be good? or be a blessing!

dear emily,

this is a 'sabbath rest' repost from november.

my children were ornery little widgets, but they never heard me say,
"be good."  'good' seemed like such a nebulous, lack luster term for
what i wanted from them.

instead, i always urged them to 'be a blessing,' which required
more action and thought.  they understood this included kindness,
cheerfulness, obedience, and helpfulness, all actions we practiced
daily at home.

this required me to conform to the same standard, and i assure you,
they would let me know when i was grumpy or impatient.  all of us
continuously fell below the benchmark, but we asked forgiveness
and then tried harder to be a blessing to one another.

because i expected this kind of behavior at home, it was natural
for them to act the same way when we ventured out.  many tired
mommies slacken standards at home but then have unrealistic
expectations of their children when in public.

consistency is a vital key to training up children in the way they
should go.  it's difficult and tiresome, but the reward is happy,
respectful children who are allowed to go many exciting places
with mom and dad.

now that my urchins are mostly grown up, i hear this a lot,
"mom!  you can't say that in public!"

love,
lea

"the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."
galatians 5:24

emerald lake

thank you for visiting my trail in the joyce's pretty friday's hike.  if you
meander over there, you will see many more exquisite sights.

hailey and i took a gorgeous drive with my parents to emerald lake.
i'm disappointed that my photos don't quite reveal the deep green hue
of this lovely spot.

just on the other side of emerald lake, our front tire took an ugly
puncture from a sharp piece of slate, no doubt the wicked witch of
the west's maniacal scheme.

so, dorothy and company hiked on to the emerald city for a ride back
with the wizard . . .

. . .the end.

"the foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of
precious stone. . . the fourth was emerald."  revelation 21:19

prenuptials

dear emily,

i was a mature and seasoned 21 year old when i married hans.
we had dated all through high school and separate colleges, so
it was time for us.  if absence made the heart grow fonder, we
were absolutely sick with fondness.

the truth is, i think we made other people a little sick with our
fondness. :)

hans has been the love of my life and the captain of my ship,
always encouraging, ever faithful, and completely entertaining.
but most importantly, he never says, "no" to me.  :)

the view from my kitchen/coffee nook:

as we approach our thirty year anniversary, i have been thinking
about the importance of 'prenups.'  i brought very little to the
blessed union besides my heart but still considered it very, VERY
important that he promise me, "i will never, ever take you camping."

we passed this sign on a hike last week, and it made me smile.

seriously?  two weeks??

love, lea

"love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  it
always protects, always, trusts, always hopes, always
perseveres."
1 corinthians 13: 6,7

ps.  p. j.'s clever and loving post about her wonderful  husband
prompted this!!!

mission fields

dear emily,

several of my kids have been on mission trips to peru, ecuador,
honduras, mexico, and soon brazil, but i have never had the
courage to do so myself.  when they return, they are always full
of exciting stories of miracles and acts of kindness that make my
heart sing.

but, i never go myself.

when we arrived in crested butte, i asked hans if i could stay a bit
longer after they all left.  it seemed a good thing to be alone,
spending time to refresh my soul in the Lord's care, and hans was
happy for me to do that.

but, circumstances have changed, and now three of my kids will be
home, two giving concerts friday and saturday.  i wrestled with this
in prayer a bit.  "but, Lord, it seemed good for me to have this brief
time here, alone." instead, i will fly home where i should be.

'good' is sometimes the enemy of 'best', and though i am too timid to
fly south and tend my south american neighbor, i am always happy
to care for my own children.  for now, i guess that's still my mission
field and one i dearly love.

love,
lea

"having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us,
let us use them."  romans 12:6

blog poser

dear emily,

every now and then i join "blessed is the kingdom" and repost an
old piece as a 'sabbath rest.'  i thought that a new blogger might be
encouraged by all the sweet comments i received after writing this.
the blogging community is extraordinarily generous in their help
to 'newbies.'

ok, i can't take the guilt any longer.  i am a blog poser.  i never even
visited a blog before i started pretending and even made fun of those
kind of people!

wait, that's not quite true, shelby had me read the pioneer woman's
love story, but that was really a western harlequin romance with
awesome recipes and beautiful pictures of super cute kids.

my friend margaret writes a funny, insightful blog about being single
in a crazy, married world.  i thought to myself, "i can do that.  i know
a little bit about raising a circus, i mean family."  next thing i knew, i
was a blog poser.

since then i have had a few entertaining comments, "i can't seem to
get you on my blog roll.  i guess i will just have to put you on my old
fashioned blog roll."  umm, ok.

...or, "i have tried to update you to my sidebar but can't seem to find
you.  do you have your blog set up to do a sitefeed or a feedburner?"
...  sidebar?  sitefeed??  FEEDBURNER???

the only feeding and burning i know is cattle, children, and trash.

love,
lea

". . . You have hidden these things from the wise and revealed them
to little children."  luke 10:21

joyce's 'friday pretties' party

welcome to 'friday pretties, hosted by joyce,  who is just the
prettiest thing herself.   please remember her mother and sister
in your prayers.

"through the dancing poppies stole a breeze most softly
lulling to my soul."  -keats

"He has made everything beautiful in its time."  ecclesiastes 3:11

love,
lea

delightful surprise!

hans and i were sitting on the covered porch watching the evening
rays filter through the soft rain.  it was pleasingly cool enough for
light jackets.  the fresh, clean scent was heavenly, and we were both
as content as two well fed cows.

and then our hearts leaped out of our chests, as we beheld the most
gorgeous rainbow appear.  rainbows are a sign of beauteous hope,
and i consider it an awesome privilege to see one.

i may never go home, now.

does anyone else see that pot of gold?

"I have set my rainbow in the clouds. . ." genesis 9

love,
lea