Just Us

That which seems evil, is it a cloud to bring rain, to bring a greater good to the whole of the world?   Who would ever know the greater graces of comfort and perseverance, mercy and forgiveness, patience and courage, if no shadows fell over a life?  I dare flip the cue card over and I make out the words on the backside, "See now that I, I am He, and there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life.  I have wounded and it is I who heal" Deuteronomy 32:39.  I nod.  I know. I know. And these truth words reconfigure the battlefield under my feet . ---From the Ann Voskamp's book, One Thousand Gifts I love this quote from Ann Voskamp.  She has a way with making sense of difficult circumstances and pointing us back to scripture to ground our thoughts and feelings.  Never in my life have I experienced so many hard goodbyes in just one year.  And never have I heard the words so often, "I'm so sorry for your loss."  Never have I ...

"God said, " It had to be somebody who'd plow deep and straight and not cut corners. Somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed and rake and disc and plow and plant….Somebody who'd bale a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh and then sigh, and then reply, with smiling eyes, when his son says he wants to spend his life 'doing what dad does.'" So God made a farmer."---Paul Harvey William Dunn.   But better know as “Billy” or “Wild Bill”, husband, dad, or to several of us lucky ones…Grandpa Billy.  Grandparents are a special gift and the memories you make with your grandparents are memories that cannot easily be forgotten.   They are treasures that you hold on to. So….unforgettable memories with Grandpa Billy?  Those we’ve definitely got.   Some appropriate for sharing, some not   so much.   But many of my earliest memories are with Grandpa, sitting in a tractor.   During harvest, I’m pretty sure our mother was TH...