We have been reading this book for the past month. It is the diary of William Bradford, of Plymouth Plantation. It chronicles the Pilgrims experiences and trials while they were establishing their new home in America.

There are so many details in this book. So much that I have learned that will not be found in todays textbooks. You can truly see God's hand in these peoples lives throughout their journey to establish a new colony for the glory of God.

They had so many hardships, yet they continued to put their trust in God no matter what the outcome. These people really should be remembered as heros in this land today. Christian heros who loved God enough to leave ALL that they had to serve Him as the Bible commands.

If you have the chance to read it, PLEASE do so. It is FACTUAL information on the pilgrims with NO political reinventions. You will learn the truth about the first Thanksgiving!

Bless all who pass this way!

Amanda <><
II Corinthians 5:7

No Condemnation

In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve. (Jeremiah 50:20)

A glorious word indeed! What a perfect pardon is here promised to the sinful nations of Israel and Judah! Sin is to be so removed that it shall not be found, so blotted out that there shall be none. Glory be unto the God of pardons!

Satan seeks out sins wherewith to accuse us, our enemies seek them that they may lay them to our charge, and our own conscience seeks them even with a morbid eagerness. But when the Lord applies the precious blood of Jesus, we fear no form of search, for "there shall be none"; "they shall not be found." The Lord hath caused the sins of His people to cease to be: He hath finished transgression and made an end of sin. The sacrifice of Jesus has cast our sins into the depths of the sea. This makes us dance for joy. ( I am so thankful that The Lord Saved me!)

The reason for the obliteration of sin lies in the fact that Jehovah Himself pardons His chosen ones. His word of grace is not only royal but divine. He speaks absolution, and we are absolved. He applies the atonement, and from that hour His people are beyond all fear of condemnation. Blessed be the name of the sin-annihilating God!

By Charles Spurgeon

Blessings!

   Well, we finally met the Landlords...well have of them anyway:P

   Last weekend we received an email from his lovely wife letting us know that he would be arriving the next day (Sunday)~! It's not easy finding a day in the fall up here in Oregon, that is dry let alone sunny:P So, it's important to check the weather daily to see if there will be a window of time. They did and he was on his way.

   I want to share a wonderful thing here quickly. I was blessed to see the title of the email that she sent..."Greetings!! From your landlords wife!" It was wonderful to see that she acknowledged that she belonged to her husband:) Not as a possession but rather as his helpmeet, his adoring wife! Something not to be ashamed of in the least. It was truly refreshing:)

   Back to the visit:)

   He showed up Sunday morning around 10:30am. I had not been feeling well the night before and so had not slept well. This meant sleeping in just a tad the next day;P Miss Sarah was the only one dressed so she greeted him first while Miss Mary-Ann and I got dressed. Shame on me for being so lazy that day:P

   I went out to meet him and my what a blessing. He was very sweet and pleasant. For all of my silly conserns about things, it was wasted as he had no real expectations of us and so the fellowship was quite sweet and encouraging:) He spent time speaking with our Miss Sarah while she helped him at one point which she enjoyed greatly. She has since shared some little stories that he shared with her about himself.:)

   I had the blessed opportunity to correspond with his lovely bride and get to know her a bit better. I am looking very forward to getting to meet her in person. Perhaps Spring:) Lord willing:)

   We sent him home a few days later with some homemade soaps, peaches, pearbutter and oatmeal cookies which I've been told he ate half of on his ride home:P

   We have truly been blessed by the Father in our moving her. He has given us godly landlords, plenty of room for our homesteading needs and the sweet fellowship of this past week:) How could we ask for more?

   I know they read our blog now and again so I want to say...Brother and Sister...thank you for your sweetness and your encouragment here. You are truly a God breathed blessing in our lives.

God be with thee!

Sister Lori

Blessings!

   Well, it's always something. Just as Miss Mary-Ann and I were arriving home from our class, there was Miss Sarah sitting at the front porch. She had gone out to feed the animals and found one of our whethers laying oddly in the pen. Closer inspection showed he was dying so she gathered him up and came to the front of the house to wait for us. He died just as we had arrived. Poor little thing. And our poor Miss Sarah. It seems she's always the one that is on hand at these times. Perhaps the Good Lord has given her this gift of comforting the dying animals we have.

   We were all saddened by Pi's passing but we expected it. Well, at least I did. I had been giving him injections for what i suspected was pneumonia. This was positively revealed at his passing this morning. I had hoped the medicines were working but it was already too late by the time I had figured out what it was. Such is farm life.

   This winter is supposed to be colder than last year and much wetter so we've decided to sell off the goats for this year and look into purchasing bred does in the Spring. We'll see. In the meantime, the ones we have, both Nigerians and Nubians, need to be sold.

   We will still have our chickens and ducks and rabbits. Of course the inside animals too but Brother Craig and I thought we would maybe take a break from the larger animals for a bit. It will be easier for us to afford wintering if we aren't feeding goats as well. It's a very difficult decision to make but we feel it's the best thing to do for this year.

   The Lord has brought us this far and we know He will walk us further on as we endeavor to do His Will in our lives. Times are going to get tougher before they get better so we are sure that the Lord is guiding us to make these changes for now. It will be better financially if we are able to cut back in a few ways and feeding the goats while they are not producing anyway is not a sound thing to do. One day, we won't have to pay for the feed, but until we are able to grow our own it's choices and decisions that need to be made:)

   Well, that's the haps for this day. We still have plenty of chickens for meat and eggs, ducks for meat and eventually the rabbits will be a good source for meat:)

   Now to pray for our Sarah as she needs a bit of uplifting this evening. God is so good! I know He has another wonderful adventure in store for us. I can't wait to see what it will be:)

God be with thee!

Sister Lori

Nothing purchased can come close to the renewed sense of gratitude for having family and friends.   ~Courtland Milloy

This season, I am increasingly aware of the blessing of family and friends.  And you wonderful folks here are some of those I feel priveleged to count among my friends; though our connection is just a "cyber" one, I feel a kinship with many of you who are part of this little community. 

I received this little poem in my inbox from another dear friend, and would like to share it with you:

I pray you have a lovely Thanksgiving holiday, surrounded by the the blessing of family and friends, enjoying some of the bountiful harvest from your gardens! 

I will be back visiting with you on the Front Porch soon.   Our family is once again "on the move", so it may be a few days until the computer has a new spot in our little nest, and is set up and ready to go.  First must come other things...the kitchen, the bedrooms, the bathrooms (oh, they need some serious attention), and of course, a nice sunny spot indoors for my potted herbs. 

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!!!

Blessings to you and yours,

Catherine

http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/turkeys_corn_ethanol/2008/11/20/153589.html-

Blessings,

Amanda <><
II Corinthians 5:7

I am in a swap online, and my swap partner has specifically requested throw pillows for her living room couch.  We made a deal that if I make the pillow covers, she will buy the inserts for them if I make them a standard size.  That way the shipping won't be so costly.  I hope she loves them!!!  The fabric was on her wish list, so I think she will. 

And the bonus is, zippers are not that hard!!  I am thinking of  buying some smaller zippers and making some wristlets and makeup bags sometime soon!!

Here is a pic:

And here is a close up of the fabric:

I have been sewing and crafting for others so much lately (and I honeslty do enjoy it), but decided the other day to take 15 minutes to spend on my own apron.  I have had this apron laying in a stack on my sewing table 1/2 way done for 2 months or so now.  LMSO  Sad isn't it???  But alas, it is done, and I love it!!!!

Here is a pic: