We just got back from a wonderful family gathering in Gatlinburg, TN. It has been years since I've been there. We stayed in a wonderful house/palace that allowed each to have enough space and yet a home-like atmosphere for "together" times. Our fun activities included skiing, laser-tag and indoor skydiving. (That last one you can look up under http://flyawayindoorskydiving.com/pf.html) We also ate ourselves silly with awesome home-made meals of white-chicken chili, breakfast casserole, lasagna, fried fish, fried chicken and finally biscuits and gravy.
There was safe travel to and from the event. This trip was not without its difficulties. It snowed some, making getting up our street challenging. The snow also made it slippery walking down the steps and around the cars. Brenda messed her back up the day before we traveled to Gatlinburg, TN so she was kind of gimpy throughout the entire trip. She is still not 100%. A window broke in our 1997 Expedition, requiring way too much time and money to get it fixed.
And yet, today I began getting the full blast of all the issues going on in Haiti as a result of the devastating earth-quake that hit there yesterday. The presidential palace is in ruins. Bodies of the dead are being stacked in the street. A hotel we visited on numerous trips was destroyed. I cannot begin to imagine what conditions are like there right now.
A friend of ours sits tonight with her mother who is in critical care following a major surgery followed by a ruptured ulcer causing lots of infection and pneumonia.
Thank you Lord, for all your blessings. I pray that we enjoy the mountaintop as it may not be long until we also are in the valley.
