Every Friday, Susanne at Living to Tell the Story invites us to pause for a few minutes and recount some of the blessings of the week. It’s harder some weeks than others to find them, but they are always there. And looking for them can transform our whole outlook. So here are a few from my week.

1. A park outing. We went with my son, daughter-in-law, and grandson last weekend to Norris Dam State Park for a picnic lunch and fishing. We had our little picnic area to ourselves most of the time. The few people who came and went stayed more than six feet away. Jesse and I left a little early after watching the others fish for a bit—neither of us was interested in fishing and the heat was getting to me. I can’t remember if this was Timothy’s first time to fish, but it was fun to watch him get the hang of it.

2. A potty tent. 🙂 Though the state parks are open, the restrooms are closed. Personally, I’d rather use a public a restroom and sanitize than wonder where people might have relieved themselves outdoors. A while back Jim had invested in a camping toilet and a little pop-up tent to put it in, so he brought all of that and set it up. Yes, I did feel funny using it when another family was in the area, but it was much better than finding a tree to hide behind. I don’t know if they thought it was really weird or a good idea. 🙂

3. Time off. This was something from the week before last that I forgot to mention. Everyone in my husband’s company was required to take a week of vacation in May since business was running a little slow and some of their clients were closed. Jim chose the last week in May plus a couple of Fridays before that. He got a lot done in our yard and our son’s, rearranged his office a bit, cleared some things out of the garage, and took some things we both had culled to the thrift store.

4. An actual letter! My oldest son and I used to write back and forth when he first moved out-of-state, but that eventually fell by the wayside since we FaceTime pretty regularly. So it was a nice surprise to get a letter from him.

5. An unexpected history. I’ve had this little mini cedar chest for years. It had been my mom’s, and I kept all kinds of childhood treasures in it. Now it just has odds and ends. It never occurred to me to ask when or where she got it. Then my friend Susan had a post about these Lane chests. It turns out that for many years, the Lane company gave these out to female high school seniors who requested them. It was fun perusing this site and finding out about the history of them. They share a way to find out when a box was made by its dimensions and inscription (which I have not done yet).

It was so fun to discover that this little box that I have used for decades had such a history!

That was my week. How was yours?

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week
with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

There are so many sorrowful things going on in the world today. It takes intention sometimes to look for the good. Here are some of the bright spots in my week:

1. Little Caesar’s. We haven’t felt comfortable getting take-out while the pandemic is going on. Some of you know how much I love take-out, so I have missed the breaks in cooking. We decided we’d be fine with something like pizza, which isn’t touched by the makers after it’s done and put into a box. A couple of times in the past couple of weeks we’ve been out just before dinner and brought Little Caesar’s pizza home. Hit the spot.

2. Ankle feeling better. Ever since contracting transverse myelitis, my right lower leg registers pain as tingling. I had a few days where my right ankle was tingling like crazy and giving out sometimes when I put my weight on it. We decided to give it a couple of days to see if it righted itself, and it did, thankfully. I remembered later that when I had gone to my sewing machine a few days earlier, the foot pedal was too far away and in an odd position. I tried to maneuver it with my right foot. I must have wrenched my ankle somehow then without realizing it.

3. Time at my son’s house. My son and daughter-in-law invited us over for dinner last Saturday. We had a nice meal and visit and ended by eating brownies and ice cream while watching Timothy play outside.

4. Submission acceptance. A writing blog I follow has people guest post sometimes. I submitted a post, and it was accepted this week! I’ll let you know when it comes out.

5. Ladies’ Zoom Bible study. We were a bit fewer in number than usual, but we had a great time.

Bonus: These beauties are blooming:

What are some bright spots from your week?

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week
with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

Once again we’re pausing to commemorate and “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Here are some of the things I am thankful for this week.

1. Memorial Day. We often watch the Memorial Day concert on PBS the Sunday night before Memorial Day. They usually have actors portraying real-life stories of veterans. I’m so moved by what people went through for their fellow men. It’s good to remember how much our freedoms cost and to appreciate those who fought for us.

2. Roasting hot dogs and marshmallows. We often grill burgers on Memorial Day, but since we’d just had them on Mother’s Day, we went for hot dogs with all the trimmings. Jim grilled some but set up his fire pit for those who wanted to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. Timothy had his first s’more, and evidently loved it, because he chowed it down. It was a fun time.

3. A productive day. Saturday I got lots done, and it felt so good. I think the brain fog from the first few weeks of the pandemic is lifting. Maybe because I’m getting used to the new normal, or because we know more about COVID-19 than we did, or because there’s hope that the pandemic is starting to lift a little—or all of the above.

4. An apple pie visit. My daughter-in-law and grandson are gluten-intolerant, and their favorite bakery advertised apple pies this week. They got one and brought it over to share with us. This place has really perfected gluten-free pie crusts. The frozen ones I buy aren’t nearly as good.

5. Celebrating the end of kindergarten. Timothy finished up his first school year yesterday, and we went over for a visit. We ended up at an outdoor shaved ice place that had a fenced-off area of picnic tables with umbrellas. I didn’t have any this time—I wish they had servings about half the size that they offer. But everyone else enjoyed theirs, and the place itself was set up nicely to be out yet distanced from the other tables.

For those of you who prayed for Mason, the grandson of a former pastor who has been battling leukemia, there have been some small improvements since last week. He’s still sedated while his lungs heal from the bleeding and pneumonia. They’d had him on a paralytic so he wouldn’t move and worsen his bleeding, but they’re starting to take him off of it for a few hours at a time. It did his mom’s heart good to see him moving a bit. He still has a long way to go.

I’ve grieved over sad things happening in our country this week, and may post about them once my own thoughts have been sorted out. It’s timely that my Bible reading was in Amos 5 today, with some of these phrases:

• 14: Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you…
• 15: Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate…
• 24: But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Amen.

What’s something good from your week?

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week
with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

It’s been a quiet week, both here and among the blogs I read. You’d think that would mean I got lots else done. 🙂

Here are some of the best parts of this week.

1. Praying people. Thank you so much for praying for Mason, the little boy I mentioned Monday night. On Wednesday he’d had some “baby steps” of improvement but was still critical. This morning they are doing some sort of lung procedure to help him breathe. And once his lungs heal, he still has to get healthy enough for a bone marrow transplant to battle against his leukemia. It’s a long road, but I hope and pray they start having some good news and progress. (Update: Mason’s body is weakening. It’s going to take a miracle for him to survive. His parents are at peace if it’s God’s will to take him home, but of course they long to have more time with him here.)

2. A haircut. My husband asked me about cutting his hair, but I was afraid to. I’m not very dexterous with my hands. Most of my craft and sewing projects have at least one mistake in them that I have to fix or work around. I didn’t want that to happen with Jim’s hair. My daughter-in-law has experience cutting her husband’s and son’s hair, but we didn’t know if she’d feel awkward cutting her father-in-law’s. But she graciously agreed. She did a great job. Jim was pleased and I was happy to have someone else take on that job.

3. An impromptu get-together. My son and daughter-in-law called one evening to ask about bringing some sandwiches over because they “just wanted to be with people.” So we pooled together our bags of chips and I brought out some baby carrots, and we enjoyed some distanced fellowship outside. Then Jason and Timothy washed their car and played with the water hose afterward.

4. Allergy medicine. All this outside visiting has been nice, but the spring pollen was getting to me.

5. Visiting inside! We dropped a couple of things over at Jason and Mittu’s one night, and they said that since things were starting to open up in our area, and our city’s COVID cases were low, they felt comfortable having us come inside. We’re still refraining from hugs, but it was nice to visit inside again.

What’s something good from your week?

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week
with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

This has been a good week! Here are some of the best parts:

1. Safety. My son and daughter-in-law’s Ring doorbell camera caught someone peeking in their window one night. My son spoke to the guy through the speaker. The guy ran off, but my son called the police. The policeman searched the area, but of course, the guy was long gone. The policeman said the guy wasn’t likely to come back because, if he was a thief, he was looking for an easy target. But the police would still patrol the area for a few weeks. It shook us all up a bit, but we’re thankful for camera doorbells and outside lights and policemen, and, most of all, God’s protection. Timothy was very brave, though, and had his flashlight and megaphone ready for use when the policeman came. 🙂

2. Mother’s Day. My family always goes above and beyond to make the day special for me. My husband grilled burgers and we ate on the patio so we could spread out a bit. We’ve had some socially-distanced visits in the last few weeks, but it was so good to have a meal together again. My daughter-in-law made a wonderful chocolate peanut butter cake.

3. A gift of meals. My daughter-in-law’s Mother’s Day gift to me was four meals she prepared. It was so nice this week to have four nights without thinking about what to have or preparing beyond warming up what she had made.

4. A cup of encouragement. This was a gift from my husband. ♥ I don’t know if I can call myself an author yet (does that happen when you publish a book?) The cup is so cute! But mostly I love that he has always supported and encouraged my writing in any form.

5. A great picture with Timothy. Timothy has been doing this boy thing lately of wanting to make funny faces during picture-taking (or do girls do that, too? When my boys were young, it was bunny ears in every picture. 🙂 ) His dad tricked him into laughing for this one with my lovely daughter-in-law and me.

We did get a little closer than 6 feet a couple of times. But all of us have been home except for my husband and son, and they’ve mainly just been to grocery stores.

What’s something good from your week?

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week
with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

This has been another of those weeks—not bad, but pretty similar to the last several. We enjoyed another distanced visit with my son’s family in the back yard on a very pleasant evening. We’re continuing to find the supplies we need. We were especially thankful to find our favorite TP! 🙂

Here are some other things I am thankful for:

1. Losing five lbs. was a surprise, especially since I have been craving homemade baked goods. The only thing different is that we haven’t been getting takeout food.

2. Benadryl Cream. Somehow I got a couple of super-itchy bug bites on the back of my thigh. Cortisone cream wasn’t helping, but then I remembered I had some Benadryl cream in my purse. That worked much better.

3. Culling the closet. There were a few items I needed to get rid of, so I finally took the time to sort through my closet and pull out things I didn’t use or need any more. I need to check with the thrift store to see if they are accepting donations, but it feels good to have the closet less cluttered.

4. The end of a hard week for a couple of sons. One was asked to work overtime, specifically an hour earlier than usual all this week. Another had been working from home, but Mother’s Day is one of their busiest times, and they were shorthanded.  So he had to go in and work 12-hour (or more) days all this week, last weekend, and I think even some of the week before. This is Timothy’s Daddy, so it’s been hard for the whole family. I’m hoping things go back to normal for them next week.

5. Moms. Speaking of Mother’s Day, I’ve been thinking of the moms in my life. My own, of course, my mother-in-law, my grandmother, a dear lady in my church who I counted as my spiritual mom. Sadly, they are all gone. But I am thankful for their memories and their continuing influence in my life. A lot of women along the way have mothered by speaking an encouraging “word in due season” right when I most needed it. And now a new generation of moms like my daughter-in-law, my friend Rebekah, and others, have been encouraging me and teaching me new things. I hope I can be a blessing to them, too.

I hope you have a special time remembering your mom this weekend.

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week
with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

The first day of May! Turning the calendar to a new page is one of life’s little pleasures for me. But this month, especially, I look forward with hope for safe first steps in returning to normalcy.

Meanwhile, here are some highlights of the last week:

1. Working through a to-do list around the house not only got things done, but felt good.

2. Zoom Bible study. Our ladies only get together for Bible study about once every six weeks. We had our first attempt to do so via Zoom on Saturday, and everything went well. My husband always set things up for our church meeting, and I had thought he would be nearby in case I needed any help for this. But he was working on a project outside. It wasn’t hard at all to figure out, though. Our leader’s Internet cut out near the end, but one lady called her and put her on speaker so she could finish out the session with us.

3. A refurbished basketball goal. I’m not sure why we hung on to the basketball goal that my kids had. The rim was oval instead of round after being laid down for so long. The bottom, which is supposed to be filled with water to provide enough weight to keep the goal upright, had sprung a leak a long time ago. It has been out behind our shed for years. But my husband decided to fix it up for Timothy. He used a car jack to fix the rim, painted the whole thing, and bought a new net and balls. He filled the base with sand instead of water, so it shouldn’t leak as easily. It looks really nice now, and Timothy and his family came over to try it out last weekend.

4. Chocolate chip butterscotch brownies. Mmmm. I’m not sure why they’re called butterscotch. They don’t taste like butterscotch. But they taste good. 🙂 I only make half a batch for just the three of us.

5. A great movie. I just finished a delightful movie over several mornings of stationary bike riding that left me smiley and teary at the same time: This Beautiful Fantastic. Thanks to Laura for recommending it.

Bonus: quick return of power when it went off during a storm, Face Time calls.

What’s something good from your week?

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week
with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

This has been an odd week. It hasn’t been bad at all. We’re just plugging away at everyday life. But as I thought about the Friday’s Fave Five, my mind went blank. Usually I try to keep a running list through the week of what I want to share. This week, by Thursday, I only had one.

But … God is always good, and there are always things to be thankful for. Sometimes they are obvious; sometimes you have to spend more thought.

So here’s what I am thankful for this week:

1. Sibling provision. My brother and one sister are out of work due to the virus—my brother has been for several weeks now. Unemployment processing in his state was backed up. I just heard this week that his unemployment checks finally started coming through. My sister’s store cut hours at first and then closed a couple of weeks ago. Her employer is still paying her for now.

2. Free courses. Serious Writer is offering some free writing classes through the end of April. I just signed up for one and hope to start it soon.

3. Grilled pork loin. My husband prepared this in the sou vide cooker our son made for him and then browned them on the grill.

4. Sunshine. I know I say this off and on. I know rain is necessary. But it sure brightens my spirit to have clear blue skies and sunshine. The temperatures have been crossing back and forth between cool and warm. I always enjoy this stretch of nice weather before the heat of summer kicks in.

5. My roses are exploding.

This one is about to bloom even more.

We’re continuing to find everything we need except Clorox wipes. Thankfully I had plenty on hand already, and we haven’t run out yet. We’re trying new things like boil-in-bag rice when our regular jasmine rice wasn’t available. I made way too much the first time, but now I know about how much to expect out of each bag.

What’s a blessing from your week?

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week
with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

Time keeps ticking by, no matter what we’re doing. Here we are at another Friday and halfway thorough April already! I enjoy these weekly pause to note the best parts of the preceding week.

1. Easter. Though our Easter was different from usual, it was still good. We enjoyed a good church service via Zoom, and a great meal and dessert. The night before, we had a three-way FaceTime call with all the kids, and later my son sent us videos of my grandson unpacking his Easter basket from us and then hunting for Easter eggs. So all in all, a good day.

2. Food swap. We had made ham and cheesy potatoes, and my daughter-in-law had made lasagna. Later in the day my son dropped by for a food swap—we shared some of our Easter leftovers with each other.

3. My favorite candy. I usually make, not Easter baskets, but little metal spring buckets for the kids with Easter candy in them. Timothy’s basket is bigger, with little toys and such. I don’t always make one for my husband, but we usually have enough extra candy for both of us to have some. I did make one for him this year, though. And I was surprised that he had bought me a bag of my favorite milk chocolate Lindt Lindor truffles. He doesn’t usually get them for Easter, so that was a treat. And I also love the small Reese’s eggs.

Yes, by the time I took the picture on Thursday, most of the truffles were gone. I’ve been rationing them out two a day. 🙂

4. Timothy’s birthday. Original plans had been to have a camp-out for my grandson’s birthday. Not only did social distancing throw a wrench in, but the weather was chilly. My son and daughter-in-law rearranged their living room to set up Timothy’s little play tent and their inflatable air mattress for a few days. Then on his birthday they set up a tent in the yard just to play in for a bit. We had another three-way FaceTime call to watch Timothy open presents and sing happy birthday to him. The next afternoon, my son dropped some birthday cake slices off for us.

My daughter-in-law did an amazing job on that adorable cake!

5. Shakespeare’s sonnets. Sir Patrick Stewart has been reading one a day with his wonderful accent on his Instagram account. I’m not familiar with most of them, and I haven’t caught all of them, but I’ve enjoyed the ones I have taken the time to listen to.

I hope you’re still doing well this week! I feel we especially need to pray for our leaders now as decisions are made about reopening businesses and easing social distancing.

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week
with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

I’m not sure how long we’ve been practicing social distancing and isolation now, but we continue to plug away. Counting the good things is a way to express thanksgiving to God as well as help our mental health.

1. Spring and Easter decorations. I usually have them up before now. I wasn’t sure I was even going to bother this year. But then I reminded myself I never decorate just for show or for when people come over: I do it because I like celebrating the different seasons and holidays. So I pushed out of my malaise and set most everything out last Saturday. They do brighten up the place, break up the monotony, and cheer my heart.

2. Meat. My son and daughter-in-law subscribe to a meat delivery service. They had a bit more than they could use a few weeks ago, so they asked if we could do a food swap: they’d bring over some meat for us and then raid our freezer for some gluten-free items I keep on hand for them (my d-i-l and grandson are gluten-intolerant). They brought some cuts of beef we don’t often buy. Then my husband saw a note on a local Facebook group that a nearby wholesale meat processing plant was selling some of their wares to the general public for a few hours. Their ground beef was much cheaper than the grocery store’s and they had meatloaf frozen and already seasoned and ready to cook. So not only was the gift and sale appreciated, but the variety of new things to try was exciting.

3. My husband’s grilling. A while back, my husband used the sous vide cooker my oldest son made to make his teriyaki chicken, finishing them off on the grill. Last Saturday he did the same with hamburgers. Good stuff.

4. Stump removal. Longtime friends may remember our saga of 50 diseased trees a few years ago. The people who cut them down didn’t get them cut as close to the ground as we would have liked. We checked on businesses that do stump removal, and that would have been expensive, especially for that many. We checked on different processes to remove them ourselves, but they were all either complicated or time-consuming. So we covered them up with a layer of dirt and mulch. But with erosion, they’re popping back up again. My husband was poking around them recently and discovered they are rotted and dried out enough that he could dig some of them out with a crowbar as a lever over a piece of wood. For the rest, he built a contraption that helped him get them out. He worked on them mostly bit by bit in the evenings and finished them when he took Thursday off. As soon as we’re able, we’ll fill the holes with dirt. It will be so nice to spend time on the patio or look out the window without seeing stumps. Hopefully soon we’ll be able to start planting there. I appreciate all his hard work.

Before: most of these were sticking several inches up from the ground.

After: He’s going to gather them up and burn them today.

5. Another distanced visit. My son texted one afternoon to ask if they could come over and just hang out with us outside for a bit. So they sat in the grass about twelve feet away while we sat on the patio and Timothy ran around. It was good to see each other in person again. I miss our hugs and head bonks and dinners and outings together—but hopefully we can resume those soon.

Bonus: Good Friday and Easter. Yesterday I shared some of my favorite songs about Christ’s death on the cross for us. Our Easter this year will be different, maybe more subdued than usual. But I’m wondering if that will cause us to think about the first Easter and what it means a little more. We have cause for immense joy no matter the outward circumstances.

That’s our week! How was yours? Happy Easter!