A Time For Everything

Since February of this year the following Bible verse has played over and over in my head.

There is a time for everything. A season for for every activity under heaven: 

a time to be born and a time me to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal.

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh.

a time to mourn and a time to dance.

                                                Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

When my Handsome Chauffer and I began to dream what our life on wheels would look like we dreamt of all the places we would go and adventures we would enjoy. We thanked God that He gave us this opportunity and were also confident that He would chart our course.

In December we got the news that my Mother In Law was diagnosed with a form of cancer that doesn’t have a cure yet. There were chemo treatments that she could take that would help keep the cancer “possibly”in check, but no cure has been found so far. She decided to start her treatments in January. The treatments did help keep the cancer in check which gave her quantity of life, but at a BIG cost to her quality of life. 

At the time My Handsome Chauffer and I were on the Alabama coast enjoying a snow free winter. We were in constant communication with our family in Illinois where my Mother In Law was having treatments. The treatment was brutal for her. It became abundantly obvious to us that God was changing our course in travel. We packed up the Mobile Condo, said farewell to our fellow Snow Birds and headed north to Illinois the last week of January. 

I have often heard “Never say never”, now we were living that first hand! It was “never” in “OUR” plan to drive the Circus train any time there was a threat of snow or ice on the roads. Driving straight north at the last week of January there was a HIGH probability that we would do just that. It was OBVIOUS to us that God had us in the palm of His hand (which He does always, but this time it was CLEARLY a “God thing”) as the roads were dry, sun was out and it was in the 30’s the ENTIRE 995 mile drive which was broken up in 3 days. 

Not only was the drive a concern to us, but where would we find a temperature controlled storage to put our home? We had not winterized our home like many folks do when they store RVs for a winter slumber in northern Illinois…. YIKES!!! God intervened AGAIN by using one of His Angels who happens to be our dear friend Sara. While she was making her commute to work she saw a RV dealer that “happened” to be 5 miles away from our parent’s house. She called the number, spoke with the owner telling him our plight and BINGO he had a temperature controlled area within their workshop that our Mobile Condo could remain through the winter! Thank you GOD!!!

We were not unfamiliar with moving out of our house as unfortunately we have had to a few times in the past due to repairs. We packed up all our food from cupboards, refrigerator/freezer,the few clothes we had with long sleeves,warm socks/shoes (stored our sandals) and our coats that were packed in the recesses of the Mobile Condo that I insisted on keeping “just in case”. We moved in literally lock stock and barrel into our parents home at 50+ years of age, all the while thanking God He protected us on our journey AND that He provided us the privilege life in which we are available to help.

Our days were different than we were use to…we had a new “normal” day. We moved out of 400 square foot “home” to a HUGE house with 3 floors (code for 3 stair cases) 6 bathrooms, 5 bedrooms and 2+ acres of lawn to mow! Yes, our days were different indeed. We helped house keep, mow….BUT we had the awesome privilege to spend QUALITY TIME with our parents! We truly got to KNOW our parents. We reminisced about their youth, our youth, the battle we were waging against cancer and what the future may hold. Time is a gift and we were slowly unwrapping it. 

We grew up in the area and are blessed to have friends who were there to visit with, bring us meals, go on a weekend get away, lunch dates etc…They all were our support angels that God used to bring joy into this season of life.

We got to be aquatinted with extended family that had been years since we had seen, family we had never met and got to spend precious time with my Aunts and Uncle that proved to be one of the best times as unbeknownst to us….the last time we would all be together on this side of heaven. We got to enjoy dinner with both sets of our parents on a warm summer evening 

My Handsome Captain took us on a boat ride on Lake Michigan to cool off.I had the pleasure of riding with the top down with my Father in LawRelived my youth by taking in a game at Wrigley Field. We had hopes and dreams that they would be World Series bound and THEY ARE!We got to spend time with our kids who came to visit along with our Nephews and familyWe gals got to spend the day together doing what our lady wanted to do… go to lunch and gamble!All in all we made memories to last a lifetime!

As the summer turned into Fall… the GIANT pumpkins that my Mother In Law grew and nurtured from seed became huge before our eyes. Little did we know, but the cancer she had so valiantly been fighting was also growing. Not the news we wanted to hear by any stretch of the imagination. Her amazing Oncologist gave her the news and said there was a more AGGRESSIVE chemo she could try, and it was her decision. Our BRAVE fighter decided that her body and her soul was done with taking chemo as her life had quantity, but very little quality. She was going to live out her life as long as she could without the awful side effects caused by chemo. We as a family supported her with her decision along with the help of Hospice personnel helped her transition from earth to heaven in her home and pain free.

On a beautiful sunny fall day our lady that we love so much got her wings and is dancing in heaven! We miss the day to day conversations with her, yet know she is always with us and we will meet again when God calls us Home too.

Our mission that God gave us the privilege of doing was done for now in Illinois. With a heavy heart we loaded the Mobile Condo and headed south for the winter. We said so long to our family and friends for now.

On 1965 the Byrds had a hit tune entitled 

 Turn! Turn! Turn!  The lyrics are made up of the Bible verse from Ecclesiastes

To everything (turn, turn, turn)

There is a season (turn, turn, turn)

And a time to every purpose, under heaven……,

The Mobile Condo wheels are turning .We are calling home Tampa Florida.  We look forward to wearing our sandals again this winter, but we will wait to see what God has for us next.