Wednesday It Is ~

Wednesday's are the days I used to catch up on the paper trails left from the week(s) before. I try to spend time at our computer desk reading emails, researching, logging in farm info, filing and the like. I make up our dinner menu for the next week, double check my grocery list, check the online sales papers and print out any coupons I might need. It takes time but is a great step ahead for my errand day tomorrow.

Today I rose first and had the quietness of the office to flesh out some waiting posts for this blog.I think best when I can climb into a mind not distracted. Even then many times my mind thinks one thing and my pen or fingers write out something similar, but not exactly how it sounds in my head. So it helps to read and reread everything word I put out for public observance. This process takes time, some days lots of time and I fall behind in getting them posted the same day. Above all the needs of my family and this farm comes first before this pleasure of writing. Causing the desire to be shelved to a time when I can give it my attention. I keep telling myself that it okay, it's okay to be still behind. I write for my pleasure and to leave a written letter to my future family members of what touches my life. Included in my thoughts too are those of you who grace me with a visit and a lingering over the thoughts I spend my days with. I thank you for honoring me in such a way.

A special find this morning while reading some favorite blogs was a link for memorization cards for the books of Matthew 5-7. It is a year long plan of memorizing the Sermon on the Mount. If you would like to join in you can find the link on "A HOLY EXPERIENCE". Direction are on January 25th's post. I was both touch and inspired by a quote found there.

"Time memorizing Scriptures is perhaps more important than quiet time — because when we fill our hearts with His Word, we can fill all of our hours with His Word — and “quiet time” can then become all of our time." Ann Voskamp

The thunderstorms today made shopping a drippy mess. I had several errands to run while out, requiring hopping in and out of the car. Getting a later start than I had planned had me arriving home just about dusky dark. I dreaded the idea of having to unload the car and start dinner at such a late hour. I was thrilled to walk in the door and find some supper items already simmering on the stove and my husband waiting with a sneaky grin on his face. It was his love gift to me. He knew my day had been long and challenging with the rain and was ready to give me some much needed help.

While the mac & cheese and corn muffins were baking in the oven. We ventured out to the porch with a cup of hot tea to watch the last rays of light leave the sky. The turrets of rain earlier had given way to a slowing drip, drip, drip. We chatted about easy things back and forth to rhythm of our rockers. It was nice to take a moment to breathe and relax into the evening.

Our COLD is still hanging around unwelcome. I am feeling better today, but my husband is feeling worst. You never can tell where a virus will lead you or how long you will have to stay. With hopeful hearts and resting bodies I am sure we will continue to improve. As the say "time heals all things" including nasty bugs responsible for our Colds.

JOY DARE gifts for today are:

one grace borrowed~
165/89 memorization cards- A Holy Experience

one grace found~
166/90 a baby"doll" for Preschool class

one grace inherited~
161/91 love for gardening

Seeing light just around the bend,
Deborah

Getting My House in Order

16*F was the temperature when I got up this morning. It is suppose to warm up now after last night's Arctic blast. Though the down side is the warming trend is bringing in more rain with it. So any pressing outside chores need to be done today, as they are calling for rain to continue the next two days. Despite the frigid temperature I enjoyed being out with the animals this morning. Sleeping better last night has helped the way I feel today. Amazing what a good night's rest can do for a body. Almost energetic and there is a lift in my spirit besides. I've set for a spell this morning over a warm cup of coffee and made a list of to-do chores for my day.

I've had a beautiful cardinal greet me at the kitchen window as I made coffee in the mornings for several days now. He might have been begging a little and I finally got the hint to help him and his friends out. So I set up a barrel near the well house, scattering some birdseed on top of it. "Mr Red" isn't the only one that has been seen about these parts of the woods. I so miss the activity at my feeders back home. Watching the birds up close has been a favorite hobby of mine for many, many years. I even have a friend who will call me with all of her bird questions, knowing I have spent many hours with my nose pressed up to the glass. Birdwatching is just one of the many hobbies I follow, but one I enjoy where ever I find myself. It is one that needs little equipment and is portable, just needing two eyes to study our feathered friends of the trees. Setting up the feeder in front of the dinning room french doors should give us the chance to watch them munch on seeds and kitchen scraps. As we happily dine on our meals in front of them. Somewhere in all my yet to be unpacked boxes is the collection of "bird recipes" that I have collected and used to keep them coming back for more home cooking.

I feel the need for getting a home schedule in place, to get better organized in several areas of our home. Those cluttered areas are frustrating for me and a waste of energy brooding over them. Time to get with the program! Just getting an area or two settled has helped my mental disposition tremendously already. The starting of a new year, the first day of Spring or the beginning of a calendar month are times of the year when we all tend to want to "get our house in order." I think we were created with a need for order built right into our beings. After all we were created in the image of God, who holds everything in order, all the time. Our difficulty comes in maintaining order in a world of chaos around us. There are plenty of "things" to vie for our attention on any given day. Plenty of reasons to let things slide a little, which isn't all bad as long as it doesn't slide into a total mess. Which it will do when we are not looking. So the key is to see our days, our homes, our lives with open eyes, ready to catch that oil spill that will cause us to slide out of control. To take little steps towards a future free from distractions and disorder. After all it is hard to play on a sunny Spring day, when the messes of Winter are still under foot.

Working my way towards playing,

Deborah