Rock and Roll Fourth of July!

I am sitting here with my rock star hubby and our good friend, Mikey. This weekend is the second fifteen year reunion of their seventies band, Perpetual Motion. John plays lead guitar. Mike plays bass. These two guys have been buddies for more than thirty years and played in several bands together. We were just laughing about the fact that they are fifty-five year old men now. I wish you could see them clowning around. Neither one of them seems fifty-five to me. Especially together.

They were joking about the fact that their drummer is on oxygen. Not that it's funny! He's had some heart problems and a bout of pneumonia. But John's brother saw him and told him to just wear the oxygen while he plays if he needs to. John and Mike were picturing that and cracking up at the visual. John said if Tim has to use his oxygen during the concert, he (John) is going to walk up to the mic and say, "Ladies and Gentlemen, have I told you about my most recent colonoscopy?" They are cracking me up.

I've been listening to John and Mike rehearse upstairs this week and I know the music is going to be great. They sound so good. I will take pictures and hopefully there will be some video I can put on YouTube.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend. I just wish Eric and Ann were still here!

I've had so much on my mind lately. I am now in the process of the final book edit. I'm actually enjoying the process and learning so much. The editor sends me each chapter with his suggestions and in the margins he asks me questions that come to his mind as he's reading. Several times he has deepened my own insight into certain events with nothing more than a very insightful question. I have the final word on every edit and I can accept or reject his suggestions. But it's different than I was expecting. He is not telling me what to say or cutting out parts of my story, he's just helping me to say it better in some places and often in fewer words. I enjoy the conversational aspect in the margins most of all. When he occasionally strikes a sentence or two and says, "I don't think this really adds anything," I don't even blink. I just type a little "Okay" in the margin. He's good and I trust his advice.

However, even though the editing process has not been painful, I am having to start over from the beginning and relive all of this stuff yet again. There is a lot of emotion. Sometimes I just feel heavy. Today has been one of those days. So I am really looking forward to getting away.

I'm so thankful for the life God has given me. I hope and pray that someday I am completely free from my baggage. The chains are broken, but sometimes it feels like I still carry them around with me. Most of the time they feel gone. But there are days I know they are not. Much of the time (much more than a few years ago), I feel strong. On days like today, I feel a bit fragile and weak. Sometimes I imagine that the personal attacks coming at me don't really bother me anymore. But then I have a day when I know I'm not quite as strong as I think I am. It still hurts. I think God wants to remind me on days like today to rest in HIS strength and not try to have a strength of my own.

Tonight I am feeling thankful for my husband, my son and daughter-in-law, my extended family and the wealth of close friends who are always there for me any time I need them. I am looking forward to escaping this weekend for some lighthearted fun, great music and spending time with people I love. (Perhaps some Turoni's pizza and Donut Bank donuts, too!)

I can't wait to share pictures from this weekend! Happy July Fourth! Be safe and enjoy your family and friends. I plan to do the same.