On prodigals

Foster care is messy. Adoption is messy. But the God of Hope walked into our messy and told us to do likewise. He has patience for my mistakes and asks me to be patient with others. God is with us so we can walk with those He has entrusted to us. And so we continue to pray for our prodigals. Happy birthday! The door is open when you are ready.

Plans to give you hope and a future

6 years ago today we were celebrating no more cast after a long journey involving a break during soccer several years earlier, the incorrect healing of that wrist bone which impeded his viola playing, a difficult decision to re-break the bone and take bone from the hip to surgically repair the wrist, of the hip incision reopening and not healing, finding out that he was allergic to the stitches, and a soft cast put on the wrist. Later getting a hard cast but having it removed every week to be certain he wasn't allergic to that one. Weekly checks on that hip incision which continued for a while longer.

And questioning throughout: Was it worth it? Should we have done it? Was he really going to play viola after high school (because without the weird left hand position of a viola or violin player, he probably never would have known that the bone had healed wrong)?

Well, 6 years have passed and today's pictures at the National Repertory Orchestra festival and the opportunity to play with Joshua Bell are God's answers to that question. It was worth it. It was necessary. It was God's plan for Isaac's future. And he has a great scar which gives ample opportunity to share the amazing testimony of God's goodness and of an amazing hand surgeon at Johns Hopkins who took the time to ask life-altering questions about what was important to Isaac and where he thought the future might take him.

Land-locked ship

Why is there a Titanic Museum in Tennessee? I don't know, but it came highly recommended by multiple people. We put it on our vacation schedule. We took it off our schedule. I have to thank Ana for persisting and asking that we put it back on the list.

Not only is it well done, informative, and interesting, but it is also interactive and hands-on. Victor and museums are usually not a good mix as every sign says, "Do not touch," and he gets bored of us reading everything to him. From the moment our tour started and he was allowed to touch the 3D map that showed where the Titanic was built, launched, stopped, and met its fate, to the water he could put his hand in to feel how cold it was when the boat sank, and everything in between, he was engaged.

Bonus was when we got to the second floor and the tour guide who talked about the musicians aboard the Titanic was a man who is visually impaired. He played some music for us, and then gave Victor a charge to try new things, to do everything he was created to do, and to not let his blindness stop him. On top of all of this, the museum allows families with a member with special needs to reserve a private tour 1/2 hour before the museum actually opens on Thursday mornings.

This is what we did, and the quiet atmosphere with few distractions and a tour guide who got down on Victor's level and answered his many questions, made this a positive experience for everyone. So even though the Titanic Museum is probably only in Pigeon Forge for tourists like us willing to give them our money, I now join the many who recommended it to us. It's well worth it.

Reason for vacation

Looking through our vacation photos, one might assume that we drove all the way to Tennessee to admire Luka for a week.

 

Take me out to the ball game

Growing up, my family benefitted from the Phillies season tickets that my dad’s company held and we enjoyed many games together.

I loved that we would always get hoagies and a soda from a local pizza shop to eat at the game. Both were special treats. I also remember many give-aways and fireworks nights. My brother chose the obvious Mike Schmidt as his favorite player which was fine since I always preferred the underdog. Greg Luzinski was my guy.

I did not enjoy that we were always forced to nap the day of a game and that we had to dress up to attend. I also wasn’t really a fan of the actual game so, always the bookworm never the athlete, I saw the games as just a change of venue for my favorite past time.

Our seats were behind home plate and foul balls were at times an issue. It was one such foul ball that ended my Veteran’s Stadium reading habit as it barreled my direction and hit the empty seat next to me. I cannot remember the last game I attended but I do know it was before the new stadium.

So thank you, Michael, for not wanting a 60th birthday party so we could celebrate your 59 1/2 birthday at the game with you tonight.

And what a fun surprise to find Andrew and a friend were also in attendance and could be smuggled into our party section. And in case you were wondering? I left my book in the car.