not the pits

We've been having cherry cobbler à la mode for dessert the past few evenings.

And possibly for breakfast.

I made a cherry cobbler for Aaron because it is one of his favorites, and blueberry pie is not one of his favorites.

It was truly a labor of love, pitting all those cherries.

But he's pretty much worth it.

the sea is a wetter version of the sky

I treated myself to a little bit of sunshine today.

I spotted this ring, a for-real seashell with a hole cut just for my finer, and it spoke to me.

She said, "I know how much you love the ocean, and since you can't spend every day on the beach, you can at least where a little piece of it."

So she came away with me.

hiking the narrows

My friend was recently describing a hike her husband is hoping to go on in Zion National Park, Utah. It's called The Narrows, and is a 16-mile long slot canyon through which runs the Virgin River. At places, the walls of the canyon are 2000 feet tall and only 20-30 feet wide.

But you can always look up and see out of the canyon.

I read this post today on (in)courage, written by a young woman who has an autoimmune disease which there is no cure for and has left her homebound.


It was a nice encouragement to me, because it’s easy to wander into the wondering land of “What’s the point of this? Why me?” even when you’ve decided to stop asking those questions. And the truth is, even in my blessings, I sometimes wonder "Why me? What have I done to deserve this? What am I supposed to do with this blessing?" And the answer I return to is: trust He knows what He's doing, obey, and let Him do it.

I’ve excerpted part of her post below.

...when she was talking about the story of Abraham and Isaac, which prompted her to look up the meaning for the word “trial.” This is what her book said:

TRIAL (Old Testament) noun: from the Hebrew word sara which comes from the root srh, which means, “to bind, tie up, restrict." Thus, the noun comes to denote a narrow place in life where one is bound or restricted…

I read it, and then read it again. And as I tried to digest it, I kept muttering to myself, “God, what are you trying to say here?!?!”

My name, Sara, means to be in a narrow place in life where one is bound or restricted. Me. Sara. Who is homebound. Restricted by my location. Restricted by my very body that could barely move from the pain. Restricted by my lungs that don’t allow a deep breath anymore. Restricted from life beyond my four walls.

I got it. Not subtle. But what’s the point you’re trying to make here, God??? What’s the point?

Funny, that’s a question I usually try to avoid. What’s the point of all of this? What’s the point of my illness… my pain… my limitations… my forfeiting of all the dreams I had for my life. What’s the point?

I avoid the question because I’m fully aware I may never know the answer. I may never know how He is choosing to use my life or why not healing me fits into His plan. And I decided a long time ago that it’s ok if I never know, because I trust Him. He knows, and that’s all that matters.

But as I sat there and wondered, “What’s the point?” it occurred to me that as my physical life has been made narrow, as I have been bound and restricted and faced this trial, He has saved me from living a narrow life.

If I had not become physically restricted in this trial, I would not be here talking with all of you. Because of this trial, my world – my life – has been opened up to a community who has stepped forward to share my life, my story, my faith. I have been stretched and pulled and reshaped in my beliefs. My life has been fuller and deeper and wider, maybe not despite of my homebound status, but because of it.

My name is the origin of the word trial. I am bound and restricted. But He saved me from living a narrow life. He took my trial and redeemed it. I thought, in my story as Isaac, I was not spared because I am not healed.

But in truth, He healed my spirit.

And set me free.

by Sara Frankl, Gitzen Girl

original photo here

amarillo two ways

Every time I wear these shoes I think about doing this.

I finally did.

Does the arrow seem HUGE to anyone else?

weird.

neighborhoodlems

This is the Butterfly garden our next door neighbors planted in early spring. Aren't those Zinnias amazing?!

You can't see them in this picture, but there are tall sunflowers that follow the sun around the sky.

It's very funny to visit them at different hours and see that they've kept their faces toward the sun. And then as night falls, they kind of slump over and go to sleep, I guess.  They sort of look sad, but I think they know the sun will be back, so they're just resting.

I'll try to take some pictures of them this week - although rain is forecast.  I wonder what they do in the rain?

There are tons of fun butterflies around now. HUGE ones that you might mistake for bats if you weren't married to a nature encyclopedia. And superfast ones that dive-bomb your head. And tiny yellow ones which you can only suppose are on an ice cream outing.

Dave and Aaron are having some serious discussion about the camel poop we're using as fertilizer in our neighborly veggie garden. There's a camel farm nearby that composts their poo. Our other neighbors, the ones with a pet pig named Jubba, have the hook-up so we can get free camel poo compost. We have it on good authority that camel poop is good for a garden (Jubba's garden is ginormous), so we're expecting some big Zucchini.

I made a blueberry pie on Sunday, but forgot to take a photo because I was too busy eating it. And sharing it. But mostly eating it. It is gone. It was good.

I heart blueberries.

(They are one-hump camels, if you were wondering.)

spring {summer} cleaning

it's still me, In Bussey World... just doing some refreshing over here... new stuff to come

scatter sunshine

In a world where sorrow
Ever will be known,
Where are found the needy,
And the sad and lone;
How much joy and comfort
You can all bestow,
If you scatter sunshine
Everywhere you go.

Slightest actions often
Meet the sorest needs,
For the world wants daily
Little kindly deeds;
Oh, what care and sorrow
You may help remove,
With your songs and courage,
Sympathy and love.

When the days are gloomy,
Sing some happy song;
Meet the world's repining
With a courage strong;
Go with faith undaunted
Thro' the ills of life;
Scatter smiles and sunshine
O'er its toil and strife.

Scatter sunshine all along your way;
Cheer and bless and brighten
Every passing day;
Scatter sunshine all along your way;
Cheer and bless and brighten
Every passing day!

~old hymn