staying warm....

-6 degrees,F. That's -21 C. That's cold. But the sun is shining on that snow, making the scene out the window a sparkly winter wonderland. The snowman and fort the kids made yesterday just glisten in that sun. They won't be playing out there today though, it's too cold.

We will probably be going out and about for a bit though. Maybe later, when the temperature gets above zero. It will warm up to about nine degrees in the afternoon. We have to mail Camille's tablet back for repair, a Walmart bargain. We also need milk and bread and eggs. And a birthday present for Emily...she is turning 30 on Sunday. Thirty!!! She doesn't act a day over...hmm, 12? No, she's not a silly teenage girl...but she certainly isn't OLD. Let's just say she appreciates life. She has the gift of making the best of what life has to offer her. She has a firm and certain belief that God sends each and everything for her very best. So how can she not be glad? She is not totally unselfish by nature, if it were up to her, she would probably curl with a book each and every evening, and find her own things to putter away and do on days off. But she is compelled to work with the youth, and to do things with her siblings. I know she goes out of her own comfort zone to bless her sisters and friends.
My sister's daughter Becky, who is 12 days older than Emily....with Emily. Fabulous at thirty!

Emily from Christmas time...

Her home is also the home of her sisters Abigail and Mirielle. And, of her friends Page and Nellie, who are sisters, and grew up with our girls. Their house is a home. It is comfortable, it is open, and it is welcoming. It is used for good things. Gatherings and fellowship and fun.

Jonathan loves to go to Emmy's house. The little girls do too, it is a big old house, with a nice big staircase, and lots of rooms to explore.

Emily is coming with me tomorrow for Paul's "procedure". After working three 12 hour shifts in a row, the last thing she probably wants is to hang out in a hospital all day, but she is going to be there anyway, and I am thankful for that. It's always nice to have a nurse with you:) Also, a close friend of ours, Kathy, who is a nurse, and actually works in this particular hospital, for the same surgeon who will be doing the procedure, in the exact operating room, is taking the day off because she doesn't want to work on such a close friend...will be with us there tomorrow too. This is really helpful, because she knows exactly what is going on, and she will know what to look for and what questions to ask.

Anxiety. Oh, it lurks. On the one hand, I trust that God is close by, sending all things for our very best. On the other hand, I know that too. But that doesn't mean I am not strongly tempted to worry. To let in some of those dreaded, "what-if" thoughts. Those are a slippery slope. Do you know that it says in the bible, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind."(2Tim.) So therefore I fight against that spirit of fear.

Camille is up and wants to cuddle....