The Best of Two Worlds

So, I’m at Grandma’s now, and thoroughly enjoying it. Right now Dad is in the living room looking at old yearbooks. I had to laugh, because in all the pictures his mouth looks like Ethan’s :)

Roads are delicious. I spent some time yesterday cultivating appreciation for my southern roots (which I really have never bothered doing before). Observing and absorbing the long, unchanging lines of towering pines along the interstate, the hurried vastness of the Mighty Mississippi, and the enchanting iron work fences at the Vicksburg rest stop, I discovered that I kind of…like this. The mountains up here, though, are so beautiful to me. They aren’t very big mountains, but the peaceful mystery of these hills with little houses tucked into them delights me.

We made decent time yesterday on I-20, and I actually got to drive about half the time! I was surprised and delighted at how quickly I adjusted to it. Dad actually got to sleep a bit, and at least rest in the passenger’s seat. And I got a lot of practice passing eighteen wheelers. Things were going so well that I even braved Birmingham and triumphed, and then tried Chattanooga at rush hour and conquered again! (There really wasn’t much traffic though, considering it was rush hour). So now I feel confident that I can really and truly drive on the interstate and even through cities, and could even do it alone, if need be. That would be an adventure! But I think acquiring the confidence to attempt it is the biggest hurtle for me…and it’s jumped!!

Last night Aunt Ann, Kimmy, and Elizabeth came over and we had supper together. Then the girls and I sprawled out in the bedroom and talked while I played with Kim’s beautiful hair. It’s nice to be with them again.

After they left, I tried to go to bed because I had been up since 3:15 a.m. and never even tried to kid myself into thinking I could sleep in the van…but alas. Elizabeth had left some books on the shelf in the bedroom, and I was only going to take a peek, but…You guessed it-- I fell to temptation and was up till 1:00 a.m. reading an extraordinary story.

The book wasn’t very long, so I sort of speed read it and finished it. It was Total Abandon, by Gary Witherall. He and his wife went to Lebanon several years ago as missionaries and she was killed by a gunman after about two years there. In a way it’s a sad story, but their realness and devoted, joyful love for the Lord really captured me. You think you dread “tragedies” like that…but at the same time there’s an element of longing to fully abandon everything to God in that way.

Needless to say, I didn’t want to get up very early this morning, and when I first woke up at 7:30, realizing that it was actually only 6:30 by my body’s Texas clock, I was sort of disgusted. It was already light! So I kind of went back to sleep, and then sort of got up, but not really, and then at 9:45 I finally went out to the living room where Grandma was working a crossword and watching a game show. Soft sunlight was coming in through the lacy curtains, and it felt like a good morning.

Dad had gone for a walk at the track here in Dayton, and part way through my breakfast he came in with a McDonald's iced coffee for me :) I felt loved.

Liz told me that the Dayton library has wireless internet, so I’m writing this at Grandma’s table and plan to go to the library later. Fun, fun. This wireless stuff is new and exciting to me :) I’ve always loved coming to Grandma’s, but I always felt a little stuck and isolated. This way, I seem to have the best of two worlds.

We’ll probably be leaving for North Carolina on Saturday. For now, we’ll just hang out and enjoy each other :)