Good Saturday to you from our windy corner of Iowa. The temperature has been in the 50's but today we are supposed to reach a balmy 66 degrees before we drop to a high of 40 tomorrow. The winds and cooler temps have not taken away any of our joy of basking in Autumn. We managed a couple of walks this week at our local park and drove out to Lime Creek preserve one day. We brought home a "leaf bouquet" of bright oranges and reds from the park. Last night Joel saw 4 deer in our yard when he went out at ten to whisk our flowers out of the "maybe we will have frost" weather.
Speaking of weather, Joel has been mulching and raking this week and getting things outside ready for the winter ahead. We have not had the snow flurries predicted, but Minnesota and Wisconsin have. The National weather tells us we will have more of the white stuff this year but it won't be as cold. We would love to be heading south, but after much prayer and discussion we have said no to traveling right now. Ugh.
Last Tuesday we filled out our absentee ballots and took them to the court house to hand them in. There were a few people in line to vote. My sister and her hubby had gone in the morning to vote and said there were quite a few in line doing the same thing. Voting is so important. We also headed out to Target for groceries before going to the eye clinic for my appointment with the Retina specialist. Eye shot time! The Dr. told me he wanted me to "be very careful with Covid around" and shared a personal story with me. When I hear the emotional stories shared by those who fight this war as medical professionals? I cannot help but be forewarned and take precautions.
\We were saddened Friday night to hear about the death of a long time friend Allen. We met him in a small town north of the of Twin Cities where he was pastor at the Methodist church and Joel was pastor at the Lutheran church. They became friends and Joel ended up being his best man at their wedding. Allen was the kindest, most gentle man with a great compassion for others. He loved the Lord and wanted to serve Him wherever God led him. Joel and he discussed race at times, but what I remember him saying is that he did not define himself first as a black man but as a man who loved the Lord and was black. He did not see Joel as a white man either, but as a man who loved the Lord and happened to be white. Once Joel asked him what was the difference between his culture in the deep South where he was from, and ours in the Midwest. After a long pause he said, "Well, you like to eat pumpkin pie and we like to eat sweet potato pie!" He did always encourage us to eat his sweet potato pies he made, although we stuck to pumpkin. Now I make a sweet potato pie gluten free pie for myself at Thanksgiving and Christmas! He was 92 years old and had lived a long good life. We know Jesus welcomed Him home with open arms. We are so grateful to have known him. Our prayers are with Susan and the family.
Speaking of family we were able to Skype with our oldest daughter and her family this past Sunday night. They were at their cabin and each of the two kids were at their colleges. We get pretty darn lonely for our family so just being able to see them on a screen was great! Phone calls and texts with our family are like warm hugs. We get quite a few pictures via text and it is awesome to catch up on what everyone is doing. Yes, we all need hugs, don't we, even through texts! And I have been talking more to my sister Jo as she progresses into longer conversations, taking her first steps, and now ending her quarantine so she can have Janelle visit. Thank you for praying!
Speaking of hugs, have any of you seen the animal videos where humans and animals are hugging each other. It is amazing to me how much love and emotions animals express to those they love and care about. I expect it from some animals but when you see an ostrich hugging? Come on! Can't say I would want to hug on a lion or bear...........but those videos are a sure way to put a smile on your face.
Giving thanks this week for walks in the park, leaf bouquets, good medical care, October days, sweet potato and pumpkin pies, long time friends, Skyping, texting, and phone calls, puzzles, Jo's improvements, animal videos, pictures of grands, and the gift of togetherness. Blessings.......
Enjoy your weekend!
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