Vacation Update

I am thoroughly enjoying these days off.
Monday afternoon I drove up to TRF by way of Park Rapids where I stopped in to see Irene Fisher who seems to be doing fine. In Thief River I spent a few days with my parents, saw my aunt Sharon and uncle Larry, and visited my great uncle Gene who is now in a senior care center. My dad sent me home with a patio table and and a few antiques; grandpa's old groove plane, a shot gun and an old Stevens pump 22 and an iron "wood stove" style waffle iron; besides a few used books I found at a book store. The only other work related matter I did was to sort through a box of older papers I had stored under the desk since January but since I did the sorting out on my parent's mosquito free patio (that's not true here in Brainerd) it didn't seem too much like work! I came home on Friday by way of Moorhead where I saw my brother, Randy.
Since then its been some enjoyable house work, cleaning garage, getting items ready for a rummage sale that Sara is a planning this week. My old chain saw ran long enough for me to cut down and cut up the dead crab apple tree in the back yard. I have some more walking, squirrel feeding, bird watching, yard work, drawer sorting, car cleaning and repair projects to do and a couple of movies to watch yet also. All of this may not seem too exciting but I am loving it!
I close with this from today's Upper Room post:

WHEN DISTRACTING NOISES come, don’t fight against them, do not elbow them out, but accept them and weave them by prayer into the silence. Does the wind rattle the window? Then pray, “So let the wind of the Spirit shake the Christian church into life,” and absorb it into the silent listening. Does a child cry in the street outside? Then pray, “So cries my infant soul, which does not know the breadth of Thy heart,” and absorb it into the silent listening prayer.
- Thomas Kelly The Sanctuary of the Soul
From p. 54 of The Sanctuary of the Soul: Selected Writings of Thomas Kelly edited by Keith Beasley-Topliffe. Copyright © 1997 by Upper Room Books