39 years

"The longest journey begins with a single step". Hard for me to believe I have taken this many "steps" with this one single person. He has always been, and will always be, the one I would want to walk with through life. You know, when you are just getting married they tell you that 'it's not easy.' "marriage is hard work" "you'll see trials and troubles"...blah blah. I remember thinking, as I was surrounded by all those 'marriage pros' (i.e. my parents and in-laws) on my wedding day, that surely I would be different. Love would be effortless. This amazing feeling that I had on this, my wedding day, couldn't possibly ever change. Well, I'm here to tell you, 'they' were right. It has been work, it hasn't been a piece of cake, and that wonderful wedding day feeling? Well, it didn't last too long. I found out quickly: Love is not a feeling. It's a commitment to lots of work.

My 39 year partner would surely tell you that I haven't always been the most fabulous, sexy, interesting, engaging or appealing person to live with, but he has never given up on me. I think he entertains the thought every day, "well today could be the day when she'll be everything I hoped she would be. I can't give up on her now." So he takes the time to pray with me every morning, kisses me before he heads off to work, and greets me the same way when we're back together again at night. Steady rock-ness. That's what I have in him. He has gone out of his way to bring out the best in me.. Not an easy to be sure. He has actively engaged in fatherhood (changing dirty diapers and getting up in the middle of the night with sick kids) participated in the household chores (wash, cooking and willingly doing the 'list'). He (almost) always asks what he can do to help, and has always always always given me room to grow. He is plagued by the 'I can fix it' syndrome, but I love him for it anyway, even when it annoys me. The one thing, though that has been the glue in our relationship is not some dogged determination to stick together, it's that we earnestly want our journey to be about honoring God, the creator and sustainer of our marriage in the first place. It's God who has done this thing. Not my husband. Not me. Without Him, our efforts would be... about us.

39 years ago one cold, sunny April afternoon we started off together. We knew from the beginning anyway, that it would not be about us. This has been our life verse together: "Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain" (ps. 127:1) I didn't really know what that would look like. 3 kids, 5 moves, 1 unemployment bout, career change, sickness and health, 5 grandchildren later....It has been nothing short of amazing.

It's been a pretty short trip to here, but I hope we still have a way to go ... There's lots yet I'm hoping to see and learn together!

Biking

Someone told me today I could exercise more. That might help me keep this silly weight off. So I took the bike out tonight and headed down the Puddle Jumper. My first excursion and it was a gorgeous night to do it. I wished the whole way along that I'd brought the camera. Oh well. The air was filled with dozens of birds singing. I heard the brown thrush and even, I think, a purple martin, plus the usual of robins and finches and woodpeckers. The air smelled wonderful tonight. The plum trees on the side of the trail looked like mountainous fragrant snowdrifts. They were lovely! I checked for asparagus. I always think I'm going to remember where it's growing on the trail, but of course there was no way to tell now. I didn't have anything to carry it with anyway. Last year when I rode on the trail, I could do the hard part..up the hill to the golf course trail..without too much difficulty. Tonight I had to stop and catch my breath. not a good sign I think. Better to watch the horses off to the east. Town on the left, country on the right. Then when I swung aroung to head down the golf course trail, there was the balloon. The air is so still tonight, no wonder the balloon was up. Excellent. It was a great ride! I hope to make a habit of it on nights like these..well, every night hopefully!

Spring ... Again!

So you can tell that at last spring has arrived in Orange City. Tulip Festival is only a few weeks away but we are awash in tulip blooms. How many for tulip festival will depend on how warm it gets, but what does it matter? We get to enjoy them whenever they bloom. So here are just a few from my Sunday afternoon walk in the park. I swear I'd never get tired of taking pictures of tulips from every conceivable angle. Sorry. If you don't get a chance to make it to the Festival at least you can enjoy the tulips!

New Granddaughter

We traveled to Lincoln this week to meet our new Granddaughter. She was born Friday morning, so because of the weekend we were able to go down right away. I have to say, holding new babies is one of the most awesome experiences a person can have. How is it possible someone that little can be just, so, perfect! She let us hold her and love her up. I believe it's the start of a life-long relationship just exactly like that. And of course, we got to enjoy some one on one time with Jeremiah, too. He was a delight. We took him to IHop for pancakes, he rode in the truck with us for groceries, we watched Nemo together, read books and best of all, watched as he welcomed his new sister home. Yes. It was a fabulous fun weekend. I could go in for one of those more often. I don't think my kids are quite up for more of them though. These kind of weekends seem to take quite a bit out of those young'uns! Anyway, I know you've seen some of the pictures I've posted, but here are a few more!!

Easter Fun

Here's how we spent our Easter afternoon. Uncle Tom brought punching balloons, we played in the park, and we ate, drew, and read. The boys aren't crazy about Buster but they sure do like walking him. It's funny to watch. It was a great family time.

Why I need Grace

At our Bible Study last night we were contemplating the Grace and Mercy of God, among other things. (we touched on election, but we are studying Ephesians after all) Paul begins his gospels all with "Grace to you, and Peace...." That is, unmerited blessings to you, a marvelous deliverance free of charge, this is a foundation of your faith come drink at this wonderful fountain instead of digging up any old cistern. With that in mind, this video, posted by my sister in law, reminded me of how much we all need, no crave "GRACE". So this is for my bible study sisters, and you all....

Trash

Last fall I put together a game for the family to play while they were at our house over Thanksgiving weekend. They did have a lot of fun playing. It was one of those, "Run-around-OrangeCity" kind of games. It was very competitive too, which is par for the course, I guess. Anyway, everyone had fun I'm thinking.
I am back to walking outside these mornings. (I am listening to a James Herriott novel for anyone who's interested) So on my walk this morning, you won't believe what I found! Well, it wasn't a $100 bill as my husband once found, but it was part of that game I had designed for the Thanksgiving weekend. Yup. Still in it's waterproof plastic bag. Hung up on a sewer drain. Hard to tell where it came from. (I put them up all over town after all.) Though I know where it was supposed to send the finder to next. So here it is folks: ziplock baggies keep things pretty dry even with 50+ inches of snow on top of them. And sadly, I was responsible for contributing to the general trashiness of the melting snow. Please don't tell anyone. I picked it up and took it home and threw it away. So it can be added to the trash heap properly.