Dual Blogging!

Right now, I am dual blogging. It is the easiest way for me to check out two different blog softwares and sites.

It is getting very cold here and the Autumn colors are just beautiful! Here are some recent photos.

Hmmm...editing this in...not sure what happened to the pictures. I guess you will have to go here to see them.

Hard Life & Spring is Coming!

I would be lying if I said that this lifestyle is not hard. I would be dishonest if I said it was not a struggle at times...and even downright discouraging.

However, in the time that we have been doing this...in spite of some very negative things that have happened, we have seen Yahweh/God moving within us and for us. We have been changed and have learned to be content with a lot less in this world. Does that mean that we don't want more? NOPE! Does it mean that we won't appreciate receiving more at some point? Not at all!

There are things we struggle with, but we have come to a point of being able to accept that this is God's will for us at this point in time. He is using this time and this way of living to refine us and to draw us closer to Him. He is changing our hearts...making them more like Yeshua/Jesus' heart. I know that, for me, I have a LONG way to go in that area.

I sit here listening to scriptures being read over soft music, feeding my spirit and soul. I know that I do not spend near enough time in the love letter that our Abba wrote to us. I need to feed my spirit and soul on God's words to me just as much as I need to feed my body on healthy food and water.

As I look out the window at the sunshine and the budding trees, I am reminded that spring is on its way. A new season is dawning outside; and there are seasons of the heart, too, I believe, and of life. My family has been through some dark, cold winters of life in the last several years. We were hit with some hard things.

Yet, through it all, Yeshua was right there with us. He says He will never leave us or forsake us; and He was certainly true to His word. Even when we felt abandoned by churches there were those in the body who listened to the Spirit and reached out to us. It is kind of funny. The help we got during those times usually came from the most unexpected sources.

Isn't that part of life and learning to trust in God? He works in ways we do not expect and through people we do not expect. Through all of this, we have simply learned not to expect...from people anyway. We have learned to trust in Yahweh to provide according to what He knows we most need. And if we have to do without, then that must be what we most need at that time. I have seen Him talk to people and tell them to reach out. I have seen people offer what we have not asked for or expected.

I want to live in the expectation that He will meet all of my true needs. I want to watch and see how He does it, with no expectations. I want to walk through this life knowing that I am secure in His arms. And I want others to see His light shining through me in the attitude I have about life and living.

I want His light to be visible in my life just as the sunshine is so visible outside. I look forward to the spring of my heart, just as I do the spring of the earth. I look forward to seeing new growth budding forth, both in the plant life and in my own heart and life.

Yahweh is good!

Back "Home"?

There are times when I miss the things of back "home". I put the word in quotes because I don't really have a home town. I moved throughout most of my growing up years and so I don't really "feel" as if I have a real hometown. But I have family where we used to live...and if home really is where the heart is...well, I guess my heart is in the broad area over which my family is scattered.

Would I like to move back? My heart is torn over that. It would definitely be nice to live closer to family. My fifth grandchild is on his/her way. I have a new future daughter in law. I have inlaws in different areas. But I could live with all of them any place. If I ask about going back and leave the family out of the question...it is very different.

There are two main areas where we used to live...where my children are living and where we used to live over the mountain from them. I would not want to move where they are...traffic, heat, etc. But where we used to live...it would be nice. There are a lot of things I do miss about that area, including a fantastic therapist and some friends.

I miss having more motorcycle riding weather. Although, since mine is not running, I guess that is a moot issue. We only had two seasons where we were living...warm, dry summers and wet, chilly winters. I was so looking forward to four seasons here. Well...we seem to kinda have three and a half. I miss the real snow of winter.

So, I am kind of torn on the weather. I also like the thunderstorms, something I really missed when we moved to CA. On the other hand...there are enough of them here to make motorcycle riding a bit of a challenge.

I hate tornado warnings. They make the gusty winds very unnerving for me. I would rather have an earthquake anyday. It happens and, except for a few aftershocks...it is pretty much over. And they rarely happen. I cannot count how many tornado warnings we have had since moving here. I find that to be rather stressful. It would not be nearly so if we were actually set up for them...like in a real house...with a basement!

What other differences? Oh yes! Health food stores. I had several I could go to and in the last place we lived I could even walk to one if I needed to. I could also walk to my therapist's office if I wanted. Church was fairly close by. There were all different kinds of stores. And there was Marie Callendar's restaurant, along with a couple of other favorite places. Within one county we had almost all that we really needed.

It was almost like a mix of semi-rural and towns. We had the ocean and the mountains. You could drive to the snow. We used to go to Lake Tahoe. That was so beautiful...both in the summer and the winter.

There were also quite a few retreat places around...Christian camps. We even lived at one for a while. There are definitely things I miss about that area. But I would also miss this place if we left...like the Autumn. I love the Autumn. It is my favorite season and it was not a very strong season at all where we used to live. I missed Autumn and Winter both when we moved to CA.

I miss the beach, too. It was not that I went a lot...but it was nice to drive along the coast...and nice to visit the beach when it was a little bit cool. I loved the waves. I loved the mountains. It was really pretty in the county where we lived the last 11 years I was there. The previous 30 were on the other side of the mountains...where my children live now. 40 years ago...it was OK. But now it is very crowded...highly congested.

It is easy to think of there when I run into difficulties here. But truthfully, we would have had difficulties there, too. It is a very expensive place to live. In fact, it was the rising property values that allowed to refinance our house more than once to live off of while Dave was out of work. Housing costs there are insane.

So, here I sit, in my little RV on the hillside, thankful for what I have. I heard the other day that if we have a house, a car and clothing, we have more than 98(?) percent of people in the world. Well, I am not sure if you count a tiny RV as a house...but we do have a shelter plus the other two. *smile*

I am thankful most of all...to be wherever Yahweh wants us to be. There are good things about being here. I love the view. I love the animals. I love the butterflies in summer. I love the creek...even when it is high...just wish we did not have to drive through it. Life is hard here. I won't deny that. But it also has a beauty of its own. And we are growing as a result of living here. We are having to trust our Abba/Father in so many ways...and that is good. Life is an adventure! But the greatest adventure of all is yet to come!

The Four Seasons

I love the four seasons. I had missed them terribly after living for almost 40 years in a place where we had only two seasons...mild/dry and cold/wet. In the time we have been here I have been able to see the Autumn leaves of color, the frost covered trees, the brief (too brief in my mind) white of snow and felt the warmth of summer sun. I have actually seen the sun most days instead of gray cloud cover...most of the year! Yay!!!!

I do miss the people I left behind, though. I also miss having more good weather for motorcycle riding...although, I guess that does not matter much since my motorcycle quit running. :P

We have a partially finished laundry room. It is one and half stories high. The roof is mostly on, but there is a strip that has no plywood on it. To finish that off will require the building of scaffolding on a muddy slanted area. It is going to be a bit tricky. In the meantime, we have the whole laundry room roof covered with a tarp. There is some black plastic over the opening strip, however, the rain has a tendency to push it through dropping water all over the floor, which then has a tendency to leak into the bottom. I will write more about how we do laundry later...perhaps on our next wash day. :)