A Clarification

I love a good storm - it's true. But not storms that result in lives lost and property destroyed. I cannot fathom what folks in TN. have gone through - often floods can be anticipated and prepared for when the rivers rise in the spring. But this flood could not have been anticipated. I am grieved when I think of the lives lost. I am sorry for people who have lost everything they had. I am sorry for those whose lives will be spent cleaning up the mess for days to come. I am sorry to have made light of such a serious situation.

Stormy weather

It was supposed to storm today.

I've been watching the weather all week, and while the worst is supposed to come tomorrow, we were "promised" a rainy day today. It rained enough this morning to cancel the ball games, but other than that it's just been cloudy, windy and gray. I had worried myself for several days, trying to find time to plant my garden before the rains came. Yesterday I worked in it for several hours and I have the sunburn to prove it. I got almost all the bedding plants in, but waited to plant the seeds. Seeds could be washed away if it does rain as much as promised.

I shouldn't complain. Tornadoes hit hard in Arkansas, and much of the area I grew up in is flooded tonight. West Tennessee got over 12 inches of rain. Parts of the interstate are closed, and a good part of Millington, TN is under water. At last report, five people have drown in the flood waters. I shouldn't complain. But I do love a good storm.

I think my love of storms came from my childhood. I spent many a night huddled in the hall while the tornado sirens wailed and daddy stood on the porch watching. But other times he would take us out into the weather, driving around to see what we could see. Once, when a severe tornado devastated Jonesboro, Ark., we drove over to see the damage. Mom took movies as we drove down street after street looking at the damage. This wasn't just a random trip to see the misery of others; my grandparents lived just outside of the city.

My husband grew up in northwest Pennsylvania. Tornadoes do hit in Pennsylvania, but not with as much regularity as in the southland. His childhood was not spent with the regular ritual of huddling in the hall while the sirens blew, thus he does not share my fondness of a good storm. He will not be the one jumping in the car to see if we can find the funnel cloud - but he will watch the blow-by-blow weather reports as the local stations monitor the weather. He will be quick with the comic remarks, and is fun to ride with while trying to get away from a storm (we have several funny stories about storms and the double wide trailer - but they won't be told tonight). But the truth be told, he is the one with good sense when it comes to storms, and every family ought to have someone with good sense.

So today it was supposed to storm....
The storms will come. We are forecast to have severe storms tomorrow, and could see rainfall amounts up to 10 inches. The creeks will rise, and I will drive around to see them as they rush furiously under the bridges. I will wonder just how many times the creeks can rage like that before the supports are damaged, and my life will follow a pattern that began in childhood. And my children, who have learned from me, will stand on the porch and watch the storm as it rages on its way......

Ramblings upon returning home

We are back from Lillian, AL. We're trying to settle back into the routine that is our life, and yet there is a knowledge that things will never be the same again. We knew these days were coming when we moved to Alabama, but somehow, when we moved it seemed like we still didn't see family as much because what had been a vacation trip suddenly became day trips that could be made anytime. And we all know that what can be done anytime never gets done at all.......

We left Lillian late Sunday night. It just seemed easier to do that than to stay the night, but it made for a long night's drive. Rachel made it to the missionary brunch, and Sara got to talk to the missionary her class supported. Later in the day, Sara had a softball game. Eric is staying home today, and we'll try to catch up on the work that was left undone, and so life goes on.

I know that Eric will face a lot of different emotions in the days to come - I've not walked this path, so I will not know what he's experiencing. It's a path that everyone must walk......

I remember a remark that my dad made when one of his closest friends died - about how all that his friend had been and all he knew was just gone - it couldn't be held onto. That's part of how I feel when I think of Eric's dad - he knew so much, did so much -- and now all that he was and all that he knew is gone from us. I know that we have hope in heaven - but there is a void on earth.

Boast not yourself of tomorrow, for you know not what a day will bring. Life changes suddenly.....

Ed Shaffer

I am in lower Alabama today with Eric's family. Last Wednesday afternoon, Eric's father passed away. It was not totally unexpected, as he had pulmonary fibrosis. We knew his disease was getting worse, but had no idea how close to the end he was. Life is filled with regrets, and I regret not sending Eric down to see his father, even if the rest of us could not go.

Ed was a wonderful man. I never knew a time that when he was not engaged with a project. He built a garage, a boat (?), model airplanes, a real airplane, a teardrop camper, refurbished an older camper, etc. These are only a few of the projects I remember his working on in all the years Eric and I have been married. If he was not involved in a project, his mind was actively planning the next one.

He and Alma were married 56 years. Their marriage could serve as an example to many young couples today. They were truly a team and did most things together. They have four children - their three sons are here now, and their daughter will be in tomorrow. It's fun to see the common bond these men have, and it's more than a little unnerving to catch a glimse of Ed in one of his son's expressions, or to hear his voice when one of them speaks.

For years, we were left to wonder about Ed's spiritual condition. He didn't go to church, and wasn't interested in talking about spiritual matters. But within days of his death, he accepted Christ as his savior. Many have "deathbed" conversions, and I, being the skeptic that I am, am inclined to wonder about the sincerity of such conversions. But not with Ed. If he said he did it, he did. He would never beat around the bush in what he said, and he was a man of integity. I look forward to seeing him again. I almost have to smile when I think of his amusement over seeing us run around like chickens trying to get ready for a sudden trip. It eases the pain to smile at such thoughts.

Any time of significant change is a time for reflection. There is so much to say - and so much to be left unsaid. Just know that I consider myself fortunate to have know such a man and to have married into his family.

Debby's Devotions

Last month a friend helped me start this blog, and I have enjoyed having an outlet for writing. But it seems I want to go in too many directions, and I am afraid it will make things too cluttered. So I have started Debby's Devotions as an outlet for what I have learned in my private bible study. This will give a voice to the deepest lessons learned, and still allow for fun in my "farm and family" blog. Someday I may even add a page for book reviews. But for now I'm just having fun and hope anyone who chooses to follow will have fun along with me. The address is located on my profile page.

It seems like its been a while since I have posted anything of real interest - that's how my life is. Sometimes I have interesting things to write, other times my mind is blank. But isn't that the story of everyone's life?

My camera broke last Sunday. I don't think it will be hard to fix. The button that you push to take pictures fell off and is lost. I imagine it will just be a matter of replacing the button to repair it. I wonder how long it will take me to do that. In the meanwhile, my daughters will let me borrow their cameras so I can continue to post pictures. I told them that cabbage is finally back down in price, so I intend to start some sauerkraut this week, and post pictures of it. Like I'm not weird enough already. I'm not ready to do that just now, so the pictures will have to wait.

My echinacea is coming up. I bought eight roots, and only five have sprouted. But I consider that to be a minor victory in my gardening adventures. If I can transplant them to the main garden and have them live, they will reseed, and I'll have plenty in a few years. The plants are also called purple coneflower, and are very pretty in their own right. I hope in a year or two to be able to dig the roots of my established plants for medicinal purposes. Echinacea is good for building the immune system, and is supposed to shorten illness. I have a recipe for a tincture using the roots. I have wanted to do this for years, and in Maryland I had a couple of plants just about ready when we moved. Since then, I haven't had any success getting the plants started. I just want to be able to say that I've done this. It's what comes from reading too many books - first you get ideas, then you start thinking....... Weird, right?

It looks like I will finally be planting the garden this weekend. The weather will be nice, and we only have one ball practice on Saturday. Eric plans to work on a chicken coop - we need it. We had heard of a coop that someone wanted to get rid of, and we hoped to get it. But that fell through, so he has to build one quickly. The birds are getting big, and they are pretty. When I bought the birds, there were four "unidentified" as far as what type. They are dark birds, and their true feathers are coming in darker than the feathers of my reds. They are pretty birds, I must say. The bantams have white feathers, and I am sure one is a rooster. I don't know how that's going to work out.

I stopped by Lowe's yesterday to pick up a raspberry plant. I had planted two last year, but one died, so I wanted to replace it. While I was there, I found black raspberries. We had these in Maryland, and they are delicious. They have a richer flavor than red raspberries, but are different from blackberries. Their canes will grow long and arch over. These will root where ever they touch the ground, so I hope to have a large patch in a few years.

Worry

I have a hard time with worry. My mind runs all the time, and I guess it's because I have a naturally melancholy nature the it seems to run to all the things that could go wrong, as opposed to all that could go right. While I do believe that melancholy people are bright and gifted (at least that is what all the personality books say - and being of a melancholy nature, this assessment suits me fine, because at least it gives some virtue to being a gloomy gus all the time), it can make relationships with those of a different nature strained. But I believe I have found a key to overcome worry. The answer is prayer combined with a right focus. I woke up a few days ago with such a strong impression of prayer that I immediately wrote down what was on my mind. It was:
-have a purpose, an aim in prayer
-be specific
-know what you want to happen
-be bold
-have faith.
This is written just as I recorded it in my journal. Later, while having my devotions, I finished Proverbs then applied the very "specific" method of study known as "just open the bible anywhere and start reading". I opened it to the book of Philippians. I have spent a good deal of time in Philippians lately, which might be why my bible fell open there. I have primarily been studying the first chapter, but that day I read through the entire book. God reminded me that the victory to worrisome thoughts is prayer. Instead of fretting, I should rejoice because the Lord is near. I am to show moderation (don't go to any extreme). Mostly, I am to pray about everything. Everything! And after I pray, instead of worrying about what might happen, what others could do, or think, I am to focus my thoughts on whatever is true, just, honest, pure, lovely, virtuous, praiseworthy. If I do this, I will have the peace of God on my life.

I know these things. I have been taught this as a Christian for years. Just this week, God has made it personal for me again. So the question is: will I apply what I know? Is this one of the commands that Jesus told us to keep in order to receive answered prayer? I think it is. And it's interesting, because after waking to my "prayer revelation", and studying this passage in Philippians, I found my ancient copy of John R. Rice's book on prayer (I spend several frustrating days looking for it after our last revival - and then yesterday I just glanced at one of the shelves in the schoolroom, and there it was.) When I applied the same study method to this book as I did to my bible study, the book fell open to a portion where Dr. Rice writes of being very specific in prayer. Curious, hmmmmm.

So, looking forward to answered prayers, I leave you this day with the hope that your day will be blessed.

An update on yesterday's post. The accident only involved three cars, and five people were taken to the hospital. I do not know what happened to the woman who crossed the line into oncoming traffic. I heard she had a medical condition which caused her to black out. The mother of Sara's friend had her knee broken. Three others were taken to the hospital and released unharmed. These three were on their way to the same ball field as I. In fact, one of the boys in the wreck is on my son's baseball team. No one told me that playing ball in Hazel Green could be dangerous ;-)
Seriously though, I am grateful that no one was killed in this accident.