Joyful Journey

One of the (many) things that I enjoy about our home is its location.  We are tucked away in a small neighborhood with large lots (3-8 acres) and are surrounded by trees.  It is not unusual to sit on our screen porch and enjoy the sound of birds chirping. I enjoy the sound so much that I use the "birds" setting on my tablet alarm app as my alarm clock.  When the chirps actually wake me up (I usually wake before the alarm goes off), hubby will comment on my chirping birds. Last night, we both commented on the chirps.  Only it wasn't my alarm going off at 3 a.m., it was the smoke detector chirping at us.  Again.  In the middle of the night. Jump back a few weeks ago.  One of the smoke detectors began chirping.  We replaced the batteries and I commented that we should probably do all of them, since we normally replace the batteries in the fall when we change the clocks.  Next time I was out running errands, I picked up enough 9 volt batt...

It's a blessing that one of our sons and his family lives within a few minutes drive from our home. It's a blessing to be able to spend time with our son, his wife and the grandkids on a regular basis. It's great fun to spend weekly time playing with the grandkids.  It is also a blessing to have a husband who flies frequently enough that we can either fly our other son and his family out for a visit, or, as we just did, fly west and visit them. This most recent trip included some time in a beautiful area of northern Idaho. We vacationed in a lovely place at the base of a ski resort. Even with three children ages 3-6, we were able to spend quite a bit of time enjoying the grandeur of the mountains and the beauty of region, as well as the fun of a small town parade on July 4th. One of the perks of staying near a ski resort with a chair lift open in the summer is that when hiking with kids, we can easily reach the top of the mountain. Not the same sense of accomplishment ...

He always said that they got married on his birthday so that he wouldn't forget the date.  A wise man. Remembering dates was not his strength, but he exhibited wisdom in many of the decisions that he made.  (I remember shortly after Mom died that Dad asked me for a list of everyone's birthdays, because he realized that he didn't know them.)  No, dates weren't his strength, but I am very grateful to have had a father who was a man of prayer, a man who desired to live a godly life, a man who gave his life to encourage others to do the same. On June 8th of this year, my dad would have been 82 and my parents would have been married 59 years.  Dad has been with the Lord for 8 years now and Mom for 13.  I would have loved to have had them in my life, the life of our sons as well as our daughters-in-laws and grandchildren longer. But God in His wisdom took them home earlier than I would have liked. As a child, I often failed to realize that my home environment migh...

April is a month when I tend to think of my mom more than any other month of the year.  Anyone who knew her, knew she loved April Fools' Day.  Last Sunday would have been her 85th birthday and she went to be with the Lord in April, 13 years ago now. I have other friends who have lost their moms in April.  One a year ago and one just a few days ago. As I grieve with them, I am grateful that they, like me, will with time be able to miss their mom, but be able to mainly reflect on the benefits she brought in their lives, rather than mainly grieve their loss. I know because we all had moms who poured greatly into our lives.  We each had mothers who put their faith and trust in the Lord and so we know that they are simply waiting to welcome us home. And I know, because with time, although I still miss her greatly, it is now with joy that I think on who she was instead of grieve over my loss. Oh, it took me a (suprising) number of years before I stopped picking up t...

Walking along the ocean in old Panama We enjoyed our last breakfast at Casa Paraiso and then Bill and Judy drove us to the old part of Panama City.  We walked along the ocean, did a bit of shopping, enjoyed looking at the restored buildings, visited the catheral and then ate lunch. Apparently, they allow cats in cathedrals in Panama We were able to get through the security check in plenty of time and wait at the gate.  Unfortunately, it didn't take long before we learned that our flight was going to be delayed by an hour. Knowing that we didn't have much layover time, we were concerned about making our flight to RDU. After landing late, we sat on the plane waiting for an open gate.  Finally making it to a gate we stood, waiting to exit the plane when an announcement came on that we needed to be seated so that Border and Customs agents could board.  They did so and escorted a gentlemen off the plane, obviously in handcuffs, who was followed b...

It was hard to leave on Friday afternoon.   I know that usually a blog post about a day's adventure doesn't start toward the end of the day, but the realization that this was our last day working at Casa Providencia had been building all day.  Our time working had gone by quickly.  It had been so very encouraging these last two days to see some things, no matter how small in the scheme of what needed to be done, completed.  But then, that's not how the day began. View from the mountain top orphanage After morning devotions, the men headed out with Bill while Susan and I waited for Judy and Misty.  (I did not record who had shared each day, but I remember Barry sharing I think this day, and sharing again on prayer, but also on the fact that when we leave, we need to be prepared for "coming down" from the high of the trip.  We had no idea how soon we would be able to put this truth to the test). But the day didn't start at Casa Providencia for Susan a...

Bill arrived a bit later on Thursday morning, and then Yay!!  The rails getting primed he wanted to spend some time discussing options on the focus of our work for the remaining days.  We left, but thankfully, before we had gotten very far, got a call that Bill need to return to pick up the paychecks for the men working at Casa Providencia.  We joined the traffic heading into Panama City, so by the time we met Judy and got turned back around, and got to Casa Providencia, it was almost 11.  But it was important for the workers to receive their due. Susan and I got back to scraping the railings.  The men cleaned them off with paint thinner and then primed most of the railings. Power washing more of the thousands of roof tiles still to be installed Bob and Ty power washed some of the roof tiles.  The men also tied rebar in the windows where it had been damaged as they were doing demolition in order to prepare them to be repaired.  More chi...