I don't normally shop on Sunday nights. And I wasn't really "shopping." I was picking up a few random things. But there were more people in the store than I anticipated. I was without a list so I was foggily trying to remember what I shouldn't forget and wandering the store. If you were a shopper on a mission tonight, I was one of those people you wish had stayed home. Clearly the little boy wished I was not in the store.
There was another lady there with her coupon book open, coupons tucked inside trading card holders, seriously shopping. I have one of those notebooks. Mine is filled with expired coupons.
My focus this week is my trip to Kentucky to visit my mother--and my father and my sister and her children. I visit them, too. They are neighbors. As usual, even though I've been planning the trip, I'm faced with a full schedule and many things to do--both to prepare what I need to take and prepare the rest of my life to be without me for five days. So I was thinking about that in the grocery store.
And it's 10 degrees in Kentucky right now. It's been cold here this week, but in typical fashion for South Texas, it could be 65 tomorrow afternoon. Not there. If it warms up, it will be 22 degrees.
So I have to go through my closet and select from my "moderate-temperature Houston wardrobe" those items that will work in 10 degree weather. Flip flops won't do.
But some how it will happen. I will get my stuff together and get packed. What doesn't get done at home will be here when I get back.
But I am thankful for the time I will get to spend with my family. As those with aging parents know, time with them is precious.
The funeral for Ken's second cousin was Friday. I sat there during the mass thinking about all that that extended family had lost during the years. Many of the parents of the cousins died prematurely from heart disease. And several of the cousins' children (the second cousins) have died prematurely from auto accidents and illnesses. Yet there they were, grieving for the latest loss, still expressing their faith, loving each other.
My mother is deteriorating physically. And it is sad for me to see that. But she is a remarkable woman. She does not complain. She is cheerful. She is hopeful. She is faithful. In fact, I don't know anyone who has met my mother that doesn't love her. Even her caregivers love her. They even shop for her - I saw this robe and thought you would like this. They come back to visit her even when they no longer work for her.
I wish I were like her.
So I thought about today's sermon on Job. Will we still believe in God when the benefits are gone--when our health is gone, our families dead. Job doesn't answer the question, "Why do we suffer?" And that's the question we want answered when we lose friends and relatives prematurely, when we watch our parents health fade, when we suffer. We want to know why. But Job was never told why. He just remained faithful.
I wish I were like Job.
So think of me this week as I try to be kind to TSA agents. I hope there is not one of those new x-ray machines at the airport. That would be an unkindness for the TSA agent.
“You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you.”- Psalm 86:5
Have a blessed week.
--Laura
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