Things I’ve learned…

Recovering from surgery gives you lots of thinking time. Reflecting, meditating, just thinking….

My concentration has not been the best, I am assuming because of the medication. So it is my thoughts that consume me. Thoughts of so much: how short life on Earth really is, how much closer I want to become to God and do His will and not mine, how blessed I am that He chose such an amazing man for me to share my life with and more I will touch on. As I get older, I realize that the one day I use to talk about doing things, are now. Now and I still have not done them. So we need to fast pace these things so that they become a sooner rather than a later.

 One of those fast paced things was taking off for a surprise (or so we thought) weekend trip to the mountains. Of course I got my doctor’s blessing for this. She loaded me up on pain pills, I got a nifty pillow for under my seat belt, lots of baking,

 check these out:

drinks, warm clothes and loads of football colors. My nephew plays for his high school in SC, same high that Radio is at (if you have not seen the movie, rent it, it is wonderful). My baby and I made shirts, posters, we had pom poms, necklaces, face paint, tattoos, we were set!! We wanted to keep it a secret for a few reasons, one being, if something happened and we could not go, well we did not want anyone to be disappointed.

So off we went. We made terrific time. Stopped at Ingles next to the high school to get ready in their bathroom. You should have seen the looks. We parked far out in the parking lot so we would not be spotted. This is gonna be great!! Well, we get there and sneak up on my sister and brother in law in  the stands!! SURPRISE!! I even thought I saw a bit of a tear, little did I know… 
I totally embarrassed my nephew, woooohooooo. Mission accomplished. I asked my sister where are we going to go eat, she said “I have a big pot of chilli on at the house”, I thought ok, well I hope there is enough. Off we go to their house after the game. Open door, SURPRISE!!! There on the wall was a great banner, take a look:

Back track appx 3 weeks earlier, my youngest nephew left his phone in the mailbox (I still have not figured that out). Seems my sister found it, saw a text from my baby asking if he could keep a secret, and well, surprise, surprise!!! Now, Tylor did keep the secret, he had no clue momma found the phone, Austen had absolutely no clue we were coming, so all was not lost. We ended up having an amazing weekend. The kids played, talked, caught up. Us adults got some wonderful pictures:

My sister was kind enough to bring along a box of treasures to go through. Our sweet aunt passed away a few years ago and my sister was very close to her. So close she left everything to her, why that may seem like a blessing to most, it is always not. There is the pain, the bills, the time. Things are not as easy as they seem. I had a great time going through a huge container of pictures, I was able to identify some of them. I also got to see some that I have never seen before. My sister was kind enough to share the ones of me and also copies she had of others. She also asked that I take some to others and give to those who are in them. How generous!! To me that was a great blessing, I took time on the way home from our trip to look through them again.

My heart aches. But thank you sister for the memories.

Through all this, I see so much. I see what we have missed out on and what we have to come. I also see that just because someone is your parent, your sibling, your best friend, it does not mean that they always have your best interest at heart. I also see that people, for reasons we may never understand, try to make others look bad so that they themselves look good or to keep you from having a relationship from someone. I also have seen that just because you do not respond when someone says something about someone else, does not mean that you yourself are not contributing to their web of lies or trouble. We have a responsibility to take up for those who are either weaker or not around to do that themselves. Otherwise, we are no better than the person spewing the trouble and lies.

Here’s to building memories, love and relationships.

Peace, Love and EnJoy

1 Peter 2:15

 
For such is the will of God that by doing right 

you may silence the ignorance of foolish men