Walking and Talking

After spending the afternoon with our 10 year old neighbor boy, I told him I had to leave for a walk. He didn't want me to go because both of his sisters were busy and he wouldn't have anyone to be with and he tried to convince me that I should let him come on the walk with me, but I was going to be listening to lectures, so I told him that he couldn't come because we wouldn't be able to talk.

When I had returned home from my walk/ music lecture, he decided that we should be able to go on a walk now and as we headed down the street he said, "So now we can talk." Our conversation proceeded as follows:

Bethany: "Why couldn't we talk before?"
Neighbor: "Because you were going to be listening to something and wouldn't let me come."
Bethany: "Right, so what do you want to talk about?"
Neighbor: "Oh, well we could talk about life."
Bethany: "Ok, so how is your life right now?"
Neighbor: "Well, right now I'm taking a walk with you, I didn't have anything to do." There was a pasue in the conversation and then he said, "well, we don't have to talk all the time, just if you have anything to say you can just tell me." We took almost the rest of the walk in silence, until we tried to come up with all of tongue twisters we knew, but that didn't last very long because neither of us knew very many.

Spring is here!

I was browsing through blogs and reading what they had written on spring. Having not recognized the big day myself, I was enjoying reading over the thoughts that others had about the day. I particularly enjoyed this womans thoughts on spring and newness.

Accepting Your Mission

The words stared up at me from a sheet of paper that I'd just pulled out of my bible,"Accept Your Mission." The paper was from an old church bulletin, and contained a whole bunch of small blurbs about different church ministries that you could get involved in.

We decided against attending that particular church, but the words were there just the same and I wondered, "What is my mission?" I don't think any of the 'missions' advertised on that sheet are my mission just now, perhaps one day, when we settle on a church, one of those things will be my mission. Right now my mission is serving in my home. Right now I am called to be a good sister and daughter, to be a willing server for my family. Some times.

In our rush to find the perfect mission or minsitry for us in a church or other out of the home setting, we forget that God has given each of us a mission in our home that needs accepting just as much as the missions in churches or on school campuses. Often times I'd much rather work in a sunday school on Sunday mornings and call that my mission than get up on time every morning during the week and make breakfast, or play with my younger siblings, or have a good attitude. But God has put me in this home, as part of this family in order that I might serve them. The mission that I am called to accept is the mission of serving my family.

Thoughts on Rain

For as long as I can remember, the first day of rain in the year was a big day, a really big day. Mama would make playdough for us kids and we'd spend the afternoon rolling out dough into all sorts of pies, pastries, breads, anything we could imagine into being with our lump of playdough.

But now, we live in Oregon where the rain is not so very infrequent, and I have to wonder how will we decide when the last day of rain is in order to determine the fist day of rain in this coming year. We love the rain, I could get caught staring out the window for hours on end while I'm supposed to be doing school reading, but I often worry that I'm going to get tired of it.

We are back to rain this week, we had a few dry days, a little bit of snow, and now it rains. The ground smells of a glorious dampness you can almost taste. The dribblets of water have collected on the canopy outside and run down its sides in streams. It has been raining for a couple of days now, and I like it. Sure it dampens the gardening spirit (some of the time), and it makes me very cold, but I like it any how. I like to watch as those big rain clouds roll over head and block the sun from view, letting down their torrent of water, and then moving on, letting the bright sun through for but a moment before the next shower of rain comes. I love cuddling up on the couch with a cup of tea and a book. I love reaching over to turn the music up, and soaking up the ambiance of the moment.

Rain might come often here, making it not so extra special and out of the ordinary, but it will still be enjoyable. In the late afternoons when school is finished and I am not so inclined to go outside in the downpour, I can talk my little sisters into cuddling up next to me on the couch and we can read stories. We can make hot cocoa sipping the hot liquid while laughing together. We can plan what we will do when the rain stops. Or we can just stare out the window and watch as the rain pours down, washing the chalk from the sidewalk, and leaving sparkling wet on the grass.

Rain is a glorious things, some times it makes itself unwanted, but if you really take the time to notice it, rain is beautiful. It lends a cozy felling to our small home, and when I find myself disliking that constant dripping from the eaves of the room, I am reminded that it is that dripping that allows me the freedom from watering the garden bed in front of our home.

A Year Ago Today. . .

A lot of things have happened in the last year, good things and bad things. One of the most memorable events was having my brother hospitalized for ten days after his appendics ruptured. Those were the longest ten days of my life, as well as some of the most frightening. But a year ago today he came home. That had to have been the happiest moment of my life. All of us were expecting that he was going to have to stay hospitalized for a few more days, but Mama was able to bring him home that Saturday and we were all very excited.

For at least a week after my brother came home he was very weak, he stayed in bed all day, but it felt wonderful to know that he was home. Our house felt so empty when he was in the hospital. There are eight people in our family and when one of us isn't there you can feel the emptiness, especially when you know that the missing sibling is in the hospital. It didn't help that for the most part, the only times we saw Mama or Daddy were when they came home to rest.

But we were really blessed with wonderful friends during that time. We were provided with meals, and when we felt like we just couldn't take being at home a moment longer, there was always someone willing to pick us up and have us stay with them for a while. I would never choose to go through that time again, but there was a lot of growing and strengthening going on during that time and I have come to the point where I can be thankful for going through that.

Highlights of the past week

The new mud boots, (inspired by Tasha Tudor)The Fellow Gardeners, we even have the neighbor girl helping,
we have so much fun!

The lined garden bed under a thin blanket of snow.

Yes that really is snow that you see, we begged and begged
Mama to take a snow day but to no avail.