the BEST of the worst...

so i have been MIA because we have been basking in the sun on the white sandy beaches of cancun.  it was a spur of the moment fluke vacation that was the BEST of the worst vacations ever.

as so many of you know, peter is being treated for lymes and he has a PICC line which can...can...CANNOT get wet under any circumstances.  right, you follow along...we are at the warm beaches of cancun where my sweet man cannot swim, snorkel or enjoy the warm sea waters.  also, this is the first traveling vacation we have taken with jeremiah...in fact, it was just the three of us.  the big kids were being very responsible adults so they were back at home.

just prior to our departure, peter developed a slight infection in his PICC line which required me to change the bandage twice a day in addition to administering his medicine.  not really a vacation for him or me...but we went anyway.  i prayed the doctor would forbid us to leave the country...he said GO!  you deserve a vacation.  i told the nurse we would just cancel...she too said NO, you must go.

we were thrown off the first night as was jeremiah, so peter ended up sleeping with j while i was in the other bedroom.  peter comes in early sunday morning...with this:

yep. this is his PICC line...it was dangling from his wrist.  i was hysterical & asked him how this could have happened.  this was the WORST event that could have happened so many miles from home & in a foreign country.  all he remembers is his arm was extremely itchy while he was sleeping.  after a few hours of panic {just from me}-half a dozen text messages-two phone calls, the three of us were off to the beach, pool and snorkeling for a week of fabulous fun.

i realize this event is such a metaphor for my life...perhaps for all our lives.  what we perceive, dread, fear, and fight is not always a disaster if it truly happens.  God knew what He was doing on the early Sunday morning.  he was planning a week of memories for the three of us...perhaps a sweet reward for the past six months of treatments.  thanks God for the BEST worst vacation.  what are you afraid of...maybe it really could be a blessing hiding out disguised as the WORST thing ever.

panic mode...

i gotta be honest...i have been in panic mode as of late.  hopefully today was the peak of the panic and i am on the downhill slide of this bump in the road.  you name it, i have panicked about it...

the BIGS:  peter and his treatment, jeremiah being home for the summer and all our extra time, an amazing free vacation opportunity, our finances during this season of peter not working.  and the littles:  what to serve for dinner, where to park on race day, will our passports arrive on time, what will we eat on the plane, why is my percentage of body fat so high, what will my long time hairdresser say when she sees my "supercuts" bangs...yep, you name it; i have angst over it.  i have even worried i haven't been blogging!  oh my chrissy.  settle your silly precious heart.

i made a panic phone call today...in tears, i called sister suzie.  here she is and what a precious hat she is modeling. {she doesn't own or wear it...she just saw it and desired a photo of her modeling it-kind of Alice and Wonderlandish on her way to that infamous tea party don't you think?}

she is not a sister in the nun sense of the word...but a sister in the Christ sense of the word AND she happens to be peter's sister!  so we are like related {read this like a valley girl & add a "fur sure" if it meets your fancy}which makes it all the more perfect.  i no longer have a mom to call and this very wise and Godly woman calms my soul, loves me thru my tears and blubbering, and most importantly...prays with me.  she doesn't say, "oh, i will pray for you".  she stops the conversation mid sentence and calls out to God to calm my worrisome soul.  she is my paul.  she prays without ceasing just as he wrote about in thessalonians. she reminds me there are no set of circumstances that are too much for me and my God to handle.  so today, in spite of my bothersome self, i am thankful for a God greater than my situation and i am grateful for sister suzie to remind me when my simple mind forgets.

who is your "suzie"...or do you fill that precious place in another's life pointing her to God when she has forgotten Him?