capable of anything

Luke and I drove to Dallas today with Grace. She flew out of DFW and will land in San Jose, Costa Rica at 9:45 PM this evening. For four weeks, she’ll be studying advanced Spanish and photography, living with a host family in their home, going on weekend outings to who-knows-where: the beach, the rain forest, the mountains. She scheduled her flight home for one week after the study abroad program ends. The final week she will spend doing whatever she wants, staying wherever she wants, on her own.

So, my daughter is an independent, twenty-year-old woman. How odd. But I’m so pleased with who she has become. So thankful that she is a part of my life . . . that I’ve been honored with the privilege of helping shape her for all the adventures that lie ahead.

We pulled into the international terminal and dropped her off at the curb for departing flights. She hugged us both, smiled her disarming smile, said, “I’m excited!” and turned to walk into the terminal. She never looked back.

Yeah, so anyway, on the way home Luke and I listened to some of the tunes he has loaded into his i-pod. I requested Evanescence, and he launched into a speech about why I shouldn’t like that band. Too much metal he says.

“But listen to her voice,” I argue. “It’s amazing! I’d go hear her in concert if I had the chance.”

He just shook his head, like there’s something weird about a person being a mom and liking good music. Then we switched to a discussion about Radiohead, and I commented that, even though they are innovative and creative with rhythms (their drummer is equal to anything!), all their recent songs have the same droning sound with melodies that undulate between just a few notes. He insisted they didn’t, and started playing portions of songs to prove his point. He ended up proving mine, except when he played songs from older albums, which isn’t what I said. I said recent songs.

In the course of our Radiohead discussion, Luke said if he wasn’t a Christian, he could easily be a pothead (because he likes that music, and so do potheads . . . great logic)! So I said if I wasn’t a Christian, I could easily be a prostitute. He found that hilariously amusing and said he was going to post it on his livejournal, so I am posting it first just to spite him. Of course, my point was simple: without God’s help, anyone is capable of anything.

Grace lands in one minute. She enters the airport and looks for someone holding a sign, though she doesn’t know what the sign will say . . . only that it will have a name or the symbol for Universidad Veritas (which she’s never seen before). I’ll be praying a lot the next five weeks. I’ve been praying a lot the past twenty years. I’ll be praying till the day I die. And almost always with amazement and joy.

Good night journal friends! ♥ EZ