Midwinter Blahs Blasted

The January blahs and blues descended upon us early as our family suffered through a week and a half of sickness--croup, coughs, fevers, upset stomachs.

In between, however, we combated such blahs with inviting company over.

One evening we had friends with girls who helped our girls put together three layette bundles for Christian Aid Ministries.

 

Sorting the baby things and putting them in bundles.

The tank that Jonathan and his guys painted. It got into the newspaper!

Another project of Jonathan's--He and his guys built this deck and pergola to show along with a landscaper's demo at the Home and Garden Show in town this weekend.  Jonathan hopes to sell the deck and pergola after the show, and perhaps get jobs from it.



Late yesterday afternoon, Jonathan called with the bad news that the hay barn at our local Big R ranch store was burning. We heard that earlier in the afternoon, there was a big BOOM, and the barn was aflame. The children wanted to go see, so we drove the 12 miles to watch. By then, the barn was completely demolished.

This front end loader was digging up smoldering debris and spreading it around for the firemen to douse with water. There was still a huge pile of burning hay that had to be dealt with.

IT's difficult to see in the dark, but the flames are coming out of the burning debris in the bucket of the loader. That was the most exciting thing to watch. Firemen would hose down the tires of the loader, and hose down the burning debris, and then the loader would go back into the smoke and smoldering debris again.

This morning, we talked at the breakfast table about what God's Word says about what kind of work will withstand the fire of God's judgment. Will our work be wood, hay and stubble, such as burnt up in this fire, or will it be gold, silver and precious stones, something that will withstand the fire?

May God grant each of us the wisdom, grace, and courage to do the work that will stand the test. 

We read that just the barn there at Big R was worth about $275,000, not including the hay inside. What a loss! Hay is so expensive now.

But something to be thankful for is that despite forest fires and barn fires and judgment fires, God

has "the whole world in His hand."

Just like this tiny little helpless puppy in Carrie's hands, God has our times in His hands. We may rest in that. 

Amaryllis blooming in the sunshine, bringing joy to our January!

The girls keep knitting!

Rose having a good time with our pastor's baby when they stopped by this week.