Hello dear friends,
How are you? We are finally settling down here at home after 8 days of no electricity. Rich, baby Sarah, and I arrived home on Sunday afternoon, and Rich’s Mom brought the children home on Tuesday afternoon.
The area towns and rural outskirts were devastated by our October snow storm (which I blogged about, a few posts back). The tree and power line damage were monumental; no one had ever seen such a thing. Huge branches broken, multiple trees fallen and resting on stretched power lines on every road, leaves, twigs, and tree pieces everywhere. The clean up still continues.
Our local school was closed for a week, and even now the bus routes have been changed to avoid the possibility of problems on the back roads. We have to drive the children to the end of the road for pickup and drop off. It has made me very thankful for door to door *bus service* on normal days!
As for myself, this last week has been an amazing testimony of the goodness of God. When I was at my breaking point, He lovingly gave me the opportunity to rest, as we sheltered in a quiet hotel, and do almost nothing, for days. There have been ups and downs, mentally, for me. I hate depression, but even as I struggle and wrestle, I love what God does regardless, I love the gifts of His Word that comes to mind at just the right moment, the reminders that “all is grace”, everything is a gift from HIM, and has already been given. “Be still and know that I am God.” In my deepest despair, He is always there and I can rest in His very generous and plentiful promises. I love Him. And I thank you, Father.
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Rich and Sarah, at the hotel.
Sarah, pushing her baby up and down the hotel hallway.
We worked on cleaning up trees on Monday. My farm-raised husband is so attractive to me. He is capable, a hard worker, and looks strong and handsome as he works. We both enjoyed the feeling of working together (yes, I helped!) outdoors in the clean fall air, with the smells of sawdust, chainsaw, and fresh wood (a scent from both of our childhoods).
I’m going to make one of those Christmas centerpieces out of the larger log; with candles and pine branches. I’ll show you when I’ve got it done.
As I walked the dog (with a sob ever-ready) on Tueday morning; my anxiety was discouragingly heavy, I prayed, I talked to the Lord; and He showed me things, like this milk-weed fluff, from their seed pods.
So soft, warm, and beautiful~
It’s now in the house….I put it in an old candle jar and put it on my windowsill.
And this golden leaf, with red veins and a red tip. The sunshine made things glow that day.
Rose hips, I admire them every fall, for their dark dark red color.
They are full of seeds and thick red “sauce”, I find nature-study so facinating (strange?but true)
It was a 60 degree day, warm enough for my orange toes to see the light of day, but cool enough in the shade for some remaining snow to stay frozen.
Rich’s mom sent me a few pictures of the children, like this one.
I cried to see their happy eyes and smiles. They had SUCH A GREAT TIME.
Happy Caleb!
I urge my friends to study the Savior today, look in the gospels at His compassion and mercy. That’s our Savior, and He amazes us with his love and great works.
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face.”
Look up! He is the lifter of our heads.
You are loved! So greatly, so abundantly.
And, I have a fun link to share with you if you like coloring! CLICK HERE
((warm hugs))
Thank you for stopping by today.
Shanda
Good to be Home 
I’m glad that things are returning to normal for you – but then – as you and I know, normal isn’t normal for long, and we have to adjust to a new normal. Again and again.
Thanks for posting, Shanda. Been wondering how things were going.
So glad to hear that you are finally home again!
What a beauty of a post, Shanda! During the times when I’ve been “down”, God never fails to show me something beautiful, to show me His grace. AND love. AND mercy. AND faithfulness. Your photos are gorgeous and little Sarah is so beautiful…how CUTE that she claimed that hallway for herself and her baby!
Hello Friend! I am so glad to see you are all back together as a family, safe and sound, and also that you had the chance for some down time. The damage you described reminds me so much of our experience with Hurricane Katrina! Just devastating, it took months to recover any sort of normalcy. I understand about struggling mentally and emotionally, and it is true the Lord is always faithful. In our weakness, His strength is perfected! Love you!
So blessed to hear of the REST in the midst of turmoil. And especially, that the Lord was speaking to you during that time. Beautiful verses in the midst of God’s creation. He is our ROCK! Continuing to think of you and pray for you. Have you had any test results yet?Great picture of Rich and the logs. He is a big handsome guy, and I could see his love for you every time he looked at you. I am glad you were able to work together in the clean up. I look forward to seeing your log decoration, I always liked those. Love to you!
Dear Shanda…….I wrap my arms around you as I believe the Lord is doing right now…..These dark days we get from time to time are all a learning process and make us so thankful for the light happy days…..Even though Winter is upon you I think you will see the Sunshine bursting through in your Life and your Heart very soon…….So lovely to know you are back in your nest with your beloved family….Can’t wait to see what you do with that log…..I love Christmas especially when you can use items from the woods to decorate the home…..God Bless you and all of your family……Brenda
Glad to hear you are all home safe! I love your beautiful pictures! And I can’t wait to see your centerpieces out of the fallen tree cuttings.
So glad to hear from you today, but sorry to hear you have been struggling still. Thank you for all of the beautiful pictures. Sending you lots of love!
I’m happy to hear that you are back home with your family — wow! eight days withot power — that storm sure hit your area hard. I was just thinking of you again this morning and wondering how you were doing when your post appeared. God bless you, friend!
Good to hear that you are back at your home with your children and husband.HOpe you feel better within yourself soon. I read this verse out loud to my children this morning, after a baby magpie we were trying to take care of died (our dog got jealous). Matthew 10:29:31. …….Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.I am looking forward to when you post about the Christimas centrepiece.Praying for you. Angela.
I am glad you were able to get some rest while in the hotel. I’ve been thinking of you a lot. I hope you are finding joy in setting your home to rights after being gone for so long. It has been so long since I have touched milk week, but your picture is so crisp that I can almost feel it in my fingers. Hugs Shanda!
If I don’t get to walk and study nature with you in this life time…I look forward to the things we can discover together in Heaven
hi shanda…….so glad to hear from you. what an event that snowstorm turned out to be! your post was so touching and honest. i love the photos with the quotes on them. i love how you dote on your husband and family. most of all, i love how you continuously remind us to bring all our cares to God. when you are down, you know where to turn. i have been putting too much stress on myself lately. it seems that i’m still not feeling on track after coming home from our long vacation – even though that was almost 3 weeks ago, now! and when i’m stressed i get short and cranky and things don’t go as well as they should. yesterday i was yelling at my boys for not doing their schoolwork diligently enough. arg. but when i came back up to the schoolroom i was received with hugs and a “you deserve the mom award” from my youngest. i so don’t deserve these precious boys, but i’m glad God gave them to me anyway. i need to take time to breathe, slow down, and most importantly, spend time with God. i haven’t been doing that on a regular basis since we got back from vacation. that’s always the missing link, isn’t it? thanks again for the reminder, friend!