Finding Contentment

The following is a poem written by a dear friend. There is a postscript at the bottom written by me.

Neighbors

by Debbie Opalka

As I walked on our country road,

Like I do every day,

My children were ahead of me,

On bicycles far away.

I struggled so up each small hill,

I wished they'd wait for me,

How is it that, for them at least,

The climb comes easily?

We were headed for a spot we loved,

To fish and swim and hike,

I couldn't wait to get there now,

And me without a bike.

I actually enjoyed this time alone on such day,

I had some time to think and dream

And also just to pray:

"Lord, thank you for our mountain home

with trees and lake and brook,

Your awesome power and majesty

So real wherever I look."

Upon my conquering one last hill,

The sight from where I stood,

Was a quaint log cabin home I loved,

Tucked neatly in the the wood.

Upon the porch a mom was there

With babies all around;

One on her lap, two by her side,

One crawling on the ground.

It brought me back ten years or so

When mine were little too,

I'd rock and hug and cuddle them

Or sing a song they knew.

What happiness as I recalled

the need they had for me,

To change their clothes or rub their back

Or kiss their skinned-up knee.

I wish they stayed that cute and small

For just a few more years.

And as I thought some more on this

I had to dry me tears.

I've often dreamed of a log house

So natural in its setting,

When God gave us a modern ranch

He must have been forgetting.

So on I trekked up to the lake,

Preoccupied in thought,

Of lovely little babies and

The house we never bought.

Somehow the time passed quickly,

The day was almost done.

The children had a real good time;

What wasn't I having fun?

As I began my trip back home

That mom come out to talk,

"Would you like to rest a while

before you end your walk?"

She said she'd seen my kids and me

So many times go past,

She wished her little children

would do some growing fast.

"I'd like to go up to the lake

to fish and swim and hike,

It must be great to have big kids

Who ride there on a bike."

I got choked up as I recalled

The thoughts I had before,

A lump was forming in my throat

As I left to walk some more.

"Oh, I meant to tell you,"

she yelled from where she stood,

"I love that modern ranch of yours-new vinyl, not old wood.

So bright and sunny on that hill,

you must enjoy the view,

There are days in my dark cabin

That I really envy you."

My silence was so obvious

She must have wondered why.

I asked Jesus to forgive me,

Then I began to cry.

The sins are so apparent

As you read this simple poem;

Discontentment, envy,

coveting someone else's home.

God has placed each one of us in

The place and time He meant,

So praise and thank Him daily,

And learn to be content.

PS-This poem was written in 1998. Fast forward to today....Debbie and Dave live in a small log cabin in the woods. It is lovely. They have three small children still living at home, ages 8, 5 and 1 that have been added to their family by adoption. Two of the children have special needs. I think God has such a tremendous sense of humor and he obviously wasn't through blessing this family with little ones!

This family is a constant encouragement to me as I struggle with my own contentment issues. Their willingness to give of themselves for these children, at a time in their lives when most people are looking forward to retirement and being "free", humbles me, particularly on days when I am not being a contented momma.

Recital

Bessie had her year end piano recital tonight. She had a some very difficult pieces this year and for a while, she wasn't sure if her teacher was going to let her do one. She worked so hard and really advocated for herself with her teacher, letting her know she wanted to do the piece and felt she could do a good job.

We all went, including Noona and Papa. The Littles were very good and stayed quiet through the whole thing.

She played Sonatina by Kuhlau, Shenandoah and Two Country Dances (duet) by Beethoven.

She did wonderfully! We are so proud of how she took the challenge, practiced hard and despite her teachers misgivings, played the piece very well!

Bess, all concentration

Bessie and her teacher, Miss Polly

Bessie and Victoria, another student
Happy and Relieved!

Brian stopped on his way home from work and got Bessie three beautiful lavender roses. We managed to keep them hidden until the end of the recital. She was so pleased!

Puppets

As we slide into our summer season, our days become more relaxed and less structured. The kids have more time for casual activities. This week that has looked like lots of cut and paste projects.

Rachel traced her hand and wrist and cut it out. Gabe called it the "disembodied hand" and we all thought it was a bit creepy! We soon found the fun in it as we taped a straw to the back and made it a puppet. I sat under the table, ohhing scary noises and having the hand rise up. They all laughed and thought it great fun.

This was the jumping board for everyone wanting to make a puppet, so the drawing and cutting began.

Rachel and Gabe hard at work.

(Gabe made a giraffe and Rachel, a couple holding hands)

Here are all the various puppets

It makes me happy when the kids use their imaginations and get right to work on something. I'm going to try and think of some other "starter" ideas to help them with some more projects.

Windy Wednesday

Today was much, much cooler than it has been with temps in the 50s with little sun and quite breezy. The Littles kept asking to go in the pool. They haven't quite figured out the whole change in weather thing.

Brian has been home mornings this week as he is flying late. We were able to get all of the stuff moved from out of the old storage area and put into the new storage area. The old storage area is going to be a bedroom, a small one, but a bedroom. We also put the solar cover on the pool. Hopefully the sun will come out in the next few days and warm the water up a bit.

Dan enjoying his trike

The kids had a fun time playing outside. When the temp is hot, they tend to forget all the fun things they can do...ride their bikes, jump on the tramp, swing or play in the sandbox. Today they rediscovered some of these activities.

Gabe flying high

Rachel and Gabe

Hannah loves to spin

Bessie spent time this morning working on her science. She is almost done with Apologia Biology. She has one more module to finish and then we are going to do all of the dissections. Fun, fun! I can't wait. I hope she lets me help too! She went for a run this afternoon.

Rainy Monday

It was a rainy, cooler day today, with downpours off and on all day. It was actually a nice break. I love a rainy day, to sit and listen to the rain on the fresh spring leaves and the birds rejoicing.

Last week we did Bessie's annual testing, this week was Gabe's turn. He does very well, but he doesn't sit well for too many sections at once. It will probably take us most of the week to finish.

Brian had the afternoon off. We hung around here at home for part of the time and then headed over to Mom and Dad's for a visit and dinner. Brian is helping Dad repair his garage door opener which was zapped in a recent storm. They made good progress but realized the sensor lights were also damaged. Dad will have to order those.

It was a nice visit. The kids always have fun at Noona and Papa's and it was nice and relaxing and great to have someone else cook dinner! :-)

The view from Mom and Dad's front porch as the

mist rises from the mountain during a lull in the rain

Snapping Turtle

On our way to bring Bessie to youth group tonight, we spotted this snapping turtle. It was a pretty good sized one, probably a female as they come on land to lay their eggs.

Gabe was a bit nervous to get too close as they can pack a good bite it you get too close. He finally put his hand close enough to get a size comparison.

Here are a few shots from late last week and over the weekend. Bri and I worked in the shade garden some more. It is coming along nicely.

New garden on right

Hostas

Brian had Friday off, but worked the weekend, so the kids and I hung out. They spent a lot of time in the pool. I puttered with my inside chores inbetween trips to the pool.

Gabe and I set up a little incubator with three bantam eggs. We are finishing up our Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. We did the book backwards, doing the insect portion first and finishing with birds.

Incubator

Bessie had a girls get together on Saturday afternoon/evening. They had a great time, playing games, eating good food, watching movies, taking a dip in the pool and hot tub.

Gabe has discovered Scrabble. He loves to play. We keep the words small and don't keep score. He does quite well.

The Merchant of Menace

by Jill Churchill

This is book #10 in the Jane Jeffry Mystery series by Jill Churchill. These mysteries feature suburban mom Jane Jeffry and her neighbor Shelley Nowack.

These book are light and fun. Jane and Shelley get into all sorts of trouble as they try to help Jane's boyfriend Detective Mel VanDyne solve crimes. Jane is a widowed mom of three teenage children.

Here are bits from the blurb on the back of the book:

"'Tis the season to be jolly and suburban mom Jane Jeffry's in a mad scramble to finish her cookie backing and household chores before her teenage kids arrive home. Also expected are two moms-both the late husband's mother and the disapproving mater of Det. Mel VanDyne, Jane's significant other. The kitchen is a disaster zone, the dog has decorated the house with hair, and the earsplitting racket coming from the neighbor's tacky, music-making Christmas display is driving Jane crazy. Now she has to get the green icing out of her hair and be ready to host her post-caroling dinner party.

One thing Jane isn't ready for is a surprise visit from a muckraking TV "action reporter," disguised as Santa Claus. The nasty old St. Nick is out to wrap a happy holiday caroling into a package marked "scandal," but before he has a chance to color the event with yellow journalism, his red-suited body slides off the neighbor's roof to land, silenced forever, on the horns of a plastic reindeer."

And so the adventure begins for Jane and Shelley. I enjoy these books very much. Jane works very hard to be a good stay at home mom for her kids. There are enough twists and turns to keep the story interesting and each books builds on relationships that are fun to follow.

I recommend this series, but would advice reading them in order!

New Storage

Brian has been working on a storage space over our family room. It isn't a tall space, but quite large otherwise and in this house of almost no storage, any extra space is welcome.

He had the floor all down and moved on to making a small door from the house into the storage area. He had to move one outlet, but otherwise the project went well.

Cutting the lathe and plaster wall

Ugh, what a mess!
Framing the door
Closed up for the day

Brian didn't have time to finish the project yesterday has he was flying late and had to go into work. I cleaned up the mess and put the boys room back in order. I don't think there is anything worse than plaster dust. (Okay sheetrock dust is right up there.)

Today he put a window in the end for light and ventilation and cleaned up all the construction debris. He still wants to make a nicer door, but the piece of plywood is fine for now.

This will be so nice to have all this storage space. Guess I need to tackle all the bins of clothes that need to be sorted!

Gabe helps with the cleanup

Summer Reading Challenge

One of my cyber pals, De'Etta, is hosting a Summer Reading Challenge on her blog. This is a fun relaxed reading challenge for those of us that love to read!

My summer goal is to read everyday. I have quite a stack of non-fiction and this is a tougher pile for me to tackle, but I hope to get a good portion of them read. Summer is a very relaxed time of year for us. We do a very light school schedule, spend a lot of time outside and in the pool. I should be able to do some reading everyday and more on days when the kids are swimming.

Here is my list:
(Books in progress are red, finished books will be crossed off and links provided if reviewed.)

Fiction
The Merchant of Menace - Jill Churchill review
A Groom with a View - Jill Churchill
Mulch Ado About Nothing - Jill Churchill

Bell, Book and Scandal - Jill Churchill
The House of Seven Mabels - Jill Churchill
Light From Heaven - Jan Karon
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Crime - Tamar Myers
Design for Murder - Carolyn G. Hart
The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Caught - Neta Jackson
The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Rolling - Neta Jackson
The Good Husband of Zebra Drive - Alexander M. Smith
Summer Garden Murder - Ann Ripley
Mrs. Pollifax and the Lion Killer - Dorothy Gilman
Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist - Dorothy Gilman

The Tale of Hill Top Farm - Susan Wittig Albert

review

The Tale Of Holly How - Susan Wittig Albert
The Tale of Cuckoo Brow Wood - Susan Wittig Albert
Evans Above - Rhys Bowen

Guess Who's Coming To Die? - Patricia Sprinkle review

Family/Parenting/Homeschooling
Ministry of Motherhood - Sally Clarkson
Making Children Mind without Losing Yours - Dr. Kevin Leman
The Socialization Trap - Rick Boyer
Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends - Sarah, Stephen, and Grace Mally
Families Where Grace Is In Place - Jeff VanVonderen
Grace Based Parenting - Dr. Tim Kimmel

Biographies
The Cost of Discipleship - Bonhoeffer
Oswald Chambers Abandoned To God - David McCasland
Acres of Hope - Patty Anglin

Christian Living
Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World - Joanna Weaver
Calm My Anxious Heart - Linda Dillow
Humility - Andrew Murray review
Margin - Richard A. Swenson, M.D.

Other non-fiction
My Summer in a Garden - Charles Dudley Warner