My apologies for missing the last two days of blogging. We are in the midst of heavy activity around here. Today is my daughter's birthday. I fear that she turns 18 today. It is amazing how so many of the memories from that hot day in Alexandria, Louisiana can come back so vividly. It honestly does seem like it was only yesterday that we were waiting on her arrival. The point is that with running errands along with the usual stuff of the day that we missed out on writing. Our goal will be to get back on track this week.

This is the first birthday she ever got to spend with her paternal grandfather. He drove down from Minnesota to visit friends and relatives around the area. We all were in church which was fun. My girl sang on a duet for worship which is a double treat. I will not begin to suggest how the message turned out. I learned a long time ago that my opinion can vary greatly from those forced to listen. I do know that my body is still weary today. My guess is that it is from the combination of the steroids plus the effect of chemo on the blood count. I basically feel good but there is just an awareness that the system is still recovering.

I could not begin to imagine my daughter hitting this milestone when she came into our world eighteen years ago. For me it was love at first sight. There are hours somewhere of VHS tape of her just sitting or laying there. To even think that she would someday be a young woman was not anywhere close on our radar. You really can almost just blink to find everything is changed. There were the parties throughout the years to celebrate a birthday. We had some good ones as she grew older. There are school memories that stay with me. It may want to blend together but there are very clear moments too.

We start our journey with no set measurement of how long we will be here. You survive the growing up years so you can move through being a young adult. People cross your paths that affect you in ways both positive and negative. Obstacles creep into the journey as test of how well you learn the lessons of life. The thing is that you don't get a time out just to regroup. The clock just continually counts as each day rolls around. Maybe this is why scripture reminds us that every day is a gift from God. Things may happen that give us pause but God just keeps seeing us through. We are reminded that the God who is there when life starts is the One who will see us all of the way to the end. He gives us reason to celebrate beyond what we may deserve. He offers us gifts that make us far better people because of their presence. She is my favorite daughter. She is my only daughter. This makes today a blessed day no matter what else may go on in our world.

Bro. Trey