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Monday, February 16, 2009

Valentine's Day

I just love Valentine's Day! Chris says I am more excited about it then even Christmas! I am not sure about that, but I do love the idea of conveying love, the hearts, the flowers, the sentiments.

This year was again unique, but has been my favorite Valentine's Day yet. On Friday, I asked hubby to put down the books and we went hiking along the broad river. It was a beautiful day and it was good to be out. We finished the "date" with cold drinks at Sonic. We were even thrilled to see a car hop on skates again.

On Saturday Chris worked, but in the evening we got dressed up and went to Chick-fil-A. YUM! They had set up a valentine section on the side with tablecloths, candles, and flowers. A waiter took our order and brought our meals to us on plastic plates. I got a beautiful pink carnation. There was even a roving minstrel playing love songs on the violin (also a student from Ambassador, so it was tastefully done). The promotion even provided FREE dessert. Cheesecake for me and a chocolate shake for Chris. Next it was on to the school for a Valentine's Concert. The concert contained some beautiful classical guitar music, some piano, and some violin. There was a soloist, some of his selections were good (old show tunes), but a few did not seem in keeping with the standards of the school which was disappointing.

All in all it was just a Valentine's Day to remember. We continue to remark, that it is just so nice to be together and remember that there are those sacrificing family time to protect our country and our freedoms.

"We love Him, because He first loved us."

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Keeping the Weeds Down

I don't really know how to react to NC weather yet. This is our 3rd day nearing 80 degrees. In Washington, the weather men would have called this a heat wave even if it occurred in the middle of August. We may be in for a great adjustment this summer.

We are settling into routine now. Chris just passed the first round of tests on his way towards midterms. He works very hard 3 days each week so that he has very little homework the other 4 days. We usually have Friday night and all day Sunday without any school work, Thursdays and Saturdays are farm days. I am now sharing responsibilities for keeping the Prophet's Chamber at our church ready and usable. I love that kind of work! I have already started 2 piano students and 1 flute student. I am considering taking violin lessons myself. I am hoping that I could be able to play and pass along that knowledge by the time we leave NC.

So what about the weeds? Well all this beautiful weather has drawn me outside. Our front walkway was a mess of weeds when we arrived. I worked for quite a few days to remove the weeds in November. Then this morning, what do I see, but more weeds. Then it hit me. The weeds that I took out in the fall were tough, thick, and deeply rooted. When I finished weeding, the walkway was torn up and looked so different. The weeding this spring is just little weak weeds or weeds that didn't quite get completely removed in the fall. They were easily removed without a lot of work. Then I began to think about my life. God has definitely been doing a lot of weeding, especially this last year. It is not always easy to go through the "weeding", but when some of the big sins and stumbling blocks are gone, I can more clearly see the little things that are keeping me from full service and can remove them. I know that if I forget or neglect my walkway, by fall the mess of weeds will be back. I need to be faithful to remove the little weeds. So with my life. Proverbs 4:23 "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."