Old Maid and Forgiveness

Yesterday Mike's sermon was about my blog and Old Maid.

OK, that wasn't really the point of the sermon. 

The sermon was actually about forgiveness.

He spoke of the verse in Matthew 18 where Peter asked Jesus

how many times he should forgive someone.

Basically he was told that he should keep forgiving indefinitely.

Mike also said that witholding forgiveness is like carrying

around something that is dead and stinky.

I really liked that description as it

so clearly gives the mental picture

of how horrible it is to keep dragging

around those feelings of

anger and resentment

and

refusing

to

put it down.

Anyway, back to Old Maid.

Did you read this post that had a little teeny, tiny

mention of playing Old Maid with Mike and his Mom?

Well, Mike referred to that post and

 told the congregation that I had

slandered him on the internet!

(I hope you are smiling right now, as this was all in good fun.)

Mike went on to say how difficult it was to

forgive me

for the public slander.

Finally, he said that he would forgive me since

I am so beautiful and ....................... he said more nice stuff about me

but after hearing "beautiful" I was unable to focus on

much of anything else.  I felt embarrassed but it was the

good kind of embarrassed.

So, because Mike publicly called me beautiful

I will forgive HIM for being such a cheater

at Old Maid...

...but I don't think I will play it with him again anytime soon!

Sunflowers

After visiting Giant Springs last week we weren't quite ready to return indoors.

As the sun was slipping still lower we drove along to see one of the falls for which Great Falls, Montana was named.  When we are there I always find myself thinking of Lewis and Clark and marveling at the mission they undertook.

They did not have a nice car with air conditioning, or even a road, when they embarked on this route.  They didn't even know what they were going to find.

We found LOTS of bugs there.

I was really, really glad we could jump back in our car.

Anyway, I rather enjoyed taking pictures the short time we were there.

I hope you enjoy looking at them.  

The beauty of the falls is rather marred by the dam. 

I do like electricity, though, so I'm trying not to complain.

The Missouri River continues on to the East....

I love this photo but can you see all those bugs?

 There is a ladybug in this photo.  Can you see her?

And my favorite...I thought I was pretty artsy.



Last Taste of Summer 2011

Mike and I have been on the road for one last taste of Summer.

This photo was taken near Livingston, Montana.

I was too lazy to stop and take a proper picture but this way you get to see the bugs on the windshield and to really get the feel of the trip.

Our goal was to spend some time with Mike's Mom (Carol) in Montana.

It was a low-key type of visit.

Mike worked on his music and I worked a little on my book and a LOT on crocheting.

We went for walks and visited and even shopped a bit.

We played card games.

Mike cheated.

I won't say too much about that but

I will advise you to NEVER

play Old Maid with Mike. 

He's really pretty devious.

I finally remembered I had a camera the last evening with Carol.

We were at a place called Giant Springs and it was beautiful!

Lewis and Clark discovered it as they travelled through that region

but its history with people goes back much further.  The water is 54 degrees year-round so it was first a popular place for Native Americans.  During the long Montana winters I am certain it was a delight to come upon that flowing water!

Giant Springs is a place that is kind of hard for me to fathom, even though I have been there many times.  It is a pretty spring that bubbles up right beside the Missouri River.  In the photo above, the springs are in the foreground and the Missouri River is in the background on the other side of the walkway. The water comes from underground after having travelled from the Belt Mountains.  The signs at the park say it takes 50 years to make that journey!

Mike's Mom enjoying a quiet moment by the spring.  She's likely trying to calm herself, pondering how she could've raised a son who was such a cheater at Old Maid.

Once the water bubbles out, it follows the Roe River right into the Missouri River.

What?  You haven't heard of the Roe River?

Thanks to some local elementary students this river was once listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the World's Shortest River.  They no longer have that category but at 440 feet long, it is certainly a VERY short river!

It is so clean and pure!

I really, really wanted to jump in for a swim but I had to settle for taking pictures of fish swimming in the springs.

 The evening was absolutely perfect.

It was calm and clear, not too hot and not too cold.

And it was that time of the evening when the shadows make everything appear so crisp.

Mike and I strolled along the river path a ways, just enjoying the evening.

We found these cool cliffs that overlook the Missouri River.

Cliff swallows have made their home there...their Summer home anyway.

We went back to where Carol was waiting.

I don't know if she found any peace over the whole card-cheating-son situation...

...but maybe she came to realize she's no longer responsible for his actions.

(Special thanks to my mother-in-law, Carol, for putting up with the camera stalking her.  You handled it with good grace.)

Tying the Knot

Yesterday, after a lovely morning playing with Cordelia and visiting with her parents, we decided it was time to Tie the Knot!  

You see, one of the things Mike and I really enjoy is to float the local river.  Because I was too sick last summer, we never got a a chance to do it at all.  So far this summer we've held back because the river was flooded and not so very safe.  Some years we've actually had to stand up and carry our inner tubes because we were dragging bottom!  Not this year!  But it is below flood stage now so off we went!

Somewhere along the way we bought a 2 person raft, thinking we would upgrade from the inner tubes.  I'm not sure what 2 people would be comfortable in this raft, though.  It is pretty small and crowded.  We've improvised.  Mike floats in the raft and I float in the innertube.  However, we tie them together (get it, tie the knot?) so we stay close.  I think it probably looks pretty funny.  It also makes paddling a bit of a challenge as one oblong rafter tied to one inner tuber makes for a situation of being unequally yoked together... I know, I know, I'm just so very funny.

 

We sometimes go in circles but that just adds to the fun!

Yesterday we chose to go out of town a ways and float in for a couple hours.  We passed one row boat with fishermen in it right away but after that we had the river to ourselves until we were landing.  We ate our lunch, carefully gathering our garbage so as not to spoil the environment.   We chatted. 

We listened to birds singing.  In bursts we'd paddle like crazy to avoid hitting a log or smashing into bushes along the edge, but mostly it was relaxing and beautiful.

When we came to our landing spot we found quite a few people getting ready to launch.  They looked at us kind of funny I thought.  One was putting in his jet ski and others were putting in rafts big enough for 10 people to ride comfortably, cup holders and all.  

 

Well, we may have looked odd but we had a lovely afternoon.

Life in the Hood

Do you know what you are looking at here?

You are looking at fond memories!

This is a hood off an old vehicle.  It has been undisturbed now for years, hiding in the grass on a Montana farm, about 10 miles from the Canadian Border.  This is the farm where my husband, Mike, grew up.  This is the farm where he worked hard but played hard as well.

This hood was used for a magnificent sled for Mike and his sisters.  I'm guessing some kids from neighboring farms enjoyed it as well.  Mike's dad would hook it up behind their pick-up, let the kids climb on, and pull them around for a ride!  That sounds kind of dangerous to us now in our safety-conscious world, but I'm sure he was careful... pretty sure.

Mike looks at that hood and it instantly brings him back to a precious time in his life.  It was a time when he didn't have the responsibility of a whole congregation resting on his shoulders.  He didn't have people come to him in distress, unable to pay their rent or buy groceries for their children.  It was a time when no one looked to him to help them recover a damaged marriage.  It was a time when his Dad was alive and Mike's goal of each day was to have FUN!    It was a time that built him up, gave him roots and prepared him for his future work.

This makes me think about the responsibility we have as we raise children.  I'm afraid I didn't "play" enough with our kids.  If I had it to do over, I'd be a lot more fun I think.  That time of childhood goes by so quickly, but those memories, if they are wholesome and good, can be called up and give strength many years later.