Home For The Holidays

Two weeks ago, we celebrated Thanksgiving with family for the first time in thirteen years. I’m grateful to be home for the holidays and look forward to Christmas. Although we traveled from New Mexico to Tennessee to spend Christmas together most years while we lived away, it’s great to live near our family again.

While in New Mexico, traditions changed. We often traveled for Thanksgiving and toured the Southwest. Over the years, we visited Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands National Park in southern New Mexico; the old western town of Tombstone, Arizona; San Diego, California; and San Antonio, Texas. We made family memories on these trips with our youngest daughter.

Traditions changed in Tennessee while we were gone too. We weren’t sure we could arrange for everyone to gather for dinner this year, but I thank the Lord it worked out. Our oldest daughter often gets together with her in-laws, but they planned to celebrate on Saturday. Our daughter-in-law usually shares the day with her family, but they were out of town. Everything worked well for us except for missing our oldest grandson. He’s in the marching band at Mississippi State and had a game. We enjoyed time with him later that weekend.

Instead of our typical turkey, hubby cooked two delicious chickens in the smoker. We also prepared several traditional sides and pumpkin pie for dessert. I’d made a Waldorf salad but forgot to take it out of the fridge. I ate all of it over the next few days.

Christmas plans for Christmas Eve include our three families attending church together late that afternoon and then meeting in our home for an Italian dinner. And, of course, open gifts around the tree.

Another holiday treat happens this weekend. With living 1200 miles away, we couldn’t invite our youngest grandchildren over to spend the night with Papa and Nana. Our granddaughter, age eleven, and our grandson, age eight, will spend the night with us for the first time. We plan to take them to a drive-through Christmas light display and play games while they are with us.

I’m thankful for many things. Family is near the top of my list, and I’m grateful to be home for the holidays to spend quality time with them. Wishing you and your family a healthy and merry Christmas!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
Psalm 107:1, NIV

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Photo by Jed Owen - Unsplash

Take The Time

Have you ever wanted to slap someone upside the head? I wanted to do that to myself earlier this week. We drove to one of my favorite places in Nashville—Radnor Lake—and met our son and his family there for a hike. I’d taken my camera with me two weeks earlier when we visited, but it rained before we’d walked far, and I didn’t get many good shots. This week, just before we pulled into the parking lot, I groaned. I’d forgotten to bring my camera. I didn’t take the time to plan well for our outing.

While we walked, we found many photo opportunities, but I needed to use my cell phone. I knew my pictures would not look good. We saw deer, squirrels, turtles, ducks, geese, a turkey, and a chipmunk. That’s not all. One of our favorite sightings was a bald eagle perched high in the branches across the lake. Without my zoom lens, I had no possibility of taking a quality photo.

 Toward the end of our hike, I mentioned that there were owls in the woods, although I’d never seen one. Within five minutes, my son spotted an owl in a tree about twenty feet away.

 Twenty feet! And me without a camera! Why didn’t I think about that before I left the house? How could I forget something so important to me?

 Do you ever do that? Do you forget things that are important to you too?

 As I get older, I forget things more often. On mornings when my routine changes, I sometimes forget to have my quiet time with God. I focus on getting out the door and later realize that I skipped my time with Him. Time missed for prayer, to read and study His Word, and to thank Him for His blessings. On those occasions, I make time later in the day, but I prefer to start my day in communion with Him.

I love those special moments of quietness in the morning when I lean upon Him and find comfort in His Word. As situations arise throughout my day or I read of someone’s difficulties on social media, I’m ready to go to prayer for them because I’ve already spent time with Him.

Remembering to take my camera when I go hiking is important to me. But remembering to spend time with the Lord brings greater benefits for myself and others. I hope I never make a habit of forgetting to take the time for those special moments with Him.

I will delight in your decrees and not forget your word.
Psalm 119:16, NLT

The best I could do with my cell phone.

Perseverance

This past Sunday after church, my husband, youngest daughter, and I met our son and his two children at a local park. We chatted, laughed, and played our version of soccer—we stood in a circle and kicked the ball back and forth. During one of my sit-it-out breaks, a girl about seven years old asked me if she could sit on the bleachers next to me. I smiled and said yes. Then I scooted down the row to give her more space to distance myself and not cause her family alarm. After all, there’s Covid and she shouldn’t be talking to strangers, should she?

Within a minute or two, her older sister, about ten years old, approached. She spoke in hushed tones, but I heard something like this.

Older: Come on. You shouldn’t be here.
Younger: She said I could sit.
Older sounding stern: Ignore them. Let’s go.

I had to laugh. I could see their two personalities shining forth. The younger girl was extroverted and wanted to have fun and watch our family play. I assumed the older girl knew the “don’t talk to strangers” rule and wanted to protect her little sister. Like me, the older girl was the introverted rule follower, and she persevered in her sternness until her little sister followed her back to their parents.

Merriam-Webster defines perseverance as the effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition. That’s where our family finds itself today. We lost house offer number four mentioned in my last blog, and this past weekend, we found out we lost number five as well.

Here in Middle Tennessee, houses are selling for five to ten percent over the asking price. Buyers waive home inspections and agree to pay cash for amounts over the appraised value or waive the appraisal. They make offers on homes without seeing them—houses are contracted before they’re available for showings—even before the agents post pictures.

But we persevere. We strive to find a home despite these difficulties. God is still in control and knows where our house is located and when we’ll find it. He has a plan for us, and we trust He will provide us a home soon.

Let us not become weary in doing good,
for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 
Galatians 6:9, NIV

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Photo by Mick Haupt - Unsplash

Our Quest

Fierce competition! Eleven offers made on one house we looked at and fifteen on another. How do we compete with that? We’re not on a quest for treasure. Our quest is to find a home.

We’ve been in Middle Tennessee for less than two weeks, visited nine properties, and made two offers. We lost both, which means we’re still homeless.

But that’s okay. Our eldest daughter, son-in-law, and grandson don’t seem to mind having us around. Yet!

We arrived in Nashville after a two-day, 1200-mile trek in a Ford Escape with our dog, Pebbles, and our cat, Paka. Overall, a pleasant experience except for difficulty in the hotel room trying to keep the dog out of the litter box.

The craziest time occurred when we arrived at our daughter’s home. Pebbles wanted to prove her dominance (at twenty pounds), and our daughter’s two dogs (between seventy and eighty pounds each) didn’t take too kindly to her. After hours of barking, growling, and running around in circles, things calmed, and we settled into our new routine.

We have a fantastic plan in place for preparing meals. There are six of us, so we each plan and prepare one evening meal a week, so I only cook once every seven days. Right? Not quite. Hubby and I team cook so we work together two nights per week and then there’s our youngest daughter who we help. So, you could say that I’m cooking three nights instead of just one. But it’s been fun.

I especially like dinnertime when we gather as family, talk, laugh, and share. Makes up for several years of separation. Would only be better if our son and his family joined in the fun. But he needs to be extra careful because of his health. I hope we will have the pleasure of spending quality time together soon.

This week I spent time in the book of Psalms, where I found many recurring themes that spoke to me. God is on my side. His love for me is unfailing. He’s my strength and holds me in His arms. He’s also my rock and hears my prayers.

His blessings are new every day. Besides our family mealtimes, we attended a live church service last weekend, my publisher released my fourth book, and I received a sweet comment about that book from a reader. We even enjoyed sunshine on a couple of days!

Although we don’t have a house yet, we trust God is preparing one for us. We will praise Him while we wait and focus on His love and faithfulness as we continue our quest.

I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
Psalm 57:9-11, NIV

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Photo by Nathan Anderson - Unsplash