International Nature Journaling Week 2020 - Day 1

Beginning June first, Elsa and I joined 

a week full of the joys of studying 

God's creation more closely than usual 

as we sketched or painted - following the
themes given by the organizers of 

International Nature Journaling Week.



It was good to get outside and 

open our eyes more purposefully.

Day one: Plants





Along those lines, a week earlier a branch of 

crab-apple blossoms caught my drawing-eye.

"I Just Had to Vent!"

"I just had to vent!"

How many times have you heard this? How many times have you read it online - especially on social media? That phrase set me thinking this winter... is this behavior biblical? When we are frustrated, when and where is it right to vent?

I ran across an example of venting frustrations in front of your friends in God's word, and it is not a pretty picture. 

"'Listen to me; let me also declare my opinion.'... For I am full of words; the spirit withing me constrains me. Behold, my belly is like wine that has no vent; ... I must speak, that I may find relief..." (from Job 32)

A couple biblical examples of venting (even when only in front of your spouse) also come to mind. Job's wife. David's wife Michal.

My own experience confirms that when I vent even just to a family member, it usually causes more harm than good and spreads wrong feelings and incorrect thinking even farther.

As Proverbs 17:9 warns: "Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends."

So does the Bible have positive examples of venting? Does it have directions as to the proper way?

How about the Psalms? There we see dozens of samples of men in dire straights and deep angst spilling their guts... but to whom? To God! 

As it says in I Peter 5:7, "Cast all your anxiety on [God] because He cares for you."

The beautiful thing about venting to God rather than people is that He can handle it. Nothing surprises Him. But then He can also lovingly defuse the fire in our hearts and clear the scales from our vision, bringing us around to a fresh knowledge of the truth. Even when we don't always see the source of our turmoil cleared up, if we get our eyes on God, all the rest can retreat to its proper place. 

For example, see the progression in Psalm 73. Verses 1-3 are focused on "I" while verses 4-15 fixate on "THEY." As a result the author, Asaph, is an unhappy mess. But when the focus shifts to "YOU" [God] for the remainder of the chapter, there is finally hope.

Maybe someone would argue that the Psalms give them license to vent in public if they just tack on a spiritual twist at the end. While I had that in mind, a Bible study on the Psalms which I started this year pointed out the fact that: "Something we will discover throughout the Psalms is that David is always careful not to name his enemies..." But I am afraid that much online venting nowadays which manages to avoid names is still so obvious to many people closest to the issues that it could do more harm than good.

To simplify all of the above: I wonder... how often does online venting (or even in person to friends or family) really lead us closer to God? Does it lead those who read and hear us closer to God?

If we are children of God, let's be careful about picking up the world's methods and buzz-words without first seeing how they look in light of God's word. 

.............

Now, I wonder what "beams" in my eye God will have to expose that aren't as easy for me to spot as this "speck" in others' eyes.

Nature Journaling - Vegetable Gardens

After a week mostly spent trying to fix and then replace my computer's operating system which had been making life difficult for months, it was time for a creative break out in creation. 

Before supper today I grabbed my new pencils and pen for a quick sketching session among Dad's raised beds of vegetables. The variety among these little (and some not-so-little!) plants is just one example of our Creator's amazing creativity.

Lake Journal

We have begun going to the lake again! Though these photos are all from past years, I'm sure some will show up from this year as well. 

Much has changed since my great-grandfather bought a bitty cabin on quiet shores back in the 40's. He had been missing the fjords in his native land of Norway, so it was great to have a place to enjoy water again after long, hot days of farming on the edge of the prairie.

In 2001 my uncles decided it was time to expand. Mom's family was growing exponentially as my cousins married and started their own families, so the old living room, bit of kitchen, and two bedrooms large enough for a bed and no more were feeling cramped when we all gathered. Plus, the addition of indoor plumbing would not come amiss!

A favorite part of the addition is the loft lined with knotty pine.

Some years later we started a family journal where all my relatives can record their stays. It is fun to go back and read of the many special times spent at the cottage.

On June 15th, 2008 Mom wrote: 

Our 1st "Sunday at the lake" for the season. We had our annual grilled hamburgers for Father's Day. The 60's weather with a north wind kept us all [nearly 30 people] indoors where we were cozy. We also brought carrot cake to celebrate Mom and Dad's 65th wedding anniversary which will be this [coming week.] 

This journal is Dad's [Grandpa's] Father's Day gift where we can record the events that happen here in the [family] cabin. [My cousin] Sarah entertained all of us by taking the 1st swim at 8 pm in the 50 degrees weather.

In 2010 I wrote:

June 3-4-5, Hannah and Dorothy

Came out to a mild and still afternoon on Thursday, the 3rd. Just Dort and me staying out of the way of the first week of [Elsa's] bakery business at home and giving the rest of the family a break from caring for Dorothy, who is still recovering from a broken neck. The halo came off last week and she is wearing a rigid neck brace for this month. 

Dorothy at home in 2014

Since Dort loves the lawn swing and I like sitting by the lake, we spent several hours out there until it was time to make supper - Dorothy busy with her graduation balloon (on a 2 for 1 sale on the way here!) and I with my crocheting. Very quiet on the lake. A couple boats tooled by and one skier was out later in the evening. A few sprinkles in the evening and some heavier rain during the night. 

Must mention a strange, loud bang/thump I heard when settling into bed - followed by a gurgle in the toilet. I listened closely and heard nothing more and saw nothing unusual in the bathroom, so slept soundly through the night on the lovely futon in the loft with Dort snoring in the pink room. 

June 4th - Woke up to NO WATER!

No, the lake hadn't drained during the night; that would have been an amazing (and sad) sight, but the faucets inside and outside of the cottage gave only a little dribble before sputtering to a stop.

We managed the morning very well on our water bottles brought from home, the bit of water that was left in the kettle, a pitcher of water from the neighbor's hose (with their permission, of course), and buckets from the lake dumped into the toilets. The breakfast and dinner dishes had to pile up in the sink until two uncles came out around 2:00 and found the cause of the "thump" last night. A hose had flown off the pump and must have hit the side of the pump hut with some force.

After double-clamping the hose back in place and priming the pump, we were done with our adventure of living with rationed water. Time to do dishes! ...

June 5th

Raining or sprinkling all morning. Sun came out just before 3:00. Dort and I had more than an hour out on the swing before getting a bit too cool from the wind. Smaller waves than yesterday's white-caps and the temp. got up into the low 70's. One family at the public access [next door]along with a few others in and out. Several boats with people skiing and tubing.

A thunderstorm started rolling in around 5:15. We'll be heading home after supper sometime. It was so nice to get away and have a little time to think and pray as well as do a bit of relaxing - in a busy sort of way... Better spend some time with Dort now. ~ Hannah

If you want to get to know my aunt Dorothy more, look back at this post.

Fresh Spring Lace

"It was a fine spring morning in the forest as he started out. Little soft clouds played happily in a blue sky, skipping from time to time in front of the sun as if they had come to put it out, and then sliding away suddenly so that the next might have his turn."

"Through them and between them the sun shone bravely; and a copse which had worn its firs all the year round seemed old and dowdy now beside the new green lace which the beeches had put on so prettily."

A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh, Chapter 4

No Place Like Home

"There is nothing like this anywhere!" said Ian. 

"Do you mean nothing so beautiful?" asked Alister.

"No; I mean just what I say: there is nothing like it. I do not care a straw whether one scene be more or less beautiful than another; what I do care for is—its individual speech to my soul. I feel towards visions of nature as towards writers. If a book or a prospect produces in my mind a mood that no other produces, then I feel it individual, original, real, therefore precious. If a scene or a song play upon the organ of my heart as no other scene or song could, why should I ask at all whether it be beautiful? A bare hill may be more to me than a garden of Damascus, but I love them both."

What's Mine's Mine by George MacDonald

History Studies

Over a year ago I wrote about a big book I was reading in my sauna-treatment hours. With that reading completed months ago, I am on to one that may be even thicker.

For years I have thought about pulling out my high-school history books again since biographies and other books often spark questions about their times in history. Better yet, I decided to buy a new set of high-school history curriculum to enjoy. (Once a homeschooler, always a homeschooler... at least for my family and me!)

This American history - beginning with a quick overview from ancient history through the European discovery of the Americas - has much for me to add to my "Book of the Centuries." We didn't use those timelines much back in our school days, but here are a few highlights already in my binder.

Some may find history dry and boring, but I find it both interesting and encouraging. Even the books of Deuteronomy and Chronicles. When we can see how God has worked through faulty people and trying times in the past, we can trust Him better for the present.

"For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."
Romans 15:4