Bokelskere.no

I sat in my rocking chair with fat old Queen Esther purring away on my lap and looked at my beautiful, crazy family. I'd had the idea that a family should be perfect, with a pretty mama and a handsome daddy and kids that were all sugary-sweet and dressed up real nice. A family couldn't possible have a chain-smoking chimpanzee, a clown for a daddy, and a midget for a mama. But as I looked at my three ragamuffin kids in their hand-me-downs, at funny old Aunt Batty with her nutty ways, at our one-eyed hunting dog and two overweight cats with mittens for kittens, I was sure of two things - what I had with Daddy and Aunt Peanut was a family, and so was this. I loved every one of them. Wyatt Orchards wasn't my home, this house wasn't even my home. Home is where your family is - the people you love and who love you. And even if I lost everything I owned tomorrow, I'd still have riches beyond measure.

"Home is where your family is - the people you love and who love you. "

"Why did God have to make our lives so fragile and so short?" (...) "Because life is very precious to Him. He treasures each life He created and He wants us to treasure it, too - like fine porcelain china. God knows what it's like to live and die in a frail human body like ours. His Son suffered physical death, Betsy, so that you and I can face it without ever being afraid."

"... Our heavenly Father never forces us to serve Him... but do you know what? God really does know what's best for us. He created us. His perfect will is perfect for us, whether we can understand it with our limited minds or not. Even so, He allows each of us to decide: Will we choose our own way or maybe society's way - and end up settling for less than perfection? Or will we let God take us where He has chosen - and be amazed?"

"Springtime is God's promise that someday we'll all share His resurrection life! Our weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning!"

"I've seen spring come to the orchard every year as far back as I can remember and I've never grown tired of it. Oh, the wonder of it! The outrageous beauty! God didn't have to give us cherry blossoms, you know. He didn't have to make apple trees and pear trees burst into flower and fragnance. But God just loves to splurge. He gives us all this magnificence and then, if that isn't enough, He provides fruit from such extravagance!"

"If you had to choose between being desperately poor but in love love, or being enormously wealthy but alone, which would you choose?"
"I'd coose love. A thousand times over. Life wouldn't be worth living without it."
"But you would be poor, remember?"
"I don't care. People get along fine without money all the time. But money can't buy the happiness that love brings."

"I'm not sure I even know what love is anymore. Do you?" He turned his back again.
"Well, I know it isn't a bunch of beautiful words people say to each other. And it's not always a feeling, either. I listened to Tor's words and had very strong feelings for him, but it turned out not to be love. I think love is an action. It's what we do for other people. You reached out to me when you saw my distress, and you saved me from the streetcar. You did the loving thing again when you married me. I think that kind of love is a much stronger fundation to build upon than empty words and mislead feelings. You did the loving thing. And I can't help loving you for that."

"I know we don't have a home right now, but we'll find one, I promise. We aren't leaving home; we're going home. Home is the place where we can laugh as we knit beside the fire every night and sing while we do our work every morning."

"Well, this I can guarantee you: God doesn't always do things the way we think they oughtta be done." (...) "He always does 'em better. An' when we follow His lead, we discover what's best for us. God doesn't want you to hope only for second best - He wants you to find His very best."

A stout breeze encouraged the tips of the tall grass to dance and sway, as if the blades were whispering secrets. Scrubby trees, their branches bowed from the force of a persistent north wind, waved their leaf-dotted boughs in welcome. The clear blue sky stretched from the horizon, dazzling in its immesurable expanse.
Her face aimed toward the sky, Tressa said, "You truly have created a beautiful world, God. When one moves quickly, she misses the glorious details. Thank You for the opportunity to slow down and see the prairie in all of its splendor."