Pruning

I've read that February is a good time to do pruning of many of the bushes we have. And they really needed it.  Last weekend we had a beautiful day; a taste of spring in the air!  A great day to get out to prune, rather than some cold, nasty day like we will have this coming weekend.

 Lots of dead branches and ones that were not in the right places.  Snip, snip!

We got rid of one bush altogether.

 Ready for burning.



It is the branch that bears the fruit, 
    that feels the           knife,
To prune it for a larger growth,
    a fuller life.

Going to the brush pile, the geese who were lazily floating on the water took off at the sound of the truck.

 

 Al gave us a ride in the back of the pickup until we got back to the highway.

Now that the out-of-control rose bushes have been pruned back, 

we can once again see the rocker bench!

 Look at these silly girls without jackets!  A reminder of the nice warm day - this is February!  But this weekend it will be single digits again as a polar vortex comes through Kansas.

 Papa gave Claire a little ride in the back of the pick up too.  She wasn't too sure about that!

                                                                
                                                                     

Rejoice, though each desire, each dream 
               Each hope of thine
Will fall and fade; it is the hand 
         Of Love Divine

That holds the knife, that cuts and breaks
                  With tenderest touch,
That you, whose life has borne some fruit,
              Might now bear much.
                                      Annie Johnson Flint

                                                             

Friends - Old and New

This past week as I was visiting my mother at the rehab unit of the nursing home, a lady walked into the room.  She said "You don't know me.  I'm from Nebraska and I read your blog."  

This is my new friend, Jo

She knows my young friend from church, Andrea, as she is from the same town in Nebraska.  Andrea says she went to school with Jo's son!  She "found" me through Andrea's blog.  We have similar interests so she has continued to read my blog.  

Her mother lives around here and recently had a fall and broke her hip.  When they were at the hospital, she saw Al and thought he looked so familiar.  It dawned on her that he was my husband (I put his picture on the blog regularly). 

Then she saw my post of my mother and recognized her as the lady across the hall from her own mother in the nursing home!  Small world!  

Tonight my "old" friends got together to celebrate one of our "sister's" birthday.  

Helen went through a very scary time and we thought we were going to lose her.  Well, as a Christian, she wouldn't be lost!  Not sure why we use that term.  We would know she would be with the Lord, safe in His arms!

But we are blessed that she is recovering from her infection and surgeries!!   

We surprised Helen on her special day.  We all met at the home where she is recovering and went into her room singing "Happy Birthday".  

We couldn't all fit in her room so went to the dining room where we visited and had cake.

We each shared a verse of Scripture with her and then covered her in prayer.

Here is a picture of some of us.   We started out over 20 years ago with just 6 of us.  It evolves year to year. There are 17 of us in the "old ladies" Bible study this year (that is how I distinguish it since my friend Sarah and I lead a young mom's Bible study too).

 I don't mind being called "old".  I grew up in Japan where old age is revered.  And after all...

" White hair is a crown of glory and is seen most among the godly." 
 Proverbs 16:31

Psst - I know.  My hair isn't gray.  But it would be if I didn't use a box.  My children think I should let my hair grow gray, but I can't.  Not yet.  Maybe in 10 years.

Thanking Him for friends, new ones and old ones!

Cheering

Back in January, my daughter-in-law sent these pictures of our granddaughter, Emeri.   She was in a cheerleading squad for the high school team.

A couple of weeks ago, our other granddaughters also helped to cheer at a high school game.  Before it was time to do their cheering, they were running around with all their friends.

Claire was doing her own cheering.  (someone else was too)

I can't leave this post unless I cheer about my grandson too!  

No, he didn't join a cheerleading squad.

He started piano lessons!  His daddy is teaching him.

 Go Eli!!!

Mom out of the hospital

They called me yesterday to say that they were ready to move mom.

It is unbelievable how fast they move patients out of a hospital!

The hospital was very full!!!  I had a heck of a time trying to find a place to park.  I ended up having to go up to the roof to park!!  There were only a couple of spaces below, but they were a tight fit that I didn't want to try to maneuver.

I spent about an hour with mom before the driver came from Hesston.  I was behind them as they took mom to the recovery facility that will be treating her.

 I was disappointed that she couldn't be at the same place as dad, but really, they aren't that far apart.  Dad is only 7 minutes away from me and mom is only 15.  Cannot complain!

And mom's room is so very nice!

After getting her checked in, I went to her house for some things.  Then Al and I drove daddy up to see her.  They were so happy to see one another!

We hope mom will recover soon!

Hand me downs

I didn't have a sister so I didn't get hand-me-downs.

 I know Mindy got lots of hand-me-downs.

I did get hand-me-downs in another way.  As an MK (missionary kid), we often received missionary barrels.  These were filled with all kinds of things.  I wasn't so excited about the clothing sent from the churches in the States, but I sure looked forward to receiving toys!  Unless the dolls were quite "used" with hair falling out. That did sometimes happen, unfortunately. 

One of my friends who was an MK in Ethiopia says she remembers that they got some used tea bags.  No kidding!  The lady who sent them said there was still some "goody" left in them.  Goodness.

My brother Dave and his wife, Linda are very generous and they have often given us or the kids hand-me-downs.  Nice ones!

  

This week we drove to KC because they had a washer and dryer set they wanted to give to our daughter and husband.

After a delicious chili luncheon, we drove to the kids' and switched out the old for the new.

And the kids enjoyed their rides.

 My mom was going to make this trip to KC too, but instead is still in the hospital.  We are hoping for her dismissal this week.  Looking forward to her recovery.

Many thanks, Dave and Linda!!