Happy Anniversary, Babe!

As of last Friday, June 27, David and I have been married for 21 years!

I'm amazed at how opposite we are...how the Lord has put us together to compliment one another.

I used to think people were SO old when they'd refer to something that happened twenty years ago! I AM getting old because twenty years doesn't seem like a long time at all.

Dave is DEFINITELY my better half and meeting him at the Omaha Bible School in 1981 was one of the highlights of my life. He is a great man of God, a kind husband, a loving father and a blessing to me everyday.

I thank the Lord, for you, David!!! Love you!

More Tree Removal Pics!

TIM-BER!!!

Oh, my aching back! We had a violent storm blow through last night around 5 pm as David and I prepared to go out to eat to celebrate our anniversary. The weather person was saying that the storm was packing some big winds, but WOW...one of our trees cracked and blew over! I was in our living room at the time and saw some movement out of the corner of my eye...it was our tree falling toward our home! It was about thirty feet tall. The trunk was 35" in circumference. We are so grateful that it missed our air conditioner, that it did not fall on our fence or our neighbor's shed, that no one was nearby to get hurt! Our damage is small, by the way, compared to many in our city.

David and our friend, Rod, did the chain saw work. Bree and Elly and I gathered the branches, broke them into manageable lengths and bundled them together. We also made a woodpile out of the future home-warming chunks (we heat our home with wood). I was surprised that it only took a couple of hours from start to finish. Amazing how small the bundles of branches look out at the street as they await Monday (trash day!). Also amazing, the very small woodpile. We worked hard (like beavers!!)...and I believe I may be sore for a couple of days. Lots of squats. Lots of lifting, stretching....probably better exercise than a boot camp!

Let the rain reign!

I awoke early this morn to the sound of gently rumbling thunder and a soothing shower. It has kept up pretty much all day now. Our new grass must be smiling.

The hostas I planted a couple of weekends ago are looking quite sturdy. Our sunflowers are over a yard high and seemingly growing by the hour! Even though I did not plant our tomatoes until WAY late, they seem to be growing a ton and there are a couple of teeny tiny tomatoes on one of the plants already.

Some of the branches on our maple tree that grows in the 'danger-grass', closest to our street had some limbs that have grown so much, they were hanging low over the sidewalk and may have been annoying the walkers and runners that pass by our home each day. It was satisfying yesterday to drag out the step ladder and a pruning saw and work up a bit of a sweat getting those sagging branches down and then cutting it all down to fit in our 'yard waste' trash can.

What a wonderful season of growing and changing and trimming.

Soooooooooo Big!

Our "baby", Kristin turned seven years old yesterday.

Wow. Sounds old to me. Six year olds can still be in kindergarten...they are just out of the preschool stage. (Kristin was actually in 1st grade last year...)

But seven...seven is almost eight which is almost ten. Seven can put a person in the middle years of elementary school. Seven is undoubtedly BIG GIRL TERRITORY!

Happy Birthday, Kristin! It is going to be a great year of learning and growing. I love being your mama!

Go, Bree, go!

When I was pregnant with Bree years ago, I had an unreasonable fear that I was going to do or not do something that would cause her death. As I write this it is so obvious to me where that kind of fear would originate...but I was oblivious at the time.

I was fearful as my pregnancy progressed that I would miscarry. I DID get in a nasty car wreck when I was about 7 1/2 months along, but no harm was done to Bree or to me! When she was finally born I was so relieved! God had taken care of her and brought her to us! I thought my worries were over!

I remember her having a stuffed up nose for the first few weeks after her birth. She was so stuffy that she would snort as she breathed. The Dr. John gave us some saline drops to help her out. I remember sitting in the back row of church, surrounded by other parents holding peacefully sleeping babies. And there I sat with my stuffy baby making a snort/whistle with every breath in and out. How silly to be scared of nasal congestion...but I was afraid that she wouldn't be able to breathe and still terribly afraid that she might die.

A few months later, I had a 'light bulb' moment...the Lord that kept Bree safe in the womb was the same God watching over her now that she had been born. Sounds so elemental now...I was struck with the fact that she was in His hands and that everyday we had her with us was a blessing and a gift from Him.

Fast forward 18 1/2 years....we are teaching Bree to drive. I had two separate moments this week that reminded me of my fears when she was tiny. One was when I dropped her off at driving school, the other was when she went driving with her Auntie Di just today. Both times it was a, "Yikes, I am not going to be able to take care of her" feeling that nearly brought tears.

So, I ask myself, do I really think I've been the one protecting her all these years? I think I let myself believe the illusion (the lie) that I have been in control, that I have been her protector. I know that in some respects that has been true, but ultimately, just as I had no control over Bree's safety in utero, her safety as she grew, and now as she is learning to drive (and learning quickly, I might add...), I am not and CANNOT be her ultimate Protector. And when I have the right perspective (which happens once in a blue moon), I realize that I would not want to be.

Bree is loved with an Everlasting Love and is supported by the Everlasting Arms. She is in the best hands and I can rest (if I choose to do so!!). Go, Bree, Go!

Let it snow?

We are still enjoying the newness of having leaves on our trees. It was a long winter and a long, cold, wet spring. Our grass is green! Tulips, daffodils, forsythia, creeping phlox, and iris blooms have all come and gone from our yard. The Stella de Oro day lilies are beginning their summer of carefree color!

So what's all that white stuff floating around on the breeze? Oh, yeah. That's the seed of our state tree, the cottonwood (Populus deltoides marsh, recently adopted by Nebraska in 1972 after Dutch elm disease killed most of the American Elm that USED TO be our state tree...). It fuzzes up the lawn (see photo below!) and lays in little, cloudy drifts on roofs and next to our garage doors. And how in the world does it get in our house? There was some seed floating around above David's Quaker oatmeal this morn. Wish I could get a photo that would do justice to the stuff flying around outside. It really is pretty!

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Tears...

The storms have continued and our region is reeling from the losses. Our area has lots and lots of wind damage. Many homes have been struck by lightning. Fifty-four of the ninety-nine counties in Iowa are under water. As many of you know, a Boy Scout camp just north of here, near Little Sioux, Iowa, was decimated by a tornado last night. There were nearly 100 boys, ages 13-17 there. They were the cream of the crop from many nearby states, gathering for a week of leadership training. Four boys were killed (three of them were from Omaha) and many, many injured. It is surreal - we don't know anyone personally that was there, but two of the fatalities are sons of friends of our friends. Please ask the Lord to comfort, help and heal the broken hearts that are here.

The power and devastation of these storms puts into perspective our significance and DESPERATE need of Jesus. Without Him, truly we are nothing. We look to Him, from where our help comes.

Mercies....addendum

WOW. The National Weather Service has determined that we were narrowly missed by TWO tornadoes last Sunday morning! We are amazed again. And very thankful to the Lord...and prayerful for those recovering from the damage. (Link to map: http://omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10355041 Our home is near 156th & Q Streets.)

His Mercies....new every morning!

A tornado touched down only 1.7 miles from our home early yesterday morning. David and I were awakened at 2:21am by a noise I will never forget: it sounded like an approaching train. I peeked out our window and the trees seemed like they were roiling around. It was raining heavily. Dave turned the tv on and we saw a SCARY radar on the weather. Moments later, we lost power.

We lit a couple of candles and grabbed Dan and Kristin and headed to our basement (Bree and Elly and our dogs sleep downstairs.) When we got down there, the tornado sirens went off...

We have a tiny battery-powered radio that we took downstairs with us. As we tuned in KFAB, we were stunned that no local radio stations were live...they were airing pre-recorded programming! We thought we would be tuning into weather coverage. They finally started covering the storm live at around 3 am.

Our local paper today called the storm the 'Stealth Tornado'...turns out that by the time the weather service issued a tornado warning and sounded the sirens, the tornado had passed us.(It touched down in our area around 2:25, we think.) The storm became severe so quickly that no one knew it was coming. See the following link for further stories, scary photos, etc. http://www.omahaworldherald.com/ If you view some of these photos, you will be completely amazed that not only did no one lose their life during this storm, there were not even any reports of any injuries. Truly a miracle. God is soooooo good.

As we have seen photos and video of the damage, the reality of the danger that narrowly missed us has begun to sink in and our thankfulness has been growing. I drove through nearby Walnut Grove Park this afternoon and was stunned to see 100 year old trees ripped up by their roots - huge trees. The power of these storms is amazing.

We are thankful to be in the hands of the One Who is all powerful and who loves us so much. And we pray that those who suffered any loss from this storm will receive comfort and be drawn close to Jesus. We pray that all their needs will be met.

True View

I get so bummed when I see that our children don't realize what amazing people they are! I know I am biased, but they are a good-looking, creative, kind, fun bunch of people...and I don't think they have a clue. It is so obvious to David and to me...proud parents that we are!

I think I am JUST LIKE THEM...I do not see myself as my Father in Heaven sees me. This is not good. His view, the true view is what I need to see and agree with and live 'into'. Any other view, a disagreement with Him, says that I know better (yikes, original sin!).

Bree asked me today, "How do we pray for people that do not want God's help?". I am thinking hard on that one this afternoon. And I am thinking that very frequently I am one of those people...unless difficult times are pending, I have the 'I can handle it' attitude. Which totally flies in the face of "...without Him we can do nothing" (Jn. 15:5)

David and I had a nice visit in our Adirondak chairs this morn on our front porch speaking of this very thing...why is it that so many times we are not feeling fulfilled as believers in Jesus? I think it is because we think we have to try and try to live this life that we were never meant to live! Our wonderful Mrs. Nancy Murdoch, an amazing woman of God that has taught us so much, often says that the perfect Christian life was never meant for us to live...that only one Person lived it and as we allow Him the freedom, He lives it through us. Oh, if I could let that thought go from my head to my heart!