FINDING TREASURES IN DARKNESS: THE MAGNIFICENT BLESSING OF THE LAKE

One last missive from the deep north woods. Just when we thought we didn't have to go to town again, the tire on the Honda was low and Richie had to remove it and take it to town for diagnosis. Value-stem problem. Sure glad he noticed it before we started home.

Last night we had a HUGE old popple tree slam down to the ground behind the cabin. No wind. Just old age. Richie now has another job to tackle. I keep telling him it (chopping up the tree) can wait til next year, but it seems he can't relax if there's work to be done. (Next day: He is already done doing it and is now hauling the logs up the hill and deep into the back woods.)

Within the past 4 nights, we've gone from pleasant fishing weather in the evenings to downright cold or too wavy for crappie-fishing. Hope this is just a cold front that will move past. It is supposed to warm up tomorrow.

I will post a pic of our new bathtub. Heavy vinyl and keeps the water hot enough for both of us to soak for 15-20 minutes. Feels like a dream after having showers all summer. We fill it up with the hose from the laundry sink in the garage and can make it super hot. I've been wanting one for years.

Two does and their two fawns were walking by our fallen tree this morning. I don't know how anyone can hunt these beautiful creatures.

As I journey toward the end of my 2019 summer, it leave me to ponder how amazingly blessed we have been to have this oasis. There is everything I crave here.....total silence, hearing and seeing nobody for days on end, sleeping as long as I want, reading as much as I want, no expectations or responsibilities, deer walking through the woods near our picture windows, chipmunks scurrying across the deck. I am so aware of God here. I look at the stars in the dark sky and know that he has counted them all and calls them each by name (Psalm 147:4). He knows the very depth and breadth of every body of water in our state's 10,000 lakes.

What did the two of us ever do to deserve the magnificence of this gift from the Creator? I know. Nothing. Like salvation, we didn't earn this piece of the northwoods. There was no way we could have earned it. In His great goodness, in His time, God lavished us with a tiny piece of heaven right here on earth.

It is not lost on me that not many people can have this luxury and we certainly don't take it for granted. We try to be good stewards of this plot of woods. I shed tears every fall that we close up and pray that the next 9 months go by quickly.

I think back to the 3 year search we made for a WI or MN cabin. Almost every weekend we were with a realtor. God's fingerprints were on the search....every door closed before us. As soon as walked in thigh-deep snow onto this property (in January of 1988), thick with birch and pine, and stepped into the all-knotty-pine cottage, we heard God's whisper,"This is the one I have saved for you."

And what would we have missed had we jumped ahead of God's plan for us? Sam would not have ever met his best friend James, he would not have ever met his wife Gretchen, we would never have had 4 amazing summers as Youth leaders in our church, when our cottage became a tangle of teenage fun and laughter. We would never have had gallons of blueberries to bring home every fall along with our fish.

It is so true.....we need to wait on the Lord's plan to guide and direct our steps. So often He "feels" late. We had no idea we would wait 3 years to find our most loved and favorite place in the whole world. In any of our travels, upon arriving home, we have always said, "I would have rather been at the lake."