Through the Eyes of Love

"I thought about the whole notion of "reproduction," and what it really means to replicate yourself. Is it merely about the passing on of eyes and chins and hair color? Or is it, rather, the replication of the heart? Do we leave a bigger mark by passing on our genes, or our thoughts?"

~ Shannon Woodward, author of

Inconceivable: Finding Peace in the Midst of Infertility ~

We arrived late for worship service yesterday...nothing new for us, we drive 25 miles to get to church and sometimes it just takes a few minutes longer to get there...we were greeted by beautiful music and a congregation worshipping with their voices.

We haven't been attending this fellowship for very many months and are still getting used to the style, the new faces, a different style of preaching etc etc. There are so so many young families...what a blessing! When the children are excused for children's church there is a mass exodus of children...almost a quarter of the congregation is in grade 5 or under...isn't that wonderful?!?! Being typical grandparents we love to watch as they rush up the aisles, smiling and buzzing with excitement. WOW! our hearts just fill with the potential that this next generation has to offer.

Anyway...back to arriving late...we sat about 2/3 of the way towards the back, there were plenty of empty seats behind us and some infront of us as well (the church is in an old movie theater that has been remodeled but the theater seats are still there, it is wonderful!). Shortly after we arrived a young daddy worked his way into the row ahead of us carrying an infant seat with a precious baby inside (4-5 wks old??). Baby was sound asleep. This daddy unfastened the baby and gently lifted him out, craddling him in his arms, wrapping a blanket around this bundle of love. For the next 5 or so minutes this daddy sang his heart out ~ never once taking his eyes off this child, this gift. A few minutes later, maybe 6-8 minutes....enter momma...daddy gently handed the gift to momma who also joined in with the congregational singing, and like daddy she did not take her eyes off this precious bundle.

Ed and I both were transfixed by the love, devotion and commitment these two parents were displaying. (ok, yes I will confess, we were both overwhelmed with emotion and each shed a few tears). Baby slept through most of the service. Daddy held an open Bible. Momma held the baby. Only two times did we see either parent take their eyes off that baby. (I know because I could not take my eyes off of them!)

A few minutes before the service was over baby started to wake, squirming around a bit, making those precious squeaky noises that only a newborn can make. Daddy closed his Bible, put his arm around momma's shoulders and both gazed at that baby. When baby finally opened his eyes, the parents moved as if one leaning closer to his face. Their faces were the first faces he saw.

I felt as if I had attended two separate, and yet totally connected, worship services.

Parents, train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it.

~~~ Proverbs 22:6~~~

Doing the Can-Can

We hit the ground running, my sister, Ed and I....and this is what we accomplished in a 24 hr period of time:

Tuna

62 half pints and 32 pints

Salsa

18 quarts and 1 pint

Garlic Jelly

23 jelly jars and 3 half pints

Sweet Hot Mustard

8 half pints

We also managed to peel a half bag of garlic...not much but we were hopping in the kitchen and only took short breaks in the yard to peel the garlic while we were waiting for a canner to finish or for the salsa to cook down.

This is how the garlic...a whole lotta garlic...arrived, on the top of her car, they had a 5 hr drive and did not want to smell it the whole way. Ed will be peeling garlic for days, maybe weeks...pickled garlic, minced garlic and garlic oil will be showing up in each of our pantry's.

Not sure how we fit in all that we did but we made these cell phone charms during a "down time"...you know, I think we had more than 24 hrs because there was no way to have done all that we did in just one day. Cell phone charms...what will they think of next? To be honest, I like adding a bit of my own personalilyt ot anything that is a must in my life and for me a cell phone is a must.

And the rest of the story...tuna, salsa, garlic jelly, mustard, great time with my sister ~ both the laughter and the tears, towels that stink, hands that stink, a floor that would not pass a health inspectors visit, yellow jackets swarming, cats begging, hot flashes, POP POP POP as jars would seal, I would not trade a single moment of our day for anything! I love you sissy!

MacKenzie....

this made me laugh and think of you!!

I love you Macaroni, wish you were here.

Just Do It, Just Say Thanks

My niece-in-law sent this to me and I think it is worth sharing...

What a wonderful opportunity! Xerox will print and send a postcard of your choosing to a solider serving overseas. All you need to do is pick which artwork (all done by children), add your name and hometown, click send and it will be on its way. FREE...there is no charge, no need to offer up your email address nor your home address. Such an easy way to say Thanks! Just click on the graphic and you will be taken to the Let's Say Thanks home page.

Getting There

My dear hubby is recovering from surgery. A few months ago his back started bothering him almost non-stop and then his leg started giving him fits. Long story short, he had an MRI only to discover his L-5 had broken and a floating piece was rubbing against his syatic nerve.

During his surgery it was discovered that L-2, 3, and 4 were also badly damaged. So, an expected 3 hr surgery turned into an almost 7 hr surgery. He now has a rod implanted in his back (which is what they do now rather than fusing like my dad had).

Our son, Ryan, came home at the drop of a hat ~ driving 13 hrs straight to get here to help in anyway he could. We are so grateful for his willingness to support us in this way. He spent alot of time with my mom - freeing up my time to be with Ed, work, or deal with whatever things that needed to be dealt with~like taking a long afternoon nap one day. Ryan also dug up an area of the yard that we needed to have river rock put in, which he hauled and spread as well. Before he left he washed all the vehicles (2 vans, a jeep and his Honda) and vaccumed out the Jeep and his Honda. Thank you son...you were and are a big help to us!!!

Our daughter-in-law, Naomi, along with our 2 youngest grandchildren (Madelyn and Jason) will be here on Saturday to help for a week. Naomi decided to come down to help with the day to day things that Ed is not be able to do for himself. She is a good cook and already has meals planned ~~ BONUS!! Of course we will enjoy having the babies here for a while as well. We just don't see them often enough.

In the mean time our kids here in town have been stopping by and calling with all sorts of help. It is so nice to be loved and cared for.

Ed is home and healing, we were given a timeline for his healing...at least what to expect in an approximate amount of time. 3-4 months until he is back to a somewhat normal life. I am so thankful that this took place during the nice weather so he can be out on the deck for now and as soon as he can tackle 3 steps he can be in the yard enjoying our beautiful garden and the Koi pond that he has worked so on. (rather than get well flowers Ryan and I got him 2 new Koi - very pretty ones!).

Blessings in our lifes:

Successful surgery
Safe travel
Loving, caring people
Phone calls from family and friends far away
A sense of humor
Warm weather
Beautiful yard
An entertaining cat
and Pain meds *¿*

"There are two kinds of people:
those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,'
and those to whom God says,
'All right, then, have it your way.'"
~ C.S. Lewis ~

I can only find one word to express what I feel when I read this quote:

Consequences

No matter what we choose to do, say, be...no matter where we choose to go...no matter what we spend our spare time (??what is that??) doing...how we spend our paychecks, there will always be consequences. Not all consequences are bad, but when we choose to "have it our own way" we are missing the blessings of the wonderful consequences that "His way" would have provided.