Motherhood and Muffin Tops : Life in the Dry Cracks and the Hard Places

Well, we’re home from our week away. We had wonderful food, wonderful weather, and a wonderful time. Here’s a brief pictorial summary.

We enjoyed some beautiful days out in nature. We looked for trails that were on the shorter side as you know I’m the weak link on our family hiking excursions. Apparently, I inhaled too much of nature as I came home afflicted with allergy and sinus troubles- so, for the last couple of days of romantic getaway bliss, I smelled of honey lemon menthol and snorted a lot.

Our hiking reminded me of this meme on my phone.

We did the Biltmore tour. We’d been to Asheville, but never to Biltmore. It was a nice quaint, little bungalow. It seems to me that they likely spent most of their time trying to decide which room they’d occupy each day. Which book to read. Which window to look out. Which chair to sit in. Which fireplace to warm by. Which garden to stroll. There were a lot of choices to consider. What a lovely, fairytale place.

The room where the masterpieces from Washington’s National Gallery of Art were hidden during WW2.

We had some time left after Biltmore, so we went to Billy Graham’s retreat center, The Cove, since it was nearby. We got there just an hour before they closed, so we were the only ones there at the time. Our guide, Stanley, was an older man who asked if he could pray for us and if we had any specific prayer requests. There in the little church, just the three of us, he prayed the sweetest, most sincere prayer for each one of our children in the places they are on their life journeys and for our friend, Mary, who was having surgery that day. I’m not sure if prayers carry more weight coming from Billy Graham’s neck of the woods, but they certainly were a blessing to us on that beautiful day.

I shared with our guide the memory of being called to the den whenever one of Billy Graham’s crusades was being televised. It didn’t matter what you were doing or how many tests you had the next day or who wanted you to come out and play, when Billy Graham came on, you were going to sit on the couch and listen to his sermon and nobody was getting up until they started singing “Just As I Am.” That was a wonderful time back when people would pack stadiums to hear about God and the major networks would televise it in prime time slots and families would sit down together and watch. Our country sure could use some of that about now.

We stopped at the Downton Abbey exhibit on the way home and it was wonderful. So many costumes, props, and sets were there. It was nicely done and had drawn quite a crowd of fans on that day, which was the day before it was ending.

Granny is my absolute favorite. I mean, I couldn’t love her more.

We’d catch bits of the news in the room while we were getting ready to head out to the next place. In the middle of the beauty of God’s creation, it seemed like the whole world was falling apart by the looks of things. Ukrainian mothers bouncing little babies on their hips while they told about near-miss explosions. Little children screaming at the loud noises of war. Men taking up arms and doing whatever they could to defend their country. Desperate masses of people kneeling to pray in the snow.

I thought about something I’d seen while we were out hiking. There on the very edge of a rocky cliff, I saw a plant growing out of seemingly nothing. There was no soil or any obvious matter to support its life. But, it was there. Coming out of the hard rock. Living and being sustained where there seemed to be no hope. Like the tiny pine tree growing in the gutters. The weed coming out of the crack in the sidewalk. The daffodil springing up from the cold, hard ground.

When I saw the mothers in Ukraine exhausting all of their energy protecting their children and the ordinary citizens eager to get their lessons on how to be a soldier, I thought about that plant. We all have an innate desire to live and thrive and we can find ourselves adapting and surviving in places we never imagined we could as long as we feel the potential for life is still there. It’s what makes a dying cancer patient keep looking for their cure. It’s what helped hundreds of thousands of Jews survive concentration camps. It’s what kept a sailor clinging to the side of a raft for 76 days before being rescued from the ocean. No matter how dire our circumstances or how the odds are stacked against us, if life still has a chance, we want to fight for the possibility with everything in us. That’s what I see the Ukrainian people doing.

We came home to day 9,258 of our renovation. Everything was covered with a fine, white layer of dust. I have to get up and at ‘em so I can be showered and dressed before the men get here just before the rooster crows, each day. We’re currently down to one bathroom option with limited counter space. We’re using paper plates with plastic forks that break and shoot across the room when we eat. I’m not sure where my hair dryer is. Davis has to buy his coffee at the convenience store. Ruby is looking at us like we must have forgotten to pay some bills or something.

In most recent history, we’ve been so insulated in our country from any kind of discomfort or inconvenience or real hardship. Especially my generation and younger. We think a hard time is when the Wi-Fi is down or our car is in the shop or we’re roughing it for a short time while our home is being renovated. Most of us have spent the majority of our days flourishing in the green, fertile fields of life and opportunity, but so many around the world are struggling to survive in the dry crevices and the hard cracks. The places where the elements are harsh on life, conditions are unfavorable for growth, and where there’s little place for hope and peace to take root. I’ve grown a lot in my gratitude watching the news, lately. And also in my admiration for the Ukrainian people who are praying and hoping and fighting hard for their lives and their land. I pray the Author of Life will sustain them in those difficult places and continue to work mightily on their behalf. That He would cause them to not lose hope or the will to fight for life. And may they also know of the life in Heaven that’s offered to them through Jesus.