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contentment, Discontentment, Deadly Darts of the Devil Dana Rongione contentment, Discontentment, Deadly Darts of the Devil Dana Rongione

Be Careful What You Ask For

One of the things I love about where we live is that it’s a very safe place. We live in a small community where there is little crime. Wales, as a whole, has very few dangerous animals, so I don’t have to worry about being attacked by a bear or bitten by a snake while out on my daily walks. In short, I feel very comfortable being out and about or even staying home alone.

The only danger I have discovered is living only 45 minutes from the book town of Hay-on-Wye. Yes, a book town is precisely as its name suggests—an entire town dedicated to books.

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the Word of God, Life's Journey Dana Rongione the Word of God, Life's Journey Dana Rongione

Something You Can Count On

The unofficial motto for mid-Wales is “We do weather.” Seriously, the weather around here has more mood swings than I do. In a single 3-mile walk, one can experience rain, sleet, hail, wind, sun, and rainbows. It’s crazy!

And the weather forecast is no help at all. Monday, for example, showed a 0% chance of precipitation all day. There were four or five bouts of sleet and several rain showers, and while the sun did make an appearance a couple of times, it was typically raining or sleeting too. This is the only place I’ve ever lived where you have to wipe the falling snow off your sunglasses.

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Life's Journey Dana Rongione Life's Journey Dana Rongione

A New Christmas Tradition

Christmas is a time of tradition and familiarity. Seeing the collection of ornaments we’ve collected through the years always brings back fond memories. Gathering together with family to open gifts and play games was always a highlight.

This Christmas will be a bit different. Yes, we were able to bring a few things with us to Wales to make it feel more familiar, but as we grow closer to that holy day, we’re realizing just how many things are new and different for us this year.

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Uncategorized, Christmas, comfort Uncategorized, Christmas, comfort

Sometimes We Need the Rain (Repost)

We had a pretty decent winter storm come through last weekend. It started off as a wintry mix, then turned to snow, and then back to a wintry mix. Needless to say, it was quite treacherous outside.

By Sunday afternoon, most of the snow and ice had melted off the roads, but our side yard was still a big sheet of white ice. It was fun slip-sliding my way to the truck so we could go to church Sunday evening. (I looked like Bambi on ice, only in a skirt and boots.) On Monday, the sun came out, and it was a beautiful day with highs in the mid-50s. Still, the snow and ice on the grass in the sideyard didn't melt. By Monday night, we could still skate across the yard.

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Deadly Darts of the Devil, Spiritual Warfare, God's goodness Dana Rongione Deadly Darts of the Devil, Spiritual Warfare, God's goodness Dana Rongione

When the Enemy Won’t Quit

Yesterday was our weekly hike date, but it was a bit unusual. We had a couple of light snowfalls over the previous weekend, and the temperatures had remained sub-freezing all week. That being the case, there was still some snow and ice dotting the landscape around us, but we knew the surrounding areas weren’t bad at all.

Unfortunately, the area we had planned to hike had gotten considerably more snow than we had. The winding roads were white and icy, and when we arrived at our destination, we discovered the trails were buried under at least three inches of snow.

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