I like this poet. His name is Malcom Guite.
Although the host interrupts his reading of another poem, I will include it.
Author: Angela
I write so my family will always have letters from home.
Danish Trolls 🧌
The missionaries like to visit these trolls on their preparation days, and Mark sends photos of them from time to time. These whimsical creations can be found throughout the world, including the United States. They’re kind of quirky and fun, and each has a name. The Danish sculpture artist who creates them is Thomas Dambo. You can do a Google search for his troll map. Richard and I saw one of his trolls in the Huntsville Botanical Gardens but oops, didn’t take a picture.
Harvest
Mark is serving his last few weeks of his mission and this post is a record that my missionary “son flowers” arrived again this year. In fact, I had to thin them by about 50% earlier this summer because the ground was so crowded. God is an abundant giver.
My first missionary sunflower showed up 8 years ago on the week that Daniel left, and each year their return has been a symbol of hope for me, a new love language expressed to me by the Lord.
Just like the surprising arrival of the sunflowers, I didn’t expect to have feelings of loss during these last weeks of being a missionary mom. I didn’t realize I will miss this burden that I can now call sweet.
Soon we will end this era of writing and sharing spiritual moments, praying for friends I will never meet from countries far from home, and so many unique blessings and experiences. It has been a good era because the Lord has been very near.
Like the sunflowers, the impact of our sons’ missions grows and multiplies with the years, bringing blessings to them and the people they loved and taught. The Lord of the Harvest is so, so good.
Feeling kind of proud of this.
I’ve finished repairing a piece of furniture, and this will go on my list of great accomplishments in life. 😉 Fellow furniture revivers, you know what I mean.
My blistered hand is healing after disassembling, cleaning, reinforcing, and reassembling an upholstered ottoman, collapsed from the weight of teenage boys in our basement. This job required two years of gathered courage and then some ingenuity. It turned out better than I hoped, and it’s all fluffy-puffy goodness for your feet now.
It took about seven months
I am tackling a book of 365 daily Shakespeare readings this year. Each day, after a brief introduction, the editor sets the reader free to interpret the text.
It’s jarring for me to be thrown into a different plot every day. I haven’t enjoyed the book, and I don’t think this is a good way to experience Shakespeare. However, sometime in July, I noticed the words were making more sense. I began to appreciate the human experience being expressed and it wasn’t such a wrestle to find it.
It took seven months. Seven!
Why do I share this? Perhaps just to say there is hope for someone who keeps trying.
Some photos of our time with family
Two tables
There are moments in life where I can expect to have parental joy and awe, such as weddings, births, baptisms, and other milestones. And then there are moments that surprise me, like sitting down to a meal and realizing our once little family now takes up two tables at my parents’ house.
There is room for Mark at the table where I was seated. He’ll complete his mission in late September. 🇩🇰🇩🇰🇩🇰
Happy birthday to my beautiful daughter
little things
I don’t do big things lately. In fact, I juggle a schedule of many little things that I won’t list here. I’ve been temped during this season of my life to feel superfluous or unneeded because I’m no longer planning big events, speaking to large audiences, or raising children. But that temptation is a lie.
It turns out that little things, done consistently and with love, are just as transformative as big things. It’s also true that little gestures matter to people.
The Lord chooses to work by small means most of the time. My current season of doing small things helps me trust the Lord’s method of elegant, simple solutions.
Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.
And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.
Alma 37:6-7
Home for 14 Years
It’s our 14th anniversary of moving into this house. As I focused on this reality today, a parade of events marched through my mind, awakening gratitude. This beautiful house is about 50 years old, showing its age in the creaky floors and some other funky features. It’s seen many residents and many events beyond our’s, but I think we’ve inhabited it well.
It’s a house of faith, learning, and revelation. It’s a house of music and gathering; love and work.
This house has been a protection for us in every way. We are surrounded by kind people. It’s a basic, pretty house with a stunning backdrop of mountains and trails, and I’m glad it is our home.