Bill and I were able to get away for a week in early October with some dear friends as we traveled to New England and enjoyed the beautiful colors up there and especially enjoyed their fellowship. We met over 40 years ago and stay in touch across the miles as they live 5 states away to the west.
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| The little deer riding the Deere! |
We started our Christmas unit this week and I asked her if she knew that there was a very important birthday coming up and she said very excitedly, "Baby Sammy!" Yes, that has been the most exciting thing for her right now as she will soon be a big sister to a real live baby. Samuel is expected to arrive in just a few weeks, that's why I started the Christmas stories early with Marissa as Tess will be on maternity leave and I won't be babysitting very much. Although I think I might have to go steal her for a few days now and then!
Bill and I have been visiting a different church every week. God has been speaking to us as we hear His word preached and through the music as we worship. We have been to churches of a few hundred down to churches of around 20. We have been to churches that sing only hymns, mixture of hymns and contemporary music, and only contemporary. We have been stretched by churches that do things differently than we have done. Churches with liturgy, prayers that are read with congregation responses, and the cross and Bible displayed, held high and revered (I was in awe). We have felt content, waiting on the Lord to direct us to where He wants us to go. Last week we went to a very small church and the Pastor was so compassionate. He talked to us after the service and said he could tell we were hurting and asked Bill if he could give him a hug. That brought tears to both of us. We were hurting, it had been a hard week. We were told that our family had been kicked off the prayer chain at the church where we had attended for 40 years and are still members of. I always thought prayer was something that was welcomed, but I guess not everyone thinks so. I will continue to pray for those who attend that church. We feel we did what God was telling us to do when we exposed the evil. We did it because we love the people in the church. If we didn't care about them we just would have quietly left a year ago. It has been hard, but is the Christian life supposed to be easy? This past month God has been teaching me to forgive and to love as I have studied 2 Corinthians. I have never felt a connection with Paul before as I did in this study. It was an affirmation that we did the right thing. I praise God and am so thankful for giving us His words in the Bible to show us how to live.
Tomorrow is the second anniversary of my fathers passing. I remember the details of each day of his last few days like it was just yesterday. His last day on earth I can recall every hour, maybe every minute of that day! I was with my mother-in-law until just a few hours before she died, and I had the privilege of being with Amy and Daddy in their last days, hours, minutes, and the very second they passed from my arms to Jesus' arms. It is a beautiful thing, but yet gut-wrenching at the same time. I miss them both so much. I cry often, but not as much as I used to. The grief comes and goes. There are so many constant reminders of their lives and the holes they each left in my life.
But there are constant blessings also, if I just look for them.
My husband, children, and grandchildren.
The beauty of nature always takes my breath away.
Music can touch my soul.
A good book, a warm cup of tea.
The list can go on and on.
I have always been a fan of CS Lewis and Amy loved listening to the "Chronicles of Narnia" audio tapes from Focus on the Family. She listened to them so many times and was listening to them again the days before she left us. I have not listened to them since.... Until a few days ago...... I decided to listen to "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe." For years and years Narnia always has winter and never Christmas; until Aslan comes and the snow starts to melt and the birds start to sing and Father Christmas comes with presents. Aslan is a allegory for Christ. It occurred to me that if we truly are following Christ, we will always have winter (trials and sorrow in our life), BUT we will always have Christmas, the celebration of the birth of our Savior! Always winter, but the seasons will cycle, spring, summer, fall and winter again. Jesus is with us through each season in our life.
I love living in this part of the world that has the different seasons. Fall has always been my favorite. In my last blog I shared about planting bulbs at Amy's grave, in her little garden area in our yard and in a pot inside to force for blooms for Christmas. Well I planted them when the package suggested for our area, but we had an unusual warm fall and a few of the bulbs started to grow and even produced buds. We have had a few nights of frost, but the buds survived. One night last week it was to get down in the teens so I cut off the buds and brought them in. The last few days they have turned into beautiful blooms and smell wonderful! Bill and I have been visiting a different church every week. God has been speaking to us as we hear His word preached and through the music as we worship. We have been to churches of a few hundred down to churches of around 20. We have been to churches that sing only hymns, mixture of hymns and contemporary music, and only contemporary. We have been stretched by churches that do things differently than we have done. Churches with liturgy, prayers that are read with congregation responses, and the cross and Bible displayed, held high and revered (I was in awe). We have felt content, waiting on the Lord to direct us to where He wants us to go. Last week we went to a very small church and the Pastor was so compassionate. He talked to us after the service and said he could tell we were hurting and asked Bill if he could give him a hug. That brought tears to both of us. We were hurting, it had been a hard week. We were told that our family had been kicked off the prayer chain at the church where we had attended for 40 years and are still members of. I always thought prayer was something that was welcomed, but I guess not everyone thinks so. I will continue to pray for those who attend that church. We feel we did what God was telling us to do when we exposed the evil. We did it because we love the people in the church. If we didn't care about them we just would have quietly left a year ago. It has been hard, but is the Christian life supposed to be easy? This past month God has been teaching me to forgive and to love as I have studied 2 Corinthians. I have never felt a connection with Paul before as I did in this study. It was an affirmation that we did the right thing. I praise God and am so thankful for giving us His words in the Bible to show us how to live.
Tomorrow is the second anniversary of my fathers passing. I remember the details of each day of his last few days like it was just yesterday. His last day on earth I can recall every hour, maybe every minute of that day! I was with my mother-in-law until just a few hours before she died, and I had the privilege of being with Amy and Daddy in their last days, hours, minutes, and the very second they passed from my arms to Jesus' arms. It is a beautiful thing, but yet gut-wrenching at the same time. I miss them both so much. I cry often, but not as much as I used to. The grief comes and goes. There are so many constant reminders of their lives and the holes they each left in my life.
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| My favorite picture of Daddy and Amy |
My husband, children, and grandchildren.
The beauty of nature always takes my breath away.
Music can touch my soul.
A good book, a warm cup of tea.
The list can go on and on.
I have always been a fan of CS Lewis and Amy loved listening to the "Chronicles of Narnia" audio tapes from Focus on the Family. She listened to them so many times and was listening to them again the days before she left us. I have not listened to them since.... Until a few days ago...... I decided to listen to "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe." For years and years Narnia always has winter and never Christmas; until Aslan comes and the snow starts to melt and the birds start to sing and Father Christmas comes with presents. Aslan is a allegory for Christ. It occurred to me that if we truly are following Christ, we will always have winter (trials and sorrow in our life), BUT we will always have Christmas, the celebration of the birth of our Savior! Always winter, but the seasons will cycle, spring, summer, fall and winter again. Jesus is with us through each season in our life.
Another blessing to have spring flowers in November.
