Visiting M. D. Anderson

Today I came to M. D. Anderson Cancer Center to be with a friend for her first appointment at M. D. Anderson. As I drove up to the building I experienced a feeling I wasn't quite prepared for - I was homesick. I LOVE M. D. Anderson. It still feels like a second home to me. Much of my growing up was done here at M. D. Anderson. Some patients before they get here incorrectly imagine it as a place where death looms. Patients and employees know that it is a place of hope and life. While working here I learned so much about living and serving others. How surreal it is to be here and not be wearing a badge and assisting patients with their needs. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a full-time mom and wouldn't give it up for a second, but I am also so grateful that I had the opportunity to serve others and feel the love and joy of this place for so many years.

She got it!

This morning Hannah and I read and talked about Proverbs 9:10 - "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." We mainly focused on the first part of the verse, because there's a lot to understand there before going on. We talked about why we fear the Lord, and what that type of fear looks like. We then talked about wisdom. I told her wisdom is "knowing what the right thing to do is." I know that's not good English, but after googling for the definition, I see that I was pretty close. We talked about how wisdom comes from God and that we can pray for wisdom everyday and he will give it to us.

After a good talk and a prayer, I went to go get ready to take her to school. I could see her mind working as I told her to go brush her teeth and make her bed. She said she would, but she wanted to show me something first. She ran away and came back with Dr. Seuss's book, "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" She turned to the 2nd page and read, "You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own, And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go." She then said with confidence and a smile, "That's not right. God has the directions, right?" I said, "You're right!"

I'm so proud of my sweet Hannah! Thanks to our dear Lord, she's becoming so wise!

False Alarm!

Luke had a hands on learning experience about fire alarms yesterday! When you pull the alarm, it makes a piercing sound that hurts your ears. The firefighters then come to see if there is indeed a fire. If there is no fire, they turn the alarm off. You then get lectured about when it is okay to touch a fire alarm and when it is not. After that, you cannot leave your Mommy's side for a very long time!

Yesterday at Hannah's ballet class, the fire alarm went off. Of course, the first thing I did was cover Aaron's ears because it was so loud. Then I started wondering if there was really a fire, but then another Mommy saw that the fire alarm near us had been pulled. We knew it was either her son or Luke who probably pulled it, but her son was laying under a bench. We all scurried out, the little ballerinas took their class outside, and we waited for the fire department to arrive to turn off the alarm. After the alarm was turned off, the worker at the front desk came to question which boy pulled the alarm so I told her nobody saw, but it was probably Luke. She then started questioning him about his name and age for the report! She was definitely not happy! The firefighters, however, were very kind and laughed about the whole thing.

When we went back in, I looked at the fire alarm. It hangs very low on the wall and is not covered by a glass box or anything. I think that maybe Luke used it to try to climb up on the bench, but I don't know. Whoever placed that fire alarm in that location, must have never had small children!

After talking to my Mom and searching the internet, I found that pulling a fire alarm in a Texas school is a felony offense! I'm glad he's only 3 and that this happened now and not later. Hopefully he learned his lesson! Luke, you're such a handful!