The Joy Journey Continues

Good morning son. My goodness, here it is Sunday again. What happened to Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Oh wait, I know, the same thing that's going to happen to Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week. We're packing it into boxes and filling U-Haul bins!

The Lord is good and gracious. Things are going very well and He leads and guides. Last Friday as I began loading the first U-Haul Box, two of the other residents here in our home, Ethan and Prudence came out and said they were going to help. What would have taken me at least three days, the three of us did in three hours. We did the basement first and then all the boxes in the house.We have one more Box and will have plenty of room for the remainder...including my kitchen table and chairs that I

really wanted to take but didn't think I had the room to. I've had it for sale on Craigslist since the decision to move, had a couple of inquiries but no serious lookers. God knew all along that He was going to give me the desire of my heart. I'm so glad I trusted. 

Dad was able to help pack some yesterday afternoon. His energy and breathing sometimes act up and he's not able to do much. The Lord has been so good to give me the strength and energy I need to get things done. I plan to clear off the front porch today and clean out planters to make room to put the boxes for Salvation Army's pickup on Wednesday. Once I get that organized I'll finish gathering the odds and end we have left to move, and they're not many. I need to "snag" Ethan again to see if he will help me load the kitchen hutch I painted and then I think I can handle everything else.I'd love to be able to take all my salvaged wood but that's not a good idea. I'll load it in the back of the Subaru and take it down to the roadside. It will be gone before I get back to the house.

I was going to start my outdoor project this morning and then "talk" with you this afternoon, but since it's rather cool outside right now I'm just sticking with the normal sequence. 

Poor Jamison. With all the movement and banging and noise of the tape and as tape boxes I don't think he knows what to think. He's either on his rug under my work table or on the back of the couch. It's been going on for a couple of weeks now and his happiest time is when I sit down on the couch to rest and he can snuggle or crawl up in my lap. Something must have clicked last Friday as we were loading the Box though. We, Ethan, Prudence and I had set up a sort of relay to get the boxes out to the Box which Ethan was loading. Prudence and I were carrying the boxes out to the front porch and when we got a stack Prudence would carry them from the porch to the Box where Ethan was loading. At one point Ethan needed items to fill in the "cracks" so I began carrying out our pictures we have packed. I carried out several loads and as I looked up to take the steps up the porch for another load, there stood Jamison at the head of the stairs. In front of him lay "Mr. Cone", his very favorite toy. Jamison willing shares everything he has with any dog that comes to visit, with the exception of Mr. Cone. The only other friend he has ever shared Mr. Cone with is Annie. Ron and Diane's dog. She can take it to be with her and he never says a word. Anyway, Jamison stood there on the porch and nudged Mr. Cone with his nose and looked up at me. My inference from this was, "If we go mom, Mr. Cone goes too!". I sat down and we had a "talk" about Mr. Cone going with him in the car but it wasn't time yet so we needed to take Mr. Cone back to the house until we were ready to go in the car. He turned around, picked up Mr. Cone and took him back to his rug under my work table and curled back up on the safety of his rug. Dad swears Jamison could talk if we'd spend time training him. He just might be right. Jamison has been one of the best gifts God has given us in the last few years. What a joy he is and we thank the Lord for him every single day. He and Annie get along so well. They're going to have a great time together. We'll probably never see Jamison. Ron

and Diane have a fenced yard. You know where he will be all day!!

 The weather here is changing rapidly. We've gone from warm Autumn to chilly Autumn. In the Northern states they are beginning to have snow already. Things are moving very quickly but our steps are sure and directed and we are forever thankful for a Heavenly Father who loves us and cares for us. 

Today is Allegra's 19th birthday! Wednesday is Sierra's 18th and Thursday is dad's 75th. I wanted to do something amazing for dad's birthday this year. I guess a 3,400 mile trip across country counts!! Just as the Lord continues to prepare us for this road trip He continues to prepare the way before us for the heavenly road trip too. Dad has so many more things He wants to do for the Lord and he is extremely excited about the things He knows the Lord has waiting for Him in California. It's good to see him full of life and wanting to tell the world about Jesus. Please continue to pray that God will direct the doctors in CaCalifornia as we try to find out what's going on with dad physically. He's having a difficult time watching me pack and not being able to do as much as he wants to help. But it's like I've told him, I'd rather have him alive and breathing than putting him in a box! I know, bad joke, but dad laughed and I know you are!!

Until next week, be Aaron, love mom

Blessings II

Good morning son. It's a late start this morning, BUT, it's a running start! Well, not literally. Let's just say it's a moving toward a goal start. The sun is beautiful this morning and shining on the turning leaves of reds and golds as they peep through the leaves of green. Autumn is here earlier than usual this year. Not only could you feel it in the air but leaves have been chancing their brilliant coat of many colors for several weeks now. Yesterday on my walk with Jamison the trees on top of the hill in the cemetery looked as though they had been set on fire. I so wish I had the time to preserve some of them in wax to take with me. But alas, I can't do everything. Did I just say that? Besides I packed the paraffin so that's not an option.

Packing is moving along fine once I completed the studio. That's usually the most difficult. The

kitchen is going to be easy. I don't really have to pack anything with the exception of the chickens and the "blue house". Grandma is giving us all of her kitchen stuff because she won't be needing it. Next weekend we're going to have a "free" garage sale. Everything we don't want to take, with the exception of some pieces of furniture, we're going to put in the front yard and on the porch and say, "come and get it". It's a good way to give back and share during these tough times. We've been truly blessed and maybe in some small way, we can share what we have and be a blessing to someone else.

Blessings are amazing events or people in our lives. 

 bless·ing  (blsng)

n.

1. The act of one that blesses.

2. A short prayer said before or after a meal; grace.

3. Something promoting or contributing to happiness, well-being, or prosperity; a boon.

4. Approbation; approval: This plan has my blessing.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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blessing [ˈblɛsɪŋ]

n

1. the act of invoking divine protection or aid

2. the words or ceremony used for this

3. a short prayer of thanksgiving before or after a meal; grace

4. (Non-Christian Religions / Judaism) Judaism Also called brachah brocho

a.  a short prayer prescribed for a specific occasion and beginning ``Blessed art thou, O Lord…''

b.  a section of the liturgy including a similar formula

5. approval; good wishes her father gave his blessing to the marriage

6. the bestowal of a divine gift or favour

7. a happy event or state of affairs a blessing in disguise

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

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bless•ing (ˈblɛs ɪŋ)

n.

1. the act or words of a person who blesses.

2. a special favor, mercy, or benefit: the blessings of liberty.

3. a favor or gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness.

4. the invoking of God's favor upon a person.

5. praise; devotion; worship, esp. grace said before a meal.

6. approval or good wishes.

[before 900]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

As you can see by the many definitions, blessings come in many sizes, shapes and variations. Maybe that's why we don't recognize them so many times in our lives. Taking all of these definitions into account, I wonder how long it would take us to do what the song bids us to do? 

 

Count Your Many Blessings

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

 

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will be singing as the days go by.

When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold.
Count your many blessings, money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your Lord on high.

So amid the conflict, whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

 

I know that if I ever really did what the song suggests, "count your many blessings, name them one by one", that I would ever be able to name them all. For one thing, I don't know them all. Some blessings we are never aware of. (Sorry about the preposition at the end of the sentence.) LOL  I don't know if it's because we're not paying attention or God intends it that way. If you really stop and think about it, our life is just one big blessing. We wake up every morning

to the brilliance of a universe created just for us. Well, maybe that's just a tad overstated, but not by much. We have opportunities every day that some people just dream about. We have the love and understanding of friends and family. We have the hugs of nieces and nephews. We had the unconditional love of a son that God allowed us to have enjoy for 38 years. We strive to share those blessings with others every day. Our ways may not be huge but the act of sharing our blessings any way we can is something we have always done and will continue to do.

 

Keep God's ear close about your dad's health. He's not doing well right now but hopefully tomorrow the doctor will have some answers. Your dad has been one of God's greatest blessings in my life. God brought Him out of nowhere and it's been close to 43 years of blessings and adventures. We're headed for yet another as we take off across the country in our little Subaru; me, dad & Jamison. We have blessings on the East Coast and blessings on the West Coast and blessings to come in between. We'll be more aware to count them more often and thank the Lord for them daily.

 

Until next week, be Aaron, love mom 

I'm A Child of THE King!

Good morning son! Rainy and wet here. I just imagine the sunshine, or is it sunshine? Hmm. I'd rather think things are so bright because of God's glory that you don't need light. It's funny how we always picture life in heaven as it is here on earth. I know it isn't. God is very plain about that. Maybe it just give us comfort to think of it that way because we understand it better that way. Anyway, I know it's a glorious morning and that smiles are abound and the praising and singing is like we have never heard here on earth. And you can actually understand the words without closed captioning! 

We're packing for our trip. Doing a great deal of sorting and limiting what we are taking.We're using pods this time so we can just store them rather than, load a truck, unload a truck into storage, then load a truck out of storage and unload a truck into a house. We pack up the pods and they're stored until we call for them.The Lord is providing the way, through very unexpected sources, for us to return to California. We are so very thankful to all those, and we don't know all who are involved, but we're so thankful for all they are doing and allowing God to do through them. We've loved our time here in Troy, getting to know the Troy 9, but we're just not east coast people. We're spend our entire life on the west coast, building our lives, making friends. At our ages, it's just too difficult to make this type of transition. 

We finally were able to locate some boxes yesterday and I sorted out the studio yesterday. I'm

Free craft supplies...went like a flash

about down to half of what I have. I piled everything in a pile that I want to share and posted a picture on Craigslist in FREE STUFF last night. Within about 20 minutes I had 11 requests. The posting said whoever wanted it had to take it all. The second one hit the jackpot. She'll be here this morning to pick it up. That was easy. Today I'll finish with the studio. I've laid out a schedule for packing by room and how many days it will take to pack that room(s). I didn't think I'd be able to get started until Monday because I didn't have boxes. But, if I finish up today, I'm three days ahead. That's how long I scheduled for the studio. Plus, Dad and I sorted through all of the memory boxes, two tubs and six albums of photos. We removed duplicates and sorted out one box and eight or nine envelopes of pictures that are going to other family members. Next, we'll hit dad's den. I just organized and cleaned in there so that should be easy.(She says with a laugh.) 

What is that saying, "God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform." He continues to amaze us. Why are we amazed? I don't know. It's not like we haven't seen God at work in our lives before. We see it everyday. Maybe it's because we don't think God cares about the desires of our hearts, just our needs. And yest He shows us every day that He cares for both. Maybe it's because we don't think we deserve to have the desires of our hearts because our needs are so great. You know how sometimes you see God working but you just know it can't be for you because there are so many of His children with needs and desires and yours are just so "low on the totem pole". I mean they're important to you, but why would God care. He has children who are in danger, who are sick; children with REAL troubles. Why would He take time with the desires of your heart when He has a world of children to tend to. I'm so thankful He's God and not me. God doesn't have to make a choice, He can do it all.

I often have thought over the years what it would have been like to have a houseful of kids. That's what dad and I wanted but God didn't see it in our lives for us. We poured every ounce of

love and care we had into you. We were able to do that because we had one child. How does a parent with many children know what each child needs in order of importance? Is it instinct? Is there an order? Families only have so much income? How does a parent decide what or who comes first? What seems like a need to a child seems like a desire to a parent. I may have told you this story before, but it bears repeating here I think. It is still just as vivid in my memory today as it was when it happened. Maybe not all the details, but the love of my parents to fulfill what I just knew what a "need" in my life. To them I'm sure it was fulfilling a desire.

Every year our church sponsored a Sunday School picnic. It was a huge event and everyone loved it. We had the usual fare: BBQ hamburgers & hot dogs, families brought potluck to go with them and my dad would take a flatbed truck to the ice company and the would "blow" crushed iced in a huge pile on the flatbed and the men of the church would load it with every kind of pop known to man at the time and ice cream cups. Everything was a nickle, if you didn't have a nickle you usually got the item anyway, and kids could eat ice cream and drink pop all day long and no one said, "haven't you had enough". There were games for the kids and adults and an annual softball game that lasted the entire afternoon. At the fair grounds when we had the picnic there, was a slope where we use to bring pieces of flat card board and slide down the slope. Most of the time you couldn't see the slope for the kids and the cardboard; either sliding down or dragging the cardboard back up the hill for another thrill down.



One year, a few days before the picnic we stopped in at a store downtown. All the family went in. I don't remember why we needed to be there but that's neither here nor there. All I remember was I spotted a pair of "peddle pushers". Oh my. They were stripes of muted pinks, yellows and greens. My eyes must have lit up like the father's in the "Christmas Story" when I saw them. I HAD to have them. I can't remember exactly how much they were. All I remember was that my life would end if I couldn't have them. I screwed up my courage and asked. There was sadness in my mom's eyes when she told me they just couldn't afford to buy them right now. Mom told me later they cost a little over a dollar if I remember right. All I knew was that my life was ending and no one cared. I must have been about 10 or 12. Just at that age. It probably broke my dad and mom's hearts to have to tell me know. Now, having been a parent, I can appreciate how painful that must have been for them. I don't remember what I said, but I do remember not being very happy and letting the world know about it for several days. To this day I don't know how they did it, but the morning of the picnic, those "peddle pushers" were laying on the end of my bed. I know they had to give something up in order to do it. Nothing was ever said. I don't know who was happier, me because I got the peddle pushers or my mom and dad because they were able to provide one of their children with the desire of her heart. I know now, because I've been a parent.

We, as parents, do everything in our power to provide for our children.Sometimes, it's letting them make mistakes, even when you know it's not in their best interest, but because they need to learn. Sometimes it's because you just want to see the joy in their eyes. Sometimes it's simply because they are your child and you love them. This is also true of our Heavenly Father. Sometimes we don't understand what God has given us until we loose it . God, in His mercy, makes all things right.

Until next week, be Aaron, love mom