To Believe and Follow

A lot of little things

Things are moving forward here. Donna and Parker are doing well and Parker is playing baseball. I am still working on two or three long-term job possibilities.

We have planted another garden, which proves that we are sadistic gluttons for punishment and failure. ;-)

It seems very possible that we will be able to stay where we are, so we're really happy about that. God has been so gracious and kind. Thanks for your prayers, and please remember to pray for the Mill.

More to come,
Phil

Birthday Fun

Just got back from Houston and my sister's house. We celebrated Father's day and some birthdays. It was the first time in my memory that Mom and I celebrated our birthdays together.

The weather was great and everyone had such a great time. Thanks, 'Chelle for making it so special.

Love you, sis!

Convergence

Both our satellite tv and our internet is down at the house. Some kind of technological harmonic convergence. No worries, we have internet at the church (where I am now) and I always have my trusty phone for sports scores and whatnot. Then there's the radio.

And it's Monday, which makes all the difference. Thank you Lord, for Monday.

Mothers

It is Sunday morning and we have just finished our morning prayer time. It is just a few minutes before I preach the first service and today we're talking about Magnificent Mothers and working through Proverbs 31.

I was thinking about all the moms in my life. I've had plenty, but then I've only really had one. My parents were divorced when I was very young, before I turned two, I think. I grew up with my dad and since the divorce, my dad has been remarried several times and I have had many stepmothers. I went for a long period of time when I was very young when I never saw my mother. Since I have grown, we keep in touch not as much as either of us would like.

In many ways we are not alike, mom and me. What can you expect from living apart our whole lives? But still yet, there is a connection that comes I guess from knowing that she is unlike any other woman in my life. She is and always will be mom.

God gives us grace to go through the parts of life that are tough and life holds plenty of disappointments. Some families know this more than others and I guess it can make a person a little jaded. This world will make you cynical if you let it, but with a mom things are different. Give a little love and you open the love floodgates again. It was always there, waiting to flow again.

I'm thankful my mom is still alive, and that I can talk to her, hug her, and laugh with her. In some ways we're strangers, but in others we're closer than we are with anyone else.

I love you, Mom!

Phil

Kitten Rescue

Two of our three cats had kittens, in the most unusual of places. While the cats were expecting, I kept wondering where they would choose to have them, knowing they would want to find a safe place for them, and knowing our garage wasn't exactly the Mayo Clinic. I even tried to make spaces they might like. Did they choose any of them? Nooooooo. They had to get creative. They had them in our attic.

The problem is, we don't have an attic. Our ceilings are all vaulted except two small areas into which there is no access, unless you are a cat. Those two areas are in the space between the roof lines and the ceilings in our two dormers. One cat chose one dormer, the other chose the other. Both dormers had enough space between the siding and the roof way up in the eaves. And I do mean way up there, so that even a human arm can't bend enough to get up there.

So they had the kittens, and for four or five weeks there they were. Aftera while, you could hear them. The space was perfect they were dry when it rained and they were clearly out of range of coyotes, dogs, snakes, skunks, and even humans. The weather was cool so that space was naturally warm, and all seemed ideal until the weather warmed up.

The day the temperature hit 85 degrees I couldn't stop thinking about those kittens. If it was 85 degrees in the yard what was it under the heat of the asphalt roof with zero ventilation? The mama cats were dark colored, one being all black, so those kittens likely were heat absorbing tones as well.

So I was releived when I came home for lunch one day and found one of them carrying a little black fur ball in her mouth. She climbed accross the roof and jumped across a deep chasm to the stairwell leading up to my office above the detached garage, climed down the stairs and into one of the spaces I had made in the garage for them. One down, would she get the others?

A little later I came back; still only one. So I got the ladder out and picked mama up and onto the roof we went. I put her close to her den-hole and in she went. About 30 seconds later, out she came with another little fur ball. I gently took it from her and there was a few tense moments between kitten and mama cat while I descended the ladder and deposited the second with the first. Mama stayed on the roof and patiently waited for me to return, at which time she went into her hole and brought out the next one.

We repeated that process for her entire litter, and then with the next one as well since the other mama cat was nowhere to be found. (she still hasn't returned) We now have nine healthy, beautiful kittens and all but the first were rescued in this way.

I think mama cat is a hero. Though she would probably say she was just doing her job. (if she could talk) What drama, and what a cool memory. I wish I had it on video.

It has been a little over a week since the rescue operation, and all the kittens are growing and getting cuter by the day. They are eating solid food and most of them are getting socialized. We will keep a few and find good homes for the rest. The Bible tells us to be kind to animals. I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't.

phil

Mud Wrestling

I suppose everyone has a mud story to tell. Parker and his cousin Brock are making stories of their own--in the pond behind our house.

I guess when the weather turns nicer and you have been cooped up inside all winter, you'll do anything to get out! I wasn't there when this happened, but I hear that it took quite some time to get the mud off, and it was still cold enough to give you a chill, especially when the hose was turned on you. I'm sure, though, if you talked to the boys they would say it was worth it.

It's one of the great parts of living in the country.

A Quiet Evening

So the evening started with Monopoly, which is a long game anyway. Then, when Parker got tired of it we just sat around and talked. After we checked his homework, he got ready for bed. For a while, we sat on the back porch which, since we are in the country, overlooks trees and a pond. A storm was heading in and our dog daisy and our cats were playing around our feet like they hadn't a care in the world.

I am so thankful for peaceful times like these. We aren't entertaining anyone, though I love to do that, and there isn't anywhere we have to be right now. No one is sick or hurt, the bills are paid, we aren't hungry. We're together and happily so.

It's not that there aren't any concerns or any troubles that we could be thinking about, it's just that for the moment we have rest. Thank you, Lord, for rest.

Phil