Wildflowers!

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry" ... I guess Robert Burns and John Steinbeck really are pretty wise...and I'm learning this first hand these days on my journey through life. I have been struggling quite a bit lately, and I am ashamed to say that my journey has not toward gentleness at all. But rather a struggle with feelings that are as conflicted as they are confusing...but I think I am finally coming to terms and beginning to find peace.

Frozen Fog

This morning we woke up to world encased in ice. Beautiful! The forecast last night was for frozen fog, and this morning the world outside was just gorgeous. Life in the country is just beautiful when each limb of the trees, each blade of grass is coated in ice...God is truly an amazing artist!

"Be still, and know that I am God." ~Psalm 46:10

The Neighborhood Pig

As I've mentioned before, living in the country is a bit of a new experience for me, and one I am entirely enjoying! One of my favorite things is our neighborhood pig...I first caught a glimpse of him early in October at a neighbor's house about a quarter mile away. This neighbor has about 7 black and white border collie type dogs, and they often are playing in the yard or lazing in the sun, but one day as I was driving by, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that one of the dogs was pink! I slammed on my breaks, threw the car in reverse, and backed up for a closer look. And what to my wondering eyes would appear? A small pink piglet, PLAYING with the dogs...just like a puppy! They were jumping and chasing each other in the yard...so very cute, it just made me laugh out loud! I love it when people say, "That makes me smile." I love that very centered awareness of what brings joy to someone, and I truly have a new appreciation for this, because seeing this pig truly makes me smile...in fact, whenever see him, it even makes me laugh out loud!

From my first glimpse of him, I kept an eye out for the neighborhood pig. I often saw the dogs, and occasionally the chickens and geese that roam their place, but the pig is more elusive and less visible, so each time I saw him, it was truly a treat! Coming home in the late afternoon, I would occasionally see him asleep along the fence line...a row of dogs with a pig tucked in the middle. But the most crazy thing of all was that NO ONE had seen this pig but me! My family would come and go and nobody every spied a pink pig amongst the dogs. They began to suspect that I was just confused. As Thanksgiving drew near, I began to worry that pig was on the menu, so I was most relieved to see my friend a week after the holiday, growing bigger each day. When I saw, I would always stop and talk, and he and the dogs would sometimes come up to the car, though the pig would soon get distracted by something in the grass and lose interest in me...perhaps he has ADD?

He was getting pretty rotund by Christmas, and I was afraid that, like my brother-in-law's family, this family celebrated the holiday with a whole roast pig. Imagine my excitement, when the Sunday after Christmas, as we were driving to church, I spied the little guy as we drove by. My kids and husband had still NOT seen this pig, and there he was standing at the edge of his yard. "STOP," I squealed. Hubby stopped, then obligingly backed up the truck...and was shocked that there really WAS a pig! This is the picture he took that day! He couldn't believe it...there is no fence, but the dogs and the pig and the chickens and the geese all stay in the yard...and yes, there really was a pig! We chatted him up for a moment, then slowly drove away, and hubby kept staring into the side-view mirror. "He's chasing the truck and oinking...just like the dogs who are chasing are barking!"

You can see why my little friend makes me smile...and laugh out loud! Thank you, precious Father, for little things that make each day special.

Prayer + Thanksgiving = Peace

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. DO NOT BE ANXIOUS ABOUT ANYTHING, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which TRANSENDS ALL UNDERSTANDING, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:4-7

Christmas Letter 2009

Greetings! Hope this finds you well and looking forward to an amazing 2010. One thing I notice as I get older…time passes faster! I don’t really understand the physics of this, or how it all fits in with the space-time continuum and all, but it does seem to be a constant in my universe…and sometimes I feel that I’ll never catch up! I will, however, try to catch you up on the major happenings in our lives over the last two years!

May 2008 - A new daughter joined our family! Amie married Ryan in a small, beautiful ceremony. She is a treasure!

August 2008 - Ryan & Amie moved to Grapevine and began their careers in education.

August 2008 - Bud & Gayle moved to the country, a little place with about 4 acres about 7 miles east of Abilene.

March 2009 - Wayna moved back home and returned to a job she enjoys and quickly received a promotion!

Summer 2009 - We love summer! The best part of teaching! Bud spent his summer working on our orchard! We now have 34 fruit trees, 5 pecan and 15 shade trees! A total of 54! I worked on decorating the house and caught up on my reading…and we both have a new hobby: blogging! To catch up on Bud, check out his blog at http://www.mesquitemeditations.com/ or you can check out my journey by following my blog http://www.thegentlenessjourney.com/

July 2009 - Adopted a shelter dog into the clan, a Schnoodle (schnauzer-poodle mix) named Abby! She joins our Lab mix, Emma (whose antics you can follow on Bud’s blog)!

August 2009 - Back to work! Bud continues to serve as Director of Special Programs and he also teaches the Reading Clinic at ACU. Gayle is back at Abilene High, teaching Sophomore and Junior English and serving as Technology Liaison.

December 2009 - Enjoying over 5 inches of snow and a white Christmas!

May God bless you with a peace that defies understanding, a joy that comes from doing what you love, and a friend to hold your hand on the journey.

Keep in touch! Love you!