Gigi's Blog

Well, God willing Mark is on his way home from Mexico as I type.  I say God willing because if you heard about Hurricane Dolly-well that is relatively close to where he has been in Mexico.  But we were concerned as well about flight cancellations because he had his first layover in Houston.  But I just checked his flight, and it appears as if it left 10 minutes early and should be arriving in Houston in about an hour.  It’s been a roller-coaster few days.  Mark called on Tuesday and said that he had heard that a hurricane might be headed toward them but couldn’t tell for sure because everything was in Spanish.  We hung up and I began to search for info, and realized that yes indeed it was headed in that direction.  The next day I called people and asked them to pray.  I told everyone that I didn’t want Chloe to know about this, and not to discuss it around her.  She rode home from VBS that night with Holly and when she got out of the car she came straight to me. “Mommy, there’s going to be a hurricane in Mexico.”  I froze.  I couldn’t figure out what to do or say, so I told her to go in the house I’d be right in.  She was already tearing up.  I said “Holly, what do I do?”  She told me that I needed to be honest with her, because if I wasn’t and something happened Chloe would question me on why I wasn’t honest.  She suggested I tell her that the hurricane was supposed to hit in Texas, but that when it reached Mexico it should be mostly rain, which was all true.  I told her and she cried, until after midnight.  She said “I don’t care if it’s a hurricane or not, I miss Daddy.”  I tried not to just say empty things like “it’ll be ok.”  She’s way too smart for that.  We prayed and prayed.  We also prayed for the 200 or so houses Mark had saw that were made of sticks and scrap metal. She stayed in my room until very late.  Mark didn’t call that night.  He had already told me he probably wouldn’t because they were going to do a little sightseeing, and it might be late.  But with the storm, well I wasn’t sure what was going on.  Chloe did calm down by the next morning.  I ended up calling Mark’s boss and asking if he’d heard from Mark.  He actually had just gotten off the phone with him.  He was fine. 

I got to church for the last night of VBS.  My head was pounding and everything had sort of taken a toll on me, but only in a way that I was fully trusting God and in a greater understanding of my total dependence on Him.  Mother said something under her breath that I couldn’t hear.  “What did you say?”  “They’ve taken Janice to the Hospice house?”  I quickly went to find Holly.  Yes.  The Hospice nurse told Richard that she needed to go so they could medicate her in a way to reduce her pain more effectively.  The night before Rebekah had literally begged Holly to spend the night with Janice.  Holly had promised her that after the last night of VBS (last night) she could.  On the drive home from VBS Holly was forced to tell Rebekah the situation.  Rebekah cried and cried.  She and Janice are so close.  They lived with Janice for the first several years of Rebekah’s life.  Rebekah and Rachel have been forced through this situation to talk about death, and the process of dying.  It’s one of those life lessons that unfortunately you learn through experiencing it.  I mean you can learn about it, but to actually learn it, you have to suffer. 

Holly and I have both had to tell our kid’s things that we didn’t way to say, but it was the truth, so we had too.  We didn’t want them to be afraid, but to keep these situations from them would’ve been worse.  What if they would have looked at us and said “Why didn’t you tell me?”

As I said, last night we ended VBS.  I talked to a woman last night coming to pick up a youth.  I felt prompted to engage her in conversation.  She responded and began sharing things. I’m not really sure why she felt it was ok to tell me the things she told me, but I’m so glad she did.  I encouraged her to come to church Sunday and she seemed like she really wants to.  You know it’s so much easier to turn our backs on the details in people’s lives.  Please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying.  I’m not saying we should point out the details in peoples lives to draw them to Christ-‘cause I can promise you that does not work.  I’m talking about taking the time to let them share with you and tell you what they need to say and then build on that.  “Hi.  Are you a Christian?  Oh you’re not, well you should be.  Now get saved!”  That doesn’t work.  I have heard story after story of people becoming saved through relationships that have developed over time.  I know the fear is a person not getting saved before they die, but the great thing is that salvation is not our responsibility, its God’s.  Holly and I decided that the eventual pain of dishonesty would far outweigh the momentary pain of honesty for Rebekah and Chloe.  The facts were the facts.  Janice is going to a Hospice house, and Mark was in the possible path of a hurricane, but to sow a seed of deceipt (even unintentionally) that might cause a lifetime of regrets, it wasn’t worth it. It would have been easier not to tell Chloe and hope for the best, and easier to not tell Rebekah and hope Janice came home, but easier isn’t always best, in fact it usually isn’t.   People need to know the truth.  It would be much easier to just say “Hi” to a person and hope things work out, (In fact, I hear people say a lot “It’ll all work out.”) but how much better it would be for that person in the long run  for you and I to be honest and helpful and willing to invest in their lives. 

Holly and I are ending our two week slumber party.  It’s been a time of talking, crying, laughing and of course eating.  We’ve had Meagan B. with us, and Adam, and Richard and Megan and Ali. (Not at the same time)  We’ve stayed up ridiculously late every single night.  We went to the drive inn, we swam, we cooked, we lived without a refrigerator, we watched Natalie Grant and a bunch of other artists You Tubes when they talked about what they’ve been through, and we did so much more.  This really confirms my belief in the need for friendships.  I’ve heard James Dobson talk about this before, and he’s right. 

So to Holly I say “Tempenade! Until next time.”

Isaiah 58:6-9"This is the kind of fast day I'm after:
   to break the chains of injustice,
   get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
   free the oppressed,
   cancel debts.
What I'm interested in seeing you do is:
   sharing your food with the hungry,
   inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
   putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
   being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
   and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
   The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
   You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.'

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