Tag Archives: Blessings

Decorating for Fall

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This was the display at the front of our new church on Sunday. Simple. Rustic. Country. And I love it! ‘Tis the season of change in Ontario and it’s never more evident than in the heart of farm country! Our neighbours have started harvesting the soy bean field behind us and we have seen several large green farm vehicles in various fields around. We are still learning about what goes on and will probably never fully understand it all, but we hear that the dust is about to start flying and the roar of tractors and diesel engines will likely be heard for the next several weeks. Months, apparently, if you harvest cow corn for winter. It’s not dry and ready until December we’ve been told – if you want to “silo” it.

The sun sets so early now. Yet the colours are absolutely spectacular! Vibrant pink hues against the golden fields and touches of auburn yellow and orange forests mix with the still green rolling hills of our pathway home. Tonite, as we walked the dog, I marvelled at a vine so crimson, it looked almost dyed. Dipped in some cherry stain – rich and fermented. Like a well aged wine.

Of course, fall fair season has begun. That’s when your sense of smell takes over from sight. Fried donuts and funnel cakes. Cinnamon and cloves in the baked goods. Apple pies. Pumpkins and root vegetables. Rich coffee with cream that warms your insides. Now that I have my own barn and have been to the feed lot, I have learned that hay and straw actually has a very sweet smell. Again, slightly fermented. Okay, I suppose you have to include that sharp ammonia smell of urine and manure, since we are musing about the whole gamut of the senses. Let’s pretend we worked hard to muck out the stalls and only fresh, sweet straw is left okay?

My husband is thankful the mosquitoes have disappeared. My garden spider is gone. A few fuzzy caterpillars still cross my path now and then and the squirrels and chipmunks are busier than ever. In the heat of the mid day the wasps still swarm my porch and this weekend the lady bug invasion began. Hundreds of biting beetles snuck in through the cracks and hovered at my front door. Yuk. We vacuumed them up into oblivion.

Via houseofhawthorns.com

I marvel and muse at this time of year because nature simply cannot help but display the majesty of a master artist. If you live in a place that seldom changes with the seasons, I pity you because God’s creation is so diverse, it’s a shame that the entire world doesn’t get to see what we do in Canada. I hope you can love it through my words.

There truly is a season for everything and a time for every activity under Heaven. A unique design for beauty in, essentially, preparation for death. I am trying to prepare myself for winter. It’s an inevitable reality. And like death, it will come all to quickly. Country people prepare for winter. Wood is cut and piled. Chains and winter tires. We need a snowblower. My new bunnies need to be protected from the wind. I wonder if we prepare for death as much as we do winter? That’s a dark reality for thought at another time. Let’s go back to donuts and funnel cakes, shall we?

Canadian Thanksgiving is coming up. We will be celebrating here at the farmhouse and my porch display is lacking. I’m trying to up my decorating game – even found a box labelled “fall” with goodies in it for use. I’m gonna try. I just can’t help but celebrate the beauty it represents! Yet, I am reminded that it goes so much deeper than orange hues and pumpkins – it points to the One who set science ablaze with seasonal changes and a fully functional world based on lifecycles and minute cellular workings that cause food chains to explode with sights, sounds, smells and tastes!

We truly have much to be thankful for. Be blessed, my friends, for there is a supernatural Creator who decorated for fall just for us!

You Gotta Go Through it

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Oh beloveds! It has been way too long!! I have missed you. Where were we? Since we’ve chatted, I married off a son, gained a daughter-in-law, sent another one off to University and survived a week of extroverted activities. The old house officially sold, we entered high school and struggled with some very early morning catch- the- school- bus- or- else dramas. And then, of course, I promptly got sick. That was short-lived, though. So many things have happened, the weeks have been a blur of days, one on top of the other, piled so high that it feels like I have trudged through a mound of apple pie filling. (I don’t know, I felt like I needed some turning of fall reference. Long live pumpkin spice everything!)

Yet, here we are!! I guess I am not a very good blogger. True social media influencers would have documented all of the above, with flair. Sorry, you get me and my little piece of the internet. I’m hoping you still feel me. I am sure I am not alone in these crazy seasons of life where you just feel like it’s a bowl of chocolate pudding. Have you been there, my friend? I hear ya. Shout out to the tired momma of little ones. Shout out to the worried mom of teenagers. Hats off to the grandparents who juggle their own mortality with the lives of their adult children and the prayers for the next generation. It’s hard. Really hard.

Many moons ago, I wrote about a similar season (check it out here). I was reminded then, as I am now, that everyone needs a break now and then. What I didn’t know then was Covid was about to hit, my kids would grow and grow up, my home would be sold, and I would leave everything I know for a new adventure. Oh beloveds, I don’t even know how to express it on paper. The emotional rollercoaster of life. And I really have no excuse to complain. Many, oh so many others have struggled much deeper than I through life. We have been blessed in abundance. I count those blessings often. Sometimes you just gotta get it out though. So… I am back with this week’s musings after a short hiatus to gather content. 😉

I read something somewhere about these “recoup” moments and they referenced Elijah in 1st Kings. His enemies surrounded him, he’d been trying hard to live for God, doing good work, but life and the world seemed to be closing in on him like a thick coating of toffee on an old fashioned Christmas pudding. So what did he do? He took a nap. Had a snack. Had one more snack for good measure, and then he was ready for the next long journey ahead. He walked in the wilderness and had a quiet moment alone with God. We are allowed moments of refreshment, by God’s design. I’m comforted to know that God’s got our backs in these seasons of busyness. He knows that sometimes we just need a nap and a snack and a quiet moment with Jesus. I’m here for it. And for some reason, I’m craving a good sticky pudding…

Blessings to you!

Blessings!

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Oh, beloveds! What a week it has been! What a few weeks it has been! Apologies if I haven’t been keeping up. There has just been no time to do regular things like keeping a Blog. I’m jumping ahead of myself. Rewind. We bought a house! Not just any house…. an old-century farmhouse on 4 acres of land! That dream of chickens you’ve heard me talk about 100 times… it’s coming true! I’m trying to convince the hubby we also may need a small goat. That may take some time. He’s a work in progress. Anywhoo… I am super excited. But terrified.

The emotions have run high. We raised our kids in this house. Our first house. Twenty-one years in this house. So. Many. Memories. And a whole lot of clutter. I’ve just begun to unearth and box up “stuff”. Some things hold dear memories. Some do not. Some hold memories for others and I’m not allowed to cut out those things because of their thoughts. It’s a learning experience for all of us! I ask myself, “Does this hold emotional attachment for me?” Marie Kondo would be so proud. So. Many. Memories.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska

I’m asking myself “Why?” “How can things contain emotion?” Or how can other things contain absolutely no attachment? I don’t have the answer. I am sure there is some deep psychology behind emotional attachment to inanimate objects. I’m sure those who work with hoarding and OCD behaviours have all the answers. I’m sure there are psychologists and therapies for the stress of moving and how to communicate appropriately to your grown children that they need to get rid of Legos. Or why I can’t throw away a rubber band (because I may need to it wrap something — and safety pins cost money?) Choices need to be made.

Now don’t get me wrong… I love a good purge and clean. Still… thinking about the whole house at once is overwhelming. Slowly, like eating an elephant, we take one bite, and then another, and another… until eventually all will be packed in a box and neatly loaded on a truck. It will be big big changes for all of us. And I count it as a blessing.

I have begun to see the blessing in memories. I have begun to see the blessing of time and how God has allowed this season of life to shape and mould each of our children to life beyond the nest. To see the hubby and I embrace, dare I say, retirement planning? To see the blessings in our finances to be able to carry mortgages and costs and know He holds our future. To see Hope where many do not. To wonder in excitement about a new, quieter lifestyle in the country. To learn new skills. To make mistakes and work through them.

The Bible tells us not to store up treasures on Earth and to not put our trust in Earthly measures. Yet Jesus witnessed life here among people and “stuff”. Maybe he didn’t have Lego to pack, but I am sure there were precious “things” that belonged to Him. Did Mary save a piece of “useless” straw from the manger because she was emotionally attached to it? Maybe not.

I’ve convinced myself that God gives us things. Tangeable, hold in your hand, physical things, because He knows we need them as practical reminders of all that He has given us. Peace, Hope, Comfort, Joy, and Pain. Emotions that are stuck on stuff. I have no other words. I know you know what I mean. So, beloveds, humour me in the next few months. mittonmusings.com may morph into my personal journal of sorts as we make these transitions to “country life”. Will you stick with me? Will you share a post or two? Besides, who’s gonna listen to me talk about my new chickens? I’ll keep you updated about the goat.