The sounds of this old Farmhouse when the wind blows is comforting to me. It started out low and slow. Then picked up. This old farmhouse shook and creaked. The shutters rattled and banged. The wind whistled through the windows. The farm boy looked around and seemed shocked. It's as if he were hearing the sounds of this old farmhouse for the first time. It's amazing as you watch your children become adults- How they begin to look differently at things. My farmer closed up the basement windows. We turned on the fire. The kids pulled blankets from the basket and snuggled in. The ... View Post
Unexpected , 30 Days of Thankfulness, Day 14
This unexpected, beautiful weather is heading out of town. I've so enjoyed these bonus days of warmth and sunshine. We've cooked out on the grill. A whole section of the old barn was repaired! We schedule the repairman a year in advance for a week. Grateful his week was so warm! There were many other things we wanted to get done and haven't. That's the way it goes. Each new day is filled with so much unexpected. Unexpected weather. . . . Unexpected coffee around the farmhouse table. I've written much about the unexpected. We need to embrace it. Not fight it. God works in those ... View Post
Letting Go, 30 Days of Thankfulness, Day 10
I've begun the process of letting go. The hard work of looking at things and letting them go. You see for years I've held on to everything. Afraid to let it go. I might need it. It might trigger a good memory. It's. all. I. have. In quick succession I lost my past and my future. While I was reconciling my past (my mom). God called part of the future home (son). And I got stuck in that place. He almost allowed the present (my farmer) to be gone too. And in the grief walk process I held on to things, clinging to what has been and that which will never be. The "stuff" is ... View Post
Stillness, 30 Days of Thankfulness, Day 8
That night, in the quiet, there was a stillness. The veil was thin. My son had been called home. My red headed boy. Full of life and dreams. A heart captured by a sweet love. Interrupted. Silenced. My God, that I serve, asked me to walk a road no one wants to walk. The stillness of that night remains with me. There was a holiness and a peace as I stepped forward. I moved in a state of praise. Our first language. I defaulted to what I knew as grief began it's journey. I had a heart still reeling from the loss of my mom. So, I chose to step forward in a rhythm of ... View Post
The Sound of Change, 30 Days of Thankfulness, Day 2
I hear them before I see them. The sound of change. Cattle trucks. The rumble. One. Two. Three. Four. A farmer up the road is selling one of his herds of cows. One of the three surviving dairy farms on our road. Now two. A sob catches in my throat. We were that farm last Spring. We tried to sell. But the market was so bad, we couldn't get out. I call my farmer. I ask if he saw the trailers. He softly says yes. It is hard to be in an industry that you watch slowly die. It's painful. All those cows. Generations of working the land. Hauling rocks, smoothing out space for hay ... View Post
30 Days of Thankfulness, Day #29 Those Name Tags
Those Name Tags. Every year. Every. single. year. They leave me undone. They make me laugh to see the cute art work by the kids. Lovingly those kids have made a name tag for every guest we've ever had. Those name tags humble me to the sheer number of people that have sat around this farmhouse table to break bread and give Thanks. They also make me weep at time gone by. At the changes that these years have brought. The name tag says, Handmade by Elijah and Clarissa. I've been cooking for two days. Pie crusts and stuffing. Turkey and gravy. Chex mix and coffee. The ... View Post
