Hello Again

Can it be this many months since I have shared my heart with you...Yes time has in some ways dragged by and then it has also moved so fast I couldn't catch up with the threads of a day as they seemed to slip through my fingers. These last four or five months were shattered by the illness and death of my very best friend, whom I met in the early 1980 when we were both raising black wool sheep. We had met by a phone call placed by me the day I received my Natural Colored Wool Growers Assoc. booklet that I had just gotten in the mail box that day...I had thumbed through and found another farm just about a mile and a half from my farm... I had called her to ask if I could meet her and she invited me right over...I jumped in my old orange pick up and drove the short distance between us and found she had beautiful sheep and young lambs too...We were both eager to share the beauty of our individual flocks and the fine quality of the wool they produced. She called her "girls" into the low shed barn, calling sweet nothings, rattling a can of grain to entice them to come close, for they were afraid of me, a stranger standing beside her and they wouldn't come. So I enjoyed their beauty from afar. I asked her if she would like to see my flock and she agreed. We both traveled in my truck and I took her to my farm yard and rattled the can of grain, calling my "girls" by name and they each brought their lambs and dutifully went into their stalls as if they were robots following some uncanny magnet to arrive at their assigned place in the barn...We both laughed and she said to me "I think I hate you"...how can your sheep be so obedient? Well neither of us never knew how that happened for it never happened again for me...But that was the day I met Delores and we were friends from that day forward...I purchused a spinning wheel like hers, thinking that if I had a wheel like that I could spin like she did. She did teach me how to spin and in some ways the yarn I spin does look simular to the yarn she spun, but spinning is something like making potato salad...Giving 5 recipes out to 5 different gals will provid 5 different flavors, because no one does things exactly alike...We had many things in commen which caused our bond to be stronger year by year. We started Sierra Shepherds together in 1983 which included all the farm families in the area that belonged to the Natural Colored Sheep Growers Assoc...Kind of a Placer County chaper...We were at the local fairs, winning prizes and earning enough as a group to attend with a beautiful booth at the Spinners and Weavers Conferences that came about once per year...We were very visiable and did as a group much more than we could have ever done as a single farm enity...As the years brought on a more quiet life style and the selling of our flocks we had grown in friendship to be like sisters. Then one day the Doctor gave her the tragic news that she was filled with cancer and after Chemo and radiation, things took a turn for the worse...We planned her funeral together and it was my privilege to honor that request to faithfully fulfill the plans we had made. So part of me has been made numb by her loss. Part of me rejoices in the knowledge that she suffers no more and I can bask in the promises of our Shephed that we both loved, that He will take us through the valley of the shadow of death, and I will fear no evil . Psalms 23 The promise of God's holy word gives me hope and courage for the future..."I can tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not rise to meeti him ahead of those who are in their graves. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the call of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, all the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever, so comfort and encourage each other with these words." 1Thessalonians 4:15-18

It's Been a Long Time

Wow, what a long time it's been since I sat here to share the thoughts of my heart. It is now September and time is continuing to fly at a pace I've never experienced before. Wonder if it is my age? Could be, but I have suffered with a bad back that has caused much pain down the back of my leg for several months and have just recently begun to seek medical help. The Physical Therapist is wonderful and makes me feel as good as new for several hours, making it possible to stop at the grocery store en route to home to pick up the items necessary for daily living. So here I sit hoping that the sitting won't cause more pain when I stand up. Speaking of hope, it is wonderful to know that the hope of my grand daughter and her husband was realized in the birth of their healthy and beautiful baby daughter. We all share in the hope of her living a life filled with hope for others well fare, as she matures into the person God has created her to be. We will travel to her dedication to the Lord this next Sabbath. What a joy it will be to see her for the first time and hold her close to my body giving her Great Grammy hugs and kisses. Oh the love we have for the newborns in our families, and our church families as well...Praise be to God. "And now these three things remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Cor 13 (last part)

The Anniversary Present

June is gone forever...We celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary yesterday, signing up to leave for a 14 day cruise to Alaska...The trip starts the sixth of July...Are we ready for a time away from home...My dear husband today, has been told he must have a major surgery when we return...Maybe it is good to get away and see the beauty of God's creative handiwork in the far reaches of the north country's different ports of call...To reminisce of how great our God is...That everything is in His hand and he reigns supremely over good times and bad...For my God is good in what ever times we find ourselves in...So dear reader my prayer for you is that no matter where your life path leads, you will look up and find a gentle Shepherd looking in your eyes, giving assurance that He will lift you up if you need to be carried until the journey ends. Praises for knowledge that we are the sheep of His pasture.

Plain Wrapping

Time has flown it seems faster than usual...Busy with spring activities that come bunched up in everyday life...Sometimes with no ribbons or bows tucked round the day. Just plain wrappings will have to do for most hours of my life recently...The very hot weather has made me long for the coolness of the past several weeks, where all the roses were happy in their opening of fresh buds of color and grandeur...The bird bath however is still being sought after by a variety of winged creatures including the birds...And of course the feeders are emptied every other day by birds of song and rivalry...The hummers almost touch my face with delight when I come to refill their sweet red water...The baskets full of cascading flowers hang from tree limb or other metal crooks that make the "bird sanctuary" so lovely to behold as I spend my morning worship time outdoors on the cooler mornings...praises to our Lord who gives us seasons in our life as well...Today seemed like a hot dry spell...Needing much water of the Spirit to refresh me from wilting in the heat of the day...Both spiritually and physically...Tonight I do feel nourished and my droopy edges have been uplifted by God's grace...Praises and thanksgiving ascend even in a brown paper day...

Coincidence

The pondering for many days had been in how I want to re-vamp my cook book and how to go about it...The jotting down in my journal all the things I'd like to see in print have been whirling around in my brain for many days...Then I wrote it all down again, the very next day I was in one of our Big Box stores in the area perusing through the books and there before my eyes was the concept...Printed, finished, completed with however some minor details, it wasn't my work nor did it feature what I had tended to think was the theme I had wanted to celebrate...Was this a coincidence or was the Lord seeking to speak to me in words of assurance that the idea was timely and perfect for the market now for cook book sales and reader interest...Wow. was I ever amazed, pleased and challenged to continue to seek the path that I had thought was the right one laid out before me...What an affirmation...Now the hard work begins...Doing it! So my prayer is that I will be able to allow the Lord to complete the work He has before me...There is a song, built on a text of scripture... "He who began a good work in you, is able to complete it..." Paraphrase of Philippians 1:6 So the work begins.

Before the Day Ends

Time is fast fading into a new month called April...A month that brings showers and delightful hues in the colors of display from flowers, trees buds unfurling in all their beauty and fresh spring green on the black oak leaves to begin a canopy over my walking path. Even the pine needles are fragrant and bright green. The lawns smell good after being mowed, the weeds send out a sweet aroma after the mower runs a path to walk on...Spring is here... Just returned from a wonderful Prayer Retreat up in the mountains. The time spent there was refreshing and precious to my soul. Visiting with old friends and new. Praying together for mutual needs and concerns...Reaching out to those who were hurting. Using James 5:13 and onward as a format to pray with and for others and the same in return to nurture and help heal the broken places in our souls...Praises for a new and glorious day with sunshine, clear blue sky...Help me remember before the day ends that I will continue to praise you no matter what happens, for I have just come from a mountain top experience back to the low-lands of life, and the troubles have come already...I will keep looking up to Jesus and not be dissuaded by what I see around me...Praise His name forever...

It's Been A While

Wow, it has been several months since I've been able to be on my blog...Travel, commitments, house guests and a failure to remember how to connect with my password and other small matters have kept me from a weekly visit...Thankfully it is nice to be home, sharing news and views and a slice of life from my pasture. Just returned from a delightful short visit with two of my grand-girls. One had flown with her husband and young daughter from Texas, the other had flown from Oregon for a gathering of family and friends...Delightful moments to cherish and remember with photos from the newish camera that we purchased to take pictures when we went to the Galapagos Islands. We went there on a mission trip to help build a school for the many children who live on San Christabel Island. It is almost the end of March and the spring flowers are blooming in the yard and buds in the trees and on a wooded path where a previous neighbor had planted daffodils. Their bright yellow bonnets made me smile as I walked past on my morning walks with Grayson who is still growing at 15 months. The new tulip tree which has the most beautiful pink buds and blossoms was brought home from the nursery today and our yard man will plant it on his next visit. The spring green of the black oak trees is almost golden in the glow of the early morning sunlight. Wonderful to be alive and bask in the beauty of the freshness of the season change from winter to spring...And of course we just celebrated in music and scripture the beauty and thankfulness of the resurrection morning...It has been awhile for some who haven't been committed followers of Jesus...Praise our Lord that He welcomes us back the minute we turn toward Him. The free offer of mercy is given to all as found in Isaiah 55:1-3 "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money;come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money, and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and labor for that which satisfieth not? harken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me, hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." (KJV) Oh Jesus, I come to Thee, for it has been a while.