Sheep

One day in Galilee Jesus sat down to eat dinner with some people who were not righteous. When some men called Pharisees saw Jesus eating with sinners, they grumbled. Why would Jesus eat with those people?  Jesus answered the men by telling them some parables.  First He told about a sheep that got lost in the mountains. The shepherd left his other ninety-nine sheep and searched for the lost one until he found it. Then he told his friends, “Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.”  Today my crafting friends and I made sheep.

The Trained Dog

Tank is a trained dog!   When he hears the face time ring on my phone he comes from downstairs to the landing.  There he waits while I go to the cupboard where the dog bones are.    I show Hinckley, Hatcher or Blaze the bone, whoever it is I am face timing and they watch as I throw the bone to my well-trained dog.  The only problem we seem to have is that my well-trained dog can’t get off the landing because he won’t go back down the stairs.  You might have to ask him why – I get no response.  He has to go out the front door and come around to the back to get in.  We have a little more training to do.

Fifty Shades of Gray

Our home has a warm color palette.  I love browns, yellows and deep reds.  As we are adding to our home I have decided to get out of my box and repaint my family room gray and border my wainscoting with a white trim.  That should blend nicely with our new white French doors and white blinds on our new windows.  I will do the same in the new room, the “Fun Room”.  There was peace in the land until I painted my wall the lovely Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore which just happens to be one of the top ten colors of the year.  What stared back was a purplish hue of “yuck”.    I then went to a more “graige” color  called “Wheat Bread”.  What stared back at me was a different “yuck.”  I spoke to the manager of Lowes and we had a nice chat about grays and lighting etc.   He said to grab paint samples and just experiment.   I have less than two weeks to get that family room wall to my liking before I leave out-of-state.  Who can lay by the pool when there is “yuck” on the wall.  Not I.

Cell Phone Left Behind

Such a nice day to drive north just past Willow.  It was a drive of reflection as the road once travelled is rarely taken now.  I past Faye Harter’s place and remembered visiting her as she lived in a conex.  Truly a pioneer woman and dear friend.  I offered the eulogy at her funeral.  I passed the road to Ladasa and the church.  For eighteen years we drove this route twice a week for church and activities.  So strange, to have it all changed now.  I looked out for the fire damage from last year’s devastating Willow fire.  Some of the charred trees are now budding brush.   I passed the road the missionaries lived on and remembered the food drop offs and the good times.  I headed further north until the speed limit sign changed it from 55 mph to 65 mph and then I veered into the pull-off on the opposite side of the road. It was there I met up with Mike who drove south from Talkeetna to grab his forgotten phone.  The drive had a duo purpose.

When??

I contemplated all Mike’s drills that I lined up on the floor and wondered when enough is enough.  How many drills can a man need? When should he stop purchasing all that reloading stuff?  His hunt room overfloweth with hunt paraphernalia.   I suppose I shouldn’t talk because I took a picture of ONE of my shelves in my craft room.  When is enough, enough??   I just added four old windows to make into frames for my new room’s wall.  I always craft and fix.  I have new ideas for the planters outside.  I may have to buy way more  flowers this year.    The formula is simple. If you are asking the question, you already know the answer.  And the answer is never.  Let’s just keep moving on and getting bigger and better.  I think I’ll get Mike a new drill for Father’s Day.

A Parable For Me

As illustrated by the following tale, we all sit by a “pot of stew.” A man sought out a respected old sage and said, “O wise one, I would like to know what heaven and hell are like.”  The sage led the man to two doors. He opened one of the doors, and the man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made the man’s mouth water.  The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms. Each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.  The man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. The wise man said, “You have seen hell.”  They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew that made the man’s mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons strapped to their arms, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.  The man said, “I don’t understand!”  “It is simple,” said his venerable guide. “It requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only of themselves” (author unknown).  I took my own little vow a number of years ago that I would do something for someone each day.  I haven’t done so well lately so this parable is just what I need.

The Perks

Why is it so cool that Grammie is the nursery leader at church?  Here are a few of the reasons:

~she makes playdoh so her grandkids always have some ready to play with

~she buys cool IKEA play products like the tunnel Micah is modeling

~she has awesome puzzles that we never had before

~she has two big bags of blocks for building things

~she has a blow up swimming pool and fish and fishing poles

~everything she buys or makes all her grandkids get to play with

So Sad

I was so taken back by my cousin’s post on Facebook.  She shared her struggles and her sadness about how she felt about her life and her beliefs.    I was numb as to a response and the task seemed too daunting to even attempt over a social venue.  I have contemplated deeply what to do next.  For now . . .

Not Just Earth Day

Thank you to our girls for their posts today:

From Kyla:  Happy 34th Anniversary to my wonderful parents! Thanks for being awesome parents and for always showing us what a great marriage is like. We love you!!!

From Micah:  Happy anniversary 🤗💑👌🏻👏🏻 ‪#‎34years‬ ‪#‎youdidit‬

From Rhea:  Happy Anniversary to my favorite people! They have taught me so much, on and off the ice. They are always there for me on the side (or bench) cheering me on. Gotta love my Momma Mia and my Daddio! ❤ ‪#‎34yearsandstillgoingstrong‬

And from our boys. . . well . . .

The Beauty

At 745 N. University Avenue in Provo, Utah was the home where we rented the basement apartment while Mike was going to BYU.  I used to sit on the steps with Becky Nyman (the owner) and we would watch the busy traffic go by.  I coveted the brand new Toyota Vans that had just come out and occasionally one would drive by.  I was over the moon thinking that maybe, just maybe one day we could own one.  It was a dream beyond all others because when you are struggling students having money to make a purchase like that is so far beyond our realm of thinking.  That dream did come true and little further on in our life  we purchased a silver Toyota Van.  I stumbled across a picture of our beauty, the spaced age machine of the 1980’s and chuckled at how our tastes and likes in automobiles certainly have changed over the years.