Errant feelings, happy days

Lately I have had a nagging feeling that all is not well. I do not know if there is any particular reason for the feeling, but when those unctions come I put myself on guard and get ready to fast. Who knows, it could be the slice of pizza I ate Monday night at FBI or the increased consumption of beans in our diet lately. Time will tell. For the time being, we will continue to do right and trust the Lord to continue to bless. There is too much that the Lord is doing in our lives to get sidetracked by apprehensive thoughts. There is too much I need to do to get distracted by what may never come. The Lord has protected and blessed Mama and I and the people from our church in so many ways. For instance, we were on the road with the seniors from the church last weekend and all went very well as we traveled to San Angelo and back when at the same time a group from a church very near us was involved in a horrific accident and twelve were killed. That is an overwehlming tragedy for the families of those who are now in Heaven and God spared us from anything like that, but He did not have to. I will not nurse the feelings that are nagging at me, but I will keep my guard up. If it is God, He will let me know what to do. If it is not, I will chalk it up to digestive issues and fast for a season while I let my body rest.

On the bright side, I tended to the strawberries in the garden for a few minutes last night and discovered that several of the plants are already loaded with little berries. I will have to get them into a bed that is off the ground if Mama and I do not want to share the fruit with the rats, opossums and raccoons. I also discovered that the portion of a white pumpkin that I planted has sprung up. I counted twenty sprouts. We do not need that much pumpkin but I will let them go and see how many of them make it. Mama and I may be canning a lot of pumpkin this summer. I will plant the remainder of the pumpkin at the pond and see if it will reproduce there also. Again, I am not sure what we will do with them other than decorate for Fall, but we can figure that out later.

Victoria spent the day with Grandpa, Grandma, Norman and Seth looking at campers. For some reason, she has the idea that she should buy a camper, park it at the farm and move into it so she can have “place of her own”. I am not sure how to line that up with the fact that Mama and I have a three bedroom, 2600 square foot house that we are happy to share with her until the Lord brings the man into her life that He has made for her – or until He unveils His plan for her life clearly to her, but it is only talk right now. My in-laws love that kind of frivolous pursuit and happy talk. You don’t ever have to do it, you just have to be willing to talk about doing it. For them the accomplishment is not in execution of a plan. For them the accomplishment is dreaming up a “good” plan. I have always been more of a doer and at many stages in Mama’s and my life together I have spent large amounts of money to start putting together the materials for us to get started building out a grand dream only to watch those materials get used up on other projects or simply to rot away as they sat waiting for the work to be done. Victoria’s house is a case in point. But they are happy with that life so I join in the banter but I do not typically expect a productive outcome.

Back to the camper. They found one that Victoria really liked. It was a 2008 model, so it was not new. The not-new price was $24,500. Looking at the price tag differently, if Victoria wanted to rent an apartment for $700 per month, that would be 35 months of rent. There are those that will tell you that renting is a waste of money. You get nothing in return. I mostly disagree. Renting provides living space that you do not have to maintain, pay taxes or insurance on and do not have to sell or otherwise dispose of when you move. Cori and Nate are reaping the rewards of equity in their home that just sole, but they will tell you that selling it was not a fun and easy process. Also, you are not required to take out a thirty-year mortgage to afford a rented house or other dwelling. For Victoria and her camper, she would still have to use the bathroom in the house. She would still have to use the washer and dryer, etc. So. spending $24,000 for a bedroom of her own seems a bit silly. But that is the kind of idea that always inspires Grandma, Grandpa and Norman.

She had fun while they were out but collapsed into be as soon as she was back home.