When the Desire Comes, It is a Tree of Life

ASPARAGUS every day = Heaven on Earth

RAIN, Thank You, Jesus

The little cheepers hatched, and we got to watch them break free. 

Jason & A. are the best! They salvaged this gate from a (real) soddy, and brought it to our garden. 

Here is the structure for the kids' "Garden of Giants" they planted.

Tulips and daffodils may have frozen, but the lilacs and phlox are blooming now.  

Pinch yourself; spring is really here.

This is by me... Aiden!

        If I was a weatherman, I would quit. The weather would have my head spinning. First of all, let me just say that I think we skipped spring. Started in winter and BOOM! we hit summer. Prepare to expect weather temperatures up to 90 degrees!!! But keep your coats and long sleeve shirts because it's going to hit a high of 32 by tomorrow. Pants and long sleeve shirt today. Shorts and tank top tomorrow.
       Even the nice days are a little crazy. Makes mowing feel weird. There I am, sweating and puffing away in the hot sun trying to push the 1 ton lawn mower up the hill in our front yard. Suddenly a cloud comes over the sun and it's nice. Now I want to mow forever. Weird. Yesterday was that kind of day. Sunny, cloudy, sunny, cloudy. On, off, on, off.  It was hot yesterday. Looks like it's not going to be as nice as it was yesterday. But then again, with Nebraska weather, it'll probably hit at least 80 today. So I say keep those long sleeve shirts and pants out all summer-you're going to need them.  Gotta stop now- my typewriter's running out of ink.

 

 

                                                   My fatiguing long jump in hot weather



Hope on the Homestead

        Spring is all about hope, and we have been hoping like crazy.  We hope every cloud holds rain. (It doesn't.  It holds snow, but we'll take it.)  We hope grass will grow in the pasture this year.  We hoped to start our first hives of bees.  (They died, tragically, on a semi in a snowstorm.)  We hope our cat doesn't have too many kittens, but we also hope none of them die.  We hoped that the eggs cooking away in the incubator would show signs of life.  (Through a flashlight beam, we saw little embryos swimming around.)  We hope the buffalo don't escape, and that they have babies next year. We hope to plant the garden, whenever it gets warm enough, and we hope the chickens don't destroy it.  We hope to eat our first garden asparagus very, very soon.  

This year A. gets to try some wrestling.

200 Minivans

     Yep, we did.  The kids and I pulled our minivan into the line of 200 others and went to a home school conference.  I thought the kids' favorite part would be the motel pool.  I thought my favorite part would be meeting my friend over lunch.  Instead... every one of my 5 children had a deep, joyful retreat experience at Kids Convention.  They were bubbling with worship songs and quoting scripture for fun.  They made new "best friends":  their leaders, who starred in a 2-day WWII drama.  They beg to go back next year. 

      Meanwhile, I self-consciously donned my name tag, left the coffee in the car (regulations), and slipped into a row of other un-relaxed mothers ready to take notes.  The very first presenter spoke my language with a garden analogy.  He told us that we need to be careful not to get over-zealous in our weeding and thereby wound our little "plant-children."  I was convicted.  Then I got completely hooked when I peeked in the vendor hall and saw floor-to-ceiling bookcases with cloth-bound used books.  New and old books were on every wall waiting to be felt and smelled and hugged.  I was tempted to just disappear in there for the weekend.  Instead, I got out my map and plotted my workshops.  I really enjoyed being taught for a change, and the cherry on top was meeting new people.  Plus, my friend and I shared lunch, two days in a row.  

Here are the bookstore people that inspired me with their display:  Gary and Jan Bloom

Blessed Redeemer

(Thanks, Liz J, for the title.)

Here is the most wonderful time of the year.  My heart overflows with sorrow and thankfulness to my Redeemer Jesus, who endured the cross and came back alive one glorious day.  Jesus, I hug You, I thank You, and I recommit my whole self to You.

The parents aren't supposed to get sick, but we have the past couple of weeks.  Consequently, we haven't celebrated as richly as in other years. But the Truth, and sharing it with children, puts wonder in every day.

We made Hot Cross Buns.

It Would Have Been Enough

We learned a new song for the Passover.  We had our own little Seder, after learning about it in school.

And we are practicing a skit from Clubhouse Magazine for our church's sunrise service

May you have a meaningful and blessed resurrection Day tomorrow. 

Paid Out: What Happens in Good Stories

SIR RICHARD CARLISLE
Who'd've thought it? The cold and careful Lady Mary Crawley. Well, we know better now. I'm surprised you haven't given me some extenuating circumstances.

LADY MARY
I have none. I was foolish, and I was paid out for my folly.

       

          Good stories usually hurt.  When you read them, you identify with the character and beg her to choose rightly because you can see the train wreck coming.  In good stories, words, attitudes, thoughts, and behaviors have consequences.  Have you ever groaned when you've read of Samson giving away his secret by inches to Delilah?  Do you feel like kicking King Rehoboam when he takes his lap of luxury and throws it to the wind?  Do you then remember your own little teeny commits or omits and shudder to think you might have a price to pay?  

           In 2011 and 2012 I read Gone with the Wind, Jane Eyre, and I watched Downton Abbey.  It takes Scarlett until the end of the book to finally be able to see herself for what she really has been.  Together with her, our hearts wrench to think of life we may have wasted.  Lady Mary Crawley understood herself a little sooner than Scarlett, but that might have to do with being a television show.  Heroines from Jane Austen sometimes learn their morals from books and observation, but their moments of personal decision come when they have to sacrifice temporary pleasure for the long term benefit.   Look for both good and bad consequences when you take in stories.  It is a good story when it teaches you a realistic, maybe not politically-correct understanding of righteousness... without preaching.

"I was foolish,
and I was paid out for my folly."
-Lady Mary

It's A Family Thing

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES, Y'ALL