Let Go and Let God

Saturday, June 21, 2008 through Monday, June 23, 2008:

Saturday afternoon Anna and I went into Tahlequah. We had lunch at Sonic and then watched the movie Get Smart. Just to let the world know: Steve Carell is hilarious.

Sunday morning Anna and I went back to Canterbury Chapel to worship. I really enjoyed it this time and I can’t wait to go back next Sunday. While it’s still a different style of worshiping, Canterbury is so full of love. During the children’s time I counted 24 kids! Isn’t that wonderful?!

The prayer time of rejoices/concerns was awesome. We prayed for a father/husband who is in Afghanistan, for a child’s parents who are in prison, for a foal that was just born, for a friend with pneumonia, etc. Honestly, it was a blessing getting to hear the things that weighed on people’s hearts. While there are prayer requests that I’m used to hearing, there are a good handful of prayers that I’m not accustomed to.

After church Anna and I were invited over to Meri’s house for an afternoon of food and swimming. Meri lives in a cozy log cabin that she and her father built. Although her parents divorced a long time ago, her father now lives next door to her left and her mother lives next door to her right.

Anna enjoying the sun from the sky lights:

Chloe:

I think Meri gardens with steroids. Her zucchini was huge:

She has a REAL donkey!!

Eeyore:

His nose gets very large when he makes that donkey sound:

Her horses and donkey like to hang out by the pool:

Horse:

This is Elsie with Eeyore:

Elsie is so cool. This is her coin from AA for her 22^nd year of sobriety:

She will be celebrating her 23^rd year on October 15! Elsie is now a licensed counselor. I think she counsels recovering addicts or mentally ill persons. She has opened my eyes to so many things.

Meri Whitaker is an amazing woman also. Hearing about her past and the crazy things she’s done has been really interesting to listen to.

Well, today has been wonderful as well. I drove a 15 passenger van for the first time in my life. I didn’t just drive on an average, paved road. I drove on mountainous, dirt roads. It was intense and I will admit that I had my doubts. Everyone got where they needed to go safely though. The driver who picks up the seniors for lunch Mondays and Wednesday fractured his hip. So, while he is recovering, I will be driving the seniors back and forth. It’s amazing to think about how these people survive living here. Marble City seems almost like a ghost town when I drive through it and there aren’t any local businesses for people to work in except the post office. Can you imagine what happens during an ice storm? The nearest store for some is at least 20 miles away.

I went to my first Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting tonight. While I’m not an addict, I had an amazing time there. I was able to go because this particular meeting is an “open” meeting. The one at Bethany UMC is a “closed” meeting; therefore, I’m not allowed to go since I’m not an addict. Anyway, AA is awesome to say the least. We celebrated this woman’s 22^nd “birthday”. It was really her 22^nd year of being a part of AA, but we had cake and ice-cream nonetheless. Our theme, I guess you could call it, was “Let Go and Let God”. It’s one of those cheesy sayings you’ve seen on church signs, but it was an awesome maxim to discuss. One person mentioned how it’s such a simple thought, yet it’s so hard to actually do—I can totally relate. While I’d love to write more about the meeting, I took an oath and said a “here, here” not to discuss what people said. So, I want to respect that. If you ever get the chance to attend an open meeting or Al-Non, I’d definitely recommend it. It’s very moving.

<3

Meredith

P.S. We officially have a cook! He starts Wednesday : )