Happy Birthday to our Brittany Cherrie!

Good Tuesday morning. It is February 21, 2012, and we pause today to wish our Brittany a wonderful day, on this, her 21st birthday. Brittany is in her second year of community college and she is a very thoughtful and caring young woman. We call her our 'cleaning lady' but it is a joke. She does come over every other week to help clean and we enjoy her visits. She has a spirit about her that exudes caring. That's a wonderful thing to have but it is also one that, at times, will leave you hurting as people take advantage. It's still worth having a heart as opposed to any other alternative. She loves children. She gets to keep her niece, our great grand, Madelyn Joy, on a fairly frequent basis. She works with the children at her Church. Hearing her talk excitedly about 'her kids' makes us aware that this is an area where God has called her to serve. She also loves to hang out with her MiMi and she pretty much tolerates her Poppy too. Today we offer a prayer of thanksgiving for this child, our granddaughter, and ask God to continue to mold and shape her life for His honor and glory. Happy Birthday Brittany, we love you. MiMi and Poppy.

You know how we all say we never know what a day might bring. Last Sunday morning I got up my usual very early and was down at our local fellowship meeting place early, just like normal. We had our greetings, laughing, and coffee together, and then I was privileged to open God's Book and share God's Word with God's People. I know people can find a whole lot to occupy themselves with but I am so thankful that we can enjoy the joy we share in being able to come together as a local body. At the end of my teaching, my wife told me she was not feeling well and that she felt so poorly she thought she needed to go to the emergency room. This was not on our schedule for Sunday but we arrived at the ER at about 10:30 a.m. How blessed we were to see that very few people were there. She explained her symptoms regarding discomfort and a severe pounding of her heart. They did an EKG, blood work, and x-rays, cat-scans, and we did our work, waiting. Waiting. Then we waited some more. The people there were all very nice. The examination room was okay. But the waiting. It went on and on. That old Ernest Tubb song was resonating in my noggin. "I'm walking the floor over you." I will have to say that a sign on the wall challenged every fiber of my being. It was printed with large letters, "On a scale of one to ten, if you cannot rate your service a ten, at any time, please contact the ER supervisor immediately." Hello? Finally, around 5:30 p.m., they told us that all the tests looked within range but they could not 100% rule out a heart problem, therefore, they recommended she be admitted for observation and a full heart work up on Monday. And, that's what we did.

"Waitin on a Woman"

We got her settled in and I ran to the house to get her some things. It had been a long day of waiting and we still didn't have a resolution. She was worried and when she worries it causes me to be concerned. Her mom in particular dealt with heart related issues for years so that is always in the back of her mind. They carried her to the heart lab about 6:45 a.m. Monday morning and I returned to the waiting game. I couldn't go to the lab. I couldn't get any information from the lab. I could only wait. I then had a different song in my head, "Waitin on a woman' by Brad Paisley and Andy Griffith. I caught that one on YouTube a few years ago and it is a real neat little song about how much time you spend in life waiting on your woman. It sums it up in saying that in the grand scheme of things, for the love of a good woman, every second of 'waitin' is worth it. Finally, she got back to her room. It was 11:30 a.m. She was exhausted. The tests had been difficult with a number of issues. But, we were now on our way to getting a resolution. The nursing staff were very nice. We finally saw a real doctor who said they had done some additional imaging and needed the cardiologist report before they could decide what to do. Meanwhile, she was not to eat anything. She had already been fasting since midnight. About 3:30 p.m. they told us that everything was within normal ranges but that she should do a follow-up with her primary care. Relief! Thankfulness! Thankful to God. Thankful for the many who called, wrote messages on Facebook, and those who came and visited her. I have always been impressed with how many folks love and appreciate my wife. I wonder how she made that happen? Something to ponder, but I do thank one and all for their prayers and support. The good news is that she did have a heart and it was okay. Her joke, not mine. Also, I'm almost certain I have a few stories yet to share that came out of all that 'waitin'. May God bless one and all. Amen.    .....More later.