A Mānoa Girl's Bloggie

Several weeks ago Nolemana and I drove up to Hood River to get more apples. It was a rainy day but we didn’t care. We decided to drive along the Historic Columbia Gorge Highway because it’s so lovely in the fall.

Despite the rain, there were a lot of people out; hikers in their shorts and hiking boots headed up the trails, some with babies in backpacks. Oregonians don’t stop their activities just because it’s raining!

At Horsetail Falls, which is right next to the road, I was captivated by a rainbow of dazzling color in front of me: the pink of the greyhound’s raincoat which was reflected in the road, her owner’s umbrella, the leaves turning from green to gold, and the waterfall cascading down with a roar.

Lately I have felt “afflicted and not comforted”, but the colors filling my eyes reminded me yet again that ke Akua will give me beauty for ashes, and that this gray season that I’m in will not last forever.

I can’t post a WFW because Adobe Photoshop Elements isn’t letting me change text size in my text layer even though I change it in the toolbar. It lays down my text in a miniscule dot that I can’t even see to resize. I tried it on both of my CPU’s and it does the same thing. It began working right, but then just quit. Arrghhh!! It does it with all photos.

If anyone has a clue what’s going on, including operator error, please leave a comment, okay? I can’t think of anything I’ve done to change what I’ve been doing previously in this program.

Thanks!

Last Saturday my friend Julie and I went on our Annual Yamhill County Autumn Yarn and Fiber Pilgrimage. This has been a yearly tradition for several years now, and although two ladies in our group were missing, we had a good time.

Our first stop was in Dundee, only to find that one of the stores we always go to wasn’t there anymore. Auwe! But the persimmon tree that we usually get persimmons from (with permission) was still there, and loaded with fruit.

We had braved a couple of really heavy downpours on our way, but God blessed us with sunshine for picking the persimmons. The fruit was still kind of green, but with hearts hopeful for future ripening, we began picking it, knowing we wouldn’t be back till next year.

My sadness about my mom’s death has been compounded by several other losses lately, and though I was glad to be out and about, the gray skies and pouring rain matched the gray of my emotions. But as I picked another persimmon, I saw a sight that took my breath away. How like God to let me know in a way that only He could, that He understood my pain and wanted to bless me with something really special.

Psalm 4:8 has always had a special place in my heart, and has helped me get through some pretty rough times. And there it was, visually represented in the gift that He gave me. Holding the persimmon in my hand, my eyes filled with wonder, I saw three ladybugs, hibernating for the winter, snuggled down in the golden fruit.

I just stood there with tears in my eyes, thanking God for letting me know once again that my pain is important to Him. And just like these sleeping ladybugs, I can rest in His care, knowing that I too, dwell in safety during this winter season of my life.