Green Pasture

On Sunday I was chatting with a friend at church.  She asked me how I was adjusting to Colorado.  We got to talking and she told me that Sprouts Farmer's Market is in Colorado.  I used to shop at one in California so I got excited.  I went home and looked it up on the computer and found one in Boulder, which is a 20 mile drive in the country from where we live.  So I packed up my car with an ice chest and made the drive.  It was a gorgeous day for a drive, nice and warm too.  I got to Sprouts and immediately felt that touch of home.  I so enjoyed strolling through the store and seeing familiar products.

Here I was naughty and snapped a quick picture of the drive in Boulder.  The scenery is gorgeous and the traffic light.

Here I pulled off to the side of the road and snapped this gorgeous picture of the view.  This is the country drive that I am talking about.

In the evening I made myself a summer salad.  I loaded it with goodies like red grapes, snap peas, feta cheese, bacon bits, onion.  Then I also made some cream cheese banana muffins.  They are so yum!

The Lord treated me to a beautiful sunset out on the back deck.

The sun is almost down in this picture.

After sunset I took a walk and then came home to enjoy some comedy put on by Dusty and Daisy Mae.

FYI:  I decided to try the new templates Blogger is offering.  Different looks will probably appear as I play around with it.  Let me know when you like the look.  Thanks! 

Rest

The Lord has brought me to the green pasture and here HE will restore my soul.  I often think that I need to restore my soul myself, but I suddenly made a connection this morning...HE will do it.  Life has been so tense for so long.  Yesterday at church while worshiping I felt the Holy Spirit upon me and the tears began to flow freely.  He wants to restore my soul, I just have to let go.  Let go of all the troubles, my unbelief, etc.

Colorado has been an adjustment, but the Lord has been softening the feelings of homesickness.  There is a tangled ball of feelings inside of me that only the Lord can help me work out.  I am still learning and growing into what He is trying to teach  me at this point in my life.  I keep remembering the words in that movie in Out of Africa..."I had a farm in Africa."  My words would be "I had a cottage in California."  I miss my cottage, it was dear to me.  The Lord knew that.  Giving up my safe little cottage, parting with treasures, etc. I am stepping into a different way of life.  A life of letting go to receive more of HIM.

Lately, I have been hearing much about the story of Abraham and how he was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac. The word says that Abraham did not even withhold his only son from the Lord.  This is what the Lord is working in my life...that I will not withhold anything from Him.  In this is REST.

Complications Plus Kitten Equals Tired Mom

Where do I begin?  So much has transpired since I last wrote.  With the boys home on summer break I am always busy.  I usually blog in the evening, but lately I have been too tired.  And I have felt that my creative juices are being drained away by stress.  These teen years can be very challenging.  I have been taking refuge in evening walks with Mark and reading the book "Tramp for the Lord" by Corrie Ten Boom.

This past week was especially challenging.  Eric had a big fight with his girlfriend.  It was hard for me to watch and it really disturbed me.  The next thing that happened was that Brandon brought a kitten home.  She is white with blue eyes and a very light touch of orange on her ears and rings of orange on her tail.  I've been calling her Daisy Mae.  It has been nice for me to only have Dusty to take care of; I was not wanting another pet.  Brandon has been wanting a kitten, but we told him NO.  Knowing what a push over I am for animals he took advantage of me.  As I type this Daisy is sleeping in my lap.  Sigh.  Oh, then there was the ordeal of going to court with Brandon due to a citation he received.  (another deep sigh breathed here)

Then to top everything off, we went to counseling and it was not a very good session for us.  I usually speak with the counselor first before the boys go in.  Well, when I was speaking with him I got a strong feeling that he was just not getting it.  We were not connecting, which to me is important.  After speaking with him Brandon went in and I sat in the waiting room and cried.  Once the session was done we went back to the car and the boys began fighting.  Oh how I wanted to just melt away.  Once home I had tons of laundry and sewing to do to get my men ready for summer camp.

Today has been a pleasant day despite some tummy trouble.  We went to two farmer's markets which required a drive through the country.  Then we came home and made fajitas for lunch with the fresh produce I bought.  Everything tasted absolutely divine!  In the late afternoon the boys went to a birthday party which gave Mark and I some alone time.  We enjoyed relaxing to the sound of a summer thunderstorm.  The storm was so cool and refreshing after having two days of heat.  Then we went to dinner and enjoyed eating tiramisu for dessert.

Tomorrow all my men leave for a week of summer camp and I will be all alone with two kitties.  On Thursday Mark will come home for the night.  Then the next day he will drive me out to the camp where I will spend one night at the camp and the next day all of us come home.  Believe me, I am looking forward to my alone time.

A Trip to Rocky Mountain National Park

Last week our modem went on the fritz, so we did not have internet at the house for most of the week.  It was okay for awhile because we were so busy we did not miss it, but when things calmed down at the end of the week we started missing it.  Today a tech came and gave us a new modem...hooray!  Now I get to share about our wonderful trip to Rocky Mountain National Park.

Eric and Brandon enjoying the park.

These tiny little chipmunks were speedy fast.  This one let me take his picture.

Trail Ridge Road is the main road through the park.  It winds itself past glaciers and through alpine tundra.

This is a bull elk enjoying his evening meal in the meadows.

This bull moose is doing the same as the elk above.  So blessed to enjoy God's creation.

Dumpster Diving

Today the boys and I slept most of the morning away.  I have not been feeling my best, especially with all the stress I have been under lately.  Getting some extra sleep was just what I needed.  Anyway, just before lunch we were all up and Brandon's friend from church called saying he wanted to hang out with us.  So after lunch we went and picked up Tyson and drove to the park where we hiked around the lake.  After that I drove Brandon to his orthodontist appointment.  We were a bit early so we sat in the car talking.  All the sudden I noticed a big dumpster across the way with office furniture in it.  A couple of really expensive office chairs were on top.  So the boys went over and pulled the chairs out and they were perfectly fine.  So we put them in our car to bring home.  I am sitting in my comfortable chair as I type this post.  Our old office chairs were falling apart and today the Lord supplied us with nice expensive chairs for free.  All we had to do is humble ourselves to dumpster dive.  Have you ever been dumpster diving?  If so, what treasure did you find?

Need Prayer

We have been very busy here at House on the Hill and I have been dealing with difficulties. Tomorrow is our first counseling session.  I am a little nervous and a little anxious to get started.  My oldest son Eric is having lots of issues and has been very angry.  His girlfriend returned to Germany on Wednesday this week.  I think the separation is a blessing, even though I have to put up with my son being angry.  Thankfully, he is going to Boy Scout camp this weekend.  In all honesty it will be nice to have a break from him and know that he is with the guys.

My youngest son Brandon is doing better since he is away from school.  The first few days of summer break we had a few issues to work out, but since then we have been getting along.  Today I let Brandon have a friend from church over with strict supervision.  We had some fun hiking to a park.  On the way I waded in the creek while the boys skipped stone.  Once at the park we had some fun and then sat in the shade in the cool grass.  After that we drove back home where we sat on the deck and watched a thunderstorm pass by.  It was a nice relaxing time despite one fight between Eric and Brandon.

This summer is going to be full of challenges for me as a mother.  Some days I get rather discouraged and so does Mark.  This has brought certain challenges between us as a couple. Please pray us as we struggle through these difficult days of being a family.

Pleasant Saturday

Eric has been gone all day with his girlfriend and her family.  There is not much time left as she leaves for Germany on June 9th.

I went to a ladies Bible study in the morning.  I had to read Joshua chapter 8 for the study.  After reading it I wondered what I could learn since it was all about the battle at Ai.  Little did I know that the Lord had a blessing in store for me.  The message is something He has been teaching me over and over lately, but He uses different people and stories to get that same message across.  You see, the children of Israel made the mistake of not consulting the Lord before they tried to take Ai the first time.  They attacked Ai and were defeated.  When they went to the Lord they were told there was sin in the camp.  Once that sin was dealt with the Lord delivered Ai into their hands.  How the battle was won was interesting.  The Lord used the mistake from their first attack to help them win their second attack.  This encouraged me helping me to see once again that even though we make mistakes in our Christian walk, if we turn to the Lord He will use our mistakes for His glory.  I am so in awe of His great love.

After the Bible study Mark, Brandon and I went to the Farmer's Market.  We ran into our neighbor and a family we know from church.  After enjoying the market we went home and made a fabulous lunch.  I am having tummy troubles again, but even so I enjoyed our lunch.  The three of us sat and watched a movie after lunch and then went down to see the car rally that was going on.  We enjoyed looking at all the restored classic cars.  After that we went to dinner and ran into another person from church.  So nice to live in a small town.  After dinner we took a drive and enjoyed the gorgeous sunset.  It was very nice to spend time alone with our Brandon.

Here below are pictures of our time at Belmar Park on Friday:

Here the kids are walking on the path up toward the park.  We came down this path on our way back to the car and this is where I took my tumble.

Once we got over the ridge the park lay below.  Click on the picture to make it bigger so you can see the beauty of the park.

This was one of the lakes.  I love how they mirror the sky.

The Canadian Geese were nearly tame here.  They allowed us to get quite close before slipping off into the water.

Here is a picture of the water snake Eric just had to pick up.

Unexpected turns, but hanging in there!

We have been very busy here at House on the Hill.  Tuesday found me washing walls, curtains, etc. to aid in removing the smoke smell from the house.  Our landlord was supposed to have a plumber look at the dishwasher that is malfunctioning, but that fell through.  Sigh.  Wednesday I was supposed to go to lunch with a friend, but that fell through when her sister needed to go to the hospital.  Although disappointed, the Lord knew, because I received a phone call from the high school and needed to pick up Brandon.  As it turned out, a burned up pot and broken collar bone was not a big enough trial.  Brandon has a court date.

Thursday we spent at home, it was the boys' first day of summer vacation.  We did not go anywhere or see anyone.  Because we are having so many issues with the boys I put a call in to a counselor that our family doctor told us is very good.  We have our first appointment on June 11th.  I am happy about this decision as I am looking forward to receiving help.  The other thing that made me happy on this day was we received some good news regarding Eric.  He got accepted into a trade school where he is going to train to become a welder.  Eric is very excited about this opportunity and so are we.  Next year he will go to the trade school in the morning and the high school in the afternoon.  We are very proud of him and hope that he makes the most of this awesome opportunity.

Friday, Eric's girlfriend came over and I took the kids to lunch.  After lunch we went to a new park that we have not been to before.  When I drove by this park during the winter, I thought it was ugly, but I decided to give it a second chance.  I was pleasantly surprised!  We had a wonderful time watching geese, ducks, fish and we even found a water snake.  I took pictures, but I am too tired to download them right now.  And I got my first sunburn of the summer.  On the way back to the car I had an accident where I fell down and smacked my thigh, bruising it.  I scared the kids pretty good, but praise God I was not seriously hurt.  They all gathered around me, one son on each side of me asking me if I was alright.  They both helped me to my feet.  People that saw the accident came and asked if I was alright.  I felt so stupid for falling down.

Even though I was shaken, I drove home and tended to dinner as we were having company.  Eric's girlfriend's mother came for dinner.  I very much enjoyed having her over, she is a very lovely woman.  I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to entertain her, especially since she came all the way from Germany.