September 2015

This week is a little slower than last week, and for that, I am so thankful.  The weather is cold in the mornings and warmer in the afternoons.  It feels like fall - my favorite season.  So my sinuses will hurt, but I love the crisp air and the pumpkins and the leaves changing.  I love the cross country season and the cool nights.  I just love fall.

Andrew ran third on his team at his opening meet in Boone.  Some teammates were close behind him, but he did not let anyone pass him on the way into the finish.  He kept his spot - which is a miracle.  He also started out faster instead of dead last and was near the first packs from the beginning.  I was happy for his time, and he felt like he would have done better if they had run the extra mile instead of just four (due to work on the cross country course). 

Then he got sick.  I found him Sunday morning (last Sunday) out on the back deck stairs.  Lucy had barked, or I would not have gotten out of bed to tell her to not wake the neighbors.  I heard Andrew through the window talking to her.  And he told me he needed help when I called out to him.  He could not walk into the house, but he could crawl.  We watched him closely for hours, and he was exhausted and dizzy but did not have a seizure.  Then he had two mornings with double vision, so we are changing his meds around.  Not a good time to do that - the beginning of cross country.  But God knows all, and we are trusting maybe this new med will be easier on his body.  I am going to watch him run in SC this weekend and was able to get a hotel room at a great rate in his hotel.  He won't see me there unless he needs me!

Lucy got a big bone for her help.  She, once again, did not realize how much she helped me (how God used her).  She was licking Andrew and trying to comfort him.  And she would get beside him so he could pet her head when he was not fully awake. 

Sam continues to be better overall with his numbers.  It takes checking him in the middle of the night still to find those lows.  And we still find some.  So that is what we do for now.  I am sure it will change soon, and we will just keep doing the best we can.

Peter is working and going to school.  His shoulder may be a little bit better, and we were thankful for a good MRI.  So we shall see with that.  He has not been doing all of his "tricks" for a while, and I know he misses that.

Will is in school to finish that last English, and it's going to take lots of prayers to get him through.  He is still not home, but we see him more.  And we know he has good people around him.  And I constantly pray for God to keep some away.  God knows who they are more than I do.  I feel like a weight has been lifted, but I feel the constant need to pray urgently for him.

Pete is getting ready for his trip in a little over a week.  He is so excited to go back to the Holy Land.  And I am happy he will have a break, even though he will be working.  I will take him to the airport and pick him up to hopefully help with things that would tire him more.  We will miss him, and I will be praying for him constantly for a few reasons - the main ones are his health and the unrest over there and near there.

I am trying my best to keep focused on God and on being thankful.  I told Pete a couple of nights ago that I could not check anything off my list right now.  But I know I need to be patient.  And when more things get piled on, I need to pray more and look to God more.  And more and more.  That is my only constant.  Last week, I had five inches cut off my hair and borrowed Andrew's truck to take a lot of stuff to the dump.  I know that simplifying things will help me.  And I have been working on that a lot.  God gives me a couple of people to remind me to walk and to do things that will make the load lighter.  I am thankful for that too.

There are so many things going on right now.  So many things change.  Nothing stays the same.  The new Nichole Nordeman song "The Unmaking" talks about knocking down everything to find God.  And that is not a bad thing.  It can hurt at the time.  But looking at things through that perspective really makes us look to see what else we need to get rid of.  Or knock down and rebuild - with His help.  I got my new CD yesterday, and there is already another song on it that I love.  It takes several Bible characters and shows God's mercy and second chances to them - Paul, Jonah, Peter, and many others.  It's fun to listen to to figure out who they are!

I hope this post finds you well.  And I hope it finds you leaning on God if you are going through a dark valley.  Again, He is always with us.  He does not change.  We CAN count on Him.

"The Unmaking"   Nichole Nordeman

This is where the walls gave way
This is demolition day
All the debris and all this dust
What is left of what once was
Sorting through what goes and what should stay

 Every stone I laid for You
As if You had asked me to
A monument to holy things
Empty talk and circling
Isn't that what we're supposed to do?

What happens now
When all I've made is torn down?
What happens next
When all of You is all that's left?

This is the unmaking
The beauty in the breaking
Had to lose myself
To find out who You are

 Before each beginning
There must be an ending
Sitting in the rubble
I can see the stars

 This is the unmaking
This is the unmaking

The longer and the tighter that we hold
Only makes it harder to let go
But love will not stay locked inside
A steeple or a tower high
Only when we're broken are we whole

What happens now
When all I've made is torn down?

This is the unmaking
The beauty in the breaking
Had to lose myself
To find out who You are
Before each beginning
There must be an ending
Sitting in the rubble
I can see the stars

This is the unmaking
This is the unmaking

I'll gather the same stones where
Everything came crashing down
I'll build You an altar there
On the same ground

'Cause what stood before
Was never Yours

This is the unmaking
The beauty in the breaking
Had to lose myself
To find out who You are
Before each beginning
There must be an ending
Sitting in the rubble
I can see the stars

 This is the unmaking
This is the unmaking
Oh, this is the unmaking

Had to lose myself
To find out who You are

Read more: Nichole Nordeman - The Unmaking Lyrics | MetroLyrics