Three nights in a row I’ve slept in the travel trailer! If you aren’t a camper or an adventurer or an outdoor enthusiast, you may not understand what that means. But, if you are, you know camping three nights in a row in January is sheer bliss. It’s not something you get to do very often and if the opportunity presents itself, I’m there! Thank goodness I have a very understanding and supportive husband. He gets me…and he encourages me to be my best self. Which means, I need a certain level of independence and freedom. The door swings both ways. He knows that I am his biggest cheerleader and I encourage him to pursue his interests, as well.
Mr. FixIt loves to go camping, but the operative word there is “go.” He see’s absolutely no reason to sleep in a camper in the field when he has a perfectly good bed and bath indoors. But he doesn’t begrudge me the opportunity. We have plenty of opportunity to spend quality time together. We sit together in our big red chairs in the family room most days…he watching his crime shows and me knitting and reading. We’ve found that beautiful middle ground and even though we’ve only been together six years, we have known each other since 1968. We are honestly like any married couple that’s been together forever. It truly feels that way.
We bought some groceries on Tuesday so I put a large pork roast in the Dutch oven yesterday. OMGosh! After three hours, the house smelled divine and that roast melted in your mouth. We had hot pork sandwiches and put the leftovers in the fridge to parse out over the rest of the week. It rained off and on all day. It’s been grey and gloomy for…well, I’ve lost track how long. When you look at the Weather Channel app at the beginning of the week and it says… “Next Sunny Day: None”…you know it’s definitely nesting time here on Marshmallow Ranch.
I’ve been knitting these cute little stockings for next Christmas and was nearly finished with the latest when all of a sudden…the sun burst through the clouds!!! When you’ve had interminably grey skies for weeks…any glimpse of the sun is cause for celebration. Mr. FixIt and I fairly RAN out the front door and clapped my hands in sheer glee! I snapped picture after picture and finally went back inside. That’s when he called me and said, “You have to come back out here and look at the rainbow!”
Sure enough, it was a beauty and such a joy to behold! I cannot see a rainbow without thinking of God’s promises to us. Rainbows fill me with awe and wonder. God is SO incredibly good to us. He loves us and bends down to hear our prayers. He covets a relationship with him. I read something yesterday about God’s name. In Hebrew it is YWH. Modern vernacular has added vowels to guide us in the proper pronunciation. YAWEH. The writer explained that Y, W, and H are breath sounds. That God Himself gave us this name to call him because his name is the sound of our breathing. Therefore, merely by the act of living…taking breaths in and letting them out, we are speaking God’s name. That everyone who breathes…no matter their beliefs and affiliations, have God’s name on their lips.
I love that thought. We are never without God. We are never far from him…physically. Now, spiritually? That’s another matter. We have free will and have to make a choice to be in relationship with Him. It just doesn’t have to be as hard as we mere mortals make it out to be. All we have to do is believe…and breathe.
Stronger Together.
Isn’t that the truth in everything? Take Mr. FixIt and me…we are stronger together. Our families. Our churches. Our communities. Our nation. We are stronger together. We need to stop acting like everyone else is the enemy. We know who the enemy truly is. Let’s join hands and work together to create a better tomorrow for everyone. All it takes is humility, perseverance, determination, compromise. Open hands, open arms, open hearts, open eyes…open minds.
We are stronger together…and seeing the sun break through the ominous clouds revealing God’s promise in the form of a rainbow is enough to stir my heart with hope.
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“And now I have it all—and keep getting more! The gifts you sent with Epaphroditus were more than enough, like a sweet-smelling sacrifice roasting on the altar, filling the air with fragrance, pleasing God to no end. You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus. Our God and Father abounds in glory that just pours out into eternity. Yes.”
Philippians 4:18-20 MSG