Super Saturday shots

Well I'm not doing a Favorite Friday foto, but since there's so much out there to take pictures of, (besides Buster and the grandkids of course) i thought I'd try something a bit easier today. Spring is sure busting out all over! And this IS the view from my window today! Enjoy.

Sunrise: on the road to somewhere.

5 a.m. There is Pitch black darkness. No shadows, or shapes exsist, only a dim line on the horizon-a vague distinction between earth and sky.

Imperceptibly, slowly, a change begins. First, there is the dark outline of cloud; then a lighter shade of dark in the holes of the sky until suddenly you can see a color, blue. a green. The dark sky gradually reflects a vague pink and grows brighter and stronger encompassing the whole end of the sky. Shapes form. Trees and hills, and a rabbit bounding through the grass. Soon the colors grow more intense. The sky bursts with orange and yellow and red. It pours out over the whole sky like a resounding trumpet announcing a king-the Sun! It spills over the horizon with earth's full color while all the while the birds are shouting to be heard above the noise of color. It's light. Day arrives.

The heart.
The darkness is complete. No light seeps in from anywhere. With that darkness comes loneliness, emptiness, pain. There is no form or shape anywhere. Hope is gone.

Gradually, imperceptibly a change begins. There is a softening around the edges. A prayer has been said. The gospel preached. In that gray shadowy light, shapes begin to take form. The dirt and grime and ugliness begin to show. But the color shows too, and flows and spills out all over the chambers of that place. Peace. Calm. Assurance. Forgiveness. The singing heart is loud to announce itself over the loudness of those bright, whole colors that are suddenly bursting out. The light that suddenly floods the whole heart has revealed the ugliness, but the sun that bursts in just as swiftly covers it with its own beauty. Healing, cleaning mending every lonely, lost spot.

Sunrise is complete.

In the neighborhood

I spent nearly 35 years of my life in the country. By that I mean, on the farm. I grew up with the smell of farm animals a constant. Walking beans, haying, helping with harvest, milking goats, harvesting honey, butchering chickens. When we finally moved, my one request was that we live in town. In a house that didn't need to be fixed up. Well, I got most of my request. The living in town thing was easy to accomplish. The fixer up thing...well, my hubby is a born fixer upper, even when I think things are just fine the way they are. Thus I've suffered through 36 years of new sheet rock, insulation, wiring projects, redone rooms, additions and all. I suppose, though, that the towns I live in could really still be called country living. The town I'm in right now is the biggest one we ever been in...6000 people. And everyone of them feeling free to call my dog by his name! Don't dare drive down the road in a rage because the person I might be angry at really IS my neighbor.

The other day my husband felt free to yell at the kid on the moped who was digging a hole in the alley with his revving tire and racing up and down. "We have lots of kids who play back here!" he yelled at him. "And fill in that hole while you're at it!" It must be hard on a kid to have so many 'parents' hanging around. But isn't it wonderful to know your neighbors, to have some accountability to them and even to be able to let their kids walk into your house unannounced!

#36

Wedding: Elim Reformed church. Small country church. The year-1971

Honeymoon: The Black Hills

First Home: 4 bedroom farmhouse on 2 1/2 acres at Webb. (We stay nearly 20 years)

Kids: Three. Boy-girl-boy all in 4 years. (they are pure sunshine)

Friends: Some very close ones whom we still cling to!

Church: Baptist, pentecostal,E Free

Jobs: Ron: 36+ independent telephone companies

Sue: Teacher, librarian...and other assorted weird things

Struggles: Plenty! (money, work,community,relationships,unexpected deaths)

Joys: EVEN MORE (kids, weddings, graduations,friendships,Pets!,Grandkids)

Times together: Canoeing, camping, Family events, traveling, Eating out, laughing, crying

sharing,fighting...we've done it all.

Highlights of 36 years together? Leaving all we had behind and moving 400 miles away from family, trusting that God was in it all. Raising three wonderful kids together, Moving to four new places not all of them with a willing heart, Spending free time together, Worshipping together every Sunday of our married lives.

I am so glad to have my husband as partner, as friend, and companion in this walk!

About Sleep

Sleep like a baby...that's me! I have never had trouble sleeping. And, believe me, I HAVE to get my sleep! If I'm short of sleep everyone else can tell. Countless friends as well as my husband can also tell you that I have fallen asleep in a variety of uncomfortable places...swayback, hotel, rooms with big noisy groups,the ground...like a baby exhausted.
I often dream wildly and in color. Sometimes I can tell that what I have been watching or reading has affected my dreams. Like last night. I had a combo dream of getting lost on a river canoeing with friends, running into a train station that had a great mall with lots of kids and candy, and a guy with his head cut off. Phew! (that all from planning a canoe trip, being in a candy store, and reading a review about the movie 300). My subconcious was in overdrive.
I have had many dreams that have deeply spiritual meanings for me. I've never had a dream with a specific directive, like Joseph, but I have had several that prick at my concious. But sleep is a spiritual term, too for the idea of being spiritually deadened. Jesus warns us to "Be on guard, keep awake...Stay awake ... lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. What I say to you I say to all: Stay awake!" (mk.13:39)That spiritual sleeping mode is way too comfortable--like being asleep in some warm comfortable bed can be. Staying awake can sometimes prove to be difficult. But to be spiritually awake is a life/soul saving need. I must not let my spiritual senses become dull and drowsy. There is a great need to Be aware of the spirit and His moving.... STAY AWAKE!

Surprise Party

We had the greatest fun surprising our youngest son for his Birthday on Friday. His wife planned a "camping" party, thus all our digging around for camping supplies this past week. She took him out for supper and we swooped in to a. babysit. b. set up the campfire, s'mores, pudgy pies, and other outdoor acoutraments! We got to meet lots of Nate and Kristin's friends, enjoyed watching Isaiah play in the dirt, and pull off a great surprise to boot! (Nathan told us before they left for supper that Isaiah could go outside, but, NO DIRT! Ha! we blew that right away. He had to have two baths) I think being with family is one of the best things I could spend my time doing. I had to include in this post some of the 90 pictures I took during the evening.