A Wake-Up Call

It's a sad thing, the death of a young, beautiful woman in some freak accident that was so avoidable. Natasha Richardson's death this week is a tragedy, but it reminded me how close my family came to the same thing.

Natasha died of an epidural hematoma, bleeding on the brain from blunt trauma. Her symptoms sounded so familiar, I felt a chill: seemed fine after hitting her head, walking around.

Our Susie did the same thing. At age 11, she hit heads in the swimming pool with her little brother. A lot of screaming and yelling, but how bad could it be, right? Two hours later, we couldn't wake her up. The next two weeks were the most frightening of our lives as she underwent brain surgery and we sat by her side for a week while she lay in a deep coma.

God miraculously restored her, although she will always have physical and educational challenges. But we're not complaining. Natasha's story is another reminder of just how much we've been given.

Times Are A-Changin'

I was just thinking today how much has changed since we entered this new millennium. Rapid change has become a way of life and sometimes we don't realize it until we stop for breath and look back.

My father died in 1998 and my mother in January 2001. Some days it doesn't seem like they've been gone such a long time until I stop and think about what is so commonplace now that they knew nothing about.

My father never saw Y2K that everyone got so nervous about. Neither of them knew about 9/11, the Iraq war, or our current recession. The Internet was still a thing of mystery to most average Americans, usable but not essential to life as it is now. Cell phones were a novelty, email the new method of communication for those far away.

Only 8 years since my mother died, yet she had never heard of blogs, Facebook, or MySpace and websites were designed by pros with technological genius. Cell phones were large, clunky items that looked like house phones and had roaming blackouts larger than the clear areas. Gas had never been $4 a gallon and no one had heard of hybrid cars.

Putting a frame around the changes happening so rapidly brings it into clearer focus. How quickly things evolve, move on, grow up, and then they're gone.

As frightening as our times may be, this too will pass...

Congratulations, Susie!

My little 16-year-old trooper just placed in the top 12 in our state for her website! If she makes the top 10, her school will send her and her co-designer to Dallas for the national competition! I'm so proud of her and so thankful at another reminder that God watches out for our little ones.

This child who a year ago thought she was "dumb" has found her nitche, and in spite of the brain injury that took so much away, God has gifted her and guided her into the path He designed just for her.

Go, Susie! I couldn't be more proud of you!

Writer Humor

A bit of writer humor, courtesty of my agent Rachelle Gardner.

A writer died and was given the option of going to heaven or hell. She decided to check out each place first.

As the writer descended into the fiery pits, she saw row upon row of writers chained to their desks in a steaming sweatshop. As they worked, they were repeatedly whipped with thorny lashes."Oh my," said the writer. "Let me see heaven now."

A few moments later, as she ascended into heaven, she saw rows of writers, chained to their desks in a steaming sweatshop. As they worked, they, too, were whipped with thorny lashes."Wait a minute," said the writer. "This is just as bad as hell!"

"Oh no, it's not," replied an unseen voice. "Here, your work gets published."

***

A writer comes home to a burned down house. His sobbing and slightly-singed wife is standing outside.

“What happened, honey?” the man asks.

“Oh, John, it was terrible,” she weeps. “I was cooking, the phone rang. It was your agent. Because I was on the phone, I didn’t notice the stove was on fire. It went up in second. Everything is gone. I nearly didn’t make it out of the house. Poor Fluffy is--”

“Wait, wait. Back up a minute,” The man says. “My agent called?”

Random Things About Me?

If you're bored enough to want to read this, I guess I can try to stay interested long enough to think of some. Here goes:

1. My ideal life would be to live by myself in a snug log cabin in the Rockies with a couple of great dogs, five years worth of firewood, my laptop, an unlimited bank account, and a hardy Jeep. (I'm also dimly aware that I would probably tire of this within a week, but it's nice to imagine. Maybe it should be a vacation.)

2. I wish I knew what to do with my hair.

3. I am more blessed than the huge majority of the world's population.

4. I used to be a ventriloquist.

5. The bags under my eyes were not always there.

6. My fourth-grade son was right when he commented: America needs another Great Awakening.

7. My husband is a very long-suffering man!

8. Caramel Macadamia Nut cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory is truly a creation sent by God and will most certainly be in Heaven.

9. My kids are turning into magnificent human beings--in spite of me!

10. Growing older doesn't bother me--looking older does.

11. I'd rather build things than cook things.

12. I've never been skiing. Just looking at it makes me tired.

13. I'm looking forward to the Empty Next Syndrome.

14. I'm wondering how much longer God can stand us.

15. I'd considered becoming a police officer, but don't trust myself with a gun around jerks.

A New King

The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.(Proverbs 21:1-3 )

No matter who sits in the White House for the next four years, God will work his plan for our nation and he will use whomever he chooses.

Let's pray for our new President, that God will use him to draw our nation back to the Lord who founded it.

May God continue to bless America!

A New Year

Are you ready for it? Don't you stand at the end of a year and wonder how your life will have changed by this time next year?
How will you be different?
Will your family have changed by adding someone new or saying goodbye to someone you love?
Will your health be the same or will you be battling a challenge you can't imagine at this moment?
Will you be more successful or will your dreams seem crushed?
A year can bring so much change and it can be frightening to look ahead into that dark unknown and wonder.
I cannot fathom facing the unknown without the One who designed it holding my hand.
I had no idea that Christmas of 1997 would be the last one I'd spend with my father. Or that New Year's Day of 2001 would start the countdown to my mother's death 29 days later.
Who could have predicted on New Year's Day 2004 that by the next year, my eleven-year-old child would have suffered a life-altering brain injury? Aren't you glad we don't know these things ahead of time? I couldn't take it.
But I know the One who holds tomorrow already has it under control. That's the only way I can face with confidence another year of unknown. If you don't know him, let this be the year you place your hand in His so that next New Year's Day, you can say, "Who'd ever imagine this would be the first year I learned how to live!"