“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but them shall I know even as also I am known.
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”
I Corinthians 13:12-13

Going through pictures yesterday, I was reminded of how things change.
I guess everyone is inclined to do that when they look through pictures – even if their not really old, per se.
I was looking through pictures of a couple years ago. 2011.

Carra was 18, I was 19, going to turn 19 and 20 later on in the year.
Daddy had taken a day job in town for the first time in our memories, and us girls were at home most of the time; cooking, canning, and doing things we later would come to love (though at the time it was mainly work).

This was the year we began doing some outside jobs; four or five in this year actually.
Daddy had begun working on getting his GC license again and we were picking up a few small jobs for individuals.
Earlier in the year we had traveled so far as Statesville NC to work.

It was also the year of the big snow (something very rare for South Carolina!).

That was the last time I remember sledding – and the first time I remember sledding since 2003 when we had a huge snow over in Gaffney, SC.

Our herd of goats was still small; Daisy, her two daughters Joy and Princess, and our buck Silver. We had scores of chickens though! And we loved every minute of chores. 🙂 I don’t think the goats liked the snow as much as we did though! 😀

It was the first year we had more than one goat give birth at once (and the last year that kidding season was not so exhausting). It was also the year our little Rosie was born. 🙂

We would take long walks on the dam behind our house, Carra and I together, and K would read to me.

We had a special mothers’ day – of course, this was before we knew how much we would need to use that grill when a huge storm came through shortly afterwards and took away our electricity for two or three days! 😀

Things were changing in our family; so slowly, but they were.
We weren’t always happy with the changes, but come they would, and the things that went on in this year, and the years before that, the Lord put within our lives to change us into better servants for Him.
Of course we didn’t know it at the time, and still are not often aware of it when He is working.

I could go on and on about the changes of 2011. The things we went through; all the learning we did – a lot of it in cooking and canning! We had tons of pickles that year and preserves.


Carra, I’m sure you’ll remember this blurry picture!
We thought this was the very pits of life, didn’t we? The month or more we spent at this home, working – and learning so much about our work!

Glazing windows.

And painting them – then trying to get them unstuck! 😀

We thought this was just the worst part of our lives that could be imagined.

It was the first time in 11 years that my sister and I ventured to have separate rooms.
And it worked.
Mainly because one sister was on the computer a lot at the time, while the other wanted to sleep!!


And though we thought we were so, so unhappy….
We can look back now and see the joy that’s hidden in these pictures; the joy we didn’t really know that we had.

It was a year of learning; of doing things we’d never done before, of experiencing changes we never imagined would come, and of touching new relationships that for a while seemed to send our family on rollercoasters – when really all the were doing was showing us hills and valleys that weren’t really all that deep or tall.
If only we could have seen this then.
If only we could have seen the Lord’s Hand in our circumstances, and learned then to love everyday as if it were our last, and to put our most into each moment for the glory of our Lord Jesus and the love of each other.
If only we could have seen this then.

And today; as we work…trudging through hours of labor we outright despise, having no time at home as we think we ought, and struggling with relationships – within our family and without – as well as laboring in our own personal relationships with our Jesus….
If today we would just look up.
If we would take a lesson from our past.
All those hours we could have enjoyed and rejoiced in, even in trials and trouble, if only we would have seen Jesus’ working.
And what of today?

In the simple things in life – and the most difficult – He is still here, still working.
Why can’t we just trust Him?
Why don’t we ever learn this lesson?
Instead of being downcast and depressed and drug down because of tribulation and struggles? Why can’t we embrace these hardships and hold onto Christ, knowing His is always a better plan?
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