Welcome Home!

 On this Thankful Thursday,

I have a double-sided note of Thanksgiving.

I am thankful that I got to travel with hubby on his latest business trip.

I am thankful that I have the flexibility to join him.

I greatly enjoyed flying again after nearly 5 years.

Hubby was sent to Orlando this time for a conference

and he had no assigned roommate.

So I booked the cheapest flight I could, 

packed my carry-on with oatmeal for breakfasts and pb&j's for lunches, and joined him.

We enjoyed the time away - 

I was glad to not be alone for nearly 4 days.

He was glad not to have to fill the evenings alone.

      

I am thankful to have tried a new dish one evening.

There was a little Greek restaurant near the hotel.

I was enticed by "Dolmades" - Meat and Rice wrapped in a grape leaf!

Just delicious!

Hubby tried them as well but had the Souvlaki (chicken skewers).

But ...

I am also thankful to be home again.

I love the quiet and structure of our home.

I love being able to cook healthy food at any time.

Additional Help

I am always thankful for additional help.

It may be hubby helping me finish the supper dishes.

It may be an extra hand putting a meal together.

It may be an encouraging word or example that makes me push harder.

I am now 3 1/2 months from surgery.

My wrist is much better.

It is still often very stiff,

but does not inhibit very many activities anymore.

I am still doing rehab every day using exercises recommended online,

but I thought that I might need something more to push my progress.

For the cost of one visit to the rehab center,

I enrolled in 2 months of online instruction.

It is not personal,

but it has progressive exercises that are pushing my motion and strength further.

Currently, I am on week 3 and feel that the scar tissue is breaking down more.

I am also preparing for an offertory in 2 weeks which is stretching for me.

I can tell that I am working new muscles,

because my hand and arm are sure worn out at the end of the day!

 

Keeper at Home

 Hubby is teaching through Titus in Sunday School.

Last Sunday, the lesson was to the women - 

the traits that an older woman should teach

and that a younger woman should seek to follow.

"Keeper at Home" is sometimes controversial.

Hubby taught it as a mind toward home care and domesticity in both young and old alike.

A woman working outside of the home can still have a heart toward her home.

It may be possible to do both.

Even a young woman without her own home can exhibit a love for home, for beauty, 

for the family she is in and the one she may be a part of one day.

I have a hard time with the balance and therefore I stay at home.

But even in staying at home,

a woman can fail to be a keeper at home.

A stay-at-home wife can lose focus,

can be distracted by things that do not benefit her home,

can be busy with things that are not her primary role.

So I pass that on to you, dear reader:

Are you living with a focus on your home?

Are you serving your home well?

Are you fulfilling what God would have you do?

While the Cats Away ...

 ...the mouse will ...

January is a good month for training in hubby's line of work.

The tractors are sitting idle and that means less repair.

Hubby had training in Ohio last week.

I stayed home and ...

CLEANED!

There are some jobs that just require making a mess.

I had wanted to do a fall cleaning

but was interrupted by my little tumble.

Now I am mostly back in business and decided that his 2 days away

was the perfect time to deep clean.

So I went through the closets, cleaned walls, organized totes and bins,

and even threw out some more things.

One area that hubby wanted me to straighten a bit was the garage - 

his space that he shares with me.

He was pleased with the results when he return.

Happy hubby and happy wife.

A Typo?

 I am beginning to think that the name of our new city is a typo.

I think that instead of Bowling Green, it should be Blowing Green.

This sure is a windy town.

But with that, we are also enjoying the frequent thunderstorms that we just didn't have in Oregon.

There is nothing like being inside on a stormy night watching the lightning and listening to the thunder.

Welcome 2023!

 We saw the beginning of the new year in a quiet way.

I am sure that we were in bed before 9:30 on New Year's Eve.

Our neighborhood was quiet (which has not been the case in either NC or OR).

We enjoyed New Year's Day at church.

I realize that changes can happen at any time

and should happen as they are needed,

but I do think more about changes at the beginning of a new year.

As I look through different "Word of the Year" choices that I have made,

I could use any one of them again.

I feel that I can always work on Contentment, Diligence, Dependence, and Righteous Consistency.

But this year ... I am thinking of "BLOOM."

I want to bloom where I am planted.

I want to improve, learn and grow.

I don't want to be stagnant.

I have a few projects that I started (some even years ago) that I want to finish.

I want to find my place of ministry here - even if it is different than it has ever been.

I want to be a source of "life" and "beauty" to others in my words and actions.

Psalm 1:3

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, 

that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; 

his leaf also shall not wither; 

and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

A Complete Do-Over

 While our Christmas plans mostly fell through,

we were able to fulfill our plans last week.

On Thursday night, we headed to Northern Kentucky.

We rested in a town near the Ark

and then spent Friday at the Ark.

We greatly enjoyed the whole experience,

the displays,

our time together,

and even caught the last of the Christmas lights.

Then we headed to my parent's house to celebrate "Christmas" with the family there.

It may have been late,

but it was sweet.

Simple Christmas

 I think there is nothing better than a Christmas Day that falls on Sunday.

I can't remember that many -

maybe I have just forgotten,

maybe many churches I have been in have canceled services on Christmas Day.

But what better way to celebrate our Lord's birth than in His house on His day.

Not with a pageant (their over),

not with a program (probably a limited group),

but simply a Christmas service focused on Him.

The focus of my blog is simplicity - 

truly the example of Jesus!

He came simply.

A simple family,

a simple location,

a simple "welcoming committee."

And today we celebrate Him!

Merry Christmas!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

 Here we are ...

the month has flown by.

I did visit my surgeon on Tuesday.

The x-rays look good.

So I am done with doctor's visits.

Still rehabbing to increase mobility,

but done with the bills and doctor's visits.

Our Christmas has not gone quite as planned -

changes due to a "Bomb Cyclone."

We awoke Thursday, the start of our vacation,

ready to head to the "Ark Encounter."

The storm was coming, but we would finish our travel

and be ready for our visit on Friday.

Before we left, we checked the website,

the Ark was closed Friday due to impending storms.

Oh, well, we could still go visit family on Christmas Eve.

Or maybe not, the sun did not come out enough to clear the roads.

Kentucky, like NC, does not really have plows and other road machinery for storms.

The police and the governor encouraged people to stay home.

So it is Christmas Eve, and we are alone in our little house.

We are enjoying the Christmas lights;

we are enjoying Christmas music in the background;

a cranberry apple crisp is in the oven, perfuming the house with "Christmas";

we have enjoyed pot upon pot of hot coffee;

we have enjoyed skype calls, texts, emails, and regular calls with friends and loved ones.

We have been thankful for a warm house,

we have been thankful for protection in the storm

Our plans may have changed,

but, Praise God, He never changes.

'Tis the night before Christmas ...

and we rejoice in our Savior's birth.

Immanuel ... God with us.

How we have relished that fact in 2022.

Through moves,

though home purchases,

through injuries,

through inflation,

through job changes.

Our Savior is with us.

Our God offers us His presence - 

as a baby many years ago

and in our hearts today.

I Found My Happy Thought

 When Peter Pan found his happy thought ...

he could FLY!

Well, I must have found my happy thought,

because I drove myself to town for the first time in 11 weeks!

It was kind of exhilarating to be in the stores bustling before Christmas.

I enjoyed just wandering without feeling that I was holding anyone up.

Between living right in the city and then being a "cripple,"

I think I have had about 6 months off from driving this year!

And that means that I can drive myself to my final (I hope) checkup with the surgeon on Tuesday!