I’m heading west. It’s a long journey and the reason for traveling is well worth the trip.  Family and time together and remembering and

spending here and now in each others company.

Just about this time last year I dove into the world of the blog. It’s been a trip, this writing and sharing of recipes and pondering of life. In the course of the journey

So far,

There have been a number of highs and a vast array of lows.

Thus, is the venture called life.

The theme, my motto, has become,

Steady On !

Keep the Faith

Fight the Fight

Be Filled with Joy

Fix your sights on the one who created Day and Night, water and dry land, moon and stars, animals and plants,

everything there is.

He created from nothing, everything there is.

Man

And woman from that man, both to be loved,

By the maker and

Each other.

Think more about loving than being loved.

Be honest, always.

Live every day, committing the minutes and the hours, to the one who created that day.

Worry less about

I Wish and I Want

And be concerned more, about

 

I am Yours and let my life be a reflection of who you are.

Giving thanks and being

ready to go and do and wait and listen and reach out and share and listen and pray and help and listen more

always.

I have been heard to say I want people to notice something different about me.   The truth is,

Noticing something different about me, is not enough.

I know a lady who has made a lot of friends on her journey. People have also hightailed it in the opposite direction, because of her boldness. He desire is to be Like Jesus, but also to talk about Him. She is so Not fearful of what people think of her. She is too concerned about their future. Sure, she is interested in their peace and joy here. But her heart’s concern is their future in eternity.

Oh, the people she has introduced to Jesus.

I have recently heard a story told from her own lips, of a visit to a hospital and a café and a young woman, soon to be a mother. My friend commented on the young woman’s lovely coat and they struck up a conversation. Phone numbers were exchanged, with my friend praying that if any further contact should happen, it would. A text from the young girl, a lunch date and

as I heard this story I realized

how ineffective my Good Intentions To Be Different

actually are.

Truthfully I’m not sure I want to be effective. It’s scary.

What will They think of me?  What should I say?  Will they understand?

 

So, I’m on my way to visit Nano.

As she says

She’s getting Old. I would have to agree. She’s in her 94^th year. The one who made her has spared her life and given her a wealth of days. Every trip now, to see her, is precious and I soak up the hours.

This blog

Named after her, Nano

Is a tribute in many ways, to who she has been.

As she says

She’s not one to sit and do nothing. It’s getting harder for her to sit and do

Anything. There was a day when she was either cooking or sewing or knitting or baking a loaf for someone.

Arthritis and it’s ensuing restrictions, ongoing congestive heart failure and a body that

As she says

Is wearing out

Cause daily problems for her.

Yet she lives and carries on each day, in anticipation of what the day might hold.

She used to make aprons. She shared with me the joy of the feel and sight of beautiful, bright, cheery, friendly fabric.

She doesn’t really sew much anymore.

I, on the other hand, have

As I say

Picked up the mantle and am enjoying producing the Apron Market.

I guess you would call it a hobby and it brings me joy. Sometimes people buy an apron or two and it won’t be long before I have that cupboard full of fabric, all paid for.

My husband laughs.

It’s okay.

Better, I spend my time and energy and petty cash on producing something of beauty

Than, spending all of that time and energy and petty cash on candy or lottery tickets or, perish the thought, the stock market.

So

These days, fabric and aprons are often on my mind.

Sometimes sleep is illusive for me. Just the night before this last

I was awake for a bit

And with a somewhat anxious heart I thought of an object I hadn’t seen in a while. I knew it was somewhere because I had found it in Nano’s cupboard a couple of moves ago.

I found it, folded neatly and tucked into a drawer.

“Mom”, I said

“I want this. May I please have it?”

She laughed, right out loud and I saw the smile she gets when she is happy that I want something from the past but at the same time she is sad that the past is

Just that,

Passed.

“Sure, if you want it you can take it with you”

I did and

I did.

 

Oh the memories when I look at that worn, mended, threadbare piece of fabric.

Fish, fried

Humming, heard

Laughter, shared

In a small kitchen in a tiny house in a little town,

then in a little townhouse in a big city near the ocean.

All, so long ago.

It’s an apron

Still a kind of whitish colour. There really are not many visible stains and yet it was worn in front of a hot stove more times than I can count. There is a patch in the front. The neck strap is frayed and ready to give up

 

But it is beautiful

To me

It is a symbol of love and hard work and kitchen smells and tastes that even now cause my mouth to water.

What makes it extra special is that it belonged to my dad

The preacher

The head of his home and there was no doubt about it.

He did the frying.

He cooked the best fish and although it has been so many years, the smell of fish frying in the pan in front of him standing there in his apron, is a clear memory.

Good, yet I am sitting here on this plane with the empty seat beside me, tears close.

I wish you could know him. He was, like David, a man after God’s own Heart.

He had struggles that caused him great pain. Oh nothing immoral or dishonoring to His God But pain that was painful.

He loved God much and his passion to share the love of Jesus was the propeller that pushed him forward. We, you and I, have talked about Thorns and he had one that caused him significant discomfort and even tormented him from time to time. He struggled and was

Broken while he lived wholly, fully and thankfully

And he was a testament to me

About trusting God

Despite the giants in His World.

I will explain more about my reference to giants in a later post, but you may understand when I suggest someone has giants stomping around in their life, that it spells difficulty, trial.

We all have them and it would be good if we could learn to let God slay them for us.

It’s closing in on 27 years ago, that God took Rev. C.D. House to his forever home. His work was done, his life lived for the sake of many.

His heart attacked him while he was on his knees at a prayer meeting. My third child was days from being born and

It was a blessed time we had together, those days before he left us for good.

We will see him again, of that I am certain. Him and so many others who have been called home.

In the mean time, I found a broken, sort of white, apron and

Remembered

and it’s so good to remember while living

the minutes we have to live,

With abundance.