Hast Thou Not Seen?

Yesterday we took the opportunity to go visit Erdbeere and her family at their new house.  They recently moved and are still in the process of unpacking and settling in and putting their mark on their new place.  Its coming along very well and is a really nice place.  Much roomier than where they moved from and meets their needs and goals in a lot of ways. They chose carefully and it is turning out very well. I thought they did very well.

The nice thing about this visit was that only Brombeere and I went so we had the time to visit all the way there and back.  She sometimes accuses me of not talking very much and I’ll be the first to admit that whenever someone says “Talk to me” the next thing that happens to me is that my mind goes blank. Anyway, we talked and I thought it was very good because we had all this time together, which is sometimes hard to come by in this very busy life we find ourselves living.

Even though it was never a subject we addressed directly between us, I found myself, as we talked over a wide range of things going on in our lives, thinking over and over again, like a prayer, that See? There is another reason why we need additional blessings in this area or that one.  I sometimes get to praying about things where I feel there is need but don’t feel like the blessings are quite covering the need and pleading for more help.  Maybe that’s an ungrateful practices that I need to do better with but nevertheless, that is how it is at times.

So today in church we were singing the closing hymn, which was titled “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”.  As we sang the second verse it suddenly hit me how much the Lord really has blessed, and continues to bless me.

Praise to the Lord! Over all things he gloriously reigneth.

Borne as on eagle wings, safely his Saints he sustaineth.

Hast thou not seen

How all thou needest hath been

Granted in what he ordaineth?

I felt like I had been ambushed by the answer to a prayer. Well, that’s how I felt. But the point is that once again I knew I was getting an answer to my prayers. I knew that the Lord was aware of me and my situation and was sustaining me at the level He wanted me at for the time being.

I used it later, during a lesson I was teaching, as an example of how the Lord uses scriptures and hymns to answer our prayers and communicate with us. So I didn’t hear a voice, but the Lord got his message across.

It Was a Very Good Time

What a wonderful couple of weeks its been!  We’ve seen all our grandkids and kids over the past couple of weeks, since the beginning of the month.  We’ve traveled a lot, got sick of being in the car (all the travel was driving) and, the one sad part of it all was a funeral. But as is so often the case, coming together for funerals leads to some wonderful times with family and friends. So we traveled out west for a funeral and got to see Heidelbeere and her family, along with my brother and sisters. Got to make muffins, do exercises, with the help of the kids and the family dog. Got to do lots of stuff together with kids and grandkids we don't get to see very often.  It was great!

Then we came back and Moosbeere and his family came to visit because he was in the wedding party of his best friend from high school.  This friend of his was over at our house so often as they were growing up that he felt like just another one of the kids. It was good to see him doing so well.

Himebeere had a birthday so we got to have cake and ice cream.And in the midst of all that visiting Erdbeere and Blaubeere and their families came to visit as well.  So its been wonderful, if not crazy and hectic at times.

We went to a couple of the parks here in the area and played around. Stachelbeere showed off his prowess in log walking. Everybody was sure he'd end up in the drink but he made it across dry with no problems. At this playground his niece came down the slide after him without waiting for him to clear out. It was fun.

Then at the end of the day we found some ducks to feed and got to spend some time doing that in the evening. Apparently the ducks get fed often enough that they knew the drill. Our granddaughter had a great time throwing them bits of bread.

It was such a good time. Makes me wish we were able to see them all more often. So we'll be grateful for the ones that live close enough to see more often and reveal in the times when we can see the others. Families are so fun, kids and grandkids are such a blessing. I love them.

A Happy Thing

Life is generally day after day, filled with the same old stuff, life goes on. Then, every now and then, a special time comes along that is either a high point or a low point. Fortunately there are more high points than lows. It has been my experience that the high points in life are generally some how associated with family. We recently had a high point. Maulbeere came to visit. That was so nice.

 

 A little over a year ago, Maulbeere decided to seek her fortune else where, get away from home and get a change of scenery.  That was okay and so she arranged to go live with her sister, Heidelbeere, who lives far enough away that we haven't seen much of her since then. In fact, this was only the second time she's been home since leaving. 

 

So Schwartzbeere and his brand new fiance, who decided they wanted to come pick her up from the airport, piled in the car and we went after her. All the way down the two of them were busy working on wedding plans. All the way back they were busy talking and playing with Maulbeere - not much serious planning got done.

 

 While here, Maulbeere spent some time with Himbeere, helping change the brakes on Mom's car. Maulbeere performed the valuable service of holding the tire down while it was off the car. Couldn't have it floating away - that would never do.

 

Erdbeere and her little boy made it to our house for a few days to visit. He's a cutie. When coloring he had to make sure that every crayon had an opportunity to be used. 

 

 Stachelbeere is staying with us right now so he and Maulbeere got to spend some quality time together.

 

 While she was here we made it out to a covered bridge not too far away and Maulbeere got to dip her toes in "the old millstream." It was Memorial Day, the official beginning of summer, and the weather was nice and warm as well.  A very nice day trip.

 

 Blaubeere and her kids came over a couple of times. They played in the backyard. You can't see it in this photo, but Dragon, the younger boy, has his right arm in a bright, red cast. He was playing in their living room a few days ago and broke his arm. Didn't slow him down much at all.

 

 Blaubeere's youngest is learning to walk. Actually, she could walk by herself if she wanted to but I guess its a confidence thing. She thinks she still needs to be holding onto something or someone to be walking. But one day we distracted her with some toys and she forgot she couldn't walk on her own enough to take a few steps all by herself. She's a cutie.

 

Then, all too soon, it was time to go back.  The time just zipped by. So it was back to the airport and off in a big silver bird. It was so nice to have her here. She is such a breath of fresh air. She brings smiles to faces everywhere she goes. We'll miss her.