Hello World

Margaret is swamped with her college load, so I am announcing that her blogging is going to suffer for the next undetermined time frame! Really, she has an excuse, but I hate to see her camera sitting idle for TWO DAYS at a time! I have the joy of seeing her unedited, un-posted photos on my computer, and I freely help myself to them whenever I need an illustration!

Son number two is also swamped. He gets up at 4:30 am to drive to the Park and Ride to meet the first bus headed downtown, boarding at 5:00am. ROTC physical training starts at 6:00am, classes throughout the day. On Mondays and Wednesdays he has orchestra in the evening: then the hour bus ride home to his car, then finally home to get sleep before the daily grind begins again. We have been helping with some of the transportation, at least for his cello, which cannot be lugged around school all day. It has added up to a blast-off with school this year!

I did spend a peaceful evening on the Bohemian River Flats during his orchestra period tonight. The sun was setting through a smoky haze, (the Boundary Waters are burning tonight) and the University looked rosy and tranquil. The Mississippi was calm and many water craft were skimming by. I have no complaints!

On nights like this I hate to think of leaving Minnesota, but not my will...

The firm in Iowa informed my husband that no new plans for employment would be implemented until after next year's election.

Politics do affect us.

There was a "bite" from California today for him. His resume was duly sent off. Now the wait begins.

I read "When Life Comes Undone," by T.J. Addington the other evening. Click on it on the Books page if you want the information. I find more peace and hope reading people's hardship stories, hearing testimonies of God's work in lives, than ever before. God is faithful. Life doesn't last forever (thankfully!) and we have so much to look forward to, knowing Christ.

I cannot stress enough the need to get right with God, to repent, to trust Him for every thing! Rain falls on the righteous and the evil. We thank God for all He does, always, knowing His ways are not our ways. His ways are higher. The believer has a starkly different perspective on life.

And we get through each day. One day at a time. My children are learning this day by day. It's a very good lesson to add to their college load!

The weather is about to change. Cold coming! What a metaphor for our lives.

Report

In the midst of a celebration it is unnerving to feel vulnerable, but I can't better describe the feeling of seeing a beloved first born son take an oath to serve his country in front of a thousand people at a football game during halftime.

Yes, he was awarded a four-year scholarship to a very nice private college. He has his next several years sort of locked in. Cause for celebration, surely, but also a little melancholy.

Tomorrow my next son starts his classes at the University. It will be an early day for him, and long. How different his life will be for now!

Margaret has survived her first full week of college. It had its moments of despair, but she seems to be ready to tackle this week.

I am ready for a productive school week as well, with some time logged in at Primerica and other fruitful activity.

Perhaps it has been said, but we are truly in a time of economic depression, and it affects ALL of us. Some of us feel the pain more acutely than others. Depressions have ends, but often not soon enough for significant damage to have its effect.

We are all vulnerable right now, and our world should be colored by that dusky presence of our economic woes.

When a brilliant mathematician, electrical engineer, English literature major, peer-reviewed writer, loyal husband and father cannot land decent employment WE ARE IN AN ECONOMIC DEPRESSION.

And we are all vulnerable. Thank the Lord that He is the provider, and not the Economy!

And I am remembering to be thankful in all things. 

Check out recommended books. I'm adding some.

Long Weekend

It's September. It's the month I used to dread as a child, (because of school starting) and long for as an adult---the commencement of my favorite season.

With life changes I may be not as felicitous to see it come to an end. Enough on that subject! We here at Corgi Hollows plan a visit from friends, a trip up to see our eldest son at college, church, and a quiet Labor Day.

The rest of our state will be back in class on Tuesday, and we will be back in our own groove...for now.

I'm still cooking up the next "chapter" of  the life story that left off with meeting my husband! Oh the joys of being an Army Wife!

Soon, perhaps.

Exhaustion

What can I say? Our bodies are worn out and our spirits are lagging, but we serve a mighty God, and He brought the rest I needed.

It was a very hectic two weeks with driving the hour round trip to the U every morning and evening, cooking nourishing meals, and washing dishes (mounds of dishes). I wasn't sleeping much with all the activity, and fall ragweed came into full bloom. For me it means misery! I suffer from seasonal hay fever.

Anyway, I ended up in bed yesterday to sleep off the effects of our frenzy, and I feel like I can face life again today, and catch up with the laundry.

It is beautiful outside. The light is golden, and the trees are ripening into September hues. Our little apple trees are heavy with fruit, and it is good tasting! Perhaps I can fix some apple butter.

Honey harvest must happen here before too long. The bees in the wall of the chapel up at the White Earth Indian Reservation yielded about 3 quarts of useable honey. It needs another straining before we can eat it.  It tastes good! We can't wait to try our own hives' product. I hope my husband can fit harvesting it into all that is happening here.

Another interview tomorrow. This one is for a position in Billings, MT. I can only wonder.

Being a person of faith colors my world. (See the video of Michelle Bachmann below, faith colors her world too). I KNOW that God provides. I am encouraged by people with like understanding and world view, because God has already provided so richly for all of us, and their stories just validate my own story.

It is a blessing to know that we can rest in Him. Our frustrations with not having a predictable day to day must be surrendered to Him constantly! We learn to live in the moment, each day looking up for God's provision.

God gave me two hours to make conversation with a very broken man the other night. I "witnessed" to him. I shared what God is doing in my life, what God is teaching me. I listened to him pour out his heart, his feelings of failure and loss. He is old now, and looking back on a bleak existence, but there is still time for him to catch the fire of God's love too.

It has been a blessing to be part of our Chinese students' lives this past week too, tiring as it was! I can only pray that they will find the love of Christ irresistible and they will believe in Jesus Christ for their salvation. 

Each day has a purpose. Each day is a gift from God.
We are approaching the "11th hour," when we anticipate God's hand clearly providing. He will get all the glory, because what happens will be clearly HIS work. No one else will be even slightly able to claim any part of that glory. We serve a jealous God, and He will be praised! His glory is what "it" is all about, and our day-to-day lives are only a mask for His generous power, holding our world in place.

In Him we live and move and have our being.

The Lady has Courage!

Michelle Bachmann