Moments of Grace

My DD sits on my lap, curled up early in the morning. Her head nestles perfectly into the crook of my neck, warm and soft. She talks about her stuffed animal friends and riding her bike and everything good. These small moments have helped me cope, day by day. Little blessings, benevolent friends, praying on the promises of God, and good music (thanks to the O'Melays site, I found the tool at the bottom of this blog).

Grief

I've been holding off on writing about this for a few days, but I need to get it out to my friends in the blog-o-sphere. My new boss/pastor died very unexpectedly last Thursday. Our congregation is shocked, wracked with questions, and uncertain of the future. Throughout this tragedy, however, we have been blessed with prayers, concerns, offers of help from local pastors & congregations, and the steadfast comfort of the Holy Spirit. Please pray for us as we grieve and please pray for our pastor's family (wife Grace and children Joy and Joseph). Thank you.

Another blessing in all of this is hospitality. Pastor's wife, children, and family all live out of state and do not speak fluent English. Our church's leadership and congregation has worked very hard to accommodate and comfort them in every possible way. In addition, our church is in the middle of an extensive rehab project with rooms half-painted, no furniture, old carpet, etc. Knowing that we couldn't pull these rooms together in time for the visitation and funeral, we have had to be "creative" in seeking ways to make these rooms as hospitable as possible. Fortunately, many in the congregation have brought in many flowers from their gardens, we prepared the tables to serve the family dinners with fine linens and REAL place settings (not paper plates). I know this seems a trifle amidst all the other things, but I hope that the family feels our love for them through these small touches.

"It is only when I share life’s experiences with others that I can enjoy them or endure them to the greatest advantage. You see, having a relationship calls for being in fellowship with others, and that cannot be done very easily at arm’s length. It implies getting in touch, feeling the hurts, being an instrument of encouragement and healing. Fences must come down. Masks need to come off. Welcome signs need to be hung outside the door. Keys to the locks in our lives must be duplicated and distributed. Bridges need to be lowered that allow others to cross the moat and then share our joys and our sorrows." ~ Dropping Your Guard by Chuck Swindoll

Reach out to someone today.

She rides, she rides

In the spirit of Ricky Martin, this is what we were singing last night when DD succeeded at riding on TWO WHEELS. Yes, the training wheels are still attached, but you can see how "useful" they are. Me thinks they'll be coming off tonight.

It's another hot one

It's so hot & dry here. The last rain we had was June 22nd. Needless to say, we're doing everything we can to stay cool. DH and DD help me water the flowers and veggies, but the grass is nearly burned out. We keep the chicks in a "tractor" beneath a big tree and just keep moving it around every other day. That way, their "poo" doesn't burn out the grass and they have fresh ground to find bugs and other tasty morsels.

On to the garden report: We're getting lots of beans, peas, and broccoli. I was able to harvest a few decent carrots, but they were mostly woody and bitter. The turnips have been good, but I'm the only one who likes them. We have lots of potatoes and onions still in the ground. The black seeded simpson lettuce is done/bolted, but I have one Sierra lettuce plant that is wonderful. One row of sweet corn is nearly ready and five more rows are nearly as tall. The rhubarb I transplanted is coming up great, but the new strawberries have stalled.

DD mustered up the courage to sleep out on the front porch (all by herself!) for a couple nights. I slept on the sofa right inside the door just to make sure she was okay; she slept until about 3 am each night and woke up disoriented, so I'd carry her up to bed. So cool. Yes, she's reading Charlotte's Web and loving it - - just about done. She saw the cartoon version a couple times, but hasn't seen the new live action movie yet. Next, she wants to start on Laura Ingalls Wilder and maybe the Kirsten series of American Girl. She's just a reading fool!

Blog-worthy

We went to see Alison Krauss tonight in Cedar Rapids. Amazing...this was their closing song. Enjoy.


Having some technical difficulties with the cord that connects my camera to the computer. Now having to go the "long way around" to get photos. Here's a couple just for fun.