Could We Take It Any Other Way?

A relaxing Sunday afternoon that included a nap on the back porch, a little reading and a light lunch was much appreciated. The little family of three hangs around the ladders and plants in the side yard. so it is a continual jockeying for the coveted spot under the flowerbed chair. They seem to take turns so that is a nice thing. Buddy spent most of the afternoon on the porch, moving from sleeping spot to the next as the spirit or the warmth of the sun moved her.

Last week Buddy had a bit of a health scare and although she seems better I don't know if we are out of the woods yet. I was anticipating another good night's sleep after the successful night of rest on Saturday, but it was not to be last night. The vet is calling today for updates and maybe the continued use of the muscle relaxer, for Buddy, not me. It has calmed Buddy, but she is so lethargic. It was a welcomed sight to see she had eaten some of her food during the night and the treats she had ignored. We just spent a good amount of time sitting together this morning. She has not given any indication she would like to go out on the porch this morning.

I went into Sunday School prepared to teach but a little concerned for the last part of the lesson since I had not written it  out and had only jotted notes because of the additional concern for Buddy. During my prayer time Sunday morning I told the Lord, I am depending on You, but this morning I am really depending on you. He didn't fail me. We looked at the facts of Ecclesiastes and then looked at those nuggets that get overshadowed by vanity, vanity...under the sun...everything is meaningless. We were looking at these twelve chapters from a different vantage point and asking the Lord to open up His Word to us. Karen B gave us a great example as she told us about a group tour she went on to NYC. Instead of staking out the seats they sat in the first day, they changed seats often to get different perspectives of the city. I asked if anyone wanted to change seats with me and she said, the bus driver doesn't change seats. That quote is going into my journal. We finished the one and done Sunday look at Ecclesiastes with Chapter 12 in the beautifully written description of what happens as we age...Solomon the great builder of buildings, gardens, homes, navies and cities deconstructed the building process as a building falling in. I had a "you are old moment" Saturday morning at the vet while giving details to them about Buddy's behavior, I said something to the effect that what I had just told them...couldn't remember what day that behavior happened. The young vet responded, it's Saturday. Today is Saturday...well, I knew that and thought about responding, well, it sounds like you are listening to every 5th word...Okay, back to the chapter at hand... I also found a rather humorous view of what those verses mean. Funny, I never noticed or paid attention to those verses in the past but now...they have my full on attention. We ended the lesson though contrasting the ending verses of Psalm 92...where we that are older are to flourish in the courts of the Lord and still bear fruit. Velda gave us a perfect example of that to end the lesson as she recounted a shopping experience and small details became very useful as each person involved in the story contributed to a good outcome. It was also a monumental day, Inez read out loud from her Bible which had a great in-depth look at the verse we were reading.

During the week while studying, many times my remembrance of August 2014 came to mind. Roy gave me a month here to help me health wise miss the hot August of Houston. While here for that we also had on our schedule to begin the search for a home here. Originally, we thought about a condo for just summer/fall but Roy realized a house would be better especially for whenever he retires. In the midst of searching there was so much time to read and write or just sit and think. So the good ol' blog became a diary of sorts of comings and goings, roads, wonders, cows and of course the mountains themselves. In this period of time I experienced the kindness of God like never before and the scripture I was reading was mainly out of Ecclesiastes. On the outside of mountain bliss, circumstances all kinds of chaos was happening, it was the month of "come get these boxes" by my father a message delivered to us by his posse along with phone calls of investigations of being falsely accused of elder abuse and all other kinds of horrible, untrue accusations. In the midst of this, God's kindness...just a very little example...I do not like tunnels and would cringe beyond cringing while going through the tunnels on the Blue Ridge Parkway. There was always someone with me but during that month, I drove through 11 tunnels by myself, knowing God's presence as I was going through lightly, the valley of the shadow of death. I know, hyperbole....but I hated tunnels.

Last night in choir rehearsal we had the nicest surprise. Our pastor came in and just wanted to thank us for leading our church in worship on Sunday mornings. He appreciated our hard work and the passion we brought to the music, both with the congregation corporate worship as well as our piece prepared for each week. He thanked us again...and we thanked him for coming in to encourage us. It was refreshing the simple thank you and not adding a teaching moment to the mix as some pastors are wont to do.

Buddy is fussing, over what I don't know. Her imagination is not captured by treats this morning. She has been on the front and back porch. She has sat in my lap a lot. In fact, she is here right now and typing is difficult. She has never been much of a cat that rubs against you but she has become one over the weekend. Last night I got a lot of her putting her head against my face. Into the day we go, just me and Buddy, living in the mountains, taking it one day at a time...like we could take it any other way, ha!