Saturday, October 18, 2014

this




















We have lived in this spot for over seven years. It was mid-March when we came to look at the house. We looked out the back patio doors into our own tiny fenced backyard at the various lumps covered in five hundred feet of snow and had no idea what we would find when it all melted. But beyond the fence, we could see the frozen river and the open spaces where trees towered over us and we knew that this would be a wonderful "backyard" for us.
We moved in, sometime in late May along with several billion mosquitoes. But the enjoyment we have had from this green space redeems even the curse of the mosquito. Almost. Mostly. Pretty much.
And that is why it makes it hard to move on. We want to for many reasons, but we have been thoroughly spoiled. We cannot just go and buy another house. It needs to have (gesturing wildly) this.
I can plant flowers in gardens and moss on tree stumps, but I cannot plant a river that mirrors the sky and the trees. I can grow summer vegetables anywhere, but I cannot grow huge oak trees in a season. That takes a commitment and a plan for the distant future. Moving on without these (more wild gesturing) things is difficult to ponder. So we keep looking, and in the meantime, savoring all of this.

p.s. okay, it doesn't have to have an apple orchard, but wouldn't that be great?

in motion























Wednesday, October 15, 2014

armored women



"So she knew, thought Jancsi. Under that gentle smile she was hiding the same fear, smiling so we wouldn't be frightened. Just as she was smiling when I came home without him and she said: I know Jancsi. He kissed us goodbye... So women were not all gentle, helpless softness, either; they too had a steel armor that would not let them show the tears inside."
~ Kate Seredy, The Singing Tree

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Singing the Psalms

Psalm 25A with piano

If you are unfamiliar with the tune or just prefer the piano accompaniment, open the mp3 link above in another tab to hear the music.

Psalm 25A
(To You, I Lift My Soul)
Tune: Leominster

To You I lift my soul;
LORD God, in You I trust.
O do not let me suffer shame;
And let my foes not boast.
Yes, those who wait on You
No shame shall ever see;
Let shame be theirs who without cause
Behave with treachery.

Instruct me in Your paths;
LORD, make me know Your way.
Teach me and make me follow You,
That in Your truth I'll stay;
Since You have been my God,
The One who rescues me,
For You I'm waiting all the day;
I wait expectantly.

Your tender mercies, LORD,
Your steadfast love recall,
For these are things that have endured
Throughout the ages all.
My youthful sins, my faults,
Do not bring these to mind;
O LORD, remember me in love,
For You are good and kind.

Wednesday, October 08, 2014

the ways and means of mercy



"When we perceive that God uses men and women, parents above all others, as vehicles for the transmission of his gifts, and that it is the keeping of his law He is honoured--rather than in the attitude of the courtier waiting for the exceptional favours--then we shall take the trouble to comprehend the law written not only upon tables of stone and rolls of parchment, but upon the fleshly tablets of the living organisms of the children; and, understanding the law, we shall see with thanksgiving and enlargement of heart in what natural ways God does indeed show mercy unto thousands of them that love Him and keep his commandments."
 ~ Charlotte Mason, Parents and Children


Saturday, October 04, 2014