Saturday, April 18, 2009

Text messages...

Around here texting is a way of life--the kids communicate in small notes sent electronically back and forth, with varying results, dependent on who the recipient is. Eric and I shake our heads, shrug, and even wonder if it would be best if we turned it off. When texting it is so hard to gauge what the true messages are sometimes, because the nonverbals are missing, the emotions are masked, and the contexts are absent. It's a convenient way for the kids to shoot notes to each other, but in some cases these messages are not helpful or necessary. We have watched arguements be propogated by text that are totally unnecessary, and we have cringed at some of the things that get sent back and forth. But texting can be wonderful too. Picture messages keep me connected to my older kid's lives, and what is important to them. I see the babies with ice cream all over their faces, or the puppies as they romp. I see my roses in bloom, or new purchases as they occur. And like tonight, there are the messages that make your heart feel good and bring a tear to your eye.

Tonight I got two messages from one of my "orphans", telling me what a wonderful mother and example I have been to him after the month that he has had, working full time and raising two small girls. It came out of the blue, and I have no idea what the circumstances have been of his life over the past month. But the message left me with tears in my eyes and a humble, grateful heart, that I was there when he needed me growing up, and that some of what I represented for him has given him strength to do what he has to do now. It was a wonderful surprise and I am so very touched by it. I wish that was how everyone used text messages--to provide information, to share glad tidings, to say thanks, and to say "I love you." Sometimes we get so busy with our lives we forget to do that, and I am so honored to be the recipient of such a message tonight.

On a totally seperate subject, we took the van in to be looked over today. Tony said I don't have a 4-wheel drive vehicle, so it can't be a CV axle. He suggested bearings or the transmission, neither of which brought any comfort to us. Jesse also thought perhaps it was the transmission, but as all have said, it's hard to diagnose long distance... The owner of the service station drove it for us and he felt that it was not the transmission, or the bearings. and he felt a good tune-up and tweaking the ignition system may fix all of it. We left it in his care, and he said he would get it looked at either today or monday and he'd let us know what is up. Big sigh of relief! Then we headed to the grocery store and bought a ton of groceries as we were getting down to the dregs in the cupboards... Despite the rain today, we grilled between the showers, and it was so nice to have steak off the grill for dinner. Eric is a wonderful cook!

The kids serve tomorrow at church, so I hope everyone makes it a fairly early night. Brie is at drill for the weekend, and we will have to pick her up after the kids get done with their bowling tournament in the mid-to-late afternoon. She is training an hour and a half away. Cliff is working til close tonight, and Kimmie is spending the night at a friend's house. It's been kinda nice to have a quieter house tonight! When we got home from the grocery store we cracked the whip on the kids and had everyone pitch in to clean up the main floor. It is so nice to have things tidy again.

That's all I had on my mind tonight. Time to settle in with my book for a little bit, and then go to sleep. Eric is raiding on EQ tonight at the computer, and I am enjoying a Victorian murder mystery (Anne Perry is the author, Monk and his wife Hester are the main characters). A new week begins tomorrow, and it is gonna be a busy one!

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