My dad is like a Christian version of James Bond. He flies planes, scuba dives, motorcycles, boats, horseback rides, ATVs, hunts, has a fascination for gadgets, and can fix pretty much anything……these are just his hobbies. He is also a retired surgeon, but keeps his license up to date so that he can travel to 3rd world countries on mission trips to help build things and offer his services.

He is not your average senior citizen. It has always been his goal to go out Living….not sitting in a room staring at the wall for years. I understand, but it gets scary when he engages in high risk activities and doesn’t let us know when he’s not okay. He is such a pillar of strength to all of his family. Always there, always ready for the next adventure.

I received a call yesterday that my dad ended up in the ER for his heart. He’s been admitted and they are running a bunch of tests. Apparently, it has been bothering him for awhile. He didn’t say anything while we were together on vacation, because he didn’t want us to worry. He didn’t make a big deal about it afterward, because he didn’t want to stress mom out as they traveled to see her brother and then made another stop for a few days, to visit with her mother (92yrs old). He finally spoke up on the way home, when he needed to rest and couldn’t keep driving. (My dad views aging/illness as a sign of weakness. He is ALWAYS, “fine”…..always.)

They are running tests and scolding him for going into the mountains and stressing his heart horseback riding, hiking, and ATVing, at high altitudes. (This is what he chose to do for his 75th birthday, a family reunion in the mountains.) They may have to put in a pace-maker. He says it’s not a big deal. (HELLO?!…..It’s your HEART!) I’m thinking it is a bigger deal than he will let on. We’re waiting for the test results and 2 more tests to be completed today.

Dad doesn’t like being a patient. He hates being “watched over” and not in control of his situation. He doesn’t want us to come home to be with him. Sigh. So we wait…And we pray…..And we realize that as frustrating as it is not to know what country he’s in, half the time, we look forward to hearing about his next big adventure when this is all behind him.

Please pray for mom’s peace of mind, dad to behave (doctors make the WORST patients), and wisdom for his doctors .

We’re back from our summer vacation. 10 days of extended-family togetherness in the beautiful mountains of Colorado. The cousins are getting so grown! No babies in the family anymore. (The youngest was around 6 or 7 years old.) Most of the “teen” cousins are now in their mid to late twenties…..when did THAT happen!? It was all very unsettling, makes ya think about time, age, and how fast everything seems to be going. Kind of reflective, I guess.

Everyone had fun. We went 4×4ing in the mountains. Hubby and Sarge climbed a mountain. All 3 kids got to try out a rope course. Sarge got to repel and rock climb. The Imp got to hand feed deer outside our cabin. We went to the ghost town to feed the chipmunks, prairie dogs, and squirrels. We were buzzed by hummingbirds. The Gremlin did some hiking up to abandoned mines and a glacier lake. Pictures will be coming soon.

The Imp: “Know what will be cool about heaven, mom?”
Me: “No, what?”
The Imp: “I think I’m gonna ride an angel.”
Me: “Uhh, I don’t think that would be a good plan.”
The Imp: “But they FLY! I want to fly like that too!”
Me: “But whenever they appear, the first thing they say is FEAR NOT, don’t you think there’s a reason for that?”
The Imp: “Yeah, there just trying to sound gruff like old people do, they’re actually friendly.”
Me: “Hmmm, glad you’ve got that worked out.”

We’ve been discussing several other religions this year so that the children are familiar with the differences that they will encounter outside of the home. Sarge came to me the other day with a ponderance. He believes that Prince Charming must be a Mormon because he seems to have a different love interest in every story and they always get married and live happily ever after.

We’ve also gone over social ranking and caste systems in castle and tribal communities. Shortly after, the Imp informed me that Barbie can’t marry GI Joe because he’s a peasant and she’s an aristocrat. But rest assured, she won’t be an old maid after all, since she CAN marry the Ninja, who’s actually royalty in the East!

The Sarge was pouting because his hope for ice cream after dinner, was dashed. A few minutes later he came to me with a good attitude. “I’ve been thinking about how good I’ve got it,” he said, ” I get three meals a day and none of them include grubs, beetles, or chewed tree bark.” (We’ve been reading two missionary stories about all the things they had to eat to gain the trust of the tribes they lived with for Bible translations.)

Today the Imp was working in her language book on “dropping the e, to add the suffix -ing, -er, or -ed.” After working for awhile on her own, she brought me her workbook. She did pretty well until she hit the word “hide”, then she turned it into “hider”. I pointed to the word and asked her to use it in a sentence. (She prefers stories.) “Well, it’s like when we have play dates, and the moms are visiting and then one of you don’t see her for awhile. You say that we are playing hide-and-seek and the other mom says that her kid must be the hider.”

We looked it up together in the dictionary and it IS a proper word, spelled the right way, and used within context, though somewhat obscure.

Upon waking up in the morning, after sleeping with damp hair….,”Mommy, I’ve got FIZZY hair!”

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My son actually asked, “What’s a Berry Manilow?” He thought it was a marshmallow treat.

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Sitting in front of a convenience store so that our very proper guests could use the facilities.
Mrs. Guest – “I wonder what you daddy is buying? It looks like he might be getting ice cream cones!”
Devil’s advocate – “Naw, that would ruin their dinner.”
Mrs. Guest -”It looks like ice cream to me!” (boys are getting excited)
Imp – “I know what Dad is getting, it’s probably just a bunch of beer!”
Shocked silence, crickets chirping………where on earth did THAT come from!

Imp: Mommy, your the bestest mommy in the whole world.
Me: Thank you baby, your my best girlie

The Imp fell quiet and pondered for a moment….“Well I’m not sure your the bestest in the WHOLE world…..”

I realized I was losing points and waited to see where this would go.

Imp (still mumbling to herself): There could be other good mommies out there……. I wouldn’t know about them though, because they’re not MY mommy. But I’m sure they’re out there….for other babies to have good mommies?

She looked to me for affirmation.

Me: Yep there’s probably lots of good mommies out there that love their babies.
Imp: Yup…..but we’ll keep you and love you even when you get too old.
Me: Cool! What’s going to happen if I get old ? (wondering what, in her mind, would she love me despite of)
Imp: I guess you’ll just be old and wrinkly….but we’ll love you anyways

To this, the Gremlin……who had been listening, pops around the corner and says, “She’ll be old and then she’ll be dead, that’s what happens.”
Unfazed, the Imp takes in this bit of information, “Yeah, but we’ll still love you, just don’t die on us, ok?”

I smiled… thinking grown up thoughts, then realized she was still waiting expectantly for an answer to her request. What does one say to that? (I was THINKING, “Certainly, right after I correct that little problem of world peace….I’ll have to work on the whole immortality thing.”)

What I DID say: Got it…..I’ll do my best.

Satisfied, she wandered off to ponder other deep six-year-old mysteries. Nothing like having a six year old to make you dig deep. I thought about it for quite awhile after.

I think that’s what God meant by having the faith of a child. How awesome and worthy is God of our unwaivering faith and trust! Yet that seems to be the hardest thing to do as an adult. Instead, just like the Imp, we put our trust in things that are so much smaller and temporary. She didn’t know better, but we do. It just got me to thinking.

James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.