Birthdays and Random Acts of Kindness

 We met today to celebrate Larissa and Charles' birthdays...

Charles was VERY excited for his birthday. His birthday is the 21st and CoRielle celebrated earlier. They knew the 21st may be hard...the date of our October celebration last year, the last time most of us saw Josiah. They celebrated a week or so ago and Charles has been convinced he was 4! Then they came to OUR house for another birthday party - and now, he's 5! He'll be 18 in no time at all. 

We are certainly thankful to have this little man in our family.  Yes, he's come with quite a few challenges, but Cory and Arielle are amazing parents to this little guy and his spark adds life to all of our lives. Larissa's sweet spirit, her gift of mercy and service spread such peace and calm in our family. She blesses us in so many ways! We are thankful Jared found her! 

I kept it simple this month - pasta and a couple of kinds of sauce, salad and fresh sourdough bread. The boys had quite a discussion about which sauce was best. 

I believe they chose different sauces. 

Gifts, cake and then Jared played downstairs with the boys...Cory watched Ellie...and the rest of us worked on putting together packets for the upcoming week.

We have decided to do as many random acts of kindness in Josiah's honor as we can in the upcoming week. We've collected candy, mugs, hot chocolate, tea and coffee, gift cards....and Larissa designed a card to accompany everything.  I originally envisioned covering his hometown, Eagle River, but we do NOT want anyone to start saying we are playing off Josiah's loss for a campaign stunt for Jared...and we don't want to taint the jury pool either.... we'll scatter kindness around the valley this year. 

The assembly line

I'm excited about this...a chance to surprise others, something happy to look forward to during a hard week. At this point we have 22 gift cards, 20 mugs, 144 bags of candy...and BreZaak and CoRielle each have their own candy/gift cards and cards. We're also trying to work out a way to give away Chick Fil A sandwiches on the 23rd in Josiah's honor. This would be MUCH easier if we HAD a Chick Fil A up here. ::snort::  The card says, "Please accept this random act of kindness in honor of Our Hero...."

I saw this idea from Philip and Megan, a couple we knew at our last assignment. They lost their son, Hunter 9 years ago. They've begun this practice...and Michael and I loved it. We will probably start spreading things around and continue it through the week. If you're a business in the Valley that would like a basket of goodies let us know. 

GRACE NOTES: 

1. Busy day with many of the family. 

2. Charles and Larissa. 

3. Random Acts of Kindness. 

Grief is Tumultuous

Here are some thoughts which have been bouncing around in my head, heart and soul. 

Several months ago, I was struggling with the fact I simply wasn't able to jump back into activities I previously loved and handled with ease. I find myself distracted, impatient with chit chat, and with folks who were SOOO upset over things I consider inconsequential.  My "lack of normalcy" and failure to progress as others seemed to think I should on the grief journey frustrated me. I was doing well - until I wasn't. I was strong - until I was weak. My faith could move mountains, until I was immobilized by fear and longing.  

My honest replies make others uncomfortable when they ASK, "How are you doing?"  I've lost some filter for social interactions others possess. My emotions are intense, my relationships have a deeper sense of intention to them, I'm acutely aware of how fleeting time can be. 

 Around this time Lee, a friend from food co-op, shared she had a friend who lost a child to violence. She said the process of grief and the trial was tumultuous! 

Tumultuous! 

"Loud, excited, confused, disorderly." 

Yes. That's it. Grief is tumultuous! Grief takes many forms; at times quiet and solitary, at times demanding and grating. It's disorderly. It's confusing. It's NOT linear. Having a WORD helps things fall into place. There is a word for what I feel - the word is tumultuous! 

This fall has been harder than I expected. Several family members have mentioned fall being difficult. We have so many fun memories in the summer and fall and Josiah is right in the middle of them. This year he is conspicuously absent. We feel the "anniversary" drawing near...there is a sense one is allowed to mourn for the year of firsts and then, like magic, all will be well and "normal." 

But it's not. 

When we lived in Japan, we saw our adult children once a year. This isn't so very different...and yet as one year draws near there are no anticipated visits. It is totally different. The permanence of Josiah's death begins to take root down deep in my heart and soul. 

In so much of life and faith we live with the tension of the now and not yet. We experience the same tension in our grief. The permanence of loss and the hope brought by our faith in Jesus. This world is not the end. All justice does not have to come from the world's system. We will see Josiah again. We will. And yet now...it hurts. Now I forgive AND I wrestle with the need to pray for the one who robbed us of Josiah. Some days I dream of redemption and some days I dream of justice.

Sometimes it's a dull ache and sometimes it's a tearing, ripping pain.  Sometimes it's a sense of loneliness in the midst of a family gathering and sometimes it's a sweet memory. 

It's disorganized, unexpected, ever-changing. 

I have wrestled with Christian cliches, with secondary losses, with issues of faith I thought were settled years ago...one thing I have known through it all...God remains with me. Always. In the pit of despair and on days when I feel like I'm handling it well.  When we are too much for others...we are never too much for God. God doesn't care what we are DOING, he cares about who we are becoming. 

I'm finding community with those who are willing to take off masks and admit there is pain, there are questions, there are things we cannot fix.  We are not meant, after all, to fix ourselves. So much of the time when we "get it wrong" it's because we are uncomfortable admitting the tension we are surrounded by - we want a quick faith that will fix all. 

God offers something better - His presence, His faithful love - a love that invites honest emotions and questions. 

So - "How am I today?" 

I am moving forward on the tumultuous journey of grief. I'm learning to live with the tension of incredible loss and fantastic hope and to be honest with both the loss and the hope, the joy and the sorrow... I have taken great strides in being comfortable with making space for all the emotions, all the grief, all the memories, the tension and with being totally MISUNDERSTOOD by those who have never had to walk this journey. 

While some fear I've lost a measure of faith, the reality is my faith is deeper, my relationship with God much more authentic. I have never felt His censor of my grief.  He is with me in the lament. I have discovered that's enough. 

And, who knows, with time I may become comfortable with chit chat once again...right now I can handle about 5 minutes. 

What DID we do today?

We had a day with nothing on the calendar! Nothing. 

We filled it with chores. Michael moved the trampoline form, put hoses up, transplanted a tomato plant, washed a few buckets, helped Stacia get past Brenda's door and made two ice cream cakes for the upcoming Family Gathering. 

Stacia had homework, college and is housesitting.  

Allie is on a college break but had work.

I played with candy! Rina, a Facebook friend, offered new tips and settings which I used. I think the Tootsie Rolls worked better at the higher temp - but the caramel...ah, the caramels. 

Check it out! Each one of those balls are delightful bits of Werther's caramel...and each ball is only 1/8th of ONE Werther's. Mom hack - kids feel like it's a treat and it's just a tiny bit of the norm. LOL I've got 8 quarts of candy sealed today.... tomorrow I must get back to carrots. I feel as if we are well prepared with sweets for any supply chain disruption.   ::snort:: 

Skittles, Werther's, Tootsie Rolls, Gummy Worms,
Caramel MnMs and Nerds Gummy Clusters

I spent time in between batches of candy doing a bit of clerical volunteering for Jared's State Senate campaign. 

We had leftovers for dinner. 

OH - I finally admitted it was time to pull the green tomatoes, it was in the 20's this morning. I'm hoping they will continue to ripen. 

In other monumental news, Stacia has finally lost her last fingernail. I have NEVER seen anyone deal with Hand, Foot and Mouth like she has had it.  She has had this pain since July...but finally the last nail has fallen off. We are so thankful her toe nails didn't all fall off too! 

GRACE NOTES:

1. Michael. 

2. A boringly, ordinary day doing piddly chores. 

3. Progress. 

Soul Treats

"Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God." Ps 42:11 ESV

I've been spending a lot of time in Psalms. The first time I read through them this year I have raw, argumentative notes in my margins.  Things like "goodness and mercy??? Why didn't Josiah see this?" But, of course, he did, and does, see goodness and mercy. 

The term "spiritual bypass" is becoming familiar to me. This is the syndrome where we (or others) slap a bright, happy Christian band-aide over a wound instead of admitting and processing our emotions...which leads to HEALING.   Each time I make it through Psalm's I see deeper understanding in the margins. It takes TIME to walk through the valley. 

Verses like the one above, which I'm using for memory work this week, gave me the freedom to ask my soul, "How are you today?" And then to listen and pray about how I truly am on any given day.  Obviously, as the 23rd approaches I DO find my soul downcast and in turmoil quite often and I KNOW why....but I also know where to look for hope. 

I'm rambling...this morning I found my soul excited. I knew it was going to be a day with PEOPLE, and I do love my people! The day turned out to be full of soul treats. 

Brenda invited me to her home for tea today.  There was a time when she and her husband, Carl, were in our home weekly.  Much has changed since that time - grief, first for Brenda and now for us. We have to be intentional now to see each other.  We spent a lovely couple of hours chatting about life, grief, church communities (hers and ours), her upcoming travel and our upcoming events.  It is great to connect, we need to do it more often. My time with Brenda always refreshes me deep down in my soul. We are somewhat kindred spirits and it's good to be in community again.  No pictures - I'm not brazen enough to photo friends for the blog without permission and we were instantly talking - forgot the photos. 

It was also a TREAT for the soul when Larissa and Noah stopped by just to visit Michael and me. We love having everyone together at once and we also cherish our one-on-one time with smaller groups of the kids. As we talked about plans for the upcoming Family Celebration and then the days up to the anniversary of Josiah's death, she offered to design the card we planned to design to give away. Larissa is so much more creative than me. 

We are three weeks away from the general election. While I know most eyes are focused on the federal election, ours also focus local. Jared has been through the district so many times. I think Jamin has gone out nearly as many times. I was glad these two visited us while Jared knocked on doors. Three more weeks...and there will be a bit of rest after this hectic season. 

Check out Noah's sweatshirt! 

We have started having Nolan over for dinner and an episode of "Lost in Space" on Wednesdays. He hasn't been feeling well but has been to the doctor and is on the way to better. He's cut out all gluten, in addition to the previously cut out dairy. It was great to see him tonight. There is nothing better than having adult children visit. Hang in there tired mamas...you will reap the reward of your current investment. 

I looked forward to a new freeze-drying adventure today! Things didn't go quite as expected. I had my first freeze dryer "fail" today. 

Tootsie Rolls, Gummy worms, Caramel MnM, caramels,
Skittles, Nerds clusters

I am trying to get a variety of candy ready for Saturday. Stacia has TMJ and can't eat many of her favorites due to her jaw, freeze-drying allows the flavor with an easier texture.  All turned out good except for the Werther's soft caramels. I cut each piece into 3 and STILL they blew up over the sides of the tray, stuck on the tray holders...I will try again. Allie and my favorite are Caramel MnM, she also likes Skittles, Stacia likes the Nerd clusters, Michael's favorite is Tootsie Rolls. Oddly enough the Tootsie Rolls did not blow up like the caramels. 

About those caramels...I think it will make a delicious popcorn sprinkle! 

Yes, it's been a good day....

GRACE NOTES:

1. Brenda, a friend who understands much and is willing to try to understand the rest. 

2. So fun to spend some time with Larissa and Noah.

3. Time with Nolan.

Kites, Frisby, Community & Fresh Perspective

 Sadly, the trampoline, electric car, rocking horse and playhouse have all been loaded into the storage trailer until next spring. I was a little uneasy about how we would keep the boys occupied without many toys out there.  The weather is still nice enough in the day to be outside - in fact we WANT to be outside if the sun is shining!  The first order of business was to come up with a plan...and make sure there was room on Benny's camera to capture the fun. LOL 

Benny brought a kite for Papa to help him put together. What a great idea. It totally co-opted Papa's planned projects, but it drew him into OUR day. There wasn't enough wind to fly a kite. Papa warned us it wouldn't work well this afternoon. Benny didn't care. He was with Papa, he was running, he was in heaven. 

Next up was a rousing game of capture tag.  The rules the boys communicated are very flexible.  We were supposed to capture boys, put them in the trampoline frame, and they didn't get out until they were tag released...in reality it turned into Michael and I not only tagging, but dragging boys to the frame, which they promptly left until we caught them again. This continued until Bachan said she was done running! I think I would have lasted much longer if it was simply tag but carrying those big boys across the yard - they're growing up! LOL 

Tag? More like capture the pre-schooler!

Papa's a good tagger! 

Charles climbed to the top of the play structure and started crowing and clucking, "I'm a chicken!" It's nice to see our passions are contagious. 

We discovered a frosty leaf....yes, the season is changing! Charles found one or two more raspberries with Papa's help. A paraglider must have jumped off Lazy Mountain. He floated right over our yard much to the delight and interest of the boys.  Arielle beware of jump off points tomorrow. LOL  

Michael diligently tried to teach us all how to properly throw and catch a Frisby with varying degrees of success. In the midst of the throwing and catching, Charles yelled, "Wait. I'll do a back flip!" and proceeded to shock us into laughter. 

We managed to find plenty to keep us occupied outside for an hour and a half. We came inside for "tea." 

Don't judge! It's sugar free. 

There's always bread dough to be stretched at Bachan's...especially when I'm trying to have enough for a weekend event. 

Finally, out of things to do we snuggled on the couch and talked. Papa was supposed to be setting up a movie for us, but Cory and Arielle got back before we managed to get it working. Score. 

Allie got home from an outing with a friend in time to stay with GG while Michael and I went out to Lifegroup. The group discussion was good. I believe my personal connection and discussion with another gal in the group was a divine appointment. God gave me another perspective of the other side of the court system. Do you see what God has done? Provided a lawyer willing to walk alongside us, as well as a trophy of grace to remind us of compassion and grace and possible redemption. We begin to see what a miracle and blessing it is we are at trial in just over a year. That simply doesn't happen up here. It usually takes 3 - 5 years. God is in the process. 

We got home after 10 p.m. and both girls were up. Neither had work or classes tomorrow morning and they advocated for a movie. We settled in and watched Tuck Everlasting. 

I was so tired by that point I forgot to form the sourdough and put it into the proofing basket overnight. I also didn't blog or post grace notes. 

GRACE NOTES: 

1. Spending time with some of the grands and Michael. It's a rich blessing. 

2. Community to do life together. 

3. Fresh perspectives. 

Pet Chicken & Grief

We have a garage chicken...a pet hen if you will. Clancy, aka Gimpy, broke her leg. We have no idea HOW. She just did. The others began to pick on her. She couldn't walk. Her fate seemed settled. Except Michael and I simply couldn't bring ourself to kill her...this fall. We got her comfortable in the garage...and babied her...and one day she jumped out of her box. Now she's messy. HOWEVER, she is walking on the leg - better and better. The others are still determined to kill her. It appears we have a pet chicken. She gets her run of the garage and yard. We are trying to figure out a way to keep her housed and happy during the upcoming winter. 

Benny & Gimpy 📷by Jared or Arielle

Grief...

Grief is odd. It is silent or raging. It can drive you to people or away.  In other words, it's unsettled, ever-changing. Tonight, I needed to be loud and raw and alone. I went for a drive and predictably ended up at the cemetery. I've never been at this time of day... There is more and more snow on the mountains. The moon was beautiful. 

 My perspective fell back into place.  

GRACE NOTES:
1. Much was accomplished, the day is done.

Family Work Day @ Our Place

I have not blogged since August 10th. WHAT???? I was doing such a good job at keeping current and catching up past years. LOL  

Fall is always a hard season to continue blogging. Yes, mid-Aug IS Fall up here. Often the leaves turn colors, we get a windstorm in Sept and are left with bare trees and falling temps to mark fall - until snow.  THIS year, however, has been beautiful! We didn't lose our pretty colors until this past week. Temps have been warmer than usual.  Fall is always a frantic time in Alaska as it signals WINTER'S approach. We are busy prepping for winter. I DO have photos from each and every day and will try to catch things up a bit as the seasons change. 

I was talking over my general malaise and grief with Josh, my counselor. In early September, he pointed out we were experiencing a lot of incredibly INTENSE HIGHS AND INTENSE LOWS.  I went back in October and blew him away with new events to share. ::snort::  Yes, this fall has been an emotional roller coaster for all in our family. Many of those highs and lows are not strictly my story to tell, and even ones that are, were not blogged as they happened and there is nothing to be gained by retelling them now.  This is a time when my tendency to STOP blogging at big events until I "get it right" is working well. I recognize this is written as a family journal, I also recognize it is ok to choose to leave some very fun events, as well as some very challenging events, offline. 

AND....we miss Josiah terribly this fall.  I didn't want to spend hours saying, "I'm sad. I miss Josiah," over and over. He was in the middle of so many of our fun traditions...I could not bring myself to go to Pyrah's Fall festival with all the grands this year, his voice was present while I gardened, as we worked on chores, as we went to monthly court appearances, when we had our first apple dipped in caramel... His presence is both felt and missed even more strongly as we approach October 23rd. 

It is TIME to blog...and THIS is a great day to begin! 

Cory texted to say he was organizing a workday for Sunday afternoon. The plan was to take down 2 beetle killed spruce, split, stack it and fill the 2nd half of our woodshed. We had wood for this year, but we hadn't cut any trees for the left side of the shed...the side that dries for next year. Josiah usually helped Michael fell trees in the summer...we haven't felt like doing it. Cory and Michael felled a cottonwood that was dead...as Cory spilt it he asked if we had any spruce or birch this year....and there you have it, we didn't. We planned to worry about it "later." Michael's health has been failing and I CAN buy wood if need be. Cory stepped in with a tribe and a solution. 

 We knew today would be busy as we had a meeting at church in Eagle River this evening and the boys were set to arrive around 2:30 p.m. We opted to stay in the valley and went to church at Wasilla Community Church. This saved us time AND allowed us to hear Cory preach at their new church.  Cory had a meeting after church, Arielle took the littles home, and we took Benny out to lunch with us. 

The guys arrived. They inspected and chose a few likely trees to fell. 

Alex, Cory, Michael (back) Izaak (brown jacket) Jared, Jamin

In no time at all the first tree was down (Izaak is our master feller), the other cut branches off and sawed it into chunks, it was taken to the shed where Alex, Allie and Benny took over splitting and stacking. 

Tim-ber! 

OK - because some hate cutting trees (as do I), the spruce beetle has left a ton of our spruce dead...and they are simply fire starter waiting for a spark....it's a job we NEED to make more progress on than we have....but it feels good to have this much done. 

Cory, Jared, Jamin 

Izaak & Cory 

Jared

I began splitting wood, Alex soon took over. He was able to heft the bigger pieces much quicker than I, his technique surpassed mine.

Alex, Allie and Benny

"I caught it!"

Ellie Rae did NOT appreciate all the noise and activity - not one little bit of it centered on her. 

CoRielle's 3 year-olds are turning 4! Charles and Danny

Face shot of Izaak and Cory  - the girls chose well. 

It is a sad truth, but winter IS eventually coming - even though we are enjoying some "warmish" weather.  The girls took down the hammocks for the season.

Jared

Benny @ lunch - out of order - oh well. 

Stacia, Ellie and Arielle 

Ellie and Jared 📷by Arielle

Danny & Charles 📷by Arielle

In no time at all they were working on the 3rd tree! Michael and I drove in for a partner vision meeting at ACF.  We thought things were winding down. Evidently - the tribe got a second wind. Sitting in our meeting we received this photo! This is actually the least frightening shot. I told Michael we'd better get home as soon as possible before the boys burned down our home. ::snort::

📷by Jared

📷by Jared

Things were going so well. What could have happened? Bre came by with her kids and s'mores makings. They all hung around until we got home.  It was PERFECT. This is the first family night around the campfire we've had since Josiah passed. He was ALWAYS up for and suggesting campfires when he was out. We have missed them. BTW - Jamin has water in the 5-gal bucket he is carrying around. 

📷by Jared or Arielle

I went into the house to grab a sweatshirt and loved this view from our room before joining the group. Dad opted to stay inside. He said he'd rather read than sit around the fire. Ah, well. 

Charles, Gideon, Bella, Danny 📷by BreAnne

Jamin 📷by BreAnne

Jamin, Michael, Jared 📷by BreAnne

Ellie, Arielle, Allie, Stacia, Bre 📷by BreAnne

Ellie, Cory, Arielle & me📷by BreAnne

Izaak, Jared, Cory 📷by BreAnne

This day was a blessing from start to finish. The kids ALWAYS bless us, but today was extra! These five men accomplished what would have taken Michael and I weeks to do in one afternoon. It's been a busy season with jobs, Jared's campaign, grief....I think everyone enjoyed working together and catching up. I am so thankful for all their help. 

GRACE NOTES:

1. Fire was well contained, and we enjoyed a lovely night around the campfire...

2. Our hearts are full as we realized, sitting in a church business meeting, God used the most traumatic incident in our life to move us exactly where we needed to be.

3. We were able to join Cory and Arielle at their church where Cory was preaching.

4. Cory arranged a workday this afternoon and was joined by Izaak, Jamin, Jared and Alex, Allie and Stacia (and Benny). 3 beetle kill spruce were felled, wood split and stacked. Our children bless us always, but extra today!

*This was our first family campfire since Josiah passed away. It was good, and yet, oh, how I miss him, especially when we are together.

#CourageousJoy #GraceNotes #alaskafall