Five Minute Friday: Imagine

Each week Gypsy Mama chooses a word to write about for five minutes. No editing, stream of consciousness. Today's word is: Imagine.

Ready. Set. Write.

My imagination can run wild.  I love to dream...and dream big.  Being an only child, I found myself having to play a lot on my own, which is fertile ground for imagination.  I would play pretend school and line up my stuffed animals and teach them a lesson.  I'd imagine I was a cashier and running a small grocery store in the country where I had long conversations with my patrons.  When it got windy, pre-thunderstorm weather, I'd pretend I was a pioneer woman, and I'd batten down the hatches outside like I was preparing for a Wizard of Oz-like tornado.  When the weather was good, I'd gather various things from my yard to imagine surviving in the colonial days.  My imagination was never-ending.

Reading was also a part of my childhood...and my adulthood.  You can't get much more imaginative than reading a book and picturing in your mind the visual of what you are reading.  I would curl up for hours and lose myself in a book when I was a child and had no cares or responsibilities in the world.  Today there could be nothing more relaxing to me than the peacefulness of reading a good book and losing myself in the story.  Rarely do I read a book where I don't picture myself as one of the characters.  

I never want to stop imagining.  

God's Faithfulness

A week ago today, on May 4, Derby Day, my Dad passed from this life to his home in Heaven.  The whirlwind that has been this week (not to mention the past month when all of this began) has not been void of the evidences of God's Faithfulness.  Every time I would share something, someone would say "you better write this down!" or "you will have one great blog to write."  Since I process verbally, I've thought much this week how I could even put into one post all that I've experienced this week.  You see, when my Mom passed 13 years ago, I wasn't blogging.  But now I am.  And though I could write for days on all I've experienced, I've decided to boil it down to one word...Faithfulness.  

Dad accepted Christ 65 years ago this past Thursday, his day of visitation at the funeral home and was faithful to the end.  A rock, and the godliest man I've ever known.  God in His sweet compassion was so faithful to me.  I had prayed since my Mom passed, that Dad would go quickly.  I didn't want him to lose his mental faculties or have to suffer.  My Dad was a servant and a man who needed a purpose.  Without it, he was lost.  I saw that in a tangible way after my Mom died.  I knew if he got down physically and/or mentally, he would be hard to handle and the suffering would be worse than most.  He was completely independent all the way until the end.  God was faithful.  My Stepmom lost her first husband due to a massive heart attack that she watched happen.  I had prayed Dad wouldn't die in her presence and that should would be spared that type of vivid memory and experience again.  My Stepmom had been in rehab since Dad had started this journey and once again, God was faithful.

All along this journey, God was preparing me for what was to come. When Dad was admitted for his first visit on April 11, I drove home from the hospital that night in tears, praying and asking God to help me let him go, if this was his time.  My Dad was 87 and although I'd like him to live to 107, I knew that was highly improbable. I recalled how my Mom and Dad had let me go.  After praying for a child for 18 years and finally having one, they didn't cling to me and hover over me.  They recognized I was a gift from God, taught me independence and let me go.  And now, it was time to let my Dad go.  Over the following three weeks, God worked in my heart through my time with Dad, my prayers, devotion...even songs I'd hear...to prepare me.  God was faithful.  As we got in my Stepmom's car to head to the funeral home for visitation, Dad had a southern gospel CD in the car playing (as he always did), and the song was perfectly cued to the song "Haven of Rest."  So many of these little God things happened to assure me God's tangible presence.  Yes, God was so faithful.

Being an only child, and single, I'm a pretty independent soul.  But, facing this alone was something I was dreading.  I have been blessed with the most amazing support group anyone could ask for in this world.  My closest friends surrounded me and made sure I had food and anything I needed.  My church family was amazing and demonstrated the gospel in a way that my family and friends could not believe.  So many live without hope.  How people face tomorrow without hope in Jesus is beyond my grasp, but added to that, not having a church family seems so foreign to me.  God was faithful.  And, my Stepmom's family worked like a team to help make sure everything was covered.  My Stepmom never had children, so one of her nieces is like her daughter and she and her family were unbelievable in being my adopted siblings as we walked this journey together.  Even a week after Dad's passing I have more food than I can eat from folks, and so does my Stepmom.  Yes, God is ever so faithful.

I'm sure in the days and months to come, I will sprinkle many stories and memories of my Dad in this blog...just like I have with my Mom.  There is a most blessed peace in knowing that the two greatest people in my life are safe in the arms of Jesus.  I can only imagine my Mom's excitement to see my Dad again, and probably was peeking around Jesus as Dad laid his eyes first on his Savior.  A Savior that was always so faithful to him.  Soli Deo Gloria.

Hospital Observations

After a five-day stay in the hospital, my Dad was discharged today to go home.  It's been a wild few days with my Stepmom also in the hospital for fractured ribs and moved to rehab in the meantime.  But, God, in His graciousness, allowed all things to happen at just the right time.  While Dad recuperates, my Stepmom is being cared for getting therapy.  Dad's motivation was to get home to take care of her, so if she was home, he wouldn't be taking care of himself.  

Spending a lot of time with Dad in the hospital, I made lots of observations.  And, as I often do, I'll share my findings...

Hospital WiFi is the greatest invention since night baseball - Hospitals have come a long way and one of the greatest accomplishments is free Wifi for patients and guests.  My Dad was admitted Thursday evening and had a procedure yesterday, but the remainder of that time, was a "sit and wait" while the doctors observed him and ran tests.  i was able to log on to my work laptop and do work as if I was sitting at my desk.  It was amazing.  Aside from being limited on the conference calls I could make, it was the perfect setup.  And, focusing on work kept my mind off of worrying about my Dad.

When you find a yummy option at the cafeteria, stick with it - I ate lunch everyday at the hospital.  Oh, I could have left and gone to a local fast foodery nearby, but I figured it was easier and quicker to just eat there.  I became a fast fan of their turkey burgers.  A turkey burger on a wheat bun with pepper jack cheese hits the spot.  I think I ate them out of pepper jack cheese because they were out the last two lunchtimes I ordered.  

If you just sit quietly, you'll hear all kinds of interesting conversations - Dad's first roommate (he had two different ones - number two had quite the potty mouth), was never without at least five visitors at a time.  They were a sweet family, but never.stopped.talking.  For those who know me well, know that's a lot of talking.  I knew all of their business from where they had lunch to what they were fixing for dinner.  One day their Mom, the wife of the patient, had "wandered" away and they weren't sure where she was.  That began a conversation on "GPS-ing" senior adults.  They said GPS chips should be embedded in senior adults so everyone could find them if they wandered off.  Part of me thought that was brilliant and part of me thought that was a bit too "mark of the beast" for my comfort.  Needless to say, never a dull moment if you just sit and listen.

Clean living is worth it - My Dad is 87 years old and probably looks and functions 10 years his youth.  Aside from his wild Navy days before he became a Christian, he has lived a very clean life.  He quit smoking in the 50s back when it was cool and very accepted.  Because of that clean living, he has very few health issues, outside of his heart conditions.  Dad's second roommate looked to be in his 50s but clearly had a lot of issues brought on by more than his young age.  He looked like he'd lived a rough life and based on his profane language and conversations, I'd say that he wasn't a clean liver...nor was his liver clean.  I rode elevators with patients who reeked of cigarette smoke and were checking out and I wondered how soon they'd be back in for some other complication.  It was sad.  My 80+ year old Dad was in better health than many people 30 years younger.  I may not be the healthiest living person in the world, but after witnessing what I did in the halls of the hospital, I am convicted to keep away from any debilitating vices.  

Parking and Pick Up are Two Different Things - When you drive around a hospital parking lot and garage, you need to be aware of your surroundings.  Stopping in the middle of a drive to potentially wait on someone isn't a bright idea.  Might be best to pull over.  And if you are doing the same at the patient pick up area, be conscious of those trying to pick up discharged patients.  I had to almost get out and ask a man who was having a conversation with an aide and in mid-drive to move so I could get to the entrance to pick up my Dad.  May i never be that self-absorbed and unaware.  
  

The Gospel According to GMAT

I received my letter of conditional acceptance to the MBA program this week and I'm beyond excited!  I find it completely against my nature to be excited about returning to school, but I see it as God's Way of changing my heart, as I've ruminated upon recently.  The conditions of my acceptance are dependent upon my GMAT score.  My GMAT is scheduled for May 25 and I'm working on prepping for that now.

There are multiple sections of the GMAT - analytical writing assessment, integrated reasoning, quantitative and verbal.  As I'm preparing by studying things I've long since forgotten, I take practice exams, get daily practice questions and evaluate how I'm doing.  The last test I took I scored a 50%, which isn't bad, though as a perfectionist, I want to do much better.  Technology has made this prepping amazingly easy.  I have about five apps on my iPad that I can use to not only study, but also to prepare via practice questions and exams.  There is even an app that acts like Angry Birds and when you answer the questions right, and quick enough, you unlock the next level.

In studying for the exam, I'm also reading a lot on tips and information about the test itself and techniques on taking the exam.  Interestingly enough, this exam is known as a CAT exam....computer adaptive testing exam.  What does that mean?  It means that when you answer a question, and you get it right, the test gets progressively harder; if you get it wrong, it stays at the same level of difficulty.  That's where the "adaptive" part comes in.  I have to say I don't like that adaptive stuff.  If I'm doing well, why not help me do well and keep me at the same difficulty level?  I suppose it's to stretch me as a student.

After reflecting on this interesting testing technology, I realized that the GMAT operates much like God does in our spiritual journeys.  If we struggle in our faith in a test or temptation, God will continue to use experiences in our lives at the same "difficulty level" to stretch and grow us.  But, if we succeed the faith "exam", the next step in our journey may stretch us even more.  We have to trust Him more, believe in Him fully, and sacrifice to Him in ways we may not have had to do before.  Like the GMAT, God adapts to us.  He knows us better than any computer test does.  He knows our heart at the depths where we never travel.  And the difficulty level rises so we can become more like Him.  I don't like that "testing" either, but the outcome is beyond glorious in results.

Welcome to CardNation!

After a long 26 year wait, the NCAA Trophy is back in the Ville.  I could write blog post after blog post on all the stories woven in the Year that was the Cards.   But the best way to sum it up is to show the highlight video from what will surely go down in history as one of the best championship games ever.  L1C4.  If you don't know what it means, Google it.