Update 2/23/10 Day 107

Dear Friends,

Well, it turns out we were a bit premature with the whole Stephen driving thing. Dr. Somaio kind of looked at us funny when we told him today that Smitty had driven a couple of times (but only with me in the car). He immediately wrote a prescription for a driving evaluation, and until that happens the man is grounded. I'm sure there won't be any problem, but since he did experience a concussion it must be done. Really it's more to protect us in case there was ever a collision. Without a formal driving eval, a lawyer could have a field day with us if Smitty were to get into an accident. So, it's good to have Sunnyview "sign off" on Steve and put him in the clear. In the meantime we continue the hunt for the next Herculesmobile.

Looks like I'll get a chance to go cross country skiing after all this winter. I love being out in the woods, talking to the Great One and shooping along pretending to be Franz Klammer. (You have to go back quite a few Olympics to remember him!) Unfortunately my main squeeze will have to sit it out this year. Too bad, he enjoys it too. Last year we went skiing upstate near Friends Lake, on a day where the temperature was about 50 degrees. We had such a great time! How I wish we could do that again this year. It's one of those things, a small one I know, that we just have to let go. It's ok. Maybe next year...

God has held Steve and I together through the many changes and pressures of the past 14 weeks. I have heard that many marriages suffer through trauma or disruption of an extreme nature. I'm not saying we haven't experienced any fallout from this trial, but we have been preserved. "He will not allow your foot to be moved..." The unacceptable thing would be to make it through the worst of all of this, and then to take a hit in our relationship. So we trust the One and Only, who saw the whole thing coming, and as with the rest of this, He'll bring a mighty big good out of trouble. It always comes back to bringing everything to Him. Believe me, I'm more than willing given the track record of my own foibles...

So winter hangs on, and why not just appreciate it? Why not find the beauty and charm in it? My crab apple tree in the front yard looks like it's draped in the finest lace, and my tulip tree looks like some kind of snow cathedral. Everything outside is quiet and lovely. The red cardinal at the bird feeder would take your breath away. And as I have to compare everything (I think you've noticed this, my darling blog friends!) isn't it like everyday life? Maybe we were hoping the winter was over, maybe we had our sights set on tulips and daffodils. Maybe the way we thought life was going, well, it didn't go that way. So the options are to find the good in the way things are, or to fuss about the disappointment of a deferred desire. Spring will surely come, but if we get too stuck on that we'll miss the absolutely stunning beauty of winter. I'm talking to myself, friends. I want everyone in my house to feel better, to be able to do all they did, to move on. But we're not there yet. It's incremental. Sometimes it's one step forward, two steps back. I know the Great One will get us there. He wants us to look out the window and enjoy life as it is NOW. I get it. I just need His help to live it.

The Nordic Olympians are my heroes, by the way. It's all about endurance. They don't get the big splash of some of the other flashier athletes. But I love people who persevere. Like you have with me. I give you all the gold. Thank you.

Your friend on the pilgrim road,

Loriann