Eye is much better but still in limbo...

Today Steve's eye looked even better than last week. His drop regimen was reduced from 4 drops per day to 3 drops per day. His eye pressure was much better. But a new appointment was still scheduled for next Monday. Even though things look great with the eye it must still be monitored for awhile.

With no departure date in sight I have struggled today. I like to have 'my ducks lined up' and know what is going on in my life. Yes, I like to have things under control.This business of living in limbo is not very comfortable for me. In fact I sort of had a melt down today. I feel the weight of our upcoming responsibilities and yet there is nothing at this point that I can do about fulfilling them.

I guess it is time to bring my faith front and center and remember that the Lord is in charge of everything and that includes when we are leaving for Sydney. I really do know that all is happening as it should but I have always struggled with 'changing horses midstream'. Of course there is always a purpose for whatever happens and maybe I need this experience to learn more than one lesson.

We are grateful that our 'homeless' condition is under such comfortable circumstances. I mean we have our own room in a warm home with plenty of food to eat and the company of our daughter, son-in-law, grandson and granddaughter who love us and seem to enjoy our company. And we will get to spend Christmas in their home. I am not complaining about that at all! But shifting my paradigm is kind of tough.

I hope we actually will find out some day why this delay was necessary.

With the crazy busy days we had before we moved out of our home we did not get to the temple as often as has been our habit. Finally last Friday we took a few hours and drove to the Vancouver Temple. What a wonderful time it was for us to be there again and to feel the Spirit. There is nothing like being in a temple. The peace and joy is indescribable. What a blessing it is for us to live close enough to attend the temple often.

It was our intent to send Christmas Greetings from Australia but not this year. I have spent some time thinking about Christmases past and the many good memories. It was always such a good time preparing Christmas for our children. There is something about the joyful anticipation of children during the Christmas season. I always loved it. There are so many pictures of the Christmas tree surrounded by gifts taken on Christmas Eve after the children were all safely tucked in their beds and we had prepared everything for the next morning. I always loved that time. 

And now we are back to just the two of us with no young children anymore. Even as we spend time with our families and the grandchildren it is not the same. And I have found myself pondering my thoughts of Christmas. Last night we watched the Christmas Broadcast with the First Presidency and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The music was wonderful as always but the talks were especially meaningful to me this year. 

One of the speakers discussed the birth of the Baby Jesus and then went on to discuss His sinless life and His mission for us, the Atonement and the Resurrection and how it all fit together for our good. The comment was that if all of those other parts of His life had not happened that He would have been just another baby who was born under rude circumstances. This is what Christmas is all about when we strip away the lights and tinsel. Our Savior was born so He could live His life and show us the way to live and then make the ultimate sacrifice for us so we can go back and live with our Heavenly Father again.

That is the wonderful reason we can celebrate this Christmas Season.