Full Circle

 The pasture across the road got a delivery of cinder blocks this morning. Soon the aforementioned pasture will be referred as the development. I liked the cows better. We have made and are in the process of decisions of any additions to make the yard more private. We feel like it is better to make these decisions before people move into the homes. For a quick minute we contemplated moving to east TN, but our Saturday trip reminded us that just cause land is near mountains that does not translate into the cooler temps of the mountains. If we were younger or just starting out in life, the holler makes sense but alas we are not starting out...

First night of VBS in the books. The whole church looks wonderful decorated as a castle Our Sunday School room held the same vibe. Roy is taking pics and I help serve and clean up after supper. Roy said the VBS songs are really good. I will get home earlier than Roy this week so I picked blackberries last night after feeding The Feral Fam. Got almost a container full but mad that after doing so much to deter japanese beetles, the evidence of their presence is there among the berries. The dried out remains. For so many blooms and young sprouts of berries, we have lost more than we would like to these hordes. The bug bags are working and killing them by hand is too. While picking berries, Fido climbed the trellis and sat there watching me work. He must have been missing Roy and their nightly trips out to the front yard to trim back tomato plants and water when needed. 

We studied Jeremiah 29 yesterday and I did my best to stay away from Jeremiah 29:11. Not that it isn't important but the simple steps that God gave the Judeans to thrive in captivity were so simple. Build homes, plant gardens, get married, have children and pray for the city you are in so that it goes well with you. Sometimes we forget there is work to be done to see the future and a hope from God. I kind of let my personal opinion of the verse and the over use of it show up in the lesson. I hate that I slid into that thought while teaching and reliving the thought of a Sunday School teacher that hit on this verse and prayer of Jabez once too often during the years. Oh yes and the dreaded mission statement obsession that I can't really be miffed with cause that mission statement stuff helped a friend to move more into her ministry. Back to the paragraph before digressing...found an interesting article about an exhibit in 2015 of small clay tablets from the Babylonian exile. Just daily life but gave great insight to the way though exiled and though not in their land, to the way life was lived and the religion was persevered.  I am convinced more and more that while there are spectacular moments with the Lord in life, the everyday in the day and noticing it is where the joy is and where our relationship with Him is found. Now we move onto Jeremiah 31, restoration and if memory serves me correctly, I think there are two verses about tambourines. Oh the joy!

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Successful trapping this morning. Roy got Chanel and Cha-naynay is not too happy about that fact. Think Coco and one of her siblings is the last of the female cats not spayed. Cutie, but she is great with kitten, so we will have to wait for her to make a trip. 

Another night of VBS in the books. It was BBQ night for supper and I stayed and helped the snack people by cutting strawberries. Came home, fed the Feral Fam and then picked blackberries. As friends in Houston say, there is tired and then there is VBS tired. I am feeling the VBS tired this morning. 

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Wednesday morning, still tired but it is a good tired. Roy has gone to pick up Chanel. I think the herbal supplement that the doctor recommended is working. About in week three and although my ankles and feet bear a lot of standing, the supplement and wearing supportive hiking boots have made a huge difference from yesterday to today.  Chanel is home and feisty. We will let her out a little later. 

I am so excited that one of the books on Vivian Vance and William Fraley arrived last night. I dare not pick it up cause I haven't written out the lesson for Sunday. The second book should arrive today. Hopefully, all the reading and studying and praying for this upcoming Sunday's lesson will all fall into place. We are in the midst of good news in Jeremiah, 30-33, so that is helpful. 

In the midst of the studying and working in VBS, there is an inside feeling in me that life is coming full circle. This is nothing profound or new, but just an observation. Well, more than an observation, more than a feeling, just a peace and contentment. Actually, the realization has been going on way before this week and there in the midst of joy, loss, repentance, rejoicing...just life really. I read an article today about a man's journey from a hard childhood into a productive and mannered adulthood. He was looking at real estate, looking to buy a house. He realized the homes he favored were older one story homes like his grandparents because his grandparents home brought safety and love in a rather loud and dangerous home with just one parent, that being his father. He shared that at his grandparents, they watched Wheel of Fortune, looked at photo albums of long gone family and heard tales of his Texas family on his grandmothers side. Nothing at all out of the ordinary, just routines of life, that made him crave that safe feeling. He would purposely get in trouble at school cause he would be sent home to grandma and grandpa, closest to the school and his father at work. Yesterday, I read about an experience a friend had and the full circle that God is bringing about in her family and ministry. So, I guess when God gave the Judeans a choice of deciding which path to take and now in chapter 31 instructing them as they go into exile to make markers along the road, so they'll know the way back. Ah, a full circle God.