NIGHT SKY OVER THE HILL COUNTRY

Amazing...this is the sky at night just after the sun sets. The sky stays this beautiful blue and pink for 30 minutes as the clouds change formation. This night there was a moon sliver hanging off to the side and a rain storm to the east. The sky was changing so fast and then totally slipped into darkness. It reminded me of a book I had read years ago called " Chasing Daylight". My thoughts drift to TIME and how little we have here on earth , how little we have together and how we are a BLINK. My prayer this evening: thank you, Lord, for the gift of time, for my awareness that you are the reason we exist, for the sunset, night sky, the darkness and the stillness where so much is revealed. Help me to use my remaining time to model your love. Amen

Neighbors and Friends

Today as I was driving on Eckert Road towards O'Mesa, I passed our closest neighbors. Mr Cow was acturally on the road.
Fritz and I shared a turkey sandwitch with the windows down, the sun coming through the sunroof and not a care in the world. It is a beautiful Fall day when the wild flowers are their brightest. The sky is a beautiful powder blue backdrop for hawks that soar in the gentle wind. Up ahead I can see our road cut into the side of the hilltop. It's 20 minute ride from town yet everthing is untouched, natural, primitive, fresh. If I didn't have my cell phone, I would think this is Heaven.

Ministers Working as Builders

Meet Jim Donaldson and Mike Childs! Jim is the Supervisor on this project ( stripped shirt) and very much in charge and Mike happened to stop by to check out the house before he starts weather proofing and laying tile. Both are ministers and both have many other skills. Their names should be Jack, that is, Jack of all trades! I keep finding out more of Jim's talents and skills as we move along on this project.

Both of these men are ministers. Here they are in the building business. How does one go from building lives and hearts for God to building a physical form? It's as though we act out what is going on in our inner world and that we symbolically put form around what our soul desires.

Maybe this house on the hill is a way for each of us to reconcile some inner desires.

WOW...the view is AMAZING

It is fun to watch people's faces when they see the view as they walk through the front doors. Yesterday we had a few folks out to sit on the back patio and visit. Nita Braddock commented that this view of Enchanted Rock was the best Hill Country view she had ever seen. She was so precious as she kept staring in the distance in awe.

"Nature was a mirror of the soul for St. Francis of Assisi

a mirror for himself and a mirror for God. All his mirroring affected a complete change of consciousness in how he saw reality. When Fracis was a young man, he just loved to party. One night he left the party and looked at the stars above Assisi. He stood there for a long time, and he was in awe of what he saw. He said, " If these are the creatures, what must the Creator be like?"

The outer world began to name the inner experience and the nature of God for Francis. It all became a two way mirror through which he could see God and also see his deepest soul."

Father Richard Rohr's adaptation from In the Footsteps of Francis

The last few nights have been exceptionally beautiful. The full moon hung over the east with Jupiter as it's companion. Then as the sky grew darker the stars began to pop out from every direction and it was breath-taking. Bill, Fritz and I stayed out til midnight, in silence. My heart was so full it could burst as I prayed to myself a St. Francis Prayer:

Divine Master,

Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console: to be understood as to understand: to be loved as to love: for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning, that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. AMEN

A FULL MOON, Jupiter and Brilliant Stars

When I see a full moon, my Dad comes to mine. Funny, I have had him on my mind and heart alot lately. I guess it's because if he were alive, he would have enjoyed watching us build this home. He would have had lots of suggestions about ways to save costs and ideas on how to build this home SECURELY. I never would admit it but I am just like him. I am so sorry I didn't take more time to just be with him. When a loved ones dies, regrets are part of the loss. I continue to realize my regrets and today I wish I had listened closer to him and to his point of view. He really had alot to say but never really said much to anyone except my mom ( Ya Ya).

The Moon, Jupiter and the Stars are brilliant in the sky and what better place to view them then over O'Mesa. I pray for my Dad and think about how much I have learned about life, love, death and dying because of him. I pray his soul is at peace, that he forgives me and all of us here on earth who may have intentionally or unintentionally hurt him. I pray for him to be with me in my life and in my death along with my Savior Jesus Christ, his mother Saint Mary, and all the Angel and Saints.

Seasons Change

We are moving into my favorite time of the year. Now the night air is cooler and the first signs of Autumn are beginning to appear. The acorns are falling, leaves are changing colors of gold, orange, purple, brown and red. It is harvest time here and in many places all over the world.
My thoughts take me back to the time we traveled to Switerland with the Gutmann's. Harvest celebrations with favorite wild game foods, fall vegtables and root plants prepared in traditional style were featured in all the restaurants. The Swiss understand the sacredness of this time and preparations are made for a long, cold and sometimes rentlentless winter.

In Fredericksburg, farmers pray for rain so there might be another cutting of hay, water for the fall vegetable planting and so the streams are flowing for the fly fishermen. O'Mesa sits above a wonderful fly fishing stream, stocked with trout and other native fish. I dream about the walk out the front gate and down to the stream for an afternoon of fishing. It may be that I take a picnic but in either case, I will think about my Dad, ( Papou, Nick) along the way. He loved to fish and never really took much time to enjoy his hobby. One of the great lessons I learned through his dying and his death, enjoy and live each day as though it may be your last for someday it will be.

Today, completing O'Mesa seems very far into the future. I hope my children and grandchildren will enjoy this home and really use it for time to enjoy God's precious good earth. I dream that interested family members will take their fishing poles and head out for an outing. I dream about long still, calm days, peaceful in every way, resting in God and all he provides. I dream about my family loving each other without judgement, without expectation. Is this possible? I pray that our family break the chains of bondage and the family tree is healed of generational wounds. I pray for peace and that this home brings individuals and families together in love.

Next month I will be preparing myself for the Healing of the Family Tree Mass. It is very common for humans to continue what they consciously or unconsciously learned and repeat mistakes, problems, habits, ways to handle stress, wounds, hurts, behaviors and patterns from generation to generation. Today, I begin preparations for the healing and for a way that this O'BRIEN/MORRIS family live in harmony. I image a sign on the O'Mesa back door: GONE FISHING!

Beams, Beams and more Beams

Wow, all of a sudden it starts looking like a house!

This week we fed lunch to the framing crew and their boss, Steve Mathies. We wanted to show our appreciation for their long hot days of labor. Steve and his specialty framer, David, worked to install beautiful antique beams throughout the house. Most of the antique wood is cyprus, oak and long leaf pine and comes from all over Canada and USA. We selected the supplier out of Forth Worth and Amy and Jim made several trips to hand select the beams after finding this awesome source. The beams are handsome and the color is beautiful. We will preserve them to their natural color with a stain color called Natural Light. The barnwood under the patios and between the beams is varied in color and will remain natural. It came from a different supplier out of San Marcos and was also hand selected.

This week was the first week for problem solving. We have had several problems to arise which we expected but worked through each with a good result. One was the exterior doors were never ordered as we were told and the expected delivery date now is late October. We also had to make a choice who to use for Sound and Lighting after reviewing 2 bids. We then walked the house with the frame crew and realized several architectural oversights that we corrected. We are also changing our previous decision about our wood floor and researching if we can use the antique wood throughout the house. Building is not without problems but we have a wonderful team that is communicating, patient and thoughtful This is a blessing in and of itself.

Now the frame crew, Amy, Jim and everyone involved will take a holiday break for Labor Day and we will see everyone back on Tuesday, rested! In the meantime the beams look so good and make me BEAM all over!