December 12, 1012 Greetings My Friend, We are in Michigan at our old home. We’ve been painting and cleaning up so that we can rent the house out again. We’ve stayed in the old house again and I had wondered if I would miss it. Nope, I don’t miss it. I walk around and remember some of the times we had here. It was a good home for us when we were both working. We moved closer to both of our jobs and our church so that part was real nice. It was a small but not too small home so keeping it up was not a problem. We had the Grandchildren spend many nights with us. I can walk around each of the rooms and remember different times we had with them. For me I loved baking with my Granddaughter. Papa Junior loved taking the Grandson outside and giving him boards with a hammer and nails or a shovel to dig holes with in the yard. We had an oversized stuffed frog that we put on the bed and A loved dressing it up. She’d put on Papa’s clothes, a necktie and then we’d go in and admire her work. A also loved taking pictures of her creations and we loved her using our camera. I felt she had a real knack for taking pictures of course I was smitten because she is “my” beautiful grandchild. Still she seemed to have a real knack for picture taking. In the evenings we would watch a video and eat popcorn. Oh those were the days. They are wonderful memories but no I’d rather be in Virginia now. I love our home an old farmhouse. I love the renovations Junior has made so far and anxious for the day he will be done. I love my walks along a quiet country road with a pack of dogs following alongside of us. Our drives are beautiful even the drive to the grocery store. Life is slower and so peaceful and I love it. Then we also had monthly Bible study groups at our house which I loved. When we come back to Michigan we often will get with these dear friends for a night of remembering and catching up on our lives. We usually will have a potluck meal which is always fun. Junior and I grew in our relationship here as well. We lived in his house until we sold it and found this house. We got to know each other fairly well here. As much as we felt we knew each other before we married we learned even more after moving here. I am a neat person and Junior is more comfortable with clutter all around him. Junior had one of the bedrooms as his office. He kept it cluttered to his heart’s content and the rest of the house had order for the most part. For some reason the kitchen table was a constant battle to keep under control, still is in our new home. We formed our habits at this house. We formed our style of being a couple at this house and the memories are good ones overall. Junior did get into lawn art for a bit and we did get a letter from a neighbor unsigned of course asking that he quit with the lawn art. Still, the memories are mostly good. Actually I smile when I think about the letter. My Junior is a man who is creative and sometimes his ideas of art don’t match the world’s idea. My man is precious and I love him and all his unique ways. I learned to talk with God when my guy is doing strange to me things. I don’t go tattling on him. I don’t ask God to change him. I ask God to open my eyes to my unique guy and God is always faithful and opens my eyes and I fall in love more so. I feel ever so close to Junior. It is a marvelous feeling to feel so connected with another human being. He is a man and for the first time in my life I am able to comprehend the maleness in a man. Prior to Junior I wanted to be close to a man but they generally hurt too much to invest my deepest being in. I can say Junior is my best friend. I believe when Junior taught me that he wanted me to go to God first he taught me a valuable lesson. Again the goal is not to ask God to change my guy but to understand him. It is the Agape love in action again and I must say I love it. I have needs for sure and if I am seeking Junior’s highest good I find that when I have things I need to be taken care of, they seem to happen without my asking for them directly. God knows what I need. God will provide when I need it. That is an awesome lesson. I don’t have to keep tabs on my needs because God will. If I am going about my life and living it for God’s glory, well I seem to have my deepest needs met without asking for each and every need. When I find things to be a struggle to deal with God will help open my eyes to what I need to see and I grow and learn and well life moves along ever so comfortably. I believe in my heart the healthiest way to live is for God and His glory. Part of me thinks “isn’t that selfish, self-centered?’ As I keep going back to God, reading my Bible and praying my way through life I find that it may seem like it but God’s way is the best. He is the creator so He should have an idea of what we need. It works for me. So we continue to settle in Virginia and I love our new home and our new way of doing life in retirement. I am finding answers to my health concerns which brings peace to my inner being. I love being a “mom” to 8 different pets. I am learning a new culture which at times is confusing but the longer we are here the more we grow in their ways. The past is a pleasant place to walk back into. The present is precious as we learn and grow in the Lord and learn what “old age” means to us. Ten years from now we will remember our first years in Virginia, our first rental home we lived in and I will recall special moments. So we walk in the past for a bit and then continue living in the now. Yup it all works out. May God bless you and keep you, make His face to shine upon you. Love Janet