Planning for the Inevitable

Well, our trip to Florida was wonderful! We left on Tuesday and arrived back home about 3:30 a.m. this morning. We were able to relax, Bruce and Carl golfed, we swam, saw an alligator in the Everglades, and did all kinds of wonderful things. Our hotel was right on the beach, and the weather was beautiful; I even squeezed in a run on a path by the beach, which was beautiful!!

God taught me a very valuable lesson while we were gone. When we arrived at the airport on Tuesday night I called home to say we had arrived and learned that from 7:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. there was no electricity at our house. Before we left, I had planned for every scenario, even made a video for all of the nurses showing them how to take care of Toby, but had forgotten to think this one through. It was chaotic, the back-up battery wasn't charged, we didn't have flashlights in the house, and in the end they had to call 911. Toby was GREAT; they DIDN'T call 911 because Toby was in distress, they just needed power for the ventilator, and our generator wasn't working right. Martha and Brenda (two friends from our church) along with our neighbor and my mom problem solved and worked through it all. The Hilliard EMT and Fire were here, and provided light and generator power. This situation was EXTREMELY humbling for me. I felt like I had planned out everything, and then felt so incompetent because we didn't even have flashlights, the back-up power source for the ventilator wasn't charged, etc., etc., etc., (our power never goes out by the way). I hate asking for help, and then not only were people volunteering to take care of Toby, they were experiencing major stress while doing it. There is no way I can ever repay that. Finally, God spoke in the middle of my tirade of berating myself and questioning why God allowed this to happen. He said, because "I'm in control, STILL! You couldn't be there because you would have been able to control all of it, and intervened because you know where things are and how to move Toby, etc. Everything would have been fine, but you still need to remember to trust me, and allow me to be in control, so you had to be in Florida and learn to trust from a distance." So, then I had to stop and think about the ways He provided in this situation, and there are too many to list on the web-site today, but He did. I learned a very valuable lesson - go and buy flashlights for each room in the house, and that God is still in control -always is, even when I think that I am. Thank you, God. I am humbled by all of the help we had while we were away, something I can never repay, but I can still say thank you. So, thank you - Martha, Brenda, Erika, Jeannette, Paula, Mom, Toni, Aliena, Mareta, Lyndi, Tom, Mom & Dad Holt, and Hilliard EMS and Fire. Thank you for praying while we were away too!!