The sound of Michael Jr's old motorcycle coming home is something I've cherished the last few weeks. When it's past twilight and I know he should be on his way from hunting, I stand on the porch ...and pray. There are so many things that can go wrong, even though he's taken the courses and is experienced. He hardly looks it but he's only 14, but I won't stand in his way of becoming independent and enjoying the hunt, but I won't leave it uncovered in prayer either.
Thanksgiving morning, he shot a nice sized one. Funny that we don't have the meats that are "in season" for our meal. Instead, we have frozen turkey ...doesn't make much sense. Our freezer doesn't either. We have venison and 10s of pounds of chicken (from that broken crate Mike got from California), when everyone else is stocking up on pork and beef.
Miranda and Megan both have new jobs and couldn't come home for Thanksgiving. We'd thought of going to them but the powers that be didn't answer us on that. Instead, we took up other family on an offer to visit and are glad we did. It was nice to see Mike catch up with ones he hadn't talked with in so long. I enjoyed sitting with Cindy, Sandy, and Lisa watching all the boisterousness happen.
We got home in time to finish preparing our own meal and despite the undersized turkey I bought, it was good but not the same without everyone here. The shopping wasn't the same either. I'd never been Black Friday shopping until last year when Megan insisted I go. Concord Mills, a big mall near Charlotte, was dead, as far as I was concerned. I had more fun wearing that full length raccoon fur coat amongst the shoppers at Bass Pro. I could've easily been on exhibit with the taxidermied animals! Alas, we found a couple of small gifts and mossied on up the highway to the Troutman Horse Auction. We found the missing shoppers; they were all there selling off their prized pets. People come from all over: Ohio, West Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina ...but I've never seen that many people there!
McKala, Michael, Melody, and I began making our rounds and as we passed by the lower riding ring, our neighbor, Ronny, called us "Harpers" out. We sat and talked with him for over an hour. Afterall, he is the man who gave us a buggy ride shortly after we moved here 3 years ago. He's shown Michael and McKala how to plow with his giant, Percheron of a horse and is letting them ride him now. As we watched all the specimens circle around, we told him of our neighbor from the mountains who also shared his hobby with our family. Lo and behold, there Ernie was, riding behind a pair of gray Belgians! We rushed over to say hello, followed him over to the bleachers when he got off, and told him of all the changes that've happened since we left Long Branch Road.
Ernie had an idea! He said McKala should ride with the Mennonite young man who was showing off his team in the ring. I told Ernie that she can cook and clean and tend to children better than I can, so he said that the young man should know that. But what we didn't know is that as she and he rode around those few minutes, they managed to share a whole lot of information. McKala was surprised that he was so talkative, given that ofttimes they aren't. Michael teased her that she'd have to work on her sewing skills, so the joke now is that she needs to learn to make pants.
We were able to introduce Ernie and Ronny. What are the chances that not once but twice in a lifetime we'd have someone share with us the thing, the same thing, that brings them joy? It may be a hobby to them, but to us it's a blessing, an experience. Ronny's allowing Michael to hunt on his land and them to ride "Bubba" are great replacements for the basketball court, which we won't be pounding this season. I love that McKala has determined to ride despite her condition. I said to her, "But you've been coughing for day and night." She's decided that in the middle of the shots and treatments and fatigue, she'll push forward, trusting that she can survive "even if the healing doesn't come".
We stopped by the store to get deli meat, of all things, because my tiny turkey had no leftovers. When we arrived home, Mike and the little ones were still breathing, so the day had gone well.
Friday night, we found out that Mike's mother was going to be admitted into the ICU. He thought he'd need to be there in Georgia, but thankfully she had improved some on Saturday. I don't remember much else from that day, except that Macklynn found me while I was cleaning and asked why I still hadn't made a pumpkin pie with him. (Our elderly friend, Virgie, had given us 2 pumpkins and 2 large boxes of apples.) When I got frustrated and told him I was doing the best I could, he held back tears. Then I knew how important it was to him, not to HAVE a pie but to MAKE a pie with me, so we did.
Sunday morning we visited an affluent church and were pleasantly surprised by the pastor's topic of dicontentment in regard to the holidays. Towards the end he explained that Phillipians 4:13 is not at all about "doing all things through Christ" for success BUT in times of distress. He talked about how we plaster verses on things, pulling them from their context. Speaking of scripture, I'm in the 34th chapter of Isaiah. I came across this in Chapter 32: "The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful. For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand. Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech." It would be that "liberal", charitable with one's things, is a good thing except that here and until now, it is done "to utter error against the Lord". Sound familiar?
I was brought to Isaiah by Anne Graham Lotz's (Franklin Graham's sister's) book, "Expecting to See Jesus". I see things so similarly to the way she does. She says that there is no way to be a child of Christ and not be changed and moved and brought to our knees by God's Word. For years and years, I've hoped to have a real connection with the events of Christmas and their meanings. At 2 am upon completing the book with the house quiet, I stepped into the kitchen to hear "O Holy Night" beginning to play on the radio and was flooded with prayer, tears, weeping ...a revival ...just what the book is about. You have to read it! I got it from the library. You probably can, too.
Yesterday, Mike and I both got to go the dentist, our "dentist date" as Melody called it. I say "got to" because I haven't had dental insurance in 4 years and now have a small window to get some things done. I still have a couple of gum pockets of 9 mm. The idea that I could lose those teeth in a few years makes me appreciate that I have them at all. (Mike will be losing 2 teeth today.) The things people struggle with all over the world remind me what a luxury it is to have even the hot shower I had this morning. And as Madalynn, 4, so perfectly put as she jerked her head up from what she was doing, when one of her sisters mentioned that we're poor, "We're not poor. We have food and a house!" Ah, out of the mouth of a babe.
No comments:
Post a Comment