Caring for My Mother in Missouri

Last week while Jonathan and the boys were gone to a men's retreat near Delta, CO, 

Carrie, Hannah and I traveled over to Missouri to spend a little time with my parents.

Here is Mom playing a piano duet with Carrie. It had been weeks since Mom had been strong enough to play the piano.

My mom had suffered several weeks of severe weakness, and different ones of our family are taking turns going to Missouri to help care for her and Dad. Thankfully, she is recuperating, but at age 79, it takes longer to bounce back than it did at 59 or 69. We wish they would move up closer to family, but they do so love their little place there in Missouri in a milder climate, and a little country place where they can still maintain some independence, and so temporarily, family is taking turns traveling down to help.

I was amazed that my father was feeling well enough to ride the mower and mow part of the lawn. He had to take frequent rest breaks, but he kept at it.

He has these lush vegetables growing in container gardens. I picked some of the lettuce one day to make wilted lettuce salad.

Here are some more.

I washed drapes and windows, swept and mopped and vacuumed, made meals, and gathered wood sorrel to make wood sorrel juice for my mother to treat what I was quite sure was skin cancer (more about that remedy in my blog later, I hope.)

  It's a remedy Mom used successfully on her basal cell carcinoma skin cancer years ago. That carcinoma never returned! Above is pictured a bunch of wood sorrel. The leaves are perfectly heart-shaped, in sets of three, and there are yellow flowers, with long seed pods depending how mature the plant is.



Carrie spent part of one morning weeding one of the flower beds while her grandpa mowed the yard.

A special delight while we were there was finding fresh, ripe black raspberries growing along the side of their yard! I couldn't believe the berries were already ripe in late June!

First, I took Hannah all along the edges of the property where the berry bushes were lush, and showed her how to identify between black raspberry leaves and poison ivy, both of which have leaves in groups of three.There was also another kind of ivy that looked a little like poison ivy, but had leaves in groups of five.

We picked only where there was no risk of brushing into poison ivy, leaving many beautiful berries hanging unpicked. It just wasn't worth the risk of suffering through weeks of itching.
Like the Good Book says, "Avoid the very appearance of evil!" It's not worth it. 

Still, we gathered this whole bowl full and more!
That was our dessert one lunch time--berries with whipped cream!

I think over and over of all the luscious black raspberry blessings that God permits us to enjoy--right in the middle of testings, trials, and temptations. 

Right in the middle of thorns and poison ivy, there are safe patches of berries--juicy, ripe, and sweet!

His mercies are new every morning!

"You set a table before me in the presence of my enemies."

Black raspberries with cream--right under the noses of our enemies.

No wonder the devil and our enemies get mad at us!

They're so jealous of our God-gifted berries with whipped cream!

God Heals Carrie's Car

The day Carrie and Rose left to help with a VBS in North Dakota, Carrie’s car suddenly wouldn’t start. Crystal found this out when she went to park Carrie’s car in another spot. The car had been running fine that very morning, but suddenly, for no explainable reason, it wouldn’t start. 

Would Carrie have to ride the horse to get anywhere when she got home??

 

We had to push the car into another parking spot out of the way of the rest of our vehicles. All the time Carrie and Rose were gone, the car refused to run. I myself went out and cleaned the battery terminals. That is often a simple issue that fixes a starting problem. We even charged the already mostly charged battery. And added gasoline, just in case.
But nothing worked. The car would not start. 

(Horse, you better get practiced up for 30-mile drives.)

I felt it was a direct attack from the devil, because he likes to attack our vehicles, our finances, our marriage, and plenty of other things almost EVERY time we go out to do ministry. The fact that it happened for no reason on the day the girls flew up to help at Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation was telltale.

There is only one way to resist this kind of thing.

We prayed. 

When Carrie and Rose arrived safely back home, and the car still would not start, I still felt it was a spiritual battle going on. We prayed about it in family worship, and I in  my heart asked specifically, “Jesus, would You heal Carrie’s car?”

The night Carrie and Rose came home, Jonathan towed Carrie’s car to a mechanic up the road.
The next morning, the mechanic called Jonathan.
“We have a problem,” he said.

“Oh, no!” Jonathan thought. “How many thousand dollars will Carrie have to spend to fix it?”
But the mechanic’s voice sounded lighthearted.
“We have a problem,” he had said, and now added, “When I tried to start the car, it started right up!”

The mechanic didn’t know what to think. He suggested that perhaps a wire was loose and in the process of towing the car to the mechanic, something jiggled and whatever may have been shorting out jiggled back into place.

I have a different explanation, whether a wire was involved or not.

I think God healed Carrie’s car. And He gets all the glory.

It has been starting and running ever since.

Now tomorrow (in the same car, so we need lots of faith!) 

Carrie, Hannah and I are planning to drive to Missouri to spend a day and a half with my parents. My mother has had a very low spell and has been very weak with little or no appetite. My dad had just been told that his kidneys were failing, and before they knew all the details, it really overwhelmed them. The situation ended up not being quite as dire as the first doctor sounded, but still, my dad is on a very restricted diet and Mom was overwhelmed with trying to manage to cook meals for him without any grains. Not easy even if you are young and in the best of health.

My youngest sister Kezia from Illinois was down a couple weeks ago for a couple days to help clean and cook for them, and it is my turn to go this week. Next week Craig and Susanna plan to be down for a whole week in Missouri. We siblings are all trying to take turns.

At the same time, Jonathan has been asked to speak later this week at a men's/boys' retreat in western Colorado on on the subject of blending occupation and ministry.  

So while I travel east, he and the boys travel west

Prayers would be appreciated for us as we travel hither and yon, for the men's retreat, and for my parents. 

I need to go pack and make meatballs to take along.

Mozzarella Madness

In the last few months, we've had lots of extra milk because of Rose working for a little dairy every morning. Carrie has learned to make mozzarella cheese. 

 

Here she is kneading and pulling this curdled milk that has turned into the early stages of mozzarella cheese. It's amazing how adding an enzyme and cooking at certain temperatures for certain times, etc., makes milk turn into cheese.

Rose's friend she works for also sends home extra cream after days when she separates cream.

Then we churn homemade icecream!

I keep thinking lately about the verse in Proverbs about the virtuous woman. 

It says, "She looketh well to the ways of her household and eateth not the bread of idleness."

I'm sometimes overwhelmed with the many projects going on around our house and the many children and the amount of noise and people going every which way. 

As for me, everywhere I turn there are projects looming, things needing tended to,

laundry to wash or take down or iron or dry or mend;

stuff in basement needing sorted, old tops needing cut into rags like Hannah and I did today after going through piles of old clothes; new gardens needing watered, animals needing tended, goats chased in, pigs butchered (that happened yesterday, a whole day of butchering a pig and making sausage and then cleaning up for an hour or so afterward), shopping, correspondence, helping friends, practicing music, making the next meal, washing dishes, straining milk, cleaning the cat litter box, sweeping the garage, putting new oil on the porch swing, digging a hole to replace the broken gate post by the driveway, mowing, putting away the straw bales, exercising the dogs and advertising the puppies, editing a writing project for a relative and friend...the endless list never stops. 

"She looks well to the ways of her household."

Sometimes, like today, I had a worse day and had to do more sit-down work. I felt like a failure.

And if I can't sleep, like tonight after going to bed in exhaustion and defeat--I blog. 

But the goal is to look well to the ways of our household--

not just looking after all the things needing to be done but looking after the hearts of the husband and children.

These need to be tended, too. 

Stories listened to; splinters pulled out; attention paid to their eager discoveries and excited accomplishments; hugs and kisses shared at night or when saying goodbye; counsel given; confessions listened to and forgiven and prayed about; God's Word prioritized and taught; smiles doled out; tender greetings remembered; appreciation shown in words and hugs (not just assuming they know they are appreciated).

It's a big task. 

Lord, I need Your help every day to do what You want done,

and not to be in despair when I can't do all of what I would like to do. 

New Cedar Fence--and Anointed with Fresh Oil

A couple Saturdays ago, we put up some cedar fence to define the edges of our back yard between our house and the pasture. I hoped maybe I could keep the back yard looking a little better if I had a nice fence.

Timmy, Danny and I rolled an oil stain on all sides of those cedar panels.

It was hours of work!

I was just so thankful to have the energy to work for hours outdoors that day.

And how beautiful it looked when it was done!

I was reading Psalm 92 recently.
"I have been anointed with fresh oil."

And I thought about that.

Cedar panels looks much better when rolled with an oil stain. 

Sheep feel so much better when an oil salve has been applied to sore spots.

And people thrive when the oil of the Holy Spirit's comfort, assurance, and presence is poured out upon them.

Recently I experienced fresh oil from the Lord--

fresh assurance;

fresh answers to prayers;

fresh relationship to my Savior.

"I have been anointed with fresh oil."

Snowstorm Freezes My Tomatoes

It's been weeks since I uploaded these pictures of working in our greenhouse in early May. Hannah helped me pot some tomato and pepper plants we bought.

Here are the starts I bought.

A few weeks later, here is what they look like now.

And then some of the tomatoes froze during the snowstorm! But I pruned them down and they are actually still growing! I had planted a few new ones beside the frozen ones in case the old ones didn't survive. But they survived and are thriving!
Their roots and basic stem were strong enough to withstand that cold snap.

And I think a stray chicken ended up pecking most of the leaves off this pepper that I had set on the deck because of the many aphids I found on it.

But look at how it is blooming even after it lost its leaves and even after a bath with water and dishsoap (something I read to get rid of aphids)!

We may go through storms and times of being hen-pecked and demolished and pruned and sloshed with dishsoapy water and covered with annoying and destroying enemy aphids trying to suck the life out of us.
But if our root system is solid, we can survive and even thrive!
As Psalm 1:3 says, the man who meditates in God's law day and night, shall be like a tree, planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season.
Jesus talked about abiding in the vine, and how the Father prunes the branches--so that they will bring forth fewer leaves and more fruit instead.

He wants us to  not just have a big plant full of lush leaves, but to have blooms and buds and fruit!

He wants lots of peppers to saute with our morning eggs. 

Freezing temperatures, aphids, snippings, peckings--in the end, 

it's the root

and the fruit

that matter most.

Little Cheepies Under Wings

Our little broody hen hatched several chicks this week! It is a great experience going out and watching the mama caring for them.

It is quite a mystery to watch, since we do not understand hen language, but when Mama Hen is uncertain about possible danger to her chicks, she soon has all five of them tucked safely and quietly under her wings.

Here she is--all hen and fluffed out feathers!

Not all wings and feathers are fluffy and safe for little chicks.

The owners of some wings are not out to protect, but to destroy.

If only all feathers were fluffy,

and all wings were safe.

Danny has been photographing dozens of feathered friends in the last few months. 

He has taken hundreds of pictures!

In His Word, God often refers to His feathered creatures when trying to get a truth across to His people.

Perhaps it is that there are so many of them, and they are such a common sight that almost everyone on earth can relate to thoughts about birds.

So when God inspired Psalm 91, which would become many people's favorite Psalm,

is it any wonder that He used a wings and feathers metaphor?

"He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge."

Almost certainly the Psalmist was thinking of a mother hen and just-hatched chicks.

And that is the blessing of having chickens in our own back yard!

Rosie's Graduation

Our fourth child has successfully graduated!

Rose celebrated her graduation with a party at Fox Run Park last Friday night.

Thankfully we found one last pavilion that wasn't already in use or reserved!

Rose's friend Sarah Moyer flew in with her mother all the way from Pennsylvania for the occasion!

They arrived Thursday afternoon, and we enjoyed a lovely time at supper together, complete with a fruit pizza.

One of our favorite desserts!

Jonathan asked Rose to read the Scripture for worship time--to make sure she could read well enough to graduate, he said! Two or three kittens or several puppies are usually brought in to cuddle while we listen to the Scripture being read.

The gift from us parents for Rosie, a new cowboy cookbook Rose had fallen in love with from the library, with several matching jars of freeze-dried herbs and garlic and onion and tomato sauce, found on clearance at King Sooper.

A number of friends showed up for the party, and there were many children and young people to play games down in the field.

Little Naomi, of another home school family, made this cute graduation cap and diploma which were perfect on our rustic bear.

The girls and I decorated with a variety of rustic decor found around our house or along a path somewhere.

 When in doubt, use duct tape.

Our girls, friends Sarah Moyer and Jasmine arranged the cupcakes in this design.

Sarah Moyer getting her picture taken.

Congratulations, Rose!

We are so proud of you!

Not only did she graduated with honors, cum laude, but she has also been staying busy working at a dairy job, working a new horse, helping with neighbors' horses, visiting shut-ins, learning mandolin and piano, writing letters and cards, and just loving people and all of God's critters.

Just a few days before the party, on our way back from Rose's driving test, she and I stopped at an antique shop along the road outside Simla, and found a couple wheels for only about half the price of what I've seen other places. So I bought them to decorate our property, but Rose wanted to use them first at her party.

Below, the girls are babysitting Crystal's employer's little girls, and talking to another home school mom and son.

Rose couldn't believe all the gifts!

"I didn't even think about gifts when I invited everyone," she said. "I just wanted to have a good time!"

We are always intrigued with how each gift is so unique from each unique giver.

 Tim, who has taught Rose a lot about horses, brought her the most beautiful bouquet I've ever seen!

A few others who attended, including Jonathan's parents, Katherine Gafford, Mrs. Moyer, and a neighbor whose horse Rose helps work with.
There were several home school families. 

Rose had a little glass container for "words of wisdom" for people to contribute to her!

We had waited and waited for folk to show up for the presentation of Rose's diploma, but one family from out of state had vehicle problems on the way and couldn't make it, others from Littleton were stuck in rush hour traffic.  We had to go ahead half an hour late. 

Rose expressed words of gratitude to her mother, father, other friends, and everyone for their contributions to her life and education.

I read the following poem I wrote:

           To Our Prairie Rose

There are many wild roses in the prairies of the west,
But there’s a special Rosie that a mother loves the best.
The Rose that scampers barefoot on Sarita Circle’s soil,
While to her Colorado ranch her heart remains quite loyal.

She was born in August in a little house on the prairie,
To join Big brother Sam, and Crystal, and small Carrie.
One month before the airplanes hit New York’s tall twin towers,
God blessed the Lucas family with a very special flower.

For eighteen years she’s bloomed so free in good high country air,
By seasonal pond, with meadowlarks, by yucca and prickly pear.
This Rose is full o f love for all, and everyone has a part,
Whether puppy or bunny or kitten or calf, they get pieces of her heart.

So while our beautiful wild Rose runs barefoot on the plains,
And happily rides her buckskin horse with saddle and leather reins,
We parents pray, this teacher hopes that her heart will always be
Open to the birds of joy and the God of the  high prairie.

For eighteen years she’s brought us joy under Colorado sun,
For thirteen years she’s been a student just like every other one.
And I, her mom, am pleased today to give her congratulations
Upon the completion of her studies, and her graduation!

*********** 

Then Rose presented this beautiful LIVING rosebush to the teacher who had taught her for twelve years.

More table decor. This one was Rosie's idea, as were most of them!

         Another one.

After cupcakes and veggies and cookies brought by young Elizabeth Haggerty, the youth played Ultimate Frisbee and other games. 

It was hours of fun.

We had made a homemade pinata (out of a cereal box covered with newspaper, then bright tissue papers, then pictures of a fox on one side and coyote on the other, and finished with tissue fronds at the bottom.)

After several little girls took turns, they get to gather up the candies and nuts packets and share with others.

We adults enjoyed watching our kids have so much fun.