"Rock of Ages,cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee."

Tomorrow the long awaited weekend of moving begins. Final boxes must be packed. Sixty years of life and memories sorted and stuffed into cardboard boxes. I have learned that stuff is not stuff when memory begins to fade. It morphs into an anchor, a sign post, and trail marker that can take you back to a sweeter place in time and somehow fill a disquieted spirit with calm.

So we will try to work the miracle. We'll smile and encourage and ooh and ah over new places, new things, less space to clean, less clutter to manage.

We'll rest assured in a God who never leaves us or forsakes us, but goes ahead of us into new places. Thanks be to God.

We are a family that loves to quote movie lines to one another. My kids have many of their favorite movies memorized, and the first one I can remember hearing them quote a lot was "The Princess Bride."

"Inconceivable!" "He's been mostly dead all day." "As you wish."

If you've never seen the movie this sounds like meaningless drivel aired by certifiable nut burgers. Usually we don't care if other folks don't get it. We love crazy lines from "The Breakfast Club," "The Godfather," and on and on.

In the movie "Mixed Nuts" Madeline Kahn's character tells Rita Wilson's character that she could see the "bright side of the plague." There are just some of us who just keep looking for the "bright side," most especially those of us who are "nuts."

Life can make you crazy. You can laugh or you can cry. I highly recommend both, simultaneously if possible. Remember those unforgettable words of Dolly Parton in "Steel Magnolias."

"Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion."
Words to live by.

Saturday is moving day for my parents. It has been a rough and winding road to get this far. Everyone is worn out. It isn't as if the busy lives of my siblings and their families have been suspended...jobs must still be worked, papers written, children moved to colleges, life to be lived across two states has gone on, as it well should.

If only we knew that this was the right choice. All of us are still not sure that we are making the correct move. There are so many unknowns, and so many what ifs.

I know so clearly now why Solomon chose wisdom over riches. I feel the weight of not knowing so heavy on my shoulders. I pray for wisdom, for patience, for courage, and for strength. God has never failed us, and I know He will not fail us now.

Some of the challenges in my life make me feel like a limp, wrung out dishrag. I am too dry and parched to do any good any where, and I need to be immersed in the Word, to bathe in the Spirit, to be refreshed and renewed so that I have usefulness again.

Fill me up, Father God. Wash me clean, and saturate all my fibers with your love and peace and strength. It is good to know that I can come to you and be filled, over and over. Amen.

Dear husband reminded me that I would knee drop anyone who threatened our grand babies. Guess I am not such a peace lover after all:)

Families are interesting and complicated. Everyone has their role to play, and sometimes those assigned roles (or assumed, not sure which) can carry on for decades. God help me, I am the "peacemaker."

I stink at confrontation. Pretty much I am the family wimp. I sort of stand back and let other people be the dragon slayers. I just mop up the blood, stitch up the wounds, and bake everyone cookies after the battle has been fought. I am no warrior. I listen to everyone, and can truly feel their pain, even if I am not sure they are always "right." Pain and loss make people a little crazy, and everyone needs someone to tell them that it is going to be okay. That is one of my best things. I say that a lot. I actually believe it too.

Sometimes I do wonder if I am playing the role that God chose for me, or the one I feel safest playing. Is God nudging me closer to the front lines? Or am I still needed in the tents caring for the wounded?

Fifty-seven is entirely too old to indulge in such self-examination. I think I'll go bake some cookies.