Good Saturday to you from our home here in Northern Iowa where fall weather has continued to grace us with temperatures in the 50's for several days. Hard to believe it is the first week of December, although Joel and I remember one year after we brought home our tree from a local lot, Joel went out to mow the yard afterwards!
We did experience some chilly weather when we went north to spend Thanksgiving with our middle daughter, son-in-law, and three grands. It was so fun to actually go somewhere on a holiday. Married to a working pastor that just did not happen. We traveled the back roads to avoid busy city traffic and headed to our home state of Minnesota on Wednesday. We enjoyed our visit with the family so much, even though I ended up at urgent care Saturday morning the the worst UTI ever. We had to wait and head home on Sunday so I could get the antibiotics working. We did take the backroads home and stopped six times along the way. Are we having fun yet? We used to live in the area and found it very interesting that after 25 years away that we were still recognized. In the pharmacy I handed them my card and the woman behind the counter asked, "Are you the Dahlens who used to live here?" Turns out her father-in-law and mother-in-law lived across the street from the parsonage at that time. We remembered them well.
For the Thanksgiving feast our grandson made a delicious rhubarb custard pie and I made a pumpkin pie to take along. One of our granddaughters made tiramisu which was very good too. I confess I had to google it to see what it was. Evidently they had it when they visited Italy. There was homemade bread and all kinds of traditional, unique, and fun food and fellowship while there. We watched a movie the kids wanted us to see called Enola. It is on Netflix and a cute family movie.
Joel has been able to bike a few days this past week. He sticks to the same trail and avoids roads....which I am more than grateful for since one of his long time friends was hit by a car this week here in town while on his recumbent and spent time in the hospital with 5 broken ribs. Stick to the same trail, Joel......
Joel has been keeping himself busy making small boxes with lids out of recycled redwood. You could say he has been a bit obsessed with his project since at last count he has made 88 boxes! Some are boxes within boxes which reminds me a bit of God.......we can sometimes put God in a box based on our own perception of Him or our own desires. Maybe we make Him smaller and smaller...a box within a box until we are comfortable with our image of Him. He is so much bigger than we could ever imagine. I expect we would be completely undone by His presence and His glory if we met up with Him! It is so important to be bold at times in how we see and experience God. That is one of the reasons why I enjoyed the movie The Shack so much. It took me out of my comfort zone in how I might see God, Jesus, or Holy Spirit. I loved that!
I just finished reading the book, The Veil which definitely took me out of my comfort zone. I have another book I'll be reading as soon as my brain is no longer in an antibiotic fog. I apologize for anything I might write here today that does not quite make sense! I'm on a double dose of Cipro.....and cannot be blamed for anything I say. (haha)
In this wanting-the-sofa state of mind I'm in, we are trying to decorate for Christmas. We have pared down our many tubs of decorations, but still enjoy making the house festive. We made ginger cookies this morning together (thank you Joel!) and I'm getting out the Christmas CDs and old boom box today to release a little Christmas spirit in the house! We are still deciding on whether to get a real tree this year or use the one we have that needs some work! A few Christmas cards are trickling in, which are always fun to open.
December is a month that reminds us not only of God's love for us, but of those loved ones who are no longer here. Gr. Jo died on December 1st last year, Joel's mom died on December 5th 2011, our son Kevin died on December 13th 2004, and my dad died a couple of days before Christmas when I was seven. It is not a sad month for us, it is just, for a few moments, a time of reflection. We give thanks for all their lives and how they shaped us to be who we are today.
So on that note, I am giving thanks for the lives of those I just mentioned, and so many more. I am grateful for antibiotics and such things like "urgent care" and familiar places and people. So grateful for homemade cookies that fill the house with a delightful smell, Christmas music, decorations, and trees, texts, phone calls, emails, bike trails, and prayers. Yes there is so much to be grateful for.
Enjoy your weekend!
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