Praises in the Storm

The musical group Casting Crowns sings a song titled “Praise You in This Storm” which comes to mind as I prepare this month’s blog.  Pattie and I have been on the move since we began our full-time RV adventure. “Well, duh. It’s a RV and you are suppose to travel.”  Yeah, but our moving about has been more out of obligations than adventure seeking.  In the last blog, we left Red Bay, AL and headed to Tombigbee State Park outside of Tupelo, MS after having work done to fix a pesky roof leak and make some upgrades.  The residential refrigerator is doing its thing with no drama and the TV/BlueRay system is quite nice.   The roof leak has weathered a couple storms, but we are keeping an eye on it.  The Tombigbee State Park was the first place we have stayed that really felt like a relaxing campground rather than a converted parking lot. 

The RV park was level and offered full hook-up with advertised 50 amp service.  However, we were only getting 30 amps from our site as were many others; so we had to alternate which air conditioner to run, as it would not support both simultaneously.  Our friendly Cajun neighbor said, “They don’t have good e-lek-tik here.”   Love the Cajun accent.  We picked Tombigbee State Park to rest over the weekend because it was on our way to Tuscaloosa, AL where we were headed to support my Mom for a heart procedure. 

Since the RV lifestyle kind of demands that you seek out what is interesting wherever you travel, we headed over to the Elvis Presley Museum since Tupelo is his birthplace.  Neither of us are big Elvis fans, but we learned a lot about how the King of Rock and Roll got his start.  After the tour, we headed over to Johnnie’s Drive-in for some lunch sine that is where Elvis ate.  It was good home cooking.

On Sunday, we headed over to Sunset RV Park in Tuscaloosa and checked in with Mom.  Her procedure was set for early Thursday morning with prep work in Birmingham, AL on Wednesday.  I worked from The Bus Mon-Wed and Pattie took our old beagle Sparky to a local vet to get a lump on her leg x-rayed and a mole taken off her eyelid.  She boarded Sparky there so we could get a hotel room in Birmingham Wednesday night to pre-position for the Thursday procedure.  Amongst this storm, my nephew Nathan flew in to Birmingham between Air Force assignments and was able to visit with his GranNan before she went in to surgery.  The surgery went well and we were able to bring Mom home Sunday.  Nathan had just finished basic training and was enroute to his first duty station in Wyoming.  He needed to buy a dependable car and in between all the other events, I went with him car shopping.  It was a praise for timing to work the way it did allowing me to help him in the purchase negotiations and share Air Force experiences.  

The storms continued into the following week when the veterinarian said that she was so concerned about the lump on Sparky’s leg that she would not recommend removing the eyelid mole and referred us to the Auburn University Vet School for specialist evaluation.  I worked all week from Mom’s house and we departed Friday to Maxwell Recreation Area on Lake Martin near Dadeville, AL.   We had reservations for site 54 on the water, but when we arrived we found a truck with an empty boat trailer parked directly in that spot (clueless or just self-centered?). 

We called the office and they said they would get in-touch with the owner.  We sat in the middle of the road for an hour with the generator running having lunch before a couple young ladies came up in a golf cart saying they could not reach the owner.  After some reasoned discussion with me mentioning “Tow Truck” several times, we got them to agree to allow us to swap reservations with someone else who was not coming in until later.   The lake was beautiful.  We swam every day and rented a boat after church on Sunday to ride around and look at all the lake homes.  Since our referral appointment for Sparky was not until Thursday, we stayed a couple more days with me working from The Bus and relocated to Auburn RV Park during lunch hour on Wednesday. 

This is our first time to stay at the Auburn RV Park south of Auburn, AL and it is very nice.  We have a level, shady spot right on a creek.  Well-maintained grass areas and full hook-up with cable is nice since the trees block the satellite signal.  We took Sparky to the Auburn University Veterinarian School where an amazing team of doctors and students ran all sorts of tests.  Then we received the call.  The doctors found numerous masses in her lungs…cancer.  Sparky is 13 years old and even with heroic type efforts; she would only have about 6 months to live.  We took her back to The Bus and have some medicines to help keep her comfortable.  We will monitor her daily and when she begins to have more bad days than good, it will be time to take her back for a final goodbye. 

“But as the thunder rolls

I barely hear You whisper through the rain

"I'm with you"

And as Your mercy falls

I raise my hands and praise the God who gives

And takes away”

Casting Crowns, Praise You in This Storm