New Blog Address

It’s been three weeks since my last post. And I have been missing my readers and writing, with the likes as a cherry on the top of a piece of chocolate cake.

I will keep my blog up here for a short season. The domain name expires on March 7, and I am not going to renew it, that is probably when I will pull the plug on this blog.

To all my regular readers, a hearty thank you. I hope to see you at my new place. Lots of changes, but still the same ‘ole me.

You can find me at h. renell’s Hearth.

Blessings to you! Over and out.

Whitman’s America

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,
The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,
The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

Walt Whitman I Hear America Singing

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I will post again when I get my self-hosted account up and running with the new domain name and host, shooting for at the latest before March 1. Until then…

Have a blessed weekend!

Website Update

The last several weeks, I have been debating a change to a self-hosted version of my website. When I started this blog back in March during the first days of the lock down, I decided to use a paid WordPress plan, with the ease of use and the Jetpack social media aspects. A self-hosted plan will give me more control.

I will basically keep the same focus: God, Oregon, and more Christian content. A great debate in Christian circles is: should everything be about Christianity, or is God in the details of a worshiping life as pointed to through secular means? That is a fine line to walk, and requires Holy Spirit discernment for every project.

My plan is to be up and running by early March, when this account will revert back to a free plan. I also plan on complimenting it with a Tumblr account.

Hope to see you there.

Light

“A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black, because all things in nature are dark except where exposed by the light.”

Leonardo da Vinci

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Genesis 1:2-3 NIV

Delayed Presents

I did not know my father except the first few years of my life and the last few years of his. After my mother passed away, I found a shoe box full of letters that he had written to her. I spent the next several weeks reading though them and learning about my past. It was a gift she left, which my brother graciously allowed me to keep. And so a correspondence began with him.

Fast forward several years. My father passed away. I changed one parent’s house for the other, announcing to friends and family I was moving. New starts and all that.

He had a long-time friend that became my friend too. She told me stories about him that had me laughing and saying, boy, that sounds like me! And she gave me a picture of him standing in the snow (if you aren’t familiar with the Oregon coast climate, that doesn’t happen very often).

Though I did not know him very well, he gave me a gift I am still treasuring today: Oregon.

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Have a blessed weekend!