OUT
I'm heading to a Job Fair this morning at Illinois College to set up a Scentsy booth. This is like my fourth year for doing this; doesn't seem like I ever get anything from it as they won't let you do cash and carry but it gets me OUT! Working from home I can get pretty just into being here and not even coming in contact with another breathing human being except for my husband and I don't count Facebook. So, off I go today, out among real people, smiling, laughing and schilling my wonderful product! There is no way around it...people energize me. This is good.
A Quiet Easter
What a mellow day! Church was great as always; Gentz enjoyed his He is Risen greeting and hoping for the answer he has always heard from his little mother Mary: He is risen indeed! We both sang in the choir today...two of my favorites: He is Risen and Christ the Lord is Risen today!
We had Jeremy, a young friend of ours from church who lives alone over for lunch; Gentz had made chicken and sweet potatoes and oat muffins. Then mother Mary came over and wanted to eat on our sunny front porch. I spent some time on the couch, visiting with Jeremy as best I could since he is deaf and I don't sign well, but we were having fun looking at some things on youtube and he introduced me to hula.com. John was around all day; the highlight of his day was my sharing my netflix password with him. So he has been catching up on episodes of Mad Men, whatever the heck that is!
We went to the cemetery as is our custom on Easter with the Easter lily that kari was so kind to send us. She is well aware of the family tradition. We put it at the head of our Jakob's grave with a little open plastic Easter egg that signifies the open tomb. Someday we know we will see our little boy again and his body will be whole and well because of the glorious resurrection. Gentz spoke a bit of how as he gets older, death doesn't seem to loom so forbidding as he contemplates the reunion with so many family members who have gone on ahead. Mother Mary of course agreed with that as she thought of Edgar...there she is 90 years old, all bent over, still loving life and I thought of how close death is to her now and that someday I will be in that same place that she is now. I heard it said by someone that even if we live to be 100 our lives our short, magnificent and messy! How true....I'm not sure how I got to be 61 years old so fast, and I hope the next thirty won't go as quickly as the last thirty did, but I know there are many good days ahead. So grateful for my family and God and Easter and days like today!
Then we finished off our little outing by going to Bryan Leonard's land where he is building a cabin...such a fun place!
We had Jeremy, a young friend of ours from church who lives alone over for lunch; Gentz had made chicken and sweet potatoes and oat muffins. Then mother Mary came over and wanted to eat on our sunny front porch. I spent some time on the couch, visiting with Jeremy as best I could since he is deaf and I don't sign well, but we were having fun looking at some things on youtube and he introduced me to hula.com. John was around all day; the highlight of his day was my sharing my netflix password with him. So he has been catching up on episodes of Mad Men, whatever the heck that is!
We went to the cemetery as is our custom on Easter with the Easter lily that kari was so kind to send us. She is well aware of the family tradition. We put it at the head of our Jakob's grave with a little open plastic Easter egg that signifies the open tomb. Someday we know we will see our little boy again and his body will be whole and well because of the glorious resurrection. Gentz spoke a bit of how as he gets older, death doesn't seem to loom so forbidding as he contemplates the reunion with so many family members who have gone on ahead. Mother Mary of course agreed with that as she thought of Edgar...there she is 90 years old, all bent over, still loving life and I thought of how close death is to her now and that someday I will be in that same place that she is now. I heard it said by someone that even if we live to be 100 our lives our short, magnificent and messy! How true....I'm not sure how I got to be 61 years old so fast, and I hope the next thirty won't go as quickly as the last thirty did, but I know there are many good days ahead. So grateful for my family and God and Easter and days like today!
Then we finished off our little outing by going to Bryan Leonard's land where he is building a cabin...such a fun place!
Wow! Where have I been?
Wow, it's been over a year since I last wrote and there is so much to share.
In July we bought our dream cabin in our beloved Minnesota; there it was sitting there waiting for us on 9 acres of wooded land with trails, outbuildings, a great garage, plenty of room and even a sauna in the basement and a wood burning furnace. It was our dream come true. The whole family gathered up there for Thanksgiving and after Gentz retires in December, we will be going up there much more often! And will eventually retire; it is just a few miles from where my parents had their land and just a five minute walk from where they are both buried. Two sisters live in the area, so it will be fun to live near them for the first time in my life.
Life is good and I am grateful. I am also wanting to write in this blog more often, so tonight, I just make a quick start.
In July we bought our dream cabin in our beloved Minnesota; there it was sitting there waiting for us on 9 acres of wooded land with trails, outbuildings, a great garage, plenty of room and even a sauna in the basement and a wood burning furnace. It was our dream come true. The whole family gathered up there for Thanksgiving and after Gentz retires in December, we will be going up there much more often! And will eventually retire; it is just a few miles from where my parents had their land and just a five minute walk from where they are both buried. Two sisters live in the area, so it will be fun to live near them for the first time in my life.
Life is good and I am grateful. I am also wanting to write in this blog more often, so tonight, I just make a quick start.
The dream
Three years ago today I started my new business of being an independent consultant for Scentsy wickless candles. I started with $115 and a prayer that I could make a $400 car payment so that Gentz didn't have to with his gas check. My dream was to have a cabin built on our land in Aitkin, Minnesota. I had no idea how that would happen Could this new business be a means? I had never made much money in my other direct sales companies. I had promised Gentz I would even go get a full-time job if I had to (shudder) in order for this dream to become a reality. We loved it up here...it was like home. I wanted our children and grandchildren to be able to come stay here and see the place their great-grandparents had lived so happily at the end of their lives.
I felt as if the land were speaking to me when I stood on that wooded hill so many years ago when I thought it was going to be gone forever. It said, "peace, peace, this is all going to work out..you won't lose this." The how at that time wasn't important - deep down a seed of belief was planted - belief in my dream, belief in this land and belief that God in heaven was aware of my desire to hang on to this piece of family legacy from Aunt Blanche and Uncle Olaf Flessland, from mother and daddy. So today, years later, Gentz is meeting with a man to build the road up to the hill I stood on so many years ago where our cabin is going to be built. I thank God that this is coming to pass. Yes, Scentsy far exceeded my financial goals and dreams and because of that, we are going to be able to realize our dream. I thank dear old Aunt Blance and Uncle Oley, the ones who bought this 100 acre farm and lived there happily for so many years. I thank my dear parents, now both gone, who saw the vision, loved the land and moved up here in 1979. And I"m so grateful that mother hung on to 32 acres of wooded land that included my hill when they had to move away because of their old age. I"m grateful to my dear sweet husband Gentz who loved coming up here as much as I did...for being willing to pack 4 active children into a car with no dvd player and driving 12 hours to stay with my parents in their attic bedroom for several days.
Now, WE are the grandparents, now WE are laying claim to this land like Blanche and Olaf, like Bill and Lucille - now it's Gentz and Jeri. I hope and pray we will have many years of rest and enjoyment in our little cabin in the woods and that our children and grandchildren will come to call it a haven, a safe and wonderful place, a family treasure, a refuge a gift.
I felt as if the land were speaking to me when I stood on that wooded hill so many years ago when I thought it was going to be gone forever. It said, "peace, peace, this is all going to work out..you won't lose this." The how at that time wasn't important - deep down a seed of belief was planted - belief in my dream, belief in this land and belief that God in heaven was aware of my desire to hang on to this piece of family legacy from Aunt Blanche and Uncle Olaf Flessland, from mother and daddy. So today, years later, Gentz is meeting with a man to build the road up to the hill I stood on so many years ago where our cabin is going to be built. I thank God that this is coming to pass. Yes, Scentsy far exceeded my financial goals and dreams and because of that, we are going to be able to realize our dream. I thank dear old Aunt Blance and Uncle Oley, the ones who bought this 100 acre farm and lived there happily for so many years. I thank my dear parents, now both gone, who saw the vision, loved the land and moved up here in 1979. And I"m so grateful that mother hung on to 32 acres of wooded land that included my hill when they had to move away because of their old age. I"m grateful to my dear sweet husband Gentz who loved coming up here as much as I did...for being willing to pack 4 active children into a car with no dvd player and driving 12 hours to stay with my parents in their attic bedroom for several days.
Now, WE are the grandparents, now WE are laying claim to this land like Blanche and Olaf, like Bill and Lucille - now it's Gentz and Jeri. I hope and pray we will have many years of rest and enjoyment in our little cabin in the woods and that our children and grandchildren will come to call it a haven, a safe and wonderful place, a family treasure, a refuge a gift.
Rest in peace
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| Zoe, my 5 year old granddaughter picking a flower from mother's arrangement. |
I haven't written in a while....my dear 93 year old mother who suffered a severe stroke in October died Jan. 1, 2011...she didn't make it to her 94th birthday Jan. 18, but she did make it to 2011!! Many of her grandchildren and children gathered to say farewell to this extraordinary woman in a beautiful, very fitting service Jan. 6 in Minnesota, home of her heart and where she and Daddy had lived for the past 30 years.
It was a beautiful MInnesota wintry day...clean, cold, crisp, the snow sparkling through the trees. She was buried behind Dorris Church right next to my dad.
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| Gentz conducting the graveside services. |
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| Mother's grandsons lovingly carrying her My sister Becki called it a Celebration of love which it truly was...we loved her, she loved us...we honor her memory..we will miss her. I've talked to so many people who say, oh my mom died 11 years ago and I still want to call her and talk to her and tell her what's going one! I've never been able to relate to that before, but now I believe I can....and the thing is...she is very aware of what is going on as she watches from above, so until I join her in the next life, I can continue to talk to her and share with her. Rest in peace dear sweet mother!      Lucille M. Jones Jan. 18, 1917-Jan. ,2011  |
Christmas is Love
Well, we finally got the tree up Friday night....we would have preferred sitting down with our latest Netflix movie, but reluctantly Gentz dragged the tree out of the attic while I cleaned up the kitchen. I figured he was just going to set up the tree and we would decorate later, but he brought down the ornaments too, so slowly, I started looking through them...no hooks of course! What happens to those danged hooks from one season to the next? Kind of like the lights..they work when you are putting them away, but get them out and forget about it! Slowly, we got it done and Gentz put the angel on top that we have had for over 20 years..she is looking a little worse for wear...her beaded halo is hanging down in her face and for some reason she is blinking this year, but it makes us laugh, so we are letting her blink away!!
I was thinking of the kids and what a bad mom I am that I don't have all their little handmade or bought ornaments through the years and what is wrong with me anyway??!! Then I got out our ancient Manger scene and as I was unwrapping tenderly Mary, Joseph, a cow, a wise man, baby Jesus, Silent Night started playing on Pandora Radio....here is the magic of Christmas, I thought. God loved us, so He sent His Son...Hark the Herald Angels Sing..Glory to the Newborn King...Silent Night, holy night. That it was and it still is. Whether I am excited about decorating the tree or not, whether I saved the kids' ornaments or not, whether our angel is blinking or not, Christmas is about love. The greatest gift there is.
As I thought about that, I thought of how my heart and mind is filled with Christmases past when the living room was full of excitement from the kids as we decorated the tree. Then, we would sit down with cups of hot chocolate and just look at the lights. Where did those years go? Straight into my heart, that is where. Love...Christmas is about love. Life changes, children grow up, grandchildren enter your life and your heart, things happen....good things, bad things, tough things, but still there is love..the greatest gift.
Slowing Down
I did or my daughter did find some really good buys for me...great wool jacket for $50 and 100% Merino wool sweater for $20, so much for Christmas shopping..it was all for me...meanwhile my stomach is bumbling and grumbling and I'm pretty sure I better get home asap. Arrived home at 3 and didin't move again until this morning and I only moved to go to the bathroom...but I think this will be short lived....feeling ready for breakfast and that is a good sign.
So, today I slow down....I won't do much...I'll read, I'll write, I'll contemplate the beauty of this season as I listen to my Christmas music on my laptop and what I want to celebrate about it. I don't want to have loooong to do lists...I want to be able to celebrate family, the great love our Father in Heaven had for us, sending us His son to heal us, walk with us, live for us and die for us.
My darling daughter in law who lives two hours away called me last night and would love to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at their house instead of stressing over staying at two sets of grandparents' homes and dragging all the presents over here. They have a lovely little home, three darling children, and I don't blame her one bit....as I think about it..how nice for us, to just have a quiet, spiritual Christmas morning, thinking of the many gifts I have that aren't necessarily under a tree. The afternoon will see all the presents being opened and food eaten...Christmas day goes way too fast anyway...I'm all for dragging it out. I'll never forget my little daughter so many years ago looking up at me in the bathroom and saying: "Christmas is ovah"! It goes so fast....I want to slow down and enjoy the music, the excited looks on my grandchildrens' faces as they decorate the tree, wrapping presents, and the lights, ahhh the lights everywhere....so, if it took the stomach flu to slow me down and have me think about these things and even FINALLY write another post on my blog, so be it. How do YOU slow down and enjoy the Christmas season? I'd love to hear your comments.
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