Day Sixteen - Luncheon with the Girls and Blakes 50th birthday

Isaiah 40:28-31

Do you not know? Have you not heard?

The Everlasting God, the LORD, 

the Creator of the ends of the earth

Does not become weary or tired 

His understanding is inscrutable. 

He gives strength to the weary,

And to him who lacks might He increases power. 

Though youths grow weary and tired,

And vigorous young men stumble badly, 

Yet those who wait for the LORD

Will gain new strength;

They will mount up with wings like eagles,

They will run and not get tired,

They will walk and not become weary.

So today I've agreed to go to a luncheon of women I know who have had or who have cancer. I hope it all goes well. Large groups of women make me nervous. Large groups of men don't make me uncomfortable. In part I chalk this up to having 6 brothers, and to the fact that I adore my father. I've been told that I learned to walk at an officers meeting. But I've always thought that I need to feel at ease around women my age. My daughters are always telling me that I need to have more self-confidence (something like that).

Psalm 18:2-3

The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,


My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;


My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 


I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,


And I am saved from my enemies.

Psalm 31:14-24

But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD,

I say, "You are my God." 

My times are in Your hand;

Deliver me from the hand of my enemies 

     and from those who persecute me. 

Make Your face to shine upon Your servant;

Save me in Your lovingkindness. 

Let me not be put to shame, O LORD, for I call upon You;

Let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol. 

Let the lying lips be mute,

Which speak arrogantly against the righteous

     with pride and contempt. 

How great is Your goodness,

     which You have stored up for those who fear You,

     which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You,

     before the sons of men! 

You hide them in the secret place of Your presence 

     from the conspiracies of man;

You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues. 

Blessed be the LORD,

     For He has made marvelous His lovingkindness to me 

          in a besieged city. 

As for me, I said in my alarm,

     "I am cut off from before Your eyes";

Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications

     When I cried to You. 

O love the LORD, all you His godly ones!

The LORD preserves the faithful

     And fully recompenses the proud doer. 

Be strong and let your heart take courage,

     All you who hope in the LORD.

LORD, I pray that Riley will really sense Your presence today, and Your lovingkindness. Please let him know that You are there with him, and that You care about him.  He is feeling badgered on all sides, and beaten down.  I don't know if his fears are real or not, but You know Lord.  Thank You LORD for Your care for him.  And thank You LORD for all that You do for us.

After giving Riley a ride to work I came home and washed my hair. And when I was ready I went over to visit Annie and Emily. Emily was soooo sweet, and she sat on my lap almost the whole time. I can tell she misses me, and I certainly miss her. She asked if she could come visit at my house. Maybe on Monday I can take her down town with me to pick up the necklace at the Jewelry store. It's custom make. But I could only visit for a half hour, as I was to be at a luncheon in Clackamas, 15 miles away.

On the way there I remembered that I forgot my "calm" pill, and my special Dior nail polish, as I had a pedicure scheduled for 3:00. So I knew I'd have to leave early. Lots of people seemed glad to see me, but some of them I hadn't seen in so long I didn't know if I knew them or not. There was a delicious fruit platter, and a very tasty corn and bean salad, but the rest of the food seemed pretty much off limits. When I got home I made myself a vegemite sarnie. I stayed very calm at the event, but I didn't feel the least bit connected with anyone except a delightful great-grandmother from Redding named Ruth.

On the way out of the area I got lost as usual. Suburbia is simply not my genre. But it wasn't too long before I got it straightened out. I called Riley, and before we had talked very long he hung up on me. A while later I called him and he quickly said "I can't talk" Now those two incidences really freaked me out. Was he in the process of losing his job? Would he loss his insurance? I felt that would be the end of me, the end of life as we knew it. Does God want to drag me through even more troubles. So as soon as I got home I took a "calm" pill. That did help a lot. I think I need to give some "calm:" pills to Riley. He's got a new boss, and he does not do well in the beginning of new situations.

Got home, got my Dior vernis en Palmier which I bought in Paris, and headed to the spa. The Lord gave me a wonderful parking spot, and I got to my appointment just in time. My pedicurist was a delightful young woman, and I really enjoyed myself. She was extremely intelligent, and enjoyed talking on any subject. I thought she was in her 20s, but she was in her early 40s. The pedicure lasted almost 75 minutes. They are usually 45 minutes. She did a perfect job on my toenies, and I am so glad to now have my favorite nail color for the summer. The last time I had a pedicure I forgot my polish and had to go with one of their colors, and that was rather disappointing to say the least. I then sat in the peaceful waiting area until it was time for me to pick up Riley at work.  On the way to the car I stopped in at Moonstruck Chocolates and bought the hottest truffle they had, had them put it into a little box, and the she put it into one of their bags with a handle with navy blue tissue paper.  This was to be a birthday present for Blake.

We rest a bit when we got home.  I think I tried to nap, but it didn't take. So I insisted that Riley put on more comfortable clothes. He was worried that because we were going to a club in the West Hills that he shouldn't wear jeans. This is Oregon for goodness sake.

Blake reading to Charles and Emily at Thanksgiving

The club was in Highland Hills, I think just about where I used to take riding lessons at Highland Riding Academy. It was a really lovely setting, small but elegant. The party was down by the pool, and there were maybe 10 of us, if you don't count children. There was definitely more food that I could eat than I had experienced earlier in the day. One of the couples turned out are missionaries with OM, the one and only mission agency that would take us, and they knew all the people in OM that we knew and mentioned to them. That was so amazing. She was very delightful to talk with, and she said she wanted to talk with me more, so she's going to e-mail me. The whole meeting seemed rather providential. Not long after the cake was served (I didn't have any), I began to get cold. The Epic Imaging people had called me earlier today telling me that I mustn't get cold before being scanned on Monday, so we decided to leave. It was a fun party, and I'm glad we went. But by the time we got home I was so tired I could hardly watch Jeopardy, let alone the ball game, which was a good one. I pretty much slept through it. Then when the game was over Riley shuffled me off to bed.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,

 and I will give you rest. 

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, 

for I am gentle and humble in heart, 

and you will find rest for your souls."  

Matthew 11:28-29