Tuesday, November 8, 2011

The advice I give

So we went on this terrific vacation to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  The difficulty came when we had to leave our dogs.  The friends who took them are terrific.  She loves dogs and our beloved little girls know them.  There was no reason to fuss, but I sure did.  I even cried the night before we left and couldn’t be part of the ‘dropping-off procedure.’

The kids were braver than I, though, so they did help deliver them at our friends’ house.  My girl came back in tears.  We hugged and prayed while the men loaded the van with our bags.  Our first stop on the road was the gas station to fill up and stock up on snacks.  My daughter still hadn’t perked up, so this is what I told her.

Remember when King David had the affair with Bathsheba and a consequence of David killing her husband was that the baby they had conceived was going to die.  King David mourned and grieved.  He fasted and lay on the floor inconsolable.  When the child was lost, David saw the servants whispering about whether and how to give the news to their King.  He figured out his baby was gone and got up to wash and eat. 

I told my daughter that we worried and wondered if it was ok for us to go on this vacation for months.  But the doors opened and stayed open for us to do this.  Now is the time for the fussing to be over.  The dogs will be ok.  We need to wash and eat a meal.

I told my sister that this was the advice I’d given Madi to help her mentally move to vacation mode and she laughed.  I guess it is a little unusual to call upon a tragic story of loss and punishment to get into a celebratory mood.

1 comment:

  1. I think it is the perfect story. The fussing is over, the dogs are safe and are happy and now you can enjoy your time. For everything there is a time and a season. . .

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