Rainy Days

It's raining, it's pouring! No one is doing much snoring around here today. I have a house full of kids recovering from the flu. We have a coughing chorus, it sounds awful but we aren't contagious anymore.
We got the long awaited mission call: Stephen has been called to the Utah, Salt Lake City Mission. (Yes that's really a mission and that's where he's going on February 3rd.) We are all thrilled and delighted.
David will be coming home on Tuesday afternoon. We plan to have a joyful Thanksgiving. I'm not sure how to act - it has been years since I've had all my children home for the holidays. It's raining, it's pouring blessings - my cup overflows.

Random thoughts on Wind and Trash Cans

The wind woke me up last night. I like wind and thunder and lightening. A good storm finds me and my off-spring on our porch savoring the storm. It must be my Scot blood. The sound of wind at night usually comforts me. I feel so safe in my house. In the summer my windchimes accompany the sighing song of the skies, but last night the wind was mournful. The windchimes have been retired for winter, because after Labor Day they tend to chatter and clatter like my teeth when I'm out too long in the cold. Last night the wind wasn't unaccompanied though. The unmelodious sound of garbage cans rolling around on gravel was the counterpoint to the moaning of the wind and the splattering of rain. I tossed and turned for awhile, frustrated that I was losing sleep. Then a long suppressed memory tickled my fancy. It didn't have to do with wind but with trash cans. I'd gone to a high school dance with a young man - not the young man of my dreams, but a "nice" boy who I couldn't think of any reason to turn down other than I really didn't want to go with him. I tried to be kind without leading him on. I sensed I'd failed as he followed me to the doorstep to say goodnight. I was desperately trying to decide how to get in the house without embarrassing either of us when some stray cats started fighting in our old metal trashcans. Their hissing, snarling, yowling was music to my ears. The clatter of the trashcan lid, the sudden flash of lights from inside the neighbors house, and the panic I saw in my date's darting eyes delighted me. I was safe. I remember joyously laughing out loud and smiling as I safely let myself in and locked the door behind me leaving that poor boy alone on my doorstep cursing cats. Since then I've always had a soft spot for alley cats. I wonder if I should bait our trash cans when my daughter starts dating?

The wind has calmed today, most of our autumn leaves have fallen and blown away. I usually don't like this time it seems so bleak, but today there's something very brave about the few scarlet leaves that are clinging to the tree in front of my window. They cheer me with their holding on.

Waiting

It seems like I've spent much of my life waiting..waiting for Christmas, waiting for summer vacation,.waiting to grow up and be swept off my feet by Prince Charming. Waiting to be a mother. Waiting for a daughter. Waiting for my little cottage with a porch and picket fence. Waiting for missionary sons to get their calls, waiting for them to come home. Waiting for the bread to rise, for the baby to learn to say "Mama" or to sleep through the night or to walk. I remember hearing a talk once about "The Blue Bird of Happiness" and not waiting for an event in life to be happy. But waiting is still part of life. This week we are still waiting for a mission call. There were some delays that I'm certain I will be calling a blessings later. We are also counting the days (14) and waiting for David to come home. I'm also watching and waiting for my older sons to take the steps that will take them away from the home I've created for them as they begin to create homes of their own. And I'm always waiting for my husband to come home. I didn't wait for him while he served his mission - but I've been waiting ever since.
Sometimes I'm better at waiting than others, the instinct to prepare kicks in and I am filled with energy and drive to accomplish lots of good things. Today I think my body is shifting into hibernation mode and as I wait I am contemplating the changes that are coming and the joys that I've been blessed with in the past. Waiting is part of enduring to the end and sometimes we need to just Be Still and Know that God Is and sometimes we need to
cheerfully run the race before us. I'm grateful that Heavenly Father has blessed us with more than one way to wait. And I'm sure I will feel even better about it in a couple of weeks when some of this waiting will just be waiting to be recorded in my journal!