and it rained...

 We finally arrived at our mountain home.  I open the creaking screen door. It seems to always say "welcome back." After a quick glance around the room to make sure everything is in place, I walk straight to the front porch. I look over our acre. Tall oak trees that reach far into the heavens. Every single leaf has fallen to its resting place on the forest floor. Not one single leaf is left. I love the winter. Everything is in black and white. Something mysteriously beautiful about it. It's raining. I stare at the water droplets on the bare branches. They look like millions of white pearls strung together, glistening as small rays of sun smile on them. Even though it is dreary and cold, we are cozy inside. The rain is a blessing.  My husband can't get out and rake leaves. One thing for sure, the leaves will be waiting on him.Thinking about raking leaves makes me think of when I was younger. My daddy would make my sister and I rake leaves. If she were telling this story, she would say, "I hated when daddy made us rake leaves. I did all the raking, while my sister played." I can hear her now.  I am not going to deny it. She would be telling the truth. I got away with way too much! When it was time to work, I conveniently found something else to do. When it was time to wash dishes, my sister would say,"Where is Sammie Jean?" My mother would interject. "She had to go to the bathroom." They would laugh. The way I saw it was, just the joy of being the baby, I guess. I can grant you my sister didn't see it that way though.

 As I sit in my cozy chair, our first night in our cabin, all bundled up watching tv the lights start to flicker. The first time we saw the flicker, my husband uttered, "I need to change the bulb in this light." Then, it happened again. You know the cliche, the third time is a charm. It was. The lights went out. I quickly jumped up to light candles. I went over to get the kerosene lamp from the wall. The wick had fallen down into the kerosene. Too late to fix this. What does a man do when the lights go out? He goes and gets his trusty flashlight. The second thing he did though, was just what I had thought about for months in Florida. He built a fire in the fireplace. Being the helpless romantic that I am, I thought... it doesn't get any better than this. Lights out, fire in the fireplace.... I know it doesn’t sound very romantic but for the next two hours he snuggled in his chair and I snuggled in mine.  I could hear the wind as it blew through the trees. It seemed to say, "rrrreeeessssttttt." Those were welcoming words to me. Although my husband wasn't quite as eager to do that. He conceded. Almost all of the first week it rained and the second week temperatures went down into the teens. It was just too cold to get out, so we stayed inside. We read. We read about Jeremiah and his daunting task to once again try and restore Israel back to God. I thought about how familiar it sounded. Even though we live in the most blessed country in the world, sin has become very common-place.  Mothers kill their unborn babies, simply because they are an inconvenience to them. It is a "feel good" culture, basically. You do what, "feels good." Never submitting to anyone else. And, even though Christian's still go to church on Sunday morning, they enter in and look to see if there is a monitor in the foyer to protect them. The bible verse in Luke comes to mind, to whom much is given, much will be required. Oh, God, have mercy on us. We have been so blessed but yet we have turned our backs on you.

 We watched movies. A lot of movies. We watched the Hunger Games. All four. We watched love stories like Hope Floats and Under the Tuscan Sun. I just love it that my husband will watch mushy love movies with me. We watched HGTV too. We're pretty sure that we have it all down now; how to build a house and how to decorate it. We'll see. I made Chicken Fajita Soup with fried tortilla's on top. It was so good that we ate it for two solid days. One morning, I was up real early. I drank coffee and ate peanut butter toast, read my devotion and prayed. Just at daylight, I looked out the window and a couple of things caught my attention as they fell to the ground. At first I thought it looked like a leaf, but then remembered that there were no leaves on the trees. I got up, walked out on the porch and to my astonishment it was snow flurries. The little girl came out in me and I flew out into the yard. Robe, slippers and all and danced around with my face held high toward the heavens. "I will wash your sins as white as snow," it seemed I heard.  It was my very own little miracle. It didn't last long. But, I felt like He had done it just for me. 

We had a fire in the fireplace every night. One day, all day and all night. I turned my chair to get as close as I possibly could by the fireplace to feel its warmth. It seemed to warm my very soul. Glancing, occasionally, at Greg, just two and half feet away.  Making eye contact, we smiled and he made those quick "kissy" motions with his lips. I made them back. Then he would always say, "I can't move my lips as fast as you do." We laughed. This might be close to perfect, I thought. I don't think that when the Carpenters sang, "rainy days and Mondays always get me down,” they had ever stayed in their pj's all day long, snuggled in a warm, cozy chair in front of a fire in the fireplace, watching it rain, with the one you love. There is absolutely nothing depressing about that. 💗

sammie jean

Append 08/19/24 

The sweetest memories. I am so thankful that I wrote them down. Ever more sweeter now.

This was written 23 days before my precious husband passed from this life into eternity with Jesus.