My girlies picked these for me the other day. Lilacs. My favorite. :) A tangible and fragrant piece of God's goodness and beauty.
My sister, Bria, came for the weekend. She stayed with the kids Friday night so Wade and I could go out to celebrate our friend Ed's birthday. Speaking of Ed's birthday--he got the best birthday present ever--the long awaited phone call informing him and his wife Vonda that they've been approved for guardianship for their soon to be adopted daughter Eva !!! Glory be to God for this answer to prayer!
Saturday Bria helped me paint Nathan's bedroom. (Nathan helped too.) Thank you Bria! Sunday my Mom and sister and I were treated to luxury pedicures together!
They were a Christmas present to us from Dad. This was my first pedicure ever! I was so touched that my Dad would come up with that idea to bless his girls.
Afterwards we did a little shopping at the mall and then went to Panera for supper. I just loved spending time with my mom and sister. Didn't want the night to end!
Also on Sunday...severe storms hit Prairie Farm where Wade's folks live. Their century old farm was hit hard as they lost two enormous pine trees, their silo, & part of the roof on the shed. (The photo shows where the silo once stood.)
All 5 siblings went up to the farm on Memorial Day to help clean up the debris that covered the area. We were grateful that no one was injured, as the silo could have easily fallen on the house. (Wade's dad, Marv was also out in the field planting corn when the storm was at its worst!) Also on Memorial Day we got to spend the afternoon with some of our good friends from church. What a blessing when others open up their home and provide a place where friends can laugh together, share a meal, and encourage one another.
I've also been impacted by the death of singer Steven Curtis Chapman's 5 year old daughter. The morning it was announced, I put all the laundry and other to do's on hold in order to hold my kiddos. Emily wanted to look at her baby scrapbook. So together we looked through her book, reading over the captions and memories I'd recorded to let her know how loved she is. Time spent like this is never regretted. And it's good to be reminded to be thankful for those things that really matter.
An ongoing prayer request of mine has been "Lord, help me see You as a tender loving Father. I know You are Sovereign, all-powerful, omnipotent. I know You are in control and not a sparrow falls to the ground without your knowledge and permission. But I need to see you also as the God of compassion. The God who knows our needs and truly cares about each detail of our lives." In each of the details I've mentioned above, I have seen God display that tenderness and compassion. I'm not saying that God is only good when He does what we want. I'm just offering thanks to Him today for showing me so many glimpses of His heart this weekend through other people. He knew my need and met me where I was at. What a gracious God we serve.
4 comments:
What an awesome blog-post! I'm happy to hear that the storm didn't damage anything but stuff. Since I heard about the death in Hugo I've been spending a lot of that kind of time with Cheryl and the Kids.
It sounds like you had a great weekend even if there were some ups and downs. I had vaguely heard about SCC's little girl, but not enough to realize it was him. My heart goes out to him and his family. Bria looks like such a blessing to you! I love that picture of her reading to Nathan.
Amen!
Happy to hear of all the fun you're having and glad the damage was structural on the farm and there were no injuries. Although, still sad when old buildings, or silos, go down.
Matthew's dad would have done the same thing by the way. Tornado, hail, what storm? I've got corn that needs to be planted.
That was a great post, Kara Jo. I love how you are seeing God at work around you.
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