Home at Last

I am finally home. This was the first vacation where I actually felt more rested when I got home than I did when I left. That is a rare treat indeed so thank you to everyone who made it possible. I missed my little ones something fierce and I'm glad to be back and doing my part in holding down the fort. I think God is working on my about something. My dad and I talked about this a bit while out in the Canoe, and then God worked on me about it a bit more that night. Judging. I didn't even know this was a problem but it turns out that I had been doing it to my own little brother for a long time and it was creating a rift between us. I was having breakfast with him and his wife when I felt it was the perfect time to apologize to him for it and tell him how proud I am of many of his decisions. It turns out that the night before he had been talking to his wife, Amber, about me and how it seemed like I was mad at him about something. What I said to him was exactly what he needed to hear from me apparently and he thought that Amber had talked to me that morning. She hadn't, but God had. So now I'm back at home and I'm fighting with something. I am more than a little upset with the behavior of one of my neighbors. I want to have a civil conversation with them and work this out, because they have been good friends for nearly a year now. A single misunderstanding later and my wife and I are getting bashed to all of our friends. So now I'm trying to avoid judging them, or being angry with them. Perhaps this is just meant to be a lesson. It affected my child, so I'm having a harder time with it than I normally would. Just goes to show though, that most conversations I have with my dad end up having a direct impact on my life almost immediately. Now how does he do that???

Separation

So Holly and I have only been apart for about a week, and she is a strong woman who normally fairs perfectly well without me. This time around however, she has had the worst string of bad luck ever! The moment I touched down on the east coast she calls me to inform me that our daughter has a large lump on her bum which turned out to be MRSA. Holly herself had just gotten over a case of this right before I left. So they end up spending 3 days in the hospital while my baby girl is poked, prodded, stabbed and suffering through this. MRSA is no joke either. So they just get home and suddenly Holly's bumps return. Awesome. Now she is most likely going to have to have them lanced again but all of our friends are either sick, cracking mentally or somehow unable to help. I need to be there for my family but this was an unprecedented opportunity to see my family back home in Oregon. I just need to know why all of this happens to my beautiful wife when I'm not there to help her. To make matters more difficult, there are like 50 people wanting to talk to me and spend time with me here, but Holly needs my time too especially right now. This happens every time I leave. I think my mere presence somehow stops bad things from happening. Just looking at the trends of the past, that seems to be true, regardless of how unlikely that seems. I miss my babies and my babe, but it is really a problem because of all the things that are going wrong. I mean Holly sprained her ankle and the tv broke today too. Seriously, what is going on out there?