There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens

Living in the country again has taught and re-taught me many things this year.

As we are in the middle of Autumn and the trees are starting to loose their leaves I find myself dreading the cold winter months.

I never before realized how important Fall is to trees and plants.
Fall is the best time to transplant, divide and prune.
The trees rob their leaves of food and fortify their roots to keep them healthy through the winter.

So, when the trees look dead in the winter they are really just sleeping and waiting.

I have enjoyed the changes day to day as new trees turn yellow, orange or red.
And sometimes the beauty of this place takes my breath away.
I have been a distracted driver more than once as I have been gazing at the colors out my car window.

But all the while in the back of my mind I have been thinking 'this is not going to last, it is only a short season, so enjoy it to the fullest, winter will be here before you know it.'

And I wish I could learn that lesson in life.

That each season has it's beauty and won't last forever.

And it seems that each time I get used to a season it begins to change.

For two weeks we have been receiving final records and official papers marking Tracy's retirement. The first retirement check came in the mail yesterday and as we turn the corner into this new season of life I am filled with anticipation as well as a bit of fear.

There are so many unique things about our life right now and this year has been a time of change, growth and pruning.

As the trees get ready for their long winter's rest we will be diligently trying to finish this building project and adjusting to so many things new.

I will try to enjoy it all.

To look for the beauty in it and to remind myself that this is only a season and it won't last forever.

¹ There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

² a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiates 3:1-8

Finally Pictures......

oops.......

Okay.

The pictures that were supposed to be in that last post are not there and I don't know why and I don't know how to fix it so I am going to post the pictures separately. Yes, I know that was a run on sentence but sometimes that is the only way to express how I feel.

We worked so hard last week to finish the front of the house.

Tracy put up the siding on the gable on Thursday and I cut soffit for him on Friday and he was able to get that done Friday morning. Then Friday evening he and I stained the front of the garage. I think you can barely make out the walk board still up in front of the garage.
I know what I don't want to do for a living-that walk board is scary when you get up high.
Needless to say we worked fast at the top.

The trees are just starting to change color in these pictures and there is no real way to capture the beauty of our woods. It is a glorious to walk back through them now with all the colorful trees and the leaves that are starting to fall.

The road in front of our house at sunset. There is a red barn to the right of this picture and horses in the field bound by the white fence.

Our sunroom and back gable of the garage still need siding and trim but we are so happy that we have accomplished so much.
The back of the house and the side of the house with the sun room still need to be stained but we will get to it eventually. The house was already stained so it is not a really big deal if it takes a while to get it done-we just have to live in a house of two different colors.

But that is the least of our worries.

The drywall guys should be finished this week or early next week (we hope). They came today and put the first coat of 'mud' on the walls. There are two more coats to come and then sanding.
So, I may be optimistic if I think they will be finished by the beginning of next week.
Then the painting of the interior walls will begin.
We are motivated though and that will be the fun part since we have spent weeks choosing colors for our new rooms.

And, of course, buying lights and choosing carpet is always fun.

The new gas stove Tracy installed a couple of weeks ago.
We love it and it heats the entire great room, kitchen and loft.
We decided against a wood burning stove or fireplace since the girls and I have allergies.

The view from the front porch one afternoon last week.

Those trees that are in the sunlight in this picture are starting to change color right now and it is so much fun to watch the view change from day to day.
The reds and oranges are beautiful this year.
We have four little maple trees along the road that we planted the first year we built the cabin. Two of them have grown a lot but the other two have lagged behind. A couple of years ago they both looked like they were dead or dying but we left them and they have come back and are healthy this year.
They are all orange right now.

I really didn't realize how much I had missed being here in Virginia in the fall. And being able to be near so many things that are alive has been wonderful. Things grow so well here. Tracy had a couple of tomato plants sprout up just from some tomatoes that were thrown out. They just popped up and thrived with no help or care. They even produced fruit!
We have put out 'critter' food and put bird seed in our feeder. There are so many different birds and lots of cute chipmunks, grey squirrels, fox squirrels and even a southern flying squirrel. We haven't seen any deer for a couple of weeks but wild turkey have been spotted and yesterday morning I heard them at about 5 a.m.

I just can't help feeling so close to the Lord, so at peace, and so content here.
Even though there is so much to do.
It gives me joy.

God made the country and man made the town. William Cowper


Edited to add-the pictures for this blog did not load and I just don't want to fix it all so the pictures are in a separate blog.

Okie

We have tried to visit Tracy's grandmother every Sunday since we have been living here. We have missed a couple of weeks but have gone frequently enough that she expects us each Sunday evening.

And because I think she is one of the most interesting people I have ever met, as well as one of the most fun, I thought I would write a bit about her.

She is 93 and has a memory and a personality that are enviable. She is so fun to be with and always make us laugh with her witty comments. She delights in her family and loves good food. And she remembers people and details about them.

She went through chemo and survived cancer in her sixties. Then a few years later she started losing her sight and learned she had glaucoma and cataracts. That is when she stopped driving and began to stay home almost constantly. But she would still read her Bible every night.

Then she began to be afraid to stay at home alone and her daughters started staying the night with her. Eventually she was too blind to cook for herself anymore and they felt it would be dangerous for her to stay alone all day so they started taking turns staying with her during the day as well.

It was during this time that they began to notice some odd behaviors and thought she may be developing dementia. Then her head started to hurt constantly and they took her to the doctor and a CT scan was ordered. The scan revealed a mass that was pressing on the frontal lobe of her brain. The doctors said she was too old for surgery and the family should just keep her medicated until death. Tracy's mother and her sister would not accept that as an answer and pushed for surgery.

After the surgery she was sent home and was recovering well. Then she began to have symptoms of mini-strokes on her left side and was in pain again. They immediately took her to the hospital and it was revealed that oxygen was penetrating the surgical site and getting into her brain, (apparently this causes stroke like activity). So, she had a second surgery to repair the site.

She is fully recovered now and when we visit she is sometimes shaking rugs and often washes the dishes. She takes all of her glass and porcelain out of the china cabinets about once a month and washes it, then puts it back with no help. And she also washes the windows.
All blind. (I find this so interesting and inspiring because she can't see the dust or dirt on the glass but she is fastidious and disciplined and wants to be a good steward of the things the Lord has blessed her with).

Usually when we go to visit she is sitting on the couch and we do have to talk a bit louder than normal since she is a bit deaf but wears a hearing aid.
And she is always happy to see us.

She is the only grandmother Tracy or I have left alive and we enjoy hearing her tell us about the Great depression or family long passed on. Sometimes she gets spirited about a Bible doctrine she believes or politics or how parents don't discipline their children but she always ends with a laugh. And she tells us regularly how she is longing for heaven.

I really regret not spending more time with her over the years. Not getting to know her better or discussing the Bible with her more often. She has so much wisdom and such a loving, joyful spirit.

Trying to make up for lost time in relationships has really brought home to me that it takes time to build a strong relationship. I want to cram as much as I can into the time I have but sometimes you just can't do that. Sometimes you just have to walk through life together for relationships to form.

I am so glad that Tracy loves his grandmother the way he does and that he wants to make time for her. An old woman sitting alone in her house with no visitors but her children and occasionally a grandchild. No one from the church she attended for 30 years ever visits and many of her friends are dead.
She can't see and won't go anywhere but to the doctor.

Ever.

Yet she is joyful and fun and caring and thoughtful and asks about people when they visit.

She is an inspiration to me and I am so glad my daughters are getting to know her better and to spend time with her.

Two scriptures come to my mind when I think of her:

Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Job 13:15

and

A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.
Proverbs 17:22