Aug. 23, 2007
Life in Gills Rock - Home-life
Posted in Home Life
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It has been a few days since I wrote last, time to catch up! On the home front- It was over a week ago that we saw Jeni ( along with Jessie, her room mate ) out the door and back to college. She left after church and a last family meal together. It was so sad to see her go, but the bittersweet moment was hearing the crying of Jeni and Mandy as they hugged goodbye. It was sad to know that they would not be together, but sweet to see the love for each other and the sorrow they were sharing in saying goodbye. We all joined hands and Rick prayed over her before she left. It is hard to know that we are not sure of when we will be able to see her again. Things quieted down immediately! Not to say that she is the loudest, but there is just an extra dose of exuberance around when Mandy and she are together. It dawned on me last week, that it really is the middle of August and I should be doing a lot more canning. We are in such a drought that everything is dying or hardly producing. Although we are having rain today, it has been 8 weeks since our last rainfall and it will take days of rain to make up for it. I have watered my garden but it is still dry. My pepper plants are all curly leaved and hardly producing. Much to my surprise, my tomatoes are doing stupendously and I think I may get quite a bit canned from the 12 plants that I planted. We enjoyed cherry tomatoes at dinner last night and they were so sweet. We have had green beans which were delicious. After three failed plantings I gave up on carrots, although I did have three lone carrots for a few days before they succumbed to heat or a preying insect. I had called a friend about getting some apricots to can, but she was sold out. I was bummed as she has the best price, but then I decided not to worry about it. A few days later she called and had some, and, when I picked them up she through in a pail of old-fashioned sweet cherries as well. I made some jelly/pancake syrup and canned some sauce for lunches or blending with yogurt for smoothies. I was so happy! I am looking for peaches now! We are in a season of entertaining as folks are visiting the county and wanting to get together before they head back home. It has been fun, and has helped me get my house clean! It is always such sweet fellowship to sit around the table visiting and getting to know people more. Some are long term friendships and some are brand new folks that God has just recently put in our lives. Last night it was a dear friend of my husband, Danny R., a race car driver from Thunder Hill. Danny and his wife and children came over, and our mechanic James, from our pit crew. We had a wonderful meal and time of visiting together. We have other friends here for the next week so we will have a few more dinners coming up. I enjoy trying new recipes but this has been a busy summer with work so I have stuck to serving what is actually a typical supper here at our home; grilled meat (sometimes marinated), fresh salad and/or pasta salad, fruit and cooked vegetable. Last night we had garlic bread, but we are not big starch eaters so bread etc.. may not always be served. I made a key lime pie and the girls made cookies and brownies for dessert. That is NOT typical of our meals! There was lots left over so we will have leftovers tonight. I know we will end up needing to give away some of the desserts as we never can eat a whole batch of cookies, nor do I want the girls eating that much sugar. It has also been a very hard week here in our home. Our dear friends Chris and Jill had their baby girl on Monday night. We have know for about 3 months that she had a missing chromosome which would lead to death in the womb or a short term of life after birth. Our community has held up this baby in prayer, asking God to intervene with a miracle, asking for wisdom and strength for the family. It has raised so many conversations with folks and the parents have been given many opportunities to speak their faith and take a stand for the sanctity of life, even severely handi-capped life. Most babies with this disorder are still-birth or are aborted, little Evelyn made it until Monday. Jill was induced on Monday and Evelyn was born that evening, their first girl after 2 boys. We rejoiced on Tuesday when we heard she was still alive although she had not been miraculously healed. She died a short time later. But, we rejoice for 12 wonderful hours that they were given with her, to hold her and love her. I talked with Jill yesterday and she said that it was a precious time. I am so proud of how they handled everything. I am blessed to know this little one was held and loved and cuddled for the hours she was here. Her life was 9 months and twelve hours, a life not in vain. I cannot tell you how much this affected our family. Two of our daughters have and do work with this family in their family run business. Our daughter Kristi was there with Chris the day he explained to a bunch of doctors why they did not choose an abortion. Our daughter was profoundly impacted by his witness and told us all at supper that night how proud she was of her boss. Each of our girls had an opportunity to pray their hearts out before God asking for this baby's life, and then on Tuesday they had opportunity to rest in the sovereignty of their God and His perfect will. We had joy and then sorrow as we sat at the breakfast table hearing the news, and then we had fellowship, discussing what we believe and why we believe it. All of this because of a little baby. Please say a prayer for this family as they go through the grieving process and their hearts ache. Summer is winding down, the sunsets are earlier and harder to catch as we often do not have the kitchen cleaned up in time. The cooler nights get us excited about fall coming and the change of our routine as we all come home from our various jobs and start schooling again. Can't wait! |
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Aug. 24, 2007 - Sweet baby
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Posted by Sep. 15, 2007 - Untitled Comment
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