Trippin With Dad

Have you ever stopped and thought about how the process of grieving and loving are so similar?  Welp, as often happens I get to contemplate philosophical questions such as these while walking at dawn.   It is a serene time to exercise (ugh, don't call it that Sylvia!!) and mentally be still at the same time.  In the stillness this morning Holy Spirit revealed just how alike grief and love are.  I got to respond with, 'pray tell, tell me more' while being frustrated that I didn't have a pencil and paper handy to write down His thoughts.   But this is what I recall:  Both Love and Grief can happen suddenly to you like being hit by a runaway train; or they can come on gradually until all you can see is the narrow tunnel before you.  Both love and grief swell your heart to a capacity you did not know you were capable of experiencing.  Both flow over you in waves at the most unexpected times.  Both can be very inconvenient and cause you ...

So.  The conversation with my Father a couple of weeks ago went something like this: Daughter Me:  Yes Lord I need you for a few days Me:  OK By yourself, quiet and without distraction Me:  Yes Lord It's not going to be easy but I need you to rest in me this weekend Me:  OK There are trials you are about to face and I need you well prepared Me:  OK I have a work I need to complete in you if you are willing and I need your full attention Me:  OK So when friends try to distract you, politely decline and focus on Me Me:  They may not understand but I can do that. It doesn't matter what you do.  It may feel right to praise, sleep, read.  Whatever you are lead to do, do that thing and do it without worries.  I need to still your heart and supply you with My Peace. Me:  I am ready Lord. See.  My Father already knew my desire for peace;  It was my hearts cry for weeks.  I hadn't asked for comfort or h...

I have never actually scuba dived (do scuba lessons at the resort pool in Mexico count?) but I am familiar with the term, 'decompression'.  In a sound bite it means a return to normal atmosphere following exposure to great pressure.  My understanding is that after a diver has been under hundreds of feet of water for a certain length of time that  they have to allow ample time  for  certain cellular gases to exchange  so that they do not experience 'the bends' or  diving sickness before they return to the surface.  If done wrong the process of decompression could at the least make you feel just awful for quite some time and at the most could LITERALLY kill. you.  Knowing how to decompress is part of a divers training which they forget at their own peril.  Now.  Why would someone participate in an activity that is potentially so hazardous?  And not so much during but AFTER it is over?  Welp, my guess is that what you see and...

Together at Mom's homegoing Challenging Tiger Woods What can I say about my guys?    They met 33 years ago and I am sure they sized each other up as men do.  I don't remember the exact dynamic but you can bet I felt PRETTY confident about this new relationship before I made the introduction happen.  I know how it COULD have gone but I'm glad their meeting was obviously one filled with mutual respect.  They knew they had one objective and that was to get along for my sake. Sharp at Lula's wedding That easily morphed into love and concern for one another independent of my opinion on it.  How blessed can a woman be to have the two most important men on earth love her beyond the beyond?!  Dad came to call on Raymond as often as he did me which was a great source of comfort and pride.  My husband was my Dad's son in every sense which left us all blessed beyond measure. About to take flight Maui love Heading home ...

Living life Our elders set the example The Three Amigos What a difference 24 hours can make.  Yesterday, we were the Three Amigos.  Today we are the Dynamic Duo truly missing our Wing Man.  What a difference 24 hours can make.  Yesterday we encouraged Dad to bravely walk the last mile of his journey.  And today we wish he could still travel just one more mile with us.  What a DIFFERENCE 24 HOURS CAN MAKE.  Yesterday, Dad was still breathing but hardly living.  And today Dad isn't breathing but truly living! We love you to eternal life Pop Pops.  Fully enjoy the family and friends you've been waiting to love on.  Watch over the loved ones left here.  Know that your legacy is secure.  I can only imagine that when you met Jesus you FINALLY told him what you've been wanting him to know for soooo long; "THANK YOU LORD". With your beloved now Love that will never end

Hey dear reader, I ALMOST forgot to tell you about the super duper crazy overnight trip we took to The Don CeSar, AKA the Pink Palace for my birthday. The Don on the Horizon   We snuck it in between the family reunion and my nieces wedding.  Cray cray I know!  Well, we didn't travel exactly on my birthday because it rained like the dickens that week.  Trust me. The beach is NO fun in the rain.  There are several distinct advantages of living so close to one of the most popular beach destinations in America though--if the weather looks janky then we.just.stay.home.  But the forecast for the next week was stellar so we did something we've never done before on a staycation--we hired a sitter for Dad to come WITH us for the first day of our stay.  Talk about awkward but freeing at the same time!  I wasn't used to delegating my care giving responsibilities at first so, at lunch I managed to trip over EVERYTHING she was there to do.  Then, I g...

Family reunions are a magical time for many to put aside the cares and concerns of work life, hustle and bustle of the day to day The family that prays together... Ray and Dad, two married ins Vic and Lisa, our adoptees and just settle in to the warmth and love of our origin story.  It is truly a work of art melding and blending together all of the nuclear families, avowed singles, grands and great grands that then crescendos into this large amalgam of love and concern.  Many of us go at least a year before we see each other but that doesn't matter.  Many of us still may not know all of the names and relationship ties we have but that doesn't matter either.  I'll bet we've had non family members sneak in without question encouraged to get a plate of food and join in the festivities.  It's a high time in the life of a family as large and gregarious as mine and I try not to take for granted the memories that are cemented in yearly.  In fact, I ...

When a family member lives on the streets more than a thousand miles away from you, a part of your heart  constantly leaks love in empathy.  What you want to give and do for them you cannot.  So,  if you are blessed to give and do for those on the streets who just happen to live nearer then, you do what you can where you are.  But isn't that God's economy?  Sometimes what we sow, others reap and often, we reap what we ourselves did not sow.  That is why I so strongly believe that as we love our neighbors we are depositing into a bottomless account that others can draw out of in situations we may never know about.  Each time I was able to locate my family member in Detroit this summer we both shed tears of joy and hung on each others necks with hugs and kisses for extended periods.  We ate, shopped and talked like we were on the best day adventure ever.  And when we left each others side we knew that somehow God would continue to provide-...