Goodbye Lost Acres....

There was once a place called Lost Acres.

 A family lived there. There was a mom and a dad with children. The children grew up and then  brought their children there to play.  It was a wonderful place for everyone. Old and young. 

There was a play structure for the children to run and play. Beyond the playground was a horseshoe court for the men to play horseshoes while the children played.

 

There were meandering paths to explore.

The birds liked Lost Acres, too, and made their nests in some of the bird houses the dad, Jim, built for them. 

There were benches to think and pray.

 You could look   f a  r  across the Sandy River Gorge and see another farm with its neat rows of trees and plants.

There was an inviting front door. Usually the dad/grandpa would swoop open the door and welcome you in with a friendly, "Well hello ------. So glad you're here!!"

  

There were many beautiful plants and flowers that Kathy and Jim planted. 

Day Lilies

Wild roses

Even the butterflies had their own special bush. 

There were berries to pick when you were hungry. Grapes, too.

There were buildings with vines crawling up their sides. You could pretend you were a princess locked up in a tower.

There were sour crab apples to try to eat and perhaps give you a tummy ache.

                           

There were cupids

Frogs--real ones---and pretend ones on fountains.

Most of all, there was love here. 

One day, Kathy became very sick and she died. Now Grandpa Jim was at Lost Acres all alone.
For a long time, Jim was sad. But God was with him all the time, even though he was alone.

 He didn't like living alone at Lost Acres so he decided to sell this beautiful place so someone else could enjoy it.

One day, Jim met a lady who was all alone too, and they got married. But they needed to find someone to love Lost Acres like Jim and Kathy did. And they did. Someone new bought it.

Jim and his new wife, Shirley, visited Lost Acres one more time. It was kind of sad. It was too quiet. There were no children there anymore. The flower beds needed to be weeded and pruned. It needed new people to live there.

So Jim said goodbye to Lost Acres. He knelt and prayed and thanked God for the gift of Lost Acres. He thanked God for the joy and happiness Lost Acres brought him.  He prayed for the new owners. He prayed they would know great joy, peace, and serenity here. And then, he stood, looked around one last time. And said goodbye.

Goodbye Lost Acres. You were loved......