Skip to main content

Expectations


                Today is our first full day "at home" in Florida. The trip down was uneventful, with only one minor glitch on my part. We stopped and spent the night in Columbia, SC then got into town here just in time to eat at Dad's favorite restaurant. After dinner, we tried calling one of the places Dad wanted us to go. No answer, no answering machine. We also called someone who was selling a mobile home. No pets allowed.  That was the first time Dad said that he thought maybe we should have stayed in Erie.

          The next morning we went back to the place Dad wanted to go. It's a dump, to put it mildly, but it is supposedly a very inexpensive dump. We never found out because we couldn't find an office and there was nobody around. Our next  stop was where the challenges of the day really began.  While I was in the office getting information, the car battery died. We got it jumped and got a new one, then returned to picked out a lot and register. We both wanted a lot close to the rec hall. There were none. The closest spot didn't have hookups where he wanted them. We finally settled on one that is straight across from one rec hall - across three other lots, and effectively two blocks from the other. Yay! A place to put our home. Next we went to get the home. It wouldn't start. A couple gallons of fresh gas later,  it started and he drove it the park. Then we couldn't get it into position. We don't speak the same language. After a while, a park worker arrived to help us but before he could do much it overheated, stalled and wouldn't start again. I'm not sure what else one can expect from a 1988 vehicle.  (The interior is about what one should expect, too.) We also found out that the connector for the sewer hose was broken.  Another unfortunate consequence of registering on Friday was the fact that the electric company couldn't come out until Monday.

                That brings us back to yesterday. Grace decided around dawn that she'd slept enough so I took her outside and then for a walk around the outside of the circle on which dogs are permitted.  I unpacked some stuff and found places to put them. In spite of the fact that he insisted that he would be able to drive down here and live here by himself, he's told me a couple times today that he's just too weak to do this stuff anymore. He's also said again that he's wondering if we should have stayed in Erie. 

          The people are friendly. Everyone around keeps telling me what a wonderful place we're in. Last night one man started rattling off all the fun activities the park hosts: bingo, shuffleboard, horseshoes, dances and concerts... in November, this place gets "hopping." I was polite. It seems to me that so far, nothing has met Dad's expectations. I think it's fairly certain that I am not going to meet my neighbors' expectations, but overall, everything is pretty much in line with my expectations.

          

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more