I’m not sure how vulnerable to be with y’all, but here goes. I’m quite sure that you can top all my stories, but, hey, they ARE my stories and I’m sticking with them.

I find myself wanting to cry at strange times. No rhyme or reason. Just want to pull over by the side of the road or snuggle down in my sheet and cry. I think I know some of the reasons, so I’ll just share this piece with you in the form of a prayer request.

Please understand fully that I’m not complaining or whining. (Then, I’d have to have cheese!) God has been good in so many ways and gone before us. However, as a full-fledged human being, I still have trouble keeping it all together. Oh, I’d love to be the macho Man of God and wear that armor out there for everyone to see and never admit a tiny lack of faith! I’d like to!

First, we’ve been involved with this sick house routine for more than a year. It’s finally coming to an end, but just coordinating the whole process has been a killer for Pat and me. She still reacts to something in the house (though much less so than before) so is still living in what I called “The Cell” that she redubbed “The Haven”. It’s still an 8 x 10 garage bedroom! (g)

Pat has been sick for more than 15 years largely due to the mold that was found in our home. Not nice to look back and see that big a chunk of one’s life just kinda like a blotted out piece of personal history.

Several things yet to be completed. In the end, our home should be the safest, purest, most beautiful home in all of Sarasota County (in it’s price range, of course.)

Second, we’re going to sell our home that our family has lived in for 27 + years. Pat’s medical condition requires that we move to a different climate. This means leaving friends, some of whom date back more than 27 years. It means not knowing who to call when I need something done or fixed. Starting over is always hard, but seems like the greatest challenge I’ve faced in a long time.

Third, we have to find a home in a drier, far less moldy climate. Easier said than done. We’ve been blessed with a realtor who has worked her little body nearly into oblivion to find houses. However, when she finds several, we have to make the 10 hour (minimum) trip through Atlanta to look. Our son in law, William, has possibly found a place. These trips are extremely hard on Pat, especially when we go up one day, look at houses for a day, and then come back the third day.

Fourth, our ministry is undergoing some changes, all good. We’re changing our name from “Meyer Family Ministries” to “Papa’s Pipeline, Inc.” These changes will work to our benefit in the long term, but right now provide us with lots of details to take care of and with which to deal.

Fifth, the landlord at the rental house which I just vacated is acting like a through and through reprobate. He’s making every excuse in the world to deny our $1,500 deposit (I left the house better than it was when I moved in.) He destroyed whole bunches of vertical blinds, dragged them to the road for the trash guys to haul to the dump, and refuses to make it right after promising several times to do so. It’s hard for one to soar with the eagles (folks who have character and keep their word), when one is forced to walk with domestic turkeys (folks who have little or no character and DON’T keep their word.)

Please respond to this new piece. I’d enjoy reading about your various trials and tribulations (I can join you in prayer) hear from you how the Lord has met your needs. Just click on the “Contact Us” tab at the top of the page and you’ll get an e-mail to me pronto.

SOME SELECTED RESPONSES TO “MOVING ON”

– I think that this is probably the first time I’ve replied to one of these, Jerry, but the last sentence of your article in particular struck me. I’ve been waiting too long (I know I know) to approach a friend about how she has hurt me by hurting another couple of my close friends and I wasn’t quite sure how to go about it. Any suggestions? Thanks and God Bless

– You’re absolutely right about gathering unnecessary stuff and taking it with us. I think that it is so important to take time to listen to God’s word for us. Is it? Come and sit on my lap for a minute, child…you need the refreshment and the encouragement to carry on.

– I can appreciate your moving since it is something I contemplate often since my house is on the market. To be honest, except for losing my wonderful garden, bedroom and storage space, I wouldn’t mind too much changing homes. This has been mine for 30 years.

Some time ago, it occurred to me that ‘things’ just don’t mean as much as they used to. A move would help me clear out stuff that I don’t need or use much and just keep the things that are meaningful and that I really enjoy having.

Unfortunately, there would be a lot of stuff I need to sell since none of my kids really has the room to accept much of anything else that I might want to give them. That is just as well, I guess. Why clutter them up with stuff which I have been accepting for years because I, like Mother, was the only girl?

Our lives are like our homes sometimes, cluttered with useless stuff – seldom used and not appreciated or needed.

– I believe that I tend to hang on too long to things not needed, both physically and spiritually. Forgetting comes with great difficulty at times, while at others I am fully at peace. How grateful I am for a very real grace that helps me to “throw out the garbage.” I find that identifying it as garbage is one of the most important deals in this whole process. Thanks for the good reminder to take stock again, and to pitch those things no longer needed. “Forgetting what is behind I reach for the goal …” Pretty good words!

Thanks for the good thoughts. You continue in our prayers regularly!

– AMEN, Jerry. People just don’t communicate anymore. If people were more open to one another I don’t think that there would be as much trouble in relationships. All too often, though, some folks just clam up and keep things inside and never share feelings. This is such a big mistake. Good one!!! I hope that house is getting closer and closer to being done each day.

HOORAY at last! Jerry and Pat are finally able to move back into their home!! B__ and I have been praying that you could be in it soon and we still pray that Pat can be well and able to stay there and once more have her kitchen and all the things she loves, including you, Jerry. Our God is an Awesome God and I know that he has good things in store for you two.

I loved all of the New Inside Out and Moving On. They are so uplifting and I am so grateful to know you Jerry and hope that someday we can all four meet somewhere even if for only a few minutes for a Burger King burger. We are getting all the rain that missed Sarasota a few weeks back. Our front yard is almost a lake at times In fact it is raining now, but we have sand, (not good rich soil) so it soaks right in.

– Yeah, you should apologize for taking care of personal business and not having 48 hours in the day!!!

Good story about the excess baggage we pick up and think that we really need. When we leave here and go to be with the Lord, the only thing we take with us is us. Not even our earthly bodies.

It reminds me of the story about the farmer who was driving his wagon and team of horses to town. He saw a man walking the same direction. The man had a sack thrown over his shoulder. The sack obviously had a heavy load inside. The farmer stopped and offered the man a ride. The man got into the wagon but kept the sack slung over his shoulder. The farmer looked at the man and said, “When I offered you the ride, that went for the sack, too. You can put it down.” “Thanks,” said the man, “but my back just wouldn’t feel right without this bag.”

Too bad so many of us identify our lives by our baggage. I’m grateful for having moved to a new state. I get to look at my new neighbors through eyes unadulterated by history. I’m reminded daily that that is how God wants us to look at people: by how they are at the moment, not how they were yesterday or five years ago or 25 years ago. Maybe that’s why God changed so many names (Abram, Jacob, Saul): so people can remind themselves of who they are, not who they were.