I have uttered that phrase from Walt Whitman's inspiring poem so many times during my 30+ years living here in the mountains but thought those infant days of survival were neatly tucked into past memories and then.....the winter of 2010 came creeping in and I realized with a chuckle that not much has changed in our lives in 35 yrs. Christmas came to our little corner of the world with a blast. The sixteen inches of snow wasn't enough the week before and so on Christmas morning when I faintly heard the sound of ice hitting the glass doors in the living room, I decided I better make coffee,heat up the house and gather candles because the predicted ice storm was becoming a reality. Power was out by 9am and there I sat quickly forming a plan of survival. My daughter and her fiance were already on their way from Orlando. Our tiny tree was decorated and ready for the gifts to be placed and Benjamin was soundly sleeping and oblivious to the impending danger of falling limbs that were swaying in the wind just over his room. I had the unsettling thought that if the power doesn't go back on pretty quick, we just might have a problem. Well...it didn't and in fact did not go back on for three days and thus the "Oh Pioneer,Oh Pioneer" refrain came marching in and throughout the next three days and into the next week of temperatures in the below zero range, we were able to put into practice the persevering mentality of our life here in the mountains of North Carolina.
When we moved to this little town from Michigan we really thought we were moving South. We believed all the stories of "Oh, if it snows, it melts by the afternoon", "mild winters, real mild winters". We might have gotten a clue when that first winter of 76 the public schools were closed for 8 weeks straight, or maybe the next year when we had to walk through the woods with three small children to even get into our house because the driveway was a sheet of ice or the many winters of riding a sled down to our car and then pulling groceries back up on that sled later in the day. Not to mention the hundreds of broken pipes...yes Ira could become a plumber by now if need be. Winters are tough, no doubt about it, but I thought those days were behind us when we moved to Florida for the winters. Little did I know that "life is what happens while we are making other plans". We have found our life taking a 180 degree turn and sometimes I wonder if we're going forward or backwards but throughout it all we have never let go of the Lord's hand and so we trudge on, knowing that perseverance is a quality of the Spirit that is developed.
Christmas 2009 was surely a different one. We call it the Christmas that wasn't as we all were in limbo for the entire day. The day after Christmas became our day of celebration. Bethany and Brian arrived safely and we packed up all the food and gifts and caravaned over to Gabe and Katie's cabin in the woods where a brightly lit Christmas tree and a roaring fire awaited us. The boys were jamming on piano and guitars and the smell of a turkey in the oven painted a picture of a "little house on the prairie Christmas". Bethany who is our "glass half full girl", happily sang out, "Now this is Christmas!!
A few days later as we began to make preparations for the big New Years Eve celebration, a knock on the door ushered in my Christmas gift from our absent family, Jill and Eli. A baby... in a car seat stared up at me and I quickly realized it was... My Baby!!! My baby Isiah and his giggly parents peeking from behind the bushes!! Oh my....this was turning out to be one big turn of events that I never saw coming.
Christmas was fun, New Years Eve even more fun and I'm learning through trial and error to go with the flow. If I had known what was coming down the pike this holiday season, I'm sure I would have spent countless hours worrying, fretting and trying to twist and turn situations that were out of my control. I was surrounded with love and happiness this Christmas and am very thankful for my unconventional family and my Father in heaven that continually allows life to be anything but boring.
I hope and pray that 2010 will deliver a bucket full of new situations and circumstances that will provide the opportunities for me to grow and to keep in mind the ending of the poem:
"Has the night descended?
Was the road of late so toilsome? did we stop discouraged nodding
on our way?
Yet a passing hour I yield you in your tracks to pause oblivious,
Pioneers! O pioneers!
Till with sound of trumpet,
Far, far off the daybreak call--hark! how loud and clear I hear it wind,
Swift! to the head of the army!--swift! spring to your places,
Pioneers! O Pioneers!"
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment