Today we had one of our trees cut down and, of course, we asked if Greta could come over. Kate said she could, so we made a day of it! We sat and watched the tree come down and then we went shopping and had a lunch date with Ana. It was a great day for all of us! :)
This is my oh-so-cozy-log-cabinish-blanket.
Spring is finally here!
The stump of the tree we cut down. It was kinda big. :)
Also, I have been reading The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom.
It is the most beautiful and yet horrifying books I have ever read. Beautiful in that it shows the faith that her and her family had. Horrifying in the sense of what happened to these people at the hands of the Germans. It is not "light" reading by any means. Each chapter has brought me to tears. It's a very sobering yet encouraging account of what they went through. The trust that they had in their Heavenly Father is amazing.
It was cold.
Cold as we walked back to the Beje, cold as I washed for supper, cold even in the snug gas-lit dinning room. Between me and each familiar face around the table crept those small icy fingers. For all Tante Jans's talk about it, death had been only a word. Now I knew that it could really happen-- if to the baby, then to Mama, to Father, to Betsie!
Still shivering with the cold, I followed Nollie up to our room and crept into bed beside her. At last we heard Father's footsteps winding up the stairs. It was the best moment in every day, when he came up to tuck us in. We never fell asleep until he had arranged the blankets in his special way and laid his hand for a moment on each head. Then we tried not to move even a toe.
But that night as he stepped through the door I burst into tears. "I need you!" I sobbed. "You can't die! You can't!"
Beside me on the bed, Nollie sat up. "We went to see Mrs. Hoog," she explained. "Corrie didn't eat her supper or anything."
Father sat down on the edge of the narrow bed. "Corrie," he began gently, "when you and I go to Amsterdam-- when do I give you your ticket?"
I sniffed a few times, considering this.
"Why, right before we get on the train."
"Exactly. And our wise Father in heaven knows when we're going to need things, too. Don't run out ahead of Him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need-- just in time."
