Checking in again :)

I'm stopping by again with my son's laptop. For those of us who have never used a laptop before, it is both interesting (as I am typing away while seated at a Lazy Boy recliner) but also strange. It has a completely different look and feel. However, I am very thankful it is available.

The guy who has been "looking over" our computer thinks it is just the motherboard and (hopefully) the mainframe has not been fried. That was the same thing my son told me would be the best possible problem.

We're ordering the part for him today. We'll know within a week if all is well with ours. If all my info is still there, I will immediately purchase one of those "thingies" (computer talk, you know...) to store important information. Christopher has one but I forget the official name.

My sister left for the airport early this morning to fly back to Tampa. Her family is ready for her return and as our night temperatures are close to 30, she was ready for warmth again. We had a very nice visit. As I've mentioned before, Jean is old enough to be my mother (she is the oldest girl and I am the youngest) so she has family stories that I've never heard before. We sat up late each night in my living room and chatted.

We spent part of Saturday and Sunday at the hospital. My brother-in-law will be transferred to a nursing home this morning. He has been ill a very long time and on Saturday I thought he would not last the night but Sunday he was better and joking with us. I still doubt he will last long but I know he is ready to go. My sister, however, is not facing the fact he may not make it this time. It will be difficult for her as they married when she was seventeen.

As I said before, my relationship with him is a lesson of patience and forgiveness. He has been a very difficult person and one who spread lies about my husband and I quite often. I have prayed for him for a very long time. I have seen him change slowly and at an advanced age but I do believe his "conversion experience" is very real. For only the Lord could take someone with his personality and way of life and make him the kind of person he has become.

It is never too late while there is breath in a person to hope for change. It may take decades of prayer. I am amazed at how easy it was to forgive him when I truly understood God had taken all of his sins and "forgotten" them, how could I not do the same? I must remember that for the remaining "challenging" family members. :)

I have finished most of my big projects, only one or two remain and both of them can be done a little at a time (as in my semi-annual decluttering the garage). So I'm taking today and tomorrow as days of R & R. Except for a little laundry and cooking, I hope to spend the days reading and relaxing.

I'll check in again between now and when I (hopefully) get my computer back over the weekend.