Tuesday Morning Ramble

It rained last night which is a huge blessing for our parched land. Emery and I stood hand in hand on the south porch watching the lightening flash across the sky and listened to the thunder boom. The timing of this rain was perfect, as Emery tilled the garden this past weekend and we hoped for a few rains before he tilled it again and the forecast calls for a chance of rain every day for the rest of the week. It was a bad year for the garden. We lost the battle with the weeds when I was sick and that along with the dry weather and scorching sun, nothing made it. We might have starved if it had been 200 years ago. But, we do have eggs and milk. The neighbor, who tends to his garden daily has not done much better than we have. His plants more dry and brown than green and bearing.

As I walked through the back door, heading towards the barn, Harry at my side, the cats coming towards me in train like fashion, one after another, single file, hoping to be fed some warm milk and some food, I look around me. The sun streaming through the trees, rays pointing out the beauty of creation like golden pointers. I suck in a breath, long and deep, in awe at the beauty of the light on the damp grass. Right there I whisper a prayer of thanksgiving for this life of mine that allows me the opportunity to see Gods love so visible each and every morning, never the same, never exactly like the day before. Moments caught in my mind forever of the beauty in silent splendor. I thank God too for Emery's love so deep and profound and his desire for me to have this quiet life of extraordinary days with nature. It all seems so worth it to us to have lived on one income when we were raising our family and it still seems that way. Emery says its a benefit to him to come home to me, all calm, relaxed and full of zeal for life, devoid of stress.

It works for us. We have all we need and all we want. And what a blessing to have children that are not driving us crazy and who give us such joy. We swam against the current of popular thought in raising our children, nay-sayers who warned us we were creating social outcasts by homeschooling, now those same folks tell us how blessed we are to have such well rounded, loving young adults. We share a closeness with our children that is food for the soul every single day. How I wish everyone had such a relationship with their children !

As I go about my chores, I think about the world at large and how on every corner there seems to be this undercurrent of concern that we are living in a world that is holding on by a fragile thread. Honey bees on a serious decline, global warming, wildlife threatened, people suffering from the results of so many toxins in our world. The fragile nature of the world economics all too real to us now. Scientists warning of impending doom by the perfect storm, a comet, or some other collision. Our magnetic poles doing strange things, and the folks shouting from the rooftops the year 2012 is the year the world as we know it ends. How does one keep from being fear filled with all these stories of woe being told ? Maybe don't listen. Maybe it is to be filled with an inner peace that none of these stories can shake. An unearthly sort of peace, that comes only with a deep and loving spiritual relationship, the kind that gives you balance and hope.

Hold fast to faith and hope when pressed on every side by fears and worries.

On a side note here, I have not forgotten about the give-away, I just haven't finished what I am giving away just yet. Hope to have it done this afternoon or by tomorrow at the latest. Keep watching