It has been over 3 weeks of their sweet sweet company and as I look around at this empty house and I look around at these empty moments, I can't help but cry silent tears and wonder, "what do I do now?"
The pain of Daniel's absence subsides a little with a visitor or two and a different schedule to fill the days. But my heart has been missing him so badly these past days, probably in anticipation of saying goodbye to his parents. It seems that saying goodbye to anyone reminds me of the pain of that goodbye, now over 10 weeks ago, and it reminds me that this is a season of absolute dependence. For people will continue to come and will continue to go, but God always remains. And through the midst of changing schedules and changing routines day to day with the welcome of friends and family, God never changes.
I am so thankful for that.
I am so thankful too for these past 3 weeks that we have spent with Greg and Marlene. From time playing at the beach to time playing in the rain to quiet moments over coffee to laughter around the table, it has been a beautiful time together and Tirzah and I, and Daniel too, have been so blessed with their ever giving, ever loving, ever serving presence.
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| Here we are with some family friends |
I am so thankful too for the work that the Lord has given me, that I might simply have the strength and the courage to "do the next thing". To pray for my husband, myself, and our daughter. To serve and help and nurture Tirzah this day by praying and leading in wisdom (as I am still a little confused at what she needs sleep-wise. . . we are working on transitioning from the change in time-zones!). To tend to the home and the garden. Here are some pictures of our garden as it appears just now:
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| wildflowers! |
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| Onions |
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| We have 2 little green tomatoes! |
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| This is our giant sunflower which I am so excited about! I had to tie it up today because the winds last night blew it over. But it is supposed to be 2 feet in diameter! |
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| Our peas are producing deliciously |
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| I cheated and bought 3 pumpkins and 2 acorn squash plants at the farmers market on Sunday. (well actually, Marlene and Greg gifted them to us!) The seedlings we planted before Hawaii have not come up, so I just decided to buy some plants and try for seedlings next year. |
And I am so thankful that 10 weeks of deployment are complete. Indeed, the Lord's faithfulness can be traced all the way through these weeks. When I talked to Daniel last he said these chain links were such a blessing to him, just to give him a little insight into our day to day lives. Allow me to share the blessings of this past week, week 10 with you, before I send them off to our Soldier overseas:
Tuesday: Gathering our first harvest from the garden: fresh peas!
Wednesday: Sleeping in until 9:30! Everyone was so tired after our red-eye flight home from Hawaii, and everyone slept until 9:30, Tirzah slept until 11 or so!
Thursday: A morning's walk in the garden with my coffee. I can't wait to do that with Daniel again. The air smells so heavenly first thing in the morning.
Friday: Sitting out in the back yard with Greg and Marlene- all of us reading quietly.
Saturday: I had some alone time today at a coffee shop in Olympia while Greg and Marlene babysat. When I came home, Tirzah ran to me with her arms stretched our for a big hug.
Sunday: Daniel called!! I was my favorite call by far! (I will share more of the details with you tomorrow)
Monday: We built a sofa fort! We pulled the couch apart at the two different sections and put a blanket over the separation. And then we moved the buffet so one of the compartments that doesn't have a backing on it, was lined up with the tunnel from the couch. We all crawled through it! Tirzah loved it so much, being chased by Marlene and Greg and being able to "hide" in the little tunnel. Even Greg went through!
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