Monday off, the twins, Coir’s dilemma, the twins

Mama, Victoria and I all missed church Sunday. Victoria and I were feeling very poorly – coughing and snotty. Mama was hurting so badly that she was having trouble getting around. We did get the girls for the afternoon, just so their parents could work the restaurant. Sunday is a very busy day for them. I slept quite a few hours of the day while Mama tended to the three girls. I think she even got an hour nap in. She took the girls home about 6 pm. I was just getting up.

Yesterday, I was not much better, so I called into work and stayed home. As I began to feel better in the afternoon, I was able to get a few things done around the farm, but the “feeling better” did not last long. Saturday afternoon, I had moved the metal building we had used for goats and chickens out of the goat area, so we could repurpose it in the new paddock. Monday, I stripped the metal off the structure from where it sat behind the shop. I also hung a makeshift gate at the well house and repaired the door, so the cows will not have access to the feed we are storing in there. That was something I have needed to do for a long time. I was pretty worn out as Mama and I went to the office to do some research for our business.

Fortunately, we got an earlier start than normal because Mama stayed in town to get a second MRI done. This one was for her back. The first one was for her knees. The doctor is recommending a spinal block to help her deal with the continuing sciatic pain in her left leg. That procedure, in and of itself, will not directly affect the pain she is having in her knees, but it will have a secondary effect of allowing her a greater range of movement which should allow her to use her hurting knees more effectively. One pain always exacerbates another. If we can reduce one, it will positively impact the other. She will see the doctor later this week or early next week for the follow up.

On the business front, I contacted a realtor yesterday and enlisted his help with a couple properties in his area. There are only two we are interested in at this point. Mama and I were given a script to use with a realtor to help convince the realtor we were pros at what we are doing. It was a good script, but I abandoned it for this first contact. I was brutally honest because I do not want to be misleading. I need a very honest opinion from the realtor, so I started off with honesty. We had a great conversation. He understands what we are doing. He knows just how much help we will need, and he is more than willing to help. It’s a good start.

Mama and I went through the lists we had created and eliminated the properties that were no longer available or that we have found to be poor candidates to pursue. That leaves us with two selected properties and five potential after-auction properties. We went over three county lists and found almost nothing. The good news is that there are still a dozen counties to go before we are done with Arkansas.

Cori called Mama yesterday just as we were getting to the restaurant. We decided on that since we were in town to go to my office to work. Cori was not happy. The kids are all acting out in their own way as they make their final swing of deputation meeting and visits with family to say goodbye. It is often true that we, as parents/adults, will discuss things within the hearing of children that they do not fully understand. Since they only catch parts of the bigger discussion, they are forced to fill in the blanks with their own limited insights. I am not sure that is what is happening, but I can imagine Nate and Cori traveling down the road talking about the things ahead of them, the people they need to contact, how long it will be before they see this or that person again, the packing, the travel, the new challenges, selling the camper, borrowing unfamiliar vehicles, etc.

The kids have to deal with all those unknowns without the insights of how they will be solved. Never realizing that their parents already have the solution worked out - mostly. Kind of like us with our Heavenly Father. They are upset, and they don’t know why. They are scared, and they don’t know why. Their world is changing, and they have no control over it. They just need to know Mommy and Daddy have it covered. And Mommy and Daddy need to be careful that, when their frustration shows, when their insecurity shows, that they address it with an honest confidence. They are all making life-changing decisions on very small snippets of information.

On a brighter note. Brittany sent pictures of the twins yesterday. They are now nine months old. I’m glad she put that on the picture because I would not have known otherwise.