When It's Dark

What do you do when it's dark?  

When days are dreary, when hope seems lost?

When life is hard... ugly hard?

When you're hurting deeply?

What do you do when can't see because it's so dark?

"The Lord is my Light..."

Digging deeper into His Word, grasping at the Truth in it, I find without fail, that it shines a light.  

It's a light to step ahead, to move forward, to put another foot on the path, to trust as I walk, to breathe and to hope.  

Yes, the Lord is my Light.

Dominique

Pic from a Sunday ramble on State Game lands.

Psalm 27:1a,  Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Some Clutter-buster Solutions

I needed some rustic clutter-bustin' solutions, so I stopped by my local Amish basket maker's shop a few weeks ago and gave him the dimensions I needed.

The second tissue box is for used tissues.  We find that they are much more likely to actually get thrown away with this setup.  

Our charging station looked like a charging disaster.  

This basket fits all the tablets, journals, and headphones vertically.  Combined with my USB charging port, this system is really working for us.  It no longer makes me cringe when I walk by!

He did such a fantastic job on these baskets and they were very affordable!!  I'm so glad I finally ordered them.  

You can also get a peek at our layering guide on the wall there.  Check it out here!  It's very useful this time of year.

Happy homemaking, friends!

Dominique

To the Vista and Beyond!

I mentioned to some friends that I received new trekking poles for Christmas and was anxious to try them out.

They enthusiastically recommended that we hike to the Bull Run Vista for the perfect maiden voyage of my poles.

Since the Rugged Mountain Man had off on MLK day, we decided that Monday was when it would happen.

We rounded up all the water backpacks, pulled on our base layers, laced up our hiking boots, and loaded the hounds into the truck.  

It's ADVENTURE time.

The Quarry trail boasted some intriguing rock formations.  

Yes, there is a fair bit of elevation on this hike.

The scenery alone made it totally worth it.

On this adventure, we tried something a little bit different.  The Rugged Mountain Man prefers to hoof it steadily to the top with very few breaks.  This is just his hiking style. However, the Little Blossoms need more breaks and periodically try to pull out the drama act too.  Eventually, with all the breaks, we tend to fall further and further behind.  

I recently noticed how demoralized they became simply because Daddy was a bit ahead.  They didn't seem upset that we were hiking or that we were on a long, difficult, or technical hike.  They just seemed discouraged.  

This time, he hiked in back of this pack of female hyenas.  

The entire hike was full of banter, singing, and conversation, even though it was icy, treacherous, and steep!  

This was a hard hike, mainly because of the ice.  The whining potential with those conditions on a scale of 1-10 would be a 8.95, in my opinion, and yet there was very little whining!

It's amazing the difference it made in the morale!

We came down the Log Slide, named for obvious reasons.  

The Blossoms took to sledding down it on the their bellies, like penguins, or on their rear ends.  It was comical and they thoroughly enjoyed their sled-less sledding.

The view at the top was worth the hike.  

What a fabulous day!  Fresh air, exercise, and good family time!  I call that a win!

Oh, and I LOVE my trekking poles.  I don't pretend to have the best gear, but these Cascade Mountain Tech poles were a functional and affordable entry level set for me.

Dominique

Snowstorm Gail

While we didn't get as much snow as some people did, the 2020 Snowstorm Gail was memorable.

I remember the Blizzard of '93 and also the Presidents' Day Storm of 2003 being storms of consequence.

Snowstorm Gail was right up their with them.  It was the most snow my girls have ever seen in their whole lives!

AND it was the most snow we'd ever seen in the 17 years of living here in the Hollow.

The Rugged Mountain Man plowed snow ALL DAY LONG...

and because it was so deep and the temps were forecasted to stay cold for several days, we had to dig paths to all the animal pens,

as well as make sure we could access all the doors, feed areas and such.  

Jake loves snow, but he thought it was as exhausting as I did.

However, I figure, if we're gonna have winter,

Let's have WINTER.  

We're ready for some more!

Something for You

Friends,

Blossom1 made this lock screen with one of her favorite verses.  I thought you might enjoy it!

Maybe it'll be that extra nudge you need today.

Dominique

The Third Installment

Good morning, friends.

I hope that you've had some time to mull over rejoicing in our confident Hope and being patient in trouble.  There are times that we need big picture instruction and there are times that we need baby-sized practical steps.  Romans 12:12 was somehow a little bit of both for me. 

"Rejoice in our confident hope. 

Be patient in trouble, 

and keep on praying."

When I got to "Keep on praying," I felt a bit convicted.  I was discouraged.  I had allowed impossible situations to grind me down.  I stopped praying about them.  

My job isn't to fix the situation though.  That responsibility does not rest on my shoulders!

When things look bleak, PRAY.

"Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation..."

Mark 14:38a, NLT

The times of discouragement, the times of despair hold temptation ~ temptation to give in or give up.  This is why it's vital to keep on praying!  Might it be that prayer is an aid in our escape from temptation?

How many times have I eased off praying because the situation improved.  My attitude can be something like "Ok, God, things are better now.  Thanks for that.  We're good now." 

NO!  Keep on praying!  

Am I really trusting God with an entire situation ~ from start to finish?   

He holds it all in His hand.  All of it.  Beginning to end.

Friend, let's keep on praying!

Dominique

Pics from a recent afternoon exploring the Lake.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Entitled "The Second Part of the Game Plan" or "Thanks, Dory."

On Monday, I wrote a little about a game plan for 2021.  The best game plans come from Scripture - solid, dependable and unfailing, like a monument heralding an unchanging message throughout the ages of time.  

"Be patient in trouble."*

That's the thing ~ trouble feels like the harsh reality that will last forever.  But it won't.  

It won't.  

We have hope in Jesus being with us always, but we also have hope that there is joy ahead.  The troubles will only last a little while.**  When we're tempted to feel that our trouble is forever, we must know that it will not.  

There are trials that have a sort of permanence in our lives right now, the death of a loved one, for example, but that is where we must remind ourselves that we are just passing through this world.  Today is not forever ~ literally.  There is sorrow and pain here, but today is not representative of our eternity.

  

Our trouble will not last forever.  

So, what is there to do in the midst of it, but to keep walking with Jesus?  

I've often thought that life is like hiking.  

There always comes a point where the only thing to do is to keep walking.  

What does patience look like?  To me, being patient in trouble looks like:

Keep on walking with Jesus.  Keep going in faith.  Keep hiking up the mountain.  Keep trusting that He is good.  Keep swimming.  (Thanks, Dory.)  Keep loving Him when we're hurting.  Keep holding on when we're uncertain.  

Yes, we can be patient in trouble.

Dominique

Pictures from the Show Dome at Mitchell Park Conservatory.

Dome #1

Dome #2

Dome #3

*Romans 12:12

**1 Peter 1:6

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Welcome, 2021!

Happy New Year, dear friends!

I'm so thankful for this fresh start and the many blessings that I'm savoring from 2020.  

I wrote a few thoughts back in December about some words that were giving me strength. With a clean slate upon us, it seems that this is my game plan for 2021.  Sometimes the Lord presses something strongly upon my heart and this was loud to me one day in the midst of discouragement.  

The hope-filled words of Romans 12:12 felt so much like a step-by-step guide that day for me.  Recently, it has seemed even more applicable for walking through life in 2021.  

"Rejoice in our confident hope..."  

Friends, Jesus is my confident Hope.  It truly matters not what comes each and every day.  No fear is too big for him.  No worry is too pressing.  No problem is too big or too small.  The Hope of loving and serving Him in this day and age and then, on into eternity, is what goes beyond ups and downs, moods, attitudes, circumstances, problems, all of it.  

The Hope doesn't come though if He is just a satellite of my life, or just an afterthought.  Jesus isn't one of the many things I do.  He's the hub of the wheel; everything else flows from my relationship with Him.

He is my Constant.  He is always, always, always faithful. And, each day this year, I choose to rejoice in my confident Hope.

More thoughts on this soon.

Dominique

The pics are from our quick drive up to the cabin for necessary winterization.  The little Blossoms were appalled that we forbade them from swinging on the rope swing.  

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.