Lawyer in the Family--My Sister's Son-in-Law

I never dreamed I would have a niece whose husband was a lawyer. 

But after years of study and hard work, my older sister Dorcas's son-in-law Sam, originally from Michigan, was sworn in by the Christian attorney general of Alabama. Thank God for another Christian lawyer!

I am in touch with my sister Dorcas a lot. We have done so many things together--grown up together, sung together, left home pretty much together, got married only a couple years apart, then we expected one baby after another together!

We were separated by distance a lot, but we stayed close by writing letters, cards, or emails often and sending photos.

Through the years we've suffered together, rejoiced together, talked to each other on the phone a lot, especially lately. 

The cup above is a gift she sent me in the mail, in front of a bouquet of roses Tasbah Lavery brought by one day.

Dorcas sent these photos of spring at her home.  

Daffodils and redbuds were blooming! 

And oh, my heart! What a beauty!

I'm grateful for the beauty my sister Dorcas has brought into my life, and for her example of her simple faith in God. 

Even when very difficult circumstances struck their family over and over, she leaned hard on the Lord. 

God, bless my dear sister Dorcas and her family, 

and no matter what happens,  keep them and us all ever in Your care!

Danny--Right Hand Man

Danny has been working full time with his dad, such as this electrical job, putting in an outlet of some kind so in cold weather vehicles can be plugged in by the pole.

At home he cut the rebar so we could finally get our railing up by our stairs.  

 

He was doing that early in the morning before it was even very light outside, 

while his dad was giving instructions and putting on his socks for the day!

 Working projects like these requires leveling, straightening, making sure things are not crooked and off balance.

Jesus once found a problem with crookedness.

It was a lady who was all bent over, I read yesterday, who "could in no wise lift herself up."

What I find charming about the heart of the Lord is that He doesn't like it when He sees someone who is crooked and bent, and He does something about it.

The religious leaders of the synagogue and of the day were about to have a fit about Jesus straightening something bent on the Sabbath Day but He did it anyway. 

"Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound--think of it--for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?"

Jesus loosed her from her bondage, straightened her body and back, and balanced her hormones and emotions all in one touch. 

There wasn't a thing crooked, bent, bound, or out of balance in that lady's body!

My prayer for the last two mornings as I have meditated on this beautiful story is , "Jesus, restore and straighten whatever is crooked or out of whack...

in myself, my family, my children, and others." 

He straightens crooked paths.

He straightens crooked backs.

He straightens crooked hearts. 

And He loves to do it!

Meadowlark Mornings--Trusting When You Don't Know What to Do

Last week it was so warm one morning that I went outside to fold laundry--just so I could be in the sunshine and fresh air--

and so I could listen to the meadowlarks. Last spring when we were making trips up here and camping out in the RV, I'd hear the meadowlarks all the time.  That was one blessing of living in a cramped RV!

So I pretended to be camping again. 

Because sometimes you just need to get outside, away from the counter full of meds and concoctions and powders and supplements and all the work staring in the face--

just go fold laundry outside and croon to the chickens.

Go out where the goats are setting off to find the newest green grass. 

And then in the evening, go outside again, walking up the driveway, watching the beautiful South Dakota sunset.

Tonight it's Sunday, and it's late and I can't sleep. 

I wish I could just sit all day and listen to meadowlarks, but the clinic in Arizona is contacting me about doctor visits and check ups, 

and it's obvious the cancer is not going away.

I remember different times in my life when God specifically spoke to my heart and led me in certain directions,

or specifically gave me perfect peace about something I was doing.

But this cancer has left me over and over feeling as if I just simply don't know what to do. 

Especially when the doctors at the clinic which had been so helpful sent me off last time telling me that if I believed, my cancer would go away and I wouldn't need to use those herbs I was thinking to start using. 

I don't suppose I would need the clinic's drugs or checkups or their recommended diet, either. 

If I just believed.

I can't sleep tonight, and I went out to the livingroom and knelt by a chair.

Dear God, I don't know what to do. I wish You would just tell me, like a Doctor, what to do. 

Instead, the words that come to mind are, "Can you trust God even when you don't know what to do?"

Can I trust God with all the uncertainty, the not knowing, the rather crazy things doctors say who also don't know exactly what the next step should be either?   

Are more drugs necessary, or just diet and supplements, stronger herbs, and protocol, etc. ? Will patience do the trick?

What does trusting God look like?

What does believing look like?

Pretending I don't have cancer?

Living in denial?

Doing nothing?

Going ahead and eating that iced doughnut and sausage and angel food cake?

Doing all I can and trusting God to do what I can't--or trusting Him to do it all? 

I don't know.

Honeymooners Show Up!

Last week we had some delightful company--my niece Susanna and her new husband Daniel on their way home from honeymooning at Grand Teton National Park! 

It was great incentive to get more work done in the basement bedrooms and bathroom. How we did enjoy having company around our table and to hear Daniel's fascinating tales of working two times, three months in all, at a refugee camp in Greece! 

But even on days when company comes, I try to take a little time to keep my writing projects moving. After months of editing and correcting various issues in my new book Lemons in January: True Missionary Adventures in Honduras, the manuscript is finally at the printer.

Lydia Kunselman, who works at the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Church office, helped a lot with revisions and corrections because she was ordering the book for distribution to the Women's Missionary Societies in the churches. We were both going over and over various spots in the book--going through first one proof and then a second, while my nephew Ezra patiently ordered the proofs for us. The books need to be in hand by conference time later this year.

One thing I've learned while getting one book after another published--

even if all you can do is take one step a day toward your goal, you can accomplish that goal!  

 There were many days I didn't even do one thing or make even one edit. I was too busy, or having to take care of my physical issues, or traveling maybe, or Jonathan had the laptop, on which was the publishing software. I've been trying to unpack or organize or clean at least a little a day to get settled in as Jonathan and Danny little by little finish details about the house and basement. 

It's been nearly a year, I suppose, since I ironed hankies for Jonathan, who has this little quirk that he likes his hankies ironed. 

(And I love to iron them for him! It's such a simple little job that tells him I love him.)

Oh, wait. Maybe I ironed them once or twice in Arizona when I was down there for cancer treatment! :)

 

There will always be cleaning to do, cooking to do, and ministry.

But stories, if not written down, can be lost. After finishing Lemons in January, the story of my school year adventures in Honduras in 1991-1992, I was reminded of the trip my brother Elon and I made to China in 1989. 

Both he and I kept detailed journals in small notebooks while we were there. One day recently I read through my journal and wrote down no less than 22 chapter titles.

God worked one miracle after another. 

Wonderful things happened.

Strange things happened.

Terrible things happened.

Frightening things happened.

There was a mad dash for freedom--and God brought us safely home. 

I believe God wants me to write about it.

Just one chapter at a time.

One page at a time. 

Until there is a new book once again. 

The Big Sixty--and the Big Mistake

Saturday evening there was a birthday party for Judy Sherman, fellow missionary under SIM, who is turning the big 60.

 

Jonathan and I decided to go a few hours early to Winner to take the last piece of countertop which had accidentally been left up in Pierre when the other parts of the order had been picked up. 

We wanted "to kill two birds with one stone," as the proverb goes, so Jonathan decided to put in the rest of the counter top for the Sherman family in Winner in mid afternoon before the party. 

There was just one problem. 

Jonathan made a mistake. He cut the hole too big for the sink! 

He doesn't usually make mistakes like that. He is very careful and skilled with measurements. I don't know how that happened...

Had I been the one doing the work, I would have died.  

Or nearly died.

I would have panicked and beaten myself up and said and done dramatic things. 

Fortunately Jonathan isn't like that.

That's why he was asked to be the maintenance director instead of me for SIM.  :) :)

Jonathan figured out that the sink had a good lip all the way around, and if he positioned it just right on the hole, there would only be a tiny sliver of space between the sink and the counter in the back. The front and sides would be fine.  

"Someone I know," Jonathan said, "used to say, "It just takes a little putty and paint to make something what it ain't!" 

By the time Jonathan left, the mistake was all fixed up nicely and the Shermans have their new counter. 

No panic

or dramatics

or anyone beating anyone up, not even oneself.

Because a little stretching and caulk and careful positioning turned the big mistake into something not so terrible after all.  

Rattlesnake Den--where?

 One Sunday after our noon fellowship meal at Lakota Chapel, Danny wanted to check out a spot a mile out of town called Rattlesnake Cemetery.

That's not the real name of the place, but a sort of nickname because there is a rattlesnake den near it. We had heard that if a person can catch a rattlesnake live, a place like Reptile Gardens might pay up to $1000 for it to show in their aquarium. Or the SD Department of Health might also pay big money for a live rattlesnake for its venom which can be milked and turned into anti-venom. 

Since Danny had already successfully captured a rattlesnake last year, he is contemplating trying again this year, especially since our pastor knows some men who used to trap rattlesnakes and sell them. He is putting Danny in touch with them.

We managed to take the right dirt lane and found the cemetery, around which we began to explore. 

Just where was the rattlesnake den?

A native friend of mine goes every year to place flowers at one or more of the graves, but she is always very careful and hopes someone has mowed it before she comes.  We enjoyed the snowy scene of the river before us, and after some exploration, we are quite sure we found where the rattlesnake den is. 

Despite it being winter weather, we still paid close attention to where we walked just in case an earlybird rattlesnake had decided to sun itself!

We also decided to explore the cemetery where we were fascinated with all the native names.  

Moses Four Hand--if that name doesn't intrigue a person! 

Rosie Yellow Eyes 

Brave Bear--an Indian Scout from Nebraska

Joseph Six Toes

White Thunder 

Samuel Rattling Leaf

Sallie Lodge Skin 

Melvin Dog Eye

It was just so fascinating.  

Spotted Elk--another Indian scout. 

Fred Fast Horse

I closed the gate of the cemetery as we left. 

A rabbit Danny had seen by a post on the way in was still hiding there, perfectly camouflaged. 

And of all things, on the very same day that we were hunting for the rattlesnake den, Sam had been out and about on state trust land and discovered this waterhole with countless snakes in it! He sent us this picture.

If that wasn't crazy or what?

Despite not finding any rattlesnakes in February, we enjoyed a Sunday outing and discovering a wee spot of red--an old rose hips in the middle of the yucca cactus here in South Dakota.