1 Post FOUR 2 Thoughts

I'm sitting at the Burger King in Ludington, MI, which amazingly has free Wi-Fi, enjoying a wonderful vacation.  My best friend Leo is sitting across the booth from me listening to my copy of Robbie Seay Band's awesome new album, Give Yourself Away.  The kids are enjoying the Playland.  And I'm posting a quick blog post with this rare opportunity at Internet.  And since I have just a short time to blog, I'm going to use this one blog to post a couple of different thoughts.

S Turns Four

I was rudely awakened yesterday when LeAnn shook me in bed saying "Erin, I need your help.  S wet his bed."  So I went into the bathroom to help with my son.  As he stood there on the bathroom rug while we waited for LeAnn to come with a wash cloth for cleaning him up, Sstarts to giggle.  And giggle.  And giggle.  I try to keep him quiet since the rest of the house is still asleep, but he just can't stop himself.  He's got goosebumps from being cold, he's waiting for dry underwear and pants, and yet he can't keep from giggling.  And that's when it hits me - he knew what day it was.

Yesterday we had the wonderful chance to celebrate S's fourth birthday.  He had been counting down for the whole month of November, and thankfully the day met all of his expectations (well, except for the way he woke up with a wet sleeping bag!).

As her present to her little brother, K planned a wonderful party with games, prizes, and cake.  The theme was "trains", so we played "The conductor says..." (instead of "Simon Says"), pin the steam stack on the train (instead of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey"), and ate a cake decorated by LeAnn with a train (and sprinkles for smoke - this picture was taken just after the candle as the cake is being cut).  The Bird and Anderson kids had a blast, and S giggled all day.

I am so thankful FOUR the years God has given us with S, and I pray he gives us many more together.  Although he is a four-year-old boy full of energy and lacking focus at times :o), he is a wonderful little boy who is very bright and loves to bring laughter to our household.  Happy B-day, S!

Thankful FOUR much...

With tomorrow being thanksgiving, there is much I could say about all the things I am thankful for.  My family.  My friends, the Andersons.  This vacation.  Overall, I'm thankful just to be alive and on this vacation with my family.  A little incident on our trip here snapped everything back into focus.  So here's the story...

Before we left last Saturday, I did my routine check of the van's oil, fluid levels, etc.  In that routine, I check the air pressure in the tire.  Each tire was a touch low, and knowing we were traveling in cool weather with a big load, I wanted to take the tires to the max pressure level.  So on our way out of town, I stopped at the local Casey's Handimart to use the air pump.  But something was wrong with the pump - I could only get each tire up to 32 lbs., not the 35 I wanted.  I spent 20 minutes trying to get the tires higher, but it just wouldn't pump anymore.  I finally gave up because we were already 30 minutes late getting out of town, and now we are even later.

So at a bathroom stop in Atkinson, IL, I found an air pump on the back side of the building.  I saw this as God's provision, so I pulled up the van while the rest of the family was finishing up inside.  While the pump in Cedar Rapids couldn't pump past 32, this pump could pump to 320 in less than a minute.  It was fast!

My now-four-year-old was "helping" me, take the valve stem covers off and holding the tire gauge for me while I placed the air hose on the stem.  The first tire I counted to 10, and ended up having to deflate 10 lbs out of the tire.  And as I pulled the hose off the stem, I noticed it "stick" a little bit.  Second tire, same story.  I did even less time on tire three and thought I had figured this thing out.  At that moment LeAnn walked out and I announced I just had one more tire to go and it would only take a couple of seconds.

My son, S, removed the valve cover for me, and I placed the hose on.  I counted to 2 and pulled the hose off.  Or at least that's what I wanted.  But the hose "stuck" again.  So I pulled more.  And more.  The hose was still pumping in the air, and I started getting really concerned.  I started fearing the tire was going to blow and I've heard horror stories of injury and even death from blown tires.  I start pulling frantically and repeatedly yelling "No!".  This scared S, who ran away screaming and crying.  I kept pulling and pulling thinking that at any moment this thing is going to blow and I'm going to be seriously hurt.

Suddenly it gave!  I found myself on my rump holding the hose - with the valve stem still stuck in the hose end!  I had pulled the entire stem valve out!  All the air I had just pumped in escaped out the whole vacated by the stem, and I screamed "No!" one more time, this time out of frustration and not fear.

So an hour later we were back on the road with a spare tire, and I reflected on everything that took place.  I realized that rather than being frustrated that the valve came completely out, I should be thankful because it probably spared my life and any injury to my family.  While we lost a lot of time and didn't arrive at our destination until 3 hours later than planned, we made it alive and didn't have to have our friends visiting us in a hospital.

So on Day FOUR of our vacation, I find myself thankful for many things, but the first to mind is just the opportunity to enjoy being with my family and friends on this earth for a while longer.  May you find much to be thankful for, even in the midst of the inconveniences of life.  Happy Thanksgiving!