Hallelujah! We Are Not Alone

The massive rain we received a couple of months ago did some major damage to our driveway as well as Joseph’s. This weekend the project was to spread gravel to repair the damage and clear ditches to hopefully prevent it from happening again.  It took most of the weekend to haul and spread the gravel with the small tractor.  Rusty came out yesterday to check on my progress since he still isn’t able to use the tractor. I told him it was going well, but just like the gravel, it was taking forever with the small 4 foot wide bucket. He then made a statement that stayed with me the rest of the afternoon… It’s better than a shovel.   I thought about how many years of our marriage  we didn’t have a tractor at all or if we did, it wasn’t running.  Suddenly, my weariness over the weekend jobs taking so much time became thankfulness for having the equipment to do the jobs at all.  This week of Thanksgiving, I’ll be extra mindful of the blessings God has given me. I’ll...

  We have a three-acre tract up the road from our house that has to be bush hogged every so often or it gets severely overgrown. It had been a while since its last clipping and Saturday seemed like a good day to tend to it. The diesel and oil were topped off and a brand-new battery cable was installed. The tractor was ready to complete its task. My only concern was the last few times I used it; the PTO would disengage and continuing to put it back in gear became extremely frustrating as it made my job harder than it should have been. I mentioned this to Rusty, and he pointed out that I had been running it at too high of a speed. After making the adjustment, it ran just fine.  I thought about how I sometimes run my life the same way.  It's easy to not want to take our time and make sure we know what we're doing before jumping in with both feet. Throwing things into high gear and hurrying to complete a task without proper consideration can end up causing complications that ...

Usually, I’m excited when I see these bridges because it means I’m crossing over into Mississippi and getting closer to home for a visit. This time, the feeling was different. Rusty and I were headed home for a memorial service for his dad, R.G.   We hadn’t been inside the country church where the service was held in a very long time. It hadn’t changed much through the years and it brought back memories for me of attending revival services, wedding and baby showers, and birthday celebrations there. It was nice to see friends and family that came to pay their respects, but would have been better under different circumstances.  As time goes by and we lose more loved ones, we’re reminded of just how short life is here on this earth.  Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.  Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is. You  have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.  My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;  at b...

  Several weeks ago, Rusty and I were out riding the roads when we drove into the waterfront park at Delaware, AR. The grass was freshly cut, the park was clean, and the view was beautiful. We made our way around the back loop and started heading out when something caught my eye. It was the silhouette of a heron standing on a piece of driftwood. We eased toward it so I could snap a picture before it flew away.  Herons are known for their patience as they can stand still for long periods of time waiting for their meal to approach. Sometimes the wait is much longer than others and I can’t help but wonder if they ever get tired and wonder if anything will ever swim by.  There are many times in my life when I have prayed about a situation that seemed it would never change. I have to remind myself that God’s timing isn’t always my own and that He has answered prayers in the past in ways that were  far better than I asked or could have even imagined.  This week, as I...