The Altitude of Our Attitude

     I no longer worry when I have periods of time that I have no desire to write. Hobby bloggers get writer's hump, not block. I won't get threats from my sponsors or hate mail from my three followers. To borrow from an ad campaign--Sometimes you write like a nut, sometimes you don't. Expressing myself in writing is just one of my several coping mechanisms. But perhaps, this is a good time to dip my digital pen back in internet ink. We have just finished Family Week at Rimrock Addiction Treatment. Second year in a row. Same time of year. But this time, Tracy got to stay the full 29 days, instead of getting discharged for medical reasons two weeks in, as happened last fall.
     Years ago I had a dear friend old enough to be my grandmother. I wanted to be like her when I grew up and, lately, God has given me the chance. Elsie's guiding philosophy as she moved from her big Iowa farmhouse to a small senior apartment in Kalispell and, eventually, a nursing home, was: "It's not what I would have chosen, but that's the way it is so I'll make the best of it." And she did. Her smile was like a billboard for the joy of the Lord. At her funeral, some of her care providers from the nursing home were more distraught than the family.
     To weld those two disparate paragraphs together, although attending Family Week in Billings, Montana is not my first, or even eleventh, choice for a vacation, I fully intended to make the best of it. God sovereignly arranged for us to have enough Marriott points to spend five nights in a large, fireplace suite at a wonderful Residence Hotel for free. Not only that, but Monday through Wednesday they provide a free dinner and, every night, free cookies. We are spending an additional night in Billings, so today we moved to the Hilton Homewood, where we have enough points to stay in a one bedroom suite for $70. So, despite being at Rimrock from 8:30 to 4 or 5 p.m. (minus lunch) Monday through Thursday, we still had plenty of time to enjoy our nice hotel. After dinner, we sat around a gas firebox in the courtyard, flames licking through what looked like broken glass. My sister, who watches HGTV, assures me that is a thing now. Since the Homewood doesn't provide dinner on Fridays, we may be forced to eat at one of Billings nice restaurants tonight, like Olive Garden. (Red Lobster was last night.)
     Even my husband, for whom the glass is always half-full (and probably contains poison), was unable to maintain his bad attitude and began to enjoy the trip. When a loved one is an addict, finding moments of joy may be like dancing between the raindrops, but as I recognize the sovereignty of God in my life, I have found that the showers are scattered, and the sky mostly sunny. We spent our days here in the company of wonderful people--including the addicts. The shared bond of addiction deepens relationships quickly. Then we suffered through our evenings at fine hotels. If that is a sacrifice I'm making for our alcoholic son, please punish me again. God sends just enough rain to make us grow. Whether we view that as a blessing or a blight depends on the altitude of our attitude.