To Swim or Not To Swim

Almost done, a photo by Stephanie.Sekscinski on Flickr.

Today is the day we are supposed to find out if our concrete pond can be fixed or not. We found a really great pool guy (who henceforth shall be called, "the pool guy") who gave us a quote on Tuesday to have the pool fixed which we can work with. However, the pool hasn't been up and running in almost ten years and was left in even worse shape than this. The pool guy is supposed to come out today after work to test the pressure in the lines. If they hold pressure, he could start work next weekend! If they don't hold pressure, then the pool that was supposedly winterized SO well will have to be filled up one last time... with dirt.
I tossed and turned all night Tuesday night and went from dreams about pool disasters to waking up to think some more about the pool. There was quite a bit of prayer on Tuesday night seeking guidance. After a phone call on Wednesday which helped us decide what we were going to do, I slept just fine.
I hope that the lines either check out or that they don't and that there is NO gray area. We are really okay either way at this point - we'll be okay filling it in if the pipes are busted or we will be ECSTATIC to get to potentially swim this summer. Either way, we will be making our back yard look better than how we found it.

Gratitude

Send some rain, would You send some rain?

'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again

And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade

Would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud?

Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down

Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid

But maybe not, not today

Maybe You'll provide in other ways

And if that's the case . . .

We'll give thanks to You

With gratitude

For lessons learned in how to thirst for You

How to bless the very sun that warms our face

If You never send us rain

Oh the differences that often are between

Everything we want and what we really need.

I did a presentation in college on this song to a primarily agnostic class my freshman year. The assignment was to find a song that represented who you were and demonstrated your outlook on life. I knew it would be received with glazed eyes and a skeptical professor but I still come back to its words several years later. (I wonder if the students who did their presentation on Teen Spirit could still say the same.)

I'm really seeking guidance on so many levels about the things we really need and those that are only desires.

Gratitude ~ Nichole Nordeman

Broken Heart

My mom, brother & I met a lady a couple of years ago with a car full of puppies. Each pup had great big eyes and sweet black, brown & white faces. Will & I each got to pick one out. Will picked the runt and we named him Oliver after Oliver Twist. He was definitely the smallest of the group but was certainly not lacking for energy or appetite. I picked out the largest in the pack. When we got home he immediately went to his kennel. He'd come out to eat & snuggle and then would go back to his "jail" voluntarily. We called him Otis.

We took them to the beach with us, where they proceeded to eat and then defecate sand for a week. We got stopped by a shady young man who would not leave my mother alone about how much we wanted for them. I thought Sean was going to have to manually remove my mother from the situation just to get the fellow to leave us alone. It was also on this trip where we realized that Oliver, whom we shortened to Ollie, also shared the moniker of another famous boxer. From that point forward, Sean would greet the runt with a resounding "A-li!"

As is in their nature as a boxer, they were caught running some cattle this afternoon and apparently badly injured one. Mom & Dad have to find a new home for them tonight & I can imagine they are pretty grief stricken by it. There have been many nights that Otis would climb right up into Dad's lap like he was the size of a terrier and then look up at him with these eyes that said, "what? C'mon, don't tell me that you don't love me..."

I would so love to be able to take one of them (there is a special place in my heart for Otis), but they are brothers. While I maintain that for the majority of their life they probably haven't really liked each other, they should probably stick together. Also, I told Sean that there were no more animals allowed in my house. I suppose I am eating my words now.

Suffice it to say that I will really miss those guys. Boxers have a wonderful heart and a beautiful mug that really only their owner can appreciate. I hope that they can find homes that are just as worthy as my parents', with people who will love them just as much as they deserve.