A Full Day

I awoke feeling rested this morning so I knew I could make it to church! I had plenty of time to get ready, even though the service starts earlier than most church services (9:30 AM) and off we went. We took an umbrella just in case, because of the slight sprinkling of rainfall, and the ominous clouds off to the North. Corey Pelton, our new pastor, has started a series in Galatians and it was a wonderful sermon about the freedom in Christ as opposed to the legalism which permeates so much of Christianity. How often do I forget that!
      After the service, I actually felt like going out to eat, which was a grand feeling to have when so many days I can't bear the thought of tarrying too long away from home. We went to Molinas, a small Mexican restaurant, with Tabitha. I had a grilled chicken salad with pico de gallo sprinkled across the top. Spicy! While returning home the skies opened upon us, and while thankful for the umbrella, we did still get somewhat soaked while rushing up the back walk to the porch. The dogs sprang upon us with their usual joyous greetings once the door was opened. I wonder, do they think each time we leave that we are not returning? Or do they really miss us that much? I prefer to think the latter, and enjoy having the love of two animals who think having us around is the best thing ever!
     A bit later, I realized I hadn't refilled the bird feeders and I knew the bluebirds would be wondering where their daily treat of mealworms were. Sure enough, after putting bird food in the proper places, the bluebirds quickly appeared and stuffed their beaks. I went around to check the eggs in the Carolina Wren's nest on the porch and found that two had hatched, one egg was still waiting and somehow the other egg had disappeared. There were four eggs last week. Anyway, the babies are so teensy and were so warm and helpless in the palm of my hand. I didn't stay too long, because mama wren wanted her babies back. I will have to take pictures tomorrow!
     I also noticed the dishwasher was not draining again. Darn, I thought we had fixed it! We will try again tomorrow. Bah on that.
     I managed to do a bit of art today, and ordered some more Micron pens. I didn't have the energy to do much, but I am pleased that I had a full day, for me! I hope now that I get good rest tonight and will be able to chip away in some of the many piles we have to go through.

A Sad Surprise

This morning as John was walking the dogs, Taylor (who can hear and smell a mole underground) suddenly got excited about something on the side of the road. John went to see, fearing that it might be a snake. Taylor has been know to approach a copperhead with great curiosity! Instead, in the ditch underneath the leaf litter were 7 tiny kittens! They were about 3 weeks old, eyes still blue and terrified. John came home and got a cardboard box, put some straw in it, drove back to the spot and brought the kittens home in the box. Since he walks that route with the dogs daily, we know that they had to have been dumped out since yesterday morning. They appeared well fed, but they obviously weren't weaned and they didn't even have any fleas yet. We knew that we could not take care of them, so we took them to the Humane Society. Since they are not weaned, and so small, and probably sick from being outside, they will probably have to be euthanized. Somewhere there's a mama cat missing her babies and somewhere there is a hard hearted individual whom I hope cannot get this off their conscience. John was pretty upset about the callousness of people like that. There was no charge to take them to the Humane Society, so they just didn't want to bother. And because we live in the country, they would probably not have lasted another night with the coyotes, bobcats and foxes in the area. I wish we could have cared for them, but it just wasn't possible. At least we spared them the pain of being attacked by a larger animal.

Aha!

Such a joy to see and know in your heart when prayers are being answered! We did not know where the extra money would come from to care for Schaeffer and the Lord has provided it! How hard it is to have the faith you want and how often do we stumble. Thank the Lord that He is ever faithful and that though we may see darkly, all around Him is light!

Planting and repairing

I am learning to lie down between different activities so that I don't hit the wall and just relapse. I have two large clay pots on the front porch, and planted pink mandevilla, yellow marigolds and pink/lavender pansies in each one. Then as I was resting, I heard John downstairs starting to fix the dishwasher, which wasn't draining. I went down there to see if I could help and between us we got it working again! Yay! The Lord does answer simple prayers.

John meets with Karen today to discuss the monetary support needed for Schaeffer. He has made several attempts to get together with her and we hope this one works. It's been a struggle having that hanging over our heads!

Life and Art

Having struggled with ME/CFS now for almost 2 years, I am pleased to have found something that is a therapy for me and helps toward healing. My daughter suggested in September '09 that I consider joining Swap-Bot. I had begun to have a little more energy and was so very bored with all the lying down I had to do. I started small, and since then have made friends, discovered I can produce quality, personal pieces of art, and received some amazing pieces from fellow artists. Not bad for a few months time! I have produced ATCs, APCs, Skinnys, and have begun to alter a book, and do some bigger canvases just for me. It is a joy!