Stone of Help

EBENEZER is a combination of two Hebrew words that means stone of help.

In 1 Samuel 7:12, it says, “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah, and named it Ebenezer; for he said, 'Thus far the LORD has helped us.'”

In Joshua 4:1-9, Joshua instructs one man from each of the twelve tribes of Israel to set up a stone in the middle of the Jordan River as a memorial to the children of Israel that the Lord had brought them into the promise land.

In both instances the Israelites set up memorial stones in order to remember the Lord’s help, the Lord’s blessings, and the Lord’s faithfulness after a time of trial and hardship. They also set up these memorial stones so that they could teach their children about all that the Lord had done for them. Whenever I think about a memorial stone, the words of the hymn Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing play through my mind. Particularly verse 2, and the words: "Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’m come" which is the inspiration behind this little post (and the encouragement and example of a friend).

If you remember from this post I've been thinking about how I can remember my time of working once it's over. I know that once I'm knee deep in laundry, crying toddlers and dirty dishes I'll sound just like the Israelites after God miraculously delivered them from slavery (see Exodus 16) when all they can do is complain about missing the food in Egypt. Time and time again we see it in the Bible, and in human nature - the grass is always greener, how soon we forget where we came from and how we got where we are today.

I want to remember that we endured this time because God sustained us and blessed us. It was rough, but didn't overtake us. And now, we've made it through!

In an effort to put something tangible behind the memory, I stopped on my way home from my last day of work in Pendleton and picked out a few stones. I'm kind of combining the two concepts of an Ebenezer and memorial stones. I knew that if I picked up a small stone, more appropriate for an Ebenezer, it would get lost in the shuffle over time. I thought long and hard about a creative way to display a stone over time that will still serve the purpose of bringing to mind all that the Lord has done for me and reminding me of the journey that it took to be a stay at home mom (someday).  Ultimately, I picked out three stones that I could put in a conspicuous place, like in a garden, flowerbed or bookshelf.

Where my stones came from.

Where they are now.

The lighter/smaller stone has the Hebrew for Ebenezer written on it.

Pendleton on A Sunny Evening

Sometimes the light is just so perfect. Everything is lit up with this soft, bright light that makes every blade of grass, building, hillside and horizon look better and magical.  Usually when this happens it seems like I am never in the position to stop and take a picture so I'm resigned to just enjoy the moment and the light while it lasts, which is nice too. 

Sometimes, though, I can stop and take a few pictures. This was one of those days. 

This evening of capturing the light, as fun as it was, resulted in the need for my first attempt at serious Photoshop editing. I liked this little shack, but the only angle I could get had a fence in the way. So I erased it. It was a lot of work! Particularly because my computer didn't have a ton of RAM (yet), which makes it think slower than me in the morning. Here are the before and after files. You are looking at: crop, contrast, highlights/shadows and a lot of the healing brush. That's all I've figured out so far in my trial version of Photoshop Elements. 

Before. Raw converted straight to jpeg (so that we can see it).

After

Before. Again, raw converted straight to jpeg.

After

Before. Raw --> jpeg

After

Same Old, Same Old

If you ever ask my grandpa how he and grandma are doing, his first response is usually, "Same Old, same Old." Now that they're getting a little older he might give a more specific report of what ails him or her, but for a long time thats what he would say and the saying always reminds me of him.

I feel like this has become my answer to that question too. I was lamenting my lack of blog posting and the rut my thoughts are in lately: work, work, work. Same old, same old.

I had to laugh when I played through last week in my mind:

Sunday: very windy, church, take Blake to airport, work (Pendleton), knit/watch Episodes 1 & 2 of Downton Abbey, Season 2, bed.
Monday: very windy, work (school), work (Pendleton), knit/watch episode 3, bed.
Tuesday: very windy, work (school), work (Pendleton), knit/watch episode 4, bed.
Wednesday: very windy, work (school), work (Pendleton), knit/talk to visiting brother, bed.
Thursday: very windy, work late (school), pick Blake up from airport, Bible study, bed.
Friday: very windy, work (school), work (Pendleton), knit/hang out w/hubs, bed.
Saturday: kinda windy. Free. Sleep until noon, run errands, finish knitting project/gift, wrap gifts, go to birthday party for friends' 2 & 5 year olds. Bed.

Notice some themes? This week will look very similar but instead of Downton Abbey it will be something Blake picks, which means he'll be home and there's no birthday party this week. It's still really, really windy which makes my commute less enjoyable (have to actually have both hands on the wheel).

I thought I'd get more sleep with Blake gone because I can usually take or leave watching tv at night, but I knew this was my only opportunity to watch some period British drama for awhile. I did lose a few pounds though by packing healthy lunches, dinners and snacks and not eating after I got home (10:30 ish). It was a little treat that I didn't have to provide food for anyone else this week (Blake made dinner on Friday).

The circumstances that lead to my working extra nights in Pendleton are a little complicated but there is an upside! Blake agrees that with my extra income I can buy a new camera!!! I'll even be able to buy it in time for spring break in Cabo (also paid for by extra income) :). So even though I'm exhausted, I'm thankful for the work and that it means that I'll have a job this summer and a new camera sooner than expected (and an extra vacation). It should only last through March and then I'll go to only four nights or maybe back to three nights a week.

Well, this has turned into narrative tidbits. So I'll throw in a few pictures for good measure. I figure that a random narrative post was better than no post!

The knitting project

No pictures of it actually on the 5 year old though

Driving into Pendleton. Now that it is daylight when I
drive, I've been trying to see what my little camera
can do in manual mode. Not great  but this is the only
redeeming picture out of about 25. I am shooting
through a windshield and while driving after all.
(don't judge me too much for clicking while I drive!)

And my favorite...

This is the playground/field at one of my schools. This picture is actually taken from my phone, but
I just absolutely love the light at the end of the day around there and had to capture it in someway. 

Well, there you have it. Something, rather than nothing!

Wind

Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother's womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.
Ecclesiastes 11:5 NLT

This verse popped up on my News Feed the morning after I'd been up late praying for wisdom and guidance about a work thing. It really spoke to me and this situation because of how unexpected my considerations were. I love little encouragements like that. I really love Ecclesiastes for some reason, especially chapter eleven. I even posted with the title chasing the wind (Ecc 6:9 although I don't know why I titled that post that way) back when I didn't really blog much. I think I just love how existential Ecclesiastes can be.

The verse also got me thinking about wind.

Wind used to be something I rarely thought about. Maybe it crossed my mind when it rained sideways. Or when I was driving across the state and got out of the car to get gas in Ellensburg... the wind about knocking me over... but that was about it.



Wind is interesting. It's a nice example of faith: you can't see it but you can feel it and can watch the effects of it. Of course, there's nothing like a slight breeze on a nice day or a cool breeze on a hot day. Just like the Spirit in our lives is an unseen force that can provide gentle peace or cool relief.

Wind is also used in other metaphors like: 'the winds of adversity', 'the winds of change', 'winds of destruction', 'punishing winds' and 'roaring wind'. I could go on but you get the idea. For something that can't be seen, it is certainly used frequently to paint a word picture.

Wind is now part of my everyday life. My 70+ mile commute is often spent dodging sagebrush and firmly grasping the steering wheel to keep my car in my lane.

On really windy days the DOT changes the electronic reader boards to say: "MOBILE HOME MOVEMENT RESTRICTION ON HWY 82 BETWEEN EXITS X AND Y" It's so funny to me, and a little sad, that this is what really quantifies a windy day.

It's sort of an inside joke with myself that, "you know it's a windy day in Tri-Cities when they restrict mobile home movement on 82." It's probably only funny to me and the five other commuters and truckers that drive this rural highway every weekday, but I chuckle every time I see the sign and think to myself... just how many mobile homes are we moving around here that it warrants dedicated use of the signs!?

One of my favorite memories of first moving to Tri-Cities, (probably my favorite memory because it was the first time I had a good laugh about moving there) involves wind. My brother is still traumatized by the wind storm that convinced him this wasn't the greatest place on Earth (that story here).

Now the wind doesn't drive me nuts like it did when I first moved here. I'm used to the fact that it's just always windy. The worst part about the wind now is when I have to pump my own gas. Usually that only happens when I am running late (of course) and was having a perfect hair day. The absolute worst wind experience I'll never repeat (a third time) is the time I stood downwind of the gas nozzle as I was taking it out of the car. You know how it usually drips once or twice.. well if it's windy, it flies straight onto your clothes. So now you smell like gas for the hour and fifteen minute drive to work. Yes, this is why I ALWAYS try to get gas in Oregon, where they pump it for you.

I'd definitely rather have rain than wind but usually wind brings clouds, which is a plus. I guess that's why we need wind actually. To keep the clouds moving in from the ocean. It certainly isn't to 'clean the earth' like some people say. That's just erosion. I also wonder, where do all those sage brush end up!? I've seen that many of them get caught in fences, but what about the rest. Where to they stop!? I'll let you know if I ever find out.

Life can feel futile sometimes, like 'chasing the wind,' but like the weather that is just a season of life. When I was in my senior year of college this was my favorite verse to pass on to freshmen:

Young man, it's wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do. So banish grief and pain, but remember that youth, with a whole life before it, still faces the threat of meaninglessness. Ecc. 11:9-10 NLT

I also like the verses before that but they don't apply to college freshmen, although they do apply to my current caseload:

Light is sweet; it's wonderful to see the sun! When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life. But let them also remember that the dark days will be many. Everything still to come is meaningless. Ecc. 11:7-8 NLT

Anyway. I don't feel like I am chasing the wind these days, nor do I feel like my days are meaningless. It's funny how these different verses spoke to me at different points in life. Right now I am loving that 'just as you cannot understand the path of the wind ... so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.' I love God is actively working in my life in unexpected ways. I love that I don't need to try to understand His will, I can just trust it.

Photo Tidbits

Today I got my first library card as an adult! We didn't live inside city limits for most of my youth, and because of that we couldn't use the library for free. Sadly, it took me over a year of living here to get around to registering. I really want to start reading more, so I thought maybe this was a good start.

I chose green, but was really tempted by blue ;)

The first book I checked out. I have two others on hold: bread books!

A fun foodie project: Bible study treats from last Tuesday. It was a fantastic way to use fresh cherries and still enjoy them fresh. I'd definitely recommend it! I got the idea from this recipe.

Pitted, thus the holes.

Some rolled in toasted coconut, some plain, some rolled in toasted sliced almonds.

Mutant cherries, four sets in one bag!

 A few pictures from my drive:

One of my favorite views. I love this little pond, usually full of ducks.

From the road (I did pull over to take the pictures).

This weekend we grilled a 17.7lb prime rib. It took four hours of cooking and 45 minutes of resting. It turned out perfectly! Our friends, the Dunbars, had us and our Bible study friends over to their house. Blake and I were the primary 'chefs' which was really fun!

The beast, all rubbed and seasoned up, ready for the grill.

It was so ridiculously delicious! An incredible sight to behold... even better to eat.

A lively game of bocce ball after dinner.

Last but not least, a few work shots. I helped take some pictures today for the newsletter, so I thought I'd share a few. Our rehab team is always changing the only constants are myself, our OT and our PTA (not pictured).

Me, Tom/PT, Kim/OT, Scott/COTA and the Let 'R Buck logo. Cause we're in Pendleton ;)

This is our goat Gertie. She lives in the nursing home's back yard.

This is her home. She comes in to visit the residents frequently. She wears a diaper and has on her pink collar and leash.

Spring!

I know I'm a little late, spring is nearly over. Only 20 days till summer. I'm not counting down to summer for summer's sake, but my birthday is the first day of summer so it's ingrained in me.

I have such a new appreciation for spring. When you grow up in western Washington seasons aren't distinct. Winter blends into spring, spring into summer and summer into fall and so on. The beauty of this is that there are so few extremes. It doesn't get extremely hot or extremely cold. Okay, maybe there are days of extreme rain and clouds... but even then we're not talking hurricanes, monsoons or torrential downpours. So you really learn to just take the weather one day at a time and you don't think about what season it should be.

I digress. So I currently live in Kennewick, (southern) Washington. Thirty minutes north of the Oregon border. Here we have more distinct seasons but still skewed toward really-stinkin-hot-all-the-time or pretty-darn-cold-with-little-to-no-snow. It is also always WINDY!

This year, however, has been most enjoyable. I hear others complain that it has been a very rainy spring, and that it should be nicer by now. It has been perfect, in my opinion. I love rainy days, so the more the better. Also, I have a new appreciation for this time of year. It's the only time there is any natural greenery around here and when it is sunny it is enjoyable because it stays around 70 degrees outside!

Another reason I am loving this spring is because this is my first spring working in Pendleton.

Pendleton is a small town in Oregon, south of Walla Walla and nestled right next to the Blue Mountains. It is mostly known for the yearly rodeo held there, the Pendleton Round-Up but also known for the Pendleton Woollen Mills, and Pendleton Grain Growers.

Pendleton is about 70 miles from Tri-Cities and about an hour and fifteen minute drive. I have worked in Pendleton since last August. I really enjoy the people, the small town and the unconventional rural SNF I work in.

More to the point, I also love my long rural commute. Most days it's me, 2-3 other cars and some semis. On the occasional Friday there's some real traffic and that means maybe 10 cars and several semis.

The thing about this little Pendleton story, and why it's part of my Spring post, is that Pendleton is GORGEOUS in the spring. There are green fields, farms with baby animals running around and usually nice patchy cloud cover that keeps it cooler but still sunny. It is wide open but with the backdrop of the Blues. Driving down into the valley that holds Pendleton can be breathtaking. Particularly in the spring. I wish I could capture it and share the beauty but I'm not sure that's safe to do while driving. Maybe one of these days I'll pull over and take some pictures. Here is one I found on this website though.