Father's Day

On Father's Day Eve, Jonathan came home to see Hannah, teddy bear, and kitty having an unexpected nap!

That same evening, a friend, Steve, brought Timmy home from fishing up in the mountains with him.

Guess how many fish they got?

Needless to say, Timmy was one excited little boy! They had caught 18 fish. Timmy had caught about 8 fish himself, rainbow trout and brookies. They brought them home in a cooler with ice, and we invited Steve, since he'd done the fishing, to join us after Sunday service next day for a fish dinner! Steve was very happy to comply.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

What a feast we had!

Steve had already cleaned the fish as soon as they caught them, but on Sunday, he rubbed butter inside them, dipped them in a bit of cornmeal, sprinkled on lemon pepper, and baked or fried them. I have never eaten such delicious fish in my life!

That is how to make them! I ate three fish myself, the little brookies. The children were saying that our friend Bro. Gault eats every part of the fish except the bones--even the tail! He said the tail is the best.

So--I tried the tails, too. And guess what? I agree with Bro. Gault! They are the best! I took this picture after we ate most of the fish already.

Thanks, Steve and Timmy! Good job fishing! Now Danny thinks it is his turn to fish!

The Father's Day message was brought by Bro. Lowell McVey, who used the Scripture in Matthew where Jesus gave the Lord's prayer, and then taught about asking.

Jesus said, "What father of you, if a son asks bread, would give him a stone? Or if he asks a fish, would give a serpent?" [and in Luke it adds, "Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?] Then how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him."

He talked about how we need to ask the Holy Spirit to help in problems, instead of getting in the way ourselves.

I thought it interesting that we had brought fresh, home-grown eggs to give Jonathan's dad and mom on Father's Day, and fish for the first time ever for Sunday dinner--

and that is what was in the Sunday message! 

I also thought it interesting that the message this Father's Day was not about what children ought to do to honor their father, but how fathers provide thoughtfully for their children--

and especially ought to in spiritual areas. It is a father's duty, as spiritual leader in a home, but all of our duties as Christians, to ask for the Holy Spirit to help in areas of need.

When You Need a Rainbow

You need a rainbow....

 ...when your world turns upside down--

 like this travel trailer at an RV park in Lake George, CO, when a twister spun through the valley last Sunday.

On our way to help friends in the mountains again, we passed by these scenes of destruction.

It reminded me of how easy it is for our small world to be devastated.

Twisters come--or things we said and meant are twisted into something totally different--

and we are left with our hearts smashed by the fall of the weight, not of a huge tree,

but of huge misunderstandings and problems that refuse to resolve.

 Trailers are left totally overturned, cracked up, smashed into thousands of pieces---

and there is yellow caution tape strung up around the area,

just like we tend to string up yellow "Caution!" signs around the broken and tender areas of our hearts. 

"Don't come around here! Don't touch me! Don't mess with me! Leave me alone!"

 And so, like the overturned trailer, our hearts hide under the tree that smashed us, behind yellow caution signs, and we think we have no choice but to live a broken life with smashed hearts, upside-down plans, destroyed hopes.

 Till we remember that there is such a thing as a rainbow. 

Even when it feels like it will take a crane to right our world again--

like this crane pulled this big rig back up on its tires again while we were there.

It's entirely possible to actually get some help--

to call on the Crane Operator of the Universe to please send from on high to deliver us and get us back on our feet again.

 It's entirely possible to come through the storm, and the devastation, and the twists and turns of life, to come through them to the other side 

and remember that there are still lilacs to smell.

Every time we went in and out the door of the cottage where we were working, the beautiful scent of these lilacs awed us. They were some of the largest, most luscious lilacs I've ever seen.

 And yes, the enemy will still tempt us with his twisted version of how we could resist and resent and rebuff and refuse to forgive--or refuse to ask forgiveness. 

The enemy often dangles more than one version of his snaky arguments before our noses--

If he doesn't try to get us to believe everything is all our fault and we ought to go kiss someone's toes again, even though we have already kissed them more than once,

then he will try to get us to believe nothing is ever our fault. 

It is always the other guy who is wrong and ought to be humble and ask forgiveness--even if he has already done it to the best of his ability.

 And while the blue sky smiles down, we deal with the scrap metal of our lives, trying to figure out how to get it to fit onto a trailer that is about 6 inches too narrow.

 So we decide to scrap the scrap.

The boys and men start tearing out the old wood floor of the truck bed, and take the old bed to pieces.

 And the girls rake up the old, dead leaves and wood scraps and mouse nests (and dead mice).

Well, Danny found the dead mouse.

Seems there are always dead mice somewhere to deal with.

 And dirt flying into your eyes, blown by the winds of adversity, 

while you keep doggedly working, shoveling the mess into that trailer to take to that burn heap.

 Gloves, shovels, rakes....

 and lots of woodpiles to move and fenceposts to tear out...

 and fuel tank to load...

 Bravo, fellows!

 Good job!

 After a couple hours of sorting and packing and cleaning up in the sunroom, I joined outside again as the guys try to finish loading more of the old pickup bed.

 Thar goes the frame!

 They got it on!

And it wasn't until I downloaded the photos today--that I noticed the beautiful ray of light coming straight down on that scene of action.

 It had been a day of lots of hard work--filling and dumping trailer load after trailer load of scrap wood, trimmed branches, old carpet, etc--and now loading up the scrap metal to take back to the Springs.

But we felt that God blessed our efforts.

I noticed after I got home, that my back, which had been giving me a lot of pain for days, had hardly bothered me all day. I had a lot of pain that evening, but all day, as we worked, 

God answered our prayer for strength and enabled us to help exhausted friends with their task.

And so--God sends His rays of sunshine, light, hope, and blessing

when we lay aside our own problems to go help another

and to lift their load.

One sweet interlude was when Jonathan lifted the cover on a propane tank, and discovered a nest inside with six baby bluebirds in it. 

We saw the parent bluebirds other times--waiting with grubs for their babies.

The mama would sit on a fencepost and give a signal, and the papa bluebird would chirp back and nosedive into the hole in the propane cover lid, and feed his hungry babies.

As for Mama and Papa Lucas, we stopped at McDonalds for our grub on the way home! :)

Bad Hair Days Anyone?

Every once in a while, somebody does have bad hair days around here. 

This time it was poodle's turn.

 

And of course, there are always those fine, aristocratic, behatted fair ladies who will have all sorts of suggestions on how to avoid bad hair days--or how to cut the bad hair off.

 Suggestions such as:

1) Never get married.

2) Don't have any children.

3) If you do have children, don't have more than two.

oops. 

There are still bad hair days.

 4) Send said children off to school all day so you can....

1) organize your linen closet

 and things like that!

Actually, it was Carrie who straightened this closet the other day for me--without being told. 

Carrie is becoming my left hand help, with Crystal being my right hand. 

I am so blessed with helpful, respectful daughters who are truly becoming beautiful, caring, thoughtful young women.

As for the boys and little ones, they love to follow their daddy around whenever they get the rare chance.

On this day last week, the whole family had a project helping at a friend's place--

loading scrap metal. 

Jonathan strapped this old camper behind the trailer, to drag it to a spot where it can be dealt with.

 The three younger children had themselves a fun ride inside it. Happy memories--all from reaching out to help a friend! That is one of the best ways to keep from having bad hair days--

do something for somebody else!

 There is little time for complaining when you are pitching in to help an elderly person, a widow, an invalid, or someone less fortunate than yourself. There just simply isn't time to sit around griping about--

your own or someone else's bad hair.

I hit some low moments this afternoon. I read my Bible--trying to find a Psalm about a prayer in such times. 

I prayed. 

I thought about calling my dear hubby--but I didn't want to bother him. 

(Yesterday I called him to tell him that Crystal happened to have a CD on that had George Beverly Shea singing wedding songs, and I was getting teary on "Because," and called Jonathan

just to tell him I loved him.

I hope he felt loved.)

Today I wanted to go do something to pull myself out of those low moments. Maybe shop. Maybe go to cottage prayer meeting. But I had decided not to go to town today as there was too much to do and all the trips add up the gas mileage. 

Soooo--for a few moments, I went around taking pictures to put on my blog.

Like of our aspen tree--which we thought had been half ruined with the bad frost a couple months ago, but the leaves on the branch tips are indeed breaking out after all.

 And a picture of the girls' little raised bed--with lettuce and radishes, protected by a hail screen--for days like today when hail fell for a bit.

Screen, O Lord, the hailstones from our lives. Protect us with the Shield of Your mercy and grace.

 May the tender plants--and all the tender areas of our hearts--be kept safe by Your love and pity.

And may there be grace for bad hair days and low moments, for hail-stricken plants and frosted twig-tips, for hurtful memories that send us for long walks, and for all the difficult places in our lives.

Amen.

Graduation Gifts for Crystal

Crystal was blessed with a number of sweet and generous graduation gifts and cards, including gifts toward her trip to Africa. We kept them to open till Sunday evening, so we could all have time to sit down and watch her open them and enjoy together. Below, she is looking at the nice cookbook and beautiful card from Dennis and Linda Lee Goodwin, our former fill-in pastor.

 Now the girls are admiring the homemade cards given her by Emily Albertson. Emily takes beautiful photographs and makes greeting cards with them. These cards will make lovely "Thank You" cards for Crystal's graduation thank you's!

 And I wanted to be sure to post a picture of this just for my mom, Crystal's Grandma Morley. My mom had a tradition of giving each of us nine children a Strong's Concordance of the Bible for our high school graduation. I remember how I appreciated mine. I knew my parents did not have much money, but my mom invested in something that would last. I knew that it was a token of what my parents valued most--God's Word.  I still have my well-worn copy. This is a tradition that I felt well worth keeping down through the generations. So that is what Jonathan and I gave Crystal--a Strong's Bible Concordance--as a token of what we pray that she will always value most. 

May God's Word always be a priority in her life.

Crystal's Cousin Stacy McVey's Graduation

The day after Crystal's graduation, her cousin Stacy McVey also graduated from high school at a ceremony at Pulpit Rock Church in Colorado Springs. A number of friends and relatives attended that. 

Stacy's graduating class was comprised of nine students--all girls!!

Stacy is on the far left of the very front row, on the floor.

 Time to celebrate! Stacy is this time on the far right. I only got one picture during the ceremony, and the one of Stacy receiving her diploma turned out very dark.

 I loved the bouquets for the occasion in the foyer.

 Stacy's two pretty sisters with the pretty flowers!

 Stacy's family: Jon and Esther, Vanessa, Rebekah and Ryan

with Pikes Peak in the background

 Grandpa wanted all three cousins who graduated this year to dress up for a photo. To their everlasting credit, they complied!!! 

Crystal, Bryan Lucas (Dave and Ruth's son) and Stacy McVey all graduated this year!

 This is what was happening with the little boys and Steve Cunningham while the others were busy with cameras and posing!

 I loved this sweet pose of Crystal and her grandmother.

 Crystal with her parents and Lucas grandparents--and Pikes Peak!

More of Crystal's Graduation Evening

Crystal and Beth and Emily Albertson, two of her good friends. Beth has been at GBS this last semester, and Emily is home schooled.

 Out in front of the Cowboy Church of Peyton.

We loved the silouette of the kneeling cowboy and horse nearby.

 May our daughter always live in the shadow of the cross.

"Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand."

Crystal has already chosen the way of the cross as her way of life, and we as parents are well aware that it will cost her and us both.

But is any cost too great to obtain everlasting life?

 The wind kept flipping her tassle! I thought it interesting how the church porch roof almost perfectly matched the outline of her mortarboard!

May the heart of our family always be to stay surrendered at the foot of the cross. 

Hats off.

Knees bent.

Head bowed. 

Our horse, our personal agenda 

completely surrendered to the control of Him who controls all. 

 I know these photos aren't usual graduation photos, but celebrations and ceremonies like this are not about bringing glory to man or applause to ourselves--but bringing glory to Him Whom we serve--

a time when we remind ourselves, each other, those around us, and God

that He is the focal point of our life. 

May the cross never be covered up and secularized in our lives as it is now in so many schools, homes, and even churches.

Above--Crystal with her diploma by the saddle. We loved the wagon wheel chandeliers. I couldn't get a caption above this photo, don't know why.

 Crystal and her teacher of 12 years with the roses--one for each grade!

And below is Iva's family. Iva played the keyboard accompaniment on several of our songs for us. I was so proud of them.

 We didn't get out in time to see it, but the children told us there was a beautiful rainbow outside just after the graduation. You can barely see it in the very center of the sky. That was very special to us. 

We had just sung, "Follow every rainbow till you find your dream!"

 And then "Christ will be your rainbow! He'll fulfill your dream!"

So needless to say, that was very special that God sent a rainbow for that!

Our friend Katherine Gafford said later that she and her father were traveling home after the graduation, enjoying the beautiful rainbow and the distant mountains. She said it was a blessing just traveling home that evening!We are always so thankful when God adds His blessing to our feeble efforts and makes it a blessing to others who love Him.