Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

The holiday, now sandwiched in between the mega holiday of Halloween and the totally secularized holiday of Christmas.

I guess I am just being dour.  And old fashioned.  And a bit nostalgic.

But I love Thanksgiving, it's meaning for our country and it's broader significance in our Christian faith.  And it seems that we, as a country, rush through Thanksgiving to get to the all important retail day of Black Friday.

I've never been.  To Black Friday shopping that is. 

I'm not a big shopper to begin with and Black Friday has just never appealed to me.

So I'm writing a bog instead of shopping today.  And I'm going to list, partially, the things I'm thankful for.  (I'm a list person)

1. so thankful that God has saved me.  that Jesus gave his life for me and salvation is mine, here and now.

2.  so thankful that He delights in me  Psalm18:19

3. thankful for Godly parents, parents who treasured their children and their extended family

4. thankful for grandparents who emigrated to America, learned English, worked hard, started businesses, became citizens but continued to love their heritage.

5. so grateful for a Godly husband of 40 years, full of integrity, honor, loyalty, kindness and devotion.
he's also a great carpenter, electricitian, plumber and general overall problem solver.

6. thankful for 4 wonderful children and all the fun, exciting, interesting adventures we had as they were growing up.

7. thankful for the opportunity to homeschool my children and that God has given each one of them different and wonderful gifts and talents

8.  thankful and grateful for a wonderful church family for the last 26 years.

9.  thankful for a home with bedrooms for all and bathrooms with great showers and a big dining room to have friends and family over for dinners.

10.  thankful for a garden where I can grow my own vegetables and flowers; and a patio where I can sit and see the wonders of God's creation.

11. thankful for a new business venture where God has enabled me to use my creativity and hospitality.

12.  thankful for an untouched 1885 barn, with original horse stalls and chicken coup so that I could venture out on my recent backyard poultry interest.

13.  gratful we live in a small community, where we have caring neighbors, wonderful village friends, where people walk the sidewalks and visit people sitting on porches.

14.  i love seeing the Amish go by the house each day in their carriages, carried along by their horse

15.  I'm thankful for the Word which I can read each day, treasure and meditate on.

16.  And I'm thankful for books and libraries in our home.  Where one can sit and reach out for words and phrases and descriptions and the feeling of pages and leather and bindings.  And where words come tumbling down, enriching our souls and minds.

17.  thankful to live in a country where we can worship, speak, develop of own sense of destiny and purpose, vote, without a fear of reprisals.  I pray that we may continue to be free.

November 4th

Thirty-six years ago, November 4th, our lives were changed forever.  Very early in the morning, before the sun came up, our beautiful daughter was born.  And we became a family. 

Once I got the hang of a schedule, we all got along very nicely.  Although she loved to be entertained.  And I loved entertaining her.  Holding, rocking, reading books to her when she was a week old, walking her in her perambulator, and taking her to her grandmother's, both who lived close by and absolutely adored her.  She even had a great grandmother who lived with my mom and Elizabeth was a great source of joy to her.

We were best friends right from the start.  She was energetic, inquisitive, smart, loving and kind.  I remember having 30 women in our living room for Bible study and she would stand beside me as we worshiped and then she would sit down and do Bible study with the rest of the ladies.

And when she was about 8 years old she developed a love of baking.  Every Saturday she would bake cookies for the family......made her brothers very happy.  And when she was 13, I had to go and help my sister who just had a mastectomy.  Elizabeth stayed home with the boys, managed the home and the schedule and cooked a dinner each night for her dad and the family.

She was and is competetive, which made her a great swimmer and a great student.  And she developed a love for animals.  We had horses, dogs, rabbits, cats and various other small animals that lived in cages.

And on November 4th, seven years ago my mom died.  I miss her terribly.  She was the best mom anyone coule have.  She modeled the role of a wife and mother to her three girls perfectly.  She loved her family, gave us each confidence in who we were, encouraged us, showed us how to love a husband, be involved in community and church, and be interested in others more than ourselves.

I think one always needs a mom.

Splendor and Sorrow

 

It's been the most magnificent fall this year.

 

Everyone has said so.  I had thought, since we did not have an abundance of rain, but certainly no drought, the leaves might have just turned brown and fallen off.

 

But no.  The colors were spectacular.  The sun streaming through the trees and sparkling off the golds and yellows of the forests made it a dazzling trip to our cottage each time I drove out there.  And the reds were bright, crimsons strong, the oranges and amber colors interspersed with the chartreuse painted a gorgeous palette through the mountains.

 

And the leaves stayed on the trees for so long.  Actually, they have just now completely come off the trees at home.  Awaiting the annual leaf raking marathon that we do each year.  This year it seems late.  I guess the unseasonably warm temperatures make it seem like summer is lingering on.

 

I think that fall is almost more beautiful than spring.  Spring brings shades of green but fall surrounds us with all the colors of the spectrum.

 

But in the midst of all the beauty, this fall has brought, sorrow.

 

The television is full of it.  A raid, a riot, an attack, confusion.

 

But still four dead.

 

And I know the heartache and pain that families are going through.  And November 8th comes racing back.  I know the agony that the wives are experiencing,  And the heartaches their mom's are suffering.  Their sons, husbands, brothers and fathers are gone.  Taken from them in a far away land.

 

And tears pour down my face, knowing the road they will have to travel.  Not only in these days and months, but years.

 

And I pray....Lord, comfort them with the comfort only you can bring.  Show them your love.  And protect them under the shadow of your wing. 

 

 

Tutorials/Fall

Fall is here! 

 

Where did September go?  For us it was a blur.

 

We have been so busy at Litengard.  All the college students arrived in late August.  Parents, students and cars, filled to the brim with dorm stuff!  We had families bringing their students early for fall sports practices, freshmen coming for orientation, and finally the upper classmen came.

 

And no sooner did the parents depart than they were back again for Family Weekend.  All 4 schools!

We've been busy.

 

 

 

The summer flowers and foliage are nice but fall is magificent.  The blossoms are off the crabapple trees, but they are now adorned with crimson and amber berries.  The dalia's have center stage and the white phlox are stunning.

 

 

 

The tomatoes grew to great heights this year.  This is Jon, 6'2" reaching up to harvest the top tomatoes.  We've had BLT's, sliced tomato sandwiches, tomato salad, and we've made loads of pasta sauce.  The beets were prolific as well as the beans, summer squash, green and red peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, lettuce,  potatoes, and kale.

 

We had a picnic for the St Lawrence students who live on Main Street.

 

And went to a wonderful wedding in Wisconsin.

 

Otis was back for a few days.  People at the Inn miss the Inn dog.  And he was happy to sleep in for a few days, no getting up at 4 o'clock when he was visiting the North Country.

 

We had two different shipments of new chicks.  A new variety, Welsummers, have been added to the group and some others who will give me blue and green eggs.  A new enclosure was developed so the "big" girls would not pick on the new ones.

 

And we are still harvesting tomatoes!

 

We have had two girls come to live with us for a bit.  It's been fun to young people in the house again.

 

But we have had lots of tutorials!

1. how to care for chickens.....feeding, watering, collecting eggs, corraling escaped hens

2. how to slice, chop and roast vegetables...mostly tomatoes to make into pasta sauce

3.  how to hand mow the lawn

4. how to care for neurotic unsocialized big black dog

5. how to iron sheets and napkins

6. how to clean the bathroom....Margaret style

7. how to entertain Inn guests, neighbors, college students and relatives

 

And they have helped me figure out my phone, add Padora, instruct me on internet things, fix things around the house, give me concerts, and let me see a friendship being developed between two girls who barely knew each other before living here.  It's been fun and they have been a big help to the daily goings on here at 42 and 44.

Saturday

It's hard to believe that it's the middle of August.   Everyone is saying, "summer is almost over".  Wow, did that go fast.  We had a magnificent summer up here in the North Country.  Lovely hot weather with little rain, so everyone enjoyed their pools and the lakes around here.  But the farmers were praying for rain.

My garden is magnicient this year.  Today Elizabeth Melville and I harvested the Purple Viking potatoes, and she dug up the residual garlic while I pulled up the onions.  Then we tackled the tomatoes.  The orange cherry tomatoes are so sweet, I've already made two pots of pasta sauce with them.  The Black Prince, Morgage Lifters, Green Zebras,Gold Medals, Paul Robesons, Amish paste, and others are prolific.  Elizabeth was wondering how I was going to collect the ones that are coming off the 7 foot branches though.  I've never had to take a ladder into the garden to get the tomatoes before, but this year the tomatoes are all reaching to great heights.  It must be the chicken manure!

While Elizabeth and I were picking eggplant, squash, potatoes, carrots and tomatoes, Rob was busy building a door in the stall so that the babies could have more room to run around.  I was just going to staple up some chicken wire to the wall and somehow attach it to the other side so that I could get in and out but Rob would not allow such a sloppy affair.  So we got a lovely door on hinges and a legitimate latch.  The babies have a large area to run around in and the older chicken can view them at close range.

.

And tomorrow it's time to spend with the Lord and our church family.

Take Your Mother To Work Day

It was take your mother to work day yesterday, at least in the Nordberg family.

I got to go to work with Jon at the Belmont yesterday and it was soooo much fun.  Although I didn't get up at 4:30am to go with him, I did join him at 9:00 at the Vet Village.  I got to see the clinic, the drugs, the equipment, the digital Xray and I did bring Otis, who got to sleep an extra 4 hours that morning.  He was happy!

It was so much fun to see Jon at work.  Examining horses, passing tubes to hydrate horses, scoping horses for breathing issues, giving lameness checks, giving injections, and interacting with all the various people who are in charge of all these very important horses!

The horses are trained, either breezed, walked or galloped and then there are folks who give them a bath and get them back in the stalls.  They are immaculate!  The Belmont employs so many people at all different levels.   There are trainers, owners, barn managers, riders, jockeys, grooms, walkers and all the older men who are directing traffic so vehicles so not run into the horses.  And pay attention!!!  One must never slam the car/truck door.  It may spook the horses.

 There are sixty barns filled with horses that are in various stages of training, many of the horses were at Saratoga for August and will be back in September.

Jon kept getting calls has he was going to the various barns responding to the concerns of the trainers and barn managers.

We got to go to the back side and watch some horses that were being exercised.

The park is beautiful and huge!  Right in the middle of Long Island it take up over 450 acres of space.  It has lovely trees, flowers, barns, medical clinics, dorms for some of the 1000 employees, stores, a huge grand stand, magnificent boxes and a lovely track.  The had some of these plaques denoting the big winner different years.  This one dates back to 1935

It was a beautiful day yesterday on Long Island.  And I was priviledged to see so many beautiful horses hear about how they are taken care of and trained.  After most of Jon's rounds were done he was able to get away for a bit and go to lunch.  We drove through gorgeous neighborhoods on Long Island and had lunch at a wonder Asian restaurant. 

And then I had to take off to return to the North Country.

What a great day!

Moms

Today would have been my mom's 89th birthday.

She was a great mom,  devoted wife, loyal friend, yummy cook and outstanding housekeeper.  And she loved doing all those things.

She didn't have to be taught that being a mom was the best thing in the world and that her job was significant and more important than anything else in the world.  And that God valued what she did in the home.  She raised three girls, who knew right from wrong, had a strong work ethic (might be the Scandinavian influence kicking in), valued family and all became born again Christians.

As I look around in church these days I'm so impressed with the wonderful young families we have.  We've been here for a while so all the kids that I have had in children's church are grown, married, have families and even some of their children are now getting married themselves.  Many of them became involved with the Women's Ministry.  And now they are out, married, and having families of their own.

Our church has been a bastion of promoting the family.  That's one of the reasons we decided to plant ourselves at CFC.  That was the most important thing to us too.

And I see that all the teaching, mentoring, praying, modeling the church body has done,  has really paid off.

I see  young mom's grabbing hold of new moms and helping them with questions, issues, concerns.  Encouraging them to keep on keeping on.  They plan showers for each other.  Share books, recipes, and decorating ideas with each other.  They have a Mom's Cadre where they get together and get to talk about mom issues.  And then the young couples get together once a month and receive more encouragement from others about raising Godly families together.  They help each other with home projects, and work together on church projects.  And they promote families together.  And I see the dad's gently and quietly helping with the discipline of behavior in the young, producing some wonderful toddlers and young ones.

I guess I'm boasting.  But I'm proud of them.  I think it's a bit unusual.  I sometime wish families could be imported for a bit and be a part of our fellowship.  We're not perfect, no.  Far from perfect.  But I think we have something special here.

My mom would be proud too.