Fru-fru, football, fences and a funeral

I've held these pictures and looked over them so many times, sometimes I can't believe that they represent the weekend after Jenny died. They look so much like all the other Brock family gatherings. The dress up box was dug through and every kid wanted to outdo the next with their costume. Tammy who needs to be taken seriously when debating had to climb on her soapbox.

Football is a thanksgiving tradition, and also makes an appearance any time the whole family is together. This game was added to by Ryan's best friend who brought laughter, support, his wife, who was Jenny's best friend since high school. I couldn't help but notice the beauty of the day, and the happiness was so evident even in the midst of something sorrowful. It is said over and over again in Christendom that God never gives us more than we can bear and I can look back at these and see his faithfulness.

There were fences that  day as well. They made the boundary lines for football, they kept the garden safe from deer, they added security and confinement for the chickens, and they also were so pretty, I'd never noticed. They were not just thrown up with no thought or planning, someone cared and took the time to plan where they would go, how they would look, and what there function would be. We had a funeral that week because those fences that had been put up around my sil life were disregarded. They were looked on at first like inconveniences, then restrictions and finally prison. I had never thought about the fences until I noticed that I had taken so many pictures of them. I am thinking about my own fences, the ones that my gardener puts around me. Sometimes, I am ugly from the pruning and I need a tight little fence around me to protect me, and sometimes I am strong and fruitful and the border can be extended far, but whatever season I am in I want to see them as good.  There really is safety and security when we have borders and parameters in which we must conduct our lives.  I am glad that I am not my own, what a mess I would make of everything. I really do want my life to bear good things and the only way is really living in him, who brings the sun and the rain.