Blessed

I was allowing myself to wallow a bit - my oldest son, now 24 and in grad school broke his nose in water polo practice Thursday night. No health insurance - and I was a bit worried. And, I had a couple of bad stress days this week. But - I am so blessed! I am not happy that it takes seeing my friends misfortunes to remind me of this…

I got a letter yesterday from friends who have a 6 year old with Muscular Dystrophy. I had known thru other sources for nearly a year, but reading the powerful, moving letter from 6 year Voctor’s parents rather overwhelmed me. I’m not “worried” - they have a rough row to hoe, but they find strength in the support of friends and a strong faith in God. But - why must this happen?

It brings to mind another couple who are friends who’s only son is a survivor of menigitis that left him completely deaf at 17 months. I remember his mom telling me that she put a perfectly healthy toddler to bed one night and less than 24 hours later the doctors were telling them that he very well might not survive.

I think of the neighbor, a good friend of my daughter, who lost a 3 year battle with leukemia just short of her 16th birthday.

And all the while I have only had to suffer with overzealous teenaged boys who push the limits of the law and school rules. Oh, and one who has pretty much overcome exercise induced asthma; And yes, my daughter is a magnet for accidents that total cars. I’ve never had to bail one out of jail - despite having the police call in the middle of the night; they’ve all made it to college, despite one who was forbidden on school grounds the last few weeks of his senior year (personally, I think the worse punishment would have been to make him go to class - every class, every day for those weeks.) So - I have done my own sweating over kids.

But I am so blessed - our 3 offspring are very tightknit. They have come past the sqabbles of childhood and seem to be good friends. They are bright, healthy (barring the broken nose) and are looking forward to the future. They have a foundation for building a relationship with God - that, each has to work out for him/herself. And I, myself seem to be becoming a whole person after working through boughts with depression. (should that be “boughts of depression”? sometimes I wonder - depends on how I faring at the time). I sometimes wait on the shoes to start dropping!

Still trying the Atkins Way

OK - I’m not really evangelizing about Atkins, but, so far I’ve dropped about 25 lbs…. I’m down to the smallest clothes in the closet. Granted, I used to have smaller ones before the house burned and I got to start all over on my wardrobe.

There have been a few hitches - times when I just had to have a few tortilla chips to use as spoons for salsa, sour cream and guacamole dip…. or just one cornbread muffin. Despite these few craving attacks, overall I am perfectly content to avoid sugar and starch and real beer and at the same time to have more energy and find myself evaporating at about 1 lb/week. There are times when I’m just not interested in food - not what I can eat, not even what I have on my “off-limits list.” The best part seems to be that JP is doing it as well - and that means that I no longer get the snarls about “you are the one with the crazy diet restrictions.”

Carry on….

Braves 10, DiamondBacks 6

My second major league baseball game! Both have been trips to see the Braves in Atlanta - a beautiful ballpark.

We were running late due to the service at Famous Dave’s Barbeque being a bit slower than we would have liked - and the parking lot on I-75/85 getting down to the stadium. Aahh! the atmosphere once you do get into the stadium! I no longer go to Auburn football games, and what I miss is not the game, but the stadium atmosphere. The closest we get is the tailgate parties on the Auburn campus. That’s the best part anyway. A good stadium trip really gives me butterflies - a good Braves (ok, or FSU) war chant does the soul good.

Despite a bit of rain at the beginning of the 4th inning, fun was had by all — even tho I was sitting between Robert & JP - both rather large men who would function nicely as a furnace to heat an entire house. The bottomless bag of peanuts that is still not finished offered sustenance for the well over 3 hour game. And, upon returning to Auburn, the house and pets were in perfect working order (those who know us also know that in the past, this has not always been the case).

Hope for the Church?

Today John Freund sent me a link that was a bright spot: LeavenDenver.org. Reading thru the site - especially the “Your Pulpit” section gave me a strong sense that the Holy Spirit is indeed renewing the face of the earth.

I was very moved by the woman’s homily based on the story in the gospel of John about the woman “caught in adultery” - about her aside about the shame associated with being a rape victim at 16, being pregnant… the way she took the gospel truly made it her own.

And so, I still watch the Institutional Church - I pray that somehow the Spirit will succeed in creating new life and joy where I can only barely see past the push for power, the fear of change, the need to control. There is so much to love in the way the ritual helps to bring us closer to God, in how every movement is indeed a prayer if we allow it to be, in the quiet light of peace that can result from allowing oneself to simply sit with God and be. And there is so much that can be irritating and frustrating in the Law, administered seemingly without love or mercy.

Recent Travels

Our last journey involved travel from rain-soaked Alabama up to the beach in southern Maine by way of NYC and Rhode Island…. T’was a grand time -with Daniel (18) and Marie (22) travelling with us in the car, and David (24) meeting us in Maine. Two weeks of family - cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, everywhere.

The best parts?

• The observation deck of the Empire State Building at 11:45 pm.
• Sitting on the beach with a gallon or 2 of strawberry margaritas watching the sun set over Old Orchard Beach.
• Seven cousins together for beach pictures.
• LOBSTER!
• Fried clams.
• A nice tan gained by enjoying a couple of good books while lounging on the beach.

Oh well - back to work.