Work Day

On the way to San Angelo for work week-end at our Dove Creek house,

 we drove through about 10 miles of

burned pastures, mesquite and cedar trees. 

Then this sign really made us laugh....

Duh!

Saturday Morning Priorities

Coffee on the Deck!

After hours of serious planning,

We finally get down to business

Trimming Trees

Stacking Firewood

Hauling Brush

To the home of the next bonfire (when the ban is lifted)

Then the mama says,

"Last one in the creek is a rotten egg"

Looks like poor old Max is the rotten egg...

That's as far as the transmitter on his collar

will let him follow his nose.

Poor Max

Even Lily got to take a dip

Then as an extra special treat,

We enjoyed the magic of the San Angelo Symphony

and the Cirque

Click Here for a little of the show:

(Cirque de la Symphonie)

What a night!

Addie (Hannah's American Girl doll)

learned to do the splits,

Harrison walked all the way to the car

just like the clown,

Tom was playing the mouth sax, or trumpet, or something

and Papa just wanted some ice cream...

It was fun!

We have sore backs and tired muscles,

But we gotta lotta, lotta stuff accomplished!

Why do we work so hard here?

Evenings and Mornings

A second home did not even make the top one million things in my bucket list, and the story of how we came to buy it is a bit long, but we're hooked on it. It had been terribly neglected. We partnered with daughter and son-in-law, and we've all worked hard to put the love back in it.  We just call it Dove Creek.

Last week, I was there alone working on it.  I watered trees and shrubs and grass and cactus.  I cleaned up after the busted winter pipe flood, recent carpenters and the javelinas. And I picked up leaves and sticks.

 I crawled out of bed early every morning to be on the deck with coffee in hand while the sun was coming up.  I was there with the turkey, squirrels, deer, cardinals, hummingbirds and a million other birds welcoming the new day.  Is morning God's way of saying He hasn't given up on us?  Is it his way of giving us a brand new start?

Evenings found me and my tired muscles back on the deck usually with neighbors, Lee and Sally.

With God's creation of each day, scripture says,  "And on the ____ day God created the ____________ and there was evening and there was morning". It's there six times. He worked on His creation - then it was evening and then it was morning.  And He created again.

To me, the evenings of our lives are like the times when we are weary, sad, depressed, sick, tired, or just sick and tired of being sick and tired.  But God says, "Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning."  (Psalm 30:5)  Mornings are the joy and hope of newness and a fresh start - and maybe a chance to start over.

After a few days, I decided that I needed some company.  So I threw out a blanket invitation to girlfriends: I know it's last minute - but come if you can.  I had four takers.  We laughed, we cried, we encouraged, we told stories, we ate, and we drove the 20 miles into town and shopped a little.  Ok - we shopped a lot.  Oh, and we sat on the deck.  We helped the sun come up.  We said goodbye to the day.  And we had Church on the Deck.

Sunday afternoon, we divided the leftovers, loaded our treasures and went our separate ways.

I didn't know if I could get my sleep deprived, aching body home.  But then I turned down the county road to my little house on the prairie and saw the sun blazing in the west.

...and there was evening...

Beauty from Brokenness

If you've ever stayed awake at night

wondering what a cactus would look like
after a javelina attack,

here's your answer:

The cactus garden is one of the things we love about this place,
the first thing you see after driving down
 the narrow lane to the house.

It was the first time we knew they were anywhere around.
One neighbor caught them on his game camera.
Another's cactus was attacked, too.

Last summer there were a few broken paddles on it,
and I said to the kids,
"Be on the lookout -
I think we've had pirates. 
how do I know we've had pirates?
Because they attacked our cactus."

Hannah confirmed my suspicions,
"Oh, no Nana, - not pirates.
It was the BOYS  - with sticks."

But this attack was different.
It was near destruction.

Reminds me of the enemy of our soul
working us over.

Be self‑controlled and alert.
Your enemy the devil prowls around like a snortn' javelina
 looking for someone to devour. 
 ( 1 Peter 3:5  MV - my version)
 

And when we leave the gate open

or when there is no gate

that hairy, stinkin', enemy with tusks comes in to

try to kill, steal, destroy and shred everything precious to us.

 

But God.

(I love the But God's)

But God in his tender mercy and grace,

when we are ready, lovingly comes in.

He cleans our wounds

and picks up the broken pieces of our lives.

Most of the time,

He sends Jesus with skin on

to clean up our mess,

to patch our wounds,

to hug and encourage.

And sometimes, they get some of the ugly stuff on them.

And sometimes they get stickers in their gloves.

Then the Light of the World shines down from above,

And we begin to see and feel new growth.

Growing a new cactus is easy -

just lay a broken cactus paddle on the ground

(not even fertile ground) 

and it will grow roots.

It's a great cactus,

so I laid some of the borken pieces in barren spots

 in great hopes of having new cactus someday.

When we yield to God's healing power,

our broken-ness may take root in someone else's dry hard ground

 and grow into a strong woman or man someday.

The Bible does not say that

everything happens for a reason, but

 "that all things work together to good

 for them that love the Lord

and are called to His purpose (Romans 8:28)

And what is that purpose?

To be restored to our former glory -

to glorify the One who planted us here in the first place.

"And the God of all grace,

who called you to his eternal glory in Christ,

after you have suffered a little while,

will himself restore you

 and make you strong, firm and steadfast."

(1 Peter 5:10)