Category Archives: Prayers

Home again, home again…

Well, I’ve been home for a week now. I enjoyed helping Kristin, and seeing Nebraska, but it’s nice to be back, too. I love how a trip away can remind me of the joys of experiencing family life together here, and puts a fresh perspective on my daily chores… Kinda like a “new spring in my step” this week, lol! 🙂

Made many memories while I was out there…laughing with my nieces as I taught them the “chicken dance” [Um, I won’t go into detail about WHY I have that song on my phone…but I am 75% Polish, lol!] 🙂

…survived a fall down some steps without any broken bones, praise the Lord! Simply made an unwise decision about not using the railing – sure made me thankful for every successful step after that!

...and my arm muscles are much stronger now after so much Sawyer-cuddle-time… 🙂

But the trip home was a bit taxing.

My flight out of Lincoln was postponed by 5 hours due to mechanical issues. Because of this, I would miss my connecting flight in Chicago. I didn’t mind the extra time waiting, because I THOUGHT I could use the time to blog & make use of free airport wifi. BUT, when they made the announcement that there were only 4 seats left on the same flight the next day (for those who wanted to try again tomorrow), and I saw how many other travelers were in the same boat as me… When the spokesperson said it could be a WEEK before we’d all have a flight out, my hopes of a leisurely 5 hours began to be dashed. A note about me: I am not a big fan of rushing or making quick decisions. I’d much prefer time to think, pray, and ask questions…

Instead, I was completely consumed with investigating other flight scenarios, updating family, & requesting prayer… All while keeping the corner of my eye peeled for the rep to come back to the podium so I could ask some questions. She finally did appear, and I joined the rest of the room in line, waiting for her time. My main prayer now was to be able to exude Hope in this circumstance… I was surrounded by soooo many upset people! That prayer was answered with a wonderful conversation with the German man in front of me. Because of this delay, he & his family were going to be severely inconvenienced in their travel to Germany. As my “minor” plan-change dimmed in comparison to his, it was a joy to shift my prayers to him, and as we spoke about it, it led to over an hour conversation about his walk with the Lord. It was beautiful, and I hardly noticed how long I waited for my turn. 🙂

It was decided that I would get to Chicago, accept a voucher for a hotel, and be aboard an early morning flight home. I was fine with this & ready for the next leg of my adventure to begin… Until I began to board the plane…

Upon boarding, I was informed by another passenger that there was a flight that had been delayed in Chicago that we might be able to get on & still make it to Ohio THAT NIGHT. Of course, my calmness was now disturbed & since I had to turn my phone off on the plane, my final txt to Mike was that he needed to pray as the Spirit led him, because I was too overwhelmed to even know how to pray…

Got off our plane in Chicago, raced to the gate for the other one, and missed it by 5 minutes… Ug. Such a sickening feeling! 😦

Went to customer service, and what do ya know? ANOTHER detained flight headed to Ohio – leaving in 30 minutes!! More rushing & sweating, but it was a successful effort to board the plane… Only problem was now I was flying to the Cleveland Airport instead of Akron/Canton, lol. My poor boys had to leave our house at 11pm for the 1.5 hour drive to the airport… Yeah. Felt like a re-run of our Christmas night, lol… Thankfully, all went well & by 3am, the 4 of us were home & in our beds. Geesh. What a day! 🙂

Lord, as I recount last week’s trip, I see so much evidence of You around me. Thank You for the opportunity to help Kristin & more bonding time with my nieces & nephew… For teaching me to s-l-o-w down and watch my steps… For protecting me, when I forgot to do that… For the sounds of laughter as fun was had… For conversations about You with family & beyond… For modern transportation, and plan b’s, and plan c’s… For knowing what’s best for me when I have no idea… And for pushing my “comfort level” to where I never would… Continue to shape me into who You want me to be. Amen

And I love this pic that was floating around on FB… 🙂

Missin’ my boys…

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Kristin brought out some old pics of Mike & the boys… Makin’ this lady a little homesick!

Thank You, Lord, for film that captures moments in time and helps us remember seasons of the past. What a blessing to watch this family grow. As we worship separately today, it is such a comfort to know that though many miles are between us, we are united through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Another adventure…

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For the 3rd time in 2 years, I am waking up on the other side of this country. God keeps sending me on trips I would never have imagined…

2 years ago in February, I was gifted a surprise trip to see my Mom, Dad, brother, and niece in Arizona. Then, November of that same year, my Mom had emergency surgery because her colon burst, and due to generous donations from family & friends, I was able to be by her side in ICU and watch her miraculous recovery from being on a ventilator to rehab in a nursing home. And Thursday, I was flown to Nebraska – where I am for 6 days to help my sister-in-law with the kids while Mike’s brother attends job training out-of-state. Mike has graciously taken over the main schoolteacher role in addition to his regular farm chores, and everyone is being well-fed by Grandma next door… 🙂

How do I know this is God sending me? Because I know how much money we have in our accounts. And it’s not enough to buy plane tickets!

Thank You, Lord, for opening doors I don’t even know are there… Thank You for the gentle nudge to walk through those doors. Thank You for providing for our every need each day, and for forgiving us when we allow anxiety to settle in and forget to give our burdens to you. Thank You for surrounding us with a supportive and giving family. May our children see a real-life example of Your Words in James as he talks about Abraham’s obedience: …that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. (James 2:22, 24 NIV84) And, Lord, I humbly pray that this family have many generations who seek to walk with You. Amen.

Christmas reflections 2012

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What a whirlwind of a season! Started preparing this post weeks ago – and am thankful I’m finally getting it posted! 🙂

Enjoyed a wonderful time of preparation for Christmas, and despite some challenges during the actual week of Christmas, had a great time visiting with family and cherishing T-I-M-E. That would be “time” for building relationships, “time” for leaning on the Lord for strength, “time” for creating memories, “time” for resting, “time” for practicing thanksgiving, and “time” for adoration of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ – the REAL reason for this season. 🙂

I took a lot of pictures as our homemade gifts came into fruition, and hopefully I can get them posted before January is over…

Christmas Eve began with our tiny service in the barn next door. This year we read through the familiar passages in Luke & Matthew, plus some from Genesis & Hebrews. We chose “The Message” translation to read from, and I so loved the sentence from Hebrews 10:14… (regarding Jesus Christ’s SINGLE sacrifice for sins) “It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people.” 🙂 We sang Christmas hymns as the cats harmonized with their purring, lol… It was a simple, but beautiful time of worship. 🙂

A funny story about Christmas morning… one of my gifts to the boys was for them to wake up to the smell of “fresh bread”. Since all our bread is sourdough, and requires a 2-day process to complete it, that meant I had to begin the “end phase” before bed, get up at 3am to separate the dough into loaves, and bake it around 5:30am. Not too big of a deal for the 5:30 part, because that’s about when Mike & I roll out of bed anyway… All worked without a hitch – UNTIL I REMEMBERED I HAD TOLD MIKE’S DAD I WOULD COOK THE SHRIMP HE PURCHASED for the “appetizer brunch” planned at his house for Christmas Day… LESSON LEARNED: the smell of shrimp boiling TRUMPS any fresh-bread smell, lol! Fortunately some friends had made us a lovely scented candle for a gift – it worked well to at least get rid of the “fishy” smell! (Thanks Ben & Brittany!) 🙂

After enjoying Christmas morning here, mid-day next door and then the afternoon/evening up in Cleveland with my side of the family, we looked forward to picking up Mike’s brother & his wife, our 2 nieces + new nephew at the Cleveland Airport at 10:19pm. Well 10:19pm actually turned into 3 something am… It was a very stressful night as we watched a terrible winter storm creeping up from the south & our Nebraska family was stuck in Chicago! Thankfully, they all landed in Cleveland ok and made it back down here around 5am – about four hours before the storm hit!! Praise the Lord… 🙂

So after TWO NIGHTS of sleep deprivation for me, it was quite the challenge to complete the last minute gift wrapping/assembling. Emotions for me were very quick to surface – be it a snappy tongue or tears… Not exactly how I had envisioned that day to be. 😦

My morning devotions were such a blessing during this time – led to lots of journalling that I am slowly adding to my “raw ramble page”… 🙂 It was so wonderful to finally get to meet our nephew, Sawyer! And bless his heart – he was so patient with his Aunt Dawn…after MONTHS of waiting (& whining) about being able to hold him, I didn’t do a thing but PASS OUT when we sat down together, lol…

Fortunately, I caught up on my sleep after that, so I had other opportunities to make up for my heavy eyes… 🙂

It was great to spend time with our nieces, too – always fun watching the boys entertaining their cousins!

Played “bring-every-stuffed-animal-we-have-to-see-Baby-Jesus-in-the manger” over here, at our house…

The winter storm brought over 6 inches of snow, so sled-riding made the agenda…

With some snowballs being thrown, of course! Paul got Uncle Ben pretty good, lol… (Fortunately, his glasses were not broken!) 🙂

Got up to the “big hill”, and Michael & Paul had fun blazing trails.

And this pic hurts my knees just looking at it! Here’s Paul getting a running/jumping start…

And of course, a time outside wouldn’t be complete without Michael on the ground… At his request, he got buried in the snow, lol… 🙂

Another day, more family made the couple hour drive up, so our crew had fun playing with more cousins!

The “younger” ones went sled-riding between our two houses. I took these pics from the comfort of a nice, warm kitchen, lol… 🙂

Funny how little boys naturally gravitate toward a snowball fight! If you squint, you’ll see cousin Joe aiming for Ben… 🙂

Alyssa found time to work on a craft she got as a gift…

Uncle Mike with Sawyer…

Addi & Sawyer both got some cuddle time with Grandma…

Aunt Jenny with Sawyer…

And Michael with Sawyer…

And then the poor guy had to put up with his crazy aunts dressing him up…

Thought this pic was hilarious with his fist up – boys think he looks like Thor, lol! 🙂

Sadly, we were not immune to sickness during the week. It hit Grandma first, then Paul, then Mike… Nothing major, just annoying. They were all pretty tired for a good 4-5 days, and Mike’s seemed to end up as soreness in his back. Again, for us it was more spiritual warfare – an open door for the devil to attempt to steal some joy, and it led me to more “<a href="http://“>journal rambles“…

On January 4th, I was led to 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 from one of my devotions. It went along perfectly with my reflections of Christmas – where we battled exhaustion, prolonged sickness, irritations, hurting bodies, and even boredom in recovery. It’s fascinating to witness how evil can work on our physical bodies to affect (attempt to affect) our Light! Father, strengthen us to battle these circumstances today – each our own hurdle… As these bodies heal, keep the memories fresh in our minds so we can’t help but to overflow with thanksgiving as we speak of Your amazing love and provisions. Thank You for fresh perspectives and encouraging passages from Your Living Word! Amen.

HIS HANDS are here…

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If you are reading this post, it’s because Mike gave me permission to post it. Otherwise, this page will just be tucked into a page in my Bible…

11-29-12
Rough day today. Ever had one of those?

Not like “physically rough”, but “spiritually rough”.

Not like: “I hate God”, but like: “God show me where You are in this…”

I’m sharing a burden for my best friend today. A burden heavier for him, because God made him a man. A husband. A father. A provider for this family. A man plagued by his past mistakes. A man made new in Jesus Christ, but still remembering his old self. A man who wants so badly to undo his mistakes. A man who looks so hard for fixes, that he can’t see His Hands. Sometimes.

Then I walked into the barn and saw the gloves he had left behind. Struck me as the perfect picture of how The Lord’s Hands are laced throughout my life – even when I can’t physically see them.

The Lord always leaves “His imprint” for me to find. Sometimes it’s through people. Sometimes it’s through nature. Sometimes it’s through music. Sometimes it’s through circumstances. It’s always there – permeating through my senses. The question for me becomes: am I TRULY looking for it? Seems crazy that what seems obvious in retrospect is so blurred by my in-the-moment-nearsightedness…

So what’s the common thread? The one true strand that He weaves for me? Could it be HIS WORD? The very thing I love to read? I feel like David as he pours his heart out in so many Psalms! Just the exercise of asking these questions – this new willed discipline of coming back to the only Word that is sufficient for my moment’s existence…just this tiny effort of walking in communion with my Heavenly Father…begins to shake the scales off my eyes, unmuffles my ears, and forms words on my tongue that first came from Him. THEY ARE ALIVE!

I’m crying now. Real. Physical. Tears. I can’t believe that my heart cry from this morning – the one where there was no answer in sight – where I felt worthless and unable to offer anything to my best friend – where I had to rely on His Spirit interceding for me because I didn’t even know how to pray…and He sent me a sister at that EXACT moment – to unite with me in prayer…

That heart cry has been heard, and He’s answered me with His Word.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 NIV84)

And then one final lesson, The Lord had in store for me… He must have heard me whispering in my mind – how it sure seems like I’m always praying the same thing…different situations, but same requests… I searched my Bible for passages on faithfulness, and He led me to David’s Song of Praise in 2 Samuel 22… Then I went to Psalm 18, and I thought there was a glitch in the Bible app on my phone… The Words I had just read in 2 Samuel were ALMOST IDENTICAL to the Words I was reading in Psalm 18! Wow. This is powerful to me today. NO, I don’t think He minds that I have overlaps in my requests. I think He just wants me to pursue Him. Forever. 🙂

“To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, to the blameless You show Yourself blameless, to the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd. You save the humble, but Your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low. You are my lamp, O Lord; the Lord turns my darkness into light. With Your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. “As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him. For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. (2 Samuel 22:26-33 NIV84)

To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, to the blameless You show Yourself blameless, to the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd. You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty. You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. With Your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him. For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. (Psalm 18:25-32 NIV84)

Yes, Lord, Your Way is perfect, and Your Word is flawless. I pray the meanings of these verses will flow out from me like living water… May my husband receive the same nourishment from them that I do. Use me to help him see Your Hands, Lord. AMEN

Entered my 4th decade…

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So I’ve been 40 now for one month! 🙂

Can’t say I feel much different – still behind in pretty much every category – and still moving slower than I’d like, lol!

I don’t mind, though – I like keeping busy, and I hate rushing… 🙂

Mike made me a frame for one of our school maps out of scrap wood he had laying around. I love it! 🙂

From Michael, I got an ITunes gift card and he also joined in on Paul’s gift… Apparently, “the gift” for turning 40 is chocolate – namely, M&M’s… (Not sure if that’s because they were on sale the day they were shopping, or because we tend to bend our eating habits for special occasions and perhaps the birthday girl would share her loot, lol…)

I decided to try to see if I could get the candy to last as long as possible – after all, it’s not our habit to eat it often, so that shouldn’t be hard to do, right?

My 3 boys rolled their eyes when they saw what I did… 🙂

So how’s my “great idea” workin’ out???

COMPLETE – EPIC – FAIL!!!!! 😦

Every single one of those candies are gone, lol. Didn’t even last one month!! And sadly, I was the worst offender… 😦 This is EXACTLY why I don’t keep this stuff in the house… A terrible example of self-control, I was. 😦

[In my defense, I’d like to say it’s the Peanut M&Ms’ fault. If they didn’t taste the best, I wouldn’t have hunted so much for them and eaten the ones in my way, lol! I know, lame excuse. Uggg.]

We just finished memorizing the first book of James, and there are several verses that were very convicting to me… When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full‑grown, gives birth to death. (James 1:13-15 NIV84) Yikes, Lord, such a simple, little thing – yet a perfect example of how weak I am when I rely on my own power to fight my battles. I guess I felt like I didn’t need Your help in this…that I could handle it with my “big talk” and “methodic system”. I know it wasn’t You tempting me… You were there with me the whole time, just waiting for me to ask You for help. Instead, I allowed desire to drag me away, and that led to sin – the sin of not practicing self-control. It’s easy to practice self-control when you don’t have something you desire in your kitchen cupboard. Strengthen me, Lord, to be better able to handle the next time I’m in a similar situation. How amazing that M&M’s can lead me to repentance, lol! I love Your sense of humor, Lord. Amen

Thankful for seeds…

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Yesterday, as we celebrated the first of our Thanksgiving meals this weekend, I kept thinking about how grateful I was for “seeds”.

From the meats, to the vegetables, to the fruits, to the breads, to the desserts, and all the condiments – they can all be traced back to a “seed”. These “seeds” were conceived, germinated, grown, tended, cared for, born, hatched, picked, harvested, processed, cooked, served, and finally: consumed. By these “seeds”, our physical appetites were filled. Perhaps even, OVERfilled, lol…

Then I thought about “seeds” in regards to family. Perhaps it’s because we were with so many extended family members – multiple generations under one roof. Levels of people grown from the same “seed” – shared grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and those grafted in through adoption or many years of friendship. And then there’s the thought of future generations to be added to the family tree – new marriages and the miracle of children… By these “seeds” have grown many years of familiar traditions and memories – and now opportunities to plant new “seeds” for future relationships to grow as our walks progress from the youngest to the older…

As I prepared my meal contribution, I listened to this sermon by Vance Havner entitled God’s Work In The Life Of One Servant, Part 2. (aired on Moody Radio – Today In The Word Radio on 11-12-12) It truly spoke to my heart, and brought me to thanksgiving for the “seed” of His Word. This was a timeless sermon over 30 years old, and yet completely relative to today’s world. I absolutely love how The Lord is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The pastors will change, and the testimonies will be unique, but the Truth behind the lessons does not change like shifting shadows – just like James tells us in James 1:17. The “seed” of Jesus Christ is in His blood. And I am eternally grateful He died for me, so that I can spend eternity with Him. Father, while I am still here, I pray that I can plant many generations of “seeds” that You will grow. AMEN

Oh Lord, I pray over my day

Hunting for…?

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Just curious… Any guesses as to what is hiding in the grass, lol?

I’ll update this post in a few hours with the answer… 🙂

[imagine Jeopardy music playing now]

AND THE ANSWER IS….

AIRSOFT BULLETS, lol!
(Apparently the purple ones are the heaviest weighted bb’s, so they are a VERY precious find…)

I absolutely love that The Lord has blessed me with two very different boys! I have one who can’t sit still and is rarely seen without a ball, mitt, or bat in his hand. And then I have one who will crawl on his hands and knees and search for bb’s for HOURS after an airsoft war to retrieve the “best” ones, lol! 🙂

Roberts' Farm Blog

Ramblings of a remade remnant…

Category Archives: Prayers

Home again, home again…

Missin’ my boys…

Another adventure…

Christmas reflections 2012

HIS HANDS are here…

Entered my 4th decade…

Thankful for seeds…

Oh Lord, I pray over my day

Hunting for…?

Simple thanks…