The following written in installments throughout the day:
It's only been in the last couple of years that I've been learning - present participle because I'm not there yet - what it means to "wait on the Lord" (Ps. 27:14 et al). Maybe it's sexist in some reverse way but I suspect males have a harder time with that than females. We (I) want to solve problems NOW and we (I) too often let that urge lead us (me) to action that may indeed solve the problem but not as beneficially as if we gave God the time to bring his perfect solution about.
Hurry, impatience, was Saul's sin when he offered the sacrifices before battle instead of waiting for Samuel to show up as Saul should have (1 Sam. 13). That refusal to wait cost him dearly.
Pam and I are deep in the midst of waiting. I know that God has a will far better than my machinations but it takes every ounce of self discipline I've got to stay out of the way and let his plan play out.
This dynamic gets further complicated by the fact it is possible to be too passive, to sit back and not press ahead when action is appropriate. It's sometimes hard to know the difference between the errors of passivity and impatience. But I sure know which one of those two options is my natural tendency. So again today I talk myself down with the word wait.
Temps are now above freezing throughout the day and dropping just below that overnight. But there's no point trying to drive Sally anywhere because we still have so much snow on the ground that I'd never make it 10' out of the garage, never mind up to Baker Rd. So far we've found solutions to our mutual responsibilities by carefully scheduling trips as a one car household with a 4wd Blazer. But that's going to get tricky come Sunday when we would normally take both cars into church. I have my class at 8:30 and our routine is for Pam to drop me off before going to Starbucks and then coming back for the worship service at 10:00. But once a month she transports a special needs gal to and from church who can't drive. So after church she takes Lydia home in the Blazer and I drive Sally home. (Why can't we all three ride in the Blazer, you ask? A: it's a long story you don't want to hear; you just have to trust me on this one.)
I'm going to shovel some snow today and tomorrow where our gravel driveway meets the gravel of Baker Rd. and hope that between that effort and daytime temps near the 45 degree mark I'll be able to get the Mustang on the road.
Monday UPS was supposed to deliver rubber grommets for Sally's new floor and new door sills. UPS has cancelled that delivery every day since but says those things WILL come this afternoon. Unless I can make some real progress on our driveway there's no way that guy will risk driving down to MoHo. And I wouldn't expect him to.
You've heard the expression, "Snatched defeat from the jaws of victory"? I wonder if the Dems aren't about to do that with a gross of candidates queuing up for the 2020 nomination. Methinks they will inevitably try to out-left each other by appealing (pandering?) to the younger and more progressive wing of the party and alienate the undecideds and many moderates.
I'm totally fed up with the state of American politics but this cycle could be too fascinating to ignore in the same way we can't turn away from a crash scene.
It's just about noon and UPS says they'll come Monday. Still too much snow on the ground and sketchy driveways out in the country.
We've just finished dinner, a "pantry meal." We decided about a week ago that we'd try to eat as many meals as possible made up of things we already had in the pantry and/or the freezer. The pantry had gotten so full of things purchased but not used that it was getting kind of ridiculous. So pantry meals are an opportunity to reduce stores and save money. It's working. I saw one of the shelves the other day!
And the pantry meals have been good, not an olio that produced weird combos.
The meat is coming from the chest freezer which was also too full. Meat on sale is purchased to take advantage of the low price, but somehow never makes it to the plate.
Just before dinner I walked over the the part of our land that's on the west side of the creek. It's roughly half of our 3 acres but because there's no power or water over there it's not usable except as a renewable source of firewood. It's pretty thick with fir and alder trees.
I went over there to see if the snow had dropped any of those trees, making them good prospects for cutting into firewood.
Yes, trees came down. No, they're not going to work for firewood. Most of them were dead trees with enough rot that they couldn't stand up to the weight of the snow. Two pretty big trees that had been killed by the Engraver Beetle infestation - maybe 18" in diameter - came down but they fell into the creek so there's no way to get that wood even if it is good.
Oh well. I've got plenty of prospective trees still standing.
The fun part: the spring is kicking out water again. It goes dry during summer and we haven't had enough rain to start it back up but this snow did the trick. The water is bubbling up out of the ground in its usual spot. I think that's cool.
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