Singing (away) the blues

Our two young granddaughters are living with us while their mommy takes care of their daddy while he endures chemo treatments. They are used to us and our house but still they miss their parents.
Today, four-year-old, Ethne, had a mini meltdown over the way I styled or failed to style her hair. In the end, she sat in my lap, and cried while I rocked her. “I want to go home. I want Mommy. I want to go home.”
Poor darling. “I know. I know. I know,” I said. Then I explained, “Daddy is so sick that it would be very bad for him if we were there because we all are coughing and our sickness could make him worse.”
Meanwhile, Emeline was saying, “Radio” and found a CD to put in the CD player. She pushed the button and a song filled the air. “The B-I-B-L-E, yes that’s the book for me.” And we all joined in. By the second song, “He’s got the whole world in His hands,” Ethne was doing the hand motions.
Suddenly she got up and said, “Let’s go to the store now.” She crossed to the CD player, pushed ‘stop’ and took out the CD. “Let’s play this in the car.” So we sang songs all the way to Walmart. And I knew that praise and truth has a way of putting our feelings into perspective. I also determined to play more praise music around our house and in the car during this difficult time.

Five under Five

Five under five. That’s our household this week. Five grandchildren under the age of four. It’s fun. It’s busy. It’s exhausting.
This was going to be a week when our daughters and their children shared time here at our home. But then Robert was hospitalized so, of course, Aimee stayed with him while their two daughters came here to play with their cousins.
This morning, precious little 18-month-old Emeline was playing around my bathtub, which is a whirlpool type, surrounded by a wide area of tile with a step up to it. She tumbled in, hit her forehead and landed hard on her back. Poor little darling—plus she's cutting about 5 teeth. I hate it when anyone I love is hurting.
I think the Lord must feel like that. Why? Well, the Bible says we’re made in His image. So I believe that whatever we feel or think (that is good, true or beautiful) originates with Him. We don’t offer anything truly original. All things we come up with that are good are, in some mysterious way, a reflection of Him since we’re created in His likeness to reflect His image.
He never intended sin, suffering and pain. In fact, He is the one who rescues us from our sorrows and comforts us in our need and upholds us in our weakness. I thought of that when I lifted up little Emeline. As I held and comforted her and ached over her tears, I sensed that the Lord was also responding to Emeline’s small hurt and to the greater suffering of her parents. He is right there, close at hand, with open heart and listening ears, pouring out His compassion and mercy. I’m thankful He is such a great and personal God.

Family Matters

It's been a hard week for our family. Robert (Aimee's husband) was admitted to the hospital on Monday. He had surgery for Testicular cancer, then found it had spread to his liver and lungs. I flew to help care for the girls so Aimee could care for Robert. The Lord is upholding us and we are believing for a full recovery yet preparing to face the challenges of the battle.

The pictures show the girls visiting daddy in the hospital and him making a funny face. Emeline holding her daddy's foot and the girls painting. I flew home with the girls on Saturday. Please be praying for this situation.

Sara and her three kids flew in last night so we have five ages four and under to fill our home with noise and our hearts with joy.

I guess I've held a lot. When we got to church and began to sing and people started to hug me and say they we're praying, I broke down. It felt really good to grieve and as a wise person has said, "if you can't cry in church, then where?" When we got home I had a nice nap and afterward felt so much better.

Love to all, Sue