Big Orange Spiders--and Moments of Wonder

Danny excitedly wanted to show his daddy and me a couple of huge spiders the other day.

And when our kids come begging us to come look at something, we try to go--

even if it is about spiders.

Because for us, it's not really about the spider.
It's about making a little boy happy that his parents care about what he is interested in. 

So we go look at the spider and ooh and ahh and take a picture 

and spend that moment of wonder with our little ones.

Because life is plenty full of less than wonder-full things--

like trying to paint the scratched up and dirty door to the garage,

and helping the same little boy take a paintbrush and paint the woodwork.

Life is full of scratches and dirt and dents from hail damage and big orange spiders staring at you.

So you must take a moment every once in a while with your little kids--

just to wonder at something.

Because there are always meals to cook 

 

and there is relish to can,

jars to take to the basement,

and laundry to do and the clothespins run low so you bring up a big sack you found at a yard sale many moons ago for Hannah to sort.

And we won't even talk about dishes three or four times a day.

And socks to scrub out while camping in the mountains,

and fruit pizza to make for tent meeting,

and one blouse or skirt after another to alter for a college student,

some too long and some too wide.

And wedding gifts to make--what joy to get to look forward to a couple weddings this month!

The pinning of a heart pocket on a homemade apron,

and looking through button collections to match,

and shopping for gift boxes and wrap.

There are holes in the wall to fix where somebody poked something through near the floor--
don't ask me how that hole got there, but it did.

And one window after another to scrape the windowframe and tape,
and then lacquer all over again.

That was mostly my job. 

So when a little girl wants to show me something pretty she put on her wall,

or a hummingbird moth whirrs near a flowerpot at the parsonage during Sunday evening fellowship time,

there's always a reason to just pause.

Just pause and wonder!

Wonder at God's creation,

at His goodness and grace,

at our smallness and His largeness.

Wonder that He loves even me. 

Just wonder.

While Others Climb Mountains

The last weekend of July several of our children wanted to climb Mt. Elbert, the highest mountain in Colorado.

So we went camping for a few days, staying a different spot every night.

 

Monday Sam, Carrie, Rose and Timmy climbed Mt. Missouri, and Tuesday they climbed Mt. Elbert,

Colorado's highest 14-er (which means it's 14,000 feet or higher).

And just because the rest of us weren't up to mountain climbing

didn't mean we sat and moped. 

Danny fished a lot.

Here he is wading out to get the line from where it got stuck under a stone.

To Danny's and Hannah's glee, they found a couple wild strawberries there by Clear Creek!

Mmm.
It is so sweet how they share with their mother.

And just because you can't climb mountains 

doesn't mean you can't wade streams

or watch a chipmunk

or enjoy a mountain flower.

and enjoy family

and pick wild currants

to stew into jam

and heat beans and sloppy joe on the campstove

and read your Bible under a pine near an awe-inspiring aspen grove.

Just because we can't do something that others have the time, energy, or money to do

doesn't mean we can't have our own fun!

Maybe God knew you needed to sit beside still waters

instead of climb mountains.

Maybe you needed to hear the stream rippling

instead of the wind roaring.

Maybe you needed to notice the wildflowers beside an old wooden fence instead of slaving to outdo the neighbor's flower garden.

Maybe God wanted you to do simple things instead of great things.

Maybe He wanted you to drink from a cool, splashing mountain spring instead of climbing that mountain.

So just drink!

Sometimes our heart cries with the Psalmist,

"As the deer panteth for the water brook, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God!"

Jonathan had wanted me to walk up the road with him to see this buck with this amazing rack, and we watched as he leaped through the brush and crossed the creek.

And so if you can't keep up with the Joneses,
or do great things,
or climb mountains because you're too tired,
or too old,
or too weak,
or can't even walk---

don't fret over what you cannot do.

Drink deeply from one of God's refreshing springs.

How Jonathan and I Got Together

A few weeks ago during tent meeting, we enjoyed eating together and visiting with Elverne and Olive Asbury, as well as Olive's sister, Bonnie Lacy. They were in town to attend a memorial service for Olive and Bonnie's mother.

We shared memories of how Asburys and Lacys helped Jonathan and me get together--and of course I wanted a picture of these old friends for my blog on account of how their families had been instrumental in Jonathan getting to know me!

My family and I had been invited to sing for the missions service at the Lacy's church in Ohio, I think it was, about 23 years ago, and I had spoken about my upcoming mission venture to Ukraine, a talk which was recorded on tape and taken back to Colorado by a lady who knew Jonathan and thought maybe he would be interested in hearing it!

Bonnie or Asburys remembered that it was Sam and Nancy Davis who were the other missionaries who spoke at the same service that I had.

I had forgotten that!
After Jonathan started writing to me, he had gone on a trip to China and met the Asburys, who knew me and my family. I had traveled to China with a group that included Bro. Asbury and son Glen.
Apparently whatever they told Jonathan about me did not turn him off, and Asburys seemed to be very happy about us getting together!

Below, the ladies and girls on tent meeting Sunday are preparing the desserts.

Rose is arranging fruit on our fruit pizza.

And Carrie is helping fill Fern's cream puffs.

I've been busy with summer activities and had more energy so I don't sit down often to blog like I did when I was really down. 

But here are some thoughts that I copied and pasted a while back from Christy Fitzwater's blog:

http://www.christyfitzwater.com/comfort/finding-simple-comforts-complex-life/

She was going shopping for blouses to wear for teaching Spanish classes, and told herself:

"No skirts. No skirts, I told myself. You have foundation skirts already. By foundation I mean navy blue, black, and tan. A girl does not need more than that. She wants more (especially that white eyelet A-line), but the foundation pieces are sufficient. One can trade out tops with classic skirts, to create a whole lot of new outfits.
All that story is to tell you that a few days ago I was feeling a lot of things. A little stress. A little sadness. A little discouragement. A little joy. You know how those things can all be twisted in together at the same time?
I was praying, but I didn’t even really know what I needed from the Lord. So I just asked if he could make me feel better.
I opened the Bible and read this verse:

Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Psalm 100:3

I read the facts over and over, and they changed what was happening in my heart. In this verse, the psalmist didn’t talk about anything I was feeling –not the stress, not the sorrow, not the discouragement, not even the joy. Still, the facts calmed and comforted me. I meditated on the verse for the next few days.

The LORD is God.

He made us.

We are his.

These are foundation pieces. Maybe sometimes we want more from God, but what if this one verse is enough? We can mix and match all of our feelings and experiences with these truths, like pairing colorful shirts with staple wardrobe items, and come away feeling calm and secure.
So I put out this very simple challenge for you today: grab a notecard and write down Psalm 100:3. Carry it with you and say the verse to yourself all day long, no matter what you’re going through. Let the Lord comfort you with a reminder of who he is and who you are."

Hailstorm!

 Perhaps you have heard by now of the devastating hail storm that hit Colorado Springs last week.

 Jonathan and I woke up suddenly about 11:30 at night with the sound of a roar approaching.

We had heard this sound before out here on the prairie.

It was the sound of approaching hail hitting roofs and vehicles and everything else!

We jumped out of bed, roused the older children to cover their garden plants which were not under hail screens, and watched and listened as hail pounded on our roof.

Jonathan ran out to pick up a couple of the bigger pieces, and I've put them beside an egg to give you an idea how big a few of those hailstones were.

One section of Colorado Springs was hit majorly, including a home where Jonathan's crew had been working. We stopped by that place on our way to camp in the mountains.

Almost every windshield in the area was broken.

We passed through that area a couple days later, and here are two vehicles ahead of us, both with windshields and back windows broken out. 

Jonathan heard or read that there was an area of around 104,000 homes that received hail one inch in diameter or more, and so that means probably that many cars, too.

The side of Jonathan's work trailer parked in that area of town was dented up.

We were so grateful that we only received the tail end of this storm.

Here is the beautiful glow of sunset a few days ago on our way home.