Friday Foto Friends...Seasons of Life

Written on Thursday evening...for Friday Foto Friends.

Hello! Life has been rather crazy here this week, as most of you already know.  My  95 year old mother in law, "Nanny",  is still among the living, but barely. Every morning we expect a call from the nursing home telling us she passed in the night...but so far she is hanging on and we make the hour's drive in every day to see her and tell her we love her and try to soothe and comfort her when she is having extreme agitation.  Thankfully the meds they give help, but there are moments when they don't...so we sing hymns, hold her hands and talk softly to her and soon she calms down and drifts back to sleep.  We can't stay all day, so we tiptoe out after she falls asleep and go on about our business and wait for the call.  This has been our routine all week.  She is a strong woman, and for whatever reason, her time to let go just hasn't happened yet.  In God's perfect timing she will make the transition from this life to the next...and not a moment sooner.

I have been watching this rose develop, bud and bloom on my Don Juan Rose bush this past week. I had said to myself last week when I saw it beginning to form that it would be "Nanny's Rose", and that when it fully bloomed, she would probably be in heaven.  That was what came to my mind, because I've noticed that these roses in our memorial garden  seem to  bloom especially for special people on special days.  (click on the links for examples)  This is another example.

But the rose blossomed, and because of the extreme heat and dryness this week, it started to die very quickly...

And so I cut it and brought it inside and put it in water to see if it would revive, but as you can see, the sun damage was pretty severe.

And God said to me, "Who do you think you are, to be able to say on this day or that day so and so will happen? You are not Me, and you do not know the plans that I have for you or for "Nanny"...so please just rest in Me, and let Me show you what is best."

And so we wait, and I feel somewhat admonished...and yet comforted that God has shown me again that He is truly in control in all things...His timing is always perfect, and it is not up to me to know the times or the seasons  (even Jesus told His disciples this in Acts 1:7, just before the day of Pentecost)

"It  is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority."

But it is up to me to trust Him, and go about doing whatever needs to be done...and leave these important issues and moments in the lives of our loved ones up to Him...and to just be patient and wait on Him.

Same thing with my brother...he has been in ICU all week after a serious complication to his Acute Leukemia happened. He is battling a severe fungal lung infection, and has been on a respirator and under sedation since Monday. But each day is showing new signs of improvement, and they are hoping to take him off of the respirator possibly tonight or tomorrow.  I know many of you are Facebook friends and you have already been watching the progress all week and praying...and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  You are such a blessing to me. The prayer support means so much.

I had to submit some DNA samples this week, to be tested for a possible match in the event that he should need a bone marrow transplant.  My other two siblings also are being tested. We hope and pray that he won't need to have this done, but we are ready to do our part if it should come to that.

I will try to keep you posted throughout these next days regarding the state of things here, but if you don't hear from me often, just keep praying. I am sorry I haven't been able to get around and visit you all like I'd like. I try to take a peek now and then, but with the daily journey to and from the nursing home and trying to keep up with "life in general", some things have to be set aside. You all understand that.  

Here are a few more pictures I've managed to snap as we've taken a our early morning or evening walks. That is a time of relaxation and regrouping our thoughts as hubby and I walk together.  Very therapeutic...and I thank the Lord for those times.

 Evening Sun reflected on the neighborhood pond.  The golden glow of the sun tells me that summer is fleeting and fall is on its way...

 That same spiderweb a day later (See A Fragile Thread) 

 This Milkweed Plant popped up again in the same place since last year...just waiting for it to bloom...

Coral bean plant...now you see why it is named the coral bean plant! Those red "bean" seeds are poisonous...but the flower in the spring was beautiful:

Then: (spring)

NOW: (late summer)

Neighborhood Deer...I sometimes think he's a pet...he just hangs around...

I believe he is a yearling who is now on his own as the parent deer have a new family to raise...

I know you probably can't see what I see in this picture of the little pine tree, but one morning it was all sparkly with the dew and the sun shining through, and I told hubby that it reminded me of a little Christmas tree, all decked out with lights and icicles...and for some reason that thought made me happy and gave me hope...

Life goes on...the seasons of life come and go...Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter...

One more thing...

Remember this pillow?

Yes, that is the pillow I made for my husband's cousin Janice last summer for her birthday.

It came back to me this week. One year later, Janice is in heaven, and her immediate family returned it back to me.  I made this especially for Janice from the vintage embroidery that I found among her grandmother's things when we  cleaned out Nanny's house. Janice always had poodles, and so this just seemed to be meant for her.  

Now it is in our guest room, which has reminders of my hubby's grandmother, his mother, and now his cousin.

These familiar words of King Solomon seem to fit here:

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 11

"To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven;

A time to be born,

and a time to die;

A time to plant, 

And a time to pluck what is planted;

A time to kill,

and a time to heal;

A time to break down,

and a time to build up;

A time to weep,

and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn,

And a time to dance;

A time to cast a way stones,

And a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace,

and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to gain,

and a time to lose;

A time to keep,

And a time to throw away;

A time to tear,

And a time to sew;

A time to keep silence,

and a time to speak;

A time to love,

and a time to hate;

A time of war,

and a time of peace."

11.  "He has made everything beautiful in its time.

Also He has put eternity in their hearts,

except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end."

Thank you for "bearing" with me 

on this little seasonal journey today...I hope this wasn't too depressing of a post...if it was, let me end with a happy picture:

Yes, that is "yours truly", riding on my retirement tractor! Yes, that is the same little pool that the bear is drinking out of above...

Okay, I'm calling it a night...you will see this in the morning, Lord willing...

Now let us drive our little tractor over  to Deb's place at Breathing in Grace and see what our other Friday Foto Friends have plowed up for us to enjoy!  Have a blessed day...and hug your loved ones and tell them you love them!!!