Hey again. I bet you didn't think you'd hear from me this quickly. I just wanted to share something with you very quickly and please DON'T TAKE IT THE WRONG WAY, please. I want to share this because of how great everything worked out to the glory of God.
The way I see it this morning was a miracle and a great work of God's protection! Not, woe is us and look at what could have happened. It is what did happen that matters the most. Do I have you on the edge of your seats?!?!? Hehe. Good.
So here we go. There once was a tree, growing happily amongst its friends. It grew for years and years until one day this crazy guy came along and chopped down all its friends. Little Ashy (let's call it that) cried for his little friends but also sighed a sigh of relief that it could still grow and get bigger. Well, the years were not really friendly to little Ashy. It did grow but it also became bug infested. Little critters started eating at its bark and burrowing under its skin. It became all itchy. The man with the chain saw and his annoying people started building this house right there.
One day, the man came out to inspect Ashy. He didn't like the fact that Ashy was too close to his saw mill and also he thought that the tree would take out the house if it ever became more diseased. So, he decided to take it down.
This morning we took it down. Sean was off from work and he and Tom set up the tree making sure that they tied it off to go away from the house. We prayed (really good thing too) and he asked us to leave the house as soon as we heard the chain saw start. Chain saw starts, and we kind of run out of the house. Sean is watching the tree with it tied off toward him. The rest of us sit down among our cold frames and watch and pray. The wind was all wrong! It was pushing little Ashy toward the house! Tom waited, I prayed, as he watched the leaves. At some point the wind shifted and he decided to slowly make his final cut. The chains saw has a new blade and it cut through little Ashy like butter. As the tree started going, all I could see that it was going the opposite direction we wanted it to. It fell instead toward the house! Ever so slowly. It was like I saw the last three years flash before my eyes (not really, but kind of). Tom was running in the direction the tree was falling as well! As soon as the thing hit the ground Sean was sprinting toward the tree and Tom was yelling he was fine. The tree... well the house...
Damage assessment!
And this is where I am so thankful and that this is such a miracle, such a provision of God. We can look at this and say, the tree hit the house! Yup, it did. Natasha ran into the house and checked all the windows.
From the first floor
None of them were broken. The house was still standing. The foundation was not broken, the Tyvec was just scratched. Only one of the basement windows had its molding broken. Tom already fixed that.
It looks pretty bad on the outside
Logan was really excited and happy and was bounding around singing. I just sat quietly on Ashy's big trunk. Ashy is pretty huge. It will give us beautiful floor boards. The rest will be great wood for burning. As I sat there I contemplated the joy I felt. No, I was not hopping around but the tree had fallen without causing any major damage. A couple feet to the left and it could have take out the house. A couple of feet to the right and it could have taken out our generator. It didn't even touch the bikes. It missed Tom's saw mill completely. How could I not have been thankful and praising the great God of the universe.
The way I see it, everything worked out for good. There is a verse in the bible, "All things work for good for those who are in Christ Jesus". I don't know where that is right now, but it sure is true.
So I felt that this is really a cool story to share. All the brush is cut up and in a pile. The tree fell so that we can put it right onto the saw mill without a problem. It will give us a lot of board length because the tree was nice and straight. Tom would have had to have taken it down eventually or it would have fallen onto the house. It was naturally inclined to do so. So controlled, it came down and landed where it was supposed to. I still am in a little bit of awe of what happened.
This does not mean that we are going to throw in the towel and move back to CT and buy a home and all that. This does not mean that Tom and Sean are done taking down trees (Sean is doing that right now for the nice lady Natasha works with). It means that we will forge ahead full steam ahead and whatever happens, God has our back! Amen on that!!!
Greetings from a very dusty and dry Vermont. We have been in need of rain and we finally got some. We were so thankful because after our little drain pipe dried up, we needed to find another place to water our raised beds. And it was down the very steep hill at the bottom of the ravine. We have a stream there and it is going really well (for now, thank God). It is just down the hill and through territory infested with pesky (according to Chet) squirrels and chipmunks. So the first morning, after the demise of the drain pipe, I went to start the watering. We do this first thing and it usually takes a while. The kids and I were supposed to water the plants but as I scrambled down the hill I was just overcome with this intense feeling of not being able to do this. I was crying and throwing a fit, because the kids were not helping me!!! Come on, now, all right. This is what we have to do!! And just this feeling of entitlement came over me. My back hurt, my legs were going to be tired and I had just had it. I threw the bottles into the water and sobbed defiantly! Why was this all so hard! Couldn't we live like everyone else and have running water and a spickit for our plants. Well, of course we could, but that is not what we have right now. The kids and I have been learning about meekness and it is basically giving up our rights to anything. It doesn't mean that we will never have running water and we don't want it. It means being content with not having running water, living out of boxes, sleeping on the floor, cooking on a 2 burner camping stove, storing some food in coolers outside, having no floor or walls and running to the town when we have to go or the outhouse or the little girls woods. It means I need to be content with what I have been given. Some days this is harder than others.
Like for instance, Tom has been building his own saw mill. Yes, his own saw mill. He researched it and is slowly and painstakingly putting it together.
The door to Narnia
Diving down, not head first!
I wish this thing had a manual
I think this will work
How did we get up here?
I hope the tree is strong enough
So it is not going too well (from a worldly standard). The thing is really impressive and it looks like it could work, but it is not working at this point. He is getting closer and closer to the point of working it but in the meantime, I still have no floors or bathroom or walls, stairs to the upstairs and so on. It dawned to me that even though I could insist on the right to have Tom hurry up and finish these things, I really didn't have the right to. That right belongs in God's very capable hands. It seems that this is a very hard lesson for me to learn because He seems to be bringing it up over and over again. When the house was on the market, it sold exactly at the right time and I should not have spent time fussing and complaining over how it was not selling. The sawmill will be built, the house will be finished in God's perfect timing. Whether or not Tom will finish it before he has to go back to work is entirely up to Him since He know what needs to be done. The only thing I can do is to control my heart and my attitude before a righteous God.
Go Logan!
So other than that we have been quite busy. Logan and I are doing really well with school. We would like to finish by the 14th of June, the date of our evaluation. We are sprinting along in history (his favorite) and are getting through science (it is bug time :)). Language lessons are flying by and we are well on our way. We have finished our cursive book. My mother sent Logan a special fountain pen from Germany and he is loving it. He is still loving swimming and is doing really well.
Sean now has 2 clients up here. The first one came about 3 weeks ago and they are neighbors of ours down the street. They have 3 minies (Sean is used to that). The other one is this weekend and it is a trim in New Hampshire. He is really happy about that and I don't think he minds sharing that. He now has magnets for his truck with his logo and his info on it. Looks really professional. I am so glad for him He was able to attend one of his friend's graduation from college here in VT last weekend. He was really happy that he was able to do that.
Natasha is on the other computer right now filling a job application out for a local super market. She is just going to see what comes of it. We are still planning on a graduation this summer.
this is my garden!
She has been helping one of the ladies from church with her garden. She is loving it. This lady is so wonderful and she is teaching Tasha so much about gardening and about herbs. They have a lot of fun digging in the garden and she actually put a fat, gooey worm on Logan's shoulder yesterday morning. Logan took a large leap and screamed like a little girl because he thought it was a huge spider. This is my daughter who wouldn't get her hands dirty! My she has come a long way. It is a good thing Logan forgave her. It could have turned ugly!! We could have had a worm fight on our hands.
The garden here is coming along just fine. We were in desperate need for rain and we did get it. Things are going well. We were just replanting today because some things just haven't come up yet.
Peach blossoms
Rain for the plants
The trees were flowering, of course not the apple trees. The peaches and our grapes flowered and so we were quite happy about that.
Chet is still hanging in there well. We have upped his food (a lot!) and he is quite a chubby German Short haired Pointer. I laugh at him and tickle his belly sticking up when he is laying down. He still has some issues but he will make it. He was hilarious the other day. He was chasing another chipmunk and the thing just disappeared. After looking around and sniffing he became quite indignant that the thing didn't just show up to let him chase it. So with an indignant sigh, he marked his spot right where the chipmunk had disappeared and walked away. Tom was laughing quite hard at him.
Really it is still cold here!
Mouse!?!?!?!?
Other than that, yes Logan had his first driving stint the other day. I am glad to say the car, the driver and the passenger are recovering well. No, kidding. He did well. He pushed the gas and break and Tom steered . I guess that is what boys do up here. There ain't much else to do really. Oh, yes of course. There is always a house to build.
This weekend there may be some tree felling. Then we may go and see bald eagles. We tried to do that on Mother's day but Tom conveniently twisted his ankle. Yes, I know. He was faking it. He just wanted to sleep. Anyway, so I hope the weather will be as nice as it was last weekend. I am dying to see them.
That reminds me, happy Mother's day all you mothers and God bless.
