Update 1/7/10 Day 60

Dear friends,

Today was a very difficult day, pushing all my insecurity buttons and bringing me around again to the bottom line: in this world nothing is secure. Though I can't share the details right now, my world got rocked again, and the Great One reminded me to hold on tight. It's one wild ride, isn't it? My dear Delmar Full Gospel friends filled my heart with faith during our fourth night of prayer to start 2010. We spent this night calling on the Mighty One for the many missionaries we support. These are people who have given all to show His love to people in all corners of the world. Talk about having your security in God alone. Talk about having all your eggs in one basket. I love these folks. The poster that says Brave and Courageous has their pictures on it. Their reward is coming, when our five minutes down here is up!

Tomorrow is our last day of home therapy. Next week the calendar is loaded with appointments. We'll be heading back to the aptly named Sunnyview to start outpatient OT and PT for Hercules. Today he went to the dentist. We are getting awfully good at getting him in and out of the car. He can bend better, I can lift better and the whole operation is a piece of artwork. What a team! Our only fear....snow. Snow is the enemy. It slows us down. It can even stop us. But so far there's only a little of it. We laugh at snow now. We push the little slush balls out of our way and charge on! But I best not get cocky or some nor'easter will blow in to teach me a lesson...

Stephen offered to do a Sudoku puzzle together today. I told him "I'll clean your wounds, I'll give you shots, I'll change your bandages or walk over glass for you. But no Sudoku puzzles." I'd sooner do embassy to the Pygmies, or take a hair off the Great Cham's beard (to sort of
quote Shakespeare), rather than spend one moment with those little squares from the dark side. The man is keeping his mind sharp. I'm watching Bing Crosby and Bob Hope in "Road to Morocco". You can see where the gray matter resides in this clan...

When Jesus walked the pilgrim road, He saw all that was wrong with the world and yet displayed the most positive, selfless, passionate life ever lived. In fact, He saw beneath the surface to the heart of man and it drove Him to love in ways we'll never really understand. I am humbled to be the object of that kind of love. Despite my small faith. Despite my tendency to see the glass as half empty. Despite my habit of forgetting the endless supply of grace there is for me. I'm thinking maybe you feel that way too at times but we've got to remember the Truth: God's big deal is reconciliation and restoration. It's who He is. He always brings me back. As the song says, "You never let go, through the calm and through the storm...every high and every low...Oh no, you never let go of me. Good thing. Mighty good thing.

So, I'll leave my worries on the hearth tonite, and enjoy Bob Hope being goofy with the beautiful Dorothy Lamour. (The scene with the bobbing heads is too hysterical for words!) Thank you all for the love and prayers today that kept me from going off the deep end. Fab Phyllis and Sister Laurie, Lovely Lorraine and Kind Tom and Humble Pastor Dave, thank you for your tenderness to me in my need.

To all of you, my dear cyber friends, your love has been faithful and strong. I can't tell you what it means to know you are all out there, rooting for the light to overcome the darkness. I'm doing the same for you. I can never thank you enough.

Your friend on the pilgrim road,

Loriann