Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

• Genesis 2:7

Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,

• Psalm 103:2-3

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

• Philippians 4:6-7

A month ago, I was in Tennessee for a week.

I have already written about some of the things.  But it was a very busy trip.

When I visited Tennessee last October, I had COVID.  This time, I was bombarded by everything that I was allergic to as a child.  And the eleven-year-old grandson shared one thing with me – the germs from his latest sinus episode.

I got a cough, but I only started running a temperature after my return.  I returned in a single day.  If I had taken two days, it would have been a rough journey.

The traffic was not bad at any time.  And I probably put more than 80% of the annual miles on the SUV in one trip.  It is over 800 miles each way.  I drove to Mississippi to see my sister, something I missed doing last October due to being ill.  I drove to various performances and my grandson’s graduation.  And my grandson and I took a trip to Nashville together, another 500 mile trip.

The only bottleneck and stopped traffic on the interstate highways was when my grandson decided he wanted to drive.  He did a great job of driving one car length and stopping again, and again, and again.  The stopped traffic was only a mile deep, but he did well on about 50 miles of interstate, even driving through a small city with heavier traffic.  I hope he goes from learner’s permit to driver’s license before he goes off to college.  He’s almost ready.

I saw the youngest play the bagpipes in front of a large crowd.  I saw my granddaughter play the clarinet.  I ate both fried catfish and Memphis barbeque.  And it seemed we never stopped all week.

All in all, we actually got along with each other.  But maybe, if we had a couple of nights to do nothing, we would have gotten on each other’s nerves.

Really, if I must move back to the South a year from now, the thing that happened with the sinus infection is the worst fear.  I will just have to give that up to God.  But when I made fervent prayers, decades ago, that if I ever got out of the heat of the South, I would never complain about the cold, it was not just the heat.

I was sick every Spring in the South, terrible sinus headaches, congestion, coughing, and sneezing.  Occasional, nearly yearly sinus infections.  I can remember having a towel over my head, holding hot water in a bowl with drops of eucalyptus vaporizer in the water.  When the water wasn’t steaming, I’d heat up a second dose.  I do not want to go through that again, but whatever I do, I will praise God.

It was a good trip on the whole.  Praise the Lord.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.