It's that time of year again, when our family plans Erik's holiday visits. His group home closes during the holidays so we go get him and bring him to family -- in either Dallas or Houston. This year our family in Dallas will have Erik's company at Thanksgiving and my sister and brother in Houston will have him at Christmas. Erik's already looking forward to it, he loves holiday time.
Last year the holidays were a blur, a very crazy blur. Erik was in Dallas for Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal at our Dad's. Erik hung out with us all but I noticed that he wasn't glued to the Dallas Cowboy game as in the past. I'm sad he can't follow the game like he used to. He was very quiet and detached.
And then Christmas came around and we were planning to take Erik with us to San Antonio to spend the holiday with my husband's family. Erik had never been there so I was a little concerned the unfamiliarity of the surroundings might be hard for him but everyone in the family assured me they'd help him feel welcome and ok. During the nights, Mike and I were going to stay with Erik at a hotel near my in-laws. We had it all worked out. Then, the day before we were to leave for San Antonio, our son came down with a really bad stomach bug, really bad. (earlier that day he had gone to a cajun place and eaten alligator. Yep he really did. We later discovered it wasn't that that caused his bug. But he learned that he'll never eat it again) We were up with him most of the night. Erik was sleeping in our son's room on a mattress on the floor so we put our miserable, sick son in our daughter's room, and the rest of us played musical beds so, hopefully, no one else would get sick. Ugh, please, no one else get sick. We (I) do not do well with digestive issues.
So, we were wondering if we should even go on our trip. Then my dad and stepmom did a wonderful thing. After hearing what we were going through, they said they would come pick up Erik, keep him with them and take him back to the group home after Christmas. Wow. I will forever be grateful to them for volunteering to do that.
We did make it to San Antonio and we made it to the Christmas Eve service. After a while our son started to feel more like himself and then...our daughter caught a respiratory cold that wiped her out, and then... in the wee hours of Christmas Eve my husband came down with the symptoms of that horrible stomach bug, and it attacked with a vengeance. If we had had Erik with us in our hotel room that night and all the following day I don't know what we'd have done. If Erik had caught that bug...I shudder to think. It was a divine provision that he was back in Dallas. My hubby and I spent all of Christmas Day in that hotel room, trying to make it through the day. I didn't catch the bug (thank you, Lord) and when we finally all got together again at my in-law's house we were a very bedraggled bunch. Christmas Day in hotels is very lonely and quiet, especially when family and festivity is 10 minutes away.
I'm learning to accept what the Lord brings. We make our plans but ultimately His purpose prevails. Aren't there 2 verses in Proverbs about that very thing? Yes, Proverbs 16:9 and 19:21. He's in control. When I trust Him things work out better. So, I'm already telling Him I'm trusting what he brings this holiday season. I'm trusting that Erik will have a good time.
And I would love to have holidays with NO you-know-what.
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