So, I'm sort of in denial that soon I won't be living here and won't have my own computer. It's kinda a crazy feeling, I took the clothespins off my clothesline yesterday with Samuel. It was very, very bittersweet. Oh, my word! I found myself combing through the grass because I want to take every scrap of joy and contentment and happiness with me that I've had here.

I've lived her most of my married life, and while that's been relativly short, it's a crazy feeling.

Anyway. Moving on to the pictures .... this guy is closer to being 2yo than he is 1yo. And I find that pretty startling, too. He was scared to walk on the cracks on this porch, which was really hilarious!!!!

Samuel and CJ playing with "Tinkerbells". The mama cat is Tinkerbell, so of course the babies are all Tinkerbells, too. Of course! Didn't you know that's how it worked? LOL

Jay, Samuel and our new 3/4 German Shepard, Dutchess. God picked her out for our family, I'm sure of it. She's a great little dog!

You can see my friend Sarah in the background of this picture. I talk to her lots. And I still miss her. How does that work? She is a good friend to me.  She picked up Dutchess for us, and put up with her puppy-ways until we arrived to take her home.

Sarah is also going to meet up with us at some point and hand off this little fellow, when he's a bit older. I will call him Jericho and he will be my doggie.

And at this point, with two beehives, two dogs, and the promise of 30-40 chickens  . . . we need to be finding a farm!

Oh, and before I forget, here is Dutchess's mom. Pretty, huh?

And, here is her dad:

The dad is the one with floppy ears. The other dog is Dutchess's mom's sister. Got that? Good, don't forget. Because I can't think of a single reason why you need to remember which is which! LOL

Anyway, yeah. I kinda have to go keep pushing my house into a big cardboard box. Not really, I'm actually going to go sneak my favorite vice while my children are all asleep ... a hot shower. I know, I'm so evil. LOL One of these days, I want a tankless water heater, so no matter how many children bathe before I do, I won't run out of hot water. And then I will be overjoyed and live in my shower. Just kidding, I'm really being a bit silly this morning .... moving does that to me, I guess.

Adios,
~Ashley~ 

The moving continues. I can't believe we're supposed to leave this house by Saturday.

Yikies!

Sorry I'm not blogging much ....

We have a new puppy I need to talk about. She's wonderful!!!!!!

~Ashley~

I was trying to figure out where to put this, I guess I'll just blog it. If you recall, I asked ya'll to ponder these two thoughts, and you did. While I was off stuffing household belongings into bannana boxes and visiting with my sister-in-law and her adorable daughter, Samantha.

Submission isn’t agreeing with your husband – it’s honoring his choice even when you know you’re right!

Interesting, huh?

So, this afternoon I was thinking about this again. And it occurred to me; if a is true does that mean b? Could the following statement possibly be true?

True love is having children even when you know it is going to disrupt your life, not having them when you think it won’t!

Anyways, to revisit the topic and say sorta what I probably should have clarified:

[Note added 5/21/09

The comments on this post  are pretty good and worth reading. *smile* But this post did teach me not to post things like this when I don't have time to check on them! Yikes! LOL

Like Kate (in the comments), I do think you can know you're right and still honor your husband. But it might be better rephrased to say "submission is honoring your husband when you still think you're right." More than half the time I think I'm right, I turn out not to be. It's just hard to tell at the time!

When we agree, there isn't much submission on my part, just relief that we agree, hahaha!

The point I was trying to make with my own personal thought I was mulling over was that I think people sometimes have the idea that they will get pregnant this certain month, to have a XYZ month baby, and birth will go like 'So' and they are going to do pretty much what their parents didn't. And life will be grand. Then somewhere along the line, things don't go as planned. It might take longer to get pregnant and the baby is due in the heat of July instead of March. Or the birth is the opposite of how it was planned. Or this child just won't stop screaming, which wasn't part of the plan at all, or it's a boy and not a girl or whatever.

And I think that these people have to learn to love a different way, a more sacrifical love than perhaps they were planning on. I certainly didn't plan to lay down my life every day for my children! I never thought I would be this intensely in love with them ... I thought they would love me, but that I could keep them nicely compartmentalized in my life. And they haven't stayed compartmentalized, to the point they have become a part of everything.

Anyway, the point is that I think perhaps the mother who believes that the child she is carrying is going to ruin her life, and be this career-wrecker and come between her and her husband/boyfriend without her constant striving, I think her love might be a bit greater because she is still carrying that baby. She is prepared to give up so much just to carry that baby to term when most of the population will say, Oh, wow, this doesn't fit your plans perfectly? Have an abortion, just wait a while."

I'm not saying that BOTH mothers do not end up loving their child a crazy amount. But the Bible says that he who is forgiven much, loves much. And the thought I didn't articulate well was that perhaps the woman that sacrifices the most, loves the most, because of the supreme cost to her.

Just my thoughts. Thanks for listening!

Ashley

Crazy times, packing up to move.

I’ve discovered if I didn’t have so much food, it would be a snap. But that’s what cooking from scratch does to you. You start reading recipes, and you start wanting this spice and that herb and that gadget. And, if you like to hoard insane amounts of food as I do, you end up with a deep freeze, and a bunch of canning jars, and two refrigerators, and a cellar full of food. And don’t even get me started on the buckets of grain and the other stuff I have.

Yep, this would be a whole lot easier if I just didn’t cook the way I do. An occasional TV dinner, or frozen entree or store-bought pack of tortillas would probably cut the amount of food I have around here in half. But I like to make it myself, so I like to have what I need to make it when I want to. Thus the imense stockpile. 

Added to that is this weird timeline we’re on. I haven’t had a full day at home for weeks now, with visiting family from out of state and such. Today might be my first day home. Might; I’m trying not to count on it too hard. All it takes is a phone call to change those cherished hopes! LOL

Anyways, this weekend we won’t be able to do any packing. And then come Monday, we’re going to have a puppy.

My boys are making pets of everything that moves, but the dog is going to be J’s. It’s a ¾ German Shepherd that some friends heard about and picked up for us.

Samuel has been making pets of worms ... in my Tupperware. And "Rolly-ollies!" He made a wonderful house out of a plastic lid for a 'rolly-ollie' the other day, fed him on tiny bits of orange, and he came to me greatly saddened after his nap - that ungrateful rolly-ollie had left all that Samuel had to offer and was gone.

We need a farm, Lord. With two beehives, a puppy and the possessions of five people in two storage units …. We really need Your guidance and to point us toward the right place. And help us be patient until we can begin to unpack . . . .

It’s kinda good in a way that I’ve been so busy. I haven’t stopped to think about all the memories I’m leaving behind in this house. There are a lot of memories here. Birthing my oldest and youngest children into the living room of this house. The concern-filled final day I carried Elijah was in this living room. So much laughter and a lots tears have been shed here. I have done a lot of growing in this house. I learned to can here, to make cheese, and had my very own garden for the first time.

In a way, it’s almost scary. A part of me is a bit afraid, like I’ve been so happy here, can I be that happy somewhere else? I almost feel as if I was to stay here, time would freeze and my children would stay young forever. That one day I won’t wake up and they are learning to drive and finding mates.

I know in my head that day follows day anywhere. But it doesn’t feel like that to me.

I’m a bit nervous about the next big chapter in my life, even though I want it so much. It’s very interesting, so say the least, when I stop and actually think about my feelings. They don't make much sense, actually. I'm glad I don't have to listen to them much ....

I can’t wait to get the puppy. I have wanted a dog for five years, but only if it could be a country dog. Well, Lord willing, this one will be, just not for another month or two.

I wish I knew what God’s plan was. How long we are going to have to wait for our farm. All of the “signs” point that He is going to lead us to the country soon. We were so encouraged when He gave us the bees, just because we always said we would wait until we got out to our farm to have bees. And now we have not one, but two free beehives!

I think I'm more concerned about how my bees travel than I am any of my glassware stuff. The more something has the potential to produce, such as meat, milk, eggs or honey, the more important it is in my estimation that it arrive safely and thrive. Canning jars are important tools, but the living, breathing tools that are these beehives are harder to replace.

We’re interested in one farm, but there is something up with zoning and breaking apart a huge chunk of land to sell just the house and barns and thirty-five acres. I’m not sure exactly what, really. But the fact remains that we can’t even put in an offer on it yet. So, it seems very unlikely that we’ll move to a farm in the month of June . . . but who knows what God has in mind? Maybe we’re being delayed from putting in an offer because God has someplace else in mind.

I sure wish I knew. It’s weird being uprooted and knowing you’re going to be moving in with someone else in the near future. I could get deliriously happy about moving from one home to another …. But the in-between-step is harder to get excited about. I’m just impatient that way, I reckon. Our house is sold, give me my farm! Hahaha ….

Busy, busy!

~Ashley~

We are busy packing. A household of five persons; two bee hives and a tank of guppies. Actually, it looks like we might be able to leave the fish tank for the little girl who is next going to enjoy Eden’s room – to which Mommy says Hooray! We’re going to have plenty to do on a farm. Or living with my in-laws short term, or even renting from my parents if we end up doing that. Keep praying, it’s hard to say what God is going to do.

And until we know what it is we’re supposed to do, we’re going to be a little family without roots, sort of like the Israelites were for forty years. We just hope it’s of much shorter duration for us . . . the Israelites probably didn’t have bee hives to transport with them, did they? LOL

It also sounds as if we will be adding more helpful, farm-type critter members to our menagerie,  so stay tuned. We sorta hope, with God providing us the bees in the last month, and these other possibilities that have dropped into our laps, that our country home is just around the corner. We hope certainly hope so!

Anyways, here is your deep thought for the weekend.

I heard an excellent quote on the MOMYS forum the other day. I’ve been chewing it over ever since.

Submission isn’t agreeing with your husband – it’s honoring his choice even when you know you’re right!

Interesting, huh?

So, this afternoon I was thinking about this again. And it occurred to me; if a is true does that mean b? Could the following statement possibly be true?

True love is having children even when you know it is going to disrupt your life, not having them when you think it won’t!

What do you think? Is it a stretch, or is there some truth to it? I'd like your thoughts!

~Ashley~