Month: March 2023

A Piece of Clock-Work

Published on by Rebecca Gilbreath2 Comments

The course of the seasons is a piece of clock-work, with a cuckoo to call when it is springtime.

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–1799)

Cool, restless winds have been blowing for the last few weeks with a nice day in between here and there. In spite of this, blooms are popping open day by day in our backyard- a welcome site to see. A friend of mine who lives in New Mexico told me that there was a little snow on her car this morning, yet she has a hyacinth blooming and a golden currant budding. I told her they were raising their heads in defiance. In my imagination, I saw our own flowers “shaking their fists” at the cool air reminding winter weather that, according to the calendar, it is now springtime. Like clockwork, the plants are waking up and our vines are stretching toward the sun. We have more buds on our Lady Banks rose vines than ever before. Last year, there were hardly any! My day lily is returning as well and may need to be repotted this year. To our surprise, our Virginia Creeper is returning with loads of new leaves. We have tried that particular plant in two other areas which it didn’t like. The third time is the charm, we suppose because, in the newer location, it is thriving! Starting in April, our water restrictions begin again, so I know the winds will die down soon, the nice weather will stay for a few weeks, and then the heat will return. It’s such a fun time of year because we find new stray gifts every day in our yard.

Here are the latest stray gifts with descriptions down below.

Top Left: Wisteria branches twisting around each other – how interesting!
Top Middle: Sunset glow on last year’s purple passionflower pods
Top Right: White Lady Banks Roses blooming
Middle Left: Yellow Lady Banks Roses making an appearance as well
Center: Jonathan spotted this web a few days ago. He crunched up a few dried leaves and sprinkled them into the web to see what the spider would do. She didn’t like that at all and immediately proceeded to tidy her space. Jonathan watched her take each leaf piece and push it out of the web. He was highly entertained by that! The winds have beaten up her web the last few days and torn it a bit, yet each morning Jonathan finds the web to be clean and repaired.
Middle Right: The return of our day lily – a plant I bought for $3.00 on clearance a few years ago!
Bottom Left: Random wildflower seeds were planted here, so we are not sure what flowers we will have in this space – a fun surprise!
Bottom Right: This is a scrapbook that a long-time friend of ours from Washington State made us. In it, are photos of Jonathan and our family that I did not even know she had! She wrote special memories by the photos and wrote notes on each page. What a gift of love! The book arrived around the time we were packing for our trip to see West Texas A&M University in Canyon, TX where Jonathan has been accepted into their Master of Arts Program in History. Tears rolled down our faces as we looked through the precious photos she had collected. A stray gift, for sure, and a priceless treasure!

(Photo Credit for this blog entry’s image belongs to my friend Kara who lives in Pennsylvania.)

Where the Buffalo Roam

Published on by Rebecca Gilbreath4 Comments

The Texas Panhandle is so flat, if you stand on a bucket, you can see tomorrow.

Stories from Texas

The winds of change have been softly stirring in this house lately. If you have followed our family’s journey through this blog, you know that last year was a very difficult one with John’s health. I won’t go into all that here as the entries can be read through previous posts. At present, he is in physical therapy for his back and has another Botox treatment coming up to help with his migraines. The ankle is an ongoing issue. A huge praise is that the VA granted him more disability compensation he applied for which helps him focus on finding a balance with his health issues instead of worrying about how he is going to manage a full-time job. This has been a huge relief!

Jonathan has been applying for work in many places yet hasn’t received any requests for an interview anywhere. We know that there is a gap in his work history that might not look so good on his resumé. It is not that he hasn’t been working, it is a matter of where. He has helped me in more ways at home than I can ever write about with my dad and John. Both have had many surgeries and procedures over the years in which Jonathan was instrumental in their recovery. While I was helping one of the men, Jonathan was helping the other. I could not have done all that by myself! But at this stage in his life, something has to change. We agree that he has a life of his own to live. Through many conversations and much prayer, he said he would like to pursue a Master of Arts in History degree. He graduated from UTEP in 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts in History and with a minor in Museum Studies. He excels in research and is passionate about western U.S. history. He is not going to find the education needed for what he wants to do here in El Paso as the focus is on the Borderland. We started looking at other schools and after viewing information about West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas, he said that was the one. The same day, he applied for their Master’s program. He has been fully admitted to the program now and welcomed into their “Buff Community”. Plans are in the making. Jonathan also applied for scholarships/financial aid. With his 3.9 GPA from UTEP, we pray he qualifies for one that would pay for the education and living expenses! Wouldn’t that be amazing? We’re praying the Lord blesses him in a special way.

We took a trip to Canyon, Texas a few weeks ago to look at the school and the area. We loved it! We toured the campus and Jonathan thought it was spectacular. In the area, we visited the Palo Duro Canyon State Park and loved being in nature. We enjoyed several museums, too! Jonathan said he could spend days just reading all the information at each exhibit. There are roads that stretch for miles with no stop sign or traffic light in sight. Bliss! Just wide open country. We were in awe of just how far one could see over the plains. John drove for hours on backroads – a favorite activity of ours and also my favorite way to take a nap! It was a much-needed relaxing week. We saw buffalo, cardinals, prairie dogs, and many other stray gifts in our path! We also stayed in Lubbock so Jonathan could compare Texas Tech University with West Texas A&M. West Texas A&M still had a hold on him.

There are many decisions to make if Jonathan goes through with attending classes in the fall semester. It means packing, finding a place to live, and getting settled with household items and groceries. No official plans can be made until we know about scholarships and/or employment to help fund the advancement of his education. Jonathan called the financial office to check on the status and he was told they received his applications for financial aid and are working on finding a good fit for him. Please pray with us that he will receive the blessing of a full scholarship!

This is an exciting time for Jonathan and we are thrilled about this opportunity!