Whew! I have been in Arkansas for 3 weeks, helping Mom and Daddy, and it has been HOT, HOT, HOT!! (Did I mention it was hot?) I promised myself I wouldn't complain, though, because I dislike the cold even more than the extreme heat. Mom had some dental surgery, and has had to be taken back and forth to the doctor 2 hours away, so we have juggled schedules, and made lots of interesting soups these past few weeks. Daddy hasn't been doing too well lately, but we are blessed every day to be able to have him in our lives. I even managed to squeeze in some time with Doug, and had a great time there.
Shortly after I arrived, my brother phoned me at 6 a.m. one morning to give me the joyful news that a pipe had broken in the upstairs bathroom in my TN home, and had flooded the house, caving in a ceiling, and ruining almost all of the floors upstairs and down in the house! This, after we have just been dealing with an insurance claim over Chelsea's car. Bless his heart, though, he had already been up for over 2 hours running the shop vac and saving the furniture from ruin. We even had to have piano movers come and take Roger's piano to storage to prevent its ruining during the drying-out process (kudos to Serv-Pro for a job well-done!). I head home tomorrow to a certain mess and a reconstruction project.....yea! It may be a headache to deal with all of the insurance claims, but, boy, am I glad to have insurance right now. And, it could always have been worse, and they are only "things" that are able to be replaced. The only thing I would have worried about was the piano, and it is safe.
I learned a long time ago that the important things in life don't revolve around possessions. Time with our loved ones is invaluable. Relationships are more precious than gold. Love makes the world go around, as they said in a song. If you have precious people in your life, you are blessed. Don't ever miss an opportunity to let them know how important they are to you. Time goes by so quickly, so seize those moments.
I hope all of you are safe, cool, and happy in these ending summer months. Make some great memories, and bask in the security of being
In His Grip!
Debbie
