The (Semi) Conclusion of the Whole Matter

THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to comment on my last post about dealing with hurt feelings.  You had some great insights and helped me make sense of things.  It's so good to know I'm not the only one who wrestles with these things.

At this point I'm waiting for God to open doors, as PC suggested.

I hate to leave things unresolved, but:
--I felt that I was too motivated by a desire for justice for myself, and to be heard and understood.
--I "happened" (providentially) to have a conversation that shed much more light on the background of this and made me realize this person has issues that go deeper than anything I could address in a simple conversation.
--Also, the risk for things becoming ugly is higher than I had realized.
--Paul feels he may need to speak up on my behalf, and has put out a preliminary fleece.

Meanwhile, I've had lots of other things to think about, which can be overwhelming but in cases like this can also be a mercy, to give you some perspective.

My friend Sharon and I fed two meals to about 175 people at the ACE Northwest Regional Junior Convention, a gathering of 8-13-year-old children from Christian schools in Oregon and Washington.

These four high school guys helped out.  They couldn't tie their own aprons in back but they could sure lift and carry and stir and serve and mop and a lot more which we were very grateful for.

Five of the kids from our school attended, participating in lots of events such as photography, Bible quizzes, a Lego competition, and much more.  Jenny sang a solo and won the poetry-writing event.

The theme of the three-day event was the fruit of the Spirit, and at the last "rally," the director announced that someone from Brownsville Mennonite came up to him and said she knows a song about the fruit of the Spirit, so he's going to have her and her friend come up and teach it to everyone.

So to my great surprise Jenny and her friend Kaitlyn marched up front.  Mr. Johnson held the microphone in front of Jenny as she proceeded to confidently teach her song to all 200 people.  "Ok, we'll sing it through once and then you can all stand up and sing with us."

She had learned it from Amy's friends in Jamaica, who often sang it to the little foster kids before they put them to bed.

It's a fun song, with these crazy sound effects--"The fruit of the Spirit's not a coconut," and then you tap your head and click your tongue with a hollow sound, and then proceed to sing what the fruit of the Spirit actually is--LoveJoyPeacePatienceKindness...etc etc.

The fruit of the Spirit is also not a Georgia Peach, which is simpered in an exaggerated Southern accent, with a little feminine wave of the hand beside the face.  Jenny reported that the male sponsors in the crowd refused to add this little touch.

At the end of the song, Mr. Johnson said, "Have you ever been to Georgia?"
Jenny said, "No."
He said, "Well, you sure do that Georgia Peach part right."

I was a very proud mom.

Halfway through the convention I got the awful news that my mom had fallen and there was an ambulance on its way to take her to the hospital.

She had been in the kitchen and felt dizzy and fell hard.  Dad came in from the barn and found her.  Her hip was broken and they did surgery that night.

My sister Rebecca flew to Minnesota a few days later.  Mom is now in a nursing home for rehab.  It's amazing she's survived all this, at age 91.  She is slowly recovering but is weak and in a lot of pain, especially when they do therapy.

So we have some huge decisions to make regarding Mom and Dad's long-term care.  These things are difficult at the best of times, but when you have two independent, determined people in their 90s who just really really want to stay home, it is just plain HARD.

I'll probably be going to Minnesota again soon, and for the 2000th time, I wish I did not live 2000 miles away.

What we really need is a grandchild who wants to move in with them.  Or a miraculous solution dropping from the skies.

Quote of the Day:
Steven: [saying grace before supper] . . . and please send us sunshine if it's Your will. . .
Ben: [after the Amen of course] Maybe you should specify continual sunshine because we do get sunshine but it's like for ten minutes at a time.
Paul: God understands what you mean even if you're not specific.
Jenny: That's one way God isn't like Dad.