Some curves are sharp.

How nice it would be if all the turns in our lives were curved slowly and securely to the banks of our river-of-life. But lately some streams seem to have a life of their own...stirring the mud and jabbing out into a fast moving current where I have little control.

Two years ago when I was 76, and feeling 56, one hit me hard. I went to the hospital with what I thought was appendicitis...eleven days later I emerged after a hysterectomy and the knowledge that I had been harboring a cancer in one of my ovaries.
That incident stretched over nearly two year...an adventure with chemo that took away the strength in my legs...hair loss (much more traumatic than I had expected) and a loss of recall..i.e. names and words that dropped out of my memory like dead leaves.
Then, while slowly recovering, we drove over a bump on Rte 70 and I received a sudden jab to my back, extending down my left leg and making it impossible for me to walk without support (a cane or crutches). We were headed for a cruise through the Panama Canal and I was unwilling to give up...so I hobbled along for over 8000 miles (that's the distance the boat traveled..not me)..from Miami to San Diego.

When we got home we joined a gym and I went to work trying to recover the lost strength by swimming up and down a warm pool. It helped until several sharp pains in my belly (which should have warned me) culminated in a hurried visit to another hospital..where they removed my gallbladder. Again, the weakness and frustration came...bearing me along this tide of misfortune..away from the comfort of my own strength and forcing me to depend on others. Gone were the hard-earned gains of leg strength...gone was the idea that hospital stays were quickly productive..gone forever.

But there is a scripture that rings in my head..It's the incident where Jesus heals the lepers..only He didn't heal them on the spot...Scripture says..."as they went they were healed" With that driving me, I've launched into more exercise, pushing myself into public occasions and familiar routines, and hoping that I will be healed as I go.

I'm also hoping that the currents that drive me in the future will have a more gentle nature..

One of the bends in our river came when we were transferred to Washington DC. 

We had been living in Westchester, NY. First there was an apartment, a husband and two little girls (born just one year apart).  Then there was a larger apartment, a baby boy, two sisters, and a husband.  Finally, there was a tall English Tudor, two little girls, and two little boys. We lived close to family, college and high school friends..  I was busy and happy.

But in DC our lives changed.  We had a bigger house, a small sailboat on the Potomac, and children who were now at school all day.  I painted the new house and wondered what I would be doing with the rest of my life. I tried playing bridge, got pretty good at the game, but was bored with the life style.

I was busy all summer with swimming lessons, swim meets, and new friends.  But I wanted to do something more demanding, something that would allow me to work when the kids were at school but be home when they were home.  School!!!  That, I thought, could provide the answer. 

Fairfax, Va has a county-wide school system and they were advertising for teachers.  I had the right college credits and so I applied and went for an interview. 

The young man who interviewed me was pleasant enough; but he made it clear that he thought I was too old. (I was 37).  I was furious. I didn’t think of myself as"old."  I had been rejected. As I left the office, I flung a parting comment over my shoulder, “I hope everyone you hire gets pregnant.”

The Lord works in mysterious ways….  A short while later I saw an advertisement in the paper for a "home-bound teacher".  I applied and was enthusiastically accepted.  That decision changed my life for years to come. The Lord had taken this opportunity to bend my river toward a pet project of His...kids with problems.

Oh yes, I even got the last laugh.  When I was in line waiting for my TB X-ray a young woman approached me.  She was the secretary of the man who had previously interviewed and rejected me.  She was laughing. “Aren't you the lady who wished that everyone my boss hired would get pregnant?”  I nodded.  “Well, they did…most of them are expecting before the year is out.” 

Th