Yeah, I know!

Writing is easy: All you have to do is start writing,

finish writing,

and make sure it's good.

 

***???***

 

Yeah, I know. So why do I make a big deal out of it? That's all I have to say... today.

Snapshots of Summer

As if there aren't enough...

In July, Aaron's installation service at the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in State College

 



At the end of July, the Henning reunion here at the farm

Flowers just past their peak...

 

And the people...

shucking corn

 

Eating inside and on the porch in light of the drizzle/downpour

 

 

 

Swimming

And of course there were tractor rides and fishing, campfire times and all manner of fun!

 

And finally the cleaning up and relaxing...and watching olympics. Yay team USA!

 

 

 

 

 



 

 



PostSecrets, Facebook, and God

All the things I forgot to post this summer, things I've done, seen, and have been inspired by, come to me when I put my head on the pillow at night, while driving the car, pushing little girls on swings, languishing in a Calgon-take-me-away moment, pulling weeds, or running the sweeper. Then in the busy-ness of life those thoughts are slept away, swept away and in other ways slip away, never making it to paper, screen, or cyber space. They just loll around in my head for awhile and then roll out...spinning, floating, falling to nowhere land.

I click the link to my blog and check. Didn't I write about (any number of things)? No, I guess I didn't. So when are the techies going to come up with a mind reading program? They've already got voice recognition keyboarding apps. And who would have believed there'd be devices taking commands, answering questions, typing and texting our words? It really can't be too big a leap to creating technology that reads our minds and types up our thoughts. How awesome that would be! Or wait, how awful that would be. If my thoughts magically appeared on a computer screen I would be by turns delighted and devastated -- most often the latter. It's in the writing down, the organizing of thoughts that I understand what I think I'm thinking. And that's when I catch myself saying, "Oh dear, that's not what I mean, or meant." I can rewrite or rephrase it after I've rethought it.

So do I want technology that records my thoughts? I don't think so; unless it would just go out to PostSecret. And even then? Scripture says that only God knows our hearts. He knows our secret thoughts and deeds done in secret too. I believe I'd like to keep it that way. Please techy people, don't invent a device to read my thoughts. Some of them are bad and I'd just as soon those not be made public, not even as a PostSecret. Some of them are experimental. They are me, growing, learning, perfecting -- not ready for sharing. But God, you go right ahead and search me, point out my wicked or foolish ways, create in me a good, pure heart, and help me have only good pure thoughts. (In this lifetime? What are the chances?)

I read something on facebook that tickled my funny bone. Facebook. You know. The social network forum where lots of thoughts are shared that never ever should have been written down. Trust me, there are some things only God should know you are thinking. But for everything else...go ahead...put it on facebook. Like this post: A writer is someone for whom writing is much more difficult than it is for other people.

And there's my out. That's why I don't write as often or as well as I wish. It's difficult for me. I'm a writer.

To Blog or Not to Blog

Summer is wonderfully...lots of things come to mind, but mostly... exhausting. There's visiting, traveling, swimming, entertaining (preparing for company and recouping after), playing, working, landscaping, planning, dreaming, reading, not writing. Three blogs in the month of July. Seriously? Although I did whip off those devotions for Camp Venango in July. Nevermind that my goal was to have those finished by mid-June. Nevermind that I put so much into them I had to redo and make them more kid friendly and age appropriate and all that. The redo took 1 and 1/2 hours -- the originals took 3 months. But wait, in my defense, they were 3 really bad months in my life. The badness isn't over yet, but I have put it aside. You know the cliche; give it to God. Yeah. I know it too. Easier said than done. But dad-gum-it, I done it.

Tom and I have totally ignored our Christmas tree fields since April -- we must have done a little work out in the fields in April because I blogged about it -- but since then, nada. Now we pay. I only worked two 2-hour shifts yesterday and then moaned all evening long. Tom worked the same (well actually more) but he didn't moan as much, and not until this morning. Our hands hurt! His from wrestling with a rented monster mowing machine, trying to keep the dang thing on track, out of holes, away from trees that we're trying to rescue from weeds, not hack off with a mower. Mine hurt from pulling well-rooted weeds away from little tree trunks to find and snip lower branches. This job is done on one's hands and knees. My knees hurt too.

There will be no pulling of weeds today -- too ouchie. There will be no muscling a mowing machine -- it was returned to the rental place, Lloyds Rental in Meadville. Instead I'll spray the rows with a generic form of Round-Up. Tom will start the shearing. Hey...we'll have the small tree field done in no time -- if our nearly 60 year old bodies can handle it. And did I mention the thermometer is supposed to hit 92 today? Yep. We'll have to work, swim, swim, work and drink lots of water.

Yesterday, before starting my day, I prayed Psalm 90:17  "Lord pour your favor on us, and establish the work of our hands for us, yes, establish the work of our hands." He did. Yesterday is done. I didn't pray that today.