Mid-April Alliteration Faves

All of a sudden it's mid-April and Spring has finally sprung for good here in NYS!  

Flowers are beginning to bloom, the pear tree is starting to blossom and my cherry trees are budding well.  Even my tulips are almost open! 

I love the blessing of Creation and what God does for us each week...each day....so let's share FIVE of those things that really made us take note....our FAVES... and thank Him for all the blessings He bestows.  You can participate by heading to Susanne's blog...she's been hosting this weekly meme for years and it's one of my faves! (get it?! 😂)

FIVE FAVES

• ENDEARING ELEANOR:  This movie. It is the best currently on Netflix right now. I'm so glad it popped up as a "suggestion" for my list. I took 3 days to watch it (I tend to watch Netflix via my laptop while folding laundry, chopping veggies, gardening, etc) and wow. At first I thought "oh no is this seriously  going to be about two women in love?" Nope. They are best friends and widows with adult children. HIGHLY recommend this clean, wholesome, feel good movie that has some tough parts (memories of the Holocaust via her best friend). There's a younger character too, a college girl who lives at home with her dad and both are grieving, in their own way, the loss of the girls mom and her dad's wife. You learn early on how the young girl is connected with Eleanor.  I don't want to ruin the plot for you so will stop there.  It's main theme, to me, is the psychology of loss/grief and how that affects a person. It is truly the best movie I've seen so far this year on this streaming service and I've seen quite a few since Christmas. I'm thankful for good movies with a bit of history and drama. 

John Pond
from l-r: Jill, me, Joan
photo used with permission

• SOULSTEPS SOJOURN:  Last Saturday, the hiking group I lead (there are now 55 men, women and children involved in the group and I have 11 on the waiting list!) had our 3rd scheduled hike.  It was our first one for April and I only had 5 members signed up.  Two days before the hike, one of the women hurt her neck and couldn't go and another person dropped out due to unexpected company coming that day. So it was the 3 of us and when we arrived in this region of the Adirondacks, the skies were a bit gloomy and the temp was 38 degrees F. As we warmed up our muscles and joints, the sun started peeking through and we saw more and more blue sky. Our destination was John Pond in the Siamese Pond Wilderness Area.  This is one of the largest wilderness areas in the ADK. It takes about 2 hours to get to where the trailhead is for John Pond. There were two trucks at the trailhead lot when we arrived and 3 people had spent the night in the lean-to at the pond according to the trail register. What a wonderful hike. It was 4.8 miles round trip and the sun was just glorious at the pond where we had our lunch.  We even built a small fire after the campers left with some dryer lint and a dryer sheet I had brought to experiment.  Plus we really wanted to just linger and warm up our fingers. I'm so thankful we had a wonderful hike!  On the way home, we stopped at one of my all time fave pubs in a town further down the mountain and had a wonderful early dinner. We were all famished after the fresh air and hiking. And the temps were now up to 55! I'll show some highlights of the hiking trail which includes a bit of NYS history if you are interested!

this is the first half mile of the trail.....
an old logging road where the French-Canadian people
settled into a community known as "little Canada"
I have relatives on my dad's side who were part of this

I was leading the others and I spied this bone on the trail
When we got home I contacted my vet niece and she says
it's the shoulder of a deer and included an article with better images
(google lens was wrong...that said it was part of a femur)

We had to schlep through ankle deep mud/water
in the 2nd half of the first mile through a wetlands

In the 2nd mile, the trail narrows
and goes through a beautiful pine forest...
the balsam and white pine were fragrant!
It's my fave part of this trail which I have now hiked twice
(first time was in autumn 2018)

This was new to me......didn't see this the first time I hiked this trail...
it's the basement steps of one of the homes in the logging community
which was during the 1860s. This is well off the trail
on a ridge above the brook......Joan spied a tree growing in the middle of what we thought was a hole so when we went off trail and bushwhacked over, we saw it's the foundation! Some hiking guides said we could see these although the first time I hiked here, there was a lot of fall foliage so we missed foundations. 

Here is a piece of the basement foundation

On a side trail at about 1.8 miles, you hike for about .2 miles
and you come to a "cage" with 2 graves. These are the graves from 1867 
of two half siblings who died of the Black Diphtheria Epidemic that swept through
Little Canada and Indian Lake.  Their names were Peter (age 11) and Eliza (age 14).
The state expects hikers to be respectful and so I warned my group members about this in the details page I send out after they sign up. It's very sobering to see. 

Beautiful John Pond 

• DINNER DATE:  A member of my small group, Maggie (she joined last year) was baptized before Easter and she invited a few of us out for dinner this week to celebrate. We had such a great time with great food at one of  my fave places to eat.  Shawna and Maggie are currently in my book group and Darlene was in my Autumn semester group.  Shawna and Maggie are also in the hiking group. There's nothing like getting to know people who turn out to be good friends!  Dar and I go way back to about 2016 and although we don't get together all that much anymore, it  is always great to see her. I'm thankful for new...and old...friends!

l-r: Shawna, Darlene, me, Maggie

• PRETTY PLANTS:  Dave wanted me to go to Lowe's this week and pick up some more lawn bags and I needed some garden soil for my morning glory seeds and when I was there, I spied these really pretty purple flowers. The tag said they're called Viola's  I love that!! I'll think of Vivaldi's Spring (with all those wonderful violas and violins) piece when I see them.  I have them on one of my deck steps for now. I might move them to the front flower garden.  I'm thankful for pretty plants. 

Violas 

• SERMON SERIES:  Our senior pastor, Dr Rex Keener, started a new sermon series which will take place over 6 weeks. Marriage, Sexuality and Singleness.  The first sermon was this past Sunday and Wow.  It was fantastic.  Totally biblically based about the foundation of a home and marriage. It's titled "How do you build a home?" HiGHLY recommend. I'm so very thankful for our church and our leadership. Click on the video below.  It should just be the sermon and not the whole service. 

Those are the five blessings that really stood out to me this week.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, doing the things you love with the people you love. 

N is for NEAR

 

Today is brought to you by the letter N.  

It's another day in the A-Z Challenge and my theme is Attributes of God.

God is NEAR.  

Here is one of my fave Scriptures about God being near to us. 

There have been many times throughout my life....and I'm sure you can relate to this as well...where I have had a broken heart....my first crush in junior high school, my first real break-up as a young adult when I thought he would be "the one".....betrayal of a friend I can no longer trust....betrayal of former  church leaders who just broke our hearts with their responses to things we were alerting them to (this is not the time or space to share that story, but those of my new church leadership know all about it as do my spiritual mentors and  some close friends).....that kind of betrayal leaves us feeling crushed in spirit. 

Maybe you've gone through your own physical or emotional abuse and betrayals.  Maybe you've gone through a painful divorce or have had a child die or a child who no longer speaks with you....there are all kinds of situations that break our hearts. 

Maybe it's the current leadership in our nation or other political shenanigans.

Maybe it's today's culture or things you see happening in your country, state, county, city, suburb. 

 To forgive people who break our hearts takes a lot of inner work.  I can say I have forgiven people who have emotionally wounded me, but it's only because I know God had a better plan for me. And I know His Peace.  But it did take a LOT of work and seemed to take a long time.  

Yet God sees it.  He will bring justice one day if not now. 

Jesus is the Man that this Scripture talks about. 

And He loves us.  He is near to us.....just a whisper or a cry or a shout away.  He doesn't cringe from our pain. Anyone can be near to God if they just reach out. It doesn't matter who you are!  

God is Near. 

Wednesday Hodgepodge

I'm participating in this week's Hodgepodge.  Head here to jump in. I liked the questions this week and am waiting for someone to call me back before I jump in the shower so here goes.....

1. Big week in the US of A...do you do your own taxes? What's something you've found 'taxing' lately? 

Yes we do our own.....meaning, Dave does them via Turbo Tax online. He's wicked smart and money savvy so it's always worked for us. Now that the mortgage is paid off and the girls made us empty nesters...and I'm officially retired from teaching...it's even easier and quicker! In fact, this was the first year we got a significant chunk back from both the fed and state! 

Something I've found "taxing" lately:  Listening to the complaints of a friend vs her trying to find the good in a situation.  Also the ridiculous A-Z Challenge I thought I'd finally do this year. Not sure I'd do this again. 

2. When it comes to travel are you a last minute packer or a lay it all out a week in advance type? Do you struggle to pack light? Share a packing tip that has worked for you. 

I tend to start packing 4-5 days before the actual leave time/day.  

I have learned (mainly from traveling to Europe and a plethora of camping trips from 1990-2008) and then packing to live in a cottage for 10 days from (2009-2021) to pack layers. I roll everything into sets.  Examples:  black jeans...lay them out on the bed with both legs together and place a rolled dress tee/shirt in middle with underwear inside the shirt.  Roll up Place in bottom of suitcase. I have a multi-layered suitcase so lighter things/pjs go in the zippered pouch and the middle gets the outfits. The bottom gets the shoes, jacket (usually a denim one and a hiking raincoat).  Roll everything!  You can fit a week's worth of clothing and toiletries into one large suitcase if you roll your stuff. 

3. April is National Grilled Cheese Month. Hmmm...who knew it got its own month? Do you like a grilled cheese sandwich? What ingredient do you add to take yours to the next level? 

I used to make grilled cheese for the family for lunches almost every Saturday in the winter months.  Now, Dave and I will occasionally have one on a weekend or sometimes in the winter, on a Friday evening when I've made a pot of homemade tomato basil soup.  If I make grilled cheese in the summer months, I tend to put a slice of tomato and fresh basil leaves on it while cooking.  We really don't eat them that often anymore as I only eat hummus and fruit usually for lunch. 

4. There's a well known quote that says-

'A ship in the harbor is safe, but that's not what ships are built for." John A. Shedd  

Is constant growth necessary or do you think it's more important to prioritize stability and peace in your life? 

I think it depends on the season you are in.  Example: my 20s were a season of continued growth personally, with education (MS in EdPysch/Special Ed which is one heck of a rigourous year as I had a fellowship with an internship), starting the teaching career, beginning to date seriously, getting engaged, etc etc.   Constant growth emotionally and spiritually for sure. 

Then a period of wonderful honeymoon bliss but again personal growth and spiritual growth. 

During the parenting years, more  growth as a parent working full time, managing the home, etc etc. Learning what works what doesn't. 

Now I'm in a season of more spiritual growth (Because no Christ follower has fully "arrived" ...we are constantly learning and growing through Scripture study, prayer, meditation, church ministries, etc) ...this is a good thing! 

But as for marital growth...we are at such a good place.....Peace, stability, and yes we remain best friends 😊

5. Let's wrap this up with a fun spring this or that-

• Daffodils or tulips:  tulips! I mean come on, I live outside Albany NY....we have Tulip Fest soon! Plus mine are finally coming up!
• lemonade or iced tea: decaf, unsweetened sun tea (I love peach) but lemonade is good too and I make my dad's recipe.  Store bought is just SO MUCH sugar!!
• gardening or hiking :  Um. Do you really need to ask? hahah  for those of you who don't come here often: I founded and operate a hiking group for adults ages 21 and older and for a select few families with children, called SoulSteps. We hike from mid-March to mid-December.  I often 1-2 hikes per week June-October and weekly March-May; Nov/Dec. This year, for the first time I'm trying my hand at deck gardening (containers).  I have buttercrunch lettuce coming up!! and I'm growing a type of short sunflowers that do best in pots. We shall see if I'm successful. I'm really not a gardner. 
• ladybugs or butterflies :  Dragonflies.  So butterflies but I like ladybugs, too! 
• umbrella or raincoat: it's NY. Both. but  when hiking, I pack a rolled up very lightweight hiking raincoat. not an umbrella. 😂
• floral patterns or polka dots : floral, but more on the bohemian side. I own several Natural Life pieces of clothing.  Link is here. Highly recommend their stuff if you're into the artsy/1970s/bohemian look like I prefer for spring and summer. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

It finally feels like spring here in NYS! 

M is for Mighty

 

Today is the letter M in the A-Z Challenge.  I'm writing on the Attributes of God and so for today, I chose the word MIGHTY.

God is MIGHTY. 

Probably the most "famous", most recognized Scripture about God being Mighty is the prophecy of Isaiah when he talks about Jesus coming to earth (years later!) as being "Mighty God".  It reads like this:  (and yes, Messiah by Handel has a song with this Scripture...you know it as The Hallelujah Chorus). 

Here's a song we sometimes sing in my church: 

God is all powerful and Mighty!!