How am I supposed to make a million dollars off our story if she isn't here to sign copies at the booktable?

Let me just start by saying, "Thank you." I really appreciate you all letting me get all...well, real with you yesterday. Your response was tremendous. I love your comments and I adore your emails.

Is this some kind of great "community" we got going here or what? I am really starting to consider having y'all over once a month for fajitas.

I really, really am starting to like y'all. A WHOLE LOT!

Okay, back to it!

Look, you know I am a good girl at heart. Really, I am.

Yes, I signed up for VBS. And yes, I bailed.

Yes, I am sorry cans of icing went missing. And yes, I may or may not know where they be.

And yes, I saw that golf cart just sitting over in the office parking lot at church with the keys inside and so I took it. But yes, I had bought some new sandals and they were killing my feet.

So see? For every thing there is a reason. I promise. I don't do anything without really thinking it through and making sure it's okay. And to be honest, whirling around our church campus in a golf cart while eating white icing out of a can seemed like a good idea. At the time.

Oh, for Pete's sake. I'm only kidding.
About the icing.
Not the golf cart.

I would however, like to thank all of you who have contacted me - by phone, email and comment - and have insinuated that if TWENTY cans of icing went missing it must be Melissa.

TWENTY CANS!!

That's a whole lotta food addiction goin' on there. So thanks for the vote of confidence, gang.

But on a more serious note...Last Wednesday became a very sad day for my family when they found a tumor on my mom's ovaries. A tumor that didn't look good - at all.

Please know that twice before we have heard them tell my mom, "There's a tumor."

And twice before we have heard them tell her, "It's cancer."

So needless to say, we'd been to this rodeo a time or two. And cancer was our fear.

Tuesday my mom was scheduled to go in and meet the surgeon. Our guess was they would probably admit her to the hospital that day, with a surgery to follow the next day.

And so here in our story do you have me and Remi flying out to be with her ASAP. Yes, I was shirking my duties at V.B.S., but I would have rather been shirking them for a silly, stupid made-up reason. Not the very real one I was going home to.

And here's where the story gets interesting, because let me go on record as saying: Even though I once begged and pleaded for God to work a miracle in my life - and even though He didn't - I KNOW He still performs them.

Oh sure, there are certain things I am not sure about.

Like, I don't really understand why Charlie Daniels had to make The Devil Went Down to Georgia sound so scary. But he did.

I really don't understand why Oprah has to be on the cover of every "O" magazine.

And I don't understand why some of my friends have to jump through 68 hurdles, fill out 8 pounds of paperwork and wait 2 years to bring their baby home from another country, and Brangelina is bringing another one home any day now.

These things boggle my mind.

But I know that when God decides to perform a miracle. He can do it.

It isn't too hard.
It isn't too silly.
It isn't bad timing.
He isn't surprised by anything.
He isn't take off guard.
He can.
And He will.

If He so chooses.

(Let me interject here: Please don't leave me a comment telling me that you don't believe any of this, because He didn't do a miracle for you when you asked. Well, He didn't do one for me one time when I asked. But I still kept asking - because that's just me. And He still keeps healing - because that's just Him.)

And so I got off that plane, covered in sweat and soy sauce, and waited on what our next move would be.

And it was all for naught.

Because although I am not blessed to see miracles every day, I was blessed to see one on Tuesday. No surgery was needed. No cancer was identified. Mom was happy and healthy. And I was home with her.

Two miracles in one day!

And ya know? Now that I think about it...the fact that we don't see miracles every day may not be so much of a bad thing. Personally, I'm glad that I don't need to call on Him to perform a miracle every day. I don't want cancer looming at my doorstep or the fear of the death watching me from my window.

I'm happy to need a miracle - only every once and a while.

And I'm happy to trust Him - no matter what He decides to do.

And I'm happy to report that my mom is in fighting form.

In fact, just this evening I made dinner for her and dad, and my Granny joined us. Now there's a table of conversation for ya. Granny promptly told us that for months someone has been calling her house and asking for Pawpaw, trying to sell him something. Finally, they called today and she told them in no uncertain terms,
"Look. He's dead. He's been dead 11 months and so he ain't gonna buy anything and neither am I. And then I slammed the phone down."
She went on...
"I don't help anybody out over the phone anymore. Even if it is a handicapped child wanting a teddy bear, I - HANG - UP!!!"

Aaaahhhh....Precious.

Oh, and if you are wanting to know why I did the cooking - well, me too!

I told my mom since there was no longer the fear of death and she wasn't dyin' and all, she could go ahead and fire up that Fry Daddy tomorrow night!

Say what you want, but we're a heartwarming bunch.