Sunday, February 28, 2010

Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see?













Hair tossed
Pajamas on
Laying in bed
passing these winter days
reading books....

Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see?
I see
a Daddy's Flower
looking at me!

Friday, February 26, 2010

Learning to live a year later..


My emotions are all over the place.

Tears and the need to be alone in the midst
of a full house don't mix well.
I pull my jacket on and feel myself
walking to meet my son who is not
with me here.
He's not where I'm walking either
but somehow meeting him where
I left him last is a comfort.
As I walk I remember the painful days that
we endured almost a year ago.
My heart remembers it all
and I cry tears so big that
I wonder if perhaps they could
fill an ocean.
The pain, the rawness of losing
someone who was meant to be here is never
far from me.
My walk stops me at his feet
and I gently open the jar that
I have hidden there for the past year.
I slowly unscrew the top
of a years worth of emotions bottled up
in that jar. My personal record of
how I trusted and doubted at times.
I read the letters that I wrote to him
a week after his death
a month after
ten weeks after
and they go on and on..
I have to read every one aloud
to him as I sit in the cold beneath the
biggest tree on the property in the quietness
that drew me here.
Tears stained the writing in some places and my
thoughts that are written so immensely private
that sharing them out loud makes
me look around to make sure I'm alone.
The words are painful but healing.
The words are the truths that
I kept from everyone about how
I felt about losing William.
The words explain how I died
along with him in someways.
How I shall never heal completely until
I hark heaven's door.
My voice out of habit said "I trust you Lord."
The trees have heard me say that thousands
of times. "I trust you Lord" was said over and over
in the first days.
I wrote another letter and as I wrote it
the cold breeze sent the trees swaying
like they were dancing around me and I sang
"Blessed be the name of the Lord.."
as I walked back to the fullness
of my house.. where the Lord
is teaching me to live
until

.

Monday, February 22, 2010

He gave me flowers ♥




The voice was heard coming in the front door.


"Mama! Mama!!"....

My heart stopped for a split second

because it was a voice I don't hear

very often..

Jo's voice.

He was running from room to room

calling his mama..

I met him

and he said

"Mama! Flowers!"

and he handed me the most

beautiful arrangement

of flowers you have ever seen.

Hand picked and selected by him

to give his mama..
Oh I love those flowers..
They are now sitting
in the middle of my kitchen table.
Although
I'm sure their some kinda stink weed.
but
I loved hearing his voice more.
It has a ring of Africa that
I can't explain and the way
he says my name
had me running to meet him!
Thanks for the flowers Jo.
Thanks for being my little boy!


You gotta love boys!

Just to make you smile



Waking up to these two beauties
makes me want to shout...
These girls are such a delight to
be around.
Happy, loving, and cheerful
is how I would describe them..
Adoring, fascinated, and
totally in love with these two
is how I would describe me...

Saturday, February 20, 2010

All in a days work...

She made muffinstaught piano lessons




gave a couple of shots to our ailing goat






not to mention
feeding babies
changing diapers
making meals
taking pictures



Preparing her to be a wife and mother
is all in a days work.

We work together.
We go to bed exhausted.
We wake up doing it all over again..

She is learning to work hard,
and get dirty,
all while enjoying
being a woman!


I'm thankful to spend
my days with you Tay
and I enjoy working
along side you.


These are days we shall not soon forget!













Friday, February 19, 2010

It looks like we're adopting again....


It's a girl!


Her name is Lucy.


She weighs 2lbs




She was born along with her brother on Feb 17th.


Her brother was strong and big.


She was frail and weak and about near death when we found her.
We milked the mama goat
so she could have the first milk that
contains colostrum.



We kept her by the fire as I gently
fed her with a baby bottle.


We didn't know if she would make it.


Usually the first 24 hours will determine.


The boys slept by her all night long.

The morning light would tell if she
was a fighter or not.

The next morning she was stronger
and quite friendly.
We tried to reintroduce her to her mama but she
cannot keep her body temperature up when
she goes outside.
So being the family that
we are, she will stay inside being warmed by the fire.
We will feed her and love on her until she
is ready for her world.
This is God's way of teaching my children
how to be loving and caring.
Staying up all night to make
sure a baby goat makes it.
I could have missed this opportunity.
I was too busy..but I'm glad I didn't..
If you know me at all you
know I never would..
I love ways to make my children grow..
Waking up after a loooong night
and the smile on their face
when little Lucy gives them a kiss..
I'm thankful for this little goat named Lucy.
She brings out so much love
from my strong, rough guys....
So welcome to the farm Lucy bug.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Remembering to praise Him through the long nights.

Their breathing, shallow.
Their smiles, gone.
Their forehead, hot.
I drove off our farm
with the mothers instinct
that something was just
not right.
The girls had to go in
the hospital. Their little
bodies fighting something
bigger than I could fix.
A prayer...
A friend who gave her socks to
my cold feet...:)
A friend who fed my family at home.
A daughter who stood
all day and night along side
me and her sisters.
Phone calls from all our friends..
A drop off of food
and goodies from
Nana....
A houseful at the farm with
daddy keeping the fort down..
I lift up my heart in gratitude to Thee
for this day's happiness..
Not tomorrows, but this days.
Finding joy in all things:
For the mere joy of living,
For all the sights and sounds around me.
For arms to hold the sick, comfort
them and whisper in their ears.
For the sweet peace of the country and the pleasant
bustle of the town.
For the comforting beeping of machines
that let you know they're breathing.
For roads to walk and the strength and endurance to walk it..
I thank you Lord for the restored health of our little
girls.
I pray you were glorified.




Enjoying some quiet prayer time..
Together at last..










First class ticket out of here.
Headed home to the farm...





Home with daddy at Last..

His arms waiting!


Channie giving the thumbs up
that her sisters are home and well.




Jo said he wasn't taking any chances..









Friday, February 12, 2010

Lessons from the farm..learn to make bicuits




My hands are in dough again.
I pull the familiar dough bowl

out from underneath

and start working on whipping

up some biscuits.

The virus has run it's way through

my home and left me

with tired and grumpy children.

I knead my dough.

I know they'll eat every last one

I put out even if they say

they're not hungry.

The smell alone will cause them

to stand and linger in my kitchen.

These little ones that I'm entrusted to.

I will feed

and I pray mamma's biscuits will

bring you back to full health once again..

I smile a smile of knowing them so well.


This is motherhood at it's best.




Amish home-made biscuits


2 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup of homemade mayonnaise

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon sugar

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Caring for the sick at the White house


Oh, my beloveds, how I hate to see you down.

No laughter, no feet running to and fro.

Fevers, cough, and headaches, a part of my

daily bread.
Thanking the Lord for comforts that
I can offer to my kids.
My bed
My time
My love
not to mention
Motrin
Popsicles
Movies


A warm place to lay their sick heads
with their brothers and sisters
who are also sick
Going by and kissing their hot
heads and telling them
how very much I love them
Looking forward to
tomorrow when my
Love is returned.
I missed his drawings today.
I missed his smile...........
Stopping what I had planned and
doing what God commanded
Taking care of the least of these.....

Holding Channie until her fever went down
Her body hot against mine.
A sweet time to send a prayer up
on behalf of my kids on behalf
of my house-hold.

Looking forward
to a new day
when
Lord willing
my home is
loud again...




"When Trouble or heartaches or sickness come....
trust in God and do the next thing."

~Caroline Anne Dunwoody










Tuesday, February 9, 2010

I had more than my share.





The notes left for me everywhere.


On my bed-side,


In my bathroom,


By my coffee in the morning.


Sometimes hand delivered by a


precious five year old.


I sure feel loved
and cherished by my
sweet kids and hubby.

When the day comes that

I find no more what a sad

day indeed that will be but I will

save the ones I have and post them

all around me to remind me I had

more than my share and so much

more than I deserve.






I usually leave them where I find them


as long as I can.


The one above has been on my bathroom


door for almost five years.


The paper yellowing,


the words faded only in it's ink,


not it's meaning.


Good days and bad days I have


read these words and continue to
read these same words everyday.
Words that remind me that
even when I don't feel very
loved I am.








Rainbows and sunshine


on the pictures he draws.


He and I walking through


it all with a smile.






Thank you Lord for the daily


reminders of love, family,


and sunshine even if there isn't any sunshine
to be seen.


Thursday, February 4, 2010

The Diary of Sarah Chandler

Dear Diary,


I'm sitting here under this oak feeling

the wind blow and knowing that

I have to go soon.

My time is so little my own

but I wouldn't have it any other

way. There's always something to

do and someone to do it with. It's just

sometimes I want so desperately to be alone

with my thoughts and so I drift just a little

piece through the pasture to my tree and

dream. I dream about all kind of different things

but mostly about Steve Chandler.

I have to admit I feel like a silly girl with silly notions

but try telling that to my heart.

I miss Viola so much.

I haven't seen her but once since the wedding.

I still can't believe she married when she didn't even love

him really. Pa told me that love would come

for them. He said it would sneak in one night

and they would fall deeply in love over time.

He said "Sarah, love doesn't have to hit you

over the head."

I'm sure my sister will be happy but

she hardly knew him.

Yet, she was raised to be a mans wife and he was raised

to be a husband, so you get married and you work it out.

Pa said love will come and I believe him.

I'd rather not wait on love to come,

if it hits me first though, and it has

hit me hard.

Pa and Ma have the kind of love that could have only

been made through time. Love snuck in their house a long time

ago

and their hearts beat at the same time, I do believe.

Ma gets mad at him from time to time but she is always the first

to say "I'm sorry". She said it's her job to respect him and honor

him and so that's her way of doing it.

Pa has said that it's a mans job to make a woman feel cherished and

protected and mama is one of the most cherished women I know.

I hear the dinner bell

I will save my thoughts for another day.

The first entry from the Diary of Sarah Chandler

found under the oak tree on Kornegay Rd.

Dedicated to Chandler White

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

One, two, three, four, five...

Once I caught a fish alive.

Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten

then I let him go again.

"Why did you let him go?"


"Because it's ten below"

I know you've got them..

Friends who will do crazy things with you just because..

Friends who will stand out in the cold for an

adventure of the strangest kind.


How about ice fishing?



The cane poles bobbed in and out of the icy

water and came out with some of the

finest fish around.

We figured the rest of the fish were frozen to the bottom. :)




Jeremiah was the winner for catching
a nice looking beauty and he
received a fishing trophy. :)






Yep, you gotta love friends that aren't afraid

to hold babies,


To dress up like super hero's,

To wipe up a little spit up :),




to have a 'stress-free' dinner with

their 13 kids and our 8,




And to pile up like puppies and watch
a movie.


A spooky movie at that..

Yep, these kind of friends are hard to come by.
(sorry about the sideways picture, blogger wouldn't let it upload!)

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