The Silver Lining

I'm not exactly sure where the time has gone. I didn't know that time flies when your overwhelmed, but you can quote me on that. It feels like every week is filled with a new fire to put out. My lack of blogging is because when I was done working the last thing I wanted to do was blog about work. So I didn't blog.

I'm still very overwhelmed and not really ready to write much about my day to day at TDP but at the same time I want to keep people updated.

I still don't have definite plans for Mozambique, but looking at the last week of January or the first week of February. The Lord is defiantly trying my patience in more ways than I knew possible. I've been at peace about not going to Mozambique for Christmas, I understand that things will happen in His perfect timing. Last week was a reminder of that.

For those of you that haven't heard Grandpa Charlie died on Thursday. As hard as his passing has been it's REALLY allowed me to see just how caring and merciful our God is. Just think had I made it to Mozambique as i had planned I would have left around December 12th. I will be forever grateful that I was around to spend time with family these last few days. It's amazing that even in such difficult times the Lord has blessed me with a silver lining.

I was also able to be with my Architecture girls from Judson. We've had a yearly Christmas dinner for the last four years. A few weeks back I realized that I wouldn't be able to make it. It was a hard decision but I couldn't justify the cost. Well we usually exchange gifts that night as well but this year we decided not to because money is tight. Well little did I know that rather than gifts they all conspired giving me money to go toward my trip to Mozambique... I was literally speechless.

Grandpa Charlie was an amazing man. I truly feel blessed that I got to share life with him. I'll never forget the road trip we took this summer from Chicago to Detroit and the sight of him working his way in and out of my little car without air conditioning. I went to put on music and asked him what he liked, of course he answered "the Gathers." Well I don't have any of them on my ipod so I asked "what did you listen to before them" and he answered "The Gathers" =) Don't get me wrong at times he was a grumpy little old man but for the most part he cared so much for others and put them before himself. The whole week he was in the hospital leading up to his death he kept asking how Maddox was doing (cause she was sick) and how my fundraising was going. The night before he passed, he asked Millie to bring his checkbook in and he wrote me another support check. To the very end Grandpa Charlie was an amazing man whom I loved dearly.