Praise and Grief!

Did you know these two
things could be
very closely linked?
They can.

Yesterday I asked Mikey to
return a video to the store.
He left but returned way too
quickly stating that the car
had a problem. He insisted
that I should NOT drive it as
it was unsafe.

Well Warren got home from work
a bit later and took a drive.
He wasn't sure he was going to
make it back....

After some searching he found the
problem. The frame has rusted through
and the entire front end of the car
was flexing and about to break.

We are so thankful that this didn't
happen while Mikey was on a highway.
Warren said that it could have thrown
the wheels to the side and would very
likely have caused Mikey to lose control
or flip.

God was good to us...

Now to the grief part.
No, I am not really grieving the
car, per se, even though it is not
likely something that is worth fixing.

I am very sad because this was my parents
car before it became ours and it is one of
my last direct links to my Dad.

As time moves on more and more things associated
with him wear out or break and I lose them.

Sounds silly, doesn't it?

It is just stuff.

But, on a different level it is so
much more than that.

Dad had a recliner that he spent nearly
every evening in. During the days before
and after his death I would sit in that chair and
just feel close to him.
Poor Mom.
I made her bring it with her when she moved.
To this day it sits in her family room
and I love to go watch southern
gospel concerts on video while
sitting in his chair.
It is as close as I can get to
reliving those days when we sang
together and went to concerts together.

Last evening I drove up the road that
likely finished our car off. Don't get
me started on the reasons this road is
in such bad shape....think governmental
wisdom....anyway, my thoughts were spinning
with how close we came to a bad accident and
how very thankful I am that God protected
our son.

Takes the sting out of the situation...
in a very big way!