Gardening and Reading

Today is July 1st and it feels like spring. Cool and comfortable. June was so hot, the lawns are brown and burning up. We need rain badly. But at least yesterday and today are much more bearable. Perfect, actually. I even felt like doing some gardening last night after dinner.

Dawn and Tommy moved in to their house on Thursday - a week ago now. There are still things to be done and they have no hot water yet. But at least they're in. They are already experiencing the "joys" of home ownership.

Summertime is so much busier than the winter. If it rains, there's grass to mow. If it doesn't rain, we need to get out there and water all those gardens. But I've still been able to read some interesting and challenging books lately. One was recommended to me by Christy: First Born Advantage by Kevin Leman. This book really got me to thinking and re-evaluating my own life. He says first borns are born to win. They are clearly the movers and shakers in the world and can accomplish anything they set their minds to. But if they're out of balance, they can be overly perfectionistic, driven and critical. They can be controllers (everything has to go their way) or pleasers (exhausting themselves in meeting the demands of others).

I gained some insight into who I am and why I do the things I do. It also helped me to think through some issues I was struggling with, one of which was whether or not I should continue in leadership in a certain ministry. I realized God made me the way I am and gave me the gifts I have for a particular purpose and even if I feel inadequate, He will enable me to accomplish what needs to be done. I was also able to put to rest the idea of "retirement." I actually had been thinking about it a lot in the last couple of years. But again, God impressed me with the ideas I read in this book that I am the right one for this job at this time. I just need to keep asking for insight and wisdom not to be a controller or pleaser, but to give my moments and days over to the Lord. That's what life is all about anyway, isn't it? Giving myself over to His leadership and guidance. I'm very grateful for His still small voice, and for never giving up on me.

Another book I've enjoyed recently is: Loving Your Kids On Purpose by Danny Silk, also recommended by Christy. Why am I reading that? Aren't my kids already raised? The topic is relevant because I have grown children who are raising my grandchildren! Danny Silk had some great insight in his book, the most important of which I thought was loving our children as God loves us. He isn't a big old policeman waiting to bop us if we step out of line, but desires a loving relationship with us. We teach our children to respect us by having respect for them. I love the verse in Romans 2:4 that tells us "...God's kindness leads us to repentance." And isn't that so true? I feel much more inclined to repent when someone is kind to me than if they berate or belittle me.

One of the times Andy and I were at Walnut Valley, our friends who own this guest house, told us about Jesus Made in America. It was written by their son-in-law, Stephen Nichols, who is a professor at Lancaster Bible College. Nichols traces through America's history the different ways our culture sees Jesus, beginning with the Puritans through today. The Puritans had a pretty balanced view of Jesus as the eternal Son of God, but through the years that view has been changed to fit America's culture and politics. Thomas Jefferson saw Jesus as a moral example, Billy Sunday preached a manly Jesus. Or what about the Precious Moments Jesus or Jesus as a conservative Republican? And if you listen to CCM (contemporary Christian music), some of those songs portray Jesus as my boyfriend. Nichols also calls attention to all the "Christian" paraphernalia that is sold - billions of dollars of it. The book is a good reminder that Jesus is bigger than our culture, a slogan or toy. He's the God of the universe - not made in my own image or the image of the culture.

I enjoy reading for the challenge it gives to continue to grow and expand in my thinking, as well as just being able to relax at the end of a day with a good book.

Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house. (Henry Ward Beecher)

I find television to be very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go in the other room and read a book. (Groucho Marx)

June Birthdays

For all the years I grew up and then as we raised our family, we had no birthdays in June. Now thanks to grandchildren, there are 3. On Saturday, June 12th, Andy and I went up to Ricky and Amy's to spend some time with kids and grandkids. Christy and Christian and their family were there, too. Christian was there all day cutting down a huge tree for Ricky and Amy. So we came up and ate a picnic dinner and had birthday cake with everyone. (Dawn, Tommy & Kira couldn't join us because of all the work they were doing on their house.)

It seems anytime Andy is around the grandkids,
they are flocking around him.
He has conditioned them to attack and wrestle him.Cousins having fun together.So here are the birthday kids:

Naomi turned 5 on June 7.Chase turned 4 on June 20.And Joanna will be 2 on June 27.All beautiful precious children.

More of the Same

Yes, I'm still alive...at least I think I am. What a crazy, up and down couple of weeks since I last posted.

Andy and his dad were fishing in Maine on Memorial Day weekend. They were going to be gone almost a week, from Thursday through Tuesday evening. But when it came down to it, neither of them like being away from home for long, which led to the rash decision on Sunday night to pack up and head for home. They drove all night, arriving dead tired at 6:00 am Monday morning. Andy had driven most of the trip himself. His dad took the wheel once so Andy could get some sleep, but after about 5 minutes, woke Andy up to tell him he was feeling nauseous. I remember driving home from Maine once all night. We vowed we'd never do that again. So I was pretty surprised that Andy agreed to it. I guess he was anxious to get back home. There's no place like home!

I thought that while Andy was away, I'd enjoy a long 4 days in a row all to myself. Well, that didn't happen. I ended up watching Kira all 4 days so Dawn could work at their house. Then Andy got home 2 days early, so I wasn't alone after all. Not that I wanted to be. Relationships are more important to me than time alone or to myself. Time drags and goes so slowly when I'm the only one in the house.

I love the expression on her face!

And all too soon, the long weekend was over and it was off to work again. Wednesday morning last week started off with a phone call at 6:00 in the morning from Pastor Ralph. I knew that one of our young women was taken to ER on Monday night, but when Ralph called, he told me that the families were called in to be with her. It was a blow to me, and I had a heavy heart the rest of the day. The young woman grew up with my own daughters, has been married several years with 2 very young children. Her situation was very serious, with swelling of her brain, disorientation and hallucinations, etc. The doctors could not determine what was wrong with her. They concluded that they thought she had a viral infection, but the results from those tests don't come back for 3-4 days. Even then, if it is a virus, there are so many different kinds that they still may not discover what it is. Well, for 4 days she was in ICU in very serious condition until finally on Sunday, there seemed to be some improvement. But because she is from a very involved family in our church, there was much concern, and people were calling the church to ask for updates. So the office phones were extra busy.

On top of that we had a Christian comedian booked to do 2 shows at the church on Friday night. 1,500 tickets were sold. So the phones were busy with that all week, too, because people were calling to see if we had any more tickets, or if they could switch to a different time, or the thousand other questions people ask at times like this.

There was no rest in the evenings and weekends for Andy and me because Andy went every spare minute over to Tommy and Dawn's house to work: patching holes in walls, prepping the floors for the tile work, etc. etc. etc. We also are very behind in our yard work here at our own place, so he brought home mulch some nights, then we spent the evening after dinner working in the gardens. We are making progress, but there is still much to be done. I really don't think we'll finish them this year. Well, as a famous person likes to say: "what is is what is." They still look beautiful - all the flowers are blooming - there is so much color all around the house.

On Saturday, we got to see Amy and Ricky and their kids for a little while. They drove down to check out a mini van that Andy had told them was for sale. While down, they wanted to go see Tommy and Dawn's house. Andy and his Dad, Tommy and Dawn were all there, so it was a little break for them from their work while they showed the house to the newcomers.

On Sunday afternoon, we attended the wedding of the daughter of one of our church deacons. It was supposed to be outdoors, but as we sat there before the wedding started, it began to sprinkle a little, so we all moved indoors. It was held at a beautiful mansion in Philadelphia. I love our church weddings. It's not only a beautiful reminder of the wedding vows, but we also get to visit with dear friends that we only see in passing on Sundays.

I was expecting this week to not be quite as busy as last week, at least at work. But I think I ended up working more hours each day than I normally do. And in the evenings, Andy and I worked on our gardens again.

On Tuesday, I was able to clean my house, then I made a meal for a young lady who had just adopted a baby from Ethiopia. When I took the meal to her, I got to visit with her for a little while. The baby is Kira's age.

Speaking of Kira, Dawn came over with the baby around lunch time on Tuesday, had lunch with us, then put Kira down for a nap. I just rested a little while the baby rested. She only slept an hour, then we played till Dawn returned to pick her up. She is a pleasant happy little girl and it's fun to have her. When Dawn was leaving, she asked me if I was tired from carrying Kira around and playing with her. I told her no, I wasn't. But that evening, I couldn't move off the couch. No yardwork that evening!Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were very intense at work. We had a Ladies Night Out event on Wednesday night which always generates a lot of printing, preparing and phone calls. But it's worth it, they're always a lot of fun. This one was themed: Up, Up & Away, kites and a picnic in the park.We had some picnic type games and a bake off. I entered "my" (Sorry, Judy, around here nobody knows it's really yours) cherry pie in the pie category. I couldn't resist bragging to Andy afterwards that I had won third place in the pie category. He congratulated me and said how proud he was of me...then laughed when I confessed that there were only 3 entries in the pie category!Amy came down yesterday to get the mini van. They decided to buy it since the car they currently have will only fit 2 car seats in the back. Since they'll have a 3rd little one soon, they needed a bigger vehicle. We will be driving it up to them tomorrow.

Tonight Andy is in charge of a Family Seminar at the church. There are over 70 people in attendance. I am home tonight, but I baked a batch of cookies as my contribution.

It's always interesting to me to note when there is a crisis or someone dies, at the same time there is a baby born or something exciting happens to someone else. Last Wednesday when we all had heavy hearts about our young friend in the hospital, I got a call from someone that a baby had been born to another young family in the church. The same thing happened several years ago the day a dear friend died, a baby was born. And another friend had her baby on September 11, 2001. It's that glimmer of hope that God gives us. He's here. Yes, there might be death, but there's also life.

We had a mockingbird that built a nest in the bush right outside my kitchen window. She's been very busy flying back and forth with food in her beak to feed her little ones. She's also very aggressive toward us if we try to go near so we can water the flowers. She sits on a nearby branch or on the garage roof and scolds and actually flew right at me the other night. I think the babies are nearly ready to fly because they've ventured outside the nest. I was able to capture a picture of one.And a robin built a nest in the magnolia tree over the deck.
God is good and everything He does is good. Psalm 119:68.

I've been spending a lot of time with Dawn and Kira lately. Since they bought their house, they've been here in NJ a lot. On Monday I took some time off work and went with Dawn to Avalon Tile for her to pick out flooring: tile in the kitchen and bathroom and carpets in the 2 bedrooms.

On Tuesday, Andy spent the day there laying plywood flooring in the kitchen, then the wonderboard for underneath the tile. I babysat Kira that afternoon so Dawn could go over and help Andy with that floor project. She's a happy little girl and seems to enjoy being here with Grammy.Early Thursday morning, like 2:00 am, Andy and his Dad left for Maine. Our church is sponsoring a men's fishing trip this weekend. Dad loves to fish and wanted Andy to go with him. He was happy to do so, and I'm glad he did, too. He needs a break.

My washing machine has been threatening to stop working. Sometimes it doesn't spin and sometimes it does. I decided to call a repairman and he said the transmission and clutch were bad and needed to be replaced. Did you know that washers had transmissions and clutches? The replacement parts and labor were going to be pretty expensive, so we decided to just buy a new one. It does get a lot of use with Andy's mom and I both using it, as well as people who might be living upstairs. Dawn said I should get a front loading washer, so after checking them out, I decided to go for it. On Friday, Mom and I drove down to Johnnie's Appliances and bought it. It will be delivered next Thursday. We got in on the gov't energy efficient rebate in the nick of time. Funding for that rebate will be cut on June 1. We were able to get $175 in rebates.Nice, huh???

I've been eyeing up some roses that are just out of this world beautiful. I pass them every day on my way to work. The bushes are full and big and they bloom all summer. I found out they're called Knock Out roses. I've always loved roses but have resisted putting them in my gardens because I thought they were too difficult to grow. They have issues with aphids, black spot, etc. and then only bloom for a short time. So I was excited to find out about this variety. I called around and then went to my favorite perennial place this morning and purchased 4 bushes. It was such a beautiful day to be outside and quite satisfying to add these beauties to the garden in front of the porch.I also planted some impatiens along the driveway, then did some trimming of bushes that were looking pretty shaggy.

All in all, it was a very satisfying day. I finally was able to cross off some things that had been on my to-do list for quite a while.

Busy Busy Busy

We invited a couple over to share Andy's birthday dinner with us last Wednesday. So we had salmon on the grill, pasta salad, broccoli salad, homemade rolls and carrot cake. Yummy! Everything turned out good and we had a wonderful time of fellowship with our friends. We tried not to think too much about Andy getting another year older.

We took it easy with a couple days of "rest" before the weekend of madness. On Saturday morning, Andy and I had worship team rehearsal with our team. It's usually in the evening, but because of the activities in the rest of the day, we had to reschedule it. I played my bass this week so I was also involved in the rehearsal. At the same time, there was a ladies' Coffee Connection - 9:00 - 12:00 noon in another part of the church. Since I'm part of the team that plans these events, I felt I should stop in and eat the obligatory plate full! I don't like to miss those because those coffee connections are a great place to just relax with good food and friends. I like to think of them as an oasis of peace in the midst of craziness.

I made it home in time to change to more dressy attire for the wedding of a young couple Andy has been counseling. He performed the marriage ceremony and then we also attended the reception. That took up the rest of the day. It was a lovely wedding. We love this couple - it's fun to watch them make googly eyes at each other! - Eyes of full of love for each other.

Sunday was busy with playing with the worship team in all 3 services. After church, Dawn and Kira came over to have lunch with us.

Andy and I both left work early on Monday afternoon to drive over to C & C's. We spent 28 hours with the kids, babysitting so that Christy & Christian could go away. That was the first time in 3 years they had been away on an overnight without any children. Andy and I survived! And so did the kids! It actually went very well. I read a lot of books to the kids, and Andy wrestled with them a lot ~ their favorite things with us.
We got home a little before bedtime on Tuesday night. Now it's back to work and routine. I've been catching up on housework and laundry after work the rest of this week.

We're trying to help as much as we can with Dawn & Tommy's "new" house. Andy went over Wednesday evening to help look at the heater situation and help Tommy put new locks on the doors.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a work around the house day for us. The lawn needs to be mowed, gardens need to be weeded and bushes need to be trimmed. Happily, the weather is more springlike right now.

Happy Birthday, Andy!

When I was growing up, my dearest wish when I was grown up was to be a wife and mother - to have a family. I often dreamed of what my life would be like. I confess it was mostly rosy with a wonderful husband who loved me and beautiful, well behaved children all sitting comfortably around a fireplace, eating popcorn and enjoying family time.

Real life often turns out so differently than we think it will, but in my case, God fulfilled my dream and gave me the desires of my heart - abundantly more than I could have ever imagined.

Today is Andy's birthday. He is my Prince Charming, my Knight in Shining Armor! He is always encouraging and building me up. He is the greatest example of love to me, fleshing out 1 Corinthians 13: love is patient, kind, not full of envy, boastful or proud, not rude, self-seeking, easily angered, or keeping records of wrongs I've done. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres and never fails. He loves me with a sacrificial love (Eph. 5:25) and treats me with respect (1 Peter 3:7).

Here are some of the things I admire and love about him:

1. godly

2. wise

3. fun loving

4. steady

5. faithful

6. dependable

7. handy

8. sympathetic, empathetic

9. caring

10. loves his family

So thank you, dear God, for blessing me with a good and godly man.

Sigh!

So did it get too hot too soon? Are the pollen and dust too unbearable? Are we getting lazy or soft? Has Andy been out of commission too long with his bad back? Is the work load overwhelming? Whatever the reason, both of us were seriously lacking in motivation to get out and do our yard work? It's not that it isn't beautiful out there, because the weather has been "perfect" the last couple of days. So as much as there is to do, it was still there as of yesterday morning.

One thing that finally got us out there was to hire a couple of young boys (aged 14) to come help. That was a real shot in the arm. They were so glad to get outside and do physical labor (instead of book work - they are homeschooled). A lot of the work was just grunt work: lifting, hauling, digging. A tree had fallen down at the pond during a winter storm. Even though it had been cut into smaller pieces, it was still lying there. So these boys, along with Andy, hauled all the logs and branches to the street for pickup by the township. They raked up the area as well so now we'll be able to run the mower over that spot. Then there was another tree that Christian had cut down, but it was so heavy that when it fell, it made a trench. So the boys filled in that ditch with topsoil and tamped it down and evened it out.They worked for 3, almost 4 hours with us. When they finished a job we had given them, they asked, "what's next?" When we thanked them for their hard work, they actually said they were thankful to us. They love to work and can't get a job yet because they're still too young. Can you imagine! I hope we can hire them again soon. They were an inspiration.I took a turn about the yard and snapped some pictures. The lilacs I planted last summer are doing well.And the irises someone gave me are blooming.
This is a perennial geranium. I planted it last summer and it's doing very well this spring. I'm happy with it and might just get a couple more plants.I also went out Monday evening and bought some potted flowers to plant in my planters around the house. They add so much joy and happy feelings as I come in the driveway. And not to me only; two different visitors yesterday commented on how pretty they are.After all the work was done yesterday, I went out to stroll around and came across a visitor sitting in our driveway. I called Andy to come look, he called his parents and the neighbors. It was Mr. Snapper Turtle. He didn't seem to be phased that we were all gawking at him, but stared right back at us for several moments before lumbering off. We don't know where he came from or where he was going. I hope he knew, although there was no water in the direction he was headed!