Livin' The Life!

”Livin’ the Life!” They call it. ‘They’ are many of our good friends who are reading this blog. ‘They’ are also mostly folks who haven’t yet, or ever will, live this life. But then , we’ve only lived it for three months, and only in the way we live it, so no one has actually lived THE life at all, have they?  For there is no one life to be lived. And that, dear friends, is the joy of living this life of ours. We each, and all, get to live THE life God has given us, IF we choose it.

Tonight we planned to be sleeping by Robidoux Creek in the small town of Waynesville, Missouri.  We had reserved a week of electrically hooked up, sewer connected and fresh water supplied services for as we visit with our daughters before grandson Kaream’s graduation on Friday.

But it turns out we will not get to visit with our daughters till we see them, and Kaream, at his graduation on Friday morning, but that’s the army way and the schedule Jenn and Chris will be following. So nothing to be done there.

It also turns out that we learned today FROG’s alternator must be replaced so we are parked behind Integrity Auto (Diesel too) in Lebanon, Missouri about 40 miles still west of Waynesville and Fort Leonard Wood. The good folks here, Avery, his wife and son A.C. have ordered a new alternator from Oklahoma and we are all hoping we can get it in time to have it installed by tomorrow afternoon.  But if not, we’ll be parked again behind the shop and drive very extra early Friday morning (we have to be at the main gate by no later than 7am for the 9am graduation at Lincoln Hall) in TOAD.  Thank God for a well running TOAD.  And for our campsite behind ‘Integrity’, or we would never have met Norma.

Norma is 83 years old and is MissourAN all the way through.  She was born into a farm family near Springfield, about 50 miles southwest of here along with 18 other siblings of whom she was fifth and is one of twelve remaining alive and kicking.

Norma was kicking when we saw her. Kicking up her heels taking a walk in the refreshing evening air around her nice modest neighborhood. She was quick to point out as we paused her walk with our questions that it was her house around the bend, just to our left, that had all the pretty flowers and interesting yard art.

Her parents had come from Illinois in the 1930’s and settled near Springfield for reasons she no longer remembered.  But the rolling hills of these northern Ozarks suited them all.  She and her husband moved to Lebanon from Springfield and raised their family here, but now children and grandchildren are disbursed all over the country and dad has gone on to glory.  True Baptist glory, for she and he belonged to the same Baptist church in Springfield since their baptism all those many decades ago. She seemed to allow that me being a retired Methodist minister was OK though.

Norma did say she likes the service 'Integrity' offers on her car, and Avery and his wife directed a United Methodist Church camp in Florida for three years and they said they REALLY loved it but their grand-babies were back here in Lebanon, so...   Methodist preachers and camping directors are OK by her!

We’ll be spending tomorrow in Lebanon, MO.  What will we do?  We’ve already hit the Walmart for some foodstuffs.  The library and the interesting Lebanon Route 66 Museum has been checked off (see the pics on Facebook).  And we did the laundry around the corner from the shop. Met another interesting lifetime Lebanese MissourAN there too, but no pic or name provided.

But who knows.  God may have another Norma or two for us to meet! Or, if we’re still here behind Integrity Auto (and diesel) this time tomorrow evening, we may get to meet THE Norma again and learn some more about her marvelous 83 years in Lebanon. After all, she is living well THE life God gave her, isn’t she?

-Ken