Reflections

A year ago we were living in Colorado desperately seeking God's guidance for our future.

Tracy's flight bonus would end in 2011 and we knew a promotion would mean moving and a commitment to stay a few more years.
We decided for him to stay, pin on his next rank and move, commitment and all.

But.....

We also visited our home in Virginia last summer. We sat on the porch and drank coffee and iced tea, had barbeques on the deck, watched the sheep on the lot next to us, and had a fun independence day bash.

Tracy and I had never been able to agree about when he would retire or where he would retire. Then last summer we both got a vision for living in our home town, in the log house we built there and having a slower and quieter life.
And that is when the prayer that God would close doors and change our hearts about staying in or retiring in 2011 began.

It will be hard, and we have already encountered a couple of obstacles, but we know that this is what God wants. And it will be worth it. Investing in relationships and people always is.

Yesterday when I came home I sat on the porch swing and watched all the rabbits that had come out to feed, two of them were chasing each other in circles. The sheep were grazing quietly, and occasionally, the babies would run to their mothers. There was a hush over the countryside as dusk fell and as the fireflies came out I could still see the blue mountain range in the distance.

My heart began to sing along with creation and I felt closer to the Creator than I had in a very long time.

It is, and will be, good.

Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi

I read A Slice of Infinity yesterday and I just can't stop thinking about this statement:

There is a phrase in Latin that summarizes the idea that the way our minds and souls are oriented is the way our lives are oriented. Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi is an axiom of ancient Christianity, meaning: the rule of worship is the rule of belief is the rule of life. That is, the way we are oriented in worship (whatever it might be that we focus on most devotedly) orients the way we believe and, in turn, the way we live.*
*emphasis mine

Sola Deo Gloria!

All Things New

Home.

The place where Tracy and I grew up.

Our home.

Different yet always the same.

Life in the country is, and will continue to be, an adjustment for sometime. It is just not easy to go from one way of life to another. Especially when SO many things are different.

But we are finding familiarity in the blogs and websites we have enjoyed and frequented.
And amid our unpacking, cleaning and painting we have found a bit of time to play with new phones, visit facebook and watch a favorite tv show on Netflix.

A slice of life....

Josh turned 23 and Julie was honored at a Bridal Shower.......

Noah came out for the wedding and we went to Old Colorado City--I have missed that boy!

Sweet Noah drove from Nashville, TN to Abingdon, VA to fly to Colorado with my mom, who really hates to fly and was very anxious about changing flights. So Momma was here for the wedding and reception. Isn't she pretty?

The wedding cake. Beautiful blue hydrangeas. Many people commented on how glad they were that it was not a 'fondant cake'--the consensus was butter-cream tastes MUCH better.

The best man and the harpist. Pretty snazzy.

Okay, so there is not a smile on the beautiful harpist's face. That is the photographer's fault, there were plenty of smiles on this young ladies face that day. And, the harp music was wonderful at both the wedding and the reception.

The beautiful bride. Julie wore her mother's wedding dress and was lovely.

Sweet flower girl... the bride's niece.

Joshua and Julie Orfield dancing at their wedding.

Friends at the reception.


Noah finally got to meet Bitty. We have been friends with Bitty's family since 1996, one of the first Air Force families we met. We have been stationed together twice and kept in touch through the years. Bitty was born in England and we were able to meet her last year when her family came back stateside, but Noah had moved by then. They are stationed in Albuquerque with Josh and we have been able to visit when we have visited him.

I'll post move pictures after we load the trailer today...............

Busy, Busy, Dreadfully Busy..........

The end of the month of May is upon us. Our home has been all topsey-turvey for so long that I have felt like I was in a time warp

And we still have lots more to do.

For the last twenty years we have moved in the summer.
Usually in May.
So I have come to associate Mother's Day and Memorial Day with movers, packing and goodbyes.

We always leave great people behind and there are always wonderful people where we are going.

And, in a way, we have gotten used to it, but that doesn't mean it is not painful, it never gets easier to say goodbye.

Each time we move we find ourselves wishing we had spent more time with our friends. Wishing we had made time for coffee, and lunch, and going to the park, and the movies. Wishing we had invited people over to a messy house, and making time for fellowship, instead of being such slaves to our schedules.

There never seems to be enough time.

Today our minds are on the last harp lesson and another goodbye, packing boxes full of stuff we think we can't live without for six months, and Mt. Washmore is calling out as always.

Stress is building for all of us.

I want to leave the house clean and neat for the new residents and the things we are putting into storage need to be clean and ready. We have loaded the truck with bags and bags of clothes, furniture, and odds and ends to give to goodwill.

Moving became a reality yesterday afternoon when it looked like a 'stuff bomb' had gone off in the house. Then this morning I got up and was confronted with all the boxes that had been left at the foot of the stairs.

This is real.

Really real.

But we will get it done and by next week it will be a memory.

And this old song from a Veggie Tales movie has been playing in my mind again because right now it is true for us.......

I'm busy, busy, dreadfully busy
You've no idea what I have to do.
Busy, busy, shockingly busy
Much, much too busy for you.

We're busy, busy, dreadfully busy
You've no idea what we have to do.
Busy, busy, shockingly busy
Much, much too busy for you.

'Cause we're busy, busy, frightfully busy
More than a bumblebee, more than an ant.
Busy, busy, horribly busy
We'd love to help, but we can't!

Veggie Tales Busy song

Be Silent

^{Psalm 4:1-4}

¹Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have given me relief when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!

²O men how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
How long will you love vain words and seek after lies?
Selah

³But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;
the LORD hears when I call to him.

⁴Be angry, and do not sin;
ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.
Selah

Selah—stop and listen, take pause

The Refiner's Fire.

And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'They are my people'; and they will say, 'The LORD is my God.' Zechariah 13:9

Being cleansed is painful. It hurts to have the dross removed.

Dross:

1: the scum that forms on the surface of molten metal

2: waste or foreign matter : impurity

3: something that is base, trivial, or inferior

Dross that we don't see, that we didn't even know existed.

Those things in our lives that we are blind to.

Things that don't belong in a sanctified life.

Years ago when we lived in Germany we would visit a little guesthouse restaurant frequently and became friends with the owners. It was a family business and the entire family lived in the building; the elder couple, their son and his wife and two children.

Once we visited and the youngest grandchild, who was about 4 years old, had a cast on his leg and foot. He was crawling around dragging the cast and not enjoying it.

We asked about it and were told that he had been born with an extra toe, had surgery to remove it and was learning to walk again. It was intriguing that he had learned to walk with the unneeded toe but once it was removed he had to learn all over again because his balance was off without the extra appendage.

I thought that was a good analogy of what it's like when the dross is removed from our lives. It hurts to have it removed and then we have to learn to function out of our comfort zone. Our balance is thrown off and we waver and stagger for awhile.

Only we never have to learn to walk alone.

The little boy had to learn to stand up and walk by himself, with no help from anyone. We can lean on our Savior. We are always being led and held by our Father.

When we are weak then He is strong.

And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

So when you see me stumbling about, figuratively or literally, you can assume that I am learning to walk again-because there's a lot of dross in this gal.

Purify my heart,
let me be as gold and precious silver.
Purify my heart,
let me be as gold, pure gold.

Refiner's fire,
my heart's one desire
is to be…holy;
set apart for You, Lord.
I choose to be…holy;
set apart for You, my Master,
ready to do Your will.

Purify my heart,
cleanse me from within
and make me holy.
Purify my heart,
cleanse me from my sin, deep within.