The Fog...

Laying in bed I heard the lonely cry of a fog horn. I didn't want to open my eyes, it was too early. A phone started to ring, I jumped up to grab it, looked at who was calling and knew our lives were about to change forever.

The voice on the other end said my name, then all was quiet. I knew what was coming, I tried to say the words but couldn't speak. Then the voice, broken with emotion said the words I didn't want to hear... "Grandma is gone, she died at 3:15 this morning."

We knew that Grandma's time was close, we knew she was in Heavens waiting room, but in our minds we still had time. We weren't yet ready to let her go...our time ran out, but it was Jesus' perfect time to call her home.

There have been many times in my life when God seems to reflect my feelings in the weather. This morning was like no other. Every other morning on the banks of the St. Mary's River were bright and beautiful, crisp and new. But on this morning, God knew that bright and beautiful, wouldn't be appropriate. For He knew his children were grieving the loss of a very special women. He sent us a fog that was so thick you couldn't see 20ft in front of you. Even the freighters, with all their technology, had stopped in the blanket of the fog. It was like God stopping the world for a silent moment of mourning.

I left the trailer to walk the lonely path to the bathhouse and as I did I heard again the fog horn that had awakened me, my heart was feeling such loss, my eyes shedding tears of sorrow. I was thankful for the fog, it hid my pain from peering eyes, I felt safe cocooned in the white mist that surrounded me. Like my Fathers arms holding me as I walked alone in the early morning hours.

It was no coincidence that I had seen that fog rolling in hours earlier. Jilli had awakened me, probably around the time of Grandma's death. As I walked her back to bed we stopped and watched what was in all likelihood, the last freighter to silently move through the water before the fog encompassed us. Looking back on it now, it seems surreal. For I had no idea at the time, that Grandma was taking her last breaths on earth and waking up in Heaven. But our Heavenly Father knew and he knew how that fog would be safety for us hours later when our hearts were so heavy and our eyes shed the tears of sorrow. How amazing it is to me that He knows us so intimately, that he orchestrates even the weather to show us how much He loves and cares for us.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him. Psalm 103:11

Walking back to the trailer I knew that I had to photograph the white mist that God sent to us as a comfort. Just outside our trailer window sat a bench on the bank of the river, as I walked closer it got clearer, but the river was still hidden in the veil of fog.

I took the picture... so that I will always remember.... the fog...

U.P.

I will be snapping my camera away, up in the U.P. (if I can keep it out of Tyler's hands) this week. I will have lots and lots of pictures to share with you when we get back!

Just an FYI, My BIG, MEAN rottweiler will be at home this week, so don't get any idea's....

Yupp, that's Him... and I wouldn't mess with him if I was you...

Blessings!!

Blue Chaos

It's so hard for me to come home and not quick publish a post. I am in town today, but wasn't going to stop home. However, some things came to my attention that needed to be taken care of at home today and so.... I took care of them and now I get to post. So lucky for you!

This was Micah's favorite artprize. He picked it out the first day we were there and stuck with his choice even though he saw 500 other really cool pieces. It was titled "Blue Chaos". He wanted his picture taken by it, which worked out great for me because shock of all shockers, I just happened to have my camera!

Alright...well...I guess that's it for today, hope you are all enjoying this beautiful October weather!

BTW did any one else hear the shout out Kathie Lee Gifford gave Artprize yesterday? Pretty cool, I happened to be watching her show (which I never do) when she talked about how great it was and how much she wished she could have stayed longer to see more.

Blessings!!

The Kids and I

Here are the kids and I at Artprize.

What a gorgeous day to be downtown, this was on our second day (Tuesday). Couldn't have asked for a more beautiful week! Still more pictures to come... I will be "out of the office" for the next few days. Hope you had a great weekend!

Blessings!!

2 Days Down, One To Go

Today will be day 3 down at Artprize with Ama and PopPop. Who would have thought that the kids and I would love Artprize this much. Last year I was unable to get down to see it, although my kids went with Kevin's parents for an afternoon.

When we started the week downtown, my Mother-In-Law and I discussed how long we thought the kids would last. I guess last year they made it about 2 hours. How much difference a year makes.

Monday I think we were down there for 3.5hrs. Tuesday was 5/6hrs and we will see how long we last today. It has been great fun though, interesting to see what each of the kids like and what they don't like. I do have to say some people have a very interesting idea of art. I wish I took a picture of one "art piece" that was basically women's slips hanging on a rope. Mom and I didn't know that we created art every time we hung our clothes out to dry. Who knows... maybe next year I can win $250,000 by hanging Kev's undies on a clothesline.... Hmmmm, need to think more on that.

One of the pieces is a huge card that people can sign their names on. The artist had a marker on the end of a 20ft pole that you could use to sign your name on the top of the card. Thankfully he signed all of our names, cuz I just don't think I could have done it.

Can you pick out our names??

Alright, off to get ready for another fun day with my family more pictures to follow, I have a lot of them!

Blessings!

Crazy Busy

This has been and is going to continue to be a crazy week. I haven't had a moment at home to do all the daily household activities, but this week that is OK. I am behind on my cleaning, my laundry, I haven't gone grocery shopping in probably a month, and yes, I am behind on my packing for our next trip, but again, that is OK.

My only regret is that I haven't had much time for blogging. In the quiet hours of the evening, I have found myself trying to get done what didn't get done during the day, plus my hubby has been busy working on my computer which is a good thing because it means he has work. So, I am stealing a moment this morning before all the kids are up and we have to race off to clean someone else's home and run a bunch of errands to quick say "Hi". Hopefully I can share with you some of the wonderful things the kids and I have been up to in posts in the next day or so before I am again gone enjoying God's beautiful creation.

As I leave to go run the race of today, let me share a moment that I captured of quiet pondering.

Blessings!!

I Stand In Awe

I want to start by saying "Thank You" to all of you who have commented, sent emails, or told me in person how the last post touched them. It's slightly embarrassing and very humbling that what I write can and does have such an impact on others. I can say that what I write comes totally from God, so thank you Jesus for this very unexpected gift of writing.

I want to also share with you two small and beautiful gifts of nature that God placed on this earth for us to enjoy. I have been intrigued with hummingbirds for as long as I can remember. The little wings that flap so fast you can barely see them, and up until July, I had no idea that a hummingbird had legs, because I had only seen them in flight. But they do and now I know!

Have you ever looked really close at Queen Anne's Lace? How delicate and intricate the flower? The imagination of our Creator when he was speaking all of this into being... it just amazes me. I know many start to sneeze when they see the little white flowers, but since I don't have that problem, I soak them up. In Roman's (1:20) it talks about how God placed invisible qualities, His divine nature, so that you wouldn't need to hear about God to know that there is a God. It is my humble opinion that Hummingbirds and Queen Anne's Lace are just two ways that you can know that there is a God without ever hearing his name. Because really.. how could an explosion or any other "force" besides God create such beauty?!

I stand in awe....

The Kiss

He kisses her hand, he rubs her arm, tells her how beautiful her skin is as she quietly lays in bed. He sits and holds her hand and tells us how he couldn't have picked a better wife. He cherishes the time he has left with her.

Her mind is still sharp, but her body is just too weak. "Heaven's waiting room" is where she says she is... and she is happy to be there. She is just waiting to see her Savior.

Sitting watching and listening, I am caught with tears in my eyes. Blinking to try to keep them back. It's hard... hard to watch someone slip away slowly. It is hard to watch her husband sitting next to her tell us of her ups and downs. All the while lovingly holding her hand. How many years have those hands held on to each other?

I am sure that marriage wasn't always a walk in the park for them. Raising their children wasn't always picture perfect. They have lived through some very dark times, but through it all they held hands, weaving a legacy for their children and their children's children and now their great-grand children. They have never strayed from the Truths that they know and God has blessed them richly because of it.

Watching Grandpa and Grandma walk these last days together can only be described as beautiful. The love that you see on Grandpa's face towards his wife is beyond words.

A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm all the days of her life.

Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate. (portions of Proverbs 31)

I can just imagine.....

She is standing at the door and knocking, Jesus opens the door and welcomes her home. He calls her by name and says "June, well done good and faithful servant." He hugs her and tells her there is someone that wants to see her. He steps aside and up walks her son. "Mom, I have been waiting..." what a day that will be.

Missing, Praying...

Sounds kind of weird, but I have really missed blogging. Being gone for so long, it's like I haven't had a chance to catch up with my best friend. Can't wait to get back home for more than a few hours and write the things of my heart.

But today as I run off again, I am praying. Praying my mind and my heart are united with my Savior. There are just some days that it is really hard to believe that God has the best planned for me and today is one of them. Can't explain it more than that, but I am trusting my God to bring me back to the place of peace.

Blessings!

Horses, Long Hair, 1800's... pretty random...

Oh Goodness it's been busy around here. So much to do and so little time to do it. Just got back from an incredibly fun weekend camping with friends (pictures to come) and are on the brink of leaving again for another round of camping adventures. Having a hard time catching my breath, but loving every minute of the loads of friends and family time we have been having the last month.

Sadly I am still blogging about our June camping trip, the beginning of summer, and here it is the end of summer but our camping is only half over! Yippy, cuz I LOVE fall camping!!

On one of our walks around Ionia we wandered over to the horse camping area. The lots are huge and grassy and beautiful, but they have no electric, no bathrooms, and a wheel-barrel for "waste". Now if I had a horse, you might be able to talk me into camping over there, but since the closest thing to a horse is Romeo, I have no reason to "rough it" with out electricity.

While we were walking through the horse camp sites, we came upon a young couple with two horses. The young lady asked the kids if they wanted to see one of the horses, and proceeded to walk one of them up to the kids to pet. The kids asked lots of questions and she answered lots of questions. I asked her what she did for a living and it came as no surprise that she is a 2nd grade teacher.

Micah, petted the horse for just a short time, Tyler didn't even want to go by it, but Jilli...

She is like her Momma, she couldn't get enough of the horse.

It made her day.

That leads me to the "if only". This past weekend, our friends and I were talking about living in the 1800's and they all thought that I would be able to live back then (as long as I had long hair), and If I lived back then, then I would more than likely have at least one horse, and my kids could grow up living in the time of simplicity. D..R..E..A..M.... but a good one. I would love to live back then without the technology of today, without the busyness that just consumes our lives which is really very meaningless. Instead of blogging I would be out in the yard picking out our dinner from the chickens that are running around, the kids would be milking the cow so we would have milk to drink and Kevin would still be building with wood, but without the nail gun:-)

The closest think we get to that, is camping, and that is not very close since we camp in the Taj with all the comforts of home. Oh well, the good thing is, that at the very least, my friends all believe that I could live without the comforts of home, as long as I have long hair. So, I am growing my hair out until I decide (next month) that I want it short again. Since I am not living in the 1800's might as well live it up with short hair!

Blessings!!