Pleasures of this Life

After extolling the benefits of hiking, imagine my disappointment when I discovered a tick on me Tuesday morning. Not only was there a tick, but the red bulls eye and extreme itchiness were also evident. I called the doctor and he wanted to see me. The nurse practitioner and a doctor worked quite a while to get every last piece of that nasty little tick out from under my skin. They kept apologizing if they were hurting me, but honestly it felt good for them to be digging around in there - it was a kind of scratch for a terrible itch. So I am currently on a 10 day regimen of antibiotics which will, hopefully, curb any Lyme's disease that might have been transmitted by that tick.

So is this the end of our hiking? Well, in thinking back on why we might have picked up this tick, several things occurred to me. One, I had been spraying bug repellent on our jeans and sneakers before our hikes this spring. But on Sunday, I forgot to bring it with us. Oh well, I thought, and off we went. Two, although the trail we hiked was wide and easy, there was foliage and grass that we brushed against. Both were just invitations for that tick to find me and take advantage of the situation. 

Why, oh why, do bugs love me? It's so upsetting...don't they know I hate them? Pretty ironic!

We were too busy the rest of the week to do any more hiking. On Monday, Memorial Day, we drove up to Christy's and picked up Naomi to bring her back to our house. She didn't have her birthday yet, but finding a good date between their family's activities and our schedule is a challenge sometimes. We did the usual fun things with her: make her favorite dinner, watch a movie, eat ice cream, play games and more games.


On Tuesday morning, we made 2 strawberry pies to take back with us for dessert with the family.

These pictures were taken before the whipped cream was added. Believe me, this is a delicious pie! (Thanks to LDH for the recipe!)

All these lovely blessings we enjoy are sign posts along the way that point to a greater glory - the glory of God. Paul Tripp reminds us in New Morning Mercies that "life really is all about what glory attracts your eyes and captures your heart."




The things we enjoy in this life are not the things that we were made to live for. They are sign posts to point to God and God alone. We enjoy nature because it reminds us of God and his beautiful, creative work. We enjoy the relationships of family members because it reminds us that God is in relationship with himself in the Trinity, as well as with us. How incredible is his love for us.

Another thing I really enjoy is our bird feeder, placed strategically so I can watch the action from my kitchen sink while I'm preparing meals. Yesterday, I was struck by how beautiful the cardinal is. The next time I looked out the window, I was captured by the antics of a different, but cute little creature.

Andy and I finished another puzzle this week. It was quite a challenge but we did it with much patience and perseverance! Just look at all the blue and stars. But we could do it if we stuck to it. Success at last. These are all Van Gogh paintings.

Ricky and Amy came down today with their kiddos. They joined us at church then came to the house for lunch. I had another strawberry pie for dessert that was a big hit. They visited for a couple of hours before heading back home. I did not take any pictures while they were here.:(
 
What a gift that even when we face hard times, God gives us experiences and blessings to enjoy. What a good God he is. 

I was struggling earlier this week with sadness. Pictures of our family were scrolling on my computer and every time I saw pictures of Andy and me, or Andy with the kids, I couldn't keep my eyes from tearing up. Things are not as they were...I am experiencing loss. And honestly, that loss is hard to deal with. But God met me in my struggle. He provided a friend who listened and sympathized with me. He graciously comforted me with his word and his presence. My friend shared a verse with me that is just chock full of goodness and comfort:

2 Thessalonians 2:16 & 17:  "May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word."

I also was reminded of C.S. Lewis in one of his writings who says that if we find pleasure in this life, it is a sign that we were made for a better life (or something to that effect!). God has given us the capacity to enjoy and find pleasure. This life is only a small teaser of the pleasures we will enjoy in eternity with God himself.

Snow, Snow, Snow

I went to sleep Wednesday night expecting lots of snow on the ground when I woke up on Thursday morning.  So the first thing I did when I woke up was look out the window.  Nothing!  Huh???  Apparently, the system was moving a lot more slowly than was anticipated...but it was still coming - so they said.  (They in this instance - the meteorologists).  And what originally was predicted at 1-3 inches kept increasing, it seemed, hourly. 

Well, I thought I better get to work and do as much as I could as quickly as possible in order to not be caught out in it when it got too deep for my car.  My new car handles very well in the snow, being front wheel drive, but the clearance is only 5 inches.  So wisdom says, "Don't drive if the roads aren't plowed and there is more than 2-3 inches on the surface."

I was able to get to work by 7:30 and worked for 3 hours to finish everything I needed to.  No one else was in the office which made it easier to keep my nose to the "grindstone."  No interruptions equals more efficiency!  By 10:30, the snow was beginning to lay, and I was thankful I was able to spend the rest of the day at home watching the snow from inside the comfort and warmth of my home.  

Our snow thrower had a bum tire, so Andy and I went out to the shed to take it off and see if we could order a new one.  An interesting side light:  I always thought the machine was called a snow blower, but websites and our owner's manual calls it a snow thrower.  I figured out the part number and ordered a new tire, but then Andy pumped up the tire with a bicycle pump and it looked good.  I think that may be the only thing that was wrong with it because it still looks good three days later.  I was able to cancel the order.  Hopefully, the tire will work, although I'm seriously hoping we don't need to use the snow thrower again this year.  We've had enough snow, at least that's my opinion.  And I think a lot of people agree with me.  

It was beautiful, though.  

The other day I gave a quick glance at our weather station and saw the outside temperature was 75 degrees.  I did a double take...what?  Is our weather station malfunctioning?  But on closer look, I saw I had missed the "." between the 7 and the 5.  Brrr...that's cold.

So being home from work, we had time to work on our puzzle.  As we got closer to the end, it went a little faster.  It was a difficult puzzle, but we successfully finished it.  Andy said I did most of the work, but he got some pieces, too.  He was patient and diligent and gave it the "old college try."

Now that we were able to work a difficult 1,000 piece puzzle, we will certainly have no problem with 500 pieces.  But I think we might just wait a week or two before tackling the next one.

Yesterday was a very fun day.  Christy, Dawn and Amy all came down for a family time at our house.  They brought their families, everyone except Ricky and Chase.  Because of all the snow this year, a number of Chase's games had to be rescheduled and yesterday was one of those.  

Claire really wanted to hold Baby Kasey.  Kasey wasn't feeling herself because of an ear infection earlier in the week.  She wasn't as happy being held by Claire as Claire was in holding Kasey.  She was a good sport for a few minutes, though!

I love doing French braids in the girls' hair.  And Naomi asked me to do her hair yesterday.  Gladly!

We ate lunch together.  I made a sandwich casserole - very good and a big hit.  Christy and Amy each made a pot of soup - so we had two choices.  And Dawn brought a variety of fruit that we put out for snacking and munching on.  I also made a batch of lemon bars.  We had plenty to eat and everything was very good.

After lunch the guys and kids went outside to play in the snow.  I had requested they bring their snow clothes because I really wanted a snow man in our yard.  They all eagerly went to work and produced not only a snow man in the front yard but a huge snow fort in the back yard.  Andy joined them and they had so much fun.  I admit I was very impressed with their handiwork.

 

 

 I love snow but it's so cold.  I wonder if there will be snow in heaven.  I can't help but think there will be since God created it, and he has richly provided us with everything for our enjoyment. (1 Timothy 6:17)  It's also a beautiful picture of the purity of our lives as we stand before God clothed in Christ's righteousness.

I've been meditating on  2 Corinthians 5:21 the last couple of days.  "He (God) made him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him (Jesus) we might become the righteousness of God."  Incredible concept.

And what about Isaiah 1:18:  "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow."

A Full and Busy Time

We had a few very busy days and nights, mostly with family, with a few friends thrown in to the mix!

On Thursday, I took off at noon from work, using some vacation hours.  Andy and I drove up to Christy's because Claire was having a birthday.  Her birthday is actually the 14th, but that date didn't work, so we celebrated a day early.  She is a very precocious 3 year old, if I do say so myself.  Of course, all my grandchildren are cute and smart!  It was her day and she was happy to perform for us.

 Grace made the cake - an orange marmalade cake, even decorating it with a fancy cake decorator.  It not only looked good, it also tasted yummy.

Christy will probably not be happy with me including this picture of her, but I thought it was funny that she was "helping" Claire blow out the candles.
 

Believe it or not, this early in the year, when we left after dinner, we opened the door to snow!  It was a harrowing drive home.  We don't ever enjoy driving the PA turnpike, but at night in the dark and with snow/rain - ugh!  But we made it home safe and sound - thank God.

The next day, Friday, Amy and her kids came down to spend the day since Ricky was away hunting all week.  I was working till 3:00, so she spent the day with Dawn and her kids.  They went to Discovery Museum in Cherry Hill until it closed at 5:30.  Andy and I went over to Dawn's house around 5:00 to put her scalloped potatoes dish in the oven so it would be ready when they arrived home.  We all had dinner together.  Joanna and Katy stayed for a sleepover with Kira, while Amy and Chase came back to our house to sleep.  "Sleepover" is a misnomer because not much of it took place.  Katy woke up at 4:30 am, bringing Kira with her.  Yup, she never went back to sleep the rest of the morning.

Kira had swimming lessons mid-morning, so Amy and her kids came to our house.  We decided to go to the park for a hike.  The sun was shining, but there was a stiff chilly breeze - it was downright cold.  It didn't seem to bother Chase...I think he was dressed the warmest, plus he was the most active.  He had his bike and drove it in typical boy madness!  Up the hill and back down again, several times.
 
 

Katy was very cold and had a hard time dealing with it - not having had much sleep!  She covered herself up as much as she could and it helped a little that she didn't have to walk with Poppop around.

 

Here's the proof of how cold it was - ice on the puddles.

 Back at the house, the girls played dress-up and Chase busied himself with his favorite game while here.  I love it how he can occupy himself for a very long time with his imagination.

On two separate occasions recently, friends remarked to me how obvious it was that the Lord had provided for us in our situation.  I couldn't have agreed more.  We enjoy so many friendships and people who love us and care about us.  

On Friday morning, one of those friends, came and got Andy, taking him for a ride in his convertible and spending the morning with him.  It was a frigid morning and Andy said people were looking at them like they were crazy.  When asked how they could stand it, he said they had the heater on!  Well, and too, the sun was shining - which might have helped a little!

People keep asking how we're doing.  Andy always says, he's doing well.  And he is.  He feels good and feeling good is a blessing.  He is spending time raking up our leaves into huge piles at the street.  Last year this time, someone else did it for us because he was unable to.  

So yes, he feels good, and perhaps he is stabilizing on the memory and confusion.  I don't think he's getting any better, and maybe he's not getting worse.  That is hard to say.  Sometimes it seems like I explain and re-explain things multitudes of times.   I appreciate when people ask how I'm doing.  It's hard to see dear Andy struggle to grasp what I tell him.  He's always so patient with me, though.  He doesn't get frustrated, maybe he doesn't even realize he's just asked the same question for the umpteenth time.  And it's difficult to let him give his side of the story without correcting him.  I need to let him, though.  Why does it matter if he gets every detail right?  As stressed out as I've been this last year, it's time to relax and trust God even in this.  I need to have a quiet heart, resting in God's plan for us.  There's always room for growth on this journey.

On Saturday, Tommy came over and helped Andy clean out the gutters on our house.  They are such a job - always needing to be cleaned because of all the trees around our house.  I love the trees and am not willing to get rid of them.  BUT...oh the work.  But Tommy is young and full of energy.  Besides I promised him a batch of cookies - hey, whatever works.

I also did a little mending job for his surfing changing outfit.  It was well worth it not to be worried about Andy on a ladder or up on the roof.  With the two of them working, they had it done in no time.

So in 2 days, we saw all our kids, 2 of our sons-in-law and all our grandkids, everybody but Ricky :(.  I love our family!

Visit to see Mother

I hadn't been up to see my mother in a while, so last Saturday, I took a break from my normal Saturday routine to take the 2 hour trip.  When I got to her place, she had a list of things she wanted to get done, thinking I would be able to help her.  That was great...I love lists!  Everything on the list was easy and we got them done in good time.

We took her piles of newspapers to a nearby church where the Boy Scouts had a big container for collecting old papers.  Unfortunately, when we got there, the container was not there, so we couldn't dispose of those papers.  I told Mother I'd bring them home with me since our township would be collecting paper recyclables on Tuesday.  They were already in the trunk of my car so we could just leave them there for me to take home with me.

She wanted to buy a pair of new shoes for a grandson's wedding in a couple of weeks so off we went to the mall.  She bought the first pair she tried on - very classy and stylish shoes.  We got a few things at Target, then since we were at the mall, stopped at Panera's for some lunch.

Back at her house, we got out her little table top tree and decorated it.  It looks quite festive in the front window of her house.

While there, I asked her if she still had the kids' book Cowboy Dan.  I remembered having seen it at her house when my kids were young and wondered if she still had it.  I had looked for it online but it was out of print and impossible to buy unless you wanted to spend lots of money.  We looked in her basement and found it in a pile of old stuff.  It was loaded with mold but I brought it home and thought about how I could salvage it.

Google said to put the book in the freezer overnight, then the mold would brush off easily.  If there was still some left, wipe it with Lysol. Well, I tried those steps and some of the mold came off, but not enough for the book to be usable.

Better, but not good enough to let the kids read it.

So not to be deterred, I decided to make my own book.  There were images on Google for the cover, then I scanned each page of the inside of the book and voila...

I'm a rootin' tootin' cowboy and my name is Cowboy Dan;
I can a ride a horse and rope a steer as fast as any man.
But once I was a tenderfoot - My ignorance was sad -
And when the cowboys called me "Dude," it made me whoopin' mad.
I jumped upon a mustang that stood beside the rail;
The ornery critter sat right down and slid me off her tail.

The cowboys said that ridin' was easy as a song,
But everything I did at first just seemed to be all wrong.
I forgot my big sombrero and got sunburned as you please;
I forgot to wear my leather chaps and the bushes scratched my knees.
But when they called the roundup, I was ridin' with a vim,
And I was hopin' Tex would say that I could go with him.
The first to leave the bunkhouse was the wagon with the cook,
With beans and bacon, pots and pans all rattling as they shook.
Then came the string of horses with Slim and Hank and Pete,
And Tex said, "Come on, Danny Boy, You'll make all hands complete."
We rounded up the cattle and drove them hard all day;
When sunset came, we let them graze and sleep the night away.
For we were hungry cowboys and tired as we could be -
When cook yelled, "Come and get it, boys!"  Those beans looked good to me.
Then Hank brought out his banjo and gave the strings a twang,
And as we sat around the fire, This is the song he sang:
"Oh, He's a rootin' tootin' cowboy, and his name is Cowboy Dan;
He can ride a horse and rope a steer as fast as any man -
Yippee -e-e-e-e-e-e-e-!"

So it ended up being a profitable day for both of us, Mother got some errands done and I got a book from years ago to pass along to the next generation.  And of course, we got to spend some time together, too!

Guess who's 1

It's hard to believe the baby is already 1 year old.  How time flies, they say!  Andy and I went up to see C & C and kids on Tuesday to celebrate baby Claire.

Trip to See Amy, Etc.

'Tis the season:  Ricky's away a lot hunting and Amy's at home all weekend alone.  Well, if you don't count the 3 kids and all the dogs, she's alone!  But in our conversation last week, she expressed a desire for me to come up and help her sort through the kids' clothes because they were still pulling shorts and tank tops out of their drawers and wearing them.  The weather is definitely not summer-like any more, but she was putting off that chore because organization is not something she enjoys.  And since I do, would I mind coming up and helping her.  Well, off I went but when I got there, I didn't do anything to help her.  I sat on the floor in the kids' rooms, playing with them and giving her an opportunity for adult conversation while she worked.  We had a great time and she was able to accomplish all she wanted by lunch time.

When that job was done, we went out for lunch, then drove to Reading to a children's consignment shop.  She bought all the kids' clothes for the winter, so they now have what they need to stay warm and look good!

Chase was really happy with this reversible camo vest.

And Joanna loved this cowgirl shirt.  She says she's going to be a cowgirl when she grows up!

 Being silly!

Andy was busy all day with Nativity set-up but he did get home before me.  The next day was Sunday and it was the week we had our older singles group over.  It was salad night.  Several others made salads and I made an orzo pasta salad, cottage cheese jello salad and pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese icing.  Yum - they were good!

It was a beautiful fall day today, kind of chilly, but the sun was shining.  Because the weather was so nice, we decided to go for a hike.  We went to Smithville Park and walked on the path through the woods.  It was so invigorating and restorative.  There's nothing like a walk out in nature to soothe the soul!

I didn't take these pictures but this is exactly what it looked like today as we walked through the woods.

 We saw 4 herons on the lake.  Below is a green heron, but we also saw some great blue herons.