Last night I broke out the winter bedding and as we added the winter comforter blanket to our bed Roy kind of made fun of me about putting it on the bed so soon. Ha, who had that blanket pulled up to his neck this morning?
The greater part of the afternoon was spent in front of the fireplace finishing up the book In the Backwoods of Nowhere, written by Nancy Blankenship Owens. Fascinating read of her mother in law's life. What drew my attention in reading her story is what she didn't say in her recalling of those days, and reading in between the lines what underlying story she might be telling about her life. Alma, the mother in law, was painfully truthful about things like naming her eleven children and the decisions that had to be made to keep them in good health and alive. I don't believe she ever said she loved her husband, she had good things to say about him, but truthfully other than working hard, he was a little self absorbed...that's my opinion. Other than the obvious factors of life being harder without indoor plumbing, electricity, and being able to use every part of an animal as food, one factor I had never thought about until reading this book, many years she wasn't able to attend church because there wasn't one close enough to get to by foot. Her husband rarely if ever took the family to church by wagon or car and he never attended one Sunday in their long marriage. She tells the story of the Presbyterian Church that sent a lady missionary to their region to fact find low or no attendance by those living on their mountain. With the news she brought back,the church bought property with an old building on it, fixed it up and church began with a minister tending to and preaching on Sunday at two campuses. Multi-site churches are not a new thing at all since this took place in the 1930's. Alma was asked what part of her life would she like to relive and her answer was being a part of starting that little church that grew from fifty people in the 1930's to over four hundred by the early 2000's and how she grew spiritually and came to a greater understanding of the Bible.
While going through the bookcases there among unread books was Liz Curtis Higgs book, The Women of Christmas. I took a moment to skim through it and will sit down to read it later in the Christmas season but something she commented on came alive to me. Several weeks ago we studied this in CBS, Mary and Elizabeth and we went through this passage with a fine tooth comb, but wait...there's more. In the book Liz, I met her once so I feel like I can call her Liz, comments on the fact that Mary walked about a 100 miles to go see Elizabeth and with Mary probably being poor, she didn't have anyone accompany her nor did she have a 'runner' that announced to Elizabeth and speechless Zechariah she was only a few miles away. No, my words not Liz's, but Mary kind of came in like Ricky Ricardo and announced, "honey, I'm home!" Only Elizabeth didn't go Lucy with 'waaaaaaaah' or 'eeeeeh' to Mary. John who hasn't been officially named yet, jumps in Elizabeth's womb. These two women were so happy to see one another. Now, I know that none of us are Mary did you know or Elizabeth, a modern day Sarah...well modern for those NT times...which no one knew at that time was NT times, but we have all experienced that sensation, with or without a baby in the womb of hearing someones voice or experiencing what will come to be a monumental moment or defining moment in our lives....the news, the experience, the voice, lends our spirit to do a little joy jump without any help from us. Just thinking through that...and pondering.
I finally caved and turned on the furnace and it feels oh so wonderful. Now, I need to get back to the fireplace where as soon as I sit down...Buddy will be on my lap. She is certainly enjoying a good fireplace and lap on these cold days.
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