That Old Hickory

I've always been partial to hickory trees. They're beautiful, tall, narly, and strong.

I have a favorite hickory on our property only about 20 feet away from our house. It's one of the tallest trees on our property, stretching probably about 80 feet high. It has crooked branches sticking out in every direction. Little bumps cover it where old branches grew and then died because of want for sun. Many a woodpecker has pecked for bugs along its craggly bark, and squirrels scamper over its straggly branches. It sheds piles of nuts every year.

It stretches its strong neck high into the sky looking brave and alert. Its many branches silhouette against the winter sky and then turn into a soft green in spring's garments. In the summer it dawns those full,thick, dark green leaves like an overgrown bush in the sky. In the fall when it's bushy head turns golden yellow, it lights aflame in the late evening sun.

Every season looks good on that old hickory, but I think that fall might be my favorite. It reminds me of the burning bush that Moses witnessed. Some day I want to climb high up into those mighty arms and look out far over the countryside, but so far I haven't had the bravery. One day....

That is the saga of my hickory. You can see it if you come for a visit. Haha!

A Good Ol' Game of Banana Grams

 

For some reason, during my second semester of college, I decided that banana grams was a great game. It's funny because I used to never want to play the game. I guess I thought it was boring. I don't think I had ever played it when I first made my opinion that it was a boring game. However, I eventually discovered that it was pretty cool.

That second semester was definitely the high-light of my banana gram career. I would often go to school (the church across the street), go to the student lounge, grab the bag of banana grams, and start a game on one of the available tables.These games were single player games, UNLESS some wonderful fellow student would walk up and ask if they could join me. Of course, I always said yes! 

I felt like it was a strange but delightful way to connect with other students. It brought us together, and, boy, some of those guys were so good. 

At house parties, small group get-togethers, and after Monday night Bible study, we would continue the banana gram roll. 

The picture above was my 21st Birthday party (hosted by myself, haha!). Yeah, maybe not your typical 21st kind of celebration, but that's just me. 

So, that's the story of Banana Grams in my history. Since then, I have kind of lost as much interest, but I still like the game.

What great memories of bringing people together and having good, clean fun!

Bed-ridden

So, I got my foot cut open.

What a past couple days.

The following is from mainly yesterday.

I had to get up early for the surgery, and I was happy to see this.

January of last year, I laid in the same spot with another hurt toe.

Trying to smile.

Mom made me a delicious smoothie.

It was a lot.

Dad got me flowers.

They are pretty and cheery.

Freedom of the left. The right is imprisoned.

Mom took a nap, too.

At least I got to see out the winder.

Trying to be smug.

What a lovely view! Not. Well, it's ok, but get's old.

What happens when you're bored.

What a feast.

Today.

I finally made it downstairs. I had a ton of pain this morning.

God is good even in pain. So, I just keep breathing.

Being Crazy Because I Can

Tomorrow I have foot surgery. I'll be out of business for a while.

Lately, I have noticed just how wonderful it is to have two working feet that let me move about with much ease.

I went to Caraway today because I haven't been driving much, I needed to do some things in town, and I really just wanted to see folks. While there, I talked with Kenneth a lot. He said that not being active would probably be the hardest thing for me. He was totally right.

Knowing that this surgery was fast approaching, I have really been enjoying activity lately. Yesterday I went for a walk as I am wont to do. I took some pictures just to commemorate the joys of walking and running and playing.

Enjoy, and see you after the foot surgery.

("See you,"  haha! Yeah right!)

Letting my feet breathe for the last few days. 

What a gorgeous day!

The clouds were beautiful. 

A little ray of sun basking in the sun.

My! The wind was blowing my hair all around.

Yep! That's me standing on my own two feet.

And then I tried taking pictures while I was running. Blurry obviously.

Of course, I had to take some pictures of the reflections in the creek. The sky so blue made for wonderful reflections.

Home from the rear.

My poor little foot. He doesn't even have a clue what's about to happen to him. 

A Nice Day to Be Alive

It's a nice day to be alive
I'm glad I am not dead
I feel like I'm still five
And I laugh in my head

It's a blue-sky kind of day
The wind blows my messy hair
I sit beneath a sun ray
And have no straining care

Because the Father cares for me
I worry not for what comes my way
I know what He says will be
And even if I cry He's got me every day

It's a nice day to be alive
I'm glad I am not dead
Though it's hard to thrive
And I cry on my bed

The sky is low and gray
The rain drenches my hair
I sit and weep today
It's a heavy load to bear

But the Father still holds onto me
I'll sit in the storm that's come my way
I know what He says will truly be
And I will laugh again some day

Hmmmm...And Who are You?

A while ago I stopped worrying about who was following me or if I even have followers, but today I decided to check because Lydia was telling us about the weird people who follow her blog. I discovered that there are indeed some strange people who follow me. Most of them I know, but some of you I do not know.

Do you feel weird if older men follow your blog? Is that concerning? If I didn't want them around, is there a way to block them?

I don't know, maybe it doesn't matter too much. It's funny because when I was younger I thought it would be great for strangers to follow my blog, but now it feels weird.

So, if you follow me, I'd love to know a few things:

1. Who are you?
2. Why do you follow me?
3. What do you find interesting about my blog?
4. Are there other things you would rather see? (I don't really care about what you want on this blog because I post what I want. Haha!)

Well, I'll tell you a little about me.

I am a sinner saved by grace. What's a sinner? A sinner is someone who does anything against God, the Creator and sustainer of everything. So, basically, if you're a human, you're a sinner. Romans 3:23 says, " For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." What have I been saved from? I have been saved from my own sin that would otherwise lead me to hell. Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." What is grace? Grace is the love of God manifested toward us through His Son Jesus in the work that He accomplished on the cross. You see, we all deserve that hell I referred to, but Jesus took our place on the cross and rose again to give us eternal life through Him. Philippians 2:8 says, "And being found in human form, he [Jesus] humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Titus 2:13-14 reads, "Waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works."

Wow! So, in the end I have become a part of the people of God. That is pretty amazing. Are you a part? Do you want to be a part? Believe in Him. Turn from your sin. If you have a Bible, read it. If you don't, go get one. If you're looking for a place to start, the Gospel of John is a great place.

So, there you have it. I hope you enjoy this blog and can see a bit of my life, who I really am.

"Exciting" Changes

Depending on how you think of the word "exciting" I may or may not have exciting changes approaching rapidly upon me.

I am having foot surgery this Friday, Lord willing that there be no more complications.

I have been awaiting this day for a number of years.I have what is called a bunion. It's an inflammation of the big toe joint that gives you toe and foot and even leg problems. A lot of people get it from wearing high heals, but mine came naturally, thanks to a great heritage. Haha! I've had it since I was a kid. It didn't used to bother me too much, but in the last year or so the pain has increased. So, this was the year to get it done.

At first, I thought I could get it taken care of in early August and then move back to up to MN. However, I realized the healing time would be to long, so I decided to stay at home and continue working until late October.

So, yes, those big changes are coming quickly, and I can't say I am too thrilled about the upcoming events. I don't do well with cuts, and they will be cutting my foot open. UGH!

This will put me out of walking and enjoying life for a while. Haha! I do plan on having a good attitude and enjoying life as much as I can while I heal, but I know it will be difficult. I'm going to have to go on a smoothies only diet because I won't be exercising. Seriously, that might be one of the hardest things, because this girl loves to eat. Normally, I can work off those calories, but not when my foot is propped up on some pillows. Nope.

God has a plan for this season of my life. It might not be something blatantly obvious, and it may just be learning to trust God more in unfun situations. Whatever it is, I hope to grow.

Also, if you love hanging out, I would definitely appreciate people coming for a visit. Haha!

Psanky

Lydia and I finally did some more Psanky today, and it was fun. I thought I'd show you some pictures of all my eggs I have dyed. It is great fun. You should try it out.

From left to right are my first to most recent eggs. Which is your favorite?

This is the one I dyed today. It took a while because I had to put wax all over the red part so it wouldn't turn black when I emerged the egg in the black dye. You can see I missed some spots, but I don't mind. 

I like this one a lot of all of them because it has more red. 

This is something else I did today. I glued rocks together to make a little tower. They are rocks from the Virginia Creeper Trail that we biked in August, and I was going to give the rock tower to my boss. We'll see if I ever do. 

I think it's kind of cool. 

This is a funny old picture from when I first went to college. 

Left to right is Bethany, Hannah, me, Lydia, Priscilla, and Mom.

All 6 of us have had blogs over the last several years. If you click on the names above, you'll see they are links to each person's blog. Several of us have changed blogs or changed looks throughout the years. I have kept this one because I just really like it. I have thought of changing it several times, but there's nothing wrong with this one. It's easy and simple, and I like the colors and butterflies. I have changed the look before, but I really like this. I'll probably keep using this old guy for many years to come.