves.  I know.  Hold back the excitement.

And then, my phone rang, and our great friend Rob asked if we were doing anything tonight, because he was coming into town!  So what do you think we said?  “Um, maybe another time, because I have to re-organize my bookshelves.”

NOT

So in the last three hours we’ve talked about what the Lord is doing in his new church plant, and what the Lord is doing with us, and now we’re talking about super hero movies.  It’s been exactly what we needed.

My book shelves will be there tomorrow.

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All Settled (In a Temporary Sort of Way)

June 16, 2008 at 1:54 pm (Family and Friends)
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I’ve been out of touch because they don’t include free wireless with U-Haul trucks.  I don’t doubt that within a few years I’ll be blogging from the highway, but at the moment the open road keeps me from the information superhighway.

We did, however, get my sister and her family settled in with her in-laws, belongings in a storage unit, until their duplex comes available.  In some ways, that made leaving them a little easier - as the children trade one cousin for six and an aunt and uncle for two of each and a set of grandparents - but in others, it is a little more difficult.  For a short time they don’t have an e-mail address, or telephone number, or even a mailing address.  Brian’s parents are fantastic, and will not begrudge me sending my sister mail or e-mail, or giving her a call, but it’s not like I can e-mail her hundreds of pictures of my mackerdoodle eating peas, or talk to her for hours about digital scrap booking versus conventional scrap booking.

Regardless, they are safely delivered to their new home town and Brian is eager to begin his studies (the purpose of the move.)  My mackerdoodle is already missing her cousins, and I anticipate a clingy little girl for the first few days we are home as she adjusts to being the only child in a big old house.

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A Question

June 7, 2008 at 8:41 am (Family and Friends, Humor)
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Yesterday evening we went swimming at the local pool for the last family swim before loading up the moving van and heading out to the new destination.  Our two nephews rode in our vehicle and read stories to mackerdoodle, keeping her happily content on our way home.

When we were almost home, the oldest boy piped up from the back seat:

“Aunty Coralie?  Does Mackerdoodle have a neck?”

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Wordy Wednesday

June 4, 2008 at 12:42 pm (Family and Friends, Thoughts and Musings, wordless wednesday)
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My dad has used this brush since before I was born.  Every time I see it I am filled with memories of my childhood, because any time that brush is sitting on a counter, my Dad is near by.

This brush says a lot about my Dad.  He’s been using the same brush for almost 40 years, because it’s still a good brush.  My dad doesn’t care that it’s banged up and ugly - it has all its bristles and it does the job.  When my dad finds something that works, he sticks with it and he had better have a REALLY GOOD reason to change. That’s a comforting trait in a Dad.  I have never in my life wondered if my Dad was going to get bored being my Dad, or being a husband.

So you may see a cracked, dinged up, really old brush in this picture, but I see some of the things I love most about my Dad - reliability, loyalty and constancy.  Oh, and a total disregard of fad and fashion, because it really is an ugly brush.

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. . . and you can’t press pause . . .

June 3, 2008 at 8:42 am (Family and Friends, Humor)
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Last night the entire family went to see Prince Caspian - well, all of them except the two babies, and me.  I had planned that once I got them both settled and washed the supper dishes, I would sit down with my computer and blog all of these great posts that have been floating around in my brain.

As my mackerdoodle and her youngest cousin and I were playing dress up, the baby cousin looked out the window and said “Daddy!”  Sure enough, here was her daddy, driving up, with her two oldest siblings.  Had they misbehaved and been punished?  I wondered.  Had the movie theater been full?

Two sheepish faced children came into the house, followed by their Daddy, who said “They barely made it past the previews.”  And then the explanation began, which I will give to you in their words, as best as I can recall it.  Keep in mind that the boy is 7 and the girl is 5 (6 in September)

Boy: “Well, it was really dark in there.  As soon as I walked in I thought maybe I made the wrong choice.  But . . .”

Girl: “But we didn’t want to waste Daddy’s money.  But then it got really LOUD.”

Boy: “And big.  Our T.V. is only this big (he gestured with his hands) but there the screen was from that wall to this wall and up to the ceiling, and all the way down to the floor.”

Girl:  “And it was really loud.  And there was a [I can't remember the details here, but they included things I knew weren't in Prince Caspian]

Boy: “Yeah, that was really scary.

Their Daddy: “That was just an ad for another movie though.”

Girl: “Yeah.”

Boy: “But it was really dark, and really loud and we couldn’t press pause to go to the bathroom or anything.”

At this point I looked around and realized that their brother, the Pigeon, who is 3 and a half, was still at the movie with his Mama, Uncle Jonathan and Nana and Papa.  As I was realizing this, their Daddy was telling them that they’d rent the movie and watch it at home where they could press pause and control the volume and everything.

Girl: “And we can ask Uncle Jonathan what the scary parts are.”

Their Daddy: “Or Pigeon.”

Boy: “No.  Pigeon will just tell us that everything was cool.”

Girl: “Yeah.”

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The R - r - rest of the Story

May 30, 2008 at 8:56 am (Family and Friends, Just Life)
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So, do you want to know how I managed to win my first scrabble game ever against my mother and sister?  Once you hear the story, you’ll probably agree that it doesn’t count as a win.

We sat down to play, and after three rounds my mom had double my score, with Melissa right behind her.  The game went on like this, until there were only a few tiles left in the bag.  It was my turn, and as I was about to lay down another mediocre word, my mackerdoodle woke up.

When I returned from settling her, the score pad had two extra turns for my mother and my sister, and all of the tiles were gone from the bag.  They had forgotten that it was my turn, and had gone on without me!  At this point, I was loosing by more than 55 points, but by going on, they had opened up two advantages to me: the first being that my mother had set me up for a triple word score, and the second being that they had taken all the tiles.

I laid java on the triple word, turning kin to akin which earned me 40 something points, and not having to take tiles, I went out on my second turn.  At this point I was in second place - that’s how badly I had been losing - but the tiles they had picked up now counted against them and for me, pushing me into first place.

Don’t you think it’s a dubious win?  I don’t really count it.

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