Have I mentioned that I am really out of practice having company? I used to have 10-12 people for dinner without a blink of an eye. Anyway, I am trying to get back in practice and had these friends for Sunday dinner a while back. Check out the big little guy on my lap! I think he’s kind cute! 
Although the month isn’t quite gone, it feels like I’ve lost some of it, at least on the blog here. We have a hymn that says, “life passes like a dream”. This month has been a very beautiful dream, at any rate. New workers, new gospel meetings, new babes, beautiful days, peace and rest, swimming at the ARF center, very satisfying work, sweet companions, tasty apples and sewing!
Sometimes people ask what we DO at our religious convention. Most would know now that I am not a part of an organizational religion, no committees, no headquarters, no board meetings, no budgets, no collections, no group missions. All our effort goes into trying to know and love our God. So at convention, the workers talk about that and we listen, we visit, most people have a little job that contributes to our communal meals or sleeping arrangements for the four days we are together. And we try to let God help us understand the road we’ve been on and help us get prepared in our hearts for the road ahead. I would never have imagined living alone in Iowa, but here I am, and the road here was a little rocky, but not more than I could handle. Where tomorrow’s road will lead, I don’t know, but I trust that God is planning my way.
Here’s the nice, posed one:
And here’s the silly one!
I would say us convention girls are happy girls!
it was perfect. ” What do we do at convention?” you might ask. Well, we listen….and listen….and we’re together. And we feebly try to express our thankfulness. Not much, you might think, no activities, no business meetings, no tours….but we love it, because it’s what we believe heaven will be like. And if we love heavenly things now, maybe we’ll find ourselves there someday.
I LOVE morning glories and mine on the balcony have finally started blooming! And your Monday morning thought for the day: enrich your life, take a closer look - at things, at people, at situations. Sometimes you need to get really really close to fully appreciate the beauty!
It’s just natural to focus on the front, you know….that part you can see in the mirror. I remember someone at convention speaking once about front yards and back yards. Everyone keeps the front yard looking well kept….but you really find out what a person is like when you look in the back yard..or something like that! I was impressed with the back sides of downtown Ames a while ago. The backs of these stores do face a municipal parking lot, but still, I thought the backs of the stores showed a nice sense of community aesthetic and responsibility.
A and J were here for a little letter writing and sewing last week. We made a trip to Ames British Foods, an electronics store run by a Brit who also happens to stock some great foods that are hard to find, and had ourselves some scones, clotted cream, current preserves and jam tarts. J made us some healthy salad to balance it all out! I didn’t get a photo of her this time, but here is an older one, not driving a stick, like she was last Thursday!
Actually, I’m not sure exactly how many days she was gone…from January to May I believe…but the lady we know in the long exotic dress took a cruise around the world this year! They flew west to start their cruise in the far east: Japan, Korea, (hmmm, better go find the itinerary just to be sure….fooo, don’t you hate it that just as soon as you throw something out, you want it, I mean, like usually within 48 hours?! ahhh (digging through the garbage), found it, just a few coffee stains on it!) Cancel that….She left from Florida, went south: Panama Canal, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, then west to New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, then the far east, southeast Asia, India, Dubai, Egypt, the Mediterranean Sea and European stops, Dover England and home. It was definitely more exciting than spending her money on a nursing home she said!
So….Colorado….it’s……well…..quite different from Iowa, for sure. It’s dry, it’s rocky, the soil seems thin and feeble and in many places, the altitude is high and the air is thin. So why are the flower gardens more beautiful in Colorado than they are in the well watered mid-West? I don’t know the biological or social science answer to this question, but the mystery got me to thinking. Can there be too much of a good thing? With ample water and high humidity, I know that plants can quickly succumb to disease. What’s good for the plant is also good for the bug or fungus. But in the dry, thin air of the West, perhaps roses struggle….and they win, because less can be more in many cases. Less stuff, less junk, less clutter….just life and light equals amazing beauty.
