Fall Festival

I LOVE the Fall Festival. I love doing the fundraisers to raise money for it, I love cleaning up Jerry's ranch, I even love the shopping! (And ordinarily I am NOT a shopper.) I love going out and working hard to prepare everything before all the people get there. And most of all, I love the part when, after the sun is setting and the people are all there, we start the bonfire and the hayrack rides.

It's such a great atmosphere. Everyone talking and laughing, knowing in the back of their minds they're on the brink of facing another long winter. It's like the last hurrah. No one cares that the pumpkin patch is really just a bunch of store-bought pumpkins lying on the ground. No one is aware of how carefully we chose the decorations for the Alley of Terror ... the path that creeps through the trees by the pond... trying to be sure everyone would get their share of a frightful atmosphere without crossing the line into the demonic guck. (Not the easiest mission!) And definitely no one knows how much Jerry, Leonard, and I wig out at the last minute, totally convinced that we'll never pull it all together on time.

But we do. And it's always wonderful. It's a great time spent with friends out in the beautiful crisp air of the Fall season. The fire crackles, the kids run, the tractor labors in the distance pulling the hayrack around one more time. But the best sound of all? The sound of friendship. The sound of laughter. The sound of all the pressures of life being put on hold, if only for an evening, while we take time to enjoy life and enjoy each other. Friendship is such a powerful thing that we sometimes forget to fully appreciate.

But never on Fall Festival night.

The Things I Know

I know God loves me . . .

But I don't always know I'm not a disappointment.



I know God will always take care of me . . .

But I don't think He will always keep me safe from harm.



I know God is in control.

But I know people make decisions that greatly affect their lives.

And I know sometimes bad stuff just happens.



It seems like everything I believe has a polar opposite that I believe just as strongly. Some of it is my own wrong thinking combined with my insecurities, but some of the other things can be backed pretty well with scripture.

Is it strange that I believe all of this and still feel a sense of closeness and calm toward God? I guess I don't think so, because what it boils down to is it doesn't really matter how safe we are, whether we suffer from our decisions, or even if God decides to teach us a hard lesson. What matters is He is right there with us. He never leaves us. He never gives up on us. He'll see us through every difficult moment.

You would think I just suffered some terrible disaster in my life, judging by where my thoughts are today. Oddly enough, everything is going amazingly well. In fact TWICE yesterday, God did far more for our family than we even dreamed possible. We are so, SO grateful for His wonderful gifts, but it seems my mind quickly goes to all the people I know who are suffering immensely right now. I know . . . I absolutely KNOW God loves them deeply. We've been through our hard times. We've had our turns. And it's pretty doubtful we'll get through the rest of our lives without having a few more turns. It's an imperfect, sinful world and we shouldn't be surprised that bad stuff happens.

But when I see the good things displayed right next to the excruciatingly painful things . . . when I know my friends are suffering and there's really nothing we can do but care . . . it makes me think about all the many facets of God. I hate when people say "I'm blessed" because something good is happening. We who live in relationship with God are blessed no matter what. Jesus did what He did for all of us . . . and nothing this (sometimes stinking) world throws at us can ever change that.

So sometimes this world just sucks. But knowing God is right there with us . . . Knowing He is going through every moment of every trial right next to us, holding us up whenever needed . . . Knowing His love for us is deeper than we could possibly imagine . . . Knowing in the end He will have the final word. Those are the things that give me great peace. They get me through my own trials and the pain of watching others suffer. I have felt the power of His love as it broke through seemingly impossible situations. I know what it is to be lifted up after feeling you've sunk so low you can never stand again. His love is a powerful thing. Whether we are celebrating victories or trying to find our way through the darkest of days, we are blessed. Because He will never, ever leave us.

Sweetness of Life

At a time when everyone's focus seems to be on all that is wrong with the world, I find myself enjoying my simple little life with my simple little family all the more. We haven't lost a lot of money in the stock markets, because we never had that much to lose. We haven't lost our expensive home because we have quite an inexpensive home (built in the 1920's, if you want to know what old really is!) But that inexpensive home holds treasure that is much more valuable than anything on Wall Street. It holds our memories.

Yesterday Rachel came over with Ellie to hang out for a little while before they had to pick up Aaron from work. We live on a dead-end street across from a park, and for some reason Ellie thinks every time she comes over I'm going to take her to the park. (Probably because every time she comes over, I take her to the park). Yesterday there wasn't time... they had to leave to get Aaron. But Ellie decided to make a run for it! She started running across the park toward the playground as fast as her little legs would take her. I started running after her, and I couldn't help but laugh because she looked soooo funny with her little butt swinging back and forth and her legs kicking out to the sides! Once I caught her, I scooped her up and she giggled all the harder!

That sound of her giggling makes me smile even today. In the midst of the financial crisis, the housing crisis, and every other problem in the world today, a little child was giggling. And when I weigh one against the other, all I can think is, "Life is Good."

Busy Busy Busy

I never used to feel like I was too busy, and back in the day I was busy almost ALL THE TIME. It just didn't matter. I had lots of energy and I thrived on challenge. Not to mention, most of the time I was doing things I loved. (I guess we're really all busy ALL the time, it's just a matter of what we're busy doing.)

These days, it seems I get tired. Maybe it has to do with getting older, but I'm not totally convinced of that. Most of us who are 40-ish and 50-ish have plenty of energy for the things we WANT to do. It just seems like we lean more toward the recreational-type stuff. Maybe we feel like we've paid our dues and it's time to enjoy life. I know for certain that although I enjoyed raising my girls, there was a big sigh of relief once they became grown and I knew their life-choices were no longer my responsibility. It's kind of like going back to when Leonard and I first met. "It's just you and me, baby!" We can do whatever we want, whenever we want.

All of this would be well and good . . . except I really don't want to live life for myself. That's not what I want my life to be about. I really do want to make a difference in people's lives. I want to inspire people to search for God. I want to be a blessing to people.

If only I could get past this secondary desire to just coast through the rest of my life.

We've been talking about joy in our Small Group. Because of that, I noticed something in a song that I normally wouldn't have noticed. "The joy of the Lord is my strength". I can't begin to tell you how many times I've heard that through the years, but for the very first time it really impacted me. His joy gives us strength.

People down Red Bull by the case to keep their energy level up (personally I've never touched the stuff... my thinking is "what goes up must come down"!!!) But God has given us the real thing. His joy gives us strength. If I ever get to author my own Message Bible it will say, "It's like the Red Bull that never goes dry". Can you imagine feeling fully-charged and ready to face any challenge? Can you imagine being full of excitement over the magnitude of possibilities? It may seem like focusing on the task at hand would help us get psyched up, but once again the Bible gives us an answer that doesn't necessarily make sense in the world's thinking.

Focus on Him. Abide in Him. Let His love permeate your soul. Be filled with His joy. And suddenly everything else looks a whole lot brighter...... and most definitely a lot more fun.