This is how I described my week in a note I wrote this morning, “God has taken my calendar, shredded it, and put it back together in His own way. I know in the end His plan will be better than mine, but I wonder what He's going to do with the pieces that are still scattered on the floor.”

Our son accepted a job and passed his boards. We are very excited, and I’ll write a blog about the details after he starts work. The unexpected twist has been getting an apartment. An apartment locater sent him several excellent options and got us all excited, only to say that those options were only “examples” and there was no availability at those complexes. Why would she do that??? He eventually found an apartment on his own and was tentatively approved. They requested a letter from his employer, who calculated his salary in a different way. Because the two numbers weren’t the same, it sent the computer-controlled approval process into a loop. Our son is still waiting for permission to move in. Which means I am still waiting for a go ahead to move furniture from my parent’s house.

My husband’s transplant surgery was successful, and his vision is improving daily. But there was a complication that he did not have during the first surgery. We made two extra trips back to the city to see the doctor about pain. Fortunately there was a reason for the pain that was easily treatable, but I won’t deny that there was additional stress.

One of my aunts in North Texas passed away. My husband was still on restrictions from his eye surgery, so he could not travel. However, since our son couldn’t move into his apartment, he was available to stay home with his Dad and keep an “eye” on things. It was a long day – four hours driving alone going and four hours coming home, but it was worth it. All of my cousins were there, and it was good to be together. There was a lovely reception at the home of a distant relation after the service. We had fun remembering our aunt and catching up on all the exploits of our children. I kept avoids to a minimum, but I did over eat neutrals to stay awake during the drive home.

The biggest stress, by far, is that two teens I knew when I was teaching journalism have disappeared. Samantha, 14-year-old freshman, and Charles, her 17-year-old boyfriend, cut class on Monday October 4. They have not been heard from since. Both sets of parents are frantically worried. They have reason to believe that the couple may be camping in Texas or Colorado, but it’s possible that they could be somewhere else.

It hurts my heart any time I see an Amber Alert or read a poster about Missing & Exploited Children. But the hurt I feel for strangers is increased exponentially when I know the families involved. I am going to post the link. If you see a white pickup truck – license 58LPW7 – please call law enforcement. If you want to display a poster, the families would thank you.

find charles & samantha

download poster