As Lilies

A Blogging Break

2012-02-08T06:41:00.008-06:00

I just wanted to let you all know that I will be taking a little break from the blogging world for a week or two. :) I hope you all have a wonderful February!

Looking out across our neighbor's pasture a few days ago . . . it was beautiful with the sun lighting everything up and reflecting off of the clouds.

Until later then!

The Things We Do . . .

2012-02-02T07:30:00.001-06:00

Rora is not quite sure about this!

We're probably the only ones who have ever given their
goat kids a 'bath' in their kitchen sink!

Having Rora and Lacy inside was a lot of fun, but it did have it's not so pleasant (and sometimes comical) moments . . . like when they made messes in their pen, walked in them, and then climbed all over each other. We had some dirty little goats! Running water, a sink, and a washcloth to the rescue . . .

Lacy was so cooperative!

Soon they were all clean again and glad to be back in their pen running around and playing!

Winter Wonderland

2012-01-31T06:32:00.000-06:00

Over the weekend, we had a beautiful snowfall and while it was only about an inch, it was a wet snow and it coated everything in either snow or ice. When morning came and the sun began peeking through the tree tops, I took a few photos from a window inside . . .

Sparkling tree branches . . . while the camera did not capture it well, the branches were just aglow as the early morning sunlight reflected off of the ice.

. . . and then I headed outdoors with my camera to enjoy capturing some of the sparkling beauty all around . . .

"Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name." Psalm 103:1

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him." Psalm 103:11

"As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." Psalm 103:12

". . . the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children, to those who keep His covenant and remember His precepts to do them." Psalm 103:17-18

"The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all." Psalm 103:19

"Bless the LORD, O my soul!" Psalm 103:22b

The verses shared here are taken from the Psalm that I read the evening of the day these photos were taken . . . this Psalm really spoke to my heart and it came to mind again as I was uploading photos so I included some of the verses here.

A Sunday Hymn ~ The Haven of Rest

2012-01-29T16:20:00.010-06:00

My soul in sad exile was out on life's sea,
So burdened with sin and distressed,
Till I heard a sweet voice, saying, “Make Me your choice”;
And I entered the “Haven of Rest”!

I’ve anchored my soul in the “Haven of Rest,”
I’ll sail the wide seas no more;
The tempest may sweep over wild, stormy, deep,
In Jesus I’m safe evermore.

I yielded myself to His tender embrace,
In faith taking hold of the Word,
My fetters fell off, and I anchored my soul;
The “Haven of Rest” is my Lord.

I’ve anchored my soul in the “Haven of Rest,"
I’ll sail the wide seas no more;
The tempest may sweep over wild, stormy, deep,
In Jesus I’m safe evermore.

The song of my soul, since the Lord made me whole,
Has been the old story so blest,
Of Jesus, who’ll save whosoever will have
A home in the “Haven of Rest.”

I’ve anchored my soul in the “Haven of Rest,”
I’ll sail the wide seas no more;
The tempest may sweep over wild, stormy, deep,
In Jesus I’m safe evermore.

Oh, come to the Savior, He patiently waits
To save by His power divine;
Come, anchor your soul in the “Haven of Rest,”
And say, “My Beloved is mine.”

I’ve anchored my soul in the “Haven of Rest,”
I’ll sail the wide seas no more;
The tempest may sweep over wild, stormy, deep,
In Jesus I’m safe evermore.

Written by Henry L. Gilmour; published 1890

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Matthew 11:18-19

Planning for Spring

2012-01-28T16:16:00.002-06:00

Months ago the garden seed catalogs arrived in the mail, and other than a quick flip-through, they were set aside until spring got a little closer. Time flew by so quickly since then and before we knew it, we were nearing the end of January and hadn't even begun getting our seed order together. Where did the days go?

So out came catalogs from our two favorite seed companies . . .

As well as all the seeds that were leftover from last year and also the ones I had saved . . .

And then the fun began. Dad figured out what new and unusual varieties of tomatoes and peppers he would like to grow (some are really interesting looking, and I look forward to seeing what they taste like!), while I put together the seed order for all of our 'regulars'. Plus a few new things, too, such as celery. That is something I have wanted to grow for a long time, and hopefully it will be a success! Have any of you ever grown this crop before and have any tips to share? If so, I would appreciate hearing!

We finally finalized our order, and I was able to get it placed the beginning of this week. Once it arrives, it will be about time to start some things indoors! I am also wanting to build a cold frame outdoors so that we can get an even earlier start on lettuce. With how our small (very small) winter garden worked this year, we discovered that we likely could harvest lettuce year round if we planted succession crops throughout the year and then a large plot of it in the fall. So that is my goal for this next year . . . to have lettuce/spinach during all four seasons!

Doing all of this planning for the garden sure made me look forward to spring even more . . . all of the green, gardening, warm temperatures, flowers, springtime birds . . . happy sigh. One thing that will be really nice, too, about this spring over others is that since we have been able to accomplish so much outdoor work over the fall and winter months, we only have a few big projects that will need to be done early in the spring. That will be so nice!

Just for fun, for all of you vegetable gardeners out there, if you could grow one new crop this year, what would it be? I look forward to hearing your answers!

~ Family ~

2012-01-27T07:39:00.000-06:00

This past Wednesday night Ryan, Ashley and Adelyn came over for dinner, and we had a wonderful time together! Here are a few photos that Mom took during the evening . . .

Ryan and Ashley visiting with Dad . . . something must have been funny!

Adelyn and I enjoyed quite a bit of time together, and she loved to stand up like this . . . and bounce. :) She kept me occupied helping her stay steady!

Those little chubby cheeks are so kissable!

Break time!

Leah playing with Adelyn later in the evening . . . it was sweet watching them together!

And the photos do not depict that time that Adelyn and her Grandpa enjoyed together, or when her Grandma was down on the floor playing with her, or the wonderful conversations that we all enjoyed together . . . it's simple times together as family that oftentimes make the best memories, and this evening was one of those!

Safely Here

2012-01-25T07:30:00.002-06:00

Days were slipping by, and Chloe still wasn't going into labor so we contacted the breeder that we had gotten her from, and they said that it was likely that her due date was a week later than they had originally thought. So . . . the waiting and checking and waiting and checking and waiting continued. :)

This past Saturday night she began showing the signs that labor was near so we all got an hour or two of sleep before we were woken up by her bleating. (We had a baby monitor out in the barn with the speakers in our rooms.) Dad and I went out to check on her, and she was giving soft little bleats which is an indication of early labor. Then began about 15 to 30 minute checks on her . . . after one of those checks when we were inside with the baby monitor on, it seemed to me that her bleating took a slightly different tone. I went outside to see, and she was laying down now and pushing.

After hurrying inside to get Dad and Leah, we made it back outside just shortly before baby began to make its appearance. We could tell that it was a big kid so Leah pulled some to help deliver it. At 3:38 in the morning, a beautiful big buckling weighing 12 lbs 2 oz. was born! Chloe began the clean-up job, but since she was a little slow and it was cold, Leah and I helped with paper towels and a bath towel . . .

Getting the new little one all cleaned up

Daddy watching

Chloe had been sonogramed with twins so we were waiting and expecting baby #2 to make its appearance soon . . . but after waiting awhile, seeing what was happening with Chloe, and Leah eventually doing a bit of an internal exam on her, we realized that baby #2 had died early in the pregnancy. That was a little disappointing, but we were so glad that we got one adorable live kid from her!

This birth experience was so much easier than Sadie's, and it was exciting as well! New life, even with an animal, is truly a miracle.

We weren't sure how Chloe was going to be as a mom or how careful she would be so that she didn't step on him or lay on him (which is something that always needs to be watched for the first few days), but she is doing an amazing job. She is so careful to not step on him or even bump him, and always seems to be aware of where he is. She is so gentle with him, too! It was sweet watching them together . . . especially after we put him in the kid warmer that Leah and I had made, and she went and laid down right in front of it . . .

After staying up for a couple more hours to keep an eye on them and to make sure he was doing okay, and then after feeding Rora and Lacy their bottles, we headed to bed for some much needed rest around 7:00.

Mama and baby (we're still trying to find a good name for him) are both doing really well, and it has been so fun watching them together. Yesterday I went out and took a few more photos of him . . . he has grown so much already!

When he's in the warmer, Chloe still likes to lay right in front of it :)

So now all of the kids are safely here! (Until Dixie's turn in April. :) This was an exciting learning experience and one that I enjoyed. And again, it was amazing to witness the miracle of new life. It truly is a miracle in so many ways . . . just one tiny part of it is what takes place with the umbilical cord through the birth. In a normal birth, the kid's front feet and head emerge first. Then once the abdomen begins to move through the pelvis, the contractions crush the cord and baby begins to breath on its own. Once baby is born, where the cord was crushed, it breaks in two, and because it was crushed, there is no bleeding. A perfect design. With Sadie's not normal labor, though, she didn't really have contractions so the kids were born with the cord uncrushed and still attached so I needed to tie them off and cut them.

This is just one tiny little example of the amazing design and purpose that the Creator, the Lord God, placed in His creation. It truly is awe-inspiring to witness His hand so clearly in all that is around us! And especially in the miracle of new life.

January Days

2012-01-19T18:01:00.002-06:00

Our January days have slowed down to a relaxing pace and after enjoying a beautiful almost 70 degree day on Monday, colder weather has returned making it nice and cozy indoors. Though, chores are taking a little longer now because of that! Thankfully, though, we have only had a few days when we needed to do them three times a day due to frozen waterers.

The moon early in the morning when I went out to check on Chloe and Sadie before Sadie had her kids

The days are slowly slipping by bringing spring closer, and I am enjoying each and every one of them . . . enjoying those little things that add so much to life . . . like seeing the nestboxes full with hens nestled down in them . . .

Playful gray squirrels down in the woods . . .

Buds on the fruit trees just waiting for spring . . .

A cheerful little Yellow-Rumped Warbler flitting through the trees . . .

Bright green amidst all of the brown . . .

With the chillier weather the past few days, I have also been able to spend more time indoors up in the sewing room and made a skirt this week and did some more machine quilting as well.

And of course, Aurora and Legacy add a lot to the days! We have been bottle feeding four times a day now so are down to only one middle of the night feeding. Over the next few days, though, we should be able to eliminate that as well.

Lacy on the left and Rora on the right

They are growing so much, and have recently discovered that they can jump! Making it difficult to keep them safely inside of their little pen that we have indoors. Dad is working on building a new and taller enclosure for them, and we are looking forward to when we can use that.

Sweet Rora who is starting to look a bit like her mom

Their personalities sure are developing, and Legacy is turning out to be the rambunctious one! She's the smaller of the two, but definitely the most lively. Aurora is more laid back, though she still loves to play. It is so cute watching them leap up in the air and twist and turn! Once it warms up outside again, we'll start taking them outdoors to run around and play which will be fun.

I just realized that I never shared about naming them! We wanted names that had some kind of meaning for them, and after brainstorming together for awhile, we named baby #1 Aurora (or Rora for short) which means "dawn" in Spanish. (We were trying to think of something that had to do with "beginning" since she is the first baby goat born on our place.) Then we named baby #2 Legacy (or Lacy for short) since she is the last kid that Sadie will ever have.

And speaking of Sadie, I have great news regarding her . . . she has stood up on her own every day this week! We couldn't believe it on Monday when Leah went in to feed her her grain, and she stood up! We had been making her stand on her front legs before we would give her her grain, but she surprised us by getting all the way up off the ground! Then each day since, she has stood up once on her own. Today was her best stand as she was up for about a minute and was steady on her feet the whole time instead of being wobbly like she had been the other times. She also stretched herself while standing, and she sure seemed to enjoy that! And instead of falling to the ground after standing for awhile, she lowered herself down. She is making so much progress!

Her bad leg she still can't use much other than using it more like a balance point, though this morning, she did put a tiny bit of weight on it. So with Sadie standing up on her own some, and Leah and I getting her up several times a day and continuing to exercise and do therapy with her when she is lying down, it is looking promising that she will walk again someday!

A Denim Quilt

2012-01-17T16:11:00.000-06:00

Many an evening in December found Leah with her quilt in her lap hand sewing the binding around the edges. And now . . . it is finished!

She also made the afghan at the foot of the bed

She did a great job making her first quilt, and it turned out so nice. It's also really soft and warm, and surprisingly, isn't terribly heavy. Already we're looking forward to making another one or two out of the rest of our denim scraps!

Sweet Times with Adelyn

2012-01-16T11:51:00.000-06:00

One day last week we got to babysit Adelyn and then another day, Ryan, Ashley and Adelyn came over for awhile. We always love the times we get to spend with all of them! Adelyn tends to be the center of attention, though, and the one who has the most photos taken of her :) . . .

Adelyn and I having fun together on the floor . . . 'talking', smiling, laughing

Looking over to Aunt Leah

And back to Aunt Sarah again!

I know I am probably biased :), but she has got to be one of the cutest little babies! And oh! Her smiles are enough to melt your heart. And you can't help but laugh when she laughs as it's just so cute!

Spending time with her Grandma and Grandpa . . . and 'reading' her favorite book :)

Then Dad gave her the 'opportunity' to wear his hat - it was so cute!

Camo hat and a book about farm animals . . . she's learning young! :)

Mesmerized by the pigs

Such special times . . . and they make wonderful memories . . . Adelyn cuddled in my lap while reading her the portion of Scripture in Mark when Jesus is saying to let the little children come to Him (granted, she doesn't understand it now, but someday she will!) . . . watching Leah rock her in the rocking chair at naptime . . . playing hymns on the piano again to help her fall asleep . . . listening to her squeal and seeing her face break into big smiles when her Daddy and Mommy come back . . . seeing Ryan and Ashley teaching and training this precious little one . . . watching my Dad hold her in his lap and talk with her . . . seeing my Mom with her snuggled in her arms while reading to her and watching her get Adelyn to laugh . . . and so many more! Yes, Adelyn is one precious little blessing that has our hearts filled with so much love for her!

Twins!

2012-01-11T18:05:00.002-06:00

What an amazing, exhausting, wonderful past two days this has been! Sadie was induced on Monday morning which resulted in a long day and night of keeping an eye on her because as soon as active labor started, she was going to need a lot of assistance. She ended up going into labor Tuesday morning, and it did not go at all according to what a traditional labor should be. We had never read or heard of anything before like what happened with her!

The first little doeling surprised us by making her appearance very early in the labor and when only Leah and I were home, and she came fast with some assistance. Sadie took to her right away and did a wonderful job getting her all cleaned up!

Trying to find her legs while mama goat gets her all cleaned up

So precious

It was an amazing moment seeing this little one enter the world . . . her first few breaths, how she tried to stand on her little wobbly legs, her little bleats, and how very cute she was. Shortly after she was born, Dad and Mom got home (we were actually on the cell phone with them from the time baby #1 was born until right before they got home), and then we prepared for baby #2. It was a whole hour in coming as Sadie either couldn't or wouldn't push, and eventually, she seemed to just give up and went almost entirely limp. This was a hard and stressful hour! Leah ended up delivering baby #2 with Sadie hardly helping at all . . . Leah did such a wonderful job doing this as did Dad as he encouraged her through the process.

This little one, another little doeling, came with a white star on her forehead and an entirely brown front leg!

Once baby #2 arrived Sadie perked up and cleaned her all up as well

Mom and I were caring for both of these babies inside and bottle feeding them colostrum while Leah and Dad worked to find and deliver baby #3 which could be felt from the outside. Only, they couldn't find the baby inside . . . Dad called the vet and she came out right away and did a thorough examination of Sadie. To her surprise, she found that "baby #3" wasn't a baby at all, but was something else inside of Sadie - she was really curious about it, so today, she and another vet came out and did an ultrasound on her just to see what 'it' was. It turns out that it is a huge hematoma (about 4 in. x 8 in.) that has been there for at least several weeks (all along we, and the vet, thought it was another kid as it felt like one.) It is a miracle that Sadie is still alive and that her kids survived all this time and were delivered alive.

The vet, and we as well, are baffled as to what all has happened to and with Sadie over the past six weeks as there seems to be so many different things going on with her. She is one determined goat, though, and she managed to live despite everything against her (it is very unusual for a down goat to live very long) and she was able to carry almost to term two beautiful, healthy kids. We are so thankful to the Lord for how this is all turning out!

Since Sadie can't care for her kids, we are bottle feeding them which was very difficult at first getting them to take a bottle . . . last night was a really long night! They were not looking very good, and we weren't sure if they were going to make it. This morning, though, things began to look better and now they are both eating very well. They are pretty steady on their legs and seem quite energetic, too!

Me trying to bottle feed Baby #1 with Leah in the background trying to feed Baby #2 . . . they started out being outside in the barn in their little kid warmer, but seemed to be struggling with their breathing and the cold. So they are now residents inside until warm weather returns.

Leah bottle feeding Baby #1 this morning - she's finally starting to get it figured out! (The goat kid, that is. :)

I love their little faces! And look at those ears . . . she has some growing to do to catch up with those!

Snuggled up together in their crate

This was an incredible experience, and it was a special time for our family as well working together to try to get these kids safely delivered and to care for them and for Sadie, too.

Baby #2 standing and actually still for the camera for a moment

The kids are doing great now, and we're hoping that continues! Sadie is doing well considering all that she has been through, and the vet is optimistic about her being able to walk again. So now that her kids are here, physical therapy will begin again in earnest!

Leah and I with the kids . . . and trying to get them to be looking towards the camera. It didn't work! :)

Meanwhile, we're still waiting for Chloe's kids to make their appearance. So far, Chloe seems like she hasn't a care in the world, though, we are seeing some signs that kidding should be coming soon . . . so hopefully all will go well with that!

A Sunday Hymn ~ To God be the Glory

2012-01-08T06:53:00.005-06:00

To God be the glory, great things He has done;

So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the life gate that all may go in.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory, great things He has done.

O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
To every believer the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory, great things He has done.

Great things He has taught us, great things He has done,
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;
But purer, and higher, and greater will be
Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory, great things He has done.

Words by: Fanny Crosby

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Let them praise the name of the LORD, for His name alone is exalted; His glory is above earth and heaven." (Psalm 148:13)

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us . . . Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God." (Romans 5:8, 1-2)

"Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." (1 Timothy 1:17)

Getting Close to Kidding Time!

2012-01-07T18:28:00.007-06:00

First it was a rabbit barn (from back when we used to raise lots of rabbits), then it was used for storing things in (lawnmower, tiller, garden tools, etc.), and now, Dad entirely revamped it, and it has become our goat barn . . .

The almost finished barn . . . the new door is on the right side and is in the process of being built. The old door has a temporary board across it to keep it from being pushed open by Chloe (her stall is right on the other side.).

He's amazing when it comes to things like this, and it turned out so nice! Better than I could have envisioned it being. He finished it on Wednesday of this week, and Leah and I put down fresh bedding in each of the stalls. We moved Chloe and Sadie the same day which went much better than what we had expected.

Chloe in her new kidding stall

You see, Sadie is still down and is unable to walk or stand. She's had kind of a rough time of it the past five/six weeks, but she hasn't given up. In fact, her attitude has been, overall, really good through everything. Though, she has gotten a little tired of her couple of times a day exercise and therapy sessions! :) There was one time, however, (in the midst of the waterline saga) when we thought we might lose her, but we were able to pull her through for which we were so thankful.

In her condition, though, the question that we gave much thought to the past few weeks was . . . how to get her to the barn? We ended up making a stretcher of sorts out of a canvas tarp and at each end, I sewed a sleeve for a length of sturdy pipe to go through. At the bottom of the stretcher, Dad put a piece of plywood a bit bigger than what Sadie is when she is lying down which we then covered with hay. With Leah pulling on her horns, and me pushing/lifting on her hind end, we managed to get her onto the stretcher.

Ryan had come over to help us carry her since she is so heavy, and Sadie did amazing on her 'trip'! We wondered if she might panic, but she just laid there nice and calm. We got her transferred into the barn, and she loves her new home! Chloe was moved next, and we just put a collar and lead on her to get her to the barn.

Sadie in her kidding stall (and there is a place to store hay between the two stalls as you can see on the left of this photo

And Chloe in hers

The girls really liked their new stalls, and especially Sadie as she could move herself all around in it with using her front legs to pull and her back legs to push. And she's enjoying all of the room to stretch out, too. :)

All was going well until the next morning, when Sadie seemed even more uncomfortable than what she had been and not only that, she was straining/pushing fairly intensely and looked like she was beginning to prolapse. Dad tried to get a hold of the vet we had talked to before about her, but was unable to so he called the veterinary teaching hospital. And we are SO glad that he did! A very knowledgeable vet and her team were out here within about an hour after Dad called and were examining Sadie thoroughly and finding out what was going on.

Our Sadie girl

They did an excellent job (and charged a very reasonable fee, by the way), and we felt so relieved hearing what they had to say. In a few words, the vet thinks (due to what she felt) that there is a good possibility that Sadie has triplets instead of the twins which she had been sonogramed with early in her pregnancy, and Sadie just doesn't have enough room in her for all of them. So they are causing the pressure and what looked like to us, a huge amount of swelling in her hind end which we had thought was fluid retention (which would not have been a good thing.)

So other than being down (and by her exam of Sadie's worst leg, the vet thought there was at some point a break in it up high on the leg where it had calcified - that could help explain some things!), overall Sadie is pulling her own and doesn't necessarily have anything physically wrong with her (like an illness or some type of deficiency.) She just doesn't have enough room for her kids. She is quite uncomfortable and has her ups and downs . . . and we are taking it hour by hour hoping she can make it to Monday without deteriorating. Monday would be late enough in her pregnancy (five days before her due date) that her kids would have a high viability rate, and at that time, the vet suggested we induce her - for Sadie's sake and for the kids' sakes.

A very pregnant Chloe!

In the meantime, we are enjoying watching and feeling the movement of the kids (which is so neat! new life is truly a miracle and so amazing), and we are keeping a very close eye on Sadie and Chloe (who is also due on Monday) for signs of labor. While we wait, we've also been finishing up our last preparations for kidding . . .

Our kidding/veterinary kit that Leah put together

Towels, kidding notebook, and hair-blow drier all ready and waiting

And colostrum just in case . . . we'll be bottle feeding Sadie's kids, but if we can't get colostrum from her or from Chloe for Sadie's kids, we'll use this.

Plus, we had also been enjoying the beautiful weather we had been having . . . 60+ degrees for a couple of days!

The chicken coop and pen

The bees were out and about on the warmer days . . . and I wish I would have had my camera with me when they were out in full force - the entrance was covered with them! So far, they're looking great and the hive is still very heavy which is a good sign!

Dixie and the boys enjoying the sunny 64 degree day

So . . . Monday will start the kidding adventure for us! (if not before.) It looks like it will be an exciting and busy day . . . I am very much looking forward to the kids being born, but am a little nervous as well. Hopefully all will go well and I'll have photos of our new babies to share soon!

Four Years of Blogging

2012-01-04T06:05:00.001-06:00

It's hard to believe that this little blog has been in existence for four years now today! (Though, before blogging I did have a bit of an online journal on my website hence the 2006 and 2007 posts that are on here now.) All together, those years have produced 818 posts and counting . . . . :)

What a wonderful and growing experience blogging has been . . . when beginning, I had no idea what many blessings would come from it! Not only do I enjoy being able to journal and record part of our lives in this way (which makes it fun to look back through the years and remember the memorable times), but I have also reaped the blessings of . . .

~ Getting to know so many sweet friends, several whom have become very dear friends.

~ Being inspired, convicted, and encouraged by you all through the comments that you leave here, through visiting your all's blogs, through the e-mails that are sent, through letters that arrive in our mailbox, and more.

~ And the blessings that have perhaps been the greatest for me is your all's support that you have given and your prayers when we have gone through different things, and then also the great encouragement that you all have been to me in the Lord. These have meant so much to me!

You all have been a blessing . . . thank you so much for a wonderful four years and for making blogging so enjoyable to do!

And now, I'd like to turn this post over to you all . . . with one tiny little request that those reading please leave a comment and introduce yourself :), and just for fun, if you would like, answer the question of: "what is your favorite season?"

I look forward to hearing from you all!

~ Company ~

2012-01-02T16:07:00.010-06:00

Last week, Ryan and Ashley were able to enjoy having her brother and his family come to visit them, and then we had the great pleasure of having them all over Friday evening. It was a wonderful time! From the encouraging and uplifting conversations, to chatting about this, that, and the other, to having fun watching the children, and more.

I was enjoying the time so much that I only rarely thought of my camera . . . and it was always when the two little ones were doing something cute, so they are the only ones I really have photos of. :)

Ashley and Trevor and Thelma's adorable little girl were playing a fun little 'game' with the cloth napkins after the meal . . . not sure exactly what it was, but she sure enjoyed it! So many happy smiles and laughter!

Aww . . . she loves the 'baby' as she calls her

Adelyn intent on one of her favorite toys that her Mommy put a ways in front of her to try to coax her to try crawling . . . she showed us, though, that she can stretch a long ways without moving her body!

And once the toy was in hand, she did her newest accomplishment . . . roll over!

Someone was getting tired and enjoyed a book with her Daddy

Thank you all for coming over! And it was so nice seeing you again, Trevor and Thelma! (And especially visiting with you, Thelma . . . I really enjoyed that.) Hope you all had a safe and enjoyable trip home!

Goodbye 2011 ~ Welcome 2012

2011-12-31T17:35:00.006-06:00

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind here, and it seems like the coming of 2012 has taken me by surprise . . . can tomorrow really be the start of a new year? How 2011 has flown by! Looking back on this past year, the central theme that comes to the forefront is God's great faithfulness. As mentioned in a recent post, there have been many trials and testings for us this year, including one of the most difficult things I have ever gone through. Yet, I look back on this past year with thankfulness . . . it really was a wonderful year.

~ I learned in a deeper and fuller way how very near the Lord can be.

~ I learned that His peace truly is one "that passes understanding" . . . when human fears try to overwhelm, when things look so dark, His peace can come in like a flood surrounding, filling, and encompassing. There are no words to describe how beautiful, how restful, it is.

~ I learned in a so much deeper way that He is truly faithful. Over and over and over. All the time. No matter how many times 'bad' things happen, no matter what sorrows or pains are suffered . . . He is faithful. And I have realized that in a very real and personal way this past year.

~ I learned, in beautiful ways, how special, and what a blessing, the body of Christ is. Our church family especially this past year . . . I never knew that people outside of physical family, could give and love and serve and help and support and be there in times of need like what our church family has been for us. It has been amazing . . . and several times, I couldn't stop the tears, when yet again, such love and care was shown to us. How beautiful is the body of Christ! And how thankful I am for these dear ones that we are blessed to know here.

Outside of all of these, there are the physical blessings that the Lord has given . . . our little farm has grown significantly this past year (dairy and meat goats, rabbits, and bees), so many of our goals and dreams are coming to fruition, our garden produced abundantly despite the long drought, and so much more.

And the definite highlight that marks 2011 for us was the precious, precious blessing of Adelyn. Words fail me to describe how very welcomed and loved she is, and how very thankful we are for this special gift from the Lord. She brings such joy to our lives, and it will be exciting to watch her grow and change over this coming year!

The Lord has indeed been good to us . . . in so very many ways.

"The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'Therefore I have hope in Him.'" (Lamentations 3:22-24)

And now the chapter of 2011 is coming to a close, and a whole new empty year lies before us . . . it reminds me of a book with blank pages. Each empty page is just waiting to be written on . . . and what will fill its pages? What joys and sorrows and blessings will be written in it?

I am looking forward to this coming year, excited to see what it will bring for us and what the Lord will do in it. And ever longing that this next year will continue to be one of learning, growing and deepening in my relationship with my Lord and Savior. My prayer is for not only myself, but for all of you as well, that we will seek the Lord first in our lives, that we will hunger for His word, that we will ever seek to bring our lives more into harmony with His word, walking in obedience to Him and bringing glory to Him. Living lives that are fully, completely, and unreservedly consecrated to Him and for His use.

May the Lord's blessings, guidance and wisdom be yours in this next year as you seek to walk in His ways!

"For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord." (Ephesians 5:8-10.)

*All of the photos shared in this post were ones taken during a much enjoyed afternoon walk today in the beautiful 60 degree, sunny weather that marked the close of 2011.

Success!

2011-12-31T17:00:00.002-06:00

What a week! The days have been so full and thus why this blog has been a little quiet. There is a lot to share, but there just hasn't been the time to put posts together! But now with a lot of the work behind us, here is 'part 2' of the waterline saga . . . .

First of all, thank you all so much for your prayers for us during the past several days . . . they were appreciated!

On Monday, Dad dug another hole right next to our house, and he found the waterline yet again. Only this time, he was able to determine that the waterline went underneath of our house (and not around it like we thought) and that the leak was actually under the house. So . . . what to do next?

Pumping water out of the hole that Dad dug

One quick fix would be to run a flexible smaller pipe through the larger pipe underneath of our house and then just connect it inside to the household plumbing, thus no longer using the underground pipe with the leaks. Mr. M. came out to help us with that on Tuesday (a great blessing!), and he also put a new shut-off valve inside of our house which is nice . . .

Mr. M. putting on the new shut-off valve

Then came time to thread the new waterline through the old . . . and it stopped short after about 18 inches. There was a coupler down in the foundation which was too small for the pipe to go through!

Time for plan C (or was it D now?) Since the weather was going to be dipping just barely below freezing for all of this week, Dad and Mr. M. ran a temporary waterline on top of the ground and joined it up to where Dad had found the main waterline right before it went underneath of the house.

Mr. M. made the valve and then Dad put it on the pipe

All that is left here is to put the temporary line into the valve

It was really nice to have running water again!

Then it was time to start digging . . . and digging . . . and digging . . . and digging some more. After several days out there moving who knows how many pounds of dirt and clay, my body is definitely feeling the effects!

A long line of dirt . . . and there is another one along the other side of the house, too

The end result is a 36 inch deep trench around the house from where the waterline comes into the house to right where we can connect the new line to the old.

The temporary line down in the trench - we put it there on the colder nights so that it wouldn't freeze

And now, we're almost ready to close this chapter . . . all that is left is to attach a new line to the existing line in the house, run it through the trench, attach it to the existing old line that doesn't leak, and then fill in the trench.

We are so thankful that the Lord blessed us with unusually mild weather this week, as it worked out perfectly for this big project!

*If anything in this post is a little . . . non-understandable (which is likely!), it's due to the fact that I am very un-knowledgeable about plumbing! Though, I do know a lot more now that what I used to. :)

A Weekend Water Adventure

2011-12-26T07:36:00.006-06:00

The calm, quiet weekend that we had been expecting started off rather different than that! Saturday morning we awoke to very little water pressure . . . and to back up a bit to explain why that was more of a concern for us, before my Dad had his emergency appendectomy a few weeks ago, we found out that our waterline was leaking somewhere (and we have around 100 yards of waterline). Dad was in the process of trying to find the leak which is really difficult since no water was leaching to the surface anywhere between the water meter and our house. But then he had to have his surgery so we put the waterline out of our minds to wait until after Dad was all healed up and could begin work on it again.

Well . . . when we awoke Saturday with very little water pressure, the first thought was that our leak must have gotten a lot worse. Dad went down to the meter to check and see if the little dial was spinning faster and on his way, stopped in surprise to see our woods just below the water meter full of water!

One of our brush piles surrounded by water now

He raced back to the house to get some pliers so he could turn off our water at the meter while through his head the figures were running of what our next water bill could be. After getting the water turned off, he heard a gushing noise coming from the road . . . it turned out that it wasn't our line at all that had leaked all that water, but there was a break in the main line!

Looking down the road . . . and you can see the two places where the water was bubbling up (our place is directly to the left so that is why all of the water was draining onto it.)

This is the larger of the two holes and was about 4-inches across

After discovering this, Dad came in to call the water company wondering if he was even going to be able to get a hold of anyone given it being a holiday weekend. Eventually, he was able to talk to a real person and about an hour and half later, a crew arrived and were out fixing the main line.

I went down to give them some brownies around lunchtime and talked with them for a bit about the leak . . . it turns out that the main line had completely snapped in two and the force of the water had pushed up through about 5 feet of ground (including a hard packed gravel road) and who knows how many gallons it put out during that time. A LOT! After several hours of working on it, the line was repaired and their giant hole was filled back in.

And while the water company guys worked on the main line break, up at our house we started once again trying to find our own leak . . . when Dad had gone down to the water meter, he saw (by how many gallons of water that had been used) that our leak had gotten quite a bit worse.

Do you know how hard it is to find a water leak when no water is perking to the surface anywhere? It is really hard. Dad started digging in a place where he thought the leak might be . . . and one big hole later that slowly filled up about halfway with water and that had the waterline down in it still yielded no insight. The water wasn't filling the hole like what it should be if it was coming from a waterline leak nearby. So we guessed that the leak must be further up.

Saturday evening then, while Dad ran to town to get the parts that would be needed if we found the leak, I dug a bunch of smaller 'postholes' along where we thought the waterline ran to try to help find where the leak might be. Due to how the water was coming into the holes, we thought we had figured out the general location of the leak.

One of the series of postholes that I dug

So Ryan and our friend Mr. M. came out to help Dad dig in the place where we thought the leak was and after digging one big deep hole (and Dad later dug another), we still came up empty. They dug another hole further down, found the waterline, put in a valve, and from that, determined that the leak was somewhere between by our driveway to up where the waterline connects into the house.

So the saga of the waterline leak search continues . . . anyone have a back hoe and want to come help dig some holes? :)

Mr. M. probing in one of the holes

Daddy digging

And once again, I find myself looking for the blessings (though I will admit to getting a little discouraged there for awhile!) . . . at least we still have water (granted, we're turning it off except for a bit in the evenings for showers, filling up containers with water for our use during the day, etc.), we're having fun working together as a family and with friends, and now at least, we have somewhat narrowed down where the leak is. :) And if you all wouldn't mind praying that we would be able to find it soon and get it fixed, it would be appreciated!

Homemade Peppermint Patties

2011-12-22T06:37:00.002-06:00

The other day I felt like making something special and sweet, so pulled out a recipe that I hadn't made in a long time . . .

While a little more messy to make, these are so good and worth the messy fingers. :) Below is the recipe for them with my notes in italics . . . hope you enjoy!

Perfect Peppermint Patties

-3-3/4 cups confectioners' sugar (I use more)
-3 tablespoons butter, softened
-2 to 3 teaspoons peppermint extract
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1/4 cup evaporated milk
-2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
-2 tablespoons shortening

In a large bowl, combine the first four ingredients. Add milk and mix well. Roll into 1-in. balls (I always need quite a bit more powdered sugar to get the 'dough' to a rolling consistency . . . so keep adding it until it's right for you!) and place balls on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet.

Flatten with a glass to 1/4-in (and if they stick to the bottom of the glass, use a spatula to scrap them off the bottom of the glass before lifting it up.) Cover and freeze for 30 minutes.

In a heavy saucepan, melt chocolate chips and shortening over low heat; stir until smooth. (Before the next step, allow your chocolate to cool somewhat otherwise it is much more difficult to do! (speaking from experience there :) Dip patties, allowing excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper; let stand until set (I always put them into the refrigerator so that they harden fully and then that's where I store them as well.)

And that's it!

More Gathered Gems

2011-12-20T07:29:00.001-06:00

Recently I was able to finish reading the book Kept for the Master's Use, and what a book! I found it to be so encouraging, convicting and uplifting. A book that I will definitely be recommending to others and one that I will be reading again and again. (And just as a little disclaimer . . . while there were a few things in it that I did not agree with [which seems to be pretty typical with most books other than the Bible :)] overall, it is an excellent book.)

When the last page of the last chapter was finished, I went back and read through all of the quotes that I had written down (and the large sections that I had written down page numbers for) . . . so many gems of wisdom that yet again, spoke to my heart. It is interesting to look back and see which chapters I gleaned the most from, and I wasn't surprised that "My Lips Kept for Him" was one of those!

Reading this chapter really spoke to my heart as being a person who is more of a 'talker' and who loves to visit with others, to have deep, thought provoking discussions, and more, and yet also one who has weaknesses in this area such as sometimes not thinking before I speak and times of being too passionate and/or not having my words be with grace, there was just so much encouragement and wisdom for me in these pages! Another aspect of it that was so applicable is with having a heart for evangelism and a desire to share about the Lord with others, there was much in this chapter that encouraged that.

Anyway, I hope that these selected portions from several of the chapters will be a blessing to you as they have been to me . . . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"'How beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of good things!' [Romans 10:15]. . . if we want to have these beautiful feet, we must have the tidings ready which they are to bear. Let us ask Him to keep our hearts so freshly full of His good news of salvation, that our mouths may speak out of their abundance." (pg. 63)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"And this is the way the Master keeps the lips of His servants, by so filling their hearts with His love that the outflow cannot be unloving, by so filling their thoughts that the utterance can not be un-Christlike. There must be filling before there can be pouring out; and if there is filling, there must be pouring out, for He hath said, 'Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.' (pg. 91-92; emphasis in the original)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Not one sentence that passes these lips of ours but must be an invisibly prolonged influence, not dying away into silence, but living away into the words and deeds of others." (pg. 95)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Literally, a consecrated life is and must be a life of denial of self. But all the effort and pain of it is changed into very delight. We love our Master; we know, surely and absolutely, that He is listening and watching our every word and way, and that He has called us to the privilege of walking 'worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing.' And in so far as this is a reality to us, the identical things which are still self-denial in one sense, become actual self-delight in another." (pg. 115-116; emphasis in the original)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The love of Christ is not an absorbing, but a radiating, love. The more we love Him, the more we shall certainly love others." (pg. 154-155)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"'For Thee!' That is the beginning and the end of the whole matter of consecration." (pg. 159)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"For the Lord is our Keeper, and He is the Almighty and the Everlasting God, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. He will never change His mind about keeping us, and no man is able to pluck us out of His hand. Neither will Christ let us pluck us out of His hand . . . He that keepeth us will not slumber. Once having undertaken His vineyard, He will keep it night and day, till all the days and nights are over, and we know the full meaning of the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time, unto which we are kept by His power.

And then, forever for Him! passing from the gracious keeping by faith for this little while to the glorious keeping in His presence for all eternity! . . . we showing forth His praise, and He showing the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards us in the ages to come! He for us, and we for Him forever!"
(pg. 168-169; emphasis in the original)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" . . . . henceforth it must be, shall be, and by His grace will be our true-hearted, whole-hearted cry -

Take myself, and I will be
Ever, ONLY, ALL for Thee!"

(pg. 185; emphasis in the original.)

A Sunday Hymn ~ Living for Jesus

2011-12-18T07:15:00.001-06:00

Living for Jesus a life that is true,

Striving to please Him in all that I do;
Yielding allegiance, glad hearted and free,
This is the pathway of blessing for me.

O Jesus, Lord and Savior,
I give myself to Thee;
For Thou, in Thy atonement,
Didst give Thyself for me;
I own no other Master,
My heart shall be Thy throne;
My life I give, henceforth to live,
O Christ, for Thee alone.

Living for Jesus who died in my place,
Bearing on Calv'ry my sin and disgrace;
Such love constrains me to answer His call,
Follow His leading and give Him my all.

O Jesus, Lord and Savior,
I give myself to Thee;
For Thou, in Thy atonement,
Didst give Thyself for me;
I own no other Master,
My heart shall be Thy throne;
My life I give, henceforth to live,
O Christ, for Thee alone.

Living for Jesus wherever I am,
Doing each duty in His holy name;
Willing to suffer affliction and loss,
Taking each trial as part of my cross.

O Jesus, Lord and Savior,
I give myself to Thee;
For Thou, in Thy atonement,
Didst give Thyself for me;
I own no other Master,
My heart shall be Thy throne;
My life I give, henceforth to live,
O Christ, for Thee alone.

Living for Jesus thru earth's little while,
My dearest treasure, the light of His smile;
Seeking the lost ones He died to redeem,
Bringing the weary to find rest in Him.

O Jesus, Lord and Savior,
I give myself to Thee;
For Thou, in Thy atonement,
Didst give Thyself for me;
I own no other Master,
My heart shall be Thy throne;
My life I give, henceforth to live,
O Christ, for Thee alone.

Words by: Thomas O. Chisholm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."
Romans 12:1-2

"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

A Little Visitor

2011-12-17T17:50:00.003-06:00

Look who came to visit!

Ryan and Ashley needed someone to watch Adelyn yesterday afternoon, and Leah and I were more than willing!

We had a wonderful time together . . . 'talking', playing, snuggling . . . and then towards the end of our time together, she began getting really tired and wanted Mommy. As we walked and rocked her in hopes of having her fall asleep, she would let out these little whimpers from time to time. Singing to her helped her to quiet and relax, but it wouldn't last very long. Leah and I took turns trying to rock and sing her to sleep, and eventually, the little whimpers began to escalate and little tears tracked down her cheeks.

Leah was trying to comfort her when a thought came to my mind . . . our singing generally quiets her, so what about piano music? I sat down at the piano, opened the hymnal and began to play. Almost instantly her crying ceased and by the end of the song her head was nestled on Leah's shoulder and her eyes were shut. But as soon as I would stop, her eyes would pop back open again. So I played until she was in a deep sleep, and then gradually let the playing slow down and get softer and then stop. Success!

Our precious, tired niece was finally getting the sleep that she needed. She slept until our Dad and Mom got home and just a few minutes before Ryan and Ashley arrived as well. With the little nap and then seeing Mommy, everything was all right again!

Leah and Adelyn enjoying time together before Adelyn got tired and fussy - she was really interested in the camera here :)

What a precious little blessing she is . . . a very special gift from the Lord!

The Lending Library

2011-12-16T16:58:00.014-06:00

Books. One type of item that it seems that I could always use more of :) . . . I don't know what it is about them, but even just looking at a bookshelf full of books gives me a little thrill. Perhaps it is because inside of those books can be treasures of wisdom, enjoyment, insight, instruction, encouragement, inspiration and more. Or perhaps it is because the types of books I like are generally antiques or Lamplighter books and those types of books have such beauty in the covers and pages!

Either way, I love books. :) And I have really enjoyed over the years to gradually be adding to my collection. From antique stores, thrift stores, garage sales, and library book sales (you can hardly beat prices of $0.25 and $0.50!), and buying online from places like e-bay and goodwill (where we got most of our Lamplighters.)

One main impetus for both Leah and I to be building our libraries now is for if/when the Lord should bless us with families of our own someday. It would be so much easier to build up a nice collection now rather than later when one might need the books! Now, we can take our time, watch for good deals, and also be very selective and try to build a well balanced collection . . . good, moral, God-honoring fiction; books on science, history, math and more; different grade levels of readers; and the list goes on.

Some of my Lamplighters, plus a few other books, too

And as books are added, we slowly make our way through reading all of them, and first, see if the book is worth keeping. Generally, by the time it has gone past the original perusal before purchasing it, it is most likely a 'keeper'! If the book is one we will keep, we may do some editing in it using a handy dandy tip that was shared with me by my friend, Joy (thank you, Joy! :) . . .

Wite-out! Now even if a book might have small objectionable parts in it, we can simply white them out (or sometimes we even glue pages together or remove whole pages.) It is surprising sometimes what is put in books for children! So little by little, Leah and I are reading through all of our books and editing them. Right now I am primarily reading history books (of which I have a lot!), and I am enjoying it as history is something that I have always been interested in.

Some of the history books

Yet, neither Leah or I want our books to just sit on our shelves until a possible 'someday' . . . so not only do we read the books to little friends who come to visit and to our sweet niece, Adelyn, but we started our own 'lending library'!

Some of the Eloise Wilkin's Golden Books . . . her books are really nice

It sounds more official than what it really is :), but basically, we're loaning out books a few at a time to some of the children that we know. It has been so wonderful doing this, and then hearing how much they enjoyed the books and their favorite parts, and then their excitement when they can take new ones home with them!

Some recent ones that were just returned

It is so nice seeing the books being used and enjoyed by others!

Doll Making

2011-12-14T17:10:00.004-06:00

In spare hours here and there the past few weeks (mainly the 'empty' spots between morning and afternoon/evening chores and making dinner), the sewing room has been a buzz with activity! Doll making has been the theme, and most of my leisure evening projects (like hand quilting) had been set aside so that I could do things such as embroider faces, sew snaps on the doll dresses, stuff the doll bodies and sew them closed, etc. And here are a few of the ones created recently . . .

A custom order Betsy doll that went to Australia

Remember the post with photos of doll clothing that I was making? Well, now this dress has a doll to wear it! She's in the shop right now.

This is probably my favorite of all the doll dresses I have made so far. Leah helped pick out the fabrics, and I love the combination!

It has been fun making all of these, and also to start selling internationally. I hadn't really thought about that taking place, but in the past several weeks, quite a few dolls were mailed to Australia and one to Israel as well. It hasn't even been a year yet since I first introduced the Annie and Betsy dolls, and I have been pleased with how it has gone so far and how much I enjoy it. I think I may have found my 'niche'. :)

Has anyone else been creating things in the sewing room lately? Or have any
other projects you are working on?

When Things Go Wrong

2011-12-10T20:49:00.003-06:00

This post was written Thursday morning before I knew my Dad was not feeling well (and it was interesting timing as you'll probably see through some of what is written here!), and I didn't have time to get it posted until now . . . .

With living on a farm, one thing that is quickly learned is that things don't go perfectly smoothly without any problems (isn't that pretty much how all of life is, though? :) . . . crops fail, bugs destroy produce, equipment breaks, animals get sick, injured or die. Difficulties arise that need to be figured out and taken care of. And there are so many opportunities to learn and grow . . . to cultivate and practice having a heart of joy at all times and trusting in the Lord no matter how many times 'bad' things happen. Even if they come in quick succession which seems to be the story of our past year. I am thankful, though, that the Lord uses these bumps in the road to grow us, and it has almost become something we smile about now when yet *another* thing arises!

So the beginning of last week when our goat Sadie went down (as in, she couldn't walk or stand at all), while it was quite hard to see her like that, we worked together to care for her, and to try to figure out what was going on and how to fix it . . . researching online, e-mailing the breeder that we got her from (who has been raising hundreds of Boer goats for years), posting on a goat forum . . . and we narrowed it down to only three possibilities. All lead to death if not treated, and the third could lead to death or permanent paralysis even with treatment. We were really hoping it wasn't the latter!

Sadie's living quarters right now . . . Dad had built this wooden 'crate' for putting in the back of the truck to haul goats in. Now it's inside the hoop house for Sadie to stay in until she's well, or until it's time to move her to the barn when it's her kidding time.

First was treating for low calcium which can come up in late pregnancy . . . treatment for that is one dose of calcium given through five different shots followed by another round later. (Leah has become very good at giving shots now!) If this was it, improvement should be seen within 24 hours . . . 24 hours passed, and she was still down.

We also tested her for option number two, Ketosis (pregnancy toxemia), which was negative.

It looked like, then, that the worst case scenario was what she had . . . meningeal deer worms. I had never even heard of these before, and now I know more than I would have liked to. They are transferred by snails and slugs, and when a goat gets them, they enter the spinal column and travel to the central nervous system. This causes the paralysis in the back legs which eventually spreads to the front and then to the death of the goat. And even if the worms are killed through treatment, the damage they caused is most times permanent.

With our goat Sadie, her front legs didn't seem to be affected much at all yet, one of her hind legs wasn't too bad as she could still put a little bit of weight on it and she could move it. The other, however, was completely limp (including the muscles themselves) which is what made it so that she couldn't stand up at all.

The treatment for this is three and four rounds of very heavy doses of two different wormers and then a heavy dose of an injectable anti-inflammatory. These can cause complications with pregnancy (including loss of kids), but at this point, we were willing to risk the kids in hopes of saving Sadie and hopefully the kids as well.

Comfortable and cozy on her bed of hay

We began the treatment four days ago and are also giving Sadie's legs a thorough rubbing a couple of times a day to help keep them from atrophying. We are also using a sheet underneath her belly to hoist her up once a day so that she can stand for a bit, and then so we can rub her hind legs even more thoroughly.

And yesterday we saw the tiniest glimmer of improvement . . . Leah and I had gotten the sheet underneath of her and lifted her up while Dad pulled up on her horns to get her front end up so that she was standing. While Leah and I held her up (which is a job since she is around 200 lbs right now!), Dad rubbed and rubbed both of her back legs. She was putting a bit of weight on the better of her hind legs and her front legs were stronger and more stable as well which we were glad to see.

While she stood, Dad was really working the limp leg, and as he was pushing it up and pulling it down, he felt the slightest bit of resistance . . . not much, but there was something! And unlike other 'exercise times', Sadie seemed a bit sensitive to the movement which means that she just might be starting to get some feeling back in the leg! It certainly isn't much progress, but it is something which is more than what we thought she would have.

Then later in the day when I was massaging her limp leg, she actually pulled it just a bit away from me. Progress again! The muscles are also starting to feel like there is a bit of firmness to them instead of being 'mushy'. Who knows how far she will be able to progress in her recovery, but every little bit is most welcome.

So that's one little adventure that we have been dealing with lately. And why, as mentioned in a post earlier this week, chores are taking a lot longer now! In the midst of dealing with this, though, there were things of encouragement . . . like being able to feel Chloe's babies moving all around inside of her. And then twice this week, Dad has felt Sadie's babies moving as well! That was really encouraging as with all of her falls, treatments, etc., we weren't sure how the kids would have fared. Now it's only 5 weeks and 1 day until her due date! We're really hoping she is able to make it that long, and even more so, that she makes a full recovery

Sweet Sadie curious as to what I was doing

The other evening as I was thinking about Sadie and all of the other things going on, I was reminded of the verse in James: "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance" (James 1:2-3.) Even trials, no matter how big or small, have blessings for they can be used for growing in, and being strengthened in, our faith in the Lord. What a wonderful reminder no matter what circumstances we may be going through!

So Thankful to the Lord . . .

2011-12-09T17:19:00.002-06:00

. . . that my Dad is all right.

Yesterday morning he wasn't feeling too well and by evening, was wondering if he had appendicitis. What followed was a trip to the emergency room for he and my mom while Leah and I stayed home to do all of the animal chores.

After running some tests, they found that it was appendicitis, and he needed immediate surgery. The appendix had not burst yet, thankfully, but it wasn't far away from doing so. We were so thankful that the doctor on call was one who is very good at these types of surgeries! He got Dad in right away and the surgery went quickly and smoothly.

Dad was already out of surgery by the time that Ryan, Ashley, Adelyn, Leah and I were able to arrive. Our dear friends, Mr. and Mrs. M. had also gone to the hospital, and it was so nice to have them there. And I am so glad that they went, too, as since they could get there before we could, then Mom didn't have to be there all by herself sitting in an empty waiting room during the surgery.

Late last night then after Dad had spent some time in the recovery room, we were all able to see him for a bit. He was doing great . . . and after a night and morning spent at the hospital, now he is home recovering! It has been a whirlwind past day, and we are so thankful to the Lord for how well things went and that he made it
through everything all right!

"Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, the God who is our salvation . . . an ever present help in trouble." (Psalm 68:19; 46:1)

Snow, Little Friends, and More

2011-12-07T18:50:00.001-06:00

Yesterday morning, we awoke to a thin blanket of snow on the ground and big, beautiful flakes falling from the sky. Since the snow had been taken out of our forecast earlier, it was a bit of a surprise to see! The first snow of the year gave us about an inch, and since it didn't even get above freezing yesterday, it was still on the ground this morning. By afternoon, though, most of it melted off as we had a welcome day of sunshine.

A snow covered pinecone

The quiet beehive . . . though if you put your ear up next to it, you can hear the hum of them inside

Chloe taking a peek at me from inside the hoop house . . . but she decided that it wasn't worth it to venture out into the snow!

Little by little the grass and the fallen leaves are getting covered up

It seems a bit funny to have snow on the ground, as we just harvested a December salad a few days ago!

Mom had planted some lettuce this past fall, and I covered it with plastic, and it has made it through below 20 degree temperatures so far . . . it will be interesting to see how long it lasts!

With the cold temps and the snow on the ground yesterday morning, we bundled up warm and had an enjoyable time taking care of the animals in the snow. Though chores take much longer now with needing to unfreeze all of the animal waterers! We also have another aspect of chores that takes a long time, but I plan to post more about that a little later. Once chores were finally finished, I headed indoors and worked on sewing a doll order until the afternoon. And then some of our little friends came over to spend a couple of hours with us, and we had a wonderful time!

What started as a duet by Leah and the oldest girl, became a four part song :)

After talking and playing a bit in the living room , we went into the dining room for painting, drawing and whatever else their imaginations might want to do . . .

Making a snowman out of construction paper

While her older sister paints one

And while her older brother draws a number of different instruments

Leah painted with the two oldest girls, their brother worked on pencil drawing, and the littlest one and I did coloring together . . . and used lots of stickers. :) She loves those!

Everyone was having such a fun time, and I think we spent about an hour and a half doing various crafts. There was laughter, pleasant conversations, and good discussions, too. At one point, the littlest one told me that all of the things that she was making were for her Mom because she loved her. Then she said something about how she would give one to God, too, but He is in heaven. One of her sisters made the comment, then, that God is also right here with us, which led to us talking about God always being with us, hearing what we are saying, knowing what we are thinking, seeing what is in our hearts, and more. It was wonderful!

The littlest one's finished snowman . . . all decked out with flower stickers. :)

Towards the end of working on the crafts, I had a memory come back of something that my Mom did for us when we were little and how much fun we had with it . . . Indian outfits! Out came red, green, yellow, and brown construction paper for little headresses that each of the girls was excited to wear, and when the comment was made by them that all they needed now was matching clothes, out came paper sacks! The end result was three adorable little Indians who had so much fun in their "outfits" . . .

Towards the end of their time with us, the children had a really fun time with both of our parents!

After getting everything cleaned up on the table, we played the 'bottle toss' game that we used to do in our girls group. Only this time, when we tossed the bottle around, whoever caught it shared one thing that they were thankful for. The children loved this, and I loved hearing their answers! Especially when the little three year old lisped out that she was thankful that God gave her eyes. :)

Before long, their mother arrived to pick them up so we said our goodbyes until the next time that we see each other!

For Bethany

2011-12-05T06:50:00.001-06:00

Here's a few more photos for you of our baby rabbits! They're starting to loose their 'babyishness', but they're still pretty cute. :) Hope you enjoy seeing them!

Mama and babies

Little curiosity

Holding still long enough for me to snap a photo! Let's just say that energetic baby rabbits are not the easiest things to photograph! :)

A Sunday Hymn ~ Come Thou Fount

2011-12-04T07:00:00.008-06:00

This past Sunday after our regular time together with brothers and sisters in the Lord, we had an
afternoon full of music as everyone had brought instruments, songs to share, favorite hymns, etc.
It was a wonderful and uplifting time! And this is one of the hymns that we played and
sang together . . . it is a favorite of all of ours . . .

Come Thou Fount

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Hither by Thy help I'm come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wand'ring from the fold of God;
He to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Words by Robert Robinson

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house;
and You give them to drink of the river of Your delights.
For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light."
Psalm 36:7-9

"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." Jude 24-25

A Beginning Quilter

2011-12-03T16:19:00.002-06:00

For the second time now, one of my sewing students has branched into quilting, and she just recently completed her first quilt. It was so fun to teach her this new skill, and she did a great job!

She picked out her own fabrics and after cutting out the squares, figured out how she wanted them laid out. Then came weeks and weeks of sewing, pinning, measuring, tying, and more. And then with much excitement, she finished it just in time for the cold December days. It's starting to feel a lot more like winter here, and there is even snow in the forecast!

Fence Building

2011-12-02T17:20:00.003-06:00

After working on it for quite awhile as time and resources permitted, our goat fence is finally finished! Since this post, Dad put in some really long days out there (including several during all-day rain), and the week before Thanksgiving week, Leah and I joined him (as there were things we could help with now) and worked from right after chores were finished in the morning until dark. The reason for the hurried pace was that we needed to have the fence finished the Thursday before Thanksgiving as we were scheduled to pick up an Alpine buck to have Dixie bred to.

Sadly, I didn't get any photos of the main fence building! It was a very involved project, though, from putting in all of the wood posts (many of which were put in concrete), putting in the t-posts, building the H-braces, putting on the brace wire on each of the H-braces, putting up the fencing on each side (which is much more labor intensive than it sounds as it involves stretching the wire and then lots of wire cutting and twisting to attach the wire to each of the corner posts and the gate posts), stapling the fencing onto the wood posts, wiring it onto the t-posts (Leah's and my job :), and I think I am forgetting something, but that should give an idea of what a big project it was!

Dad building the divider inside the large fence enclosure to divide the two pens

In addition to helping Dad with the actual fence, Leah and I also built two hoop houses. On the first one, we were racing to finish it before dark fell and the other, before we went to pick up the buck, and we managed to finish them both just in time!

Chloe and Sadie's hoop house with the hay feeder inside (we later had to move it back out, though, as Chloe wasn't letting Sadie get in to eat any hay. She's a little protective of what she deems 'her' food.)

Leah wiring the cattle panel to the t-post supports in the back. There are also two re-bar stakes at the base of each cattle panel to hold it in place and those needed to be wired on as well.

The last few days before we went to pick up the buck were a flurry of activity, and while very tiring, they were fun as well. And our goal was met! The fence is entirely finished save for finishing running the inside electric lines on the Boer side of the pen, sawing off the tops of the posts to make them level with each other, and putting in permanent gates. What a relief it is to finally have it done!!

Dad putting on one of the temporary gates

It was so nice to be able to put the goats into their new pens, and we enjoyed just standing and watching them for a long time. Dixie and the little boys had a blast racing around, jumping on a log that is in their pen, and then leaping off of it again . . . around and around they went which provided much entertainment!

And here is the very satisfying end result of all of our labor . . .

Looking down the inside of the fence. Dixie and the boys have the first part (which is smaller), and Chloe and Sadie have the larger back pen.

Another view of it from further back (and right to the left of the pen is the stand with the electric fencer and electrical outlets as well. The outlets came in handy while we were building the fence!)

A front view of Dixie and the boy's pen

Looking down the fence from the far end of the pen

Chloe enjoying the evening sunshine

Little Danny Boy with Sadie in the background (And Betsy, you will be glad to know that we decided to keep both Danny and Chevy :) [so that we'll always have companion animals if we should need them.])

And Louie . . . the buck we have right now on 'loan'. He's a character!

So there's a glimpse into what filled a lot of our end of October/beginning of November! Now the next big project . . . building stalls in our barn for when Sadie and Chloe have their babies. Which is only about a month and a half away now!

How Do We Know the Bible is the Inspired Word of God?

2011-11-30T07:10:00.001-06:00

Awhile back on a forum for homeschool graduates that I am a part of, there was a discussion about the inspiration of the Bible. It was a little surprising how many did not believe that the Bible was, in its entirety, the inspired, infallible word of God, believing instead that none of it was true, or, that only parts of it were true and others weren’t. There ended up being quite a discussion about it (of which I was a part), and my last post in the thread I thought I would share here as well in the hopes that it may be an encouragement/help to someone . . .

This thread has been a little disheartening to read through and see the various responses that have been given. Much evidence has been shared by others showing the support for the inerrancy of Scripture, yet the evidences given have for the most part, not been examined, but have instead, been overlooked and/or ignored.

If the serious, unbiased seeker of the Lord and of truth would examine the evidences and would truly examine the Bible without presuppositions, they would find that it IS in its entirety, God’s infallible Word.

The Bible itself claims to be the Word of God, but that in and of itself does not prove that it is (as many of you have pointed out.) The Koran and other religious works also make similar claims, and logically, all of these cannot be true.

How, then, is the Bible different from other religions’ books? Simply put, the Bible, and the historical, logical, and archaeological evidences, show clearly that the 66 books of the Bible are the inspired word of God (and what is shared below is just a tiny glimpse into these evidences, and is also not an examination of the canonization of Scripture, though that makes a very fascinating study as well) . . . .

To make a bit of a starting point, try finding ten people in your own town with similar backgrounds and walks of life and ask them to, without talking to one another, write a short paper on a controversial topic, such as: what is man’s purpose in life, and then see if they agree in perfect harmony. I would venture to guess that they would not. :) Consider that, then, in light of this . . .

--The Bible, even with its great length (1196 pages in my Bible), has perfect unity. It was written down by men (as in, the hand of God did not pen it like He did the ten commandments) over a period of 1,500 years by more than 40 different authors with very different education levels, backgrounds, cultures, ages, and more. They wrote in different places – city, wilderness, prison, island. The writings composing the Bible were written on three different continents (Asia, Africa and Europe) and in three different languages (Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic.)

--The Bible is composed of 66 books that deal with a wide variety of topics, many that are controversial, but the central theme that can be found throughout the entire Bible is God’s marvelous plan of salvation for mankind through Jesus Christ. And when considering the above points, that in and of itself is amazing.

--The Bible (and historical evidence) shows the perfect fulfillment of so many of the prophecies given in the Old Testament (Lamentations 2:17. And the prophecies that have not yet been fulfilled are still awaiting their fulfillment.)

--The Bible has no contradictions (and the supposed ‘contradictions’ that have been shared in this thread are not truly contradictions – a thorough examination of these ‘contradictions’ will bring that to light.) To clarify this just a bit, one of the foundational laws of logic is ‘non-contradiction’ - a thing cannot be both ‘a’ and ‘not-a’ at the same time. For example, if the Scriptures said that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and then in another place said that He was born in Jerusalem, we have a contradiction and this would be a provable error.

This is where discernment and an unbiased examination of the evidence must come into play, however. Just because two statements may differ, it does not mean that they contradict one another. For example (and a rather simple one), I could say that “I went to the store today.” By that statement, someone might infer that I only went to the store today. Whereas I simply did not give the full information by my statement. A later statement (or statements) could give more information without contradicting the first statement. “I went to the park today” or “I went to the store today and yesterday” or “I didn’t go to the store this morning.” These do not contradict the first statement, but they do give a fuller and more complete understanding to what actually took place.

One additional point I would like to make to this is that our translations are not perfectly exact to the original texts (as in, an exact word for word translation – this is understood through even the translation today of one language to another, say, French to Spanish.) This is where it is helpful to have things such as interlinear Bibles, a concordance, lexicons, etc. that help us to understand the original Greek and Hebrew words that were used. Even with this, though, again, the Bible has no contradictions in it.

It basically comes down to the fact that there is irrefutable evidence that the Bible is true (and there is SO much more than the tiny little bit that was shared in this post that is evidence that the Bible is true . . . including in areas that were not even touched on here such as the archaeological, historical, and scientific evidences. There have been whole books written on these evidences, and I’d rather not write another one in this thread :) so this is but a brief glimpse into a part of it.) It is up to each one of us, then, to believe the evidences given, or to disregard them and continue believing that the Bible is false (or that parts of the Bible are false.) Each man has this choice to make . . . and the choice we make will have eternal consequences.

“I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book . . . if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.” Revelation 22:18-19

For myself, I choose to believe and trust the indisputable historical, logical, scientific, and archeological evidences that abound and to take God at His word. Trusting that what He promised and what He has said is true . . . .

“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” Isaiah 40:8

"So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” 2 Peter 1:19-21

Putting Up Siding

2011-11-28T17:20:00.002-06:00

The day after Thanksgiving promised to be a beautiful one with a forecasted high of 64 and sunny skies . . . and we spent the day out at Ryan and Ashley's putting up siding! Well, some of us put up siding and others did things like make lunch, watch Adelyn, etc. :)

We were all up early Friday morning with Dad loading up the truck and trailer with things needed to do the siding and Leah and I hurrying to get our morning animal chores finished. Dad and Mom headed out first, as Leah and I needed to run a few errands. And no, not because of black Friday! We try to avoid any shopping the day after Thanksgiving (unless it is a rare trip to the fabric store) as it is SO crazy in town, but of all times to run out of rabbit food, we did on Thursday evening. So into town we went to brave the crowds . . . thankfully, we could go to a small little town nearby to get it, and surprisingly, there was hardly any traffic at all there. Our errands quickly dispatched, we headed out to Ryan and Ashley's for a very enjoyable day . . .

Siding was pretty much a two (and sometimes three) person job, so Dad and Ryan worked on that, while Mom did various miscellaneous things outdoors and then helped the men when needed. Ashley, Leah and I were indoors making pizza and crazy bread for lunch, watching Adelyn, and visiting. It was so nice to have that time together!

Leah finding the spices for the pizza dough

Ashley making the dough for the crazy bread

Meanwhile, work on the siding was progressing (and this photo was taken through the living room window while I took a brief break from pizza making to take a few photos.)

Once the pizzas and crazy bread were finished baking, we called lunch and the workers came indoors. We enjoyed a pleasant lunch break, and Dad was able to spend some time holding Adelyn. I love watching him with her! He's such a great Grandpa . . .

"Hmm, which is more interesting, the toy or the fingers? Fingers!"

Smiles all around

But eventually there was a tired little girl with tears in her eyes in need of Mommy . . . the tears quickly vanished and smiles took their place once that need was met!

After lunch was finished, Dad, Ryan, and Mom headed back out while Ashley put Adelyn down for her nap and Leah and I cleaned up the kitchen. Then while I washed up the dishes, Leah went outside and took some photos of the work being done out there . . . .

Ryan measuring for the next siding piece

Dad taking the other needed measurement

Then it's time to saw the siding piece

And up it goes!

While Dad and Mom hold it in place, Ryan nails it in

Progress! It is looking so nice so far. It is a long process, though, so I'm sure we'll be having more 'siding days' sometime in the future when the weather is decent!

Leah and I had to leave pretty soon after these photos were taken as we needed to get home to take care of all of the animals before dark. But before we left, we enjoyed a really great time of visiting with Ashley. Then goodbyes were said, and we headed home with Dad and Mom to follow a couple of hours later. It was a wonderful day, and it was great to be able to see how much was able to be done on the siding!

Thanksgiving . . .

2011-11-26T16:08:00.006-06:00

. . . one of my favorite times of the year . . .

~ a relaxing day spent with family ~

~ remembering the many blessings that the Lord has given ~

~ delicious food ~

~ the laughter and wonderful conversations ~

~ and much more ~

And here is a glimpse into our Thanksgiving (which actually began Wednesday with all of the baking :) . . .

Mom making bread cubes for the dressing

A pumpkin pie in the works (using pumpkin puree that I made from one of Ryan and Ashley's pumpkins that they had given us)

Leah making her specialty . . . crescent rolls

Thursday morning was a little busy (a good busy :), and we had just finished with the morning animal chores and cleaning up the house right before Ryan and Ashley arrived. Then the fun began! It was really a special day enjoying each other's company, playing with Adelyn, and visiting . . . .

Mom and Adelyn reading a book together

Ryan and Ashley are wanting to get a new camera so spent some time looking at Mom's

Leah and Adelyn having fun together. Adelyn loves being lifted up in the air like this! As you can probably tell from the expression on her face. :)

Daddy and Adelyn having a little conversation

Ryan and Ashley hadn't seen our finished goat fence yet (which I still haven't posted about! I hope to do so soon) nor had they seen "Louie" the Alpine buck we have on 'loan' (and there will be more about him later, too) so after it warmed up a bit outside, we went out to see the animals . . .

My dear family

It's always fun talking 'animals' with Ryan and Ashley as they have much the same vision as we do regarding self-sufficiency and raising livestock, vegetables, fruit, etc.

Leah and Adelyn

Daddy petting Sadie . . . she loves attention

Back inside, I was able to enjoy some Adelyn time, too
(something always looked forward to) . . .

Having fun together before she got tired and was ready for snuggling

One of my favorite things ♥
She's a little snuggler!

Ryan taking photos with Mom's camera

Time for the meal preparations! Mom was mashing potatoes, Ryan was getting ready to carve the turkey with Dad, and I was making gravy

Ashley and Ryan putting the sliced turkey on the platter

We enjoyed a delicious meal together gathered around our dining room table, and it was so special to have us all there. To think of all that the Lord has blessed our family with this past year! After the meal was finished, we ladies got busy cleaning up the kitchen while Dad and Ryan went into the living room and visited.

Ryan helping Adelyn stand up

I love this photo! Father and Son and Granddaughter . . . so special!

Someone's getting sleepy and really enjoying snuggle time with her Mommy

The sun was beginning to set and there was something we wanted to do before dark . . . take an updated family photo! We finally got everyone together and outside, bringing along the bench in our entry way so that some of us could sit . . . .

Mom and Leah and the bench. :) We're still waiting on everyone else! Meanwhile I worked on getting the camera's settings adjusted.

Our family . . . it's growing! How thankful I am for the many blessings that the Lord has given to all of us and the precious new addition of little Adelyn this past year!

Ryan, Ashley and Adelyn

And that's our Thanskgiving in a tiny little nutshell. :)

(which was followed by all of us spending the day out at Ryan and Ashley's on Friday . . . and there will be more about that in an upcoming post!)

A Time of Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T07:40:00.001-06:00

To all of my American readers, may you have a very blessed and special Thanksgiving today with your families!

(and to everyone else, may you have a wonderful day as well! :)

"Give thanks to the LORD for He is good,
for His lovingkindness is everlasting."
Psalm 107:1

"O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD
let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,
let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
For the LORD is a great God
and a great King above all gods,
in whose hand are the depths of the earth,
the peaks of the mountains are His also.
The sea is His, for it was He who made it,
and His hands formed the dry land.

"Come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.
For He is our God,
and we are the sheep of His hand . . . ."
Psalm 95:1-7a

A Precious Moment

2011-11-22T19:09:00.003-06:00

This past Sunday after the time of teaching and discussion had come to an end, after singing hymns together to the Lord, and after the meal that we all shared together was finished, we gradually began gathering in the living room . . . after I went in and sat down on the couch, the little six year old girl came and snuggled up next to me, listening as the conversation went on around us.


Both of us together at Maramec Spring

Various scriptural topics were being talked about amongst us all in a casual conversation, and at one point I opened my Bible to look at some of the verses that were being discussed. The Bible then remained open on my lap at John chapters 5 and 6. After a bit, I noticed the little girl leaning over my Bible, carefully focused.

Soon, she looked up at me her face all alight and whispered that she had read part of the chapter! I whispered back encouraging her on her reading and asking if she had understood what she had read. She thought a bit and then answered "yes."

This sequence continued with her reading a bit more, telling me what part she had read, and then me asking her if she understood; and if she hadn't, I would explain it to her. Or sometimes as I listened and took part in the conversation with the adults, a little finger would touch my hand and she would be looking up at me with a question on her face. I would tip my head down to hers and she would whisper to me while pointing "what does this mean?"

The first time that this happened is the one that stood out to me the most, and the verse she did not understand was . . . .

"This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day." (John 6:39)

What a joy it was to then explain to this precious little girl in simple words about believing in Jesus Christ, about becoming a child of God and being given forever to Christ, about the coming end of the world and how Christ will raise up and bring to heaven all of those who believe in Him.

After explaining this to her, I asked her if she understood it now, to which a smile and a nod were the answer. As all of this took place, I was reminded once again how children are like little sponges soaking up what we share with them and what they hear and see around them. I was reminded of the childlike faith that we are all called to have . . . a simple trust in God and His Word. And my heart was full of joy and thankfulness to see the sensitivity of this young heart to the Lord and her desire to read and understand His Word!

~ Family ~

2011-11-21T07:02:00.000-06:00

When looking through photos recently, I came across these ones that Mom had taken over the past several weeks . . . such special times with family!

Ashley looking through one of our scrapbooks while Adelyn plays with her Daddy's fingers

I love this photo! It was so sweet how whenever Ashley would talk, Adelyn would tip her head back to see her and just grin and grin.

"Look at me! I can stand!"
(She loves standing up like this.)

"Whew! Break time now - that was tiring!"

Adelyn and I enjoyed a very long conversation together one Sunday afternoon - she was very vocal! And I so enjoyed spending this time with her.

Leah and Adelyn on a different Sunday afternoon - and yes, she's standing again! It's one of her favorite positions to be in now.

Oh, the joy of being an aunt to this precious little girl!
(Adelyn and I)

A Sunday Hymn ~ Higher Ground

2011-11-20T08:00:00.002-06:00

I'm pressing on the upward way,

New heights I'm gaining ev'ry day;
Still praying as I onward bound,
"Lord, plant my feet on higher ground."

Lord, lift me up and let me stand
By faith, on heaven's table land,
A higher plane than I have found;
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

My heart has no desire to stay
Where doubts arise and fears dismay;
Tho' some may dwell where these abound,
My prayer, my aim is higher ground.

Lord, lift me up and let me stand
By faith, on heaven's table land,
A higher plane than I have found;
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

I want to live above the world,
Though Satan's darts at me are hurled;
For faith has caught the joyful sound,
The song of saints on higher ground.

Lord, lift me up and let me stand
By faith, on heaven's table land,
A higher plane than I have found;
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

I want to scale the utmost height
And catch a gleam of glory bright;
But still I'll pray till heav'n I've found,
"Lord, lead me on to higher ground."

Lord, lift me up and let me stand
By faith, on heaven's table land,
A higher plane than I have found;
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

Words by: Johnson Oatman, Jr.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"For the night is almost gone and the day is near, therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light." Romans 13:12

"I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 3:14

Gathered Gems

2011-11-18T07:16:00.001-06:00

As I have continued reading the book Kept for the Master's Use, I have been so blessed by it . . . so encouraged and convicted in my walk with Christ. And as I had mentioned in this post, I have been copying down those portions that especially spoke to my heart, and I thought I would share a few more here (and there will likely be more shared in future posts as well.)

I hope that they will be a blessing and encouragement to you as they have been to me!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"When we are aiming at generalities we do not hit the practicalities. We forget that faithfulness to principle is only proved by faithfulness in detail." (pg. 32-33)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We do not want only to be kept from displeasing Him, but to be kept always pleasing Him. Every 'kept from', should have its corresponding and still more blessed 'kept for'. We do not want our moments to be simply kept from Satan's use, but kept for His use; we want them to be not only kept from sin, but kept for His praise." (pg. 36; emphasis in the original.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh, how much we have missed by not placing them [our moments] at His disposal! What might He not have done with the moments freighted with self or loaded with emptiness, which we have carelessly let drift by! Oh, what might have been if they had all been kept for Jesus! How He might have filled them with His light and life, enriching our own lives that have been impoverished by the waste, and using them in far-spreading blessing and power!" (pg. 38)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Does this mean that we are always to be doing some definitely 'religious' work, as it is called? No, but that all that we do is to be always definitely done for Him. There is a great difference. If the hands are indeed moving 'at the impulse of His love,' the simplest little duties and acts are transfigured into holy service to the Lord." (pg. 50; emphasis in original.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Let us ask Him so to shed abroad His love in our hearts by the Holy Ghost
which is given unto us, that it may be the perpetual and only impulse of
every action of our daily life." (pg. 60)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it." (Luke 9:23-24)

Chore Time!

2011-11-16T18:45:00.009-06:00

Twice a day choretime comes around, and it is something that I almost always enjoy (there are those days, though, when I'd rather stay inside in the nice, dry warmth instead of heading outside!) It is just so relaxing to care for the animals . . . so peaceful and refreshing to spend that time outdoors. I've mentioned choretime numerous times on here, and I thought it would be fun to give a glimpse into what all that actually entails for me. :) So one day I brought my camera along to capture evening chores in photos (and then a few days later took a few during the morning as well.)

I generally follow the same pattern each evening, but sometimes I mix things up a bit just to have a little change. Lassie, though, is almost without exception taken care of first. She's always eager for her food!

Expectantly waiting while I put the food in her bowl

After Lassie has been fed (and petted of course :), she gets fresh water put in her water bucket as well. Meanwhile, someone is patiently waiting for me to finish up with Lassie, as she knows that she comes next . . .

Kitty gets fed in the barn, and as soon as she sees me start getting her food, she jumps from where she is in the photo, to a little opening in the top of our barn. So by the time I reach the barn door entrance, she is sitting at her food bowl waiting. And after feeding her, she gets fresh water as well . . .

She loves her food! Even petting must come secondary to that. :)

Once Kitty is taken care of, Lassie is about finished eating so I go back over to her and give her her glucosamine pill (she has really bad arthritis, and the glucosamine has done wonders for her!)

Next to do is Dixie and the boys . . . they got two flakes of hay this night. . .

Which they were glad to see . . . they really like getting the fresh hay! (before they can get it, though, they need to just about clean up all the hay that they already have. They can be kind of picky sometimes.)

While in their pen, I also put their salt block back in the tub (they are forever tipping it over), and they were in need of some more baking soda as well (which helps to prevent bloat), so I got them some more of that . . . .

And of course, just as with all of the animals (other than the chickens) there is petting and the like that is done as well. You can't (at least I can't :) take care of the animals without spending some time with them!

Now all that is left for Dixie and the boys is to fill their water tub with fresh water. On the way to the faucet, I enjoyed seeing the chickens out and about. With the sun beginning to set, they were starting to move back closer to their coop . . .

Fresh water for Dixie, Danny Boy and Chevy

After they are finished, the rabbits come next . . .

All the rabbits get at least some petting while I take care of them, but all of the babies get even more attention! They love being petted, and it makes me smile when I reach my hand in there and they all race over trying to get underneath my hand or arm - they just like being touched even if it isn't petting!

Leah does all of feeding and watering of the rabbits (except for the older buck) so all I needed to do over here was give them all some hay and then feed and water the buck. (Though since this post was written, Leah and I have gone back to our old routine with her doing both pellet and hay feeding and then I do all the watering - she had taken over the watering when I hurt my shoulder, but it is well enough now that I can manage the water pitcher again) . . . .

The buck enjoying his hay

With the rabbits finished, it is time to move on to taking care of the chickens . . . and on the way, I stopped to watch the energetic squirrels and blue jays a bit . . .

A gray squirrel enjoying an acorn

When Leah found out what I was taking all of the photos for, she offered to take a few as well. So these next ones are courtesy of her . . .

Me feeding the chickens - they get a couple of scoops of feed morning and night (and their feeder is in the coop) [photo by Leah]

The setting sun . . . I love the golden light that it covers everything in! [photo by Leah]

After feeding the chickens, I gave them fresh water in their coop as well. By this time, the sun was sinking lower, and there was only one more batch of animals to care for . . . Chloe and Sadie. I went inside and measured out their feed for them . . .

And then headed out to bring it to them. On the way, the rooster seemed rather curious as to what I was doing . . . .

As soon as I rounded the corner of the house, this is what greeted me . . .

Very expectant goats! They know that it is their turn after the chickens are done!

Chloe enjoying her feed (they each get fed in their own tub)

While I was out there cleaning up the spilled hay, taking hay out of their salt bucket, and dumping out their old water, Dad came out to put some more hay in their hay feeder . . .

We enjoyed time together watching the goats before I went to fill up their water tub. Right at the corner where their waterer is, is part of what Dad has been working on . . . the new fence! Here is one of the corners . . .

We're making progress! (And there has been much more done since this photo was taken - in fact, it is just about finished now!)

Filling up the water tub

I always enjoy ending my evening chores taking care of the Boers as I like to just lean against the fence and watch the goats, gaze across the beautiful pasture, and see the setting of the sun. And also seeing the moon in the east . . .

There wasn't much of a sunset to see, though, because as the evening wore on, clouds rolled into the west.

And that's what evening chores are like here! (For me anyway :) Leah's are different of course!) Morning chores are simpler for me as I don't have as much to do . . . feeding Lassie, giving hay to the rabbits, giving the chickens a bit of feed, and then also feeding Dixie and the boys their goat feed (Leah does it in the evening). So that Danny Boy and Chevy don't eat Dixie's grain, we put her on a collar and leash and feed her outside the pen. She always anticipates this! So much so that it can be a challenge getting the collar on her. And then when she starts eating you should see her tail going! She wags it just like a dog. :)

Dixie enjoying her morning grain. She is a SLOW eater, so while she eats, I sit on the log and think, pray, and enjoy petting Kitty as well. Most times she comes up during Dixie's feeding time and often spends much of it sitting in my lap being petted.

Another different part of morning chores is cutting up a mangel beet (which we grew a bunch of in the garden this year) to feed to Sadie and Chloe. They go crazy for them!

My "cutting board" - an old stump.

And last but not least I checked on the bee hive, and they had emptied their top feeder of sugar syrup so I gave them another pitcher. They're just about all set for winter now! (The reason they have needed the sugar syrup this fall is that due to the long hot and dry summer and early fall,j just about all of their honey stores were depleted. So we have needed to feed so that they'll have enough stores to last them through the winter.)

So that's generally what choretime looks like around here!

Though there are nights like tonight where they were done out of order and finished up by flashlight. :) Leah and I had been building a hoop house this afternoon for the goats, and weren't able to get it done until just about dark. So chores were a little different!

Early Morning Biscuit Twists

2011-11-15T06:50:00.003-06:00

One (of many!) things that I have appreciated about blogging is coming across delicious recipes that other bloggers share. Over the years, I have copied off so many of them! And as mentioned in this post, I recently organized and printed out some of these recipes. This is one of those (and I believe it came from the moneysavingmom.com blog), and I tried it for the first time this past Sunday morning. This recipe is definitely a keeper! They were pretty easy to put together (about 45 minutes from the time I started to the time they were coming out of the oven) which is nice since mornings can sometimes be rather full for us!

Early Morning Biscuit Twists

Biscuit dough:
--3 cups flour (I used one of wheat and two of all purpose
--4 tsp. baking powder
--1 Tbsp. sugar
--1 tsp. salt
--3/4 tsp. cream of tarter
--3/4 cup butter or 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup shortening
--1 cup milk

Filling:
--2 Tbsp. butter, melted
--3 Tbsp. brown sugar

Frosting:
--1 cup powdered sugar
--1/2 tsp. vanilla
--a few tsp. of milk (enough to make mixture a drizzling consistency.)

For the biscuit dough: Stir together dry ingredients. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add milk. Stir just until moistened. Turn dough onto a lightly-floured surface and knead for 4 to 6 strokes. Roll dough out into a rectangle (approximately 1/4-inch thick).

Brush with the melted butter, and then sprinkle with the brown sugar. Fold rectangle in half and cut into about 1-inch strips. Twist the strips and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes. While they are baking, mix together the frosting ingredients. Drizzle over biscuit twists as soon as they come out of the oven. Enjoy!

The next time I make these, I might reduce the brown sugar a bit as they seemed to be a little too sweet. I was also thinking of trying different fillings such as jelly or jam - it seems like those would work well with this recipe!

A Butchering Party

2011-11-14T06:30:00.002-06:00

This past Saturday, which was opening day for deer season here in Missouri, Ryan called in the morning with the news that he had gotten two does! And would we like to come out and help butcher? Of course! Due to prior commitments, we arrived rather late in the day (around 3:45), and we got right to work. This was Ashley's first time helping butcher an entire deer so it was fun to share a bit of how we have done it in the past . . . and it was interesting how we all fell into our 'roles'.

First Dad sharpened all of the knives . . .

. . . and then he and Ryan headed out to do the skinning, quartering, and cutting off of the tenderloins, backstrap, etc., while we ladies got things prepped in the kitchen . . . cutting stations ready, freezer paper torn, tape torn into strips and stuck to the edge of the table, and more. Then we waited for the first 'meat delivery'!

Our master butcher. :)
Mom cutting a roast out of one of hindquarters . . . the rest of it was either stew meat or was ground into hamburger

Leah working on a forequarter which just about all went into hamburger - it's amazing how much meat she can get off of one of those! She's definitely thorough.

The grinding station . . . at which Leah, Ashley and Ryan all took turns

After I cut up some steaks and stew meat, everyone else had enough meat cut or ground up for me to start packaging . . . which kept me busy the rest of the evening.

Ryan bringing in the forequarters of the second deer

Mom had cut roasts off of the hindquarters, and due to the varying sizes I teasingly paraphrased the bit from the story of the three bears . . . and then Ashley labeled the roasts this way! Just a glimpse into some of the fun and light-hearted humor we all enjoyed this day. :)

Ashley taping the packages shut after I wrapped them

More meat to cut up!

We had so much fun working together, talking, laughing, and seeing the piles of packaged venison piling up on the table . . .

At this point, the men had finished with their job outdoors and had come in . . . and shortly later look who woke up from her nap . . .

After some Daddy and Mommy time, this is where she spent the rest of the butchering time . . .

Dad sure didn't mind! He's such a great grandpa. :) Adelyn seemed to really enjoy watching all of the activity! And there was a lot of it as we all busied ourselves in the kitchen . . . cutting up more meat, packaging, grinding hamburger, Ryan taking trips 'downstairs' with the packages to put them in the freezer, and more.

Ashley grinding more hamburger

Once she got a full bowl it came to me, and I weighed it out and packaged it up

And then the packages were tallied up and Ryan brought them to the freezer

As we worked, I was thinking about how special this was . . . this is a part of what family's are . . . working together, taking pleasure in each other's company, and helping one another.

Our little watcher . . . I loved this photo with her little fingers wrapped around my Dad's!

Finally, the last bit of meat was cut up and packaged, and it was clean up time. And holding Adelyn time as we all took turns. It's always so enjoyable being able to hold her and spend time with her!

Aunt Leah and Adelyn

Mom and Adelyn

The end of clean-up, though, didn't mark the end of our evening together as Ryan and Ashley had gotten pizza for us all and we had brought some soda so we had a pizza party. It was so nice to sit down and relax and visit after the hours of butchering!

Daddy and daughter . . . things like this just warm my heart. It's so special seeing my brother as a Dad!

Thank you, Ryan and Ashley for the wonderful afternoon/evening! And hopefully Ryan gets some more deer so we can do it again. :)

In the Sewing Room

2011-11-10T16:04:00.005-06:00

The beginning of this week brought more rain for us here in Missouri (2 additional inches!), and the cozy days indoors were enjoyed by Leah and I up in our sewing room . . . accompanied by the whir of the sewing machine, the snip of scissors, and southern gospel music playing in the background. Leah was working more on her quilt . . .

All that is left on it is the binding . . . it's coming together so nicely!

Leah sewing the binding around the edges of the quilt, and now that she is finished with that, next comes a lot of handsewing

And I was busy making more dolls and doll clothing for my Etsy shop, including these . . .

Tomorrow it will be warmer, drier, and less windy out, so I think the sewing projects are going to be set aside for a time as we help Dad work more on the fence!

Devoted to Prayer

2011-11-08T06:30:00.003-06:00

This was originally shared on Leah's and my blog "Follow in His Steps", and
I thought I would share it here as well . . . .

Awhile back, I had shared a post about my Bible memory verse boxes and getting back into trying to memorize a verse a day (except for weekends which were for review – and I do miss days periodically as well). With doing this, I have found in my own heart and life, many blessings being reaped. So often, the verse (or verses) that I would be working on memorizing, or ones that were memorized earlier, would come to mind throughout the day and I would have the opportunity to meditate on them and look for ways to apply them to my life.

Recently, one particular verse struck a chord in my heart as it is an area I had been convicted to grow in and was also seeing the absolute necessity for it in order to have an active and growing life in Christ. This verse kept coming to mind and gave me a lot of opportunity to think about it and to dig deeper into it . . . .

“Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.” (Colossians 4:2)

Have you ever thought about what it means to be devoted to prayer? To be alert in it? As I repeated this verse over and over while working on memorizing it, those phrases seemed to be standing out in bold and really were convicting to me. The word “devote” is one that I have studied before, so I had a pretty good idea of what it meant. Yet when doing a bit of further study, I was surprised to discover what the Greek word itself means that was translated as this “devote.”

I looked it up in our concordance and found that the Greek word is proskartereo which means “to attend constantly.” As I read that, it was kind of like a ‘wow’ moment . . . one of those times where I just had to stop and think about the deep implications that that one word holds. It is so much more than I would have ever thought . . . so much further reaching, so very much a part of who we should be. To think the Lord has called us to constantly attend to prayer! How convicting this is!

Looking further, it was found that the phrase “keeping alert” simply means “to be awake, to watch.” This being devoted to prayer and keeping alert in it, then, seems to be a heart so close to the Lord, so intimate in fellowship, and so ready to, all throughout the day, go to the Lord in prayer for wisdom, strength, help, provision, and so much more, with whatever circumstances come our way during the day. Just like abiding in Christ becomes an integral part of our life, so should prayer become a constant aspect of our life in Christ.

For myself, there is a particular area that, as I thought about this “devoted to prayer” over the past weeks, especially hit home to me. It is related to speaking a word for Christ to others (such as people I meet in town, extended family, friends, acquaintances, etc.) and pointing hearts to Christ. This is something that is very important to me, but so often, opportunities come up to say something, and I miss them because I do not think about it until after the fact. This has happened so many times the past months when after having a conversation with someone, I would look back and see many ways where I could have turned the conversation to spiritual things, turned it to sharing the gospel, offered a word of encouragement, and more.

But then when I memorized this verse, I realized that if my heart was alert to prayer and if I had that constant, open communication with the Lord and turned to Him immediately asking for His Spirit’s guidance as soon as these types of conversations would come up, then I would know how to respond. But in order to be ready for these situations (and others as well), I need to be cultivating that heart now.

And this is just one tiny aspect of life that can be so affected through prayer! And that should be brought to the Lord in prayer. I am reminded of the verse in 1 Thessalonians “Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; emphasis added.) It is God’s will for us to pray to Him always with joy and thanksgiving. Should it not be our great delight to do so? Just think, prayer is communication with the Lord God! Not only the all-knowing and all-wise Creator of all, but our Lord and Savior! Our Redeemer and Friend. Just thinking of this beautiful relationship and the special avenue of communication that we fallible, yet redeemed, people have with Him fills my heart with awe and thankfulness to the Lord. That He has such care for us and love for us, that His ear is always open to our prayer. That even His Son, Jesus Christ, is our intercessor and mediator! With just knowing these beautiful truths, what a joy it should be to us, and how eager we should be, to indeed, be devoted, to be constantly attending, to prayer.

For me personally, this heart that is devoted to prayer is closely tied with having my mind set on things above, resting and abiding in Christ, and having my regular times with the Lord in His Word. It is like fabric on a loom where each strand is woven together to form the beauty of the whole. Yet if some of the threads are broken or missing, the strength of the fabric suffers and its beauty will be lacking. Oh, to remember to cultivate the strength of each of the threads in my spiritual life! Including having and cultivating this beautiful heart that is so close to the Lord that it is devoted to prayer to Him and alert in it with all thanksgiving.

English Muffin Loaf

2011-11-07T06:31:00.004-06:00

The other day Mom made this recipe for the first time, and it was so delicious! And it didn't last long. :) Then last evening as we were all in the living room reading or doing handwork, I started thinking that this bread would be really good for today's breakfast . . . so I made some! The recipe is really simple, and it only took about 10-15 minutes to put together (and it would have gone faster if I would have thought to start warming the milk and water first thing.)

While the original intention of the bread was for this morning, one loaf was a lot smaller by the end of the evening . . . . it's so good warm right out of the oven!

English Muffin Loaf

--4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour divided
--2 packages yeast (4 1/2 tsp.)
--1 Tbsp. sugar
--2 tsp. salt
--1/4 tsp. baking soda
--2 cups milk
--1/2 cup water
--cornmeal

Combine three cups of flour and the yeast, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a mixing bowl. Heat milk and water to 120-130 degrees and then add to the flour mixture. Mix until smooth. Add remaining 1 3/4 cups of flour and mix completely.

Grease two loaf pans and dust with cornmeal. Split dough between the two pans and dust the tops of the loaves with cornmeal. Let rise for 45-60 minutes and then bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. Can be served warm. (And this bread is really good toasted and buttered, too. That is our favorite way to eat it . . . and it's also good with spreads like apple butter.)

A Sunday Hymn ~ Standing on the Promises

2011-11-06T06:40:00.000-06:00

The other evening, Leah and I were singing hymns together while doing the dishes, and this song was one of them. It is one of my favorites! And I thought I would share it here as one of the "A Sunday Hymn" posts . . . I hope that the words will be a blessing to you . . . .

Standing on the Promises

Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
Through eternal ages let His praises ring,
Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
Standing on the promises of God.

Standing, standing,
Standing on the promises of God my Savior;
Standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.

Standing, standing,
Standing on the promises of God my Savior;
Standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
Bound to Him eternally by love’s strong cord,
Overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword,
Standing on the promises of God.

Standing, standing,
Standing on the promises of God my Savior;
Standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
Listening every moment to the Spirit’s call
Resting in my Savior as my all in all,
Standing on the promises of God.

Standing, standing,
Standing on the promises of God my Savior;
Standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.

Words and music by: R. Kelso Carter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23)

"Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude" (Colossians 2:6-7.)

Quilting Times Two

2011-11-04T16:15:00.001-05:00

Winter was always my least favorite of the seasons, but over the years, I have grown to like it more and more and now even look forward to the cold, snowy days. Not only is it beautiful with all of the snow and frost, but work outdoors comes to an end for a time (other than caring for the animals that is), and it is so cozy inside and perfect for all of the projects that are put on hold during the busy summer months. Things like the quilt I have been working on for a couple of fall and winters now . . .

A flower in progress - I was able to finish it last night so now it is on to the next

Maybe this winter will see this quilt completed! I am probably a little over halfway finished with the machine quilting and a third finished with the hand-quilting. (I am using the machine to quilt the entire quilt "in the ditch", and then am hand-quilting a design inside each of the triangle squares.) So now evenings are including not only a bit of reading, but quilting as well. And when I don't feel like hand quilting, I work on a different 'quilt' :) . . . .

A cross-stitched one that is. This is another of Paula Vaughan's patterns, and it has been enjoyable to work on so far. Once it is finished, it might end up being one of my favorite cross-stitches as it has many of my favorite things in it! A quilt (and a blue and white one at that), an old barn through the window, old-fashioned curtains, a sewing workbasket . . . the whole scene is so warm and homey . . .

What the finished cross-stitch should look like

Mom and Leah have also been working on cross-stitches so evenings often find us ladies in the living room working on our prospective projects. It makes for pleasant times together! Leah is just about finished with hers, and it is simply beautiful . . . .

Hasn't she done a wonderful job with it?! All she has left is a bit of backstitching. (And yes, this is another of Paula Vaughan's patterns as well.)

And last evening Mom finished one that she had been working on . . .

It's perfect for a country kitchen! My Mom really has a sweet and giving heart, and the past few cross-stitches that she has made, she has given to Leah and I for our own future homes (if that be the Lord's will) . . . but even if they grace only our walls here, they are treasured keepsakes!

Do any of you have winter projects that you are working on or would like to do?

Rain!

2011-11-03T18:05:00.004-05:00

Need I say more? :)

It looks like our long drought is finally ending! It started raining early last evening, and it rained all through the night until early this afternoon . . . and it was a good soaking rain, too. We are so thankful to the Lord for it! And with the rainy and chilly day today, it was cozy indoors and perfect for working on projects . . . sewing a skirt, organizing and printing out recipes to add to my recipe binder, planning with Leah the next two week menu and making the grocery list, and then enjoying time with Ryan, Ashley and Adelyn, too (they stopped by this evening for a bit.) Now the animal chores are all finished up, and we're looking forward to a relaxing evening!

Consecration

2011-11-01T16:12:00.001-05:00

Every once in awhile, I stumble across a gem of a book, and right now I am reading through one that is thus far, one of the most spiritually encouraging books that I have read. It is titled Kept for the Master's Use and was written by Frances Ridley Havergal in the late 1800's. She was also the author of the well-known hymn Take My Life and Let It Be. This book is actually based upon this hymn that she had written, and it shares about full consecration to the Lord in all areas of our lives.

I had begun the book awhile back and was about halfway through when I decided to start it over so I could take notes while I read. There were just so many convicting and encouraging portions of it that I wanted to be able to easily find later on!

This past Sunday evening while we were all gathered in the living room doing various things, I read through chapter one again and copied down several excerpts. One touched my heart so much that I shared it with my family after copying it down, and I thought I would share it here as well. (And to help keep it in context, remember that the title of the book is Kept for the Master's Use) . . . .

"We want our lives kept, not that we may feel happy, and be saved the distress consequent on wandering, and get the power with God and man and all the other privileges linked with it. We shall have all this, because the lower is included in the higher; but our true aim, if the love of Christ constraineth us, will be far beyond this. Not for "me" at all, but "for Jesus"; not for my safety, but for His glory; not for my comfort, but for His joy . . . Yes, for Him I want to be kept. Kept for His sake; kept for His use; kept to be His witness; kept for His joy! kept for Him, that in me He may show forth some tiny sparkle of His light and beauty; kept to do His will and His work in His own way; kept, it may be, to suffer for His sake; kept for Him, that He may do just what seemeth good with me; kept so that no other lord shall have any more dominion over me, but that Jesus shall have all there is to have - little enough, indeed, but not divided or diminished by any other claim. Is not this, O you who love the Lord - is not this worth living for, worth asking for, worth trusting for? This is consecration . . . ." (Kept for the Master's Use; pg. 22-23.)

Oh, to have such a heart as this! Each time I read through this, I find my heart so convicted and hungering after this kind of life and heart. Yes, the aim is high, and it may seem in our human minds difficult, if not impossible, to reach, but as the author shared just a bit earlier in the chapter:

"Consecration is not so much a step as a course; not so much an act, as a position to which a course of action inseparably belongs." (Kept for the Master's Use; pg. 14)

So I journey on . . . desiring and seeking to bring each aspect of my life into this full consecration to the Lord. And as I continue reading in this book, I am sure more portions of it will be shared here!

"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."
(Romans 12:1-2.)

Little Bundles of Cuteness

2011-10-31T16:28:00.006-05:00

Our newest litter of baby rabbits are at the most adorable stage right now! They opened up their eyes last week and are now jumping in and out of the nestbox, starting to nibble on pellets, and they really like eating hay. So each time I take care of the rabbits, I have to spend at least a little extra time petting all the little cuties . . .

Asleep in Leah's hands

Opening its eyes for just a moment

And all of them snuggled down together in the nest box

It has been so fun to be raising rabbits again! I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it . . . and hopefully I'll remember that once we're in the middle of winter and are needing to thaw out their waterers 3+ times a day! :)

A Day with Little Friends

2011-10-27T06:52:00.006-05:00

This past Tuesday, a friend of ours' children came and spent the day with us which was so enjoyable. We love these children so much! It was a delightful day spent partly indoors and partly outdoors . . . from watching their science video for school (by Dr. David Menton on the skin - it was very interesting) while Leah and I cross-stitched, to the little girls helping hang out the laundry and bring it back in once it was dry (which they really enjoyed! Especially with how windy it was - they thought it was funny how much the clothes were whipping around), visiting together, reading, doing puzzles, and much more . . . .

The legos are always a much enjoyed thing for them to play with!

We heard some beautiful piano music! And then I played a duet with her, and then Leah, she and I played a song all together which was fun. Leah also found our old duet book that we played out of together when we were little, so Leah and her are working on learning one of the duets in it.

While Leah was working on her cross-stitch, one of the little girls asked if she could do some - so Leah helped her, and this sweet girl did a great job with it. (And I'll need to get a photo of Leah's cross-stitch to share here - it is beautiful!)

And of course, a visit to our place is never complete without spending some time with the animals! Our first time going out we visited, Dixie, Danny and Chevy and the children got to watch as we gave oral de-wormer to the little guys (which is part of the routine care of goats.) Their first 'veterinary' lesson! :) Then we went and saw the chickens (which the children are gradually overcoming their fear of) and the baby rabbits (and I have photos to share sometime of those, too! They are at their really cute stage right now.) And of course, a highlight for the children is always petting Lassie and brushing her . . . .

Lassie loves it. :)

Getting ready to go into the chicken pen . . . the little girl in the red shirt was so afraid of them and didn't want to go in, but she overcame her fear and did! She stuck close beside me the whole time holding tight to my hand, but she went in! And she had the reward of seeing and petting the baby bunnies then, too, since going through the chicken pen is how we get to their pens.

Later in the day, we went and visited Sadie and Chloe, and this time all of the children went in! At first, the goats weren't quite sure what to think of all the children in their pen, but they did let some of the children come up and pet them.

All in all, it was a wonderful day, and I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed us with knowing such dear children as these ones!

One Reason Why I love Homesteading . . .

2011-10-25T16:22:00.002-05:00

. . . moments like this . . .

~ A beautiful, peaceful fall evening feeding the goats their grain while the setting sun lighted up the trees and pasture with the warm glow of its rays. ~

Overlooking our neighbor's pasture