Grandma Eleanor

Michael's grandmother, Eleanor Florence, passed away early this morning. Grandma was a dear lady and I am grateful that I was able to get to know her in the last 9 years.

Grandma had a great sense of humor and a very generous heart. She was always thinking of practical ways to be of help. I loved the fact that she would frequently change her entire apartment around (the furniture) all by herself (as a child I was always moving my bedroom furniture around by myself).

Most important, Grandma had placed her trust in Christ for her salvation and she longed for each member of her family to do the same. It is a precious thing to have a grandparent praying for you. Our daughter, Rachel Eleanor, is named after Grandma.

"All the days ordained for me were written in Your book, before one of them came to be."
Psalm 139:16

The Word From Bed

Now that we have completed the current round of doctor's appointments, I thought I would put in a little update on my health, for those of you who are wondering.

The doctors have all confirmed that what happened to me this summer was a thyroxine overdose which led to me developing hyperthyroidism and caused the nasty crash that has landed me in bed. I am back to my normal thyroid level, and am beginning to move beyond my bedroom as strength allows.

I am to plan on gradually increasing my household activity over the next three months, hopefully getting back to my normal level of responsbility by the end of that time. From there we just continue to deal with the underlying chronic fatigue and allergies that have been a problem all along.

Thank you all for your kind thoughts and prayers over the past months of what has been the most difficult trial of my life. God has provided grace one hour, one day at a time. He is to be praised for His faithfulness to us. Please do continue to pray for me, as you think of it, that I would continue to trust and obey, and that God might see fit to restore a measure of strength to me.

The Apple of Your Eye

"Keep me as the apple of Your eye;

Hide me in the shadow of your wings,

Psalm 17:8

Cuties

Michael was out of town for church business a few days last week so we were happy to have Mrs. Glasheen and then Grandma here at our house to help. The children had lots of fun doing all sorts of activities.

One day the house was filled with butterflies, bees, and moths and these creatures performed a darling little play for us, beginning with a scene at "Starbugs".

Simplicity

I found this quote today and really liked it:

"Simplicity is the

ultimate sophistication."

--Leonardo da Vinci

IKEA

A friend brought us an IKEA catalog today! We don't have an IKEA near to us, but a friend away at college is close to a store and we might just be able to convince her to pick something up for us sometime.

The catalog brings back so many memories. When we lived in Scotland, we got a number of things from IKEA for our little house. The best memory is of us travelling to IKEA by public transport.

We didn't have a vehicle of our own in Scotland, so we learned to get places by various means. One Bank Holiday we decided to head for IKEA. We set out on foot from our house and walked about half a mile to the train station. There we boarded a train for Glasgow. Once in Glasgow, we walked part way across town to the banks of the Clyde river. There we got on to a boat taxi that took us about 45 minutes up the Clyde to the Braehead shopping area. Leaving the boat, we manoeuvred our way across several large carparks to the entrance of IKEA. We made it!!! And, we even randomly met some friends there from our little town.

After our enjoyable walk round IKEA, and a cup of tea in their restaurant, we started the long journey back by foot, boat, train, and foot once more. It was definately a fun day out. I think staying home and shopping by catalog will be a lot easier this time around. :)

Remains of the Day

My Mom arrived yesterday with a great big handful of leaves for me to "oooh" and "aaah" over. The kids later stuck them between wax paper and brought some up to put on one of my windows.

The day is gently fading away as I write. Last night a bright glow out the window caught my eye. The scene outside mesmerized me. There stood the autumn-colored treetops, set on fire by the light of the sun, against a slate-colored backdrop of sky. The only things lit in the whole picture were the rich orange leaves of the trees. Somehow the sun had managed to shine only on those spots.

I sat there in awe of this beautiful scene and watched until the light faded. I turned away, but then was swept back in as a huge rainbow appeared between the trees, shooting up into the heavens. All I could do was just sit there, wide-eyed, drinking in the extra-ordinary ending of a very ordinary day.

I am reminded of that deep desire in us to create, to bring beauty out of bits of chaos, to capture what we see in nature and share it with others in a myriad of forms. It is a mark of the Creator on his creatures, reminding us that we were made in His image.

And what gifts these displays of God's handiwork are -- bringing encouragement to our hearts, just when we need it.

We watched "March of the Penguins" last night and it was absolutely amazing! I can't believe how hard their lives are and all the sacrifice they go through to raise their young. I highly recommend this documentary.
And here is Baby Cakes after enjoying his dinner the other night. What a mess! He is all into noises just now and loves to get a book and sit in a lap and imitate animal noises.