Cherries

I'm pretty sure that if I were Eve, and the naughty tree happened to be a rainier cherry tree, we'd be in the same sinful predicament.
I love them.
White meat protected by dusky red skin. I eat one with both hands, wrapped, like I'm playing a harmonica.
My mother buys them for me. My husband buys them for me. My friend brings me a bag home from her farm. Too bad my birthday's not in July.
On my wedding morn I soaked in a bubble bath with a bowl of cherries. It was quite romantic.
I look forward to this time every year and I get, really, unutterable joy from cherries.
Can anything be more poignant than a bowl of cherries?

La Pine....Where a kid can be a kid

After a fun-filled week of VBC...I needed a rest. Dave's parent's cabin always provides that...


.... for me. The kids however get a bundle of old-fashioned fun. Sack races.........

and ferris wheels. Rowan got a batting helmet free at a garage sale and wore it everywhere causing people to pity him his head injury.

Train rides....

and watermelon eating contests. Dave didn't stand a chance even though he had many more teeth than the La Pine competitors.

The High Desert Museum boasts a living history area complete with laundry lessons. Thank God for modern technology!

There were hours spent playing outside, target practice,

and riding the ATV or as Rowan calls it, the GPS.

Every day ends like this, dirty and tired. Isn't that what being a kid is all about?

Rowan wanted to tell me about his ATV ride with Daddy where he saw mountain lion tracks. He is so expressive....I wonder were he gets that?

I absorbed two and a half good books and got lots of rest. LaPine is such a blessing. Thanks J and N!

Rejoice!

"Rejoice in the Lord always.

I will say it again: Rejoice!

Let your gentleness be evident to all.

The Lord is near.

Do not be anxious about anything,

but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,

present your requests to God.

And the peace of God,

which transcends all understanding,

will guard your hearts and your minds

in Christ Jesus."

Phillipians 4:4

Monday

She looks exactly how I feel....only not so cute.

Pearls

"After all," Anne had said to Marilla once,

"I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid,

or wonderful,

or exciting happens,

but just those that bring simple little pleasures,

following one another softly,

like pearls,

slipping off a string."

Driving

When I was 15 Dad took me in to get my driver's permit. I passed, and as I walked out to the car I jokingly said, "Hey can I drive home?"
Dad threw me the keys and climbed into the passenger side. Please note: I had never driven a car before. Also: we had a stick shift. But adventure is my middle name so I gamely jumped in, started it up, put it in reverse, and stalled. Let's just say that it was a long drive home. I made quite a few drivers very unhappy. I ended up in a ditch and Dad took over and drove me home.
I mentioned in a previous post that I've been reading 'Practicing His Presence' by Brother Lawrence (a rewrite of the original). It is a beautiful soul-seeking book of encouragement written by a French "Lay Brother" among barefooted devotees. He claims you can be interactively in the presence of God at all times. Another man, Frank Laubach a missionary, has a chunk of his writings compiled here as well and he claims the same thing. "See how many minutes of the hour you can remember...Christ at least once each minute; that is to say bring Him to mind at least one second out of every sixty."
This is harder than it sounds. I've struggled with lots of thoughts like, "Why couldn't I have been a monk and gotten this down before I had four children!" "I could think about God all the time if I lived by myself," etc.
Then I read, "Faith alone, not a method, and certainly not fear, was able to satisfy me in coming to Him. That was my beginning. The next ten years were very hard, and I suffered a great deal."
Excuse me, did he say ten years...and he didn't have any children!
A couple weeks ago in school I told the kids that they needed to write a thank you letter for grammar. I told them to write to anyone they wanted to thank. A while later I found the following letter on my desk.

Dear God,
Thank you for being with me all the time. I really like that. Thanks again. Love, Grant

So I'm on this road, and I don't know how to drive, but my heart is still up for adventure and Father is in the front seat with me, all the time.

Note: I'm still thinking a parking lot would have been wise.

Flying

It's like going from a trot to a gallop.
You bump along through the first years of marriage, trying to manage this beast that's got a mind of it's own.
You're going somewhere, it's just rather rough riding.
Then something clicks.
You lean forward, merge into the horse, the jolting jolts into a glide.
All the world falls away and you're flying.

Happy Anniversary!