Pruning/Hoarding

I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn't bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken. John 15:1-3 (The Message)


Last week's wet, heavy snowstorm and its aftermath has me thinking about such things as pruning. Dwight is an avid landscape artist, and is a fanatical pruner. I always rather cringe when I see the fruits of his pruning labors, but he always tells me how important it is to the health of the bushes and trees. I understand the concept, but it's still painful to watch.

When the storm hit last Wednesday, many people lost power from one day to 3 or 4. Much of the problem was caused by tree branches landing on overhead power lines.




We were fortunate in three ways - our power lines are underground, most of our leaves had fallen and/or been blown off our huge trees already, AND we had 5 of the trees pruned and shaped as recently as last week. It seemed extreme to me to have so much removed, but I had to bow to the expertise of Dwight and the tree guys. And am I ever glad they did their jobs so well. We missed out on the massive clean-up that has been going on in our town this last few days.

I had noticed the huge cottonwood tree in the front yard of the neighbors behind us - it was huge, nicely formed, and still completely filled with green leaves - not even the beginning of color change, when most of the trees in town were losing their leaves. Unfortunately, because of the heaviness of the snow on the still-full branches, this tree was totally decimated, and their front yard was completely inundated with fallen branches. The tree looks very sad now.





So, I came to these conclusions about life and trees. When God uses his pruning shears on me, it can be very painful. But if I allow Him to work on my life and show me things that need to be changed, I will be stronger and more able to withstand the storms of life. On the other hand, if I am weighted down by proverbial green leaves, I could find myself bogged down and unable to keep from breaking when the snowstorms of life pile up.


(Header picture taken by my pastor's wife on a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park).

Some Random Catching Up

Springtime in the Rockies - kind of a joke, kind of bi-polar, kind of a hoax. Every year I hope it will really be warm and beautiful, but every year the flowers faithfully come back, the birds sing, but the weather is very iffy. We usually get snow in March sometime, but this time it was April 13 -- the evening of the 12th, we were treated to a lovely, soaking rain, badly needed. In the morning - we got up to this.

By late afternoon it was down to this --

The week before, we were fortunate to have a nice day in between wind and rain and cold, just enough time for us to watch this going on -- necessary because of a long-forgotten hail storm.

The littles enjoyed the day as we sat and watched the workers. They can make a game out of anything, using sticks, eating utensils, pieces of toast as toys.

The tulips enjoy the sun or the rain, and were beautiful this day, before the snow.




DC planted several dozen bulbs last fall, tulips and daffodils. We're anxiously awaiting the arrival of new colors and shapes. We were surprised by this unusual daffodil this week --

Last Saturday we were blessed with one of those sunny days, just in time for our church's annual Easter Marketplace. We go back to 33 A.D. and many people in our church spend their morning creating an opportunity for children and their parents from all over the neighborhood to visit in a village reminiscent of Jesus' time.

They also set up a wonderful egg hunt in the gym for the children, who can get as many of the 4,000 plastic eggs, filled with a treat or toy, and enjoy opening them and recycling the eggs for next year (if they remember to turn them in - ours brought home quite a few this year). For some reason Emma found it "scawy, Grandma", while her sister Katie enjoyed the hunt.

Some random shots --

The twins being "princesses" in their Winnie the Pooh blankets --



Helping Grandma cook ---



Katie's first official drawing - ghosts! Kinda pale, but hope you can see them.



On a totally different note, I want to share Care Bear's poem, which her teacher has entered into a contest.


What My Family Means to Me

My family is special,
They take care of me!
If my family was not here,
There would not be me!
My family helps e with things that are hard,
My family for sure makes me feel like a superstar!
They help me, when I am sad,
They make sure that I am glad!

My brother and sisters, without them,
I would not really have any true friend!

Without my brother bothering me,
It would not be fun!

When I have homework and I cannot do it,
My mom would help me get it done!

When I am bored and I have nobody to play with,
My sister would step up and do it!

My baby sisters are so cute,
And when I am bummed,
They're the ones I look to.

My bigger brother,
The one who is funny
When I want to laugh,
I want Anthony!

Clearly, without my family,
There would be no happy times!

I find it very interesting that she wrote so much about her half brother, whom she rarely sees.

Randomness

So here it is the 12th of January already - Yikes! My brain is frozen with the crazy weather we're having (good excuse anyway, eh?) and I can't seem to think of much to share. Not to mention that my laptop is really being obstinate and I can't have it on my lap - it blips off the minute I move it. I know it needs another new power cord. The other problem is that the battery doesn't keep a charge and a new one is outrageously expensive. I want a new one so badly, one that is lightweight and is really portable. But that's not in the budget.

I haven't written anything about Christmas. It was very low key this year (well, except when the girls' other grandparents showed up a week later with tons of stuff for them - a year's worth of attention in an hour - Feisty calls her Grandma Santa).

The girls will be going home a week from Sunday. I'm sure I'll still have them a lot, but hopefully not every morning and night any more. I am really weary of the morning get-ready-for-school routine and the evening get-ready-for-school-the-next-day and get-ready-for-bed routine. I don't get why I have to say the same things every day - you'd think it would become habitual, wouldn't you??

I want to acknowledge the wonderfulness of blog friends once again. Kevin loves those peanut butter cookies with the Hershey's kiss in the middle of each cookie. I have sent them by mail before, but it so costly to mail something that heavy. So I enlisted the help of our dear friend, Groovy - I asked her if she'd mind making a batch for Kev and the guys and delivering them to him - about 20 miles from her house. She was glad to oblige this mamma and wouldn't even accept any reimbursement for ingredients or gas. What a blessing to me AND to Kev and his mates.



As long as we're on the subject of Kevin, I'll tell you that we're very excited to get to go back out that way for his final graduation. The ceremony on January 28 and we'll just make a quick trip to Boston for the week-end. Sema will go with us and he'll come back with us for a month. Please pray for them as they seek God's guidance for their future. They want to be in the center of His will.

Kev received some interesting Christmas gifts this year - this one was presented to him by a young man at one of the churches where they were sharing and ministering. He's a real "Mainer" now!

He calls this the Flannel Gang - he's on the far right.

We saw one of these last summer on someone and DC thought it was hilarious, so we sent Kev one, since he's always worried about his receding hair line.





Speaking of gifts, the girls received way more than they needed, which is lots of fun. They got many art supplies. And their big surprise was on the patio after everything else was cleaned up --

That was a beautiful day, though the girls wanted a white Christmas - they got their wish a few days later and enjoyed it to the fullest. They loved helping Grandpa clear the driveway and had to improvise with their equipment.

Remember how scared the girls were when Callie came to stay with us? What a difference time and close proximity makes! They actually cried when she went home last Saturday night.

Matchy-matchy!

2011 is rushing along! I will try to post about my word for the year soon - before the year is half over!

Please, somebody stop this merry-go-round . . .

. . . I'm getting dizzy!

Thanks to all of you who have prayed and cared for us over the last few days. DC's surgery went very well - I thought he'd be released by now, but not quite yet. He'll go to my parents' house for a few days for peaceful rest - not available here too much. My mom loves to be the halfway house from surgical procedures to home.

Add in a funeral - they never come at opportune times, do they?? I always count it a privilege to play the organ for the homegoing of a saint. I am so thankful for a sister and a sister-in-law, one who has no grandkids yet and one whose grands are far away. They have relieved me by caring for the twins 3 times already this week. My sis has also picked up the big girls from school every day this week. Talk about servanthood in action.

This week one day I posted this on Facebook - it touched a spot in my spirit and seemed to do the same with others. I want to share it, because it's where I'm living right now.

No man ever sank under the burden of the day. It is when tomorrow's burden is added to the burden of today that the weight is more than a man can bear. Never load yourself so. If you find yourself so loaded, at least remember this: it is your own doing, not God's. He begs you to leave the future to Him, and mind the present. -- George McDonald

I always like to share with you all what I'm reading. One of the books I'm almost finished with is Carol Kent's third in the story of her life-imprisoned son. This one is about the joy that can come in the midst of unimaginably horrible circumstances, and how God can use ANYTHING for His glory. If you haven't read these books, please, for your own sake, buy them, borrow them, get them from the library - you'll never regret it. The first one is When I Lay My Isaac Down, and the second is A New Kind of Normal.

I really love this verse Carol used as the basis of this book, from Romans 9:33 in The Message:

Careful! I've put a huge stone on the road to Mount Zion,
a stone you can't get around. But the stone is me!
If you're looking for me, you'll find me ON the way, not IN the way.

Another book that I'm reading at the same time, with my devotional time in the mornings, is by Sheila Walsh. It is also hitting home with me.


I've started this one by Condoleeza Rice, but haven't gotten too far into it yet. I think it'll be great - I saw an interview with her when the book came out. She's a classy lady, to say the least.


Halloween has come and gone (yay - not my favorite "holiday"), but I had to dress the littles in their costumes for at least 3 days to get the maximum enjoyment of watching people's reactions. It's so much fun to make folks' day better. These were taken when we went to our library day - this is an enormous tree that is growing in the space between the gutter and the sidewalk on this very old street downtown - it's far to big for where it is, but I'm glad nobody's cut it down.





After library time, we went out to visit Great Grandma - they love the aquarium in the lobby. Side note - if you want to have a good feeling kind of day, take some little darlings to a place where really old grandmas and grandpas live - it lights up their lives.



I didn't get pictures of the big girls in their costumes this year, but we did have our own little personal jack-o-lantern pattern.




On an entirely different topic. I have never been a thrift store shopper - the only reason being that I don't have the patience to search for treasures in such a large amount of stuff. I have had great success finding cute clothes for the girls, but never for myself. However - the other day, I was passing by a rack of tops when this wonderful jacket caught my eye - my size, which is very unusual to find. Everyone I know who has good luck at thrift stores is a tiny person.







I had the shirt at home which matches the ribbons precisely. It is such fun to wear and I've had so many compliments. I have a friend who is raising yaks and she was really interested when she saw the brand name in the collar - Yak Magik. I looked it up on Google and found this information:

Yak Magik has its origins in the search for extraordinary places, people, and things. Months spent exploring the high peaks and valleys of the Nepalese Himalaya led to a deep appreciation of the people and culture of Nepal. That appreciation led to great friendships and business partnerships manufacturing novelty jackets in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal. Almost 30 years later we continue to develop our uniquely beautiful jackets with these amazing artisans.

Yak Magik is fine tailoring, one jacket at a time, not assembly line production, and features complex fabric manipulating, top-stitching, and piped seams.

I wrote an e-mail to the company in the state of Washington to ask how old my jacket might be. They wrote back (pretty neat) and said it was probably made 15 years ago. I love it. It's a treasure.


I love this picture I took of the last full moon, outside my front door.





Finally - our first little snow storm yesterday. The girls were so excited to put on their new boots and head into the white yard. After school they made a snowman - it amazes me how much the littles like to be outside in this stuff.








Well, this turned out to be quite the rambling post - I hope you find a part that makes it worth wading through! BTW, I am continuing to sing in the community choir, plus the church cantata (both on the same week-end, as it turns out), and enjoying. It'll be a challenge to get there this week with DC not at full capacity. I'll have to ruminate on that problem.

Have a wonderful week-end.