The Roller Coaster

"You will either marry or give birth to your greatest challenge."  That message was taught to me in an Education Week that I attended probably 25 years ago.  I have pondered it often and Jeff often teases me that I got both.  Our greatest ups and downs in life are found in our family setting. We have our most incredible moments of joy or our most devastating ones when the experience pertains to those we love most.  Usually our family goes on with the normal bumps of mortality, gradual inclines and declines, then we come to that big one.  Everything seem to be awesome.  We're all healthy, happy, and doing well.  Someone really excels or has some incredible news.  Life couldn't be better and we couldn't be more proud of where are family is headed.  THEN whether it be health challenges, poor decisions, consequences of others poor choices, financial set backs, whatever it might be, we are in a downward spiral that doesn't seem to stop.  Fortunately there is always a bottom and in time 'this too shall pass'.   Today our family has an up and a down.  First, sweet Kevin is still paying greatly for the consequences of his decisions.  He was supposed to have a 4 hour furlough yesterday because he was moving from the jail to the work center to help him prepare to soon be released.  We were going to have these four hours to run some errands that he needed to do and then we were having a big family dinner.  Unfortunately instead of being released, they  transferred him from Davis County Jail to Weber County Jail so he can take care of charges that occurred several years ago that he had neglected.  He appears in court there today.  My heart and prayers go with him, but I won't be there because Jeff, Jessi and I are flying to Oklahoma to visit Ben and Carrie.  Ben is working in an Equine Hospital there, his first job as a veterinarian since he graduated last May.  They have 3 of our grandchildren, our only grandson, Cody, and Macey and MacKayla.  The purpose of our visit is they are going to bless MacKayla in church on Sunday.  It should be a wonderful few days.