I get to watch Ryan tonight; at least for a few hours. It’ll be nice to catch up and hear all about how much better he’s feeling. He sure looks like he’s feeling better.

At around midnight last night, there was a sound from thunder unlike any other I’d ever heard. It wasn’t a sharp crack followed by subsiding rumbling, but more of a sonic boom followed by a rolling rumble oscillating up and down for a good twenty seconds or more. The house rattled slightly for the duration of the sound. The sound made me open my eyes, and therefore I didn’t see any lightening, so at first I thought it was an earthquake. Then I thought it might be thunder (which it turned out to be), but when I didn’t hear any other thunder I thought it might be an explosion of some sort, or even a landslide next to our house. We live in landslide country, so it’s not as far fetched as it might sound. In any case, it was a very strange event, which had me baffled for a spell…

I hate it when I think I’m buying organic vegetables, but when I get home they’re just regular donuts…

It’s a wonderfully remarkable thing (amazing) to see how relaxed Ryan has been since having that sharp piece of metal removed from his mouth. He is so calm, and actually more responsive to our greetings, comings and goings, etc. I only wish we would’ve caught it earlier, so he could’ve enjoyed this kind of peace longer. Well, we won’t live in the past, but we will learn from our mistakes and pay closer attention to the present…

These past couple of days, Ryan’s actually looked directly at me when I’ve gone in to see him; and I haven’t always been standing right in front of him. He moves his eyes toward my voice. I’m pretty sure he can’t make out how bald and grey I’ve gotten, because if he could he’d most likely turn and look the other way. He, on the other hand, has only gotten more handsome. He was already the lady’s man prior to his injury (unlike his father), but he’ll be even more so when he’s back on his feet…

Isaiah 41:10   So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Hallelujah!!! Ryan had the metal removed from his mouth today, meaning no more sharp object to harm his tongue…that is, other than his teeth. Let’s hope he doesn’t bite his tongue. He’s gonna be just fine…

I’m sure y’all can attest that it feels good to be able to do something for our children…or for someone else. It sure makes us feel good when we can remove one more obstacle that’s keeping Ryan from being as comfortable as he can be, and hopefully putting him on a quicker path to recovery. Now that that’s out of the way, we can begin to look at other things we can do to help him; like reducing the amount of a single or multiple meds, communicating with him, etc.

Lord, Please give us wisdom to know how best to serve our son. Thank you. Amen.

Had a wonderful outing with Ryan this morning. The weather was perfect; not too hot or cold…just right. We took him to Miramonte; his old high school. We watched as they laid some new sod on the baseball field, and then went up to the football field and started running around the track. He got tired rather quickly, so I decided to slow down and walk in order to preserve his energy and prevent him from overheating and possible collapse. This was in his best interest, and any disastrous outcomes were averted. We then walked around the school campus. He especially enjoyed going to two of his favorite spots; the cafeteria and the gym…not in any particular order.

We have to be careful taking him outside, because there’s quite a bit of pollen in the air. As it is, he’s constantly coughing, but we don’t want to exacerbate the situation. He does take allergy medicine daily, but we really don’t want to have to give him more and/or cause him to get pneumonia.

Please pray that we’ll have more beautiful days like today (without the pollen) to do what we really love to do with our son.

Happy President’s Day!!

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!! I hope you all enjoyed loved the loved ones in your life…or is it lives? Whatever…

Charlie Brown: “Someday we will all die, Snoopy.”

Snoopy: True, but on all the other days, we will not.

John 10:10   The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Live life to the fullest!!

Happy Valentine’s Eve!!

Continuing with yesterday’s thought about time seeming like it’s going faster or slower than it really is…or does time even exist?…I think the real point is that we should not waste any moments perceived or not. That said, we need to keep our eyes upward and run a race that is acceptable in the eyes of our Lord. None of us knows how much time we have left on earth, so be prepared at all times…

I Thessalonians 4:16-18   For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.

Met up with some friends from high school the other day. What a pleasant experience. We hadn’t seen each other since way back when, but we picked up right where we left off; talking about good times as though they happened just yesterday. Made me think about how fast time flies…or at least it feels like it does sometimes.

I wonder: Since God has no real time constrictions (no beginning and/or end), does time really exist, and can it really speed up or slow down at any given moment? We keep track of days by the sun going up and down due to the world spinning, but who’s to say God doesn’t slow or speed up the pace of the world causing us to feel like days are faster or slower? I know, my mind is strange, but…I suppose all I know at this point in “time” is I’d better not be late for work…or dinner. I also shouldn’t waste any…time that is…

I hope Ryan had a good time today. In other words, I hope and pray he was comfortable and not frustrated with his condition…and also that he felt our love for him…

What a beautiful couple of days we’ve had. Yesterday I spent a couple of hours outdoors doing some much-needed yard work. It’s always easier pulling weeds after it’s been raining. Can pull them up roots and all. I do, however, hope it rains a lot more, because we can sure use it. Despite all the rain we’ve gotten, they say it’ll take at least a couple more years of “normal, or average” rainfall to get our reservoirs topped off. If I were God (which clearly I am not), I would make it rain every few days; just enough to keep the reservoirs full, the air clean, the plants nourished, all the creatures bathed, etc. Oh wait! I think he did that already (or something like it) when he created the Garden of Eden. Why did we have to mess it up?

As much as I think I’d like to be God (ala Jim Carey who got to play Him), I’m not so sure I’d be a very good one. I think I’ll continue trusting in the One and Only who knows what He’s doing. I think He’s doing a PERFECT job…

There was a blonde who just got sick and tired of all the blonde jokes. One evening she went home and memorized all the state capitals.

Back in the office the next day, some guy started telling a dumb blonde joke. She interrupted him with a shrill announcement, “I’ve had it up to here with these blonde jokes. I want you to know that this blonde went home last night and did something probably none of you could do. I memorized all the state capitals.”

One of the guys, of course, said “I don’t believe you. What is the capital of Nevada?”

“N,” she answered.

I’m practicing my joke telling on you with the hope that if you laugh, maybe I can tell some jokes to Ryan and get him to laugh as well. After all, laughter is good medicine. It says so in the Bible…

Proverbs 17:22a   A cheerful heart is good medicine..

 

Psalm 28:6-7a   Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me…

These verses stand out to me, and are so true: not that other verses aren’t true. These just happen to reflect my thoughts in a nutshell, so to speak. Throughout the past several years (Wow! Years. Seems like yesterday to me) God has shown his mercy toward me by allowing me to see the good things he has done in and around Ryan’s circumstance. And, there are a lot of things he has shown me; pieces of the puzzle being put together for His glory’s sake. And, because He’s allowed me to witness these things, I am able to completely trust what He’s doing…and it helps me keep my sanity…

Exodus 33:17-19    And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.