Month: February 2026

Clinging

I stepped outside yesterday morning to snap a picture of our beautiful sunrise.  I turned to walk back inside when it hit me that there was something else I needed to see and to think about.

I mean, I have seen this sight many times this winter, but it was like God was telling me to REALLY see it.

There, up in our big old pin oak, are squirrel’s nests.  It’s amazing that they can cling to those branches through all the wind, rain, storms, and snow.  

We don’t see those nests in the summer, but when all the leaves are gone, we see them clearly.

A couple weeks ago I was wearily getting ready for bed at the end of a long day.  Aaron’s behaviors that day had depleted me.  Future decisions we need to make for him were weighing on me. Other deep concerns pulled at my emotions.  Soon tears blurred my vision.

Those who have walked with God for a long time will know what I mean when I say that He spoke to my heart right then.  He reminded me of the many times in the past when I felt broken and how He told me to go to my Bible and look at what He had to say to me right then and there.

“Silly me,” I thought.  “Why haven’t I done that in a while?”

Laying there on my desk was my Bible, open to where I had been studying in the book of Joshua.  I looked down and this is the verse that I instantly saw:

“But you are to cling to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day.”   (Joshua 23:8)

I just sat down and cried, this time with thankful tears for this simple yet profound reminder from God.

“Just cling to Me, Patty,” God said, “as you have done for all these years to this day.”

Such simple words but so impacting to me.

I’m no longer young.  I’ve walked with the Lord for a long time and oh, the many verses I have marked with the dates God gave them to me.  Times of trials that led to trust as God spoke to me through His word.

This time in my life is no different than all the other times that God has led and strengthened and sustained me.  

It’s like the squirrel’s nests that we can see when all the leaves are gone.

When the trappings of our lives are gone, what is seen?

When we are slammed with huge decisions, disappointment, a scary and unexpected diagnosis, a wayward child, an uncertain future, betrayal…whatever it is…

Will we cling to God like the squirrel’s nests clinging to the pin oak branches?

Will our trust be clear to us and to others even through our pain and our tears?

I now have “February 2026, Aaron,”  written beside Joshua 23:8.

And I’m working on clinging to God like a squirrel’s nest in the branches. 

The Thanks I Get?

Yesterday Aaron and I delivered roses to his day group friends at Paradigm.  Our local Dillon’s store and our sweet friend Jody organize this special treat every year. The smiles and excitement are so much fun to see.  

Last night Aaron was cleaning out the bag he takes to Paradigm.  He came running into the kitchen holding…something.

“MOM!” he excitedly said, “this is for you!”

He held out…this.

“Victoria wanted me to give you this to say thanks for the rose today!” he explained.

It was so hard not to laugh.  

This…was an old, mangled, broken candy cane, complete with food crumbs stuck in the open spots.

Now, I know Aaron and I know with a fair degree of certainty that Victoria did NOT send me that worn out candy cane.  Aaron found it in the bottom of his messy bag and impulsively came up with what he thought was a solid story whereupon he could gift me with…this. 

Aaron’s love language is giving gifts.  

He just needs a little work sometimes on the choice of gifts he gives.

We’ve been having some rough times with Aaron.  He’s been struggling with some things that make him respond with anger toward us.  

A trait of autism is a focus on oneself because they want their world to operate in the order that gives them peace.  Interruptions to that order can cause lots of anger, taken out on me and Gary at home.

Then there’s the care that Aaron requires on so many levels, care that often ties us down and intrudes upon the way we sometimes want OUR world to go.

I’m not complaining and I hope I don’t sound selfish.  These are just the facts.  Parents of children are caregivers, and having our adult Aaron still with us is like having a child still at home.  Special needs then compound the situation a lot!

It’s easy to get mired down in the daily and to feel like all I do for Aaron is unrecognized by him, which is often true.  

Like I’m left holding onto more broken when I’ve had enough, thank you.

But one morning I was especially encouraged when I read the words of Nehemiah 5:19:

“Remember me with favor, O my God, for all that I have done for this people.”

Caregiving is so often self-sacrificing, but it’s a walk of life that honors God.  I don’t always have the right attitude, and I have anger issues sometimes, too.  

Yet so many times, during the mundane or dirty work, when I am tired and feeling very unappreciated, I remember that I am remembered. 

I am remembered by God.  He sees me.  

And everything I do, I really am to do for Him.

There are many of us working day after day after day to care for someone in our lives.  We are not on a public stage, sought after and held in high esteem.

But we are noticed by God, whom Hebrews tells us will not forget our work and labor of love we have shown for Him by helping His people.

And this…this is a promise I can hold on to when the serving is hard.  

It’s like the biggest and best thanks ever!

A Little Rock and Our Big God

I have a story to tell of the sweetest thing God did one recent very cold January day.

My son-in-law’s mother, Marie, came to visit my daughter and son-in-law for a long weekend.  She arrived on Friday, and late that night it hit me that Marie’s birthday was only a few days away.  

My friend Joyce and I were taking a day trip that next day to Lindsborg, a quaint little Swedish town not far away.  As I got ready for bed that Friday night, I felt a strong urge and excitement about finding Marie a birthday gift in Lindsborg.  I prayed as I went to bed, asking God to let me find just the right gift for Marie.

You see, Marie’s husband is fighting pancreatic cancer.  The last six months have been brutal for Kent and Marie in all the ways you can imagine.  I wanted this gift that God laid on my heart to be a special encouragement to Marie.

Joyce and I walked in shop after shop but there was nothing that jumped out at me as just the right gift for Marie.  Finally, in a fair-trade shop, Joyce and I found a little table with baskets full of polished rocks shaped like hearts and painted various colors.

In one basket were stones that had a word on one side and then a little saying on the other side.  I was drawn to them, but as I examined the selection I didn’t find anything that I felt was for Marie.  I didn’t know what word would be for Marie, honestly, but I knew that none of those words were right.

Joyce said that maybe there were more rocks in the back of the store, and I said that I doubted it.  I was ready to walk away but Joyce was already talking to the clerk at the counter, who said that she could etch any word onto one of the blank stones that were in another basket.  

I was very surprised!  

“So, what word would you want?” Joyce asked.

I hadn’t had time to even think about that when suddenly, in a flash, I knew.

“Courage,” I answered.  

“And on the other side of the rock, Joshua 1:9,” I continued as I looked up the reference to be certain.  

“Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous!  Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Oh, what a precious promise!  

I walked out of the store with that little rock in a cute box with a pretty ribbon, praising God for how He put all this together.

But God wasn’t done yet.

In the next store, as we browsed the shelves, Joyce excitedly walked up to me.

“Patty, look at this!” she excitedly said.

She held out a beautiful journal.  This is the cover.

What a tender touch from God!

I could hardly wait for the next day to come when I could give Marie these simple gifts and tell her the story of how God reached down to show me and Marie both that He cares about every little detail of our lives.

If God cares so much about a rock and a journal for Marie, I have every assurance that He cares about this path that Kent and Marie are walking.  

He cares about THEM and He has a reason for the big things they’re facing.  

And that little rock has shown over and over that we have a big God.

Kent and Marie