Rough time grows patience, right?

My 'bug' is better. The meds seem to be working.

I guess God is still working on my patience, and reliance on Him. Two weeks ago, while in Ft. Worth, I received a call from my mom. On that Saturday, my 46 year old cousin was playing golf near his home in Dripping Springs, and died of a heart attack. Steven is YOUNGER than me! So, Mom and I traveled to Weatherford on that Thursday for his graveside service. It was bittersweet. I saw my other cousins, some of whom I haven't seen in over 20 years. And we touched base and decided not to wait so long to get back together. In fact, we are talking about a reunion before the end of the year. It was a great shock, even though Steven and I haven't been close in a long time. This was a kid I used to play with on every holiday, summer, and we picked on each other tremendously. And now he is visiting with my grandparents and my daddy in God's eternal home.

Luke returned from Young Life camp so excited! He had another wonderful trip, and plans on returning next year for a month to work as a volunteer. Windy Gap is in North Carolina and from the photos, is beautiful, serene, and great fun! All the young men (there was only 9 on the trip) became very close and talked about serious stuff the entire week. Luke talked about it on the way home and for several days. Then on Tuesday night, one of those dear friends drowned at Lake Brownwood.

The first loss when you are young is so hard. I lost one of my friends when I turned 16 in an auto accident and I refused to get my drivers license for almost a full year. Luke has never lost a friend, and the grief in him broke my heart. Knowing there was nothing I could do or say to make his loss seem less, is so painful. Luke, who is always full of joy, finds good in everything, and is such a jokester, was lost. Please pray for him. It never will go away, but I hope he will continue to rely on Jesus and his Spirit to comfort him in this time. We cannot survive without our God who is there for us, to hold us in His arms and love on us, when it feels like no one else is around, or no one else cares how we feel.

And as for patience...well, on Monday, temperature 106, my a/c choked. I had the motor fixed and later that day the entire outside unit conked out. That wouldn't be such a problem, but the inside unit is 24 years old and not compatible to anything in today's world. So, off to the credit union I went for a loan to cover this new 'opportunity'. After three and half days, on Thursday afternoon, we had enough cool air to live back in our home.

While the a/c was out, I decided this would be a great time to clean out my shed. It wouldn't feel so hot in the shed, since it was hot in the house...right? Well, I did a magnificent job, even filled up the dumpster twice! Unfortunately, I was showing it off to Thomas on Thursday night, stepped wrong off the step, and now my ankle is twice its size! Since I have been a clutz on numerous occasions, I have the ankle brace and various items the physical therapist gave me last time. My ankle doesn't hurt to walk on now, and its a good thing sandals work, cuz I couldn't get a shoe on to save my life!! But, my shed has all my tools organized with a workbench, and you can actually find things in there now.

After that, I cleaned out the laundry room, and pantry, organized them and threw even more junk away!!

The bad thing is.....I only have two weeks of freedom left until school starts. AND, I still need to get my new classroom in order. I am changing rooms, and everything is in boxes. At least there is air conditioning, though...Thank you Lord for that!!