BRRRRR--Again

This is the view from my dining room window this morning at 7 am. The temperature was just at the freezing mark. Two days ago in my post I said: "Are you listening, Lord?" I've learned over the years that I shouldn't ask that question. He's listening, he just has a different plan.

It turns out that there's probably no serious lasting damage to the trees. The native poplars are leafing out--in their time, not mine. I'm thinking that it's a sign from Him that I need to remember that things go by His time, not mine--I tend to be impatient.

Perfect timing for another event in my life. I've been too busy to read much lately. But a friend recommended the book I'm going to tell you about. I started reading it in the bathtub and finished it in three soakings (evenings). Just couldn't put it down.

The Shack by Wm. Paul Young

Since I'm not good at paraphrasing a book I love without giving too much away, I'll copy the blurb from the back cover:

Mackenzie Allen Philips's youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.

Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry aftrnoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever.

In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant THE SHACK wrestles with the timeless question: Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain? The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book!

Yesterday I did finish the marigolds and got a good start on the petunias, but I had an unexpected trip to the city this morning, then my regular visit to my Mom (Alzheimer patient) in the Nursing Home, then I taught religion for 1/2 hour to an active Grade One class of 21 students--topic was Baptism, and the descent of the Holy Spirit. Upon my return I made tortellini hamburger soup for supper and worked on the wedding sewing. Blog time, then bed time. Maybe another soak with a challenging Sudoku puzzle.

Till next time: (Quote from The Shack, instead of my usual Grandmothers book) An infinite God can give all of Himself to each of His children. He does not distribute Himself that each may have a part, but to each one he gives all of Himself as fully as if there were no others. (A.W. Tozer)