Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice

 Spring: coming to a town near you!
The smells, the sounds, the sights. Spring can not be caught, captured, or told. It has to be experienced.

"The grass withers and the flowers fall,
   but the word of our God endures forever.”
                    Isaiah 40:8

Y'all ready for this?

I'd say that I'm a southerner.
I live in the south, always have. But, I don't talk like one. Although "y'all" is a common term for southerners, I don't say it. I can't say it. It always comes out "you all". It just doesn't sound right with my accent. Anyway...
...To cut to the chase, I do love bluegrass. Love it. I hope some day my sisters and I will be able to play bluegrass together. Maybe in the future we'll have a band and tour the country. But for now I listen and dream. (I can dream, can't I?) Here are a few music videos to give you a taste.


The Quebe Sisters


The Peasall Sisters

Silver Lining

"Bang..crash...phooosh...whirl, zooooom...rrrrrr...chug--- screech....." That was my week.
Sometimes life just seems to go non-stop. Crazy-stressful days outnumber the normal days.

 But those busy days and weeks make me thankful for the quiet peaceful order of boring old home days. Wacky days make me relish the simple, ordinary things. Sometimes I get caught up with all the zooming and crammed schedules.

 Those hard days remind me of stormy cloud-filled days. The gloomy clouds. The thunder clouds. But hidden under all the stuffy car rides and stuffy weeks, the sun shines. When ever our schedules lighten up and the rain stops there's the gleaming sun. Always reminding. Never failing to show us there's hope and joy in sight. And when we see that sunshine we can be assured of the important necessities of life. The silver linings of each day and each week. Music lessons, school work, tennis lessons are keeping our schedule busy. But I am still enjoying simple silver linings. Bluegrass, chocolate chip cookies, photography, writing, fellowship with family, friends, neighbors and of course the first day of spring!

Patty's day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

p.s. don't get pinched...

Perspective

It was dark outside. My family and I had just finished family worship.
There were deadly tornado reports in many states and tornado warnings near us. We turned on the television and watched the weather radar. The storm was headed our way. The red blobs on the screen were ominously close.

We heard the tornado siren warnings outside.
But it was also very quiet. No thunder, lightning, or wind.
Silence.
I was prepared for the worst. Waiting for all the of that weather to fall down upon us.
I prayed. We waited.
We kept looking out the windows, watching the weather channel,... waiting.

But the storms around us and near us seemed to be missing us. It was peaceful outside. Nothing stirred. Nothing happened. Through the night we had sparse amounts of rain and thunder.
We were safe, protected, and alive. While some of the country around us was hurt, we were safe.

God's grace is always there. His hand is holding us steady. He's stronger than any storm, more powerful than any weather forecast. His mercy is mighty. His love is everlasting. And every day is a blessing. Even if that includes the grumpy, bad days, when milk spills, legos scatter about the floor, toddlers screech, cars break down, library books become over-due, muddy foot prints mark the carpet.
 No matter the panic, the worry, the chaos. No matter the perspective. God's grace can and will be sufficient.