​Many years ago, Tommy and I always went up to the top of our road to climb over a barbed wire fence to look for Bittersweet berries. It was always cold, and sometimes, it was "spitting" snow.  This morning when I awoke to find the ground covered with snow, I remembered those days.

Sometimes the sun was shining through the red and gold leaves and sometimes it was overcast.  It would not have been the same had it been warm!

After we crossed the barbed wire fence we were in the woods. Our steep climb started almost immediately.  There was no let up until we reached the top.  The leaves were slick and the "saw briars" grabbed and tore at our clothes, face and hands.  The day after, I always found scratches and red spots all over my legs where the briars found their way through my clothing.

When we reached the top of the mountain, we had to find the fence row again, which we had lost in our wandering and weaving in and out of the fallen trees and vines which blocked our way.  When we found the fence, we followed it to the crest of the mountain where tall straight cedar trees reached for the sunlight. There were also dogwoods and evergreens in abundance.

Before looking up into the tall trees to find the Bittersweet, we paused to look at the incredible view below us.

Finally we began looking up into the very tops of the trees where the Bittersweet vine climbs.. The berries are orange and beautiful.  We  got excited when we finally spotted some berries in the very tops of two trees.  One, however, was much too high, and of course the berries were thick and lush in that tree!

Tommy thought he could reach the berries in the other tree, so he started to climb.  He stepped on the rickety fence post and on up into the tree.  As he began to climb upward, the tree began to sway and bend.  I had several anxious moments when I just knew he was going to crash to the ground.  He kept to the task before him and finally reached the berries.

The job wasn't done though.  He had to cut the vine, pull it out and somehow throw it through the branches of the tree to the ground below. He had to do this while maintaining a foothold and holding on with one hand.

We never got a lot of the beautiful Bittersweet berries, because, again, the prettiest berries were too high.  We were content with what we did get, and he began his descent.  After he reached the ground, we headed for home, another successful Bittersweet Berry Hunting Year.

​Last night we paid for a movie.  This morning it went on Amazon for free!
John thomas had misplaced a music book he needed for a project.  He looked on E Bay  and it was $460!  He looked some more and found it for $30.  Right after he ordered the $30 copy, he found his copy! The music book incident happened right after the movie incident.

Some people might chafe at that.  They might even agonize over not waiting.

I agree that often we are told to wait.  Many times we rush into something without waiting and listening for the voice of the Lord.  His timing is often different from our timing.

However, there are times, when if we wait, we miss out on a blessing. 

The Lord tells you to call someone.  You are busy so you put it off.
He tells you to bless someone.  Funds are low right now, but payday is coming in a few days.
You know you need to get off the couch and go outside and walk, but you have had a rough few days, and after all, didn't you walk inside the house all day long?
A friend is in a nursing home, but her family moved her so far out of town, that it will take awhile to get there.  She will still be there another day when you aren't as busy.  Maybe.

Today, if there is something you want to do or somewhere you want to go, and it isn't something that you feel strongly that the Lord is telling you to wait, go ahead.  Tomorrow may not come.  (idea for this blog came from John boy and Tommy!  Thank you!)

​When I was a little girl, often my family would go for Sunday afternoon drives.  I have talked to others who did the same thing. 

Tommy told me a story this morning, that tops ALL Sunday afternoon drive stories.

His Mother told him of a family where he grew up, that would dress up in their Sunday best and drive around town with their windows rolled up...in the summertime!  Of course they were wet with sweat when they returned home but to them, it was worth it!  

They wanted everyone to think they had air conditioning, when, in fact, they did not!  And...everyone knew they did not!

Draw your own conclusions!

This has been a monumental week at the Oaks barn.  Jason came up from Knoxville to work on an addition for the barn.  Our friend Greg came up from Atlanta, and our friend Tony came from right here in Elizabethton,  Yesterday they got the insulation and flooring in and one wall up.  Today the other walls are going up.

Greg said something this morning that I am sure will stick with me.  He said that when he visited Notre Dame, he had the sense that it wasn't just timber and mortar but that the people who worked on it, were building it for God's glory and for it to bless generations to come. He said he had the same sense whenever he worked on anything, including our place here. 

I love the verse in the Bible that says "whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus".  (Col.3:17) I felt like that is exactly what Jason, Tony and Greg were doing this week.  I pray I will be faithful to use it for His glory.

We recently had a day of prayer at the camp in Unicoi.  Tommy told us to draw an ear on our paper with a capital L in the middle...indicating not only talking to God but listening. This is what I felt like God was telling me.

Don't get discouraged if God doesn't seem to be answering your prayers. like you think He should.

My Mother said NO to slumber parties. (She let me have them at my house, but I couldn't go to someone else's house.)  She said NO to drive in movies.  She said NO to me going to the drug store after school when I was in High School.  Kids gathered at the drug store to hang out.  I wasn't allowed. For PETE'S sake!  I lusted to hang out at the drug store!  How unfair of my Mother!

I have a long list of NO's from my Mother, but I won't bore you with it.  You get the picture.

When I went to Milligan College, suddenly I was on my own.  My Mother wasn't there to say no.  I was tested my Freshman year...almost as soon as school started!  My roommate came in one day and told me we had been invited to eat supper with a married couple who went to school with us.  We had been there long enough to relish cooking other than cafeteria food. 

I borrowed my brother in law's car and off we went.  When we got there, there was no supper cooking and no wife present.  What we DID find were 3 guys sitting in the living room watching tv and smoking and drinking.  I immediately heard my Mother's voice saying NO.  I told Judy, my roommate, that we were leaving.  She tried to talk me out of it but I remained firm.  We left and went back to the dorm.  She didn't speak to me for a week.  

Audrey (the camp manager's daughter) was at our prayer day, so I addressed my thinking to her.  She is headed to Milligan College this fall.  I told her that for all my growing up years, I did or did not do certain things because of my Mother's voice in my ear.  After the incident I just described, I suddenly realized that it was another voice I was hearing and obeying.  The voice of the Holy Spirit.  If we listen, He is always speaking.  Sometimes He says NO.  Sometimes HE says YES. 

Around 70 years ago I was in Girl Scouts.  Our troop was the coveted troop because of our leader...Marty Marsh. We had another leader before she took over, but our first leader, while a nice person, was not very conscientious about being sure we eared our badges. 

When Marty took over and started quizzing us about our badges she realized we had told our former leader we had "earned" them when indeed we had not.  Immediately Marty cracked down on us.  We could not wear our badge sashes until we eared every single badge on there.

My favorite badge is the hiking badge.  You can see it in the picture.  It's the one with the little footprints on it.  In order to earn that badge we had to hike 100 miles.  We didn't have to hike it all at once, but it had to add up to 100.  

So, as soon as school was out for the summer, Marty planned our hikes.  Her Mother was also a scout leader, so she often went with us. 

What a summer we had!  We hiked all over the Smoky Mountains, and had so many wonderful adventures!  One day, Marty's Mother said, "ok girls...today we are going to plow the brush."  With that warning echoing in our brains, Mrs. Frisbie took off up the side of the mountain, off the beaten path!  We spent the next few hours literally plowing the brush.  We went under laurel bushes, over fallen trees, into the midst of thorn bushes...all the while begging her to get us back onto the trail.  She wouldn't have it though, so we plowed all the way to the top of Mt. LeConte!  What an experience!

That summer was a glorious summer for me.  At one point, Marty decided we would all camp in the wilderness for a week.  We even built our own leantos and hogans to sleep in.  We buried food in the ground to keep it cool and we camped and cooked over an open fire.  Some of the troop became disillusioned after about 2 days of this and wanted to go home.  Marty said we would put it to a vote and if anyone voted against it, even if it was just one person, we would stay. 

My best friend Polly and I voted to stay.  We were the only ones, but we stayed!  

Am I glad that Marty made me actually earn the badges that I was proudly wearing on my sash?  You better believe it!

​This is the time of year when I Iike to open my windows and feel the air blow through the house.  

The last place we lived didn't have screens on any of the windows, so I never got to do that.

When I opened the windows, I saw something I hadn't seen all summer.  The windows and the sills were very dirty! 

So, Tommy and I jumped in and started cleaning!

It's amazing how much prettier the world is when seen out of clean windows!

If your world has grown dim, maybe you just need to clean your windows. Who knows what beauty is out there for you to see!!!

​It seems that in our married life we have spent more time "on the road" than we have at home.  I know that isn't true, but it just seems that way sometimes.

It also seems as if we have more to pack up than the average person who is on the road.  In fact, we were talking this past week that we are our own "roadies"!  

We were in Georgia this past week, and as we were packing up I made the statement that I didn't mind packing up to go home as much as I hated packing up to leave.  

Of course it's obvious why that is so.  Every time I start packing to leave, I am sure I will forget something and think about it when we are halfway to our destination!  I start making lists long before we have to leave.  I start little piles in different places that will be out of the way and we don't stumble on them before we start loading

When I pack up to come home, I start organizing it  about 2 days before.  As I pack up something I sit it by the door to load into the car.  It is very satisfying to me to see the pile grow.  When we get it into the car, and I sweep through to make sure we got everything, I can't tell you how good it makes me feel.

I'm going home!  What a great word....HOME.

I hate packing to leave, but love packing to go home.  Of course, then I have to face putting everything away once we get home!  THAT isn't so much fun!  But, the three of us jump in and it is usually done in record time.

While writing this, the thought came to me, that when I  go home to my final home, there will be no packing, nor will there be any unpacking!  What a day THAT will be!

​Our friend (and adopted son) Greg, came to spend the night with us a couple of nights ago.  He is one of those people who come to visit, whom you wish would never leave.  We don't see each other a lot, but we were in Georgia for a week and Greg lives about 2 hours from where we were staying. 

John thomas was recording an album for a friend, so we rented an Air B&B for the week.  We couldn't be that close and not see each other!

In the course of the short time he was with us, the four of us had lots of catching up to do and lots of good conversation.  One thing that Greg told has stuck with me, so I want to share it with you.

He said when he was in graduate school, he went to class one day thinking he had another day for a big exam that was coming up.  When he got there he found out it was that day.  He panicked.  A friend told him to just say he was sick and ask if he could take it another day. 

He turned around and left thinking that that was exactly what he would do.  He hadn't even read everything he was supposed to read before the test!

As he walked away, he started feeling really bad, so he turned around and went back to take the test.

When he walked in, he saw the TA sitting in the room.  He had heard the whole conversation and Greg hadn't even seen him sitting there!  The TA told him to go talk to the professor, so he did.

The professor told him to go ahead and take the test and just see what happened.

Greg scored the highest score in the class.

I love that story.  Not that Greg made the highest grade, but that he made one tiny little decision that made a huge difference.  Actually he made two little decisions.  First he decided to leave and lie about why he left.  Then he decided to go back and face the music.

It's like the old poem about 2 roads diverging in a yellow wood and the poet took the one less traveled and that made all the difference.

Greg took the one less traveled.  I would like to believe that everyone would have made the decision to go back, but I have seen enough people make bad decisions, that I just don't think that is true.

I have a friend I have written about before (Jami from W VA) who is constantly telling her kids and nieces and nephews and any other kid who is within listening distance, to "make good choices."  

Sometimes I think it is all the little choices we make in life that makes all the difference...like the road in the yellow wood.  

My dear friend, Roxann, recently sent me a handkerchief in the mail.  She loves handkerchiefs and thought I might like one too.

What she didn't know is that I carry one with me all the time, and have all my life.  I don't even know if you can buy those pretty ones that they had when I was growing up.  You can sometimes find them in antique stores or at yard sales.

I told her a story about going to the Saturday matinee at our local theatre and Mother tying a dime in the corner of my handkerchief for my admission feel  She knew I would lose it otherwise.

Roxann loved that story so much, that she she sent back the following letter:
 
"Dear Pat,
I am so glad that you're enjoying the handkerchief.  I was especially intrigued by the story you shared about the dime.  I feel bad that I did not send you money for the afternoon movie.  So to make up for it I am sending you two dimes, one for you and one so you can take a date (hopefully Tommy) to the Saturday movie.  I thought it might be nice if you shared a popcorn and each of you had a drink. Therefore, I am enclosing some mad money (three nickels) 
Be sure to tie them into your handkerchief so that they do not get lost.  Remember, only movies that are rated G.  You are not allowed anything else.  The two of you deserve a relaxing afternoon out together."

Tommy and I are so excited to go on a date.  Now we are just waiting for a G rated movie to show up.  Hopefully before we die.