Beautiful in Its Time

It's been a remarkably emotional week for me.

I've finally come to grips with something I've put off for the seven years I've lived on My Canaan. I've known, since the day I moved in, that my gorgeous 200+ year old maple tree would need to come down. I tried to save it, having it trimmed a few years ago, but truth is that each major branch is hollow. It's rotted to its core and is a significant hazard, especially so near the house.

So, I made the call and watched this week as the tree trimmers began the incredible task of taking it down.

So, I made the call and watched this week as the tree trimmers began the incredible task of taking it down.
I learned a few things through this process. Speaking with our local historian, I discovered that the major east-west streets in my town were named for the trees in the area. Butternut, Chestnut, and mine - Sugar Ridge. Sugar Ridge was named for the prevalence of the sugar maple. And it's my beautiful sugar maple that is meeting its end.

So, it feels like a bit of history coming down. This tree has framed the property for hundreds of years, and it's unique beauty won't ever be duplicated. Massive at 60-feet tall, with a circumference of over 250", its stature is magnificent. At a glance, its branches seem to reach to the heavens like arms raised in praise.



Everything about my place now looks different. Stark, empty, barren. This one tree gave the property its character and personality.

Yet, for everything there is a season.... a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot. For my maple, its time is finished. My heart is ever-so-sad, and yet I know that God has made everything beautiful in its time. My Canaan is beautiful because his presence dwells here.

"No longer shall there be wasting or destruction within your borders;

But you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise."

True Freedom?

"Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself at all. 

--William Temple

Wow.

A friend of mine calls this a "whammy word." It's one of those phrases that hits you in the heart...one that God often uses to get your attention. Well, he got my attention with this one.

Humility. It's the ultimate in Christlikeness. It's what I strive for as a believer. But, I never quite thought of it this way.

Humility means "freedom from thinking about yourself at all." I love that! How much time do I spend thinking about what I need, how I feel, what the day will hold? How free could I be if I never thought of myself at all?

Really, it's a position of being confident in God's watchcare. Trusting that no matter what I need, or how I feel, or what the day will hold, I'm in good hands. I can cast off all that is "me" focused, and focus on him alone.

How much more he could use me?.....

Horse Country

I had the absolute pleasure of spending a few days in beautiful Shelby County, Kentucky. Nestled between Lexington and Louisville, the area is a horse lover's paradise.

A dear friend of mine moved here some years ago, and fell in love with Kentucky and with a local man named Eric.They have a wonderful young family, and it was a joy to spend time in their home. There is something special about spending extended time in someone's home and seeing life up close and personal. It made me appreciate the gift of love the Lord has bestowed on their household.

Eric's family homestead includes more than 1000 acres of beautiful rolling farmland. As a country girl myself, their land looks to me like something dreams are made of. Acres and acres of corn and soybeans and tobacco.... green and alive. It makes my heart sing!! A patient man, Eric spent the better part of a 100 degree day allowing me to do a little exploring. ;-)

This is all that remains of an old home on the property.... the entrance to the cellar and a dome that once held ice.

The old mule barn. Eric explained how the overhead pulley would be attached to the mule team, who would lift the bales into the loft. Ingenius in its day.

I had the chance to drive one of the tractors AND also learned how to use the bush hog. I LOVED IT!

And I fell in love in Kentucky. His name is Jack.... and he's a 3-year-old Appaloosa.

Horse farms, large and small, line the beautiful Kentucky roads. Big business for some and, for the farms we visited, a labor of love.

It may not be everyone's idea of the perfect vacation, but it was for me. Large, open spaces and rolling hills. Life as it was in former days. Green fields and fresh air. Ahhhh.....

Summer Days

The heat has settled on northern Ohio, with temps in the mid-90s this week. It's an unusually hot week for early July, and people here enjoyed the Independence holiday weekend, heat and all.
I feel fortunate to live an area that boasts a little bit of everything..... big cities, rural countrysides, wonderful metroparks, family farms, quaintness as well as culture, and the distinctive of being a "coastal" city. While most people wouldn't think of northeast Ohio as a beach destination, Lake Erie has some beautiful beaches, one of which I visited yesterday. 

Sailboats took advantage of the lovely summer day.



And, the lighthouse looked on as sunbathers and swimmers basked in the sun.
For those who work hard for a living, there's a little bit of paradise on a sunny beach in July.

Summer afternoon--summer afternoon;

to me those have always been

the most beautiful words in the English language.

~Henry James