All Kinds of Weather

Only seventeen days ago, March 5, we had a huge snowstorm. So when the kids and grandkids came down two days later, they were able to build an impressive snow fort in the back yard.

  

All that next week the weather was nice and warm, relatively speaking of course.  It is still March. But it was warm enough to melt the snow. And in only a week that impressive fort was nothing but a speck in the lawn.

 

Then this past week we had a whole day on Tuesday with no doctor, hair cut or any other kind of appointment so we planned a trip to the shore to the Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.  It's mid-March, after all, just the time when the migratory birds are making their way to their summer homes, stopping along the way at different protected refuges.

The weather forecast for Tuesday was predicting cold with high winds. So we went prepared with our L.L.Bean Maine-manufactured winter coats, hats, gloves and scarves. What a surprise when we got there. The sun was shining brightly and the car temperature registered in the 60's. Huh? What a wonderful surprise and gift of a day spent in the beautiful outdoors, enjoying God's creation. There were many trails and we estimated that we hiked nearly five miles. It was not cold at all. In fact, we actually got warm from walking in the sun. We didn't wear our coats at all, and I even took off my fleece, wearing only my turtleneck.

 
The trails were so well maintained, back through pinelands, through native holly and rhododendron and laurel bushes on soft sandy soil. 

 

After hiking the five miles, we got in the car and drove the eight mile loop through the salt marshes along the Jersey shore. We saw snow geese which was what I was hoping for. There were other birds, too, but I couldn't identify them, and they were too far away to take their pictures.

 I believe this might be a tundra swan. They usually migrate along with the snow geese.

 We didn't see any turtles. I guess we'll have to go back in the right season. All in all, though, this was just an amazing day. 

Then another weather surprise on Friday. We got more snow. Ironically enough, it was the first day of spring. The meteorologists were predicting one to three inches, but it snowed all day without stopping. During the course of the day, the predictions changed to two to four inches, but I really think we got even more than four inches of snow. Before I could drive home from work, I had to spend quite a bit of time cleaning off my car. 

We had been hoping to go hiking again on Saturday, but with all that snow, I didn't think the trails would be conducive for a good time. Thankfully, the weather was warm and the sun was shining all day, so a lot of the snow was gone by the end of the day. In the morning, though, I got a beautiful picture out our back door onto the deck.

 Is there anything more beautiful than white snow on bare branches against a bright blue sky?  Actually, as picturesque as this is, I'll be glad to see those branches covered in pink magnolia blossoms against that blue sky. It won't be long now.

Today was colder again, but the sun was shining. So off we went to the Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge. I had been there years before with our girls when I was still homeschooling them. It's a place where people can take injured animals to be cared for. We walked around and looked at the animals...

Bald Eagle

Mute Swans

There were other animals: a gray fox, a red tailed hawk, racoon,a couple kinds of crows, gulls, etc. but they were in cages which made the lighting difficult for taking pictures.

Then we took to the trail. There was still snow in spots, but it was a nice trail and we were the only ones on it.

We are checking off the parks on our Pine Barrens and Beyond, Birding & Wildlife Trails in Burlington County brochure. Out of 40 parks in that brochure, we checked off our 21st today. So we're over halfway! Only 19 more to go!

I was reading A God for All Seasons by Patti Tingen this morning. Each chapter is a devotional about each month of the year. In her chapter on March, she notes how changeable the weather is in March: "back and forth, temperate and chilly, every shifting and changing period of transition."

But God doesn't change.  He is the same, yesterday, today and forever. But I love how she then takes that thought and says that though God never changes, "God is change.  He embodies change. His character is multi-faceted like a diamond cut into an immeasurable number of surfaces, each side reflecting its own unique color as the light illuminates it. As God reveals different facets of Himself, it appears to us as if He is changing. And He is. He is showing us more and more of Himself, allowing us to understand His nature in fuller and fuller measure. However, the total, complete picture and package of who our Lord is remains intact."

I love that thought. God doesn't change but our concept and understanding of him does as we grow and mature in our walk with him.

Window Washing Project

Too many days recently were either rainy, too cold, snowy or otherwise not conducive for hiking - not for lack of trying, though. We went out on Tuesday to a park nearby.  Starting off on the trail and across the bridge, there was no sign of snow.  But as soon as the bridge ended, the trail was impassible - just a frozen mass of ice. It was actually dangerous and we didn't want to risk falling and lying who knows how long with broken or sprained who knows what. So back home we went to wait for warmer weather.

Thankfully, the rest of the week saw temperatures in the 50's nearly every day and the snow and ice quickly disappeared.

Yesterday was a rainy day...all day. I came up with a project for us to do. I had read somewhere once that it's best to wash windows on rainy or cloudy days since the sun can cause streaks when you clean them. Our living room windows open to the east and to the west. Consequently, that room gets a lot of sun. And when the sun shines in, I can see how dusty dirty those windows are. The windows are double-hungs, supposedly easy to clean. Just tilt them in and you can clean the outside without going outside. Well, I've never been able to do it myself. Andy has to push on the frame so hard before the window is able to tilt in. The grills are also very difficult to get out. So it's definitely a two-person job with the second person having bigger muscles than I have. 

I've been feeling like Andy is doing pretty well and have been trying to think of little projects for him to do so that he will feel useful and productive. Hence, the window cleaning project. But even that job, with me providing direction was an exercise in frustration. My first instruction was to take the grills out of the windows. He proceeded to open the windows and take out the screens. So I told him that was ok, but I needed him to take out the grills. He said, "I did." I had to explain that he took out the screens but I needed him to take out the grills. He still didn't seem to understand, so I had to demonstrate. I started to wonder why I ever decided to do this job. But we kept going even though it didn't get any better as we went along. Into the second window, the window somehow got crooked and when we tried to shut it, it came off the track. Ugh! What several years ago would have been a simple matter for him to figure out and fix was now - no idea what to do.  Oh, he tried but I had to also try to figure it out. Somehow we managed to get the window closed but I think I'm going to have to ask a handyman to look at it. 

That tired Andy out, so I sent him to lie down and finished the job myself. I don't know why I didn't do this from the beginning, but the windows are all on the first floor and easily reached from the outside with a step ladder. And I was also able to get the grills back in myself. I guess you can do all kinds of things if you have no choice.

I was feeling a little bummed out after this and had to remind myself of the truth this morning. There is nothing that can separate me from the love of God. "He redeems our pain, sin, doubt, need and suffering and reshapes the landscape of our inner lives through Jesus." (The Answer to Our Cry by Rick McKinley)



I just finished the book above. He says that "living into the love of God is a life journey. This means it may take decades and generations. Soul formation is process oriented..." As long as I'm still living in this world, I will still need to grow, mature, become more and more like Jesus. And sometimes this is painful, but it is so necessary because I have a long way to go. But as Paul prayed for the Philippian Christians, "he who began a good work in [me] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Phil. 1:6)

The rain finally stopped during the night. So of course we had to get out today. The temperature was only 44 degrees and it was pretty windy. In fact, there were 40 mile an hour gusts. Brrr! But we put on our hats, gloves, scarves and LL Bean Maine manufactured winter coats and away we went. 

It really wasn't too bad as long as we were in the woods but you could hear the wind whipping up in the tops of the trees. We had to laugh as we went through the parking lot. Only one car was parked there. Yes, most people know enough not to go hiking on days like this. 
 
 
But really it was a beautiful day. The water was running swiftly in the Rancocas Creek from all the snow melt and rain from yesterday. 
 

 
 We have been to this park many times but had never seen this broken down house across the creek. It looks dangerously near the water.



Even though the trees still seem dead, there is a lot of green in places: holly trees, rhododendron and laurel bushes.

It's mid-March. Surely it won't be too much longer before we'll be seeing signs of spring a-coming. I've already seen plenty of robins in our yard, but then they've been here all winter.

Andy has been working on another puzzle. I have pretty much been letting him do it by himself and he says he is really getting into it. He is patient and persevering and is having success. I'm proud of him for being such a good sport about it. He said he didn't think at first he would enjoy it, but it's becoming addictive! He says he already feels smarter! ha, ha - still has that Andy sense of humor.

He's also a good sport for letting me take his picture all the time, but what a handsome guy!

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."

Peace, Peace

Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
Coming down from the Father above!
Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray
In fathomless billows of love!

What a treasure I have in this wonderful peace,
Buried deep in the heart of my soul,
So secure that no power can mine it away,
While the years of eternity roll!

Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
Coming down from the Father above!
Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray
In fathomless billows of love!
 
I am resting tonight in this wonderful peace,
Resting sweetly in Jesus’ control;
For I’m kept from all danger by night and by day,
And His glory is flooding my soul!

 Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
Coming down from the Father above!
Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray
In fathomless billows of love!
Words: Warren D. Cor­nell, 1889, alt.
Music: W. George Coo­per, 1889

What a gift that the God of peace has given me a quiet spirit and I am at peace.  I love the word picture David paints in Psalm 23 of Jesus, our Shepherd leading us in green pastures by quiet streams.  He restores my soul and even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for He is with me.

 
How precious this psalm is to me and I say it over and over to myself as I fall asleep at night.  What a comfort to experience the peace of God.  It really does pass all understanding.

Jesus told his disciples that in this world we would have trouble, but not to fret because he has overcome the world.  He gives us his peace, not as the world gives, but HIS peace. (John 14:27)  If we display the fruit of the Spirit, we will be experiencing love, joy, peace...

How is it possible to experience the peace of God when struggling with difficult trials?  The Spirit ministers to us and empowers us to be at rest and trust in God's plan for us, no matter how hard that may be.

Today's message was an affirmation of all I've been meditating on recently.  I've been so consumed with Andy's illness, feeling the weight of the added stress of caring for him (even though he isn't really that bad yet), continuing to work, desiring to be involved with family, etc.  But God has flooded me with His peace this week.  He has been showing me that if he has called me to a certain task, then He will enable me to accomplish that - in His strength and in His power, not mine.  I am just a vessel.  God loves to use weakness because then He is most glorified.  The arena of the Spirit's power is our weakness.  And believe me, I feel very weak and inadequate.  But that is when God loves to do his work.

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."  (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

We have had such a severe winter this year.  Very cold with lots of snow storms.  The snow hasn't been a lot at a time, but there have been enough storms to keep us indoors.  We haven't done as much hiking as we'd like.  Yesterday was one of those days where Andy was feeling cooped up and wanted to get out.  I tried to convince him that there was too much snow in the woods and the trails would be hard to walk on.  They'd either be too snowy or muddy.  I didn't think it was a good idea.  It would be better to wait for warmer weather.  

But as I got thinking about it, I decided to go for it.  Why not?  I can keep myself occupied and always find things to do in the house, but he needs to get out.  So off we went to Lebanon State Forest (renamed Brendan T. Byrne State Forest).  I love this forest for several reasons:
1.  There are some very beautiful majestic cedar trees, that remind me of the cedar trees of Lebanon that Solomon used to build the temple.
2.  This forest is in the pinelands of south Jersey and with all the pines, there is a lot of green, even in the dead of winter.

Well, I was right there was a lot of snow on the trails and each step was an effort.  We crunched along for a while, making quite a racket.  Any animals that were in the area had plenty of warning that we were coming.  We didn't even see any birds.  But the sky was blue and we were glad we went.

 Pakim Pond was quite frozen but the pines made such a beautiful frame to all that white.
 

There was no one there but us - so peaceful and beautiful - cathartic to the soul.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and PEACE as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."  Romans 15:13