Bittersweet Farm Journal | January 8, 2022 | Hardships of Winter

Adien Redemption wanted to visit my writing loft…

Bittersweet Farm Journal—January 8, 2022

The kids and grandkids except the New Mexico and Texas Pierponts (we hope to fly down there and enjoy some of their warm sunshine this winter) came and went from Bittersweet Farm during the holidays or we saw them in their homes. This week Jesse and Holly and their two visited for the week from all the way out on Highway 101 on the West Coast of Oregon.

We enjoyed shared meals, singing, laughter, exchanging gifts, conversations late into the night and expressions of love. It turned very cold outside starting Sunday night, but the little farmhouse out on Bittersweet was warm and bright with love this week.

One day we went to Lansing to a trampoline place. Kinda’ cool except when we went to leave we discovered that Holly had lost her cell phone. Within an hour they found it in the bottom of one of the foam block pits they were jumping into. Of course there is a Chik-fil-a in Lansing and it wasn’t Sunday so we were able to get a proper Christian fast-food meal. The kids wore themselves out (and the adults) and they slept well.

Holly and Jesse and family stayed in a local Bed and Breakfast to make more room. A couple evenings ago we saw them off late into the bitter cold night. Snow on the ground. Ice in the air. The temps would drop into the single digits that night. After their car disappeared over the hill into the night, we darkened the house and got into bed. About twenty minutes later the phone rang. Trouble—Little girl weeping in the background. Scuffy, the Teddy Bear Granny gave Bella Allene was missing. Bella was disconsolate. She could not go to sleep without it. Would grandpa please go out and see if he could find it?

I dressed and took my flashlight out into the icy night. Teddy was shivering in a snow bank. I rescued him and put him on the counter then got quickly back into bed. Bella’s daddy made the heroic trip back to reunite Teddy and Bella. Within a half hour a picture arrived of Bella and Teddy warm and happy settled in for the night under a pile of soft covers. We all have our bedtime routines. Bella has her Teddy. David wrote; “He gives sleep to those he loves…” It is one of God’s sweetest gifts to his children.

Soon we will take our loved ones off to the airport and we will say goodbye and drive home with the ache in our souls we always have when we say goodbye for a time to someone we love so deeply.

Back home gramma will be cleaning up and she will find something under the bed or under the pillows of the couch that one of the precious grandchildren left behind. Grandma is tough but she has a tender heart and she will fight back a tear. When we get back together we will go over their antics and the things they said and how they have grown and who in the family they look like and we will pray for them to follow the light of Jesus into the dark time in which they have been born.

One day, God willing, we will never part again. For those who believe will enjoy eternal life together forever. Until then we trust God to make us faithful and we will pray and keep in touch on FaceTime and such.

It’s cold but the sun is up in a clear sky this morning. Lois just put a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast on the desk in front of me with a hot mug of black coffee. So there are ways our loved ones help us to compensate for the hardships of winter.

God bless you with warmth and light, coffee and bacon, and loved ones and good sleep.

Bittersweet Farm
January 8, 2021