More Steps...

I am loving the sunlight.
Every day it is sunny is such a beautiful day.

I am loving that my little rose bush/plant
(that was grown in Canada)
is still alive ~ some of it is not ~ but that there is
still green is a wonderful thing.

Loving the purple mum.

St. Seraphim...

It is a challenge to shot pictures after
10 AM or so in full sunlight
so I was pleased to get this one of my
kitchen area...
It is one of my favourite places...
I told Mr. Husband how good it felt to be back in
the kitchen again...

I trimmed these tulips and changed to
a taller vase.
Much better.

And! YAY!
I set a proper table for lunch for the
first time in about 1 month + 1 week.

I made the salad.

The lentil soup is from
one of my far-away church families
and we are really appreciating it.

 

And...
I am finally baking bread again!
YAY!!!
*
I am doing the orange cranberry bread
but with lemon zest instead
so this one will be a
lemon cranberry yeast bread.
*
Mr. Husband is working from home today
and when he came in to the kitchen/dining area
he could smell the lemon zest...
a very wonderful smell.
*
I let it rise for 1 hour and took a nap
during part of this time.
I can tell it is going to take a while to be back
to full speed again,
but as everyone who reads this blog consistently
knows,
I've been wanting to bake bread for quite sometime.
So this is a wonderful thing.
*
I hope to report back today or tomorrow
on how the bread turns out...
Being the first week of Lent,
it is a busier time
but also a time for new beginnings.
*
I heard a wonderful sermon about how Lent
is a journey to meet Christ,
to look in His Face.
*
I pray that we can see our Lord's face
more clearly this Lent
and learn to keep our eyes
on His Most Beautiful Face.

Goodness and Hope

My Mom, Dad and Aunt are visiting

my Oma, other Aunts and Uncles.

I just talked to my Mom

and she said that my Aunt

whose house burnt down in September

was just telling her Mom

my Oma,

who will God willing be 102 years old this Christmas Eve (December 24)

that a lot of her photos,

boxes of them,

have been spared

as the fire did not destroy all of the main floor.

My Aunts friends are helping her dry out the pictures

(it took 5 firetrucks worth of water to overcome the fire

that raged most of the night / early morning hours).

I asked my Mom what the house looked like -

devastation she said;

outside walls still standing.

But I am so hearted by what was spared.

My Uncle's work clothes, my Aunt's dishes,

tea pot, silverware,

their new wood stove,

many of the doilies my Oma made

my Opa's Martinitoren!!

(His cross stitch I mentioned in the September post)

Just that my Aunt has her dishes, many of her pictures

(we do not know about the wedding pictures),

my Uncle's work clothes.

That is very heartening.

Though losing everything else

is understandably still significant.

But I am so thankful that in God's mercy that

He preserved some of what my Aunt and Uncle had.

I am still so happy about one of my loved one's getting

a full time job

after years of trying to scramble enough money to live

by doing various part time jobs.

Michelle's post on God's peace

and the song she put with it,

was an encouragement to me this morning,

and the song is so beautiful and uplifting.

*

I am working on three various job applications and have a forth to do

next week as well.

I am still dealing with some unbloggable stuff

but so is everyone and

God is with us.

It is hard to maintain one's encouragement and stamina

but with God's help I will make it through

and I pray that God will help us all

make it through our various trials in this life...

Leaving on a jet plane, I know when I'll be back again

It always feels like a bit of transition

to be leaving my little apartment

and Cleo Cat.

My good friend who will be visiting her daily

has assured me that Cleo will be fine. :)

I leave early tomorrow for home.

Please say a prayer for my travels

and especially for my sister and brother-in-law's travels

home tomorrow as well

from Romania.

*

May God protect and preserve us all!

Thank God

I passed my exam!

Thank you all for the prayers.

I still have a cold but at least now I can rest.

Next class begins in a week...