Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Thank You, Lord!

I was so happy to talk to Dad last night. He sounds like a new man. He was so sick and I was so frightened when I talked with him Saturday night. He was wheezing horribly, could barely talk or breathe, and definitely wasn't himself. Last night he said he felt like a miracle had happened. His voice is back and he was cracking jokes again - back to his old self! Well, still moving a little slowly, but on the mend in any case. He is taking all the rest that he needs and not pushing himself. He assured me last night that he wasn't about to do anything as dumb as start to feel better, overdo it, and then be back in the same boat again. He said that even if he feels like putting in a full day at work today, he won't do it because he knows he needs to come home and rest. I have been praying so much for him and especially yesterday when I got worried when we didn't know where Dad was and Sherri couldn't get Mike on the phone. I prayed then - a lot! While I know that we are supposed to accept God's will for what happens in our lives, whether good or bad, I am very grateful that Dad is getting better. Even though it doesn't always feel like it, and we can't understand why death or sickness happens, we have to remember that God ALWAYS has our best interests at heart. He is a loving father who wants the best for His children. We humans are imperfect and yet as parents would never intentionally inflict pain or misery on our children - we want to give them good things and provide well for them. Well, imagine how much more God takes care of us because he is perfect and without faults - and He never makes mistakes. He can see the BIG picture when we can't, and knows how it all goes together. That what faith is - knowing that He is in control and that He knows what's best for us, His children whom He loves dearly. Okay - that being said, I just had to give praise and thanks for Dad being on the road to recovery!

It doesn't take much to impress this bunch here at my house (including myself!), but I must say I'm pretty pleased. The Gamecube video game system that the boys have just stopped working one day last week. It kept saying that it couldn't read the game disc, even though there was one in the machine. No matter what we tried, we couldn't get it to work. I got online and found that after a few years this sometimes happens - the reader "eye" no longer functions and needs to be replaced. A repair at Nintendo would include shipping (both ways), plus $50.00, plus any extras that may be deemed necessary in the repair process. We have had it too long and it was no longer under warranty, and when a new one at Wal-Mart was $70.00, I wasn't about to bother with shipping it and paying for repairs. I had told the boys that we could probably get another one but that it would have to wait until after Christmas as we have tightened our collective belts around here until after the holidays. I did some further research into this reader eye online and found that it can possibly be fixed, and found the instructions on how to try it. Sure enough, after dismantling the machine there was an adjustment screw on the fixture of the reader eye which adjusts it's strength. With a small adjustment counterclockwise, it is now working again and hasn't had a problem since. I also found out that this is exactly what repair places do. For a large fee. Taking the housing off of the machine was interesting, to say the least! You are supposed to have to buy a special bit that unscrews the special screws they use to assemble the machines (they can't just have anyone fixing their machines, you know!) I found the bit for sale at some electronics places, but at $19.99 plus shipping, then having to wait for it to arrive, no thank you. I found an easier method. I'm down a few ink pens, but it worked. I melted the end of a plastic pen (after removing the ink barrel, of course) and then held it down on top of the screw and waited about half a minute. I then was able to unscrew the screw perfectly and had created a custom screwdriver! Oh, the things you can learn to do online! I ended up needing to use a separate pen for each of the four screws and also learned the hard way that you must remove it at just the right time, or it will become hopelessly welded into the screw hole and one's husband must cuss at it and take great pains to remove the plastic shards. Ah, well. All's well that ends well. We just have to use pencils for a while!

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