Tough decisions, lack of opportunity, visiting

Mama has been having trouble sleeping comfortably lately so we went to Wichita Falls to the place where we originally bought our mattress and arranged to exchange it for a new one. We have had our mattress for about a year so the exchange was prorated accordingly but we still ended up getting a new mattress without adding much to the purchase out of pocket. The difficulty was in finding the mattress we both could live with for the foreseeable future. Mama likes soft and I like firm so settling on one mattress has always been a challenge. Since we have an adjustable base the choices are confined within the group of mattresses that will work on the adjustable base. Fortunately, the place we bought from has a good selection to choose from. Unfortunately, those of you who know Mama know how difficult it is for her to make a decision. As we lay facing each other on one test mattress, she said, “I’m going to let you decide.” I just shook my head and we kept going. Finally, after we had almost decided, we tried out one more mattress and we were both impressed. What we ended up doing was getting twin mattress so she could get the softer and I could still have a firm one. We will get them sometime next week so it will be a while before we get to see if we made the right choice. It took us just a little over an hour to get that done. Then we were off to Sam’s.

I did not put anything other than those stops into our trip because I was allowing time to get the mattress decision out of the way. As it turned out, that ended up being the right decision. There is a Home Depot by the Sam’s in Wichita Falls and I wanted to see if they had a fitting I am looking for to hook the pressure tank to the well. Lowes does not carry the one I would like to have. While Mama started shopping at Sam’s I went into Home Depot. When I got to the plumbing isle it was blocked off since the workers were rearranging the top shelf of that isle. They looked intent on getting the work done so I left to catch up to Mama. After we had finished at Sam’s I tried again at Home Depot. The isle was still blocked off and the employees would not allow me to look – even though it was for one item only. I probably will not ever get to know if they have that fitting because I will probably never go back.

Becky, Bridgette and Mike will be here tomorrow. I still have mixed emotions about the life she has gotten tangled up in but she is our daughter and she is wanting to make the trip to see us and let us visit with the grandbaby – whom we have not seen since she was born. It will be nice to see them if they do make it over. They will be staying in a motel because they did not like the rules we live by. They are more than welcome to stay with us while they are here but there are standards we have lived by for all of our lives. Becky is aware of those standards. Since Mike and Becky are not married we told her that Mike would have to sleep on the couch because we would not allow them to sleep in the same bed. No more than if she had a boyfriend spend the night at our house when she lived at home. Mama and I do not want to alienate, but we do not want to vindicate either. It is a difficult road to walk; to love your children and open your life and home to them, yet still stand firm on Biblical standards that were long ago abandoned by them. It has been said that we first change our behavior and then adapt our beliefs to fit those behaviors. That way we are not convicted by the changes we made and now conform to a different standard. What we once stood against, we now proudly do, having fit our faith to our practice; giving ourselves permission to do whatever is right in our own eyes. More often than not, it is a sad decline.

The weather is supposed to be good until late Saturday night so it will be a good time for Mama to show them the farm. We will enjoy the opportunity to visit and share our lives with Becky and company. Hopefully, they will enjoy it as well.