"There are approximately 250 million deaf people in the world. If all the deaf people that lived on earth were put together in one place, they would be the fourth largest nation. Only one to two percent of all deaf people are Christians. "  http://eoe.tripod.com/

I'm seriously thinking this is a ministry our family may be able to help with.  It surely is one that needs as much help as possible.  These people need to know about thier Creator and His Love for them.  I'm starting by passing the word.  Please join me and pass it along... 

Moles are such a huge nuisance in my garden. They dig tunnels all through and wreak havoc with my veggies, uprooting them and such.  The watering we do sometimes ends up down the mole hole instead of the plant roots.  I was getting very tired of fighting them for another year.  So I started doing a little research on how to get them out of my garden.  Poison was my first thought..  but I didn’t want that stuff in my garden.  Traps are effective but expensive. So I looked for more affordable remedies.  I came up with one that is easy to do.   You make a mixture of castor oil and Joy dish soap (2:1 ratio).  You add a few tablespoons of this mixture to a gallon of water and pour it down their holes. 

I have been doing this with some success.  The reason it can work is that moles have a heightened sense of smell and can’t stand the smell of castor oil.  They also don’t like the feel of it on them.  After a couple of applications some of the holes were not bothered any more but I still had some.  So the next time I put in more of the castor oil mix into my gallon of water and made the applications a little stronger.  I had been using 2 to 3T tablespoons per gallon..  so I doubled that.  Well I am happy to say that yesterday while in the garden I saw that all my mole holes had not been disturbed again..  so success maybe?  We will see.     

If my pesky mole just makes holes in other areas of the garden I will try another solution I read the other day and that is bubble gum.  You drop pieces of bubble gum (or Juicy Fruit I also read they like) into their holes.  The reviews I read said this was effective and will end the problem permanently!  I guess their digestive systems can’t handle gum..  they are eaters not chewers.. haa.. haa.  So if castor oil does not solve the problem..  I will try bubble gum.   

Just thought I would share this bit of mole info for anyone else battling them in their gardens this summer..  

Let me tell you of a story about a little boy who turned one year old on Thursday. He really enjoyed his birthday cake ..... really!!!!

Let me show you the story of how it went.

All gone!!!

Happy Birthday Sweetie Pie!

I missed the best picture. On my way in to the house there were 3 of these beautys on the same flower. I ran for my camera & when I came back only this one was left. But isn't he/she gorgeous?

"Tiny caterpillar, climbing up a tree

He wiggles & he wiggles & he wiggles back to me

I put him in a box,  "Don't go away" I said

But when I opened up the box, a butterfly instead!

I can never make one, even if I try

Only Jesus Christ can make a butterfly."

Blessings.

Happy Independence Day!

Blessings.

~HAPPY 4th OF JULY~

  In the words of Herbert Hoover, "My country owes me nothing. It gave me, as it gives every boy and girl, a chance. It gave me schooling, independence of action, opportunity for service and honor. In no other land could a boy from a country village, without inheritance or influential friends, look forward with unbounded hope."

Sincerely,

~Mary-Ann~

  Happy Birthday America!  Today I am especially grateful for the wonderful freedoms we enjoy.  The freedom to worship, the freedom to praise God, the freedom to own our own property and live and work as we wish. For all these freedoms and more I very thankful for!

I pray each one of you enjoys a blessed & wonderful day!

Gloria

Happy Birthday America!!!!  Let's all cheer for the Red, White and Blue!!!  I love the Fourth of July, and the cookouts, family gatherings, and fireworks.  But this year, we aren't sure if there is going to be much fireworks.  We might be able to still arrange the cookout, and just eat indoors.  But is is difficult to celebrate with fireworks when it is raining!!  UGH!  The weather reports aren't sure if the rain will stop before sunset and the big firework displays or not.  DARN IT! 

Matthew took off earlier this morning with our Noah, 3 years old, to pick out some fireworks.  We always wait until the 4th to buy ours because of the wonderful sales they hold the day of.  He alsos picked up some sausage and milk on the way home for our breakfast....sausage gravy and biscuits!!  YUMMY!  He even made breakfast for us.  Matthew never cooked (except for Hamburger Helper) until he met me.  LOL  Now he is the breakfast expert and won't let me in the kitchen when he is making pancakes or his specialty of biscuits and gravy. 

The rest of the day we are going to hang out, relax (finish putting away laundry, do a few dishes) and just enjoy having daddy home!   Tonight we are going to my brother's house for a cookout (possibly cook in...depending on the whether), and then back to town for the city wide fireworks display.  I am looking forward to seeing my family today.  We are all so busy, and it seems working schedules conflict that we don't get together more often.  Looking forward to seeing how big my neice Megan is getting with her first pregnancy.  She is due in October, and I am sure she isn't much bigger than her little frame was before, but maybe a tiny bit. 

Matthew's family is all scattered this weekend.  We made a comment last night that if everyone wasn't gone, we would have loved to get them all together at our house this weekend.  Oh well.  His parents church is having a 3 day meeting, his sister lives in Washington,DC area and unable to come home, and his other sister, her hubby and 5 year old daughter just started their 5 day trek back to Missouri from California and today.  They visited Sea World, Disney, etc. and had lots of fun.  I can't wait to hear about their trip!

How do you define “love”? Is it a feeling? Is it a need or an urge, or maybe a feeling of bliss or contentment? My personal definition for love has undergone a radical evolution this year. Whether by God’s hand or just as a bonus from the aftermath of a struggle I can’t really be sure.

By chance or by design, yet not fortunate under any circumstances, during this time of loneliness and sadness in my life, in walked one of the most difficult temptations there is for me. The old flame. All of the flattery and wooing stirred up old feelings and sent shameful fantasies running through my head. So, I did the only thing I could think to do. I firmly stated my love for my husband and my God and I walked away. Then when my mind was tormented by confusing and contradicting thoughts, which it seemed to be continuously for a time, I got on my knees and cried to God. He didn’t really answer much. My impression was more of Him just sitting there with me, waiting to see what I would do.

(I must admit that in the silence I was bombarded by voices that made me doubt God and His existence. I know now that it was the enemy that tried to tell me to just give up on God.)

That is when I started thinking about “love”. How is it that I can love and be devoted to my wonderful husband and then at the same time think that I might have love for another? Well, I guess that depends on your definition of love. If I define it as a feeling- of excitement, pleasure, or simply attraction- then I guess it is possible. But what about the times that those feelings fade back and the excitement dies down to the quiet thrum of life?

Are our marriages really meant to sustain our feelings and happiness or are they really for another purpose entirely? I asked myself what I have when those feelings are not overwhelming me.  I have something even more beautiful. I have a partner. I have a teammate. A commitment, and someone to share even the most mundane parts of life with. I have someone to share the bruises and scars of life with. I have someone to share in my story. We have one story to tell, with a shared history, a shared now, and a shared future. Even when he is across the world, we are one unit, one family, a new creation.

You don’t walk out on your team because a game isn’t going your way. You train harder. You train harder TOGETHER and you come back to the court or field the next season and you battle on. I have enjoyed the picture of marriage I have had in my mind of wine aging. It didn’t start as wine. It was grapes. Single, individual, very separate little grapes. Grapes that had to be stomped on and crushed until they were pressed into something new and mixed together, and then aged until they were yet again something new.

So, I am left with another question. How can you show or give love if you have a limited definition?

With my previous definition of uncontrollable and effortless emotions, I shouldn’t ever have to do anything. Love should just effortlessly come to me and whoever else claims to be in love with me. But that isn’t right is it?