The Donkey ~

Today we are on the letter D and I chose Donkey for the challenge.

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday and for probably the first time ever we won’t be gathering in our churches to wave the palms and celebrate Jesus Christ’s Triumphal entry into Jerusalem. We will be having our virtual gatherings and I’m thankful that we have this way to meet together.

So, why the donkey you might ask if you aren’t familiar with the history around Easter? Here are the passages from the Bible in the 4 gospels of this time in history.

From Matthew 21:

The Triumphal Entry

21 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

5 “Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
    humble, and mounted on a donkey,
    on a colt,[a] the foal of a beast of burden.’”

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

From Mark 11:

The Triumphal Entry

11 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus[a] sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” 4 And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5 And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8 And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”

11 And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

From Luke 19:

The Triumphal Entry

28 And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” 32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

John 12:

The Triumphal Entry

12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
    sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

These donkeys live on a property on the way to our kids’ home. I always enjoy seeing them as we drive by. I took these photos with my phone camera so they aren’t the best.

Today I’m participating in a day of fasting and prayer about COVID-19 put together by the Gospel Coalition with an hour long gathering via youtube or facebook at 4-5pm Pacific time.

With thanks to GretchenJoanna who left this G.K. Chesterton poem in the comments I’m copying and pasting it here:

THE DONKEY

When fishes flew and forests walked
And figs grew upon thorn,
Some moment when the moon was blood
Then surely I was born.

With monstrous head and sickening cry
And ears like errant wings,
The devil’s walking parody
On all four-footed things.

The tattered outlaw of the earth,
Of ancient crooked will;
Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb,
I keep my secret still.

Fools! For I also had my hour;
One far fierce hour and sweet:
There was a shout about my ears,
And palms before my feet.

-G. K. Chesterton

A to Z Challenge ~ C is for Colville

C is for Colville. Colville is our newest hometown. We’ve lived here since September 2018. Between hubby and me our first 37 years we lived in Los Angeles, Orange, and Ventura County, California. Dear and I were both born in Los Angeles County. We lived our years through high school and college in Los Angeles County. After we were married we ended up in Orange County where our first two children were born. Before we moved to Washington State we lived in Ventura County where our daughter was born. Our next 30 years we lived outside of Seattle in Washington State. And now for our retirement years we are living in the outskirts of the city of Colville still in Washington State.

Here’s a little history about Colville:

The first white man in the area that is now Colville was David Thompson, who came in 1811 to explore the Columbia River for the Northwest Fur Company. A few months later a water route was opened from Astoria up the Columbia through Canadian waters, and overland to the Great Lakes or Hudson Bay. During that first year, nearly 11,000 pounds of furs were reported shipped to the fur markets of London from the Colville area.

In 1825, Fort Colville, named for Lord Andrew Colville, a London governor of Hudson’s Bay Company, was built at Kettle Falls, a few miles west of Colville. The fort functioned as the center of trade in the Northwest. A large farm supplied wheat, oats, barley, corn and potatoes to sustain the personnel at the fort. (Today, both the fort and farm sites are under water, covered by Lake Roosevelt, a part of the Coulee Dam National Recreation Area.)

By 1840, the Hudson’s Bay trading post was processing 18,000 furs a year. When the boundary of the northwest was drawn at the 49th parallel in 1846 and the territory of Washington was established in 1853, Hudson’s Bay Company, being a British company, withdrew from Fort Colville and moved to Canada. The War Department in 1859 ordered a military post built just northeast of the present townsite. The post was called Harney’s Depot at first, then Fort Colville. Four companies of the United States Infantry were stationed there. (This second Fort Colville, located at different places at different times, sometimes confuses visitors.)

The town of Colville was founded in 1882 when Fort Colville was abandoned. The first school, a hand-hewn log building, built shortly after the founding of the town is presently located at the Keller Historical Center within the city limits.

Colville is the county seat for Stevens County. Stevens County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington along the Canada–US border. At the 2010 census, its population was 43,531. As of July 2018, the population was estimated to be 45,260. The county seat and largest city is Colville

These are backyard views of our Country Bungalow in Colville, Washington. We do not live in the city limits of Colville so we don’t have the same services that the City of Colville offers within the city limits.

Colville is a city in Stevens County, Washington, United States. The population was 4,673 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Stevens County.

Here are some random photos that I have of the Colville area (Stevens County).

Our favorite grocery store.

We have a Super Wal-Mart and I’m bonding with this store that has most everything we’d need for living in the country.

The Country Store can fill in the gaps for farmers and other property owners.

This is our road. We are up this road about 2 miles.

We get some interesting creature visitors in the country.

The view out to Colville city limits from our kids’ driveway.

This is Colville mountain with our huge C for Colville and a lit up cross.

Highway 395 coming north into Colville with one of our local farm/produce shops, Front Porch.

 

When we come down our road to town we have the choice to go south to Colville or north to Kettle Falls.

 

 

Welcome here to our Country Bungalow in Colville, Washington. Colville is pronounced, Call-ville!

I could have used the letter C for the COVID-19 epidemic but I decided we are getting enough information about the Pandemic. Diversions can be good when we really have no power to change the big picture. We do have the power to change the little picture by keeping our distance and compliance to the mandates set down to slow the spread of the virus. We will continue at home keeping the faith and praying for the end of this. Looking forward to better days or better yet the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A to Z Challenge ~ Burn Pile

B is for Burn Pile.

In our part of the country we do not have any yard waste pick-up. There are times during the year that we can have burn piles. When the fire danger is high there are burn bans. There are limits to the size of our burn piles. We were in compliance.

There are different methods to get the fire going. Before we start we connect a hose and we make sure the water is turned on and ready to spray if the fire gets out of hand. I’m happy to say we’ve never had a fire get out of hand.

Once we get the fire going we watch it all day long and keep feeding it with the rest of our gathered brush. If you look behind back to the fence you will see the pile we hope to get through.

For several hours we added limbs and cones and anything else we trimmed around the yard. We made it through the big piles we had. It was a good productive day and we did not have to worry at all about social distancing. We were bushed by the end of the day!

We hope to borrow our son’s tractor sometime and take care of more brush on the property that needs to be cleared.

Life in the country is very different from life in the city. My life went from City mouse to Country mouse in September of 2018 and so far it’s been a joy.

We are complying with the President’s guidelines, 30 days to Slow the Spread.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

If you are visiting from the A to Z Challenge please scroll down below Wednesday Hodgepodge. Cheers!
From this Side of the Pond. 

1. Has spring sprung in your part of the world? How can you tell? Did March come in like a lion where you live? Going out like a lamb or something more ferocious?

March is definitely going out like a lion. I was in Southern California for the beginning of March and it was calm enough except for the escalating worries over COVID-19. Panic shopping and hoarding had begun. In our part of Northeastern Washington Spring comes slowly. We see some green poking up and there are buds forming on some bushes. Our best sign of Spring is our granddaughter who was born on the first day of Spring in 2017.

She’s busy with Spring clean-up!

2. The last thing that caused you to spring to your feet?

Springing to my feet might be a thing of the past but something that made me get up as fast as I could to my feet was our grandson. We have a room at our country bungalow that has been designated as the playroom. It is one of our guest rooms so it has a queen size bed and two nightstands and a dresser and bookshelf besides some toys. I was reading to our granddaughter (sitting properly on the floor as per her instruction) when I saw grandson had walked around the bed to the flimsy lightweight nightstand and the lamp was tottering. I shifted Addy off my lap and got up as fast as I could which is hard from a sitting on the floor position. I got to him in time and moved him away. I then put a sturdy chair in front of the nightstand to block his access to it. Tragedy averted. Next time we are playing in there I will be prepared by moving the chair to block that nightstand forthwith.

For those of you Hodgepodgers who don’t regularly follow my blog, this is our grandson who was born in April of 2019 which is one of the best things that happened during the Hodgepodge hiatus since September of 2018. His older sister just turned 3 and he will turn 1 on April 16th with no huge 1st birthday party because of the virus. He won’t care but it’s tough on the adults in his life.

3. Do you have a spring clean to-do list? What’s one chore on the list you’ve already managed to accomplish? What spring clean chore do you most dread?

I do not have a Spring clean to-do list. We go with the flow.

We managed a good head start on cleaning up our fall brush pile and getting the yard ready for Spring growth. Using my hedge trimmer to clean up leftover dead growth around the former pond and throwing everything on the burn pile was very satisfying.

This winter we had a huge amount of branches and pine cones fall from all of our trees in the front yard. We finished picking up those branches along with some of the cones and they went on the burn pile, too.

I’m not dreading any Spring cleaning chore because I don’t have a big list of things I only do in the Spring. Should I make a list? Maybe I should clean out my closets and drawers??

4. Tell us something you’ve learned about yourself or the wider world as a result of social distancing/the virus crisis.

I’ve learned that concentrating is harder these days. Even though I don’t feel like I’m anxious the uncertainty of where this is all going is unsettling. I’m a person who can get a lot accomplished if I have an incentive like a dinner party, or a trip coming up, or company coming to stay. There’s none of that kind of planning right now so one day just flows into another and my concentration has gone out the window. Hodgpodge helps and blogging helps and having my music on helps, and listening to sermons online helps, too. By the way y’all today is Wednesday just in case you were wondering. Anyone else having to ask, “what day is today?”

5. Something you love that’s the color pink?

My Lenten Rose (Hellebore) that I had to leave behind at our former home in Kenmore. It brought me such joy year after year when it would bloom during the season of Lent. Speaking of leaving things behind, here are my pink rhoddys that I hope are still thriving in Kenmore.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Some good quotes from trusted authors/pastors/Bible that I’ve read this week:

“Faith is not a power which you possess to create your own future. Faith is a God-given ability to trust the future that God has promised you.”~ John MacArthur

“Because of Christ, death is not final. It is a passage from one world to the next.” ~ R.C. Sproul

“Judas heard all Christ’s sermons.” ~ Thomas Goodwin

“Bene orasse est bene studuisse” To have prayed well is to have studied well. ~ Luther

Proverbs 3:25, 26(ESV) ~ Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.

Linking up with Joyce at From This Side of the Pond for Wednesday Hodgepodge. I’ll add the direct link on Wednesday.

A to Z Challenge ~ Accept

 

I’m doing something new and joining the A to Z challenge  for the month of April. It’s a daily challenge excluding posts on Sunday so by April 30th we will cover each letter of the alphabet ending with Z on April 30th.

Today is the letter A. My theme for this challenge will be the current state of our lives with the Stay at Home orders from National and State entities while living in our part of the country. Not sure how this will work itself out but time will tell. So my word for the letter A is Accept.

We all should accept the fact that we need to comply as Americans to the president’s order to stay at home and practice social distancing for another 30 days.

So our Sounders Gnome is accepting the order and complying well. Those bunnies in the background need to step up and start complying.

We live in the second poorest county in the State of Washington. We live on close to 5 acres of land. It is not hard for hubby and me to practice social distancing. It’s a challenge for us to even see our neighbors. We do live on a busy road so we see cars and trucks zooming by.

The hard thing is not to see our family, grandchildren and friends during this time.

How are you doing in accepting the mandates from national and state governments?

The Time is Right

When I learned last August that one of my neighbors was given 3 short months to live I felt the urgency to share and knew this wasn’t a time for sugar coating. I feel the same about this time we are all finding ourselves in globally over the danger of COVID-19. Here’s what I wrote to her:

Dear ****,

Greg and I (Ellen) were so sorry to hear that you were given such a short time to live on this earth. We have prayed for you, especially that you can die in peace knowing you will spend eternity in heaven.

We believe in the one true God who made heaven and earth and all of us. We believe the Bible is the true Word of God. The Bible tells us about what Jesus did for us-

“Jesus Christ came into this world and did the greatest thing that will ever be done. As the perfect Son of God, He died in our place, absorbed the wrath of God, paid the penalty for sin, provided the righteousness of the law, and rose invincible from the dead–all in a vapor’s life of thirty three years.”

Jesus Christ wants a personal relationship with you. He wants to be your Savior. In order for Him to be your Savior you need to admit you are a sinner (need a Savior). Our sins separate us from God. God provided the way for us to be forgiven through Jesus Christ and His death on the Cross, paying for our sins. We cannot save ourselves. We need to come to Jesus personally and cry to Him to have mercy on us. When we ask He will forgive our sins.

God is in charge. “This then, is the gospel our Lord sends us forth to proclaim: That Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate, humbled himself to die on our behalf. Thus He became the the sinless sacrifice to pay the penalty of our guilt. He rose from the dead to declare with power that He is Lord over all, and He offers eternal life freely to sinners who will surrender to Him in humble, repentant faith. This gospel promises nothing to the haughty rebel, but for broken, penitent sinners, it graciously offers everything that pertains to life and godliness.”

We pray that God will have mercy on you and draw you to Himself through forgiveness so that you can be born again.  It’s too late to sugar coat this message. Ask God to show you right now the truth of His Gospel and the way to eternal life.

With concern and hope for your eternity,

Ellen and Greg

Our neighbor left this earth in October of 2019.

We will all spend eternity somewhere. I’m grateful to be able to say I will spend it with my Savior. Do you know where you will spend eternity?

John 14: 1-4, 6 ~ “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going…Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Father and Daughter

These images our daughter-in-law captured of Addy working with her daddy put a big smile on my face.

We had some decent weather this weekend to work outside in. Getting those Spring cleaning chores done before new growth begins full speed ahead.

Hope you all are coping well with staying at home. My computer is exhibiting charging issues so I hope things don’t digress. If you don’t see new things from me you’ll know my computer is a mess.

Some comforting words from Psalm 27;

One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock…

I believe that I will look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Day by Day ~ Hymn

Day by Day ~

Day by day and with each passing moment
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best –
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure.
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Ev’ry day the Lord Himself is near me,
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,
He whose name is Counsellor and Pow’r.
The protection of His child and treasure,
Is a charge that on Himself He laid,
“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then, in ev’ry tribulation
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation,
Offered me within Thy holy word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E’er to take, as from a Father’s hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.

Words: Karolina W. Sandell-berg (1832 – 1903)

I’ve posted this hymn before but the words came to my mind this week and I wanted to post it again. Over the years this song has been a special one for me. It’s also a song that’s easy to sing and harmonize with. When I had to sing a solo to try out for a singing group I chose this one and I also sang it for a solo test for a college voice class that I took. A comforting hymn for such a time as this.

  Karolina W. Sandell-berg ws born in Sweden. She wrote 650 hymns and was known as the Fanny Crosby of Sweden.

Kitchen Before and After

We decided to change up our kitchen by painting the majority of the cabinets white. Some of you might cringe but our eyes have not enjoyed oak lately, mostly on cabinets.

We are keeping the island as it was.

The pantry has not been painted yet but is next on the list.

The process is not easy but Dear found it a good job to do while the temps are freezing outside which makes it hard for him to work the construction of his shop.

We are pleased with the new look. I’m thankful for a husband who is not afraid of hard or tedious work.

I showed you the wheel barrow that we bought our granddaughter for her 3rd birthday. Her she is hard at work outside. This photo was taken yesterday by her mom.

This family works hard together and they are not afraid of dirt! Anybody else out there who calls a wheel barrow a wheel barrel?

And yes, it is still cold outside here in Northeastern Washington State!

Stay safe and keep the Faith!

Daniel the Tiger, Finally!

Here’s our birthday girl in her custom made Daniel the Tiger dress that her mommy made for her.

Her mommy and daddy constructed the Daniel the Tiger Trolley for her birthday party.

Brother is not quite sure what all of this means.

Addy and Gramps opened Addy’s present from us.

She knew exactly what to do with a wheel barrow and will have fun in the garden with her mommy as soon as weather permits. We also gave her a whale pool and a new bathing suit along with a Daniel the Tiger book.

Little brother thought the tissue paper was cool. He did not understand why Baba was not picking him up or giving him kisses. Ugh. The yucky part of this COVID-19 curse!

Addy, enjoying her Daniel the Tiger book from Uncle Joshie and Auntie Lolo.

The Wheel Barrow was a hit. We informed her she could not put her baby brother in the barrow!

 

Addy was singing along with all of us when we sang “Happy Birthday to You”. So sweet.

For those of you who don’t know who Daniel the Tiger is here’s a description.

The first series inspired by `Mister Rogers Neighbourhood’, `Daniel Tiger’s Neighbourhood’ features 4-year-old Daniel Tiger, son of the original programme’s Daniel Striped Tiger. Every day Daniel puts on his red sweater, ties his shoes, and invites a new generation of preschoolers into the Neighbourhood of Make-Believe. Daniel shares his daily adventures with pals O the Owl, Katerina Kittycat, Prince Wednesday and Miss Elaina. With the help of Daniel and his friends, preschoolers have fun and learn practical skills necessary for growing and developing.

Here’s our birthday girl with O the Owl, Katerina Kittycat, Prince Wednesday, Miss Elaina, and Daniel. Uncle Joshie and Auntie Lolo sent her these stuffed play friends because of the theme of her birthday this year.

I was so happy that these photos finally uploaded to my computer. I believe it has something to do with our satellite broadband that is a lot stronger as soon as the new monthly charge is paid. All these photos were taken on Saturday March 21st, the day Addy’s Daniel the Tiger Birthday party was supposed to happen. We have not seen these dear ones since the 21st. Sad face…