The Highway of Holiness

"And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the highway of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for those; the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there." Isaiah 35:8,9

Oh the wonder of the upcoming Kingdom Age! One thousand years of peace upon the earth. Imagine, this could possibly only be just over seven years away. Though the above verse does not speak of the here-and-now, those who know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior are already on a "highway of holiness". What a blessing and a privilege to walk  in "the way" of God. I walked the broad way that leads to destruction for years and now He has set me on the strait path. I was reading today about how God has begun this great work in the believer and He will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:6). I had read from a small devotional booklet: "Think of the enormous leisure of God! He is never in a hurry. We are always in such a frantic hurry. In the light of the glory of the vision we go forth to do things, but the vision is not real in us yet; and God has to take us into the valley, and put us through fires and floods to batter us into shape, until we get to the place where He can trust us with the veritable reality...the vision is not a castle in the air, but a vision of what God wants you to be. Let Him put you on His wheel and whirl you as He likes, and as sure as God is God and you are you, you will turn out exactly in accordance with the vision." This was a blessing to my heart. As with the old hymn writers, words written by old Bible scholars are deep and meaningful. God is doing the work, and no manner of clamoring and aesthetic exercise from me is going to get me there before He is ready.

I am on the highway of holiness, but I must be patient to let the Lord carry my feet along, onward and upward! A blessed verse from Psalm 37 yesterday: "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass." 37:5


                "Life is not as idle ore, but iron dug from central gloom,
                  And batter'd by the shocks of doom
                  To shape and use."   -unknown


We are looking forward to a wonderful Summer weekend. Our dear 94 year old friend, Eddy, is here from Maine (where he has been living for the past several months). He is looking forward to riding with me in the big parade tomorrow. This will be Eddy's third year riding on the Mule with us.

I really looked for the one of Eddy riding on the mule, but it's not here, so we have Bobbi Jo, Tristan and Beth instead, Parade 2008. I made the eagle out of brown paper and glue. He was mounted to the plow frame of Syd's truck when we decorated it for the USPS float 8 or 10 years ago. 

Am so glad you stopped up on the hill today. If you are from the West or Midwest, know that I am praying for rain for you there! Praying for safety too, from the heat and wildfires. Take care.

Sharing Our Fourth!

These two top pictures just would not load down at the bottom of the photos, so we'll start with the kids, big and small, enjoying a 4th of July Mule ride!

The Mule always gets a workout when there are kids on the hill. Here Machias is taking the gang for a trip down over the hill.

They stopped long enough for a picture. This is AFTER the trip, and they're still all smiling (and upright)!

We had a wonderful Fourth of July and sure hope that you all did too. The weather was hot and the company delightful. Ours was spent on top of Darling Hill with family and friends. A niece and nephew were home for a visit. Willow had her new husband, Jason. Dallas and his new fiancee were here too!

Jason and Willow, newlyweds

Dallas and Jessie, engaged

Friends showed up, carrying food, food and more food...

Mrs C

...and there were dogs, dogs and more dogs too! Some of the little ones had not met before and they seemed happy to greet each other.

The four little dogs; two family little ones are missing, this trip. Ruger and Merk couldn't fit in the picture.

There was even a puppy in this milk can! The story of the milk can: Brother, Kim, bought it at a yard sale, and WHAT a DEAL! He only paid 1.00! When he got it home he took the lid off to see how much cleaning it would require - - lo and behold, there was no bottom in it! The second picture here shows what we decided to do with it permanently.

Princess in the can

A perfect base for this apple tree!

Kim had intended to slip the milk can over a very small maple sapling. That would have been much simpler. What a TIME we all had (four of us) trying to get this prickly apple tree up through that can!

Beth and her Princess

Lucius and Ruger

One of the things Syd hoped we could accomplish is that the remainder of the family members could carve their names into Mom's soon-to-be counter top (for her kitchen island). It is a large slab of wood that all the family names will be scratched or carved into. Syd will then put a finish on it and mount it to the island. Mom will really love reading everyone's names while she does her puzzles!

Some of the carvers

Everyone sat around visiting, eating, visiting some more and eating some more too. 

Bobbi Jo and Gram

Brother, Dennis' son, Justin and his little little Riley

The children went sledding. They don't get up much in the Winter, so we do Summer sliding here. The grass is very slippery!

Tristan getting ready to head down the hill backwards

I was going for Beth and Tristan's wipeout...but then noticed that Lucius was doing a nose-dive too!

Well, that was the bulk of our day. We finished up with a nice time at Prayer Meeting then off to bed! We all slept like dogs (yes, they did too)! I'm glad you stopped by the Hill to share in the pictures. We are so thankful to live in a country that is FREE, both  because God has blessed us with freedom and because of our veterans who have fought for these freedoms. We truly missed our nephew, Dustin (and we missed Bethany), who is in Afghanistan serving God and his country at this time.

All in a Summer Day

I just had a nice surprise as I turned onto the main road, on the way back to work for this afternoon. There were nieces and nephews-a-plenty, walking along the road of the home town! They all live down South now. One couple newly married, the other newly engaged and Beth was there (her hubby, our nephew, serving the Lord and country in Afghanistan). It was nice to see their smiling faces! I stopped right in the middle of the main road - we don't get tons of traffic, but I noticed that Dallas kept looking up the road behind me (I did too). Didn't stay long, just long enough to shake Willow's new husband's hand. We had not met him yet. Seeing all of them made my afternoon!

All morning long I had been earnestly praying that Sturm did not chew on Syd's dress shoes. Wanting to give Sturm another chance at being loose for just the morning, I was careful to put things up, things I know he might chew. I hung Syd's everyday crocs up on the coat hooks, my shoes were out of the way, behind something in the closet. When I got halfway to the PO I realized that I had not put Syd's dress shoes up! Every time it came to my mind (which was often) this morning I prayed, "Lord, please don't let Sturm chew Syd's shoes". He answered prayer. When I got home and went upstairs I found 5 shoes strewn across Ruger's bed (this is where Sturm chews them)...they were all mine! One shoe from five different pairs! He had made his way between the blockade and the closet entrance. I actually laughed. Most were not damaged too badly and can be trimmed up a little and still worn. There was a nice leather boot laying in the middle of the floor (mine) but thankfully he had not started on it yet. Well, I forgot to pray that he wouldn't chew MY shoes.

The little smiling face...and the harness (that I did remember to hang up this morning) which he has torn through so many times.

At these times I really do try to remember all the sin that the Lord has forgiven me for and it does help me to have that unconditional love. If God could forgive me for all the horrible things I had done against Him, and the sins I still commit, I can forgive another too. His Word says so. It probably sounds wierd, referring to a dog this way, but anyone who's had to deal with a puppy likely knows what I'm talking about. The last time we were "testing the waters" and let Sturm stay out of his kennel, he chewed one of my sandals. Syd was more upset than I was and I had to remind him that Ruger used to do it too. Hard to believe that was only two years ago. He would never even think of chewing anything now, other than food...any food!

What a beautiful summer day! I almost hate to talk about how green and lush it is here, as so many of you are going through terrible drought conditions. I remember to pray for rain in the West and Midwest and for safety for those who are near the wildfires. 

Today is not too hot here. I talked to Mom and she's been out walking and tending her woods, though with a very sore toe. She said that she'd been asking it, "why are you so sore?" and "well, you'll just have to endure some pain while I take a walk." I replied (on the phone this morning), "Why don't you ask it if it would like to be soaked in epsom salts during lunch this noon?" She thought she would. 

I'll leave you with a few lovely shots of a beautiful Summer tea party our niece had several years back:

Jonas, Anna and Velora

The group shot

croquet, anyone? Obadiah and Jonas...and Hosea?

mother and daughters

friends

mothers and daughters again! Salinn and Emma, how you've grown!

Some of you will recognize this day. Can you believe how young we all look?  What a lovely tea party it was.

Thanks for stopping by the hill today!