January 2 – “There it is”

Our long lost daughter came by to see us last night.  She brought along her boyfriend for us to meet as well.  Katie lived with us over the course of about two years when she was in Junior high and High school.  She went into the service and spent time all over the place – Japan, Germany, Iraq.  She's out now and is attending college in Washington, D.C.  As a couple they are going through some Bible Study materials that Katie found.  She was also excited to see our family worship book.  She squealed, "There it is!  That's the book I was telling you about.  We read from it every night."  I sure am proud of that girl.   Chris' Mom got out of ICU yesterday and moved to a regular room.  Now they are doing a bunch of tests to try to isolate the specifics of what is going on.  She is swollen all over now because of all the fluids they had to get in her to battle the dehydration and anemia.  Now they have to regulate that.  They're even doing a swine flu test.  She had some more heart damage as a result of this, so they are going to watch her very carefully for a few days.  One cool thing is the way they do meals on the cancer floor of Methodist.  She gets to pick what she wants from the menu and actually call the kitchen herself.  They then notify her nurse to give her some nausea medicine, and the food arrives about 45 minutes later.  The guy who brings it knocks on the door and says, "Room service!"    Chris plans to spend the night with her tomorrow night, because her Dad won't leave tonight.  She is fielding a lot of phone calls from friends and family asking about things and giving support.   Sometime in the next few weeks we have to go buy a car.  We got one of the vouchers to get cars off the road that are bad for the environment.  I really don't want a car payment, but if we borrow some from our retirement account we are at least paying interest back to ourselves.  And we really want to stay out of debt.  We're kind of looking at a Chevy cobalt.  We hope to find one for less than ten thousand.   I had an outdoor wedding this afternoon at the San Luis.  It was pretty chilly at "game time."  The girls had strapless dresses.  They were more than "pretty chilly."  One in particular was shivering before we ever went outside.  I put the ceremony into overdrive and went as fast as I could.  Even then that one shiverer almost went down.  She made it through to "You may kiss your bride," but she barely got to a chair – with help.  Come to find out, she hadn't eaten since a donut at breakfast.  They got her a coat and a candy bar, and she seemed to be doing better when I left.      Lamentations 2:19 says, "Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord.  Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint from hunger at the head of every street."   Father, thank you that my kids don't faint.  At least not from hunger.  Please take charge of their lives.  Amen.