Life Happens

When I first began this blog, I explained my theme thus: 

"And then, the theme. What is the point? What is the common thread that ties all my letters together? It hit me about a year ago. They're about becoming. Life really does have meaning. Even in the little, ordinary, sometimes dreary details. It's all a process. And the verses in Jeremiah 29 came to me (vs 11-14): "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive." No, I don't think Mississippi is captivity! (Is it apropo to say "LOL" in blogging?) It's all about His Plan For Me. It is a journey, and I love it!"

My next letter is from Christmas 1999.  The one reference I want to take from that letter is one of those instances where an almost tragedy in the present time can be viewed from the future with more wisdom and hindsight to realize that it is a part of His Plan as well.  It certainly taught me about trust.  Trust in God and His response to that trust.   Desperation can affect our posture towards God and indeed increase our faith.  God, you have to do this for me.  I cannot do anything about it but You can and I need You to take care of it!  I do not minimize it to the point of it being the "rain" that showers on the just and the unjust alike, but, many times, it is a part of life. . . and life happens.  And I quote:

"Delbert finished his first year of college this year.  He did very well - especially in the bands, of course.  We did a lot of traveling to hear him play and he and several of his friends from Bruce High School were featured a lot as soloists in the Jazz Band - especially Jeremy Freelon, who plays the drums really well.  (Jeremy came to our family reunion with us in September and played with Delbert and I as part of the entertainment.  We also performed for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life in Oxford.)  Even though he did well at Northwest Mississippi Community College, Delbert was not really happy and was very confused as to what to do with his life - at least as far as his education was concerned.  One thing he was and is very sure about is his main purpose in life - serving God.  He accepted his call into the ministry this year - a fact about which we are extremely pleased.  He considered going to Bible College but knew that he would have to work a year to be able to afford to do so.  He worked a short while at Office Max in Tupelo and then went to work at Southern Quality Meats in Pontotoc.  On July 29th he was on his way home from work and apparently fell asleep at the wheel.  He lost control of the car and had a "run-in" with two big trees.  The lady who got to him first felt sure he was dying.  His car was totally demolished and he was trapped in it.  It took the EMT's almost an hour to extricate him from the car with the "jaws of life" tool.  They felt sure his legs were all broken up and his shoes are still "buried" in the car.  They said that he had several broken vertebrae in his neck.  X-rays at the Pontotoc Hospital confirmed the fractured vertebrae.  He was very disoriented and could only get his last name out at first.  It seems a tiny bubble of air had gotten into the lining of his brain through a deep laceration above his left eye and was causing the disorientation.  Needless to say, I was very distraught when they finally located me and I got to the hospital.  Delbert looked a mess!  There is no way I can describe how I felt, but you mothers probably have a good idea.  They transported him to the North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo and I rode in the ambulance with Him and prayed all the way.  I told the Lord I needed Him to touch Delbert - especially his neck.  I was so very scared.  God is truly a miracle worker!  When we got to Tupelo, they x-rayed him from one end to the other!  They did a Cat Scan and all kinds of tests.  Their x-rays showed NO FRACTURED VERTEBRAE, NO CONCUSSION OR BRAIN DAMAGE, and only a tiny piece of bone pulled away with a ligament under his left knee.  He has a plate and a screw in the orbital socket above his left eye, two plates in his left hand and a screw under his left knee.  The small scar above his left eye only adds "character" to his already handsome face!  The bubble of air dissipated and Delbert finally realized where he was.  (At first, every time someone asked him if he knew where he was, he replied, "At Church." - I believe he was.  In his spirit - resting in the arms of his Lord.  I wished that I could read minds!  Nevertheless, Delbert is a changed person!  His speech, his preaching, his whole outlook on life is transformed!  He now has a new job with Presley Publications and Fax of the Day as their Web Administrator.  He does their e-mail and Internet work, designing and maintaining their Web Page, etc.  He loves it and finally feels that he may have found his niche vocationally.  He's taking Web design and other computer and Internet classes and takes his work quite seriously."

I can still recall those same intense feelings of desperation I had back then when I think about it.  I'm so very thankful when I look at him now . . . at the fine man he has become . . . and the beautiful grandchildren he has given me!  Which thought requires me to give you the next little paragraph of my Christmas 1999 letter:

"Do you recall in my letter last year the "female" friend that I hoped I would be able to write more about this year?  Well, I got my wish!  Her name is Jennifer Ervin and she is a sweetheart!  I could not wish for anyone more perfect for Delbert to have in his life.  She's beautiful, talented (sings like an angel and plays the piano wonderfully), very good natured and gracious, and, best of all, she adores Delbert.  (She even likes me, too.  :o)  )  Needless to say, the feeling is very mutual!  Jennifer begins her last semester of nursing school in January after which she will be an RN.  I can't say enough good about this subject and, I'm sorry, but I can't hide how I feel about it, either.  Jennifer's parents are really super people and they have done an excellent job in raising the daughter!"  And, as they say, the rest is history!

Just another example of how Life Happens in this wonderful journey of His Plan For Me!

 

Yes, I'm Going To Do It.

Yes, I'm going to do it. I'm going to write. I've always wanted to do it. I already do it in bits and pieces: a paper here, a note there, a post here, a tweet there, a letter once a year to all my friends. Thirteen years ago, after moving to another world (Mississippi), leaving all the people I knew and loved and coming to a place where I didn't know anybody, I vowed that I wouldn't let them forget me. At least once a year I'd bring them up to date on me. Of course, "me" includes "mine": my immediate family that made this move to "outer Mongolia" with me. We moved on June 1, 1996, and the very following Christmas, the "journey" began. I kept a box and stuck bits and pieces of things in it to help me remember what happened; and then, once a year, I'd get it out and write my letter. As the years progressed, I began to have a desire to put my letters into book form. I had limited encouragement from some of my "readers", so I thought it might make it. It seems that every year a different person would be touched in a special way and they'd find a way to let me know. It has never been the same person. Never. That fact has always been my motivation to stay the course. I love doing it, but I must admit, there have been times when I really would have just rather foregone that one time. I always have self doubts and think, "This one is just not good enough." But amazingly, somebody appreciated it. Wow!

For the last several years, I would think that I'm going to finally compile my book, but life always gets in the way, and the year passes, and no book. I saw the movie "Julie & Julia" this year, and it piqued my interest in this form of communication: blogging. I didn't, however, connect that idea with the idea of my book until just recently. I have endeavored to begin creating an online presence over the past year and have come to the knowledge that blogging is a good way to further that cause. You must have something to write about. . . . and then I realized: I have 13 years of stuff to write about already! I always tried to make my letters as short as possible because of my love/hate relationship with the good ole' U.S. Postal Service, and even then they were five and six pages long. But they could've been a lot longer! And the nice thing about blogs is that they are open ended. A book has an ending.

And then, the theme. What is the point? What is the common thread that ties all my letters together? It hit me about a year ago. They're about becoming. Life really does have meaning. Even in the little, ordinary, sometimes dreary details. It's all a process. And the verses in Jeremiah 29 came to me (vs 11-14): "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive." No, I don't think Mississippi is captivity! (Is it apropo to say "LOL" in blogging?) It's all about His Plan For Me. It is a journey, and I love it!

And so, this is the beginning. But it's really more like in the middle because I'm going to go back just like I would've done in a book and start at the real beginning. I'll probably take side roads now and then and certainly will "flesh out" my original letters. I won't use real names (to protect the innocent), and I more than likely won't include every mundane detail (this one got married, this one graduated, etc., etc.), but I will include the spirit of those details. Current events will most definitely be interspersed here and there. And eventually, I will pass the current letter by, and everything after that will be my new letters. Hopefully, it will be something that you will enjoy. I know I'm going to enjoy doing it!