Checking in...

Hello again. I've had a busy few days getting back into the swing of things.

John just left this morning to drive his truck to Florida. We really need to sell the truck, and full sized trucks just aren't selling out here. The streets are lined with trucks for sale at prices that are appallingly low. It is actually more cost effective for John to drive to Florida, leave the truck for his dad to sell, and fly home. So that's the plan. The state of the economy in recent months has made things difficult on the company that John works for, so they are requiring everyone to take some time off in order to keep from laying people off. The timing was perfect for John to be able to make this trip. It seems that all of the pieces are falling together. As I type, John is probably getting into South Dakota.

If you are praying for us these days, the top of my requests is safety for John. And it would be wonderful if God would provide a buyer for the truck. Also, Ethan could use some prayer. This was a pretty quick turn around from me being gone, to now John taking a trip, and Ethan isn't very happy. I think he's mostly made peace with it, but Ethan really wishes that he could have gone along. He is definitely his daddy's shadow. Tonight when I was folding laundry, I kind of absentmindedly held one of John's shirts up to my face and smelled it. Ethan walked in at just that moment and his little face lit up like a Christmas tree. He immediately snatched the shirt and held it close. I put it on him, and Ethan was so proud that a little bit of his jeans peaked out from under the hem of the shirt. He said "look, it almost fits me!" I'd say that was about 3 or 4 hours ago, and as I am sitting here, Ethan is sleeping in that shirt. The sight of Ethan in his daddy's shirt warmed my heart all the way down to my toes for more reasons than the obvious. I don't think I ever blogged about it, but Ellie was obsessed with wearing John's shirts. John started having to bring an extra to the hospital when he was coming back and forth from home because Ellie would literally steal the shirt off of his back. He would take off the one that he'd been wearing all day, and Ellie would put it on and sleep in it. After John left for the night, Ellie would grab a big handful of the shirt and hold it to her nose to breathe in her daddy's scent. I honestly can't remember if Ethan knew about any of that. I think it's just something they both instinctively did. (Says the woman who apparently has a compulsive shirt-sniffing habit of her own... perhaps these apples have not fallen far from their tree?)

Another big prayer request that I have for you is the family of a little boy named Brody. Brody died of NB early this morning at the age of 8. Thank you in advance for praying for comfort for this sweet family. They need all of the prayers that they can get for the upcoming weeks and months...

That's all I have for tonight. Love to you all!