New Years Greetings

Well, hello there all my blog friends! 

 I really am still here, and doing fairly well. 

 What has happened the last three months?

  A whole lot, which is why there has been no posting, until now. 

 Here is the scoop:

Last fall I began one of the busiest ministry season's of my life.  It happened bit by bit, and I found myself swimming....then just trying to stay afloat....and something had to give- which, for me, was media.  No more Facebook, no more Pinterest, no more blogging. And...I lived...barely.  Schooling, housecleaning, and our diet all took a big hit.  This winter and spring, my schedule will look more sane, and I am hoping to get back into the swing of how our family usually operates, all beginning this week, with a new daily routine, new menu plan, new schooling schedule,

 and little else.

(Hallelujah!)

  You know you are at the end of your capacity when you cannot even keep the children's fingernails clipped..it is just too overwhelming.  That's where I've been.

We had a steady supply of company through the fall, which was wonderful.  We love company! 

 Some of our guests included a surprise visit from our daughter and son-in-love all the way from New Mexico, here to tell us in person that......yes indeed, they are having a baby!!!  We cried when we first saw them standing in our living room on a Sunday afternoon, and then cried again at the good news and answer to our fervent prayers. This grand baby #2, Scott and Anna's first child,  will make his or her appearance toward the end of June.  We are so excited!!

November brought deer season, adding substantially to an already full schedule.  At the end of the season we were very grateful to have all our tags filled, and 5 deer in the freezer (The short story for me is... the BIG BUCK got away, and a spike took his place in the freezer.) Wow, that was a lot of hard work!  It will be a while before I am ready to clean, butcher, cut and wrap 5 deer.

The end of November, on the way home from church, we were rear-ended by an uninsured drunk driver who was going over 100 miles an hour.  Miraculously, (and I do mean MIRACULOUS) there were no serious injuries.  After numerous trips to the doctor and chiropractor, more than one bottle of ibuprofen, a huge pile of insurance paperwork, the search for a new family rig, I think we finally have humtpy dumpty (or, our family life) back together again.

Thank goodness for new beginnings!  With a huge, huge sigh of relief, that season is over.  It was a rough one, but through it all, God is good. I am beginning 2015 with  a whole new appreciation for a dull daily life now (chuckle), and three things that are never far from my thoughts:

Life is fragile. We have become very aware of that after the wreck that could have taken lives, but for being sheltered in the cleft of the rock.  It is just a few miles from church to home, and anything can happen.  We take such things for granted far too much.

Life is tough.  Sometimes, what you are asked to take on your plate is more than you can swallow... and only by God's grace can you keep going. I believe I was doing what God had asked me to do in ministry last fall, I knew it would be hard, and sometimes God asks us to do hard things and trust Him.

Life is flexible.  What was true in my life three months ago is no longer true today.  Seasons of trial are just that, seasons.  They end, something new is coming, and we just need to be obedient and hang on for dear life.

And now...back to life as usual at Providence lodge,

 where we eagerly watch for the beauty in each day,

 we gather at the table in joyful thanksgiving,

 we work together to learn, 

we stop to have tea midday..just because, 

and we end the day with bedtime stories and a peaceful home.

  Right now, the sun is streaming through the trees, glimmering off the snow, and I see it.

  It is beauty and grace to me.  

That is new..again.  It has been lost in the kerfuffle of a frantic schedule, 

of physical suffering, in the chaos that has been. 

 And..it is good.  It is really, really good. 

Blessings To You in 2015,

Julianne