RAMBLING THOUGHTS

Today is VACATION EVE and am I excited? You bet. Will I have a good time? No doubt about it. Corinne has checked the weather website and it looks like 90 and 88 degrees all week with a 10% chance of rain. There is always a 10% chance of rain there so who cares? Not I. I am serving notice to the Shrimp in Florida to look out because I intend to pig out on shrimp. Can't wait to go to The Back Porch and have seafood nachos! Most of all I will get to spend five entire days with Kim and Patrick. I can not remember ever having that privilege before. We began, may years ago, talking about Kim, Patrick and I taking a trip to Cancun. Patrick had no idea where that was nor did he care but he was willing to go. We never made it to Cancun but Destin is just as exciting to us and also we are familiar with the town and what it has to offer so it all worked out for the best. You know, things really always work out for the best if we are willing to wait and be patient and trust that it will. That is the hardest thing in life to do - wait and be patient. I was never good at it but as I grow older and, hopefully, wiser I see the virtue in waiting and being more patient. The many times that I have jumped to conclusions and planned and thought about what might happen usually turned out quite different and I could have saved all that energy. I see younger people making all of these elaborate plans for what they are going to do and how they are going to tend to things and I smile to myself and think "maybe so but maybe not". We are not able to look ahead and see what the end result to a problem is going to be - that is God's ability. I'm not saying we should just sit back and let things happen without doing our part and planning and getting ready for situations is part of that scenario, however, we are not the ones that make the final decisions. When I used to watch The Millionaire and he would say with such authority "is that your final answer" I would think that they were being awful hard and leaving no chance for change. It had to be that way on the TV show, but it doesn't have to be that way in life. As I have said in this blog before, the only constant thing in the world is change. Aren't we glad that God gives us the ability to change our ways, our way of thinking, our desires and our total outlook on life? If you use another synonym for change it could be maturity. The more we mature the more we change.

This week I have been privileged to have Emily with Anni and Maddux and Leslie with Connor, Cannon and Cord to come and spend time at my house between swimming lessons and we had lunch together. It is so good to be able to sit and listen to the children as they interact with each other and the things they say and do. The days of hearing "that's mine", "he hit me", "I don't like him/her" seem to be over. Now they play together, watch movies together, talk to each other and each one is maturing at a very fast rate - even Cord as he struggles to keep up with the others. I have observed them hugging each other spontaneously which I think is remarkable.

Yesterday I went with Kim to Vanderbilt for her PET Scan and going down that hall and into that area was like going back in time. The times that I made that route with Billy. There is such a kind, sweet atmosphere among the workers there. Kim was treated with such warmth even when she told the nurse that she had better get the blood with one stick. Talk about pressure! It worked and she only had one stick and we all had a good laugh. I don't know what the test will produce in the way of knowledge but I do know this that whatever it is and whatever has to be done will be taken care of. I know that God is in control in Heaven and Dr. Netterville is in control here and Kim's family will circle up, hold hands, count off like we do when we have our family gatherings and every single member will be there to pray her through.