Every day is a gift. Every day is a choice of how you spend the minutes. Every day we make the decisions of what to do with our 24 hours. I have heard it said and I have often said myself, I just wish I had a few more hours. Ha! We would waste that too without proper mindset. Kind of like the person who wishes they had more money to get out of debt… when all along the problem is not the top line, but the expense line… sorry, I digress. Just a take a way, I have the same amount of hours in my day as Elon Musk, Thomas Edison and of course Jesus. Each with the same 24 hours.

Yesterday was a perfect day. Beautiful temperatures, sun out – a restful morning of sleeping in until 6:49 AM with a relaxed Bible Study, time on the back porch with my book and coffee and LEG DAY with Faster Way. A peaceful morning. Joel, of course, awake by 7:50 AM to start his day of adventure with Legos and the continuation of fascination with Bad Guys book series and it’s author. Georgia the pre-teen sleeping in until someone from the otherworld wakes her from her deep grip on dreams.

And then off to the races we began! We had told mom the day prior that we would go on an adventure. At the time, I was completely unclear on what that adventure might be – I needed the Lord to tell me for certain what He intended our free day to look like. I cancelled my evening plans, as He directed, and chose to not be rushed and live in the day. Now, I had received a facetime message clearly asking me to pick up a gift for some sweet friends of ours 50th wedding anniversary from my mom – she made it clear that she was not going to forget about this gift and if I came without it…. we would be doing that first. So, I quickly took care of that and the Benedryl cream for Joel’s bee stings from the day prior, and we were off to the races.

Three years ago this August, my dad passed away. Six years ago this August, my sister passed away. In our family, memories matter. Days are important. We live each day to the absolute fullest and refuse to waste a moment. A blessing and a curse because you find yourself never really resting and breathing – so crash days are incredibly important. August is a big deal month that we all try to forget and hold our breath to get through.

I am currently reading a book called The Awe of God by John Bevere. I highly recommend to anyone wanting more out of life and wanting more in obedience to the Lord. I am finding that I have feared men way more than I have feared God and that is a bad deal. I also just finished two other books – A Million Miles In a Thousand Years by Donald Miller AND The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. Both are life changing and should be on every human’s reading list.

Also, I noticed that kids have summer reading books assigned for upcoming 7th graders, 4th graders, etc. Where is the summer reading list for upcoming 41 year olds? Who know… maybe I am drafting that now. Back to the story.

For those who are unaware, my mom was diagnosed with vascular dementia not long after my father passed away. For most of her adult life she struggled with depression, anxiety and deep sadness. I think from many of the things she experienced and never really sought help for – the loss of her first born baby among those things. However, in the season of her diagnosis, my brother and I have noticed that you will not find an overall happier person. I say in her case, the dementia has been a gift to her in her later years. Not remembering the pain. Not remembering the struggles. Only remembering the good. And that seems to be the case – and I pray it always is. But I am curious if maybe the Lord has a way of giving us the beautiful holy form of dementia that keeps us logged into only the good, forgetting the bad, and only doing whatever He tells us to do next…. like she only does whatever the person she trusts around her tells her to do next. Maybe there is something to this dementia story that longs for one to press in and better understand.

We took off! Sunroom open and music blaring! Singing and dancing down the road. All the way to the local library for my kiddos to get some more of those summer reading books and my mom to break all of the sound ordinance rules within the public library. I am not sure the lady has ever been in one, well, she says she hasn’t. But who knows. She made friends with everyone, like always, so no one could tell her to hush… even though I tried. And then, once my kiddos got the maximum they could check out, we were off to lunch. Humble Hog in downtown Knoxville – HH is the logo. For those who know, you know… HH. I HIGHLY recommend this great dive for home cooked, gluten free goodness. We even ordered chicken livers, which have always made me want to gag – but my dad loved them. So we gave them a try! TEN out of ten! Our perfect handicap parking spot on Gay Street, 20 steps from the entrance made this the perfect spot and moment. There is nothing quite like eating outside in a downtown scene. Lots to see – people, graffiti artwork, sunshine. It was just great! So, moral of the story, go to the Humble Hog, eat outside, get chicken livers OR the biggest fried bologna sandwich you’ve ever seen.

Next on the agenda, a quick trip to the mountains. Being that we are so blessed to be about one hour from the Great Smoky Mountains – we go. Not enough, but we go. We spent about one hour in The Chimneys – sitting by the water as Joel played, Georgia napped (preteens sleep all of the time) and me & mom chatted about whatever and where ever her mind took her. We were relaxed. Not rushed. Enjoying all of the Lord’s creation that man looks to destroy every chance we get. The sound of the water and birds were so loud and fulfilling. You could almost hear it all singing “how great is our God”. The absolute marvel of our Creator among the created things.

All day long, mom said this was the best vacation of her whole life. Now, we went to Alaska and Hawaii in the last few years so I am trying not to take offense. But it was a pretty awesome day.

I mentioned earlier that I am reading a book called The Awe of God by John Bevere and in one the chapters he speaks of complaining…. He spoke about the “five sins that kept Israel from its destiny: craving evil things, worshiping idols, sexual immorality, testing God and complaining” (1 Corinthians 10:6-10). He goes on to mention that complaining is “the antithesis of holy fear; it’s not trembling at His Word. We dishonor God and His Word when we think or speak from the posture of discontentment.”

Ouch. This section hit hard. Every day and every new adventure, my mom is living in a vacation. She is thrilled to be alive. She is thrilled to have people who love her surrounding her. She loves to live and just the simplest car ride down the road brings her to life. No discontentment. Just fun in the present adventure. No to do lists for that one, just whatever the person who loves her tells her to do next. Interesting thought… just do whatever the Person Who loves us tells us to do next.

To round out the day, we went looking for a few deals at the Tanger Outlet – the tennis shoe shop and underwear shop. Looking for the items we can get for less. Quite successful, all three – mom, Georgia and Joel- walked away with new shoes! It was like Christmas morning. And of course, the last stop being the ultimate Buccees. Mom was living like a kid in a candy shop. After retrieving the perfect shirt for the 4th of July AND Icees (slushies for those not local) for the kids, we were off to the house.

This day was a calm, relaxed, non eventful day. But this day left an indelible mark.