rainy Sunday with my Jamie girl...

Our Jamie-gurl has the flu. Mom was at the Doc-in-the-box with her for a good while last night. I went over around 5:30 and had dinner at the Sautee Trail Cafe with Jim and Sarabeth... Angie went ahead to the doctor with Jamester. Jim left to go to the Discipleship Now conference... and Sarabeth and I spent the night listening to CD's and dancing to things like "The Hokie Pokie" and "On Top of Spaghetti"... we had a buuuhlast! There are worst ways to spend a Saturday night than dancing like a crazy person to the Hokie Pokie!

Then we curled up to watch the Sound of Music. Sarabeth had so many questions... we ended up in this deep theological discussion about what nuns are... what does it mean to be Catholic.... what are we? (Baptist, for the most part)... how do they make the words on top of the picture in the opening credits... how did the film the picture from on top of the mountains?... what is film?... what was it like to live back in Austria in the time of the Sound of Music?... what happened to Maria?... did she go to Heaven when she died?.... (I think she died... let me fact check that...yes, she died in 1987)... are any of the children still alive?... (looks like all but one)... why did Liesl get excited that Rolph brought a telegram... and so on and so forth... it's funny, I don't remember being that inquisitive as a child... I just loved the music and the story... I think I'm still the same way... I don't ask a lot of questions, I just enjoy the ride.

Last night Angie got home exhausted. She spent the first part of the week at Callaway Gardens at a conference for work... then came home and immediately was thrust into moving back into their house, cleaning all the sheetrock dust (which covered EVERYTHING, even in the cabinets!) there was painting to be done, furniture to be moved back, all their belongings that they had at their temporary location to be put back, there were kids who came to clean that needed supervision... and then a trip to the doctor (45 minutes away). She was about to drop when she got home...

I headed home and was backing up the driveway in the dark (always a scary proposition for me!) and all of a sudden there was a girl standing beside my car. It freaked me out quite a bit... Jim and Angie live way back off the main road... about a half mile up a windy one lane dirt road... there is a rental cabin about five hundred yards away from them, totally secluded by trees.... so to see ANYONE... in the dark and rain at that time of night up close to their house... well, it would have freaked anyone out. She had a baby in a backpack... (which made me feel a bit safer) so I rolled down my window to see what she needed. She said they were staying at the rental cabin next door... she was hiking with her husband and some friends and they got lost. She followed what she thought was the way back to the cabin (she was right) but they went a different way and had not made it home. At this point it's about 9pm and very dark and raining. She was soaked, the baby was soaked. She was obviously scared. She asked if I had a cellphone ... I told her it didn't get good reception (the truth is that my little po-phone is just too expensive to use except when there are no other options!) and told her to follow me to the house.

Ok... here's the thing... yes, she could have been an axe murderer and I was leading her right into my brother's home. But... I think God gives us a spirit of discernment to know what is a risk and what wasn't. She had a baby (maybe a year old) in the rain and the cold. I wasn't able to just leave her out there. I explained to her as we went up the porch that it was my brother's house and I didn't have a key but that my sister in law had a phone she could use. She was young... maybe 21 or 22... Angie gave her a phone to use and she called her husband. He didn't answer immediately... we talked about what needed to happen and where he might have gone... and then he called back. She was able to guide him back by telling him what way she went, giving him landmarks. He made it back safely. She was very grateful for our help... and I was grateful she wasn't an axe murderer.

Again, man plans and God laughs. I had been looking forward to a very different day yesterday.... but I believe that God weaves all of our actions and choices together for His will and purpose (if we let Him). Not to take too much credit... but I can't help but wonder what might have happened if this young girl had not had access to a phone and had not been able to lead her husband back to the cabin? He had the keys... she couldn't get in... couldn't get to a phone... it's a long walk to the little country store down the way.... on a cold, dark, rainy night. What would have happened if Angie hadn't decided to take Jamie to the doctor and I hadn't come to babysit Sarabeth? The girl would have come walking up after dark and scared Angie to death! Certainly, you don't have many people wander up on foot around here... God is good. That's for certain.

Since Jamie has the flu she couldn't go to church. Angie plays the drums in our worship services and Jim sings and leads the youth group... and they just had this weekend Discipleship Now conference... he needed to be there to make sure everyone got back to their parents and so forth. It made more sense for Aunt Heather to babysit. Helen First Baptist can do without me a lot easier than it can do without Jim and Angie... so when Angie called on the way home from the doctor last night and said that she had already called our music director to let him know she wouldn't be at church in the morning... and she jokingly said, "You can't play the drums can you?" I said, "no... but I can babysit a sick little girl..." Angie apologized for about ten minutes and said she didn't mean to insinuate that I should offer and didn't want to make me feel like I had to offer and so on and so forth but really... I love to feel useful. I can't lead worship services but I can make sure they can. What a blessing it is for me to be close enough to pinch hit when needed! And what a blessing to be needed! I always had a backup parent with my mom and so why shouldn't Jim and Angie have a backup available for them?

I just hope I don't get the flu! Yikes! But by the time we knew what she had, I had already spent hours playing with her... too late to wory about it... I am letting her lay in her mama and daddy's bed and I'm hanging out in the living room. Close enough to hear every sneeze, but not close enough to be sneezed on... and we're practicing good handwashing techniques!

Jamie is playing with a calculator and calling it her computer. Bless her heart... she feels horrible. She started to cry when her mommy and daddy left for church... I had to hold her for a bit to make her feel better. And as soon as I reminded her that she gets to stay home today and watch Noggin... she was ALL better! My ear is bothering me a lot today... I would have been uncomfortable at church. I'm cozy and comfy all tucked in here... hoping the bad weather holds off until they get back from church and Austin and I get home safely.

Jamie needs me.... Hope you all have a great Sunday!