Walk in the Park

"So what are your plans for the day?"

Says, my man.

"Well,"  I say,

"I think I'll go for a walk,

do a little business on line,

read a little,

make the bed,

do some Holy Yoga,

and

probably go to the grocery store.

I've got a really busy schedule today."

So, I walked in the little park

and around the residential area of Ray.

And met a new Godly Girlfriend,

a sister in Christ.

We are both totally convinced that nothing

with God is a coincidence.

Lord help me to keep my eyes open

so as not to miss even one

of your blessings.

Today,

Life is a Walk in the Park!

Godly Girlfriends

To my Godly Girlfriends,

and you know who you are.

I may not see you often and

We don't have to talk every day,

but whenever we see each other,

we pick up right where we left off.

Don't you just love that?

Being away so much has made me value

your friendship all the more.

If we could have lunch today,

I'd tell you that:

We arrived safe and sound

Three long driving days

I drove the old 5 speed 4X4 one ton and we bonded
The man pulled the RV with the limo truck
We sold my truck the night before we left
You'll have to drive me around when I get home

Beginning in South Dakota we saw lots of water and sandbags 

This is the most rain they've had in 100 years

Back home we are the dryest in over 100 years

The flooded Mouse river is the highest in recorded history

We only drove in water once

We detoured around the flooded town of Minot

Of the 4,000 flooded homes,

only 375 had flood insurance

Everybody has a story about the flood

We visited the now rented house we bought last year

- 70 miles away and it looked good

We've reconnected with a few folks here

Our neighbor there was so proud of his serape,

 you'd have thought we gave him a new car

We got an RV spot just by the favor of God

I went to church yesterday and most of the service,

We confessed our sins and prayed for our country

The lady at the flower shop has a son in Midland

I went to the little grocery store 3 times today

and the one checker's first and middle names are the same as mine
The postmistress and I have a mutual friend

A kid told me he liked my Tennessee accent
I told him I liked his

We are only 50 miles from the Canadian border

My passport will have a Canadian stamp

I made rhubarb pie and walleye for dinner

My man is liking his work situation

The company he works for provides 3 meals a day on site
I could be out of a cooking job

I haven't got my sewing machine or watercolors out yet

The family next door has little children that miss their Nana

And must recognize me as one

I found a great little park behind us with a lake and trees

The temperature was 51 this morning

It doesn't get dark here until 10:30

I already miss you

And if we could have lunch

I would ask you:

What's new?

How are the kids?

How are the grand kids?

Is the remodel finished?

How's the mission project going?

How's work?

How was your last doctor's visit?

When is the baby due?

Are you terribly excited about retirement?

How was church Sunday?

Where was that fire?

Is my house ok?

Have you done Grana Camp yet?
How hot is it there?

And if we were having lunch,

I'd know the answers to all those questions,

soooooooooooo

Please, please, please let me hear from you!!

And...thanks for being my friend.

Ray, North Dakota

After a long, long drive,

a 50 mile detour,

and an alternate route around

flooded Minot

We finally made it.

We found Ted's work site and visited with his supervisor.

We found an RV spot in Ray

(about 7 miles from Tioga, where Ted will be working)

Ted walked into the little auto parts store for wiper blades and to inquire about the trailer space out back.  He was told that there were 90 on the waiting list.  After a little chit chatting - the spot was ours!  It's so great to walk in God's favor!!

There's nothing pituresque here,

just RV's, pickups and gravel,

between the NAPA store and the rodeo arena.

The Snow White Diner is next door.

For Ted's sake, I hope their chocolate malts are terrible!

But we are most grateful to have a place to park.

This is Sunday morning.

Ted started work today

and I plan to walk in the park,

find a church,

visit the market,

 hunt a laundramat,

and clean house.

Ray, I'm sure, was once a quiet little town.

But trucks roar through here non-stop now.

It is home to the Grain Palace Festival every August.

Ray's population is 534

(not including us oil field treasures)

Last night, light was shining in the windows until about 11

and turned back on at 5 this morning. 

That will take a little adjusting.

Now for my first day in Ray, ND.

This is the day the LORD has made

I will rejoice and be glad!

Seeing America - One Job at a Time

Oakley, Kansas

Birthplace of Buffalo Bill

He claimed to have killed over 4,000 buffalo while riding a horse.

Now here's a couple of old buffalos

There was also some Annie Oakley information there. 

She was a star in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

I wonder if he gave her the stage name Oakley after his hometown.

(As a child, I wanted to be just like her -

or at least like the Annie Oakley on tv! 

She wore great fringed outfits!)

And there was an great quote attributed to her

"Aim at a high mark

and you will hit it.

No, not the first time, nor the second time,

and maybe not the third.

But keep on aiming, and keep on shooting,

for only practice will make you perfect.

Finally, you will hit the bull's eye of success."

Didn't the Apostle Paul say something like that?

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call

of God in Christ Jesus.(Philippians 3:14)

 Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace.

And the God of love and peace will be with you. (2 Corinthians 13:11)

Well, our AIM for tomorrow is Tioga, ND.

The roads are reportedly open through flooded Minot.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,

Nor will the flame burn you. (Isaiah 43:2)

We left the fires back in Texas

and headed for the floods.....

I have no doubt that He will be with us there too.

On the Road Again!

Hallelujah!

He's finally ready to go!

I kept saying, "If we don't just leave, we'll have everything we own in there."  We finally pulled out at 10 this morning and made it to

Garden City, Kansas. 

All our routes into Tioga are flooding.  In fact, Minot has evacuated 11,000 people and officials are predicting devastation close to Katrina.  Sirens are being sounded tonight.  Pray for those folks. 

We may need to stay south a few days longer than planned to wait for the flooding to subside.

Abraham and Sarah

I was fielding the lunch questions about

 when we are leaving (Wednesday),

where we are going (North Dakota),

where we are staying (don't know),

how long we'll be gone (don't know)

when I'll be back for a visit (don't know).

I said, "It's sort of like going on faith"

And she said,

"Just like Abraham and Sarah"

Genesis 12 tell us that God told Abraham to leave his country

 and go to a land He (God) would show him.

So Abraham left just as God said, and Lot (his nephew) went with him. Abraham was seventy-five years old.  He took his wife Sarah, and his nephew Lot with him, along with all the possessions and people that had accumulated.  And they set out for the land of Canaan and they arrived safe and sound..

A commentary I read says the trip was about 400 miles and would have taken 20 days if they could average 20 miles a day.  The move would have been like moving a small city.

So I wonder,

Did Sarah make a list?

Did she Google Canaan?
Did she check the weather?

How many camp grounds did she call before she found availability?

Did she make sure all the robes and tents were clean?

Did she make a snack pack for everybody?

How many trips did she make to Walmart?

Did she have a lunch date with friends before she left?

Did she forward the mail?

Did her cell phone break two days before she left?

Did Abe sell her favorite riding camel 12 hours before she left?

No, I'm not Sarah

and I'm not married to Abraham.

My man follows the job

and I follow the man.

And it feels like we are moving a small city.

But, yes, we are going on faith.

Eternity

For 15 years I have buried my nose in everything that was hers,

 hoping, I suppose, to somehow bring her back through her scent. 

 At first it was her clothes, then her pillow, her blanket, her hairbrush, until I finally stopped.

But this week I was trying to make some room in the bathroom vanity (the bathroom that was hers)

and pulled out a small plastic storage box. 

 I smelled her the minute I opened the box. 
I smelled her.

The contents of the box were hers - things I never got around to tossing:  facial cleanser, firming mask, alcohol swabs, sucrets, ear plugs, various over the counter meds, and

luxury body powder - ETERNITY by Calvin Klein.

I smelled her today.

Eternity

Heather Renee Floyd
10-23-77  -  9-11-96

Thoughts about Nana Camp

Maybe it has something to do with just having the significant birthday or maybe it was just dragging out all the old stuff - but Nana Camp was a blast from the past and a walk down memory lane.  I've never thought of myself as sentimental, but it appears that I need to change my thinking.


For our tea party, when Hannah changed clothes with each crumpet, I wore the same outfit my mother wore to tea parties with Holly and Heather.  Her old pink squaw dress with silver rick rack and her silver blouse.  Oh, my goodness.  It wasn't planned, it was just there, so I wore it.  Our tea set was hand china painted for Heather by her Granny.

We decided that we just didn't have enough dress-up clothes for the tea party and went thrift store shopping.  We found wonderful clothes and even pink satin heels that went home with her.  I thought about the dress up parties of years past - my mom always crashed the parties in her pink skirt, silver blouse and a mask.

Some of the toys in the toy box were her mom's toys.  And she played with everybody's dolls, included my mine.

Our last day, I pulled out all the old stuffed animals and told Hannah she could take home any of them she wanted.  She said no thanks.  But when I told her they were headed for the thrift store, she started loading sacks and took almost all of them.  They will probably still end up in a thrift store.

Teaching her to sew made me remember learning to sew in 4-H.  I can still remember that yellow gingham skirt with 3 rows of elastic at the waist.  My first garment in Junior High Home Economics was the hardest dress pattern I could find and it looked pretty good.  I need to keep teaching her sewing skills.

She eats like a little humming bird, flitting around from snack to snack.  One day she had eaten about every 30 minutes - cereal, fruit, popcorn, pizza, apple, popcorn, cookie, popcorn, apple and about 4 that afternoon, she said, "Nana, have we had lunch?"  I might get fired for that!

We learned a scripture every day, beginning with - I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength and ending with Chidren obey your parents.  I thought she might need that little reminder after being the princess for a week! 

It was a great week and I feel blessed above all Nana's.

Tea Party Conversation

 

So Miss Hannah,

What did you do this week?

"Well,"

(in her best, fancy tea party lady voice)

"I painted

and played the piano

and learned a song,

and went to the pool

and fed the mean ducks

and hungry prairie dogs

and sewed

a really soft pillow

and a robe for Addie

and a pink dress

and a blue/ purple dress

and cooked

and made a pie for Papa

(with a gummi critter on top - tee hee)"

".....and Nana,

I stayed 5 whole nights without my parents"

Yes, Miss Hannah, you are an incredible woman.

Nana Camp

This week of Nana Camp is like a miracle.

a breath of fresh air,

a gift straight from heaven

A couple of years ago, she was going through a fit throwing stage
and you might say she was the Queen of Fits.

And because I wouldn't let her get away with it,

she didn't like me. 

In fact,she went through some time when she wouldn't

kiss, hug, talk,

 or even look at me.

She would just cross those arms and scowl.

Yes, it broke the grandmother's heart.

November 3, 2009

I wrote this in my journal:

Hannah says to me:

"don't get close"

(Don't we say the same to God.

"you can only come this close")

Hannah says to me:

"don't touch my art project"

(Don't we say to God, "I want you in my life,

but you can't have my...

job, family, money, etc.")

Hannah says to me:

"no kisses, no hugs"

(Don't we say to God, "no lovin' on me")

Then Hannah  says, "Nana, will you help me..."

(Don't we run to Him when we need help?)

Hannah says, "Nana, you sit here, you stand there,

you say this and play this way"

(Don't we tell God to play by our rules. 

Don't we tell Him who we want Him to be?)

 I decided that day that I would love Hannah

as unconditionally as my Father loves me.

I would be there when she fell down,

when she needed me,

and when she can't reach what she needs...

So every chance I got, I said:

"Hannah, I loved you yesterday

I love you today

I will love you tomorrow

and you can't do anything that will

keep me from loving you"

And like her stubborn Nana,

she has finally given in to unconditional love.

Here we are having a grand and glorious time

at Nana Camp.

Children's Children are a Crown to the aged

(Proverbs 17:6)

More fun pictures later...

Happy Anniversary

We never dreamed that 40 years later
we would wake up in an RV (what's that?)
in the hill country (where's that?)
with grandchildren in bed with us!

Happy Anniversary, Honey!

Thinking

There's a lot of thinking going on while spraying mesquite trees.

I should have paid more attention to my daddy's getting rid of them.

I think he poisoned, then grubbed.

He did it the last time just before his 90th birthday.

Bless his hard working heart

I should have paid more attention.

One good thing about the dead grass

is that the trees are easy to spot.

I wonder how much water these things drink.

They're harder to kill when they've been here longer.

It's kind of like sin ~

even stuff like fear, being judgemental,

gossip, unforgiveness ~

the longer we hang on to it,

the deeper the roots

and harder to get free from.

hmmmmm......

Wish those were rain clouds.

Send the rain.

People keep quoting 2 Chornicles 7:14

"if my people, who are called by my name,

will humble themselves and pray

and seek my face

and turn from their wicked ways,

then will I hear from heaven

and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

my people

I never thought about it before

my people - believers?

who are called by my name

Christian?

Not atheists, agnostics, buddaists, or muslims

my people, called by my name

Not them

Me.

humble myself

pray

seek His face

turn from my wicked ways

then He will forvive my sins with these long roots

and heal my land.

Lord, forgive our sins and heal our land

Thank you for protecting us from fires

Please send rain.

Goodness there's a lot to think about.....