A day with Deano!

A fishin' we went!  What else do we ever do?

Only this time we brought along a very loved Grandpa Deano.  A fellow lover of nature, quiet, streams, and fishing.

In my house this man is know to be able to fix ANYTHING.  If something breaks and we say we can't fix it we hear that "Maybe Deano can fix it.  I bet he knows how to fix it."

This trip started out a wee bit rough.  Tears from both boys for quite a while, but my Dad, father of seven, didn't miss a beat and enjoyed himself.

Our smallest son really was only upset when he was given help that he didn't want but badly needed.  (Still two weeks later is talking everyday about fish, poles, nets, & Deano)

My man of the woods and I didn't fish, not even once.  We still had a blast!  We walked out into the rips and would play in them.  We found lots of amazing rocks.  Used our net to catch more Minnows then we could count.  Used fallen trees as balance beams and just enjoyed all the gifts God has for us in the the woods.

For You make him most blessed forever, You make him joyful with gladness to Your presence.

~ Psalm 21:6

890.  Bubbling brooks

891.  Singing birds.

892.  Fallen trees.

893.  Colorful rocks.

894.  Dad who understands.

#899. Flowers of all kinds

Even the imagination kind.  Man of the woods gave this one to me one morning as a wake up gift.

It was more like a loan until it fell apart magically becoming once again a sharp teeth and transformer. 

Keys

It all started as we were heading back from a good long day of fishing.  We had just come over the last hill and could see Red Ronda the Honda.  My strong man asked me to find the keys that were deep in the hiking bag.  As I pulled them out I was a bit confused because what I found were not for my Ronda but for his small car back home.  Here we were 3 miles from a place where we could even find a phone to use or another person to talk too.  Gratefully Ronda is a peculiar car as she tends to allow three doors to lock but one is always open, never knowing which one it will be.  This day, thankfully, it was Our Son of Laughter's door.  As we opened the door we sighed a prayer of thanksgiving for the quirks and Insight to our oversight.

As I said before Ronda is a bit peculiar.  Only one of our two master keys will unlock the trunk.  As she's my car, my key will open her up.  About half way home we realized that my keys were missing.  We had used them to pack the car and assumed that they must have ended up in the diaper bag in the back.  After driving 70 plus miles and pulling everything out of the trunk over the back seats we realized that they were no where to be found.  It happened just by chance as we all had given up that my Dad looked down and saw there reflection bouncing off the car paint.  They had fallen down into my spare tire.  They could have fallen out through either side, but instead balanced on the rim the whole way home, over miles of dirt road, miles of highway driving, and miles of in town stop and go.

I can think of nothing else other then God's protection of my small keys.  I am loved!

 Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not worth much more than they?

~ Matthew 6:26

896.  Quirky car.

897.  Broken locks.

898.  God's protection of the small unimportant things in the grand scheme of life.



Nature cries praise

Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD from the heavens;

Praise Him in the heights!



Praise Him, all the angels;
Praise Him, all His hosts!

Praise Him, sun and moon;

Praise Him, all the stars of light!

Praise Him, highest heavens,
And the waters that are above the heavens!

Let them praise the name of the LORD,
For He commanded and the were created.

He has also established them forever and ever;

He has made a decree which will not pass away.

Praise the LORD from the earth,

Sea monster and all the deeps;

Fire and hail, snow and clouds; 

Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;

Mountains and all hills;

Fruit trees and all ceders;

Beasts and all cattle;

Creeping things and winged fowl;

Kings of the earth and all peoples;
princes and all judges of the earth;

Both young men and virgins;

Old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the LORD,

For His name alone is exalted;

His glory is above earth and heaven.

~Psalm 148:1-13

Gifts that cannot be numbered.

A jam of a day!

There are some things in life that bring me the feeling of accomplishment.  Jam is one of those things.

Maybe it's because it last longer then clean dishes do.

Or maybe because it is not a task that can be half done, but demands the start to finish process.

It could also be that taking the produce of the land and making it into tasty treats just feels right.

May I say it always, a gift!

...and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands...

~ Thessalonians 4:11

882.  Brothers content playing together.
883.  Smell of cooking berries.
884.  Washing dishes.
885.  Mason jars.
886.  Popping sounds as jars cool.
887.  An empty sink when all is done.

The gift of no camera

Remember this place:

You got it.  The place where I could either swim across the fishing hole or float across with my sweet Man of the woods.  This past family day, per my suggestion, off we went again.  This time  I started off in the boat and spent the whole trip with Son of Laughter in my lap and my Man of the woods at the other end.  It was one of those trips where I continuously sighed because I had forgotten my camera to help me record those fleeting days.

Here's where it becomes evident that the forgotten camera was a gift.  I was wet, about thigh deep, before I got into the boat.  As the boys fished and we played together I realized that my back was become increasingly wet.  Looking over my shoulder to see what was causing this I realized we were losing air and taking on water.  My strong man the protector chest deep in the middle of the stream blew more air into this tiny raft often to keep us a float enjoying our trip.  So had the camera come along surely I would be mourning as I type.

11 beauts right there!  The smallest 8 inches.  What a day!

And my soul shall rejoice in the LORD; It shall exult in His salvation.

~ Psalm 35;9

849.  Son of Laughter standing in a rubber raft fishing.

850.  Many fish brought in with a bug net and much squeals of joy.

851.  Snake found and watched in the woods.

852.  Many, many fishing line tangles, some having to be cut.

A blast of a day full of many mishaps!

Whenever we can we bring our boys into our ministries.  What better way to teach them to love others then to bring them alongside as we live it out.  Yesterday was one of those days full of the unexpected.  My Strong man the youth director in our church with an extra special place for those who are no longer children and not yet adults.  He takes these life loving people on adventures every other week through the warm summer months.  This week was the ocean, which is adored by our young boys.

To make a long story short let me list off all of the mishaps.  1. A screaming child for hours before this fun outing causing me to forget to finish dressing.  As I arrived at church I realized I was still in my pajama top.  2.  Having planned for last minute teens we had six extra seats for the trip only to have eight last minute kids show up.  3.  A teen who left her inhaler in the van while on a short but difficult hike.  4.  The church van loosing just about all of the breaks at the bottom (Praise the Lord, the bottom) of the mountain.

My Strong man, thankfully, is the youth director at church and has the key to the AWANA closet so while a bright yellow polo shirt isn't at the top of my fashion list I was able to have something comfortable to wear to the ocean.  Actually I quite liked the shirt by the end of trip and was slightly sad to give it back.

Thankfully a mother of two of our teens was able to come along at the last minute so that we didn't have to turn teens away.  This was HUGE!  Almost half of our group had NEVER been to anything church related before.  They know nothing about God and His Son.

Looking back I should have remembered to remind this teen to bring her inhaler it's not out of the ordinary for her to forget.  I'm thankful in some ways that she left it behind.  She is one of the teens that has been adopted as my daughter.  Her and I, with my Son of laughter on my back, hung back and took the hike very slow.  Good times it was.  We talked of nothing, but it was everything.  Relationship building at it's best. 

Lastly at the very bottom of the Mountain we lost the breaks in our church van.  God was involved in the whole thing!  In the moment all we could see was the stopped car just in front of us getting closer and realizing we'd have to go over the curb to avoid it.  Instead we stopped just in front of the curb no damage done to anything.  Then we inched our way into to Bar Harbor to find a place to park and leave the van for the towing service.  God not only had an open parking space for us, but it was also very convenient for the tow truck to get her out of.  Our friends on the hill drove down to meet us with there 15 passenger van so that we could still be home at a reasonable time.  The church leaders made all the phone calls so we could love on those teens and keep the trip running smoothly.  God was good to us!

When I look back on a day like that all I can see is God's control and love in the events of the day.  It reminds me of Isaiah 30:21.

Your ears will hear a word behind you; "This is the way, walk in it, whenever you turn to the right or the left.

865.  Boulder hopping hikes with my Son of Laughter on my back.

866.  Wild blueberries.

867.  Sounds of enjoyment coming from my pack as I pass the berries back.

868.  My boys excitement over the view, the rocks, and fungus.

869.  The joy "green" rocks brings to my Man of the woods.

870.  My boys beginning to see the small things with wonder.

871.  Being with my "daughters".

872.  Van brakes working until the bottom of the mountain.

873.  God quickly saying yes to our prayer for an easy parking space.

874.  My strong man thinking me helpful even though I don't get it.

875.  Friend on the hill giving us a her time and van to help brings us home.

876.  Holding hands with my Son of Laughter.

877.  Son of Laughter loved window shopping with the girls.

878.  Holding my Son of Laughter's hand just as i did when he learned to walk only now as he learned to walk on boulders.

879.  Oceans

880.  God's vastness.

881.  Son of Laughter's giggle of achievement.