Glimmers of God

I can't help but wonder: if taking a vacation can cause so much stress, why not forget it and stay home...business as usual.

The week leading up to vacation was so busy with getting ready. At work, I did double time trying to make sure all my bases were covered for the week I was away. At home, I prepared meals and froze them so I wouldn't have to cook while away. All this prep did make for a pleasant and relaxing and refreshing and fun vacation. Then when we returned, I had all that work catching up with extra laundry, mail to read and take care of, etc. etc. etc. On top of that, our little upstairs apartment needed to be cleaned and prepared for a missionary couple coming this weekend to stay for 2 weeks.

It was quite overwhelming. BUT...in the middle of all the stress, I could sense God's presence with me. There were glimmers of God in my darkness.

Glimmer #1. On Tuesday, a dear friend of mine, Faith, came over to help me with cleaning the upstairs apartment. What a shot in the arm she was. I was so de-motivated and uninspired to do anything up there because it seemed such a daunting task. But she came in and started working with energy and cheerfulness. She stayed 3 hours and by the end, I was so encouraged by how much she had done and how beautifully she had done it. She surpassed even my picky high standards in the quality of her work.

Glimmer #2. Sometime during the week, I was reminded by His still small voice ministering to me that I needed to take my eyes off my circumstances and back on Him. He is GOOD all the time, not just when things are going well. I found a notebook in my drawer from many years ago with a quote from a message I heard: "Whoever has God lacks nothing, He alone suffices." Yeah!

So every evening this past week, Andy and I went up to the apartment to work. The usual after dinner routine is to relax and unwind from the day and go to bed early. But not this week. We had to move all the furniture out of the apartment one night so the carpets could be cleaned the next. Then all the furniture had to be moved back in the following night. There were errands to be run and things to buy to equip the apartment and make sure it was ready for guests. It seemed the list was endless.

By Friday I was so exhausted that I was on the verge of tears all day. Andy was so concerned that he talked to Pastor Mark and the two of them agreed that I should take a whole week off to just relax and stay at home. (Do I really want to do that???)

Glimmer #3. Andy and I went out to eat on Friday night. We went to Ruby Tuesday's and I had a delicious dinner of herb encrusted tilapia. It was so yummy (probably loaded with calories, but who can think of calories at a time like this!).

Glimmer #4. On Saturday morning, I went to a Ladies' Coffee Connection with women from our church. We met at a young woman's house and had an informal time of fellowship. It was so refreshing to meet with other women, interact with them, forget about work for a little while, and learn what God is doing in others.

Glimmer #5. After I got home from the Coffee Connection, I decided to see if Rizzieri had an opening for me to get my eyebrows waxed. It was pretty last minute, but it was worth a shot. I called and they were able to fit me in. So I went. After the brows were done, they asked me if I'd ever had a facial. I said no and offered an excuse. I just really wanted to get home and relax the rest of the day. But they started the sales pitch, it's so relaxing, you'll love it, why don't you just try it...So I thought, well, if it's so relaxing and I feel so stressed, why don't I just give it a try. So I did. It was all they said it would be and then some. I was so relaxed I think I could have fallen asleep. And then the best Glimmer of all: The stereo system had been playing soft relaxing music all the time, but right at the end, guess what started playing! Be Still, My Soul. How good of God to have me there at just that moment in that situation and to meet me and minister to me in that way. Who would have ever thought a beautiful hymn of the faith would be playing in a secular beauty salon?! Only God!

Be still, my soul,
The Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul, thy best, thy heavenly Friend,
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

God is so good...He is more than enough.

All of You is more than enough for all of me
For every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with Your love
And all I have in You is more than enough.

You are my supply
My breath of life
And still more awesome than I know
You are my reward
worth living for
And still more awesome than I know.

And all of You is more than enough for all of me
for every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with Your love
And all I have in You is more than enough.

You're my sacrifice
of greatest price
And still more awesome than I know
You're the coming King
You are everything
And still more awesome than I know.

More than all I want
More than all I need
You are more than enough for me.
More than all I know,
More than all I can say
You are more than enough for me.

(Words by Chris Tomlin)

Our Week at Rickett's Glen

We got back this afternoon from a week at Rickett's Glen in the Pa. mountains. The time away so restful and fun.

Rickett's Glen is owned by the state of Pa so we rented 2 cabins from them. We had been planning to have C & C join us, but because of Asher being in the hospital the week before, they thought it wise to stay home with him. It was disappointing for everyone, but Andy and I offered to get the kids mid-week and bring them back up with us.

We stayed in very nice "modern" cabins. Ours had 3 bedrooms and a great room which was a combination living area and kitchen and eating area. They were very nice and clean. I was pleasantly surprised.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Andy & I arrived on Sunday evening around 6:00 pm, unpacked all our stuff and went to bed. I slept 10 hours that first night, then took a nap Monday afternoon. Was I tired, or what!

Monday, September 15, 2008

On Monday we took the first of our hikes along the Falls Trail. There were 14-20 waterfalls along the trail, each one so beautiful. The trail was easy going down since gravity was helping us, but pretty strenuous coming back up.I tried to get Andy to pose by this waterfall by sitting on the end of the cliff with his feet hanging over, but he says he's getting more fearful of heights the older he gets. This is as close as he would get to the edge. Well, I can't say that I blame him. You don't see me in the picture, do you?!

After dinner, we both went for a bike ride up and down the hills - very taxing for my short old legs. We went about 3 miles. Whew!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008
It's so peaceful in the woods: no TV, no radio, no computer hum, no road noise, etc. - just nature sounds. There is no cell phone reception either. To call our daughters throughout the week, we had to go 8 miles into town before we were able to place a call and not get cut off.

On Tuesday morning, we went to the Evergreen Trail for a nature walk. There was a Pa. State Parks guide who went with us on the trail. She was very helpful and informative, pointing out signs of porcupine, bear, diseased trees, woodpeckers and other interesting tidbits about the woods. At the beginning of the trail was the Adams Waterfall, about 36 feet tall, pouring off the cliff into a beautiful little canyon.The woods are so beautiful. I have always loved being in the woods. We had 12 acres of woods to play in when I was growing up. We would drag wood down to "build" forts, bridges, and other imaginative buildings. I would study the mosses, ferns and other plants that grew there. Life abounds in the woods: tall majestic oaks, tiny, precarious new little trees growing out of rocks and even in dead fallen trees. We even saw 2 trees growing upside down off the top of a cliff overhang. I think my favorite tree is the hemlock. Their needles are so delicate and lacy, and they have the cutest little cones.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Amy was planning to join us on Wednesday morning, but decided to take a little more time to pack up before making the trip. So she didn't arrive until about 4:00 pm. In the meantime, Andy and I took another hike - to the top of Red Rock Mountain. There was a fire tower at the top, which was closed, but we could still see quite a ways: mountain after mountain after mountain.

Thursday, September 18, 2008
Andy and I left around 8:00 am to go to Christy & Christian's. We picked up Grace, Aiden & Naomi and brought them back up with us. We fixed lunch, then Andy and the kids went for a bike ride. Amy came over with Chase and Joanna. We spent the rest of the day together. After Chase's nap, we took all the kids over to the Evergreen Trail and hiked that one again with the kids this time. They were really into hiking, imitating their Pop-pop with the hiking sticks.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Ricky came up in the morning and joined the party. Before he got there, Andy and the kids did some bike riding. It was really cold in the morning (in the 40's) but warmed up nicely in the afternoon to the 60's.

After lunch we all rode our bikes (yes, even me) to the lake. I sat in a beach chair and the kids played and played in the water.

Ricky and Amy and family joined us for dinner, then we decided to go to town and ride the go-carts. That was really fun. Even I did it. At the end of the week, we asked the kids what was their favorite thing of the whole vacation, and it was unanimous - GO-CARTS!

Saturday, September 20, 2008
We took another hike on Saturday with everyone: Ricky, Amy, Chase, Joanna, Andy, Grace, Aiden, Naomi & I. We took the Ganoga Trail, 3 more beautiful waterfalls. It was a nice hike and the kids all did well.
After lunch I read to the kids story after story, then Andy took them out for bike rides again.
After dinner, Ricky built a fire and the kids (big & little) toasted marshmallows and made 'smores. What is camping without 'smores!

Sunday, September 21, 2008
All too soon, the vacation is over. We left the cabin at 10:00 am this morning and headed to C & C's to deliver their kids back to them. We visited with them a little before heading on home. We got home around 3:00 pm so we had time to unpack, put everything away, have a late lunch, do 3-4 loads of laundry, water the plants outside (which didn't look too bad considering no rain and no watering for a week).

Tomorrow it's back to work and routine.

Stress & Distress

One of the benefits of memorizing Scripture is that the Lord can then use it to minister to the soul/heart of the one in distress.

Years ago, I memorized Psalm 86. I found myself this week one day in the bathroom at church, taking a few moments to breathe deeply, gather myself together and cry out to the Lord: "Hear O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy." Was I ever! The week started with the distressing news of our little grandson being transported to ICU at CHOP (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia). Then going on in to visit and see him lying there so helpless and pathetic didn't help me feel any better.

On top of that, this week has been extremely stressful at work. The church is having a Ministry Fair tomorrow, which means all the ministries of the church will be on "display" and available for people to visit and find out about those ministries and how to get involved. This means that the office had brochures and literature to produce, copy, fold, etc. on top of my normal workload. I don't think I left work on time any day this week. In fact, yesterday I didn't leave until 5:20 pm, and I usually leave at 4:00. I was so burned that Andy and I went out to eat. Normally, I would have been delighted to have the excuse, but I was so tired, all I really wanted to do was go home and veg.

But isn't it wonderful to be able to lean on the Lord and have our strength renewed. "He will not grow tired or weary" (Isaiah 40:28). And today as I worked in my kitchen, I was reminded of Isaiah 30:15, "...in quietness and trust is your strength."

Well, after a good night's sleep, I have a fresh perspective. I played little Suzy Homemaker today, working and creating in the kitchen.

I made another loaf of applesauce bread, a loaf of English muffin bread, tapioca pudding, and taco casserole. I don't have a picture of the taco casserole...I put it in the freezer before I remembered the camera. You'll just have to imagine it! And I don't remember where I got the recipe. I think I got it from allrecipes.com but in looking for it to provide a link, I couldn't find it. If anyone is interested, I have it in my computer cookbook and it would be easy to copy and paste to you.

I'm still preparing for vacation. Will it never get here?!

Andy is busy with Nativity preparations. What??? It's only September. That's what I say, too. But it was decided to rebuild the walls of Bethlehem, so they had to start early. He's at the church all day.
Blogging has become therapeutic for me, too. It's like an online journaling. I am so much more comfortable typing than writing. Maybe it's age or lack of practice, but my hand gets very tired from writing.

I hope to make minestrone soup for dinner tonight. The recipe makes lots and lots, so there will be plenty for several meals. But till then, I can relax a little with a book. See you later!

The Dreaded Phone Call

We were totally caught off guard by the phone call at 6:00 am on Sunday morning. Andy answered it and I thought it was probably someone from church needing something. How wrong I was. It was a call no one likes to receive: Christy was in an ambulance with little A rushing to CHOP. He was having difficulty breathing and had a terrible cough.

Andy and I went to church but stayed only long enough to make sure things were covered, then rushed over to CHOP to offer our support to Christy. Christian joined us soon after we got there. It was so pathetic to see the little guy hooked up to an IV and oxygen tube in that big sterile bed. He was in ICU at CHOP - a good place to be if a little one is very sick. It was determined that he had an upper respiratory viral infection with a bad cough. What made this so serious is that he is still so young. The older kids had the cough earlier and were able to get over it, but it just got worse and worse for him. Christy had had him to the doctor earlier in the week. A chest x-ray had confirmed that he didn't have pneumonia. A viral infection just has to run its course, antibiotics don't work on viruses. The nurse was hopeful, though. She said he was a healthy, chubby baby with good skin color, shiny hair and eyes and was obviously well taken care of. It still clutches at your heart to see such a little one suffer, though. His coughing fits were so distressing to watch.
We stayed with Christy and Christian and little A all afternoon. Christy was pretty tired because she hadn't slept at all the night before. I spoke to her several times today and she got good sleep last night and felt better. She said A was finally eating, too, and even smiled today. So he must be making some progress.

Andy and I went to work today, and boy did we work. There is so much going on right now and I didn't know if I'd get it all done today. And I think everything that could go wrong, did. The Pitney Bowes postal meter isn't working. I had a lot of mail to stamp and the machine kept giving me error messages. Two weeks ago, I had called Pitney Bowes to order a new part for the machine and it still had not arrived. I took time out of my busy-ness today to call them to ask where the part was, had it in fact been shipped, could they tell me when I would get it. I was put on hold several times, other phone lines were ringing in the meantime... The bottom line: I think they never did order the part, but they said in a heavy accent (out sourced?) that they would expedite the order and I should have it in 2 days. We'll see. Then on top of that, the copier/printer gave an error message and everyone in the office was stuck. No one could print. So I had to call for a repair man to come out to see to that. Who knows when they'll come. In the meantime, our IT guy happened to stop in the office today, so Andy asked him if he thought he could fix the copier. He started taking it apart, didn't know what to do, so I got the idea to call a Ricoh service man who had given me his cell phone number once when he was in. He was very helpful and I hope he gets a raise, because the IT guy was able to fix the copier just by talking to the Ricoh service man on the phone. Yeah!

So I'm finally leaving the office, getting in my car, and someone drives into the parking lot who needs a ticket to the Women of Faith seminar this weekend. I have all the tickets in the office, so I had to get out of my car, go back into the office and take care of her.

There was one point during the day when I went into the bathroom and just stood there for a couple of minutes enjoying the quiet. It was that kind of day.

When I got home, I made my orzo pasta salad and a Caesar's salad. I had marinated chicken this morning, so Andy put that on the grill. I also cut the applesauce bread and had a great dinner. We ate it on the deck, inviting the Andersons to join us on their last night with us. They have been living in our upstairs apartment for the last year, but they are going back to Jamaica early in the morning. He has been a pastoral intern at our church and we've enjoyed having him here. We'll miss them.

Dreary Outside, Sunny Inside

We got some rain overnight, and woke up to a dreary day. So I went to each room and turned on all the lights. The rest of the morning was dry, but Hanna is on her way. We really need the rain, and I hope it rains as much as "they" say it will.

I was a busy bee today, baking 3 different batches of cookies: Oatmeal Scotchies, White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal and Toffee Oatmeal. All have oatmeal so they're semi-healthy. My professional taste-tester sampled them and pronounced them fit for human consumption, especially for those of the male species. Now the challenge for me will be to hide them from that taste-tester until vacation.
I also made a loaf of applesauce bread and a loaf of blueberry bread. I'm trying to work ahead, so our vacation will truly be a vacation, even for the moms.
I'm sorry but I can't divulge when our vacation is. This is the internet, after all. I'll tell you all about it after the fact.

Are you wondering what Andy is doing with himself today since he can't work on his front porch project? Even if you aren't, I'll tell you. He got a group of guys together, and they're working on rebuilding part of Bethlehem for the Nativity this year. They are doing it in the gym at church. He is happiest when he's working on a project.

Long Weekend

It was nice to have a long weekend off. Andy worked some more on the front porch. He parged the block foundation wall.On Monday, I did some errands and a little tree & bush trimming, but not much else. I was pretty tired because I hadn't slept well the night before, so I took it easy. I did make a nice dinner and we sat on the deck to eat it. It was such a pleasant evening.

I had more energy today so look out, world! I cleaned house, made zucchini bread and did laundry. Around 11:00 am Andy took off on his bike down to Lake Oswego, a 34 mile ride. I left at 12:00 noon to meet him there. He made really good time and by the time I arrived at the lake, he was only about 10 minutes behind me. That lake was pretty crowded, so we left and went another 2 miles over to Harrisonville Lake. We were able to relax there as long as the breeze was kicking up. But when the breeze stopped, the flies were biting. We stayed about an hour.

The view from my chair (when my eyes were open!).
The sky was so blue today with not a cloud in sight.

I was reminded of Psalm 19: "The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands."

On the way home, we stopped at a roadside stand and bought some Jersey fresh sweet corn, tomatoes, peaches and a huge canteloupe. Guess what's for dinner! Turkey burgers & corn on the cob. Yummy!