Far Away

I have often thought I would write about my children in this blog even though the blog itself is designed for sharing our semi-retirement stories. This morning while pondering this again I realized writing about my children IS part of our story. You see, they all live far away from our home in northeast Indiana. Our two oldest sons and their families live 2,000 miles away in the L.A. area while our youngest son and his new bride live 120 miles away in the city of Indianapolis. The latter is not far in comparison to our California families yet far enough with conflicting schedules to get together as often as we'd like.

I think it important to note here that I long dreamed of always living in the same community as my children. I pictured them going off to college and returning to live nearby raising their families with Nana and Grampa available to help out when needed. However, one by one they migrated away and the dream greatly changed as we became part of the new generation of parents and grandparents who parent/grandparent long distance.

Here's where Jeremiah 29:11 comes in big time . . . believing God knows the plans He has for us; plans for good, and not for evil; plans to give us a hope and a future and to prosper us. It's in the everyday days, the special days, the long days, the celebratory days, the lonely days, the days I am separated from my loved ones that I turn to this Scripture and find comfort. What more could a mother want than for her children and their children to be happy, healthy, and content where they live and work? Maybe just one thing . . . that they weren't so far away.

Still Standing

I knew it was coming, and today was the day. The Morning Glory and Moon Flower blooms came to an end as the plants began to shrivel. I cut them down and cleared them away this afternoon as a cold weather front began to move in. I must admit It was sad to see them go since viewing them had served as such an inspiration in these beginning days of semi-retirement. Returning from the burn pile where I carried the pulled plants, it came to me . . . the Windmill is still standing.

Joke

Last evening my husband and I watched an old movie he fondly refers to as a classic . . . "The African Queen." For those of you who know me well and have watched the old classic, I'm sure you realize what a huge gift of love it was for me to sit through 104 minutes of one of the slowest moving flicks I've ever been privy to.

As I fought falling asleep during this non-action packed film, I kept telling Steve this was not a serious movie but rather a comedy. He assured me it was no such thing and repeatedly explained the serious part was yet to come. However, on the back cover of the video case I discovered it reads: "No one was more surprised than co-writer/director John Huston when his serious adventure drama turned into a comedy. Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn simply discovered that they were funny together as a team and their humor altered the movie's tone."

If you know Steve very well, you'll know the joke is on me.

P.S. to "The Lesson"

I would be terribly amiss if I didn't hone in on the importance of the windmill in my previous writing. Just as two very different plants thriving in the same pot symbolizes two very different individuals thriving in the same house, the windmill symbolizes the One Who makes it all possible. The One Who gives strength to the relationship and assists in its growth; the One Who is in our midst to counsel and direct us; the One Who gives us health, provision, and resources. Without the windmill the plants could not have climbed upward. Likewise, we as a couple need the One Whom the windmill represents.

The Lesson

For weeks I've been wanting to write about the Morning Glories and
Moon Flowers that coexist in a pot just outside our kitchen window.
Now that Jack Frost has made his appearance and the fragile blooms
are beginning to fade, I feel an urgency to convey the lesson I have
learned from their grandeur.

As a side note for those of you who don't consider yourself plant
lovers, Morning Glories bloom each morning when the sun begins to
rise. In the evening they close up, and that's when the Moon Flowers
begin to open. This particular variety of Morning Glories is blue in
color while the Moon Flower variety is pink. One has to be a true
night-owl to view Moon Flowers while Morning Glories can be enjoyed
all day long. These two very different plants have spoken volumes to
me the past few months as I have watched them climb the ornamental
windmill that gave them support during their growth.

I believe God used the Morning Glories and Moon Flowers to show me
not only how two very different plants can coexist nicely in the same
pot, but also how two very opposite human beings can coexist nicely
in the same space. The more time the plants spent together the
stronger they became -- leaning on each other, intertwined as they
climbed higher. The plants haven't just survived in that pot together,
they have literally thrived reaching to the top of the 8' windmill.
Just like those two plants, the more time semi-retirement affords my
husband and I, the stronger we will become leaning on one another,
our lives intertwined.

One thing I know for sure, when the leaves turn color and begin to
fall, when the days turn cold and snow covers the ground, I will look
at the windmill and remember the lesson God taught me this summer.
I trust we won't just survive the days of semi-retirement . . . we will
thrive!