Oct 09
14
Hard Things
Today, I was waiting for some lab work and listening to the phlebotomists talking about broken air conditioning. The technician taking care of me said that she learned that you can live without air conditioning. We live in central Florida so living without air conditioning is very difficult. Even in the Fall our days are in the high 80s and low 90s. I turned to her and said that we can do hard things, even when we don’t think we can.
I have thought about this today. During the past months, we have had a parade of trials in our family, health, business, and other things. And there were times when I thought I could not handle anything else to go wrong. And then something else would happen and I am still here. So, I too learned, that we can do hard things, even when we don’t think we can.
I know that it is with the help of my Heavenly Father that I have been able to do hard things. It is my faith that there is a Supreme Being who loves me and wants what is best. During times when I was afraid and could not see a happy ending, I prayed and studied my scriptures.
In July, our youngest grandson became extremely ill. We brought his five siblings to our home. Monday, he was transferred from the local hospital to one an hour away with a special children’s hospital. We thanked our God for blessing us that our grandson had fabulous medical care during this time.
My husband and I were planning to drive our 2 teenagers to Illinois for a special church camp. We looked at flying our teenagers to their meeting. We searched all the options. On Wednesday, we learned that the baby did not have leukemia. My husband felt that we could rent an RV and make the trip, taking all five grandchildren along with us. I had been struggling with health issues for some time and did not feel that I would be able to make the trip. We were delayed in leaving and must travel straight through without stopping to spend the night. Our friends had arranged seats for a pageant on Friday night.
We called our friend Andre to help us drive. We had adopted him into our family earlier in the summer and felt comfortable with him and knew of the goodness of his heart. We also knew he was patient and could handle being with us under less than favorable circumstances. Andre changed his plans and immediately went home, grabbed clothes and helped us to load the RV (Lissie, who is four, called it the R-mee). We left home, went by the hospital for the children to say goodbye to their parents and brother, and we headed toward Atlanta.
My husband drove for several hours and when we stopped in Atlanta for gas, Andre took over driving. Tennessee…Arkansas…Illinois. We spent the night in Branson, Missouri and managed to get to Illinois mid-afternoon, unloading our stuff in the home where we were staying. Our friends, the Brimhalls, made us a lovely dinner and we all went to pioneer activities and attended the Nauvoo Pageant. It was wonderful. We were tired, but we were so grateful to be there.
Our children grew from their experiences at the camp. Our grandchildren grew from their time in historical Nauvoo. We all grew closer together and have formed attachments to each other that are binding forever. I wrote in my journal that I was so grateful my husband had made me come.
Even though it was a hard thing to leave my daughter and son-in-law, not knowing what was going to happen to our grandson, we have made memories that will last our lifetimes.
What memories have you made today?
