Mon.-Got lots of paper work and phone calls done today. Washed 3 loads. Made bruschetta for supper. Why are Monday's so tough? ///I am thankful for Susan's notes from girl's camp on forgiveness. "Forgiveness is God's grace coming in and destroying what the enemy is doing." I am thankful for how much fun Susan and Philip have together. I am thankful that Michael will be home this weekend and soon we'll see him every weekend. I am thankful for the verses that someone shared with me-Ps. 71:20,21-and that I had just sent those same verses in a card to a friend today.
Tues.-Janelle and Micah picked me up around 10:30 and we went to the free movie at the theatre in Farmville-'Hop'-about an Easter Bunny, etc. Then we went to the Bank, P.O., and Banton's to pick up a wax return and directions to the dentist. We grabbed a quick lunch at Burger King and Janelle entrusted my drugged body to the dentist and went off to a nearby book store for an hour and a half. My front tooth no longer looks like its an implant and he also did some other dental work. Then we returned Lindsay's big block of wax to Hobby Lobby and shopped at Whole Foods and Trader Joes. Janelle and I ate the whole little container of chocolate covered sunflower seeds on the way home. Got back home around 8:30. Put things away and hit the sack. ///I am thankful for the snowy and gray egrets floating beautifully in the air above our swamp. I am thankful for the wild life in our area, including a bear and her cubs who are moving in on Philip's corn planted over at O'Briens. I am thankful for the good feeling I get when a little boy accompanies me around a grocery store.
Wed.-Took Susan to doctor today. Running tests on various things. Concerned about thyroid. Went to Women's Ministry meeting and discussed upcoming events. Talked with a friend all evening and left inspired and hopeful.///I am thankful for the prayers of friends. I am thankful that conflict doesn't mean that there is a lack of love. I am thankful that God is our Provision.
Thurs.-Cleaning house. Washing clothes. Susan baking peanutbutter cheese cake for Michael's homecoming. She is not as tired and is able to breathe better. Puppies got ahold of Red, our rooster, and several hens and they are no more. Now puppies can only be free one at a time. Otherwise, they adopt a pack mentality. It is a relief not to have to watch my back every time I go out. Red even had attacked Susan on the front porch. Thinking about what it means to love not only in word but in deed. How do people know that we love them? Do we love only those who agree with us and don't cause waves? Make us people who lead others with knowledge and understanding. Make us people after Your own heart. You do not push people away. You restore and reconcile. Oh, help us love as you love. Susan hit her little toe hard on the door jam and I had to cry with her and then I couldn't stop. Cried about other things while I was at it. Wept for the wounded women in my world. Went out to Farmville in the eve. and picked up the children's book that our neighborhood book club is reading first. Went with Lindsay and the girls to Michelles to watch 'Steel Magnolia's'. Laughed and cried. It was fun to pick out who each of us were in the movie and we also assigned other friends to the other actors. It was a bittersweet night. My last movie night with Linds.///I am thankful for the chance to have a weepy day. I am thankful for a soft sofa and snuggly little darlings trying to get comfortable next to me. I am thankful that 'steel magnolias' is a good description of the company I keep. I am thankful that the words my father spoke to me over 30 years ago came back to me tonight. "You have nerves of steel."
Fri.-Micah came over nice and early to spend the day with me. I read him some Jan Brett books. We took a gator ride and saw the snowy and gray egrets and checked out the fire at Happy Valley. Philip was tending it and came back to get Susan to operate the lever of the petty bone so he could retrieve the tree trunks and branches from the pond. Drs. office called and Susan's blood work is normal but they will make an appt. with an ENT if she continues to have a lump in her throat. She is definitely feeling better after that breathing treatment and Claritin and the natural things she's taking. I am relieved and thankful for the prayers of the women on Wed. night. Micah watched The Three Stooges while I worked on the computer. We watched 'Blank Check' later in the day. He had to cry a little when it was time to leave. Made me sad and glad. Today I had a front row seat to a miracle. A Tsunami of grace if you will. If I wasn't already a Christian, I would believe because of what I saw and heard today. But it's not my story to tell. So I just keep crying and thanking Him over and over. Banton's came over in the eve. for their 'Last Supper.' Fed them chicken/salsa/apricot over rice plus salad and creme cheese/choc.chip/cupcakes. Took Lindsay over to Happy Valley on the gator to show her the progress. She was filming our lane as we went in and out and I sang 'Country Roads' loudly and off-key as we drove back in while she giggled away. Alli drew and painted pictures with the girls and I showed Adi how to paint wet coffee filters. Gil and Freeman tried to set up our high speed Internet. Freeman also laid on the floor while the little girls attacked him and he said, "I can't wait to be an Uncle. I'll get the kids all riled up and then give them back to their parents." It was a lovely eve. They brought Lyzza to us to take care of as long as she lives. (She seems to have revived actually. Maybe she likes 3 adolescent German shepherds barking threateningly at her.)
Lindsay told me later that she cried the whole way home. I've been a mess for days. Wondering how Sunday will go for all of us.///I am thankful for Alli's happy laughter as she watched Freeman be a wild man on the floor with the little scared girls. I am thankful that Phil is cheerful even though he has a miserable cold. I am thankful for my mother in law's new hair do and that she called us first before we saw it on facebook although Susan forgot to tell me that she called.
Sat.-Nice morning of study and exercise. Then I cooked up all the veggies in the fridge into a Chinese Stir fry with rice and made baked potato salad for tomorrow night. Vacuumed and washed the floors. Susan mowed the lawn and did other chores. We watched 'Italian Job' later in the afternoon. Michael came home around 6. Susan pulled out the peanut butter chocolate chip cheese cake she had made him. She could get rich from making these. Oh Mylanta! Michael gave Philip alot of knives in thanks for his generosity in sharing his car with him and the good deal he gave him when they decided Michael could buy it. Phil is out working in the fields. Earlier today, he went to play bass for 'Second Time Around' at a fire companies fund raiser in Vera. Alli and Freeman came over this morning and Alli sewed a bag holder out of a rectangle of material. It's brown with pink flowers and she did a great job. Lindsay gave me her serger via Philip today. He got their large screen TV and sofa and he put it over in the mancave. ///I am thankful for the status Susan put on facebook about how much she liked waking up to hearing her dad softly playing the blues on the guitar. I am thankful for the rumbling thunder and the promise of a storm. I am thankful that where sin abounds, grace does much more abound.
Sun.-The sermon was on grace. The church said good-bye to the Banton's today. Took up a love offering for them and introduced Michelle as their Chi Alpha replacement. Erin is back from China. It was great to see her. Philip, Michael, and their friends, and Susan and Erin went to a Mexican Restaurant in town. Phil and I came home and ate Chinese leftovers. Susan and Erin soon came back and spent the day. In the eve., Pearl and Kevin Beiler, Johnny and Lily Stoltzfus, and David Burkholder, stopped in on their way back to Pa. They had been to a family reunion in Georgia. I showed them around our property before dark and then they joined Tom's and Janelle and all of the children in the house for supper. The kids went over to the old house to play a board game. Serena and Abbi and Micah played Uno at the kitchen table. We women sat there too while the men dominated the living room. It was a great time with dear old friends. David B. described me as his other daughter. I lived next to them in Red Lake in 1976-77. Pearl and I were pregnant with each of our children together. It was with our first born that we started a Mother taught pre-school at Hopewell. Eight women were a part of that start-up group. It continued until last year. Pearl and I talked about what we took for granted in those days. Besides the preschool, there were the young mom retreats where everyone took 2 year turns on being on the planning committee, Women Proclaiming Christ-the one Monday night a month testimony nights where one woman from the church shared her story, the mother taught SS class in the nursery held there for nursing mothers and their other little ones. It was for a season in our lives and we are thankful for what used to be and recognize this new season in our lives. It was great to catch up with her and she wants to plan a get together with some others when I come up. They stayed after 10:30 and headed towards Appomattox, wanting to travel a bit towards their way home.///I am thankful that Alli and Freeman had their first anniversary today and that they shared some of their time with us this evening. I am thankful for the kind of friends where you can pick up where you left off. I am thankful that everyone loved our farm and thought it was so beautiful. Even the clouds were showing off our landscape before dark.
No comments:
Post a Comment