The Law of the Jungle

I had a burst of energy and motivation this week, plus we had two days of beautiful summer weather. I was able to leave work an hour early on Thursday and two hours early on Friday. Andy and I worked outside weeding all the gardens around the house. Because of all the mature trees around the house, we worked mostly in the shade. It was so pleasant to be out there, pulling weeds and enjoying nature. There was a robin that kept singing providing background music to our work.

It's amazing how quickly weeds take over if the gardens go untended. I recently was reading A.W. Tozer's The Root of the Righteous. 
 

One of the chapters in that book was entitled The Hunger of the Wilderness. He starts the chapter by quoting Dr. Harold C. Mason: "Man was made to dwell in a garden, but through sin he has been forced to dwell in a field, a field in which he has wrested from his enemies by sweat and tears, and which he preserves only at the price of constant watchfulness and endless toil. Let him but relax his efforts for a few years and the wilderness will claim his field again. The jungle and the forest will swallow his labors and all his loving care will have been in vain."

When we first moved into our house with its 3+ acres in 1991, that acreage was really a jungle. There was so much overgrowth in the front of the house, the poison ivy, honeysuckle and wild rambling roses reached as high as the roof. What a job to tear all that out. Then behind the house there was a virtual forest. I started clearing out vines and weeds and underbrush. When I got to a certain point, I was surprised to see that there was actually a run down shed in the middle of that jungle. I found some old pictures of what I dealt with.

It was nasty, back breaking, hot and exhausting work but I turned that jungle into a beautiful back yard. It was such a lovely spot that we were able to have Amy's graduation ceremony and party there and even a friend wanted to have her wedding out back.

 

It is difficult to keep our gardens and fields cultivated and free of weeds. They don't stay beautiful by themselves, but it takes a conscious effort to pull the weeds, fertilize, water and care for the garden. Tozer continues to warn us that "what is true of the field is true also of the soul, if we are but wise enough to see it...The moral bent of the fallen world is not toward godliness, but definitely away from it...The truth is that no spiritual experience, however revolutionary, can exempt us from temptation; and what is temptation but the effort of the wilderness to encroach upon our new-cleared field?"

Our souls require even more care because the devil is prowling about seeking someone to devour. He is waiting for us to let down our guard, to let discouragement overtake us, to get our eyes off the Lord, to focus on our circumstances, to do anything but trust the Lord and rely on his strength to carry us through.

I heard a new song this week that relates to growth. At least it was new to me and I love the words. I think it will be my new theme song: Thrive by Casting Crowns.


"Thrive"

Here in this worn and weary land
Where many a dream has died
Like a tree planted by the water
We never will run dry
 

So living water flowing through
God we thirst for more of You
Fill our hearts and flood our souls
With one desire
 

Just to know You and
To make You known
We lift Your name on High
Shine like the sun make darkness run and hide
We know we were made for so much more
Than ordinary lives
It's time for us to more than just survive
We were made to thrive
Into Your word we're digging deep
To know our Father's heart
Into the world we're reaching out
To show them who You are
So living water flowing through
God we thirst for more of You
Fill our hearts and flood our souls
With one desire
 

Just to know You and
To make You known
We lift Your name on High
Shine like the sun make darkness run and hide
We know we were made for so much more
Than ordinary lives
It's time for us to more than just survive
We were made to thrive
 

Joy Unspeakable, Faith Unsinkable, Love Unstoppable, Anything is possible
Joy Unspeakable, Faith Unsinkable, Love Unstoppable, Anything is possible
Joy Unspeakable, Faith Unsinkable, Love Unstoppable, Anything is possible
Joy Unspeakable, Faith Unsinkable, Love Unstoppable, Anything is possible
 

Just to know You and
To make You known
We lift Your name on High
Shine like the sun make darkness run and hide
We know we were made for so much more
Than ordinary lives
It's time for us to more than just survive
We were made to thrive
Hey!
We were made to Thrive

That's the cry of my heart, Lord, I don't just want to survive...I want to thrive. 

He gives us all we need for life and godliness: joy unspeakable, faith unsinkable, love unstoppable! What a God.

A is for Asher

Okay...Asher turned 7 way back in January. So why did we wait so long to have him over? Well, with one thing and another...Andy was sick, had to reschedule...Asher wasn't sure he wanted to spend overnight with us...but after hearing about the fun his sisters had while here, he changed his mind. By that time, there were other kids to fit in to the schedule.

But we made up for lost time and managed to fit in a lot while he was here. I went up to get him, leaving work a little early on Friday afternoon. We got back in time for me to make 2 pizzas for dinner. While I was making the meal, Andy and Asher shot the bb gun at some targets they made.

I didn't get any pictures of that because I was busy inside, and they didn't stay outside long enough for me to get out there. I think they came in when they did because it was pretty hot.

After dinner we watched a movie, Mary Poppins. That one is a long one, and Andy didn't stay up till the end. Of course, we had to have our ice cream treat while watching. 

 
Then up to bed in our apartment, reading stories to bring on the sleepy eyes. The next morning was so pleasant and beautiful, we decided to go for a hike right after breakfast. We went over to Smithville Park and walked around the lake, then took a trail we had never tried before. 
 

 

The trail went up the hill and meandered along above the lake. The temperature was in the lower 70's with a gentle breeze. It was such a gorgeous summer morning, made all the more enjoyable by having a 7 year old boy along.

   


When we got back, Asher helped me make an apple dessert. He worked diligently and patiently at mixing the crumb topping to get it completely and thoroughly mixed while I peeled all the apples.

 After lunch we fit in some swimming at a neighbor's pool. Unfortunately, we didn't stay very long because there were some very bad bugs that kept biting Andy and Asher while they were in the pool.

 Asher wanted to ride bikes so I gave Andy permission to ride (ha, ha!). They rode to the church, around the parking lot, then back. I breathed a sigh of relief when they returned - that they were safe.

We had time for lots of games and silliness.

The rest of the family joined us for dinner, after which I read some stories to Claire. And she was happy to pose for pictures with Grammy and PopPop.

 

 It was a beautiful ending to a lovely day.

Another Birthday to Celebrate

Another little person had a birthday last week and she turned 7 this year.  It was finally her turn to spend an overnight with Grammy and PopPop. Amy brought Joanna down on Monday afternoon (saving us a trip up). For some reason, the kids really like to watch movies at our house. And I have been collecting them over the years. I actually still have some videos from when our kids were little: some I had bought for the VCR and some we taped off the tv when we subscribed to the Disney channel (a very long time ago!).

We had never had Joanna by herself so it was fun to have her. She had made a list of things she wanted to do while here. The list was pictures because she doesn't spell yet. Of course, movies was on the list, but so were reading stories, baking a cake, eating ice cream and playing games. 

After dinner we got cozy on the couch to watch the movie she picked out.

"Grammy, don't take my picture!"

It was very hot on Tuesday so we didn't spend a lot of time outside except for a walk to the pond and back. Then after lunch, we all went over to Dawn's so Joanna could play with Kira for a while.

 

  

Too soon it was time to head on back to Lancaster County, returning Joanna to her family. Amy served us a delicious dinner, then Joanna opened her presents. She had waited somewhat patiently all day to find out what was inside the wrappings.

In my reading of Second Forgetting by Dr. Benjamin Mast, I picked up some helpful hints. There is a chapter in Dr. Mast's book on getting people with memory issues to talk about their memories. Usually, short term memory is the first thing that is affected in Alzheimer's but long term memory is much more available to the person. 

One of the things that makes Andy anxious is long drives on the turnpike. So I got the idea (actually, I think the Lord gave me the idea) to take along cd's of Andy and me singing. Years ago I had gone through archived church services and pulled off tapes where Andy and I were singing and had our sound guy make cd's of all our songs. Three cd's with a total of 53 songs. Granted they aren't all duets. There are 3 pieces of Christy playing piano, 1 of a flute solo, several of Dawn and me, and a couple with the whole family. What a trip down memory lane! Also, what a gift that the Lord gave me the opportunity to have this done. It was a treat to listen to them together - it made the trip a lot less stressful as we sang along and reminisced. We cringed at mistakes (they certainly weren't professionally done!) and were blessed by the messages of the songs. 

This was a big success for our trip to Berks County yesterday to spend the July 4th holiday with my brothers and sisters. It's a long trip with a 2 hour ride one way. We stayed long enough to eat lunch and talk to everyone. All my brothers, sisters, their spouses and my mother were there. We hadn't seen them since September. So it was good to catch up and give and receive hugs. We stayed 3 hours, then took the trip back. 

Needless to say, we're pretty tired out today but not stressed! Yeah!

We completed another puzzle. This one was quite challenging and took us about two weeks. 

 I must say I'm enjoying the puzzles and I think they are good brain exercise for Andy. He's a good sport, very patient and tries hard to find the right piece. Finishing is very satisfying.