Wow! I haven’t posted on here in forever!
But, I just read it’s shutting down on July 15th!!
I’d like to connect with some of you elsewhere…
maybe Facebook???

Well, I guess Xanga is trying to resurrect in a new form….not sure I grasp it all, but here’s the scoop: http://thexangateam.xanga.com/773587240/relaunching-xanga-a-fundraiser/

How are you, my dear Xanga friends? We’ve had a little taste of winter here. Really, compared to many places, it truly is just a nibble. But, it’s been very pretty.

~~~~~~~~

I fell like I’m still so much in transition here. Wondering when will I reach another side to it? Is there another side to it, or maybe not? Things continually change until the day we are done, I suppose. During some seasons, the flux is just a little more obvious.

We moved here nearly 2 & 1/2 years ago, and yet in many ways it just seems like it happened only yesterday. Still forging new relationships and connections. (They are good and I’m very grateful for them.) I miss my older children terribly. I’m still adjusting to not homeschooling much anymore. (So now, who am I and what do I want to be when I grow up?) Still getting used to the fact that my two youngest are soon going to likewise be out on their own. And of course, there’s the issue of Rob’s job changes. He’s been looking for work for almost 3 months now. We’re still not sure what God has for him yet, or what further changes it will bring. So there are still so many transitions, so many uncertainties.
I continually need to entrust it all – especially my own heart – to Jesus.

“When God speaks to you
The most important thing is not what He says
But that He is saying it –
That He is saying it to you….
That He is there
That something exists beyond this vale of tears
That He cares enough about you to talk with you
That you are safe within His arms
That He loves you dearly
That all is right after all….”

~ WC Ringenberg

“In the morning…I…watch and wait for You to speak to my heart.” Ps 5:3

I don’t know about you and what you are facing – but, me…I’m listening intently,
and will continue to do so.

I know I’ve fallen off the face of Xanga-Earth. Besides being busy with weddings….and trips…and just life, (including encouraging my unemployed husband!), I’ve been down with a sinus infection of late…. I feel like I’ve been living the life of a slug for weeks now.

I do miss keeping up with all of you.

Here’s what kept us busy over the fall:



(I made her dress. The wedding was in Texas.)



Such happiness.

God is good, and faithful, and always to be thanked.
(Even when you feel like a slug!)

Blessings to you, friends – and
have a Blessed and Merry Christmas!

I’m still working my way through the photos of our trip back east, for our son’s wedding.





It was all such a gift of grace. Now we are prepping for our daughter’s wedding
in less than a month. What an amazing season of life this is for all of us.

“It’s all a matter of keeping my eyes open. Beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will sense them. The least we can do is try to be there…
so that creation need not play to an empty house.” ~ Annie Dillard

Some days it’s not difficult at all to see His wonder.

“Every good gift and every perfect – free, large, full – gift is from above…” James 1:17

Living in gratitude…

“This morning, and every morning, let me thank You anew for all the blessings you shower on an undeserving, (and sometimes ungrateful), child like me.” ~ LC Higgs



Being grateful isn’t too hard today, but I know that sometimes I do need a reminder.



“Through Him…let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise.”
Heb 13:15



We just returned from a 2 week trip to Pennsylvania, where I gained a lovely new daughter.



(One-third of my kids are now happily married! So very grateful!)

“If we complained less and praised more, we should be happier…If we know what redemption means, let us not withhold our sonnets of thanksgiving.” ~ C. Spurgeon

I think this is becoming my life lesson. To learn gratitude, no matter what. To remember that He really does transform all circumstances into ones that birth goodness.
Eventually. Sometimes it takes a while to properly see.

“Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and lovingkindness and His wonderful works to the children of men!” Ps 107:8

“My lips shall shout for joy when I sing praises to You, and my soul, which You have redeemed…” Ps 71:23

*********
I’ve been mostly busy with our yard projects, (weeding and planting), sewing, (wedding prep), doing summer math with Jen, who didn’t get enough in over the school year. And you know, there are always various errands and other to-do’s, always something to read, and occasional outings and activities beyond the confines of our small town.
Nothing too momentous.
Looking for the beauty of the everyday and the ordinary.
It’s always there is I have the eyes to see.

“Love….is not rational…love cannot be proved scientifically. Neither can beauty, Light cannot be proved scientifically, yet we all believe in light and by light see all things.
There are plenty of things that are true that don’t make any sense.
God doesn’t [make sense]….faith…[is] a mystery…spirituality…cannot be explained,
and yet it is beautiful and true…it comes from the soul.” ~ D. Miller

“Lord, we want our eyes to be opened!” Mt 20:33

I so want to see what is beyond my comprehension and yet surrounds me everyday ~
love, beauty, truth…the very face of God.

*********

Well, my girls are at our annual church camp out, mid-state, by a lake in the high desert. Pretty quiet around here. Good practice for the years ahead!
I’m learning to live by a different rhythm these days.
Different sometimes feels funny and awkward, you know – but, it’s not bad.

We join the girls and other folks from church on Friday, for the weekend.
 Meanwhile, I’m working this week on my mother-of-the-groom dress for Jon’s upcoming wedding in August. I like the material.

And I always, enjoy some of my closest backyard neighbors, who in their own way reflect that beauty I so long to see and only need to take the time to appreciate fully.

 

It’s all right there…I only need to pause and keep my eyes open.

“To look for the best in a situation is to take a trusting stance toward God…
It says, ‘I know there is a possibility here.’ ” ~ W. Carmichael

“By His mighty power at work within us, He is able to accomplish infinitely more
than we would ever dare to ask or hope.” Eph. 3:20

“Hope looks for something fresh to feed it every day…” ~ H. Sienkiewicz

“My hope and expectation are from Him.” Ps 62:5

I’m not one who is naturally a bubbly, positive thinker. I think it’s just antithetical to who God made me to be. I’m much more of an inward contemplative than I ever realized when I was younger, and by definition I think that precludes a more effusive personality. But, I am one who hopes, and when I latch on to His grace to do so, I hope tenaciously, and it brings me great contentment. I’m always hoping for much – for myself, for those I know so well and love so fiercely, for those I know not yet, but who move my heart. More than anything, my biggest hope for us all is to lay hold of Jesus and to have Him lay hold of each one of us. Therein life hides, no matter what circumstances swirl round about.

************
I so enjoy the flowers I encounter in my days.
These were from a hothouse on an estate we toured earlier in the spring.
So soft. So lovely.

And, a dried bouquet hanging in our dining room…

Beauty is one grace that feeds and freshens my hope every day.
So grateful.

It’s raining here. Often. And bountifully. Summer hasn’t totally settled in yet.
The girls still have 8 more days of school, after today, so I guess it’s fine that vacation weather hasn’t truly landed in full force yet. I grew up in upstate NY and can so readily remember sweltering in school gyms as we took our annual Regents Exams at the end of every school year, all throughout highschool. No air conditioning, sometimes noisy fans. Intense stress causing your palms to sweat all over sticky papers and number 2 pencils. Sniffs and sighs and surreptitious glances around the crowded room.
That last day of school couldn’t come soon enough.

My, oh my….

**************
“We pray anew every day, when we open our eyes in the morning and when we close them at night, that God will enlighten the eyes of the heart.” ~ D. Bonhoeffer

“Lord, I want to see,” is probably one of my most recurrent prayers. See Him when He seems hidden. See truth when lies abound. See beauty when my heart is tempted to focus on what is hard and challenging. See His image in every face. See myself as He sees me.

“I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand…” Eph 1:18

I’m fascinated that seeing is more of a heart issue than a thought matter.
Yes, Lord. Change my heart, again.

**************
These are from our Easter trip to Utah. I never tire of western skies.

 

So much worth seeing….