Delaware Grammy

We got home on Friday night after traveling over a thousand miles in about 36 hours, and sitting through re-entry stuff at Rosedale Bible Institute.  My poor tailbone had an ache that I decided to label
“Sit-for-a-thousand-miles-syndrome”

But Certain Man’s and my Youngest Son is home for just a brief time — He leaves again on Wednesday morning to go to Ryan Kauffman and Sabrina Beachy’s wedding in Indiana.  From there, he heads to Cedarville College for his sophmore year. 
How very much we are treasuring these days!

And then, in less than two weeks, Eldest Son leaves for Discipleship Training in Columbus for three months before leaving for a six month term in Nepal.
While we treasure the days, we also count them. 
How very much I will miss this
Eldest Son!

And all of these things are contigient upon one thing.

“If the LORD WILLS”

If you see me and there is something glaringly amiss, do not panic.   (It is all part of the shell-shock!)

Small annoyances???

Oh, Dear!!!

(maybe now I will get some additional recessed lights!  That will be nice!)

Big Miracles
(Our entire filler flock went out last night.  No worries about who is going to handle that last house that was supposed to go out tonight.  Praise the Lord!!!)

Small annoyances
(There is a small rivulet of water running down the wall by my phone alcove.  My Plumber Husband cannot detect the source, and it is quite disconcerting)

Great Expectations
(We are supposed to leave in two hours for Ohio to pick up Youngest Son.  FINALLY!!!)

Great Needs
(Certain Man has had very little sleep.  There are unsolvable parental needs weighing heavy on his mind.  His Auntie is quite ill in Columbus.  There are over a thousand miles to cover today and tomorrow.  Our remaining chickens are quite big.  Eldest Son stepped on a nail at work yesterday and is hobbling about.  He is taking today and tomorrow off from work to accomplish much needed REACH preparations.  Our church is in the process of helping our pastor’s family pack for their move to Virginia and saying good-bye.  It feels like it isn’t a very good time to be gone for two days.)

Prayers for our church and our family are much needed, and greatly appreciated.

Look what is happening at my house this morning!

Beeba (Middle Daughter, Deborah) and Carson are shelling the Lima beans that we picked this morning!

Good Times!

Great Daughter!!

 Sweet little boy!!!

(and Wonderful Pole Limas)

Where in the world is Nepal, anyhow???

And what in the world will
Eldest Son do there???

 
( EDIT: This picture isn’t as clear as the one I first posted, but I like it better in more ways than one!!!)

She recovered from her allergenic reaction (though she was sure she wouldn’t).

And she went to New York City with Middle Daughter on days that set records for heat.

And they had a wonderful time.

The Lady’s toe is three feet long and one and a half feet high.  Quite impressive, isn’t it?

(I wonder what she will think up next to worry about!!!)

 Tuesday evening, our church had a supper.

Shirley was safely home from the Ukraine for a month.

Shirley and Ilva look over a photo album of Shirley’s.

And Philip and Laura came home with their baby for a week. 

Laura and Philip.  (I searched in vain for a picture of their wedding reception in DE,
and couldn’t find it in the files.  So this isn’t the greatest picture, but, hey, these people have a baby that was born on July 4th.  I think they look great for being such new parents!)

Kathy holds her first grandbaby, Grace Ann Sharp.  (She may not know this, but she is partial and proud to the point of being insufferable!  Some people get the nicest grandbabies, don’t they???)

As a church, we wanted to have a time to be together and catch up on the lives of these people we love.

Here are some of the faces of Laws Mennonite Church

Briar                                                               Cameron

Calvin and Dave                                 J.R. and James

Emily and Kathy                                   Evanna and Brianna

Aunt Dottie and Donna                           Joanna and Amy (and others) making pieces

“Our” Emmie                                    Gary and Daniel  (Sober discussion)

Philip and Eldest Son, Raph (Who stopped by to see his old friend)–  Brianna and her Daddy

I am so sorry that I caught Aunt Dottie looking so surprised, but I liked the picture anyhow, (Do you think I can be forgiven, Aunt Dottie???) and it is good of Uncle John and my sweet Mama.

And then, there were these strange looking things out in the hall —

Briar was pretty much a pro at getting this contaption to go!

And Dave did really well — but went even faster with some help from Emmie!!!

And what a great time we had!!!

Thanks for all who helped to make this a really special evening.

Where am I??

Honestly, some days I don’t know myself!!!

Middle Daughter and Youngest Daughter are in New York for some sightseeing.

A friend who is a single mom has needed a ride to work for much of these last two weeks.  It is almost 30 miles roundtrip twice a day, and some days it gets very long and inconvenient.  But then, I think of her.  She has five daughters.  The daddy of her children is dead.  She lives in government housing.  The transmission on her van went up, leaving her with $1500.00 in repair bills.  She is struggling, she is alone, she is dependent on others for her transportation, and she isn’t sure that she can trust the one who said He will be a “loving Heavenly Father, a husband to the widow, and a father to the fatherless.”  I have it so good.

Youngest Son continues to amaze me at how much time an offspringin’ can take when he is five hundred miles away.  (He’s coming home in 10 days for about 5 days, then he plans to be off to Cedarville for college.)

Eldest Son is pursuing a career with a REACH Team.  (Lord Jesus, Hold me steady!)

There is canning to do.

. . . And this household has a new member.  Nettie came yesterday to share a bedroom with Cecelia and to see how things work out.  This has been the most “pensive” thing on my horizon.  We have agreed to “try” this placement, and I think that it is what God has for right now…Things are going better than I ever dreamed possible, and for that, I am so grateful.

But yesterday, cleaning out the few remnants left behind by Gertrude was emotionally exhausting.  I had gone through the room before, but I guess there was too much that was too hard to let go of.  Pictures.  Hair bows.  Christmas bells for her shoes.  Curlers.  Just little stuff.   What was I thinking?  How was waiting supposed to make this last “going through” stuff easier???

I confess I need the prayers of those I love . . .

You’ve seen our little row of pole limas in a previous post —

They have finally started to get big enough to eat.  The other night, I picked enough to have about a cup–

(I know, I know.  —But I really did want to pick them and cook them and eat them — so I cooked them up with some left over ham, and Certain Man had them for lunch, and I got a taste of them.  Yummy!)

Tonight I went out, and there were a few more.  I stood there in the evening coolness and picked my Pole Limas and thought about my Daddy.  Last Summer, he was busy with the big patch of lima beans that he and Mark, Jr. always grew.  They did splendidly, and we all received from the bounty.  I have one bag left in my freezer, and I cannot bear to cook them. 
They are a tangible link to this Daddy that I miss so much. 

I wonder what he’s growing in Heaven . . .

****************

I came into the house and put my little bit of beans on to cook while I cut up some tomatoes that needed cooking.  I made those beans exactly the way Daddy loved them.  Cooked with some butter, salt and a dash of Sweet and Low in more water than usual.  When they were just tender, I added some regular coffee creamer to them, and they would have made him smile. 
But when my own Certain Man came in and saw them on the stove, it didn’t take him long to have some, and they made him smile, too. 

The smiles of two good, good men.

One smiles in my memory.  The other smiles in my kitchen.

How much better could it be?

Lord Jesus, for golden memories of lima beans and summer days;
For the love of two men who love you first and most;
For the extravagant benevolence you have given to me —
Gifts too numerous to count . . .
I give you praise this day.

My Poor, Sad, Youngest Daughter!!!

It’s red, and it itches and it burns and it isn’t very pretty, either!!!

Even the doctor doesn’t know for sure, but it seems that she has either ingested or inhaled or gotten too close to something that really doesn’t agree with her.  We’ve thought and thought and thought and thought, but, alas, we cannot think of a single thing that could have caused this. 
Chocolate???
Maybe. . . 
(How sad would that be?)

Get better quick, girlie. It’s no fun being drugged up with benedryl.