December 19, 2012 Greetings My Friend, I’m out in the truck at the Michigan house we still have no power. I have my computer charging up on an inverter in the truck and I am filling my time waiting for more light in the house so I can paint the trim to the doors etc. I tried painting yesterday and it was dark and I missed a whole lot of the frame so today I decided to wait for better light to work in. Junior is outside cleaning up the yard, trimming trees and such. He has made a lot of progress. He too wants to paint but it is cloudy and difficult to see so he finds other work to do. We have had a very productive week and are on the last two areas that need paint. The yard has been cleaned up and shrubs and trees trimmed and again it has been a very productive week. It is quiet and I hear the voices of the children on the playground at the school across the street. There is always a moment in my heart when I hear children playing on a playground and it feels so familiar. I remember back when I was in school. I remember back to when my children were in school. It is a comfortable sound to me. I guess I’m in memory lane a lot this week. I don’t try to stay in memory lane all the time but these trips back flood my brain with fond memories. I always felt it was good to let the kids walk home from school. I felt so many of life’s lessons were on the playground and on the walk to and from school. I remember when my children were in kindergarten and I would walk them to school. They walked home with kids from the neighborhood after school. Many days they’d run in the door telling me all about what the encountered on the way home. I remember trying to get them to talk about their day. Usually I got “it was ok or not much went on” I soon learned to ask them about lunch and the playground happenings and I found out all kinds of information. I was shocked when my 5 year old began to tell me some of the stuff that was talked about on the playground. In my heart she was way too young to be talking about such grown up matters. It was an opportunity to put my input into their thinking caps. I remember one of my daughter’s teachers’ telling me how she liked to whisper real loud to her friends. My daughter was a talker and loved to be outgoing. I found more information about what the kids were thinking and trying to deal with by listening to the lunch time/playground talk than asking what they did in the class room. The parent teacher conferences and report cards helped me know how they were learning. Yup this week we are at the old house seems to bring back memories. Unlike the years I lived in fear of what my ex could possibly do to me, these memories are pleasant and remind me I have been a Mom and I did the best I knew how with what I had. Was I perfect? Probably not but again I know deep in my heart I did the best I could with the information and life I had lived up to that point. It hurts to look back and see all the dysfunction that went on in the home but again I did what I could with what I had. People tend to think if you have a good job, make good money then you should have the answers to life. For me anyway I have found many people who have book smarts and no common sense. I see it more and more as I get older. Just because a person has a degree, a fancy job does not mean they have any common sense. The older I get and the longer I am in a faith journey with God well I find that I am able to make better choices in my life. It did not make sense to move to Virginia. We felt led to move, we moved and there is not a day that goes by where I am not thanking God for where we are. I would have thought living in the country was not for me. I’ve lived in the suburbs my whole life with a couple of years on a farm in Colorado when I was very young. I grew up and settled in a suburb and raised my children in a suburb so I figured country living would be way too hard for me. Junior and I love where we are at. We love the slower pace to life. We love the people and frankly I’m ever so glad we moved. It has days where the journey has been difficult for sure but in the end I am where I need to be and love it. I can’t go a day without being thankful for the house we have now. It is perfect for us as we grow older. I love the backup systems we have in place for when the power goes out. I love the laundry on the same floor as our bedroom. I love the wrap around porch. Yup I believe God led us to this new home and again I tend to thank God each and every day. Mine and Junior’s relationship has grown deeper. I have learned that Junior meant it when he said “for better or for worse” in our marriage vows. I need to trust Junior more because I can’t run to girlfriends when he annoys me. I have to learn to live with his strange to me ways and frankly I find I love him even more so. As I get older my heart wants to walk with God in all areas of my life. I am learning to let go of the need to control each detail of my life and when I can let God be in control I am amazed at the peace I have. Have you thought of letting God be in control? May God bless you and keep you, make His face to shine upon you. Love Janet