Our New Life

It was on the eve of my eleventh birthday when I caught my mom looking at houses for sale online.  “We’re moving?” I wanted to know with panic.  “No, no of course not!” my mum reassured me. “I’m just passing time.”

Only six months later we were moving.  We searched endlessly for homes and finally settled on a foreclosed house.  It on three acres with close neighbors, on a quiet country street outside of a small town.

The house was a shambles, with cracked walls and ripped carpet.  We began remodeling before we moved and the situation was exhausting.  Finally we were able to move into a small RV that was placed onto the property.  We lived in that cramped RV for four months.

Then, after eternity, we moved inside the house, and  so began our new life.  Surprisingly we had not visited the small town that was less than two miles away.  I didn’t know what to expect when we drove through for the first time but it wasn’t what I saw for sure.  Houses were old and many abandoned,  junk filled most small yards and an air of depression seemed to fog over everything.  What have  we gotten ourselves into?  I was beginning to really worry when we walked into the forlorn Walmart.  I was feeling alone in a very strange world.

I had once thought that moving was an adventure.  I had changed my mind.  No, moving was more like a terrible journey away from comfort.  Especially when you’re moving hours away from the only friends you know.  All connections, all relationships that had taken years to form were suddenly ended.  I asked God why, why have you put me here?  It seemed to take forever but he finally answered.  He slowly showed me that I was here to share His Word.  Yes, very far outside my comfort zone.  Sharing with people that seemed foreign.

Everything clicked.  Now, after only three years I have been given countless opportunities to minister to the children of my town.  Children that are in tragic circumstances, children that need God’s love desperately.

Looking back at when I was looking forward,  trying to find a reason why I had been put where I was, I never could have imagined that I  could be sharing the truth like I am now.  What an adventure!

LA FIN

The Tamarack Tree

Today I decided to turn the spotlight onto The Tamarack Tree by Patricia Clapp.  It is definitely one of my favorites.  I would probably categorize it as more of a ‘girls book’ because it is about a young woman.  The main character,  Rosemary Monica Stafford Leigh,  is an orphan who lives through the Civil War.  Her bravery and courage is very evident and I really connected with her struggles.  There is suspense, a taste of romance that stays sweet and appropriate throughout the book and a hint of violence, as it is about the war but nothing gruesome.  I have read this book four times and I enjoyed every read  more than the last.  Historical Fiction is my favorite so you will see that the majority of my recommended books will be of that title.  I hope this review was helpful and made you want to read the book!  Please ask me any questions that you may have!

-Juliette

Fantasy

“Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.“

Dr. Seuss

 

Angel in Disguise

I have been surrounded by wonderful friends my whole life.   Even at age three I had my special companions,  running about with me and making mischief.

By the time I was six I had a whole boatload of playmates and one special little girl in particular.   Her name was Nora and I loved her like a sister.   We would play from sunup to sundown,  building forts or climbing trees.   She lived in our little shed, at the back of our lot and I was the only one who could see her.   My parents called her my “imaginary friend” and after I began to spend all day with her they became worried and tried to make me interact with “real” little girls.   I was fine with this and simply let the little girls play along with Nora and me.    Finally, after attempt upon failed attempt they gave up and decided to let me have fun with my “imaginary friend” until I grew out of her.

A season passed and it was a cool fall day.   Me and Nora went out front by the street to play with the leaves that dad was raking.   We jumped and slid, laughing and giggling while my dad raked all the leaves over and around us.   We continued playing after he had gone inside and I somehow managed to roll into the street.  I quickly got up because I knew that the street was a dangerous place but I wasn’t quick enough and turned to just see the wheel of a truck.  I think I closed my eyes, not really knowing what was about to happen.  Nora called my name and somehow, in a very short amount of time she yanked me out of the street just as the truck whizzed by.  I laid panting on the lawn and looked up to thank Nora.  She was gone,  nowhere to be seen.  I started yelling her name frantically, looking through the leaf piles trying to find my dearest friend.   I never found her.   To this day I have not seen her or played with her.

Looking back I’m not sure who Nora really was.  Even with my wild imagination I do not think that she was imaginary,  especially because I’ve never heard of an imaginary friend saving someone’s life.  I suppose she was my guardian angel.  Now, I know that angels are mighty warriors and Nora was only a little girl but Hebrews 13:1-2 says,  “Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. ² Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”

So maybe, just maybe Nora was my angel. 

 

LA FIN

A True Friend

A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.

 Bernard Meltzer

 

Wrong Trail

When I braved the wilderness alone.

Me and my dad were camping at a lakeside campground.  We had a tent and a fire pit, roughing it for the most part.  We had been hiking and had found some shortcuts through the camp.  On the second day of the weekend my dad asked me to run up to the front office, which was only around the bend of the gravel road we were camped off of.  I was supposed to grab our park pass and run right back, quick trip, no big deal.  If you haven’t noticed so far I am  adventure prone and this little “run” was bound to turn into an epic excursion into the untamed wild.  It did.  I decided to take the “shortcut” that we had discovered earlier that morning.  I was out of my dads sight as I entered the small side trail.  Everything was as I remembered it, woody and treacherous, although I doubt anyone other than me would have thought that about the quiet trail.  I trudged on, beginning to think that I should have come to the end of the trail.  I turned to look behind me and with horror I realized that I had begun to follow a deer path and looking around I was faced with a maze of paths, none of which were the trail.  I swallowed hard and tried to retrace my steps but nothing looked familiar.  “Dad?” I called out timidly, stopping to peer through the undergrowth without sign of anything but brush.  I was scared, images of ravenous coyotes and raccoon’s trying to eat me brought frightened tears to my eyes.  Then, without much warning rain started to fall, growing harder and making it very difficult to see anything at all.  I reasoned to myself that this camp couldn’t go on forever and if I just started walking I would eventually come out somewhere.  So I trudged forward, soaked to the bone and shivering with cold and fright.  I probably walked for ten minuets, even though I remember it seeming like an hour.  Then,  slowly but surely the trees and brush started to thin out and I came out onto a gravel path, just like the one that our campsite was off of.  I  looked around, hoping to catch a gimps of my dad but I did not recognize that part of the camp.  I knew to follow the road however and eventually came upon the very front office that I had began my journey to reach.  My dad was inside, giving my description to the ranger.  They were about to go out looking for me.  I opened the door and with shame I told of my mishap.  My dad of course, was very upset at me for scaring him and the scary ranger man gave me a stern lecture.  In the end I learned my lesson, well, sort of and I never went onto another trail alone without my dad for the entire rest of the weekend.

LA FIN

Spoonful of Sugar

Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, in the most delightful way. 

-Mary Poppins 

Intruder

When we had someone intrude upon our personal property.

I was probably six.  We lived in the city, in the house next to the RV.  I was sitting in our living room playing with blocks alongside my little brother when I looked out our tall window that viewed our large and luscious backyard.  Everything was peaceful and I went back to playing.  A minute later I looked up again but this time I caught a blue jean and converse clad leg just escaping the view of the window.  I screamed “INTRUDER!” At the top of my lungs and my mum came running.  I explained to her what I saw and she quickly locked all the doors and then called the police.  I was so excited!  The police were coming to our house!

We waited for the policeman and then watched as he searched our backyard and then garage.  He found nothing but me and my mum both knew by where that leg was heading that the owner of the leg had to be in our garage somewhere.  The policeman insisted that he had searched thoroughly,  gave me a sticker and left.

We stayed inside until my dad got home and then armed with a baseball bat he entered the garage in search of the intruder.  We kids were ordered to stay inside but after three minutes the suspense was too intense and i was sure my parents had been murdered.  So I too went outside and peered into the garage.  Before my eyes could adjust to the dim lighting someone whizzed passed me and over the fence into where our neighbors kept their famed RV.  My dad ran out after him and I attempted to collect my thoughts.  It took me a minute but with inward joy i started yelling “he cant get out! He’s trapped in there and i would know!”  If you read my previous post you would know that from the inside you cannot jump the fence and our intruder was indeed trapped.

My mum called the police while my dad alerted our neighbors of their trapped guest.  We waited until he was apprehended.  By his confession we found out that he was an attendant of the nearby high school and that his buddies had dared him to circle our house without being seen or caught.  He had obviously failed.

LA FIN

Rainbow

Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.

-Maya Angelou

Murder Next Door

I promised you my adventures, so here they are, or at least, one of them.

It started on a rainy day.  I have an overactive imagination and at age eight it ran my life.  We lived in the city at this time, in an older, established neighborhood.  The houses were close together and from my brothers second-story side window there was a clear view of our neighbor’s parked RV that had sat in their driveway for almost five years.  I had my suspicions about it and watched it closely every chance i got.  This time, however, I noticed something strange and unnatural coming from the RV.  it was a red light. Now, you must try to understand that red lights emitting from parked RV’s seemed very strange and unnatural to my eight year old mind.  To make things even worse i had been reading Nancy Drew and thought myself to be her.

I flew into investigating,  bringing binoculars into my brother’s room alongside a brief case that held absolutely nothing.  I stared through those binoculars with dedication.  I saw nothing more and at one point the neighbors caught me peering out the window.  Finally, after a whole day of staring at nothing, something happened, something big.  The neighbor’s teenage son brought into the trailer a heavy suitcase.  Then another and another and another.  I counted at least seven bags and suitcases being brought into that RV.  I didn’t know what to do!  Should I tell my parents that our neighbors were either murderers, thieves or underworld bad guys?  I decided against it and rallied my troupes (my little brother) to collect more proof.   We had a camera and a plastic bag.  I had watched enough movies to know to bring that much.  We waited for the right time and then closed in, jumping the fence and crawling past their windows to the window of the dreaded RV.  We slowly made our way to the RV door and opened it.  I entered the death zone, for, I was sure that that was what it was.   We were in darkness and I had forgotten the flashlight so I decided to use the flash of the camera to take pictures.  So standing in the doorway I took a pictures of the kitchen, the couch and then the bedroom.  I stepped out and reviewed the pictures.  Everything was normal until i got to the bedroom picture, in the corner, near the bed i could barely detect a body. a dead, murdered body.  Our supposedly catholic neighbors were murderers.

I had cracked the case!  Now, to try to exit to safety.  That however, was a problem because we couldn’t jump the fence from this side and we. were. trapped. with. murderers.   I panicked, trying to figure a way over.  My six year old brother was no help, he barely cared, or knew to care.  I began to cry.  This was the end.  Then an idea came to mind, grab a nearby old ball, claim it was mine and bravely knock on the criminal’s door, they would never suspect the truth and would allow us safe passage out the front door.  Fool proof!  I did just that and was invited in by the mistress of the house.  I was completely warmed by her smile and suddenly realized that she wasn’t the murderer!  It was her son!  I exploded the story out to her,  showed her the pictures and began to cry again.  She laughed!  How could she?  Then, still laughing, she brought me out to the RV.  I was still horrified but she quickly brought out the “dead body”  it was a rolled up rug alongside a pair of shoes. she explained that the red light was an old alarm clock and that they were moving bags in to store.   ‘

Case closed.   I was an idiot.

LA FIN