March 31 PM

Tuesday Afternoon:  I took a few pictures of Matey on one of his favorite perches ... he will sit up as near to the ceiling as possible and sing his lungs out. 

 Kelly messaged me and asked if I had time to FaceTime with the kiddos. We set the time for 4:00! Yes!

 Hi Erin Lucia! You dear little child!

 And Brendan! I miss you SO much!!!

 And Aidan Paul! Oh my goodness!

 We all talked and played with puppets for a little while with the kiddos tumbling all over each other. Kelly was there too, keeping order! We finally said good-bye at about 4:30. Thank you, Kelly! These dear, dear kiddos!

And early into the evening, I ZOOMED with Kaity again. This time, Jesse had ZOOM set up on his main computer, which I found easier because Kaity wasn't walking and running all over the place making me nauseated !!  Kaity and I played with Lily, Violet, Paco and Cocoa and some of my finger puppets. Miss Kaitlynn held a Math session for her students, and we just generally laughed and played for more than 30 minutes. SO WONDERFUL.

 Love these kiddos so much. Grandma's heart misses them terribly ... how thankful I am for this technology!

March 31 AM

Tuesday morning:  My friend, Robin, called me this morning and we agreed to meet out at Townsend Park to take a walk, keeping our six feet social distance strictly!

 I love being outside near the woods and creeks, don't you?

 This little stretch of Bear Creek is actually BEFORE you enter the actual park (Cannonsburg Park).

 I didn't really think I would take many pictures--it is my least favorite time of year when there isn't much color, and since there was ZERO sun today, there would be NO alluring shadows ... but I DID take 72 pictures anyway!

 If I didn't know better, I would assume these pics were taken in the late fall ...

 Isn't this stone pavillion enchanting?

 It looks like it wants company!

 Robin and I decided we would host a gathering here this summer! It has everything you would need! Tables, shelter, grills!

 Aren't the stones so beautiful?

 This location with the bridges is one of my very favorite, no matter what time of year ...

 It's impossible to take a "bad" picture here ...

 This is Robin and her impish dog, Phinn!

 Look how high the water is! It's SO lovely ...

 And look at this PERFECT climbing tree! Robin wanted to climb up to the top but I bet this tree was 80' tall (which does not at all show in this picture).

 We took this boardwalk over a bog that I didn't even realize was there!

 I LOVE boardwalks!

 And look! SKUNK Cabbage! And look! GREEN!

 And don't you absolutely love this bench?

 Beautiful!

 We walked for over two hours! The app on my camera said we only walked 2.6 miles. I think it was lying!

Little Phinn getting a drink of water after his long walk!

March 30

Monday:  Today I FORCED myself to get up no later than 7am so that I could keep to a better time schedule. It helped initially, but the day still kind of dragged ... I am truly struggling with this "social distancing" thing, a lot more than I thought I would! I'm used to living alone and I actually enjoy ALONE time ... but having no end in sight is a bit difficult for me.

Since Monday's usually involved MNBS, my small group met together via-ZOOM from 7PM until about 8:15 catching up with each other and praying for each other too. Next week, we are actually going to try to cover a little bit of our lesson together.

After I finished ZOOM-ing with the ladies from MNBS, I arranged to "meet" with Kaity-Girl. Diana handed her phone to Kaity and we were able to see each other and chat for about 20 minutes! Kaity was walking around most of the time--I was getting dizzy--but it was worth it. I did get to say "hi" briefly to Emma, even briefer to Chris, and also a tiny bit with Jesse! It was wonderful to see them and give smiles to them.

I am going to really need to buckle down and pray for His strength in the coming days and weeks. I feel super vulnerable to depression. I need to remember what Paul says here in 2 Thess. 2.16 &17: "May our Lord Jesus Christ HIMSELF and God our Father who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word." I need courage, and hope, and strength! He is says He will give these things to me HIMSELF. Thank you, Lord.

March 29

Sunday:  My first Sunday worshiping without Emma here with me and my heart is sad ... so I asked the Lord to help me focus on Him and give thanks for the day He has given. I studied this morning from 7:30-8:30 and then I noticed ... what? The SUN was shining and there were NO clouds. It had poured rain all night long. I had no idea it would be so beautiful this morning ... so I decided to walk a bit before the church service, LiveStream, was to start. These are my pictures from this morning:

 One of the questions I was studying this morning from 2 Thessalonians 1:5-12 was: "What does it mean that God will be glorified in his holy people?" Good question! I had NO idea. That's what I love about Bible study! I love to learn from God, and as I ask Him and seek Him, He does answer. One of the cross references was in 2 Corinthians 3:18: "And we all with unveiled faces reflect the Lord's glory. We are being transformed into His likenesswith ever-increasing glory which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." Wow. I tried to wrap my brain around that!  and then 4:16-18 AND that our "momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal GLORY that outweighs them all." 

Late in the day yesterday, my heart became so heavy with grief at being away from my family ... all of the "what ifs" crowded in and I really felt a panic coming on! I was so encouraged this morning to read that we are told "not to lose heart" even though we are "outwardly wasting away, we are being inwardly renewed day by day" by God's Spirit. I was so comforted to read all of that. The other cross-reference was Psalm 18.32: "It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." How kind of Him!

 I decided to walk for one hour only. I grabbed my camera and took the back way out of "the park" out onto Chauncey once again. It's hard to go wrong with a stroll down Chauncey Avenue.

 It is .9 miles to IMPERIAL DAM and that was as far as I ventured this morning. I was taking a lot of pictures because it was just so darned beautiful out this morning ...

 I truly love this peaceful, quiet spot ...

 It was right about HERE on Chauncey, heading back to my house, when my phone rang and it was MY BROTHER DAVID, FaceTiming me from Grand Cayman Island. Can you believe it?!?!? Technology really blows me away. We had the nicest talk! I was SO thankful to see his precious face!

 I got home in time to worship LIVE at Calvary, a beautiful service and very encouraging message from Pastor Jim on "Endurance." Perfect timing for this message.

Matey and I have been spending a LOT of time together this week. I've been trying to teach him to talk. "Hello, Matey!" I say this over and over. "Love you!" He has come to trust me more this week I think. I need to seriously TRAIN this darling birdie to come to me when I call him, etc. I'll work on it during these weeks of isolation ... sigh.

I received a wonderful gift today too! My friend, Robin, messaged me and told me she was dropping off my favorite backed chicken dinner from D & W! No way, Jose'!! Robin came and sat in a chair six feet away from me and we visited for an hour without violating the social distancing rules. She was a true blessing to me today. Thank you, Lord, for friends and for family!