I can't believe it's been six weeks since I last posted! So much has gone on. It has been a busy spring!

Sadly, another old friend suddenly passed away in early May. She suffered a massive stroke. She was such a fun and lively spirit, she will be greatly missed, but I'm sure Yeshua is giggling about now!

The main focus of most of April and May has been preparing for my son's wedding. We are 9 days away!! In the middle of preparation, he found out he needed to find a different place to live than first thought and so we had a new challenge. Thankfully, our friends who lost their daughter, our sweet Elaina, had just learned that they needed to rent out her house and were very nervous about getting the wrong person in there. Within a couple of days, my son showed up at the door and explained his dilemma. He moved in a week later. It is bittersweet, but we are thankful that he can do this for Elaina and her parents.

We moved him in the same day we had the last shower (of 4) for our new daughter-in-law. That made for a long day, but it was very productive. We had a nice shower and as a result of the generosity of so many wonderful family and friends, they've really got a good start for their first home together.

I'm looking forward to a fairly peaceful weekend. All of my projects for the wedding are finished except for one and that one I can do at my leisure. We've got my niece's graduation party and ceremony, a trip to the races, and the LOST finale planned, plus the promise of beautiful weather, should be a good pre-wedding weekend!!

Just because she's so beautiful!!!

It seems like so many of my posts have been about sad things or bad weather for the past few months, and they have, but there have been many blessings along the way, many things to be thankful to God for and I've neglected those things. So, tonight, the happy stuff!!

We are just under two months until my youngest marries his beautiful bride-to-be! Things are moving along and we are just thrilled.
In early February, A & E had their first baby. I introduced this great young couple, so I was tickled to share in their joy!

Just a few days after that a young man came into my daughter's life. He's just wonderful. We couldn't be more thrilled!
At the end of March, two days before her due date, my best friend's baby girl came into the world! She came quickly and surprised everyone. I was able to join them within a half-an-hour of her birth and was overjoyed to help everyone get situated. I can't begin to express what a blessing she and her mommy are to me!!

Less that one hour old

Her first full day outside of Mommy

One week old

10 days old

Such a perfect tiny hand with a wisp of beautiful baby fine hair caught in between her fingers

Two weeks old and perfect!

Up from the grave He arose!
With a mighty triumph o'er His foes!
He arose a victor from the dark domain
and He lives forever with His saints to reign!

He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah, Christ arose!!

Today is Good Friday and what does my brain dream about during the night, divided churches. My dream had us sitting through a church meeting in a Baptist church. The fighting was so intense. I don't remember what the fighting was about, but I remember seeing the faces of people that I love that attend that particular church (IRL) and they were crying. Weeping. Horrified to see what was happening to their church, knowing that the church no longer seemed to care why they were there, who they were supposed to be worshiping, serving. The sadness was overwhelming.

As we left this church in my dream, we walked past a park filled with statues and arches of some sort. At least 5o women were walking from across a little pond over to this area of the park. They were dressed in skirts and button-down blouses, but several of them wore habits. They walked as though they were zombies, straight-ahead, not looking around them at the beautiful spring scenery. Before long, several of the women were dancing in front of the statues and arches. My spirit felt sad.

Time to wake up. I wake up to the realization that my dream wasn't real, yet I know so many caught in churches that have lost their vision and so many others caught in idolatry. They go through each day believing that "church" is simply the building they go to on Sundays and that it's okay if their life isn't any different than their next door neighbors.

Today is the day we reflect on what it was Jesus did for us. Did He take it lightly? Did He do it so that we could just simply believe and never move beyond that? How does He want us to live our lives?

The past couple of weeks have been quite frustrating on many levels and yet, God still speaks!

Following Elaina's death, I had my first visit to a chiropractor. Thankfully, he's my pastor's son, so I wasn't too nervous. All the stress from her death and the subsequent funeral had settled in my neck and shoulders and I was miserable! He got that taken care of, although I need another visit. Unfortunately, I had to cancel my second appointment because of another more intimate health issue that arose. That one kept me down for four days! Before I was completely over that (well, I'm still on antibiotics), it was time for Women of Faith (more about that in a minute). During Women of Faith, we found out that my niece was being taken to the children's hospital for an infection/abscess. She'd been in the local hospital for 2 days and they were not getting results so they sent her to the big hospital. It was difficult to concentrate on Women of Faith after that so my mom and I left early and went over to the hospital. In the time that we were there, they saw four doctors, including the surgeon! We were all very impressed and excited that they were going to be able to bring relief to her quickly.

That evening brought more drama and disappointment into our life. I can't discuss what happened, but it wasn't pretty. It makes me so sad when believers place secular things over and above their Christianity.

The next day brought more difficult news, drama, and disappointment! I can't talk about that one either, but God is working it out.

Women of Faith was really quite good this year. March is my difficult month for dealing with my anxieties and fears. Almost every speaker spoke to those issues in one way or another.

Patsy Clairmont was awesome. I picked up her new book. She spoke about the tools to overcoming our anxieties and fears-many things I've learned through the years and just needed to be reminded about.

Andy Andrews, however, was my favorite. He spoke about many of the same things and talked about our having purpose. He spoke about seeking wisdom and putting the good things into our minds. Today I read this in his book The Traveler's Gift, "Successful people make their decisions quickly and change their minds slowly. Failures make their decisions slowly and change their minds quickly."

I've seen this in action. We've been surrounded by people who change their minds constantly, unable to stick with any decision and we've discovered how absolutely destructive it is to the person and to those around them, particularly their families. How sad it is.

It's taken me four days to find the strength to write this post. Today, we lay to rest another dear friend. This death came without any notice, incomprehensible, leaving us all in shock. This one wasn't supposed to happen.

Elaina was a beautiful, 33 -year-old woman with a heart of gold, hands of creativity and generosity, and a body committed to serving those around her. She was always filled with joy, enjoying life with a fervor beyond her years. She loved giving of herself to her family, her friends, and her community.

When I first met Elaina, I had just married hubby and she and her family were our closest neighbors (they still are, although her brother and his wife have built a home in between us). Elaina was 11. She was thrilled about our little girls and enjoyed spending time with them. As she got older, and we had our son, she spent more time babysitting for them. She taught my children so much over the years.

She was a wonderful baker, a beautiful quilt maker, an avid 4-H participant and then leader. For having such a short life, she touched more hearts than just about anyone else I've known.

This past Wednesday, February 24, I received a call from my mom. Life changed from that moment on. Elaina was gone. She had gone to bed the night before and had not woken up. Her older brother had been sent to check on her when she didn't show up for work. Her car was in the garage, she wouldn't answer her phone, and she wouldn't come to the door. The adrenaline starting pumping in his 6'4" body and he made quick work of her two back doors, breaking through them with a mighty kick. He found his precious sister gone. She was lying peacefully in bed with her kitty curled up under the covers beside her.

Shock. No other word can describe the feelings that went through her family and her friends as the news trickled out. Deep sadness, incomprehensible shock. This could not be happening we all seemed to be saying. Sadly, it's real.

Today, we say our final good-byes. My heart aches for her mom and dad, her two brothers and their wives (so very close to Elaina) and especially for her five young nieces and nephews. She adored them and they, her. My children were blessed to have known and grown up with her, they have good memories, it saddens me so to think that the youngest four are not going to be able to really remember her.

God, grant us all the strength to face this day. May you be glorified even as we struggle to understand.

Wow, I've practically missed the entire month of February! It's been more snow, more snow, more snow and more for this upcoming weekend. That will put us in the top 5 record snowfalls since they began keeping records. I'm quite tired of white!

We are beginning to doubt our meteorologists (every channel!) ability to predict the weather! We were supposed to get some flurries Sunday night into Monday and then they would be gone. We woke up to several inches already on the ground Monday morning. The wind was blowing, but they kept telling us that the snow was going to stop and we'd just have to deal with blowing snow. Ok, sure.

My dear friend, S, who lives in Colorado is back for a few days helping her mother after major surgery, so we picked her up (her parents live just 1/2 mile from us) and headed to town for lunch with our old Bible study group. We've grown so much together and have become intensely close. I consider these young women my sisters, not just through/in Christ, but real sisters. We pray for each other daily, we can share ourselves freely with each other. It is a true blessing to have women like that in my life. We enjoyed a yummy Mexican lunch and then ran a few errands. It was still blowing and snowing, but in town, it didn't seem that bad.

Then.........we headed out on the highway! Oh my! It was nasty and come to find out, it was really just beginning! When we got home (after plowing through a few drifts) we found out that we were under a winter weather advisory, but the county to our west was under a blizzard warning. Before long, we were under it too! It blew and snowed and blew and snowed. The traffic reports were terrible. Oh my, what a winter!

This morning, we have this
Pretty, huh? You can't see the drift at the top of the hill, but it was drifted shut. Thankfully, our neighbor used his big tractor mounted snowblower and blew us out this morning. We haven't seen a county plow yet.

2 Timothy 2:22-26 (ESV)
So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

Titus 3:7-11 (ESV)
so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

Man, oh, man! The last three/four days have been long!

On Tuesday evening, my daughters and I and a friend went to see "The Lion King". AMAZING!!! The costumes, the music, the colors. Just beautiful! The logistics of it all just astound me!

Wednesday, the freezing rain began. We thought we were going to keep our electricity because when we went to bed on Wednesday night, we still had it. Ah, wishful thinking. At midnight, off it went! My husband spent Thursday moving the generator from the house and barns to the hog building, trying to keep things feed and watered and us warm! It wasn't looking good to get the electricity back any time soon, but it came back on at midnight Friday morning. Yeah! Or so we thought!!

We had to run to town and take a vehicle to my son since his needed to go into the shop and when we got back home, it promptly went back off! Thankfully, it was only off for about 3 hours. It flickered quite a bit during the evening though and blinked completely off a couple of times. Today has been quiet and we have everything up and running again. Other parts of Iowa are still struggling and wind is intense. Thankfully, the temps came up enough to melt the ice off of our trees and power lines, but the wind is really blowing and we're getting rain now.

Here are a few pics of the ice.

The above picture was actually earlier in the week. The hoarfrost was amazing! I'd never seen it so long before.

I forgot to mention the big blessing we received yesterday. By the time we got to our knitting workshop, we (S and I) were already pretty frazzled and very hungry! We did not get supper the night before, just had snacks at the bridal shower and then ended up missing out on breakfast before we had to leave. I had plans to just run through McDonald's (wow, healthy!) on our way, but we were running to far behind.

So......at the end of our workshop, one of the mom's brought us a casserole for supper that was still warm. She went home during the workshop and made it for us. Now, maybe to most people that wouldn't be very remarkable. However, this lady has 10 (possibly 11, I've lost count) children under the age of 14 and three of them were with me learning to knit!!!!

I've been involved in a couple of conversations on Rav in the past 2 months about large families, submissive wives, etc., and this lady is a wonderful example of how it works! Despite the busyness of her own home, she thought about me and mine, knowing full-well that it's only myself, hubby, and S and that S is quite capable of filling in when I'm tired, etc., but that didn't stop her from being a blessing to us.

So, please, don't tell me that women who choose to open their womb to God are somehow selfish and/or ignorant and/or downtrodden. That may be the case in about 1-2% of the women that make this choice, but of all the women I know, it's certainly not the case. These are happy, contented women, finding joy in being a blessing to their own families and to the many that they come in contact with everyday! Oh, and by the way, her daughters are going to be great knitters!!

Today is a day to relax and watch some snowboarding and figure skating while I finish one knitting project and begin my first Alan Dart project! Fun stuff!!

It's been a busy weekend so far. Yesterday began with finding out that a friend of mine who is 26 weeks along in her pregnancy was having contractions and was in the hospital. They've stopped the contractions for now and she's coming home today, but we continue to pray that she'll be able to hang on for a few more weeks so the little one has time to get bigger and stronger.

Last night was our first bridal shower for our future daughter-in-law. It was a Pampered Chef shower thrown by the cousins of the groom (and his sisters). It was a lot of fun and she's going to get a lot of goodies!

Today, we taught our second knitting workshop for our old 4-H club. We worked on purling and a bit of ribbing with some. 3 hours just flew by!





This is what we saw when we left the church for home. Beautiful!

Today we went to a baby shower for E. I made her this little green sweater for her new little girl, expected any day now. We had a fun time. Lots of games and laughter!
We had to run to daughter's workplace to pick up her schedule, so I thought I'd get some snow shots in the bright sunlight.

This is coming down our highway. That's not our gravel road ahead, but look at where the snowplow plowed through!
Now we're going down our road. This is by our north neighbors house.

Coming up the final hill to home. Doesn't look to bad, yet..........
Still climbing, drift coming into view.
More drift.
More drift.......
Finally heading down the hill towards home. It took the snowplow six tries to bust that big ole drift this morning. It's only January 9th, I wonder what the rest of winter will bring!

I spent most of yesterday dealing with a migraine (snow-induced), unfortunately, it continues today. Part of the problem, we woke up to this..........

It's really nothing new for this winter, but it's pretty and I thought I'd try to enjoy it.

I'm going to try to start some socks from Cat Bordhi's book New Pathways for Sock Knitters. I want to learn toe-up and be able to adjust the leg size. So, I'm off to put in a movie and give it a whirl-if my head will let me!

The funeral yesterday was small but nice. There were aspects of it that were very hard, but there were moments of sheer joy as we sang a couple of Vada's favorite songs (He Arose! and It is Well).

We said good-bye to her husband, as well, as he heads home to California with the kids tomorrow (weather permitting, we're in for another storm!). He has been suffering from cancer himself and is very weak and tired, it's hard to tell if he hears you or not. Well, my son and I went to say good-bye and one of the older ladies sitting next to him pointed out to Phil that my son is getting married this year. He lifted his head, his eyes lit up and he said, "Your life begins when you get married." J and I looked at each other, and J said, "That's what I've heard." It was such a sweet moment. Phil and Vada were blessed to have celebrated their 50th anniversary this past August, so I would say that Phil knows what he's talking about!

One of the things that most touched me about the funeral were the words her children and grandchildren shared about Vada. How unselfish, family-focused she was. How her marriage and children always came first. How there was no one that she wouldn't share her faith with or just plain give a little love to. I want that kind of legacy!

As I said above, we're looking at another snowstorm coming. We're only at the beginning of January and this has been a loooooooooong winter!

Today I say good-bye to a dear friend. I say good-bye to a wonderful lady who taught me much about sacrifice and love. I say good-bye, but it's only temporary, we will see each other again someday. Today, she rests with our Savior!

Vada was an amazing woman. Widowed at an early age, she met a widower and they merged their families, she was now in charge of 8 children. Her new husband was a brilliant man. He invented bicycle parts and they had a successful business in California. Their children began to have children of their own. One of those grandchildren had a daughter when she was just 14. Vada and her husband, now in their early 60's willingly adopted that little girl. They decided that they wanted to get their new little daughter out of California and raise her in a small town somewhere, so they set out on a quest.

They found that little town, smack dab in the middle of Iowa and they moved in. No close family, no friends, they just felt like it was right. That was 15 years ago. Within a short time, they found our little church out in the country. Their little girl was 4, just a few months younger than my youngest. Vada and I hit it off. What a joyfilled woman! Oh, she knew struggles, having a large family, those came with the territory, but she was calm in the midst of the storms! As a church, we helped them to raise their little one in a new era. We grew close. Their daughter spent a lot of time on our farm and others.

Over the years, we were introduced to the rest of their family. Her sister, Issy, has a special place in my heart! She went home to Jesus many years ago, but I can remember her infectious joy and how I loved to get her cards in the mail.

So, not only do we say good-bye to Vada today, be we say good-bye to her husband. He'll be going back to California with the family (he's not in good health) on Thursday. We say good-bye to her family, people we've come to love and appreciate on many levels.

My heart is aching, it has been since she left this world for the next just before Christmas, but I know that she is whole, healthy, and wonderously blessed as she worships our Lord this very minute!

2010 so far? COLD!!! It's been very cold here, but I'm very thankful that none of us have had any serious problems with it, other than a frozen livestock waterer, which is pretty normal.

Yesterday, S and I and my best friend and her two youngest went to the big city for some eats, a little shopping, and to see The Princess and the Frog. We were stunned with how many people were at the mall when it was -10 outside! There were people everywhere. The parking was bad, due to folks who decided to park in places they shouldn't have because of the giant snowdrifts. We sat in the parking lot watching a lady adjust her GPS system for about 10 minutes while her automatic door on her van wouldn't shut because of the cold. She knew we were waiting, there were many others in the lot also waiting, but she chose to take her sweet time. Finally, she backed out. Ugh!

We enjoyed a yummy lunch at The Cheesecake Factory (shared the Chicken Madeira with S--so good!). For dessert, all 5 of us shared a piece of Stefanie, their red velvet cake and cheesecake cheesecake! Oh, so good and so rich. 5 of us couldn't finish one piece!

Then we were off to the movie. I guess I had forgotten how much nasty stuff can be in a Disney movie. I was excited to see the first African-American princess, but was disappointed that it was pretty stereotypical. The voodoo and the Shadowman were just creepy, in fact, they were pretty scary. There were some cute parts and the message was okay, but all in all, I think I (and the kids) would have enjoyed Alvin and the Chipmunks much better!

We did a little more shopping and then headed for home. The traffic was pretty thick and people seemed to have their dumb helmets on, but we made it safely home. I've been fighting some swollen glands for the past couple of days (seems to be a virus going around), so today will be relaxation and knitting after church (with a little dishwashing and laundry thrown in for good measure!).

2009-Continued

July--The 4th of July was fun, but cold.


We enjoyed hot dogs and smores. The kids had fun target shooting. By 8:00, we had to pull out coats and sweatshirts. Burrrr!

My son also worked hard in July to do a bit of yard transformation for me (landscaping is not my strong suit, and that's putting it mildly!).
August--Started with the Nationwide race at the Iowa Speedway. Crazy!! The speedway had never hosted a race this big with this many attendees. It was an exhausting weekend, but so much fun! We were treated to one of the best races I've seen in years, good weather, and great people!

We went on vacation!! We spent a wonderful 9 days in Colorado with dear friends and visiting my dad and sister. The weather was gorgeous, the company, divine. I can't begin to express how that trip to the mountains spoke to me and challenged me. We were able to worship with believers we didn't know and yet, we knew them. What a blessing! September--was pretty quiet. I had a couple of more races to work. Other than that, things were lazy and hazy, the end of summer.

October--count down to S's arrival back home. The month turned off cold, rainy, and miserable. We had snow in the middle of the month. Harvest was way behind (to this day, there is still standing corn in some fields and we have many inches of snow!). S made it home safely, praise God! We had quite a contingent to greet her!



We were elated to have her home, thankful to God for keeping her safe and causing her to grow and mature. She really had to learn to rely on Him during her 6-month stay in Thailand. She saw miracles happen and she (and we) continue to pray for more to take place.

November--we spent much of November getting her settled back in and seeing people. My son moved into his own place the week after she got home, so she helped me to deal with that by repainting and making his room into my craft room (with his permission and blessing!).

December--A very long month. I've already detailed the sorrow from this month in the blog, so I won't say much more about that, other than I'm thankful that my dad is doing well and that I'm so thankful that my dear friends knew the Lord and we will all be reunited some day! As the year has closed out, I'm praying for 2 little babies with health issues and the mother of one of my best friends who just found how she has breast cancer.

I'm thankful to God that I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that He has much to teach me in sorrow and in joy. I'm thankful that I have Him to rest in, that I can sit at His feet and learn, that He longs to comfort me and that He loves me. What more do I need? Not a thing.

2009 in Review

It's been quite a year. So many highs and quite a few lows. It's been a year of transitions for me and I feel like the transitions continue.

January--we began deepening preparations for my daughter's trip to Thailand. God provided a jump start to her support at a fundraising night at the local pizza place my daughter works at. We were overwhelmed by the response!

February--life continues pretty normally. We were, however, praying diligently for my dear friend who had brain surgery (I talked about him in this blog). We almost lost him to blood clots, but the miracles were numerous and he's recovering well now. We praise God for all of those details He worked out.

My son also had big news, he asked for his girlfriend's hand in marriage and was given permission. (The proposal was yet to come-he was just getting prepared!)

One of my first losses of 2009, a sweet lady who lived nearby where I grew up and was always my go to when I needed to "run away from home". She couldn't have children of her own and she was always prepared with cookies and hugs!

March--The time was drawing closer for my daughter to head for Thailand, plus we were in preparations for A & E's upcoming wedding. An old friend's husband was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung and bone cancer. Another dear friend and her husband were finally placed in the mission field and began preparing for that. There was excitement and sadness in that announcement.

April--One month left until my daughter left for Thailand, 3 weeks left before M & S left for Colorado, and 3 weeks left until A & E's wedding. A busy month was ahead of us! We had another fundraising night at the pizza place and that was wonderful. God had provided all that S needed and then some! Her passport and visa came through. The airplane tickets came in.

We had a going away party for M & S. It was a wonderful time of reconnecting and fellowship. On April 25th, we had the wedding. It was beautiful! M & S left for Colorado right after the ceremony. Later that day, my dear friend miscarried her long-waited for baby.

The Girls

A & ES & I-her going away party.

The next day we commissioned S for her trip to Thailand the following Sunday. That was an emotional time at church, but so thankful for all those that prayed over her and with us during her time away.

May--we put S on the plane at 5:30 in the morning. We were thrilled, scared, and humbled, all at the same time! God blessed her 36 hour trip (by herself!) and everything went very smoothly! That week I almost lost another friend! Praise God, it was not her time and she's doing well.Sending her up the escalator at the airport.

May brought more diagnoses of scary cancers and needs for transplants. The health issues this year have been almost overwhelming.

On May 23rd, my son proposed to his beautiful girlfriend and she said, "YES". Such a bright spot in our year!!

He's got good taste!

I was also asked to join the Iowa Speedway Ministry. That was such a blessing to me! Not only do I love ministering to people, but I love the races and this afforded me a lot of freedom and opportunity to meet drivers, etc.. It was like the Lord gave me a sort of working vacation!

June--In June, one of the little ones that S had fallen in love with in Thailand was basically abducted. It's a long story, but it was truly a test of her faith and ours. We were all compelled to pray! S & Arm

Hubby's grandmother turned 95! She's slowing down a bit, but still going strong!!

As part of the Speedway ministry, I helped with the Indy race in mid-June. It began on Friday with a deluge!The garages

Danika Patrick-yes, I was this close.The AWESOME pace car!

To be continued......