Still amazed at these birds!
More pecked trees…
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Monthly Archives: March 2012
A day out…
I was invited to go with Mike’s Mom & Sister out for shopping & lunch today. It was a fun day out – something the 3 of us don’t do very often! Mom & I ended the day visiting a new quilt shop in Louisville. Mom loves to hand-quilt, and her work is beautiful! (She also does all our mending & patching, too!) Right now, she is looking for ‘the perfect” green to go with a new quilt she wants to piece together that her mother had embroidered MANY years ago. While I am not a quilter, I LOVE CRAFTS & FABRIC STORES! I love to walk into such colorful, cheerful places & admire beautiful handiwork… The place today was neat, because not only did it have beautiful fabric, but the decorating was AMAZING! (You can tell that I’m the type of person where PRESENTATION makes a BIG IMPRESSION, lol!) Here’s a pic of a wonderfully creative way to display fabric in an antique head & foot board…
And I just LOVED this “dress” quilt. I’ve never seen anything like this…
As I was preparing this post, it reminded me of a poem I had written for Mom in 2010. So, for my “scrapbook”, I’ll end this post with that poem. 🙂
Are you a sewer, or an admirer, like me?
Yucky food prep
This morning, as we sat at our table listening to Michael read , I worked on taking meat off bones I had cooked all night in broth in my crock pot. The boys were pretty grossed out – and I must admit, it is not all that pleasurable of a task. The boys asked me, “Do you LIKE doing that?” What a great spot for a life lesson, I thought! While my “short answer” is NO, there is so much more to it… I may not like the “process”, but I sure do enjoy the “end product”. (And so do my boys, I must add,lol!) I feel the same way when God reveals an error in my life: the process of humbling myself is not all that enjoyable, but, BOY, THE END RESULT IS SOOOO WORTH IT! It makes me think of Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Lord, I DO want You to lead me in the way of everlasting – may I embrace even the “messy parts” on my journey there. Keep me focused on the “end product”, so that I don’t quit just because I don’t “like” a step. Thank you, Lord, for never giving up on me. AMEN
Have you ever prayed this scripture for yourself? What did the Lord reveal to you?
I am just an amateur at this…
This post is an attempt to see if I’m understanding how this blog works… I believe I’ve now done two things: 1) taken the privacy part off, so that others may see what I’ve posted (YES, I’ve been talking to myself for the past week, lol!) and 2) linked this blog to our Facebook page. I guess time will tell if I am correct or not…
Here’s a flier about our grass-fed beef. I also have created a new page on this blog that is specifically for fliers like this. That way, you shouldn’t have to scroll down through all my rambles to find this one again. 🙂
Do you have any wisdom to share with me about using WordPress & Facebook on my Blackberry Bold?
Play ball…
It’s that time again – another baseball season – yeah!! 🙂 We are baseball fans/players around here & are excited that Michael & Paul will both be on the same team this season. Thought I’d put a post up about the fundraiser they are working on for this new league. If you are interested in supporting it, just let us know.
2012 Prayers
I always like to think about “new resolutions” each time a new year rolls by. It was January, and the boys had gotten Mike “The 10 Commandments” movie for Christmas, so we were watching it with our Bibles open. We enjoy noting where the Hollywood version differs from the Bible, so it actually ended up being a Bible Study at the same time. Several revelations came to me during this time, and as a result, 3 prayers were developed for myself for 2012. I thought I’d share them with you…
- Lord, please help me to recognize what You want me to do – MAY I NOT USE PRAYING FOR GUIDANCE AS AN EXCUSE TO POSTPONE DOING IT! [This was inspired from Exodus 14:15 where the Lord told Moses to STOP PRAYING & GET MOVING! I tend to be really good at praying for something over & over again, but then forgetting about the action part.]
- Lord, squash my old way of thinking “what I should change into” and OPEN MY EYES TO HOW I SHOULD USE THE ABILITIES AND STRENGTHS YOU’VE ALREADY GIVEN ME TO DO YOUR WILL. [God took Moses’ characteristics and molded them until they were suited to His purposes. I don’t need to change and be someone completely different, I need to embrace how God has made me & use those attributes to work for His Kingdom.]
- Lord, I pray for a continued focus on DEVELOPING A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU… not a life of ritual and religion, but OF AUTHENTICITY AND FULL OF BLESSINGS IN MY BROKENNESS. MAY I MODEL TO MY CHILDREN THAT MY DESIRE IS FOR THEM TO WALK ALONGSIDE ME AND SEE YOU IN MY LIFE…CHANGE MY FOCUS FROM A TASK ORIENTED LIFE TO A LIFE OF SERVANTHOOD BECAUSE OF THE JOY OF MY SALVATION THROUGH YOUR SON, JESUS CHRIST. [Jethro’s (Moses’ father-in-law) religious background PREPARED-HIM-FOR, rather than prevented-him-from responding in faith to God! Like me, he was a Gentile – his conversion is in Exodus 18.]
AMEN!
I laminated the notecard I wrote these on & keep it in the front pocket of my Bible cover. Every now and then, I pull it out and review. I’ll have to tell you how God revealed an answer to me while I was crocheting a baby blanket a couple weeks ago… Watch for a future post about that! 🙂 Do you like to evaluate your walk with Him, too?
Joy in dishes…
I have always struggled with my “wandering mind”. Left in silence as I perform mundane tasks, it often wanders to criticizing others or allowing my self-righteousness to seep in. I heard a sermon once about filling our minds with Jesus. Matthew 12:34 says that out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. I want that to be the same with my thought life! So, while I used to look at sinkfulls of dishes as a drag and a reason for being cranky, I now use the time to memorize hymns or Scripture. Truly makes this task a delight now! 🙂 Thought I’d share what I’m memorizing this week. (I’m a slow memorizer, so it may be awhile for this one…)
Here’s the same song again – added it to our shower – another great place to focus on my memorizing, lol! (My boys all like to make fun of me for this one…) 🙂
Back to the kitchen now – Thank You, Lord, for food to eat, dishes to eat off of, and time & hands to wash them. AMEN 🙂
What do you do to keep your mind from wandering away from Jesus?
Kefir Shakes
Thought I’d share a bit about our mornings around here. Every morning, we drink kefir. A wonderful, probiotic, lacto-fermented beverage made from raw milk. Here’s a link to get you started on research, if you’re interested in learning more about kefir. 🙂 Here’s a pic of what you normally see on my countertop, everyday. At minimum, I make 1 quart/day. As you can see, right now, I’m making 1/2 gallon/day.
After 24 hours +/- (totally depends on weather and humidity), the kefir grains change the milk into a thick & sour tasting drink. Here’s a pic of the strained grains.
I always measure the weight of my grains with each straining…partly because I’m weird & LOVE to notebook progress (hard to believe, I know, lol…), and also because then I know when to thin my grains. These grains LOVE our milk & grow very well for us. Just let me know if you ever want any grains for yourself – I always have PLENTY!! 🙂
I keep a piece of masking tape on the tile under my cupboards where I log the date & weight. Can you tell I’m a lefty?? 🙂
Then I add more raw milk over the grains, cover with a rag & rubberband, and we’re good to go for another day! Since we are a seasonal dairy, we rely on our frozen milk from last year during these winter months. 🙂
While we CAN drink it straight, we all MUCH PREFER to turn it into a kefir shake. 🙂 Paul is our “official” kefir shake maker! He LOVES food, and does have aspirations to become a chef some day… He got a blender for Christmas, and makes a tasty shake for us every morning. Here’s his recipe: 1 quart kefir, 7 banana chunks (we buy them when they’re super ripe & on sale, & then chunk & freeze them), 5 ice cubes, 1 T vanilla (we make our own), 1T jam (we make different kinds…strawberry, pear, peach – all with evaporated cane juice as the sweetener, FYI). We are all out of our honey right now, or we’d use that instead. Paul says we use a “4 second drizzle”, when we have that, lol! 🙂
Now we are ready for our family devotion time. Thank you, Lord, for building our immune systems up through the many health benefits of kefir! 🙂
What do you like to drink while you read your Bible?
Progress…
OK – So imagine this space completely covered with “piles” of assorted papers, notes, books, etc… That was how this space in our bedroom has looked for too long. If Mike or I wanted to sit in our chairs to read, we had to move piles to even get to the chairs, lol! As of today, the “piles” are all in ONE box, and a fresh vacuum just went through… Here’s the box – JUST WAITING – to be sorted & shared. I know I will have NO SHORTAGE of things to talk about! 🙂
Do you have any “piles”?
Quote from John Quincy Adams
I was putting all my “piles” together in one box (in preparation for future posts) & found this quote. How appropriate for this election year & tomorrow being Ohio’s primary…
“Always vote for principle, though you may be alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.” JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, attributed, Pocket Patriot: Quotes from American Heroes
Roberts' Farm Blog 