Last Flowers of Summer--and Hostages Released!

Today, even as dozens of the last of summer's flowers from our gardens adorn our table, we rejoice with Israel in the release of twenty Israeli hostages. 

Crystal and I, after doing our morning work including chopping dozens of peppers grown in our garden to freeze and filling the dehydrator with sliced apples, watched some of the news videos of the cheering in the streets of Tel Aviv, the emotional reunions of families with released hostages, and part of Trump's speech at the Knesset--including the sudden interruption that was speedily quelled by the escorting out of the protestor.

And Trump, whose face screwed into a most interesting look, leaving me wondering what on earth he was going to say, responded after the incident simply with, "Well, that was efficient!"

I loved how he praised the responders to the incident instead of saying something about himself, and how he also at the beginning of the speech gave credit to others involved in brokering the peace deal.

I am not holding my breath about whether Hamas will keep any of the rest of their part of the deal. I don't trust a one of them. If I were Trump, I wouldn't trust them a bit.

Yet at the same time, Trump has accomplished a lot by simply saying what he means, and meaning what he says. 

He actually means business the way parents are supposed to do when telling their child what to do or not.

Those who mean business and talk straight can accomplish a lot.

That includes parents.

It includes politicians.

It includes all of us.

As Theodore Roosevelt said, "Speak softly, but carry a big stick."

This phrase, according to google, became synonymous with a foreign policy approach known as "big stick diplomacy," emphasizing negotiation backed by military strength.

Trump, it seems to me, is using the type of policy, and it is working.

Tim's Bear and Harvest of Flowers

 September was our family's "Bag a Bear Month." 

Both Carrie and Tim got another bear this year! Carrie has bagged at least three now, and Tim at least two.

Bear hunting is a diversion from his daily job of driving a logging truck. 

But when he sees a sunrise like this one as the backdrop to the machine loading his truck, one has to admit this is not the worst kind of job in the world!

It reminds one of the truth Danny routed into a woodburned sign for Tasbah Lavery for her Outdoor Kamp theme for the next year for her kids' class.

"How Great Is Our God!"

Danny is also the one to work on roofs, 

in crawl spaces, on barns, and inside community halls where he is today in Winner with Jonathan. 

At home, the girls and I work on preserving some of the harvest from our gardens.

Pumpkins were brought in yesterday as a frost is expected this weekend.

"Between the Prayer and the Answer"

Have you ever wondered what God does between your prayer and His answer that may seem to never be coming? This beautiful song, with words by Janice L. Crow as sung by the Lefevre Quartet, I ran across recently. It inspires my faith.

"Friend, do you wonder what the Lord does

While you′re praying hard and still waiting?

Has He forgotten what's going on?

Does He know your poor heart is breaking?

Oh, I′ve learned the truth

And my life's the proof

Yes, I know what God did for me

I've been in your place

Now through eyes of faith, I can see

chorus

God′s building bridges and tearing down walls

Lifting His children whenever one falls

He′s turning rivers of tears back into laughter

He's mending fences, He′s changing minds

I've seen Him do it time after time

He′s speaking peace to a storm because He's the master

Yes, that′s what God does between the prayer and the answer

Don't be discouraged, God's on your side

Though He may not come in a hurry

Friend, He′s on His way, and He′ll get there in time

And prove there's no reason to worry

Oh, there′s never been one dark moment when you haven't been there on His mind

And I have no doubt, He′s working it out and you'll find

chorus

God′s building bridges and tearing down walls

Lifting His children whenever one falls

He's turning rivers of tears back into laughter

He's mending fences, He′s changing minds

I′ve seen Him do it time after time

He's speaking peace to a storm because He′s the master

Oh, that's what God does between the prayer and the answer.

When Water Cuts Through Rock--Persistence in God's Will

Last week when we took a family day to Black Hills, we had heard there was a trail to somewhere called Community Caves. 

The trail was off Spearfish Canyon Road near mile marker 13. Well, we never did see mile marker 13, but we found 14. So we had to turn around and find what looked like the parking area by the road that was pictured online. There was no sign of anything to guide us. We would have to follow our noses.

One of the first things we had to do was find a way across the wide Spearfish Creek. Danny went first, discovering all the rocks that were tippy and warning the rest of us which ones. Jonathan's nose was telling him the trail we needed to follow was to the left next, up through a sort of valley.

Danny found one branch or fallen tree after another to swing from.

And fall from.

We discovered wild grapes which when Danny tasted, he promptly spit out. 

I hadn't been sure I could make it, but somehow, I managed to keep following the younger bunch until I made it all the way to the caves.

A very interesting place that reminded us of a cave spot we once explored in Castlewood Canyon in Colorado. Only this one was quite a bit more mystical and ghostly with numerous hollow rooms, one of which Danny hid in before some of us arrived.

He also discovered a hollow that could only be accessed by climbing up somehow, with gorgeous crystals on the ceiling of it. 

A stream was flowing down from the top of the caves, sprinkling anyone below, and then trickling down the mountainside to the creek at the bottom that we had crossed on our way up. I am as enchanted at a rivulet of clear, flowing water trickling down between rocks and under fallen yellow leaves as I am at the mighty ocean.

God is as much a God of the amazing small things as the God of the big and mighty.

Down at Spearfish Canyon Falls, there was a plaque that read, "Water cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence."

O mighty God, Who Yourself are a Rock for us when we need a Refuge, yet the God who melts the hearts of stone until they are a soft, new heart,

grant us the persistence to keep doing Your will,

until the rocks in the way of Your will being done on earth as it is in heaven

have given way

to the River of the Water of Life, ever flowing for us who believe!

When Government Shuts Down, God Shines Through

Yesterday, while the Democrats had another tantrum about not getting their way and our glorious government shut down, God's sunshine was still warming the air in Black Hills, and Spearfish Creek was still flowing in a water fall.

Jonathan decided we had this one chance to take a family day to hike at Spearfish Canyon the other side of Rapid City before snow was forecast to fall this coming weekend.

l

It was a gloriously beautiful day, complete with numerous spots glowing with golden aspen. Following God's call to South Dakota did not mean we had to say goodbye forever to golden aspen or mountain beauty!

Danny climbed up various trees or fallen logs.

While back in our home town, the U.S. Department of Agriculture building was closed due to the shutdown,

our family reveled in God's goodness and faithfulness and the beauty of His creation. God never shuts down His mercies or stops the sun from shining or the seasons from cycling.

I managed to make two separate hikes with the family, one up a valley to Community Caves (see next post soon) and one down to Spearfish Canyon Falls. These photos were taken on that hike. 

Is there much of anything more beautiful than a stream gushing between banks dressed with autumn foliage?

A monster buffalo stood near the road as we traversed Needles Highway through Custer State Park,

scratching his back on the branch above him.

Snowy white mountain goat mama and baby caused a traffic jam on Needles Highway.

And from the road further along, I spotted a herd of mountain sheep which we turned aside to see. As we drove through the campground, we saw more and more sheep trotting in from their daytime resting places, until there were literally dozens of mountain sheep invading the campground, nosing up to picnic tables and vehicles. This mambo ram ended up within a yard of my door window!

I treasure these beautiful, happy times with my family, making memories and being grateful for the strength to enjoy this day!

****

If you want to know my beliefs about the government shutdown, I feel Liberty Counsel Action explains it well.

 "If Congress expands this subsidy (and makes it permanent) as Democrats are demanding through the shutdown, it will expand the number of people enrolled in subsidized insurance plans, with a single payment, that includes abortion coverage. This is the real reason Democrats are wailing for so-called “health care,” but in reality, it is “death care” they are demanding! 

Democrats have submitted a “Counterfeit Resolution,” and what it includes is disturbing. Their plan does all the following:

• Removes work requirements for able-bodied adults on taxpayer-funded health programs.

• Rescinds border security measures and construction of a wall.

• Provides free health care for illegal aliens.

• Oddly enough, it repeals 50 billion dollars for rural health care, hurting hospitals and clinics in vulnerable, low-population communities.

• Instead, it resumes racist DEI pet projects in foreign countries.

• Props up liberal news programs like NPR.

• Demands wasteful Green New Deal grants.

• Usurps the president’s authority over emergency funds and the ability to make agile decisions while locking in Biden-era grants.

• Adds an additional 1.5 trillion in new spending!

Each one of these points is a radical wish-list item that harms people.

The fight isn’t just over “keeping the lights on.” 

In case there are readers who only see the liberal media, the above tells you more of why those government officials who want what is right for our country are refusing to budge.

Today I just pray for our nation.

If we can add fasting to our prayers, let us do so. 

While my family are all at work, I lift my heart and hands to God in prayer for our nation, for the world, for the suffering, for those who are being persecuted for righteousness' sake.

My small prayers for big burdens and many people are not lost on a big God. 

Never Alone, for the Goat is With Me!

 "I'm all alone now," a lady told me today at White River Care Center where I had gone to visit as I've tried to do every Tuesday until my friend Beaver passed away two weeks ago.

 "I lost my mother, my father, my uncle, my aunts, my brother, my sisters. I'm the only one left." 

She's one of the reasons I went back to visit even though Beaver is no longer there. Others are there--most of whom feel very alone. They don't have a family to be with like I do.  

I put together five vases of flowers from our flower gardens to give to residents there.

 

They don't get to enjoy all the children going camping together as we did a month ago. At the care center, no one had signed the guest registry between our family coming in Sunday and my going today. No one--for the dozens of residents.  

 

It's a tough feeling--being the only "elder" left in the family, as they call them on the reservation.  The same lady has seven living children, with three having gone on before her, she said. And there I was, a lady who was trying to come in and be a friend--just so she wouldn't have to walk this path alone. 

 

Yet there are times when even those of us in families feel alone. 

 We may feel alone as we walk a path that those around us cannot share--a path of cancer or grief or other personal trouble. 

An acquaintance in Pennsylvania is walking a very lonely cancer journey right now--the whole family suffering along with her. 

 

There are also times, on the other hand, that we wish to be alone actually, such as when I walk to the mailbox and wish that I could go alone, but no, the goats must follow me all the way to the highway and beyond, if I can't get far ahead fast enough! 

"I am never alone!" I laughed to my girls one day, "for the goat is with me!"

I get a kick out of the goats continually and exasperatingly following me on my walk down the driveway--nibbling the tiptops of all manner of weeds and flowers along the way. 

I don't usually mind. They like to be with me, and as long as I don't need to walk all the way up the highway to the mailbox, I don't mind.

I'm thankful for companionship--especially the kind that brings smiles and joy.

And no matter what path I walk,

I am never alone, for my God is with me.