My Review:
Even though I've got a stack of books that I have got to get read and reviewed and I really have no business agreeing to read others I had to make an exception. The story of the Hutterites is new to me. I had never heard of this people group so I agreed to add it to my pile. When I saw the mini-documentary about them, glimpsed the black and white polka-dotted kerchiefs on the women, I moved the book to the top of the stack.
Those of you who love religious memoirs or the idea of a simplier life really need to get your hands on a copy of this fascinating, poignant and rich memoir. This is a story of a unique journey. Mary Ann Kirkby knew only life in the colony until days before her tenth birthday when her world drastically changed.
My family spends many hours a week with our church family and we consider them an extension of our natural families. In the Hutterite colonies this concept is carried to the extreme. The Hutterites model their lives after Acts 2: 42-47 where scripture states that personal possessions were shared or sold for the good of the community and communal meals/togetherness was the rule and the life of the early New Testament church. The Hutterites share everything and live in a small village of people who care for one another. As idealic as that sounds, and there were passages in the book that sounded almost like paradise and made me wistfully want to find my own group of Hutterites and beg to join the community. But as with most things good and all things tinged with humanity and its inherent selfishness, the heaven on earth of living with loved ones and sharing life with them became torturous for the parents of Mary Ann and their family. A stubborn family member, old grudges, unforgiveness, and a rules trump people mindset became too much and Mary Ann's family fled.The story wends through a fascinating, though utilitarianly written, account that dips into poignancy many times throughout the decades of Mary Ann's life as a Hutterite and one who is on the outside looking it.
These are pieces of Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota as seen from my camera.
Walgreens just offered a free 8 x 10 collage (if picked up at the store) and I decided to put together these collages. I'll be sure to let you know next time Walgreens offers it. It was easy and I've decided that it's kind of a cool looking way to use up all those pictures I like but don't want to display via a 5X7 or scrapbook. 
This is not a view from my world right now. Instead I feel like I'm in the tropics with cut-through-it-with-a-knife humidity and heat. The vibrant rainbows of flower gardens and the monochromatic greens are intense and the trees are full of life.
But I guess I'm in a pensive mood and while zooming through pictures this one captured my thoughts.
I want my life to look like this tree. When naked and vulnerable, when I'm unprotected and laid bare, when I feel as if I stand alone and without, I want to be one who stands tall with my arms outstretched to the heavens. I want to be one who says the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
So. When I said I was looking for something worth writing about. Something exciting worth posting, an attempt to offer up a story that makes the dearth of stuff last week simply fade away into nothingness, I didn't expect this.
SHUDDER.
Last night while having a delightful conversation with Rob, while looking around our lovely gardens, admiring the growth, the baby veggies, the blueberries that are turning delicate shades of green-blue to almost blue...we each grabbed weeds now and again. The rain has guaranteed lushness and that includes weeds. We talked about getting out the organic "bug" spray, how to keep the blueberry harvest for our enjoyment and not for wildlife consumption, we talked about all sorts of things.
While talking, we pulled those weeds. You'd think there wouldn't be a lot because we have garden cloth. Long black strips that we've laid out over the whole garden and then punctured for our plants. But weeds are hardy and determined. They have sprouted in dirt that is maybe a half inch thick on top of the fabric, and they've taken up residence in the areas set apart for our plants.
While plucking and talking I didn't do much more than glance at where my hand went. But one handful of weeds caused a slight rippling of the landscape fabrics right behind the plant where I was plucking. Oh my!!!! Within a millisecond I saw and registered that the fabric wasn't moving at all, that something laid on top of the fabric and it had yellow stripes along its sides and it wasn't simply moving but it was undulating and slithering. SNAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And. I. ALMOST. TOUCHED. IT. AUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In case you haven't figured it out I am the girliest, jump on a chair, scream my brains out, completely creeped-out wimp when it comes to snakes. Spiders, mice, blood. Not my favorites but they don't reduce me to pure adrenaline powered instinct. I screamed all the way to the house, the dogs hot on my heels, a man driving down the street with his window down, slowing to a crawl at my show. In my defense the snake was nearly two feet long. SHUDDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Was inches from my hand. GULP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it behaved completely snakelike. SOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Snakes are silent, blend in, and are still until you are right on top of them. EWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now that my heart rate is back to normal I can laugh about it. The type of laughter you might hear in a room with nice padding on the walls and restraints on the bed. Needless to say. I won't be plucking weeds in a distracted state of mind again. EVER. SHUDDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks go to my hero, Rob, who has made my garden snake-free for the moment. But those sneaky little reptiles obviously know where I live now.
So. I had every intention of blogging yesterday and producing something amazing. Alas, the only thing I was producing is unmentionable and accompanied by chills and a headache like none other. But I believe it was a virus because I am upright, able to remain so and can walk in a straight line...well almost....haven't really ever mastered that skill.
Look elsewhere for amazing and great profundity today. Yesterday I will call lost. However, I did get lots of sleep so my sleep bank will stop sending me overdraft notices!
Tomorrow. Who knows. Maybe I'll be slapped upside the head with inspiration that births something worth reading. Til then. I will enter the world a day late, a dollar short and sleep rich.
Sorry for the lack of posts this week.
I appreciate the kind comments.
I don't recommend a week that includes a family funeral and Bible school following closely on the heels of a graduation party and a road trip. Oh, I also don't recommend adding a touchy computer charger to the mix.
However. Life goes on. Sleep can be temporarily set aside. Work can pile up along with dishes. The important (and sometimes unimportant and annoying) things still get done.
I think this is the least I've blogged in three years. It feels weird to be so away from the computer, freeing, but weird.
Above everything else. This week has revealed even more to me about the important people in my life. Whether I have had a chance to tell them or not, people have blessed my week.
I'll be back Monday. Peace to you and yours. Give someone you love a hug.
