It’s been over a month since I last posted, and it only seemed fitting that I start ‘back at it’ with a Sabbath Rest hymn. One that speaks of the mystery of Christ’s great love for us! May this always be my prayer – O Father, use my ransomed life
In any way You choose
And let my song forever be
“My only boast is You”
Verse 1
I once was lost in darkest night
Yet thought I knew the way
The sin that promised joy and life
Had led me to the grave
I had no hope that You would own
A rebel to Your will
And if You had not loved me first
I would refuse You still
Verse 2
But as I ran my hell-bound race
Indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross
And I beheld God’s love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
Now all I know is grace
Chorus
Hallelujah!
All I have is Christ
Hallelujah!
Jesus is my life
Verse 3
Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone
And live so all might see
The strength to follow Your commands
Could never come from me
O Father, use my ransomed life
In any way You choose
And let my song forever be
“My only boast is You”
The official start of Summer might still be weeks away, but in our little corner of the world, big plans are afoot! I’ve often said that in my ideal world we’d be someplace warm for the winter, but up in Vermont for the summer. We’ve figured out the “warm in the winter” part (well, it’s mostly warm here in Lindale in the winter), but the summer in Vermont presented a little more challenge. Since our cabin is a family property and used by three generations of Dwinells, it was not available for us to just hang out there all summer. (Though truth be told, we’d be more than happy to do that!) So we signed up for May (when there’s not such a demand since most of the kids are in school) which gives us the honor of opening up the cabin. Gary gets the water system up and running, while I’m inside tackling the dead fly bodies, cobwebs, and any other surprises that be waiting for us! We truly love The Cabin in May, when the trees are just beginning to wake up, and the beautiful ‘bones’ of our landscape are visible! Our niece, Christiana, who lives nearby in Bradford, was up last week (it’s always good to make sure the road is passable and things are generally in good shape!) and she sent along this picture –
I am so ready to be there!!
So that takes care of most of May. We head to Ohio over Memorial Day weekend to watch granddaughter #3 graduate from high school and spend a week or so with our Columbus (area) crew! Looking forward to lots of beautiful family chaos there!
In June, we’ll be back in Vermont, staying at our niece’s house in Bradford while she enjoys some vacation time. We’re calling it ‘housesitting’ – but it’s such a blessing for us to be able to stay there. A huge perk of June is that my sister and hubby will be at The Cabin for a couple of weeks during that time! Pretty sure we’ll be able to get in some good sister time!
July was presenting a bit of a challenge, but we put a little ad in the local whatever (you know – Responsible 70-something couple looking for short-term rental…willing to do renovations, etc.) and that did give us a couple of options. But it was actually the time-tested “friend of a friend” connection that found us this sweet three-bedroom cottage to rent for July and part of August. And the location is excellent – less than 10 miles from The Cabin! Bonus for being in the area in July is that both of our Ohio families will be at The Cabin during the month. So we can spend time with them, but not crowd them. (Plus, we get to go home to a flush toilet. Just sayin’!)
We’re pretty excited about these Summer Plans! We’ll be stopping to see friends and family in the coming and going travels, so let me know if you want us to try and stop by! We are very thankful that these plans have come together so very nicely, and we will once again avoid a Texas Summer. (I’m sure it will happen sooner or later, but not this summer!) We leave TOMORROW!! Today is worship, lunch with friends, final loads of wash, and wrapping up the packing. Leaving your home for four months in the Texas heat requires many boxes to be checked. And really lovely neighbors!
Which brings me to my final point. You know I’m excited about spending the summer in Vermont. All of the above plans are answers to prayer. But our little Texas neighborhood has certainly found its way into my heart, and I will miss the dear folks we have come to love here. Truthfully, we will miss our little nest and the community around it.
I’ll try to keep up the blogging (sporadic though it may be) throughout the summer. But I’m also bringing my sewing machine, so we’ll see how it all works out!
I think the dryer just beeped – better get back to it!
As always – thanks for stopping by –
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand. Proverbs 19:21
Yes, today is Tax Day. The TV is telling me, Facebook is telling me, and my phone calendar is telling me. But let’s not dwell on that!
Instead, let’s think about some of the delights from this past week!
Just a week ago, we had an unexpected visit from my niece and family, who live in Michigan. The kids were on Spring Break, so they had traveled to see Mike’s family in Texarkana! And in the overall scheme of things, compared to Michigan, Texarkana is just about next door!
Can you tell they made a stop at Buc-ees before they got to Lindale? =)
We had such a sweet visit. which included a quick game of Skip-bo! Of course!
What a treat!
Then over the weekend, we had a picnic with our Waco gang – more beautiful family time!
We love having at least some of the kids and grands just a couple of hours away, and we’ve found a sweet ‘in-the-middle’ spot that shortens the drive for both of us. Life is pretty busy for this family, so we were happy to find time to connect before we head to Vermont for the summer!
We rounded out the week with dinner with a nearby friend (that we don’t see nearly often enough)
and some time in the sewing room (dare I call it a studio??) where I was able to finish up a wall hanging that I’d had in my UFO (UnFinished Object) pile for about 25 years!
It’s a very well traveled wall hanging. (And now it has traveled to it’s forever home in Waco!)
Tax day or not – it was good to look back over the blessings of the last week!
So often the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection is blurred with colored eggs and bunnies. Praying those distractions never diminish the glorious truth we celebrate this day – The tomb is empty – He has risen!! He has risen indeed!!
Spotless Lamb, mighty Savior Who lived, who died, who rose victorious
LYRICS:
Vs 1
O Most High, King of the ages
Great I AM, God of wonders
By the blood You have redeemed us
Led us through mighty waters
Our strength, our song, our sure salvation
Chorus 1
Now to the Lamb upon the throne
Be blessing, honor, glory, power
For the battle You have won
Hallelujah! Amen
Vs 2
O Most High, dwelling among us
Son of man sent for sinners
By Your blood You have redeemed us
Spotless Lamb, mighty Savior
Who lived, who died, who rose victorious
Chorus 2, 3
Now to the Lamb upon the throne
Be blessing, honor, glory, power
For the battle You have won
Hallelujah! Amen
With every tribe and every tongue
We join the anthem of the angels
In the triumph of the Son
Hallelujah! Amen
Last Chorus Tag
Sing the victory of the Lamb
Hallelujah! Amen
Vs 3
O Most High, King of the nations
Robed in praise, crowned with splendor
On that day who will not tremble?
When You stand Christ the Victor
Who was, and is, and is forever
And just like that – we’re looking at April!! Phew – it’s been quite the March around here! Here’s a quick summary of some of the beautiful madness that colored our March!
It started with a drive to Ohio.
Thankfully, we were fully stocked with coffee and mini-donuts, our favorite morning road food!
Since it’s a solid two-day drive, we’re always delighted when we can stop and see good friends just outside of Nashville.
It’s always great to spend time with John and Rosie – and by taking this route, we get to see them twice! Sweet!
The primary purpose of this trip was to watch two of our grands performing in a show choir competition. What’s Show Choir, you say? It’s a group of 30-40 incredibly talented high schoolers performing themed Broadway-quality musical numbers. We’d watched a couple of performance videos and were excited to see them in person! Since it was a competition, is was a long day, but incredibly fun to watch each school perform. Of course, the most fun was watching OUR kiddos! .
Our Maddie is a senior, so this was one of her last performances – so glad we were there!
Here’s a link to the performance. The whole video is over 4 hours, so I’ve set it to start at hour 3, which is when their group performs. The other groups were also fabulous, but I’m happy to report that our team won the grand championship! Yay!!
Since that Saturday was jam-packed, our other two days together were more low-key! It was so special to see almost ALL of the Ohio clan (Hayley was in Cincinnati and couldn’t make the trip) right smack dab in the middle of winter!
Not the whole M-ville clan in our group selfie- it’s really hard to keep everyone home!
But we did snag a quick shot of the Gahanna gang before we set off for home.
Four Days of driving.
Three days with family.
Totally worth it!!
We had only been back in Texas for a day when we got a call that Lara (back in Ohio) had taken a bad fall and torn up her knee. She’s a single mom, works full-time, and does a great job managing her busy life. But this brought just about everything to a screeching halt. And so I took a good look at my schedule and started looking for flights to Columbus. Yep, one week after I returned from our Ohio Road Trip, I turned around and flew back!! By the time I arrived, she was doing much better, and a doctor visit while I was there confirmed the good news that surgery wasn’t needed. Phew. She can work from home, is managing quite well, and can even handle driving as long as it isn’t a great distance. I was able to help with a couple of house projects she was working on, tried to stay on top of the kitchen stuff, and managed to keep the laundry under control. Definitely support staff! We all got to spend an afternoon with the M-ville crew, and even got a good visit in with Hayley (the one who couldn’t make it the weekend before!) But the best part was being able to spend some good quiet time with Lara. It was a week well spent! (And I may have to work that into an annual trip to see all the Columbus Conrads (all 11 of them!). But let’s skip the messed-up knee next time, OK?)
I arrived back in Texas just in time to celebrate Josiah’s birthday this past Sunday. They came from Waco for the day, and we fed them waffles, experienced the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler,
and then enjoyed burgers on the deck, along with a couple of good games with the kids. Oh, and the boys loved exploring the neighborhood in the golf cart! What a special day! (But sadly, not very many pictures! I’m really slipping these days!)
Our March Madness was all Very Good Madness, indeed! Any month that I can hug ALL of my children, their loved ones, and all twelve of the grands – well, that’s the kind of madness I’m really good with!
And so we turn the calendar page over. April will bring its own brand of busyness as we prepare to head north at the end of the month for the summer! The plan is starting to take shape – and I’ll share more of that in the days to come!
Thanks for stopping by – hoping your March was filled with as much joy as ours was!
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