Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real... Being Outside of One's Comfort Zone

A few weeks ago I noticed some new neighbors were trying to shovel their drive with sleds. I went down with shovels to help them out. It was a mother and 2 teens and I discovered the mother spoke very little English. The older daughter translated for us. After we were done shoveling the daughter said her mother would like me to come in for tea. My initial reaction was to say no but I overcame my uncomfortable feelings and said yes. It was lovely. The three of them served me rose tea in beautiful tea cups and brought out plates of goodies and a bowl of cherries. We were able to communicate a bit. I learned they were from South Korea and had been here about 5 months with the father's job. They stated they were very happy here as they had more family time. In South Korea the father was rarely home before 11 and the children were at school till about 9. The daughter who is about 15 said "here I am done with school at 2:30 and can play the rest of the day". I especially enjoyed looking at all the photographs they had displayed especially one of the parent's wedding.  As I was preparing to leave the daughter brought this cloth and said her mother painted it and she would like me to have it. Once again my initial reaction was to say no I could not take it but that little voice inside told me to take it graciously and so I did. Now I have this beautiful memento of a lovely tea with my new neighbors displayed in my kitchen and it reminds me that moving out of my comfort zone can be  very good thing.  

The view out my kitchen window. I am so blessed to live in this beautiful home on top of the hill.

Thank you Lord!

Last Sunday the temps went into the 20's and Gary suggested a walk. I love to walk and yet a part of me after being cocooned in our warm home and looking out on the cold and snow for days with low temps and wicked winds hesitated. How foolish of me...once we were walking down the road I felt invigorated like I hadn't in days. Note to self....spend more time outdoors.

You can't see them very well in this picture but these are a few of the rare snow rollers"  Just the right combination of snow, wind, and temps produce these beginnings of nature's snowman.  We also had ice pillars one night...beautiful vertical beams of light in the sky. God is always surprising us with something. 

But guess what... unless we have our eyes (and minds) open we miss out. 

Yes we did get a bit of snow in addition to the cold temps...how cold?

This cold!

Lastly...on one of those really cold nights I attended  a bread baking class at the library. It was a bit over my head as it focused on European Artisan Breads but I did learn a thing or two. This week I went to another class on essential oils and using them to make your own cleaning products. All this for free...what a blessing to have a library that offers so many educational and fun opportunities in addition to books.