Glacier National Park - Float Trip

The whole earth is full of His glory.

 (Isaiah 6:3)

Our first excursion in Glacier was a float trip

Down the Flathead River

(the babies daddy had flown in from Texas and joined us

in East Glacier, Montana - yeah!)

Row, Row, Row the Boat!

Everyone participated.

Motorized Water Craft are not allowed on the river at all.

So the quietness and serenity of the river

brought a sense of awe in us all

We couldn't keep our eyes off the fly fishing family on the river

Mom and Dad were casting lines

Kids were rowing and netting the fish

Our eyes had seen the Glory of the Lord

Amtrak Adventure

So, Papa says....

"We should go to Glacier National Park

on Amtrak"

So we loaded up our clothes, snacks, books, and electronic gadgets

and headed west by rail.



All ABOARD!

The chairs were extra roomy

and great for napping

When will we be there?

When will we be there?

It was a 10 hour ride

and some of us got a little bored



and headed to the Lounge Car,

 Where we had a great view of the passing landscape

Interesting things about Amtrak travel:

No one checked our ID

We didn't go through security at all

We could wander around

We could bring food and drinks

We could have gone to the dining car

We DID try the snack bar

What did we think of Amtrak?

Interesting.

Bore-ing

Slow

Bore-ing

WHEN WILL WE BE THERE?

More Gifts

#105.  Precious Cargo

at the airport

The Incredibles arrived from Texas

# 106.  Safe Travel

Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center

Lewis & Clark

and their dog,

Seaman

#107  Free Admittance This Week

(we would have been disappointed to have

given them $6.50 each to look at

the little museum)

#108  The Climbing Tree

in front of our house

#108.  The Playground

Around the Corner

#109  Green Eggs & Ham

#110.  The Holly Sugar Train

#111  Restored Fort Union

(Important 1800's Trading Post

for Indians and Trappers)

#112  First Lost Tooth

And

#113  Grandchildren Sleeping

on my living room floor

Giving Thanks in All Things

In her book, One Thousand Gifts, Ann call its Ugly/Beautiful.

Can I thank Him for the ugly as well as the beautiful?

The bad as well as the good?

So today, I thanked Him for the package of mail from home

that was late by 3 weeks.

It was an irritating uncomfortable inconvenience

(or "little ducks nibbling at my feet" - as friend Louise Rice used to say)

 

Thank you, Lord, for this lost package of mail.

You know right where it is and what's in it.

Upon arrival at the desk,

the Post Mistress handed me the beautiful

(the most recent mail package)

and the ugly

(the first one that had been sitting there on a shelf  all along).

And guess what?!

There was nothing of significance in either of them.

A friend said that Jesus words,

"In this world you will have trouble.

But take heart! I have overcome the world."

(John 16:33)

Always make her think of Lynn Anderson's song:

I beg your pardon,
I never promised you a rose garden.

Along with the sunshine,
There's gotta be a little rain sometimes.

When you take, you gotta give, so live and let live,
Or let go.

I beg your pardon,
I never promised you a rose garden.

#104.  Neighbors with Green Thumbs

100 Years

This morning all the firetrucks drove by to the hospital at the end of the street,

where they circled the parking lot with sirens blaring. 

Then paraded down Main Street with sirens blaring.

A local says it's the 100th Anniversary of Tioga Fire & Rescue.

Her t-shirt says

Tioga Fire & Rescue

100 Years and Still Making House Calls

A little later I see activity at the other end of the street,

so I meandered down to the fire station for lunch. 

 But the unexpected treat was the giant flag flying from the

antique fire truck's ladder.

This flag is a commemorative 9/11 flag destined to fly in all 50 states. 

An end of the flag had been removed for signatures

of firefighters

While I nibbled on my pulled pork sandwich the flag was taken down,

 carefully folded by firemen,

 gently & respectfully

replaced in its travelling trunk

and sent in a rescue vehicle

to the next town

with a motorcycle escort

Today's Gifts:

#69.  A Parade (I love parades)

#70.  Firefighters & Rescue Personnel

#71.  Shiny Red Firetrucks

#72.  Giant Flags

#73.  Stars and Stripes

#74.  Being American

#75.  Patriotism

God Bless America

Please.

ReUse ~ ReStore ~ RePurpose

I confess - I like junk.

I just like it.

I like to buy it cheap, glue it, clamp it, sand it, paint it, use it and admire my treasure.  I really love old lamps, because they are so much more interesting than new ones. I've used them for years.

The other day I was testing my trove of dollar lamps.
 The switch on the first one didn't work, so it went in the trash box.  .

But when I plugged in the next lamp - the cord blew right off the plug in my hand.  I got a little shock and a black hand.  And that plug was still in the socket with exposed hot wire that I still had to do something with. So I promised the safety minded man that I would dispose of the rest of the old lamps and buy new ones from the only store in the next town (Walmart),  

From the minute the thing blew up - I knew there was a double lesson for me. 

Is it that my wiring is faulty and I can't be the conduit for His power to flow through in order to shine His light in the darkness? 

Or that I need to allow Him to restore, refinish, remake, rewire, repurpose me so that I CAN be the woman He's called me to be? 

I sure don't want my faulty wiring to blow up on somebody. 

 So I submit to the

cleaning

and gluing

and clamping

and painting

and yes - rewiring. 

 I want to live fully right where I am so that any light that shines is His Light
and not be a shocking temporary flash that leaves an ugly residue.

"Let your light shine before men,

that they may see your good deeds

and praise your Father in heaven."

(Matthew 5:16) 

(Red because Jesus said it)

But there's this one lamp I just can't part with.

The body of the lamp is a little off center.

The brass is dull.

The plug is bent.

  I think I'll rewire it and give it another chance to light the world we are living in.

So in this little North Dakota furnished rent house with 7 different floor coverings, orange floral couch, 50's mint green kitchen tile, harvest gold stove, and pink flamingo mirror - the turquoise lamp stays. 

 Maybe I'll come up with a turquoise and orange flamingo pillow!

And hey,
Thanks for joining my madness!

Small Town America

Stepping outside our little house this morning was breathtakingly serene.

The breeze was just enough to float cottonwood puffs from

 the giant tree across the street

right to my front door.

The temp was about 70 as I walked the block and half to church.

Zion Free Lutheran church was packed,

The singing preacher has a passion for worship.

His message was sin, judgement, repentance, and salvation.

(Seems to be a theme lately).

Later this afternoon, I walked the half block to the

Norseman Museum

(which is open Sundays 2-4 in the summer only)

and then another block to the grocery store

for a bag of something I thought I needed.

From our little house,

I can walk four blocks or less to anywhere I want to go in this town:

Post Office

Bank

Food Pride

Hardware Hanks

Crafty Hands

Napa

Drug Store

Flower Shop

City Park

Library

Senior Center

Farmer's Daughter

It is amazing.

The road to Canada

Life is Good!

46.  robin having a squirmy worm for breakfast

47.  healthy walkin' legs

48.   small town quiet