As a mother of three amazing girls, all of whom I homeschool, I, along with my girls were counting down the days until May 30th - our last day of school. I think the four of us could taste summer. I must admit, summer is my least favorite season but knowing I would soon have all day to run errands, clean, do nothing, or meet up with friends, it quickly became a season I actually look forward to. Funny how that works.

My plans for the week after the end of school year: Nothing. Honestly, I decided to keep my calendar as empty as possible because I felt I needed a week to just...breathe. I'm also a homebody, so "nothing" sounded like paradise to me. We had a couple of days where "nothing" actually happened. I think I smiled the entire time. Then it happened, I quickly learned why my calendar had remained empty.

About a week prior to my nothingness, my mom began to tell me she was having leg pain, but didn't elaborate much and quite honestly, to my own shame, I didn't give it much thought. Then one night, the night before my full week of "nothing", I got a phone call from my sister saying to meet her at the emergency room because our mother had fallen and was in excruciating pain. With my husband out of town, I headed to the hospital alone, guilt ridden, and completely overwhelmed. My mom had lost her footing due to the pain, and something "suspicious" was discovered in her leg, for the second time in less than two weeks. It could just be torn ligaments, but since the ER doctor wasn't an orthopedic surgeon, she was unsure. My mom is a tough cookie, so for her to cry in pain means one thing; she really is in pain. Long story short, we still don't know what the pain is, but we will see an orthopedic surgeon next week.

I feel like God has shown me so much in just these few short days. Two of the MANY things He has shown/reminded me of are that 1) I am truly selfish and He needs me to be more flexible, more selfless. 2) Trust in Him with ALL my heart.

My first full week of summer vacation has definitely not been full of "nothing", but praise God for allowing me a pretty empty schedule so that I'm not extra overwhelmed with all of the things I'd have to cancel and reschedule. My last few days have been a juggling act of running two households, along with my amazing sister and our combined families of eight children. I know I've received a rare blessing in being "forced" to be with my mom practically 24/7. I'm forced to cherish who she really is and the amazing Godliness she exhibits. It's been chaotic, fun, scary, with many walks down memory lane, and as I write this I feel I have to tell you I'm lying here next to my mom as we both do...."nothing".

Nichol Naranjo

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