8 Days

8 days.  Wow!  Realized yesterday we were down to single digits.  Tomorrow we will be down to 1 week.  Has it hit?  No, not really.

One of the many wonderful blessings of serving on a church staff was the opportunities to be involved with a variety of people - people I wouldn't normally seek out as friends.  Today I will celebrate 8 days by going to brunch with a group of ladies from Cornerstone's JOY Group (Just Older Youth, aka Senior adults).  These ladies are beautiful - on the inside and the out.  We will laugh (and maybe cry) and share and just chat over breakfast.  I am going to miss these ladies dearly!

My advice to women - have friends of all ages!  I have learned much from these ladies.  Two big lessons:

1. Although the world has changed greatly over the past 30 years or so, they faced the same issues. I realized this one night several years ago.  On the spur of the moment a group of us ladies who were exhausted from VBS decided to have ladies' night out at the movies and dinner.  We went to see The Proposal.  It was rated PG-13 and there were a few scenes in there where I just squirmed!  Not because it wasn't something I had seen in the movies before, but because I had brought the senior ladies to see it.  Afterwards we were laughing about parts of the movie and I made a comment about being embarrassed for them and one sweet lady said "Cindy, do you really think there was anything in that movie we haven't seen before and most of it in real life?"  I felt better, but later the real meaning of what she said hit.
2. They are some of the best prayer warriors around.  In our busy life style we have lost the value of strong prayer warriors.  We are much more of "drive thru" pray-ers.  If I need someone to be willing to set aside all they are doing and spend intimate time before the throne of God on my behalf one of these ladies is who I am going to turn to first.  Oh that when I am their age someone would say the same of me!

Back to Day 8.  Scott and Alex are taking the day off from getting ready to go and just spending time together.  They are headed to the NASCAR Hall of Fame and Aviation Museum (where the plane from the miracle on the Hudson is displayed) in Charlotte.  I pray they have a day of fun and relaxation.

As for me, finishing up odds and ends around the house and beginning to think about suitcases.  I am looking forward to a day alone with my to do list.

Yesterday at lunch (I am going to weigh 200 pounds before we leave for Spain by having a meal a day out with friends and family) I was sharing that I don't think it has really hit that we are moving to the other side of the ocean.  She said "oh I know it hasn't."  She went on to share that she prayed it began to hit on this side of the ocean and not totally crash on the other side.  I pondered that all afternoon.  My prayer has become that God will allow for healthy emotions in the midst of all the tasks to be done, whatever that may look like or however hard that may be.  8 days is not very long.