Susan harvesting Kale in November.

By Susan Shanklin

I baked a couple of Butternut squashes up today and sorted through Haroldson apples for ones that wouldn’t keep any longer. I ended up with two quarts of applesauce, canned and two quarts of yummy bright orange strained squash. One for the frig and one for the freezer.

I just let the chickens out and watered the sheep. Before I went to the barn I  brought up the blue garbage can on wheels from the end of the driveway after pick up and placed it  in front of the garage.

So I guess my activities say I’m a homemaker/hobbyist. If I was filling out a form, I would say I’m a wife, mother, artist, preacher, grandma, gardener, jeweler, husbandman, comedian, public speaker, radio host, nurse, counselor, and writer. There’s more I think, too, but I don’t believe it would fit in that one box allowed next to my name.

I’m many things to many different people. I’m also annoying. Ha ha.

A box is something to store ‘stuff’ in or contain something. I myself don’t want to be stored up or contained! I want to be free to be a virtuous wife who bought a field and ran her household and my husband safely trusts in me.

God wrote me and said, “Susan, I have a future and a hope for you.” Well, I guess He has an adventure for me and I best be getting started on it!

I have been on that adventure for 62 years. Yikes! That’s a long time. BUT there is soooooooo much more to do and see. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow has. I can’t wait for Thanksgiving each year. I can’t wait for the next ministry outing. I can’t wait for Tom to go to India!

I can’t wait to see the next line God is writing out for me to do.

I don’t want to be put in a box, even if it has holes in it. I want to breathe. I want to inhale life. I want to twirl with my granddaughter, I want to wind up those “whatchama call it” things with my grandsons and watch them spin!

Don’t put me in a box. I’ll say, “Merry Christmas” rather than “Happy Holidays,” and if you sneeze I’ll say, “God bless you.”

I’ll have macaroni and cheese as a side dish on Thanksgiving and use whole wheat flour in everything. Ha ha.

“Thinking outside of the box” is so passé. Perhaps crushing the box is a better thought.

I want to live in God’s future and in God’s hope.

I tell you what…..I’ll meet you in the bend of the road and we can skip into Gloryland together…knowing we did it all for the glory of God!