Running out of daylight...

I remember when I wrote that last blog weeks and weeks ago, thinking I'd get right back and finish the story...in fact leaving it hanging would insure my getting right back to it. Yyyyeah, right. Since then the daffodils have gone, the tulips came and went, the lilacs are now in bloom and as fragrant as can be. Next come the dahlias. But not until I get them in the ground. My dahlias are the only flowers I fuss with, digging up the bulbs in the fall, replanting in the spring. Everything else is on its own, but I baby the dahlias. Not because I love them more, but because it saves me a ton of money on annuals. They'll flower from June through October and into November until the snow flies if I treat them right.

What does this have to do with Chasing Daylight (by Erwin McManus, not to be confused with Patrick McManus who I also really like as an author but -- worlds apart!) ? Just this, "The flower fades, but the word of our God lives forever." In S.S. we're still following Jonathan in his battle against the Philistines who were taunting the Israealites without mercy. So Jonathan and his armor bearer scaled the cliff to face those giants with their swords -- and the long story short is that God was indeed with them and they slew a bunch of bad guys who got all worked up, confused, discombobulated and started slaying one another. But then the book goes on a rabbit trail about Elijah in I Kings 19 -- related in this way -- Elijah trusted that God was with him too. He set up a wild and crazy plan to show Jezebel and the prophets of Baal that his God was GOD and their god was NOT. It's a great story but it'll lose a lot in the re-telling so I'll let you go read it for yourself. Happy ending? Yes and no. And that's what I'll blog about next time.

Like Jonathan, Elijah, Gideon and a bunch of other heroes like them, I've had times of trusting God, relying totally on His coming through for me, times when I just want to sing with the late Rich Mullins, Our God is an awesome God! Then again there are times when God has to come looking for me, asking, "Betsy, what are you doing here?" like he asked Elijah...but that's grist for the next blog-mill.

Dahlias from last year...a reminder that I need to get those bulbs set.

Chasing Daylight

That's the title of a book we're using in Sunday School. The scriptural character whose story is woven throughout the book is Jonathan. I never knew much about Jonathan except that he was King Saul's son and David's best friend. (My youngest son's name is David Jonathan and he has a very good friend named Jonathan David -- apparently those name have gone nicely together for thousands of years.) I've read the story countless times, but never let it sink in...

The Israelites were (still) at odds with the Philistines. The Philistines held the high ground and Saul's army which included Jonathan was hiding out in the valley. It was night and Jonathan said to his armor bearer something like, hey, let's go after those Philistines, maybe God will protect us.He set up his own little test, (When we show ourselves, if the Philistines say, 'come on up,' then we'll know that God is going to deliver them into our hands. Sure enough that's what they said. But I think it was more like, "come on up here, you fools, and we'll show you a thing or two." The story has a remarkably good ending, you ought to go read it in I Sam. 14.

Today's lesson was comparing that story to one in Judges (Chapter 6) where Gideon is called to lead an army for God. Gideon wasn't as foolhardy forward thinking as Jonathan. In fact he was downright skeptical. Even though he saw the angel of the Lord and heard his voice, his response was...are you kidding? I can't do that. He listed all the reasons why he was too weak, small, inexperienced to to what God asked. 3 times God had to tell him, "Just go in the strength you have and I'll be with you." Three times! Then, if that weren't enough, Gideon wanted to lay out a fleece, just to be sure he was hearing God correctly. You remember the deal don't you? Let the fleece be soaking wet with dew and the ground all around it dry. And when that happened, he changed it up..."Wait, wait, wait.  I'll put out another fleece tonight and in the morning if the fleece is totally dry and the ground all around is wet with dew then I'll know I can trust you." (Lucky for Gideon, that verse about not testing the Lord your God wasn't written yet.)

I've gotten carried away -- I'll finish my thoughts on this tomorrow. For now, here's a picture of the beautiful daffodils growing on our back line overlooking the flats that lead to the creek. It's a great daffodil year!

A quick post to end another fabulous day -- G'night.

It was a lovely Easter Day and day after. Can't wait for tomorrow. No, what I really can't wait for is Saturday when we get to see our grandkids. But until then, we're enjoying a bit of time off, yard work, house work, catching up (or just barely keeping up) with my venue descriptions. Hey, it's harder than you think.

Sunday was wonderful -- a contata at church and communion. Then dinner here with good friends and our Davey-boy and Mel. A walk to the daffodil field -- and everyone carried out a bouquet. Hmmm, maybe I have a picture of that. Nope, no daffodils, but look at the pretty tulips.

And lest the other kids feel slighted, I have some pix of Adam and Alica too, from when we celebrated Adam's birthday belatedly.

April Fool's Day

It's an absolutely beautiful day in Pennsylvania; no foolin' -- warmer than it should be, sun shining, fabulous day. But I'm sad, maybe I'm pouting just a little bit, having a pity party. I need to get busy (busier?) and think on things that are honorable, pure, lovely, gracious, and worthy of praise.

I need to remember yesterday...

Yesterday I spent the day in Grove City with a friend and her daughter, and her daughter's two adorable 3-year-old twin boys -- wearing spiderman shirts, one red, one blue. I got to play at the playground, climbing and jumping and sliding (them), chasing and catching (me). It was just plain fun. But the highlight of my day was pushing them around in a double stroller -- compliments of the Outlet Mall. It fulfilled a secret desire of mine, getting to push a double stroller around, and it was every bit as much fun as I thought it would be. I could have used one of those when Nathan and Aaron were little guys. I had a nice big stroller with a booster seat on the back. You don't want to know how many times I dumped Nathan on the ground. I'd pick Aaron up out of the stroller and oops, boom, waaaaaaaa. Think see-saw. When the kid on the bottom decides to get off, bam, the kid on top comes down fast. None of that with a double stroller, something about stability versus counter balance.

Besides the fun of playing and pushing the stroller, we had a nice lunch out, and I did some shopping. A pretty good day all around. (Thanks Beth for sharing your grandkids!)

So I feel better now. "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say...REJOICE."  This weekend we celebrate Resurrection Sunday, the commemoration of an event that is crucial to my faith. If Christ didn't rise from the dead, my faith is in vain. But he did. He is risen. He is risen indeed. Hallelujah!

Happy Resurrection Sunday. Draw near to the God who delights in drawing near to you. Happy Easter!

Happy Birthday to David & his nephew

Today my son's baby is 2 weeks old.  Today my own baby is 24. Now that's hard to believe. And before he turns 25 he'll be married! Last week his brother, Adam, turned 30 -- that's a big deal, and we have yet to celebrate with him. Here's hoping we can do that soon.

All this birthday-ing reminds me how quickly children grow up. How fast the years slip by. Cleaning and dusting can wait till tomorrow, for children grow up, we've learned to our sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep. I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep. Today I did just that. Rocked a baby. She wasn't mine, but she was happy to fall asleep in my arms. I was happy to have her fall asleep in my arms. Peace.

God's gifts... wonderful blessings... little babies

Tricky here --but I just can't contain myself. We have a new grandson. Call or email for details! We saw him today. He and his mama are fine, daddy and brother too. I can't help falling in love again.

I'm trying not to be melancholy, but.. that's hard on the day of a funeral. Huge family, absolutely huge. They don't need my help grieving. Still I am. I'll miss Ken Powell. I remember years ago when so many of Ken and Vi's friends were moving to Florida to spend their retirement years. They were contemplating the same, discussing the virtues of going south when a couple of the grand kids came running into the room. Excited little boy voices calling Grampa this and Grampa that, climbing on laps, grabbing cookies, a hug for Gramma, and zoom, they were off playing again. Ken laughed, looked at all of us and said, "See that Pearl," (Ken's pet name for Vi) "why would anyone want to move away a miss all that?" They didn't move away, and the grand kids, then the great grand kids were a part of their lives...daily. They were  terrific grandparents, and Vi still is. She'll carry the torch. She's strong and spunky.

That's all. I can't post my own grand kid here, and I understand that. But I can put on these little ones who brighten up my world once a week or so...

A Foot of Snow...3 foot drifts

Snow Days! yawn...
A two hour delay means Tom goes to work 2 hours early
First he has to plow our driveway  (4:30 a.m.? I don't know, I was asleep.)
At 6 a.m. he says, "Goodbye, stay in bed, the schools are all on a two-hour delay."
"Mmmm,"  I murmur, "nice,"  and roll over and go back to sleep.

The delay turns into a  cancellation. Awesome. I love snow days.
I still had my little girls for part of the day so their mama could use her bonus day to clean house. It made the best of both worlds for me and for her.

The snow is absolutely beautiful, but mostly we don't like it. No matter how beautiful it is, it's inconvenient and cold. Tomorrow we have a funeral to attend. It will probably be beautiful, but mostly we won't like it. No matter how beautiful the service is, saying goodbye is just so sad.  But still, my good friend's father will be buried tomorrow. In the snow. And we'll be there.

9 plus 9 makes 18

February 18th is almost over. I haven't blogged since the 9th.It hasn't been a great week. I've spent 9 days catching up from time away, but haven't accomplished it yet. And I had house guests, and I got sick, and Nathan's cat died...on our watch...second one. Oh dear, don't ever ask me to watch your pet. Apparently I can't be trusted.  Kids I'm pretty good with, but animals? Not so much.There's one cat left. She's curled up beside me now. She's big, soft, fluffy,and purry. I keep telling her she can't dare die on me. My heart would break, and Nate would be within his rights to question these alleged accidental (cat #1)and natural cause (cat #2) passings.

Add to that, my dad's in the hospital recovering from surgery. My friend's dad is in the hospital dying.

Is that why I  missed my niece Leesa's birthday yesterday, and my good friend Trudy's? Is that why I'm behind at work...both of my jobs? Perhaps. But I feel better now and another weekend is coming up. Tomorrow I get my baby fix with two little girls. Saturday I'll catch up. And I'll go buy a couple of belated cards.

 

Here I am with Deenie in Florida, taking time to smell the roses.

Home Again, Home Again

It's delightful to go away; it's wonderful to come home. I already unpacked the suitcases -- pretty proud of that. And now I've got to get off to church. I feel totally refreshed and ready to get back at it. I hope Tom and Gary and Deenie feel the same. We've got our memories to keep us warm and happy till spring. Right?

 

 Good memories, and....

"Gee, but it's great to be back home!"