Helplessness

I had a fabulous and LONG weekend in Kansas since I took Thursday and Friday off to spend some time with my family. Unfortunately Kyle had to work so he couldn’t tag along, but I took plenty of videos and photos to make him feel like he was right there.

My parents, Stacy and I spent the weekend watching Asher and Landon explore the farm, playing games, going swimming, and trying to keep as cool as possible. This has been a hot summer for everyone in this region. Thankfully, my grandparents have irrigation sprinklers so their crops are looking a lot better than some around Hennessey.

When I think about farm life it always seems so idyllic and peaceful. You are your own boss and you spend your days enjoying nature. (Can you tell I’ve never had to do hard farm labor?) But in reality it is probably extremely stressful because there are so many factors over which you have no control. Even if you have a wonderful crop, a hail storm or drought can hit and you are left helpless with little to nothing.

Helplessness is something I’ve been feeling a lot lately as friends and family go through struggles that are completely beyond their control. Often prayers don’t feel like enough, and I wish there was something concrete I could do to make everything go back to the way it should be. But I know that isn’t my place and that God is sovereign. His plan, although it may include suffering, is always best. I may never understand it, but I can be there to comfort and support my loved ones in times of struggle. It may not fix the problem but hopefully to warms their hearts and is a reminder of God’s love for them.

Below are some photos and videos from the trip. Enjoy!

Asher got a little messy playing with Great
Grandpa's tools.
Asher gathered a little rock collection on the first
night and had fun playing with them all weekend.
He is finally big enough to play in the tree house
we used to play in when we were little.

He wanted to crawl in the irrigation pipes so badly.
Playing on the frog in the kid pool. The public pool in
Plains is very nice and we loved escaping the heat
there on Friday afternoon.
His favorite part was jumping from the ladder to Dad.
Landon slept most of the time but finally woke up
so he could take a dip before we left.
Exploring the farm on Saturday.
Watching the cows.

This is what I came home to on Saturday night.
Kyle went dirt bike riding and was FILTHY!
Seeing Landon walk on this trip was so fun! It's hard to believe that last time he was just sitting up:







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chi-town Shenanigans

Image
The Tuesday before last, I left for a trip to Chicago. The annual ADRP conference was there this year and while I've been in the past, this year was different because our ENTIRE team went. There were seven of us in all, and we had so much fun together! Chicago is a place I've never really been dying to visit. I haven't been opposed, it just wasn't on the top of my list. However, after going there, I definitely want to go back. It's a very clean city and there is so much to do and so many wonderful things to see. Kyle and I will have to plan a trip there some day. If I learned one thing this trip it was that I work with the most awesome people! On the airport parking shuttle on our way home we met a lady. She said she opted to take the full shuttle because she and four of her coworkers had been together for four days and needed a little time apart. We all smiled and nodded as if we understood completely, but in that moment I couldn't. We spent our spare ti...
Read more

Love Text

Image
I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned this before, but I LOVE the first Sex and the City Movie. The second, not so much, but I’m pretty sure everyone in America agrees with me on that one. I watched it while I was sick last week. In the movie, there’s an exchange between Carrie and Big that goes a little something like this: C: “Have you ever written me a love letter?” B: “Does a love fax count?” C: “When have I EVER gotten a love fax?” B: “Oh, I'm sure my secretary sent you one...at some point. What can I tell you, baby? It's just not my style. Besides, those guys had to write. They were separated from their loves by wars and hundreds and hundreds of miles. I'm right here. Hello. You make me very happy.” C: “Yeah, yeah. Put it in writing.” Comic genius. Anyway, that got me thinking that Kyle and I rarely ever stop to focus on what we love about each other. Unfortunately we spend far too much time pointing out things we wish the other would do differently....
Read more

Spring Break

Image
Contrary to popular belief, the OSU Foundation is not closed during spring break. In fact, we are open on most of the university-specific holidays. However, I was fortunate to be able to take 1 1/2 days off to spend a little time with the family during their break. My parents, Zach, Stacy and Asher had planned to visit my Donahue grandparents in Kansas, so I decided to tag along. Poor Kyle had to work, but he also got to spend the weekend with Greg and Stacie. They took him to a Thunder game and then out for golf on Saturday. They also found some basketball video game Greg and Kyle used to play as kids so that entertained them for most of Saturday evening. Stacie sent me this photo. They won with a dunk during the final seconds of the game. I think they're excited! :) Back on the farm, we got to spend a little time with Landon, who is now 6 months old. It's hard to believe how big his is! He is even sitting up on his own. Asher did pretty good with him although he did unintenti...
Read more