Sunday, February 28, 2010

Hope Springs Eternal

Last week (when the computer was still dead, but that is a whole different story) I woke to birds tweeting. Crazy, tweeting birds before 6:00 in the morning. And it is winter here, I might note, and there haven't been very many birds around, until now. As I thought about the crazy tweeting birds I had a flashback to last winter, when I was awakened by the same crazy birds early one morning. So I looked back and found what I wrote then, and it turns out it is almost exactly a year ago. So, apparently, the as-yet-unidentified-crazy-tweeting birds are on a schedule. Go figure.

Here's what I wrote last year:

Date: February 20, 2009
Time: 6:35 am
Alarm: Sounding at first, then switched off
Temperature: 2
Coffee: Ready and waiting
Sound:Tweeeeeeet, tweet, tweet, tweet! WHAT? A bird, actually making noise in my yard. Where did it come from? Who knows? Is it back early and soon to be dead? Probably. Either that or the cardinals that have been here all winter finally decided to tweet.

Winter is quiet here. One little bird gives me hope!

Psalm 31:24 Be strong and take heart,
all you who hope in the LORD.

Monday, February 8, 2010

All in Your Perspective

A week or so ago I complained about needing a snow refresher. The snow was all used up - icy, dirty, and ugly. It does not go away, but it loses its beauty. Well, now, of course, it's snowing again, and piling up fast. I didn't leave the house earlier quite soon enough, so my army of boys had to shovel the mountain of snow at the end of the driveway left after the plow came by in a stroke of bad timing. The snow piles at the sides of the driveway are very tall; in fact, I have lost sight of the mailbox from the office window. Now I'll just have to believe the kids when I ask them if they remembered to raise the flag after putting the mail in - until about April anyway.

All this snow reminded me of something Daniel said yesterday. Some friends of ours have next-door neighbors that have gone to Florida until April. They are snowbirds, and who can blame them? These friends have an extremely treacherous driveway, so we are glad to now have the option of parking at the snowbirds' house, where the drive is fairly level, and this is what we were discussing yesterday. Daniel said about these snowbirds, "Yeah, I don't know why, but for some reason they don't like winter!" Edwin and I looked at each other, waiting on the punch line. Nothing. Then Edwin asked Daniel if he could name some reasons the neighbors might not like winter, and Daniel honestly could not. After we named a few, he replied with, "I guess so..."

Friday, February 5, 2010

Time Marches On...

Well, it's been a while. Let's just say that this new year has been full of life, which has left little time for writing. We've been realizing just how old our children are getting! And, to be honest, that has left me feeling a bit panicky. As a result, we have approached school and family life with a new vigor, and that takes more time. We are being much more deliberate with our days, and that is a good thing.

We are proud to see our children becoming godly young men and women (woman?). We are trying now to encourage them in the habits and ways of thinking that are harder to develop in adulthood. And we are praying for them a lot, trusting God to keep them close while realizing we have to let them go (some) in a few short years.

Looking around, it is amazing to me just how much is going on in the life of almost everyone we know. There is much to pray for and much to be thankful for. I am thankful that the month of January is behind us, and that the January weather was relatively mild. Once February begins I can start to feel the hope of spring - not because it is any different outside, but just because next month is March, and that has to be better. April is guaranteed to be better. So it's out there, somewhere.

But for now I will stick to the indoor winter life for the most part, which does make getting all that school work done a bit easier. I will continue to enjoy watching the kids play hockey on the pond from the warm windows of the house most days. I will run on the treadmill with a view of deep snow out the basement windows, and wonder if I'll ever run outside. And I will brave the ski lessons coming up, praying all the while that no one will "break his neck," as my mom would have said! Who said winter couldn't be fun?

**P.S. - I just had to come back and add to this. No one broke his neck, but Daniel did break his collarbone while skiing after the second lesson. It was a spectacular fall, if I must say so. And he handled it like a trooper. We are so thankful it wasn't worse!