God's First Aid Kit

Ron and I went to the early service at church on Sunday. It's only the second or third time I've attended the early service (It began being offered just a few months ago), and attendance is growing. The sermon is what I want to write about - specifically two illustrations.

Pastor Betty spoke about how, as parents, most of us keep (or kept) a first aid kit in the house. Although we didn't know for sure what would happen, we knew the nature of young children; they are prone to bumps, falls, and scrapes, and the first aid kit would be needed to clean and bandage those bumps and scrapes. In the same way, although God doesn't cause our bumps and scrapes in life, he is ready with his own first aid kit of comfort, acceptance, care, grace, and mercy to help us deal with them.

I've often struggled with understanding an all-knowing God and the concept of free will.  If we have free will, then how does God already know what we will do, and if God already knows what we are going to do, then that's not really free will.

Pastor Betty also mentioned Queen Esther in the Bible - and how she was told that perhaps she was where she was "for such a time as this."

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this."  ~Esther 4:14~

What I've come to understand is that we do have free will.The first-aid kit analogy and the story of Esther help me understand it further. God knows human nature, but he doesn't micro-manage our lives. God has a purpose for each one of us. In God's first aid kit are the Bible, prayer, the church, the Holy Spirit, loving friends and family to help us through the bumps and scrapes and crashes of life.  And He is with us himself each step of the way. 

My job is to make sure I do my part to make sure that first-aid kit is kept well stocked and that I have immediate access to it. I do that by attending church, reading the Bible, memorizing Bible verses, praying, and maintaining relationships. God's purpose will be realized with or without my help. However, each of us has a purpose for right now in this time and place. How blessed we are when we realize that purpose and, through prayer and meditation and action, we can fulfill that purpose.

I Won't Let the Old Woman In

The other day, Ron told me about how Clint Eastwood was asked, "What keeps you going?" Clint's response was "I don't let the old man in."  I loved that quote, and so I did a little research. The person who asked the question was Toby Keith, and after hearing Clint's response, Toby went home and wrote this song. It ended up being in Clint's most recent movie, "The Mule." Clint, at the age of 88, is still a fine looking man, and he did a great job in that movie. 

Here are the lyrics:

Don't let the old man in

I want to live me some more

Can't leave it up to him

He's knocking on my door 

And I knew all of my life

That someday it would end

Get up and go outside

Don't let the old man in  

Many moons I have lived

My body's weathered and worn

Ask yourself how old would you be

If you didn't know the day you were born

Try to love on your wife

And stay close to your friends

Toast each sundown with wine

Don't let the old man in

Many moons I have lived

My body's weathered and worn

Ask yourself how old would you be

If you didn't know the day you were born  

When he rides up on his horse

And you feel that cold bitter wind

Look out your window and smile

Don't let the old man in  

Look out your window and smile

Don't let the old man in 

The idea of not letting the old person in really resonated with me. It's a refusal to be limited with the little aches and pains that come with aging. The aches and pains will still be there, you just don't let them boss you around.  Eventually there will be something that limits me, but for NOW and for as long as I can, I won't let that old woman in - not into my mind, my attitude, or my actions.

Earlier today I took a bath. That's something I do maybe once every year or two. I'm a shower person. But today was chilly and rainy, and a bath seemed appealing.  So today was this year's day for a bath. LOL! I soaked for a long time, and let the warmth of the water relax and sooth me. When I was ready to get out of the tub, I was initially a little hesitant. There's no more hopping out of the tub without a thought of how I would accomplish that task. The tub is slippery and I was going from a reclining position to a standing position and then stepping over the side of the tub. And since the tub is a Jacuzzi, that side is fairly wide - so it was more of a climbing over than stepping over.  But then I thought to myself, "Don't let that old woman in! Just get out of the tub." And I did. I had to use the hand-grip on the tub - but I did it, and I refused to act like it was a big deal or something hard to do. I refused to let the old woman in!

This is the year that I will turn 70.  So old age has been on my mind a lot lately.  Perhaps that is why this song speaks to me so much. I want to paint something that evokes that sentiment for me. So I will be thinking about it and looking around at scenes around me, and I will eventually find the thing that I will paint and title "Don't let the old woman in!"

Blessings of the Day

(Wednesday, February 20, 2019) Today started out a little harried.  I packed up my car with bags and bags of supplies for a project the PEN Club (Pray-Explore-Nourish) at our church would be working on later.  It was raining, and it was cold and wet outside. I wanted to skip the meeting. However, since I was in charge of it, I couldn't. I'd spent just about all of yesterday preparing for the meeting - organizing and counting the supplies, making a list of what was needed, going shopping to get everything else that was needed, and then organizing it all. Church members had donated money to get the items to fill the bag - so I considered it a sacred responsibility to spend that money well and to get good deals on everything.  I had to write and print out a devotion, and design and print labels for the food bags and hygiene bags we'd be filling for a homeless shelter in Nashville.

So this morning I left early so I'd have time to get everything set up.  When I cranked up the car, a couple lights flashed, but it was running okay, and I figured it would get me to church and back, and I'd call the service folks afterwards and arrange to take it in tomorrow or Friday. So off I went.

About a mile down the road, I came to a "road closed" sign - the road ahead was flooded.  I backed up until I found a place I could turn around. Then I went a few miles out of the way on another route to the church - I figured I'd approach it from a different direction. Alas, I found another "road closed" sign for that road.  So I re-routed again and tried a third (and final) route.  This time I made it through.  The water on the sides of the road was high, but it hadn't come onto the road yet.



Meanwhile my fuel light had come on, and since giving out of gas is one of my fears - especially in flooding conditions (ha ha), I decided to stop at a gas station that was just right there and fill up. I still had plenty of time before the meeting began at 9:30.  I filled up the car and then hopped back into the car to drive the rest of the way to the church, and when I turned the key in the ignition . . . my car was dead.  Every light on the dashboard flashed when I tried to crank it - and it was obvious the car wasn't going anywhere.

The gas station (Leiper's Fork Market) had tables inside, and a very nice woman at the cash register.  I explained the situation, and asked if it was okay to leave the car where it was until I could get a tow truck there. It was fine. My car blocked the fuel pumps on one side - but the other side was open, and they weren't busy.

So I sat at a table and started my texts and phone calls to get this situation remedied.  First text was to cancel the PEN Club meeting.  There was no way I could get there - and in my disabled car was everything needed for the meeting.  Immediately one of the women who had been at the church (Cherry Lane) came to stay with me at the market. She was there to offer me a ride or any assistance she could.

I called the insurance company's roadside assistance number.  Within minutes, the tow company was contacted, and the truck was on its way.  I called Ron to let him know what was going on.  He offered to come over, but I told him I thought it was all under control, but that I'd call if I needed him.  Then I called Gary Force Acura service department to describe the problem and let them know I would be there with the car later.

Cherry Lane let me transfer all the bags of supplies into her car. I insisted I was fine/safe at the market - that when the tow truck got there, I would either ride with the truck to the Acura service center, or if he could get it cranked and it was drive-able, I'd drive straight to the service center myself.  So she took the supplies back to the church and unloaded and labelled it all so it would be ready for whenever we reschedule the PEN Club meeting.

The tow truck got there in record time, and the guy was as nice as he could be.  He determined that the battery was bad.  He was able to jump it off and get it running.  He checked it and didn't see anything else wrong and told me he thought it would be okay for me to drive it to the service center myself as long as I didn't turn it off again.  Insurance covered the roadside assistance call; so I gave him a tip to help pay for his lunch, and then I headed to Gary Force Acura.

And Gary Force Acura - always so polite and thorough. They checked it thoroughly, and the only thing wrong was a bad battery. The warranty on the battery expired just a few weeks ago - and they still discounted it majorly since it was so close to being in warranty.  It would take about two hours to get it all done since they would have to re-set things that were cancelled because of the bad battery.

I sat down in the waiting area and glanced at "Timehop" for today and realized that today marks 8 years exactly since Lily had her "No Mo' Chemo" party at the end of her first round of leukemia treatment. Eight years ago we celebrated the end of over two years of chemo, spinal taps, hair loss, almost 2 full years of missed school (2nd and 3rd grades).  Never could we have guessed that over 5 years later she would relapse and have to go through another 2 years of treatment and miss another two years of school (10th and 11th grades).

Looking at all the photos from the "No Mo' Chemo" party brought tears to my eyes. I'd been getting a little frustrated with all the car problems and how I'd worked so hard yesterday preparing for today's meeting - all for nothing. But being reminded of what Lily has gone through, my car issues were instantly reduced to absolutely nothing. Totally insignificant. And my heart was filled with how blessed I am - with friends who came to my aid at a moment's notice, good insurance, a good service department - and good family members who immediately called and offered help.

My daughter, Larisa, whose office was about a mile away from the Acura place, came and picked me up, took me to lunch where we had a wonderful conversation. As we were getting ready to leave the restaurant, my phone rang. My car was ready. Larisa drove me back to get the car.

The bill for the repair work was less than I would have ever imagined, they'd washed my car, and it ran perfectly.  I made a couple stops on the way home and got home around 4:00 p.m.

My day wasn't how I'd planned it, and I had to do a lot of scrambling to get everything taken care of, but it was a good lesson in how blessed I truly am.

A Little More About The New Median Sib

I enjoy my art blog (marycarolart.blogspot.com), and I've been posting consistently on it for a couple years now - maybe a little longer. However, I want to keep it completely related to art. I started to just add these non-art posts to that blog, but then I decided against that.  The New Median Sib will be where I post on other topics.

The original Median Sib blog got its name from the fact that I am the middle sibling in my family - two older sisters and an older brother, and two younger sisters and a younger brother.  The word "median" means the middle number, and "sib" is short for "sibling." I came up with that after trying out other blog titles and finding they were all already taken. No one else had The Median Sib, and so I ran with it.

I think I started my original The Median Sib blog in 2004 or 2005. It was after my brief marriage to Doug - and before I re-married Ron.  I go through phases in writing. Sometimes I'll write more often than other times.

So welcome to the new and improved (hopefully) Median Sib blog.

Eleven Years Between Posts

The Median Sib was my first blog.  I started it in 2004/2005. I was obsessed with it for a long time - writing 2 or 3 posts a day for several years. Eventually, I lost the fervor for blogging, and eleven years of silence on The Median Sib ensued. Recently, I decided that I would like to start blogging as The Median Sib again - and I considered different blog names, but finally decided that I'd stick with The Median Sib since that's uniquely "mine."  The problem was that when I started The Median Sib on Blogger, I set it up using a different email. And I can't figure out how to switch it over to my current email. It was such a pain to have to keep logging in and out of two different emails that I finally decided I'd start fresh with my current email - which necessitated starting a new blog.  Thus The NEW Median Sib!

I've written since the time in fifth grade when my father came back from a trip where he'd preached a revival at another church, and he brought each of us kids a gift. My gift was diary. I started keeping a diary, and have kept it up ever since.  I have a box of old diaries in my closet - starting from early in Ron's and my first marriage.  My only regret is that when Ron and I got married in 1969, I decided that I was leaving my old life behind, and I burned (!!!!!!) all those diaries I kept from 5th grade through my second year of college. OMG! I would love to be able to re-read those 5th grade and up writings. I remember in middle school making a homemade diary - with a cardboard cover I actually sewed onto folded paper.  Across the front I wrote "Diary Of Broken Hearts!" and drew a heart broken in half. Yes, apparently I had a flare for the dramatic even as a teenager.

However, soon after marrying, I started journaling again, and I've kept all those diaries.  For many years, I wrote it all by hand, but eventually started keeping a diary on the computer.  I've lost plenty of past writings via upgrading to new computers.  Somewhere there are discs and thumb drives containing my old diaries.

Writing has always been the way that I sort out my thoughts. I express myself best through writing. I have had articles published in the newspaper and several magazines, I've self-published some books. I've done lots of writing the past eleven years, just not as The Median Sib. 

Several years ago I started painting, and I set up a painting blog - Mary Carol Art.  I have a cooking blog (haven't updated that one in years), and a blog for our farm (several years of silence on that one, too), and a blog for spiritual growth (sporadic postings - but some recently). The art blog is the only one I currently post in regularly, though.

So let's see if I follow through and continue with The New Median Sib postings. Eleven years ago, The Median Sib included a lot of political posts - which I probably won't do on The New Median Sib. Maybe occasionally, but politics have become so divisive, and people have become so radicalized and mean-spirited, I don't want to be a part of that anymore. It bothers me to see people so consumed with hate.

Eleven years!  So much has happened.  The most significant for our family is that Lily was diagnosed with leukemia on December 1, 2008 - went through 2+ years of awful treatment - then had over 5 years of gaining strength and getting back into school and being a regular kid again - and then, unbelievably, she relapsed (September 23, 2016) and went through two additional years of relapse treatment - which was especially brutal since her body was already weak from the first treatment regimen.  But she made it through - with plenty of scares and pain and loss during that time - and she finished treatment just a few months ago and is slowly building up strength and health again.  She will go off to college in August.  She applied to six colleges and got six acceptances. She has chosen to go to the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC.  She loves their nursing program. She plans on being a pediatric oncology nurse - and she loves the campus.

I have three granddaughters I didn't have eleven years ago.  Evey (Evelyn Ann) was born to Joey and Meleah in 2010, and Bradley (Mary Bradley) was born to Joey and Meleah in 2013. The "Mary" part of her name is after me - which makes me very happy! Larisa & Steven divorced in 2009.  Then Larisa married Phillip in 2014, and with Phillip came our second Sophie - Sophie Grace - who was born in 1999. So we have five granddaughters now.  And I think that's the end of getting new grandchildren.  However with Sophie Grace being 19 now - and Lily will be 18 in just a few weeks - it won't be too many years before we start on great grandchildren.  Amazing to think of that.  Even more amazing to know that in just 6 months I will turn 70 years old.  OMG!!!!!

Little Sophie will be 16 next month - and she's a sophomore in high school.  Just unbelievable how fast these children are growing up.  I could write pages about each of my children and grandchildren.  They each have such a special place in my heart.

My mother turned 96 this week.  She's had some difficulties the past few years - but is mostly clear-minded and relatively healthy.  She still lives by herself.  I drive down to visit her for a few days as often as I possibly can.

Ron and I will FINALLY go on a trip to Italy next month.  We've rented a villa for 9 nights and will make day trips from that home base.  I'm looking forward to a very low-key first trip abroad.  I've never even used my passport before.  So this will be a major first for me.

So that is a quick and on-the-surface catch-up on 11 years. More to come.