I think it is a safe assumption that each of us wants to do God's will. In our desire to do His will, we want to share our experiences with others in hopes of touching them in a positive way for the Lord.

   A long time ago my father said something to my mother that has stuck with me for all of my adult life. My mother has a sister. She has always admired her sister for all of her talents. How smart her sister was, how talented she was, how she could do anything, make anything, be anything. One day her sister showed her true colors and suddenly this sister wasn't so perfect anymore. My mother was truly hurt, disillusioned. She felt betrayed. When my father was comforting her one evening he said, "you shouldn't put someone on such a high pedestal that they have so far to fall."

   This one simple statement stuck with me. It has kept me from doing the same thing. It has kept me focused on the knowledge that we are all human. We all make mistakes. None of us is perfect. And how unfair it is to put such a burden on another person by expecting them to always do things right. When that person stumbles and falls we are quick to judge and point fingers at the hipocrisy. Instead, we should be helping them to stand again. Helping them to rise above the trial. Helping them back on the path they were clearly on before.

   When the shoe is on the other foot, and WE are the one on that pedestal, it's important to remember that even when we stumble and fall ourselves, we need to admit our humanness, our fallibility, our weakness. We need to step down as the teacher, mentor and allow another to teach and mentor us during that time.

   I know that I was seriously disillusioned by someone many years ago and it shook my spiritual world. It took me many years to get over it. To trust once again. This person has never been the same. Through their choice to make a u-turn in their core beliefs and change everything they once believed in, they caused a great many to walk away from God's Word.

   We, as women of God, are told to teach our daughters and younger women to be good wives and mothers. We strive to do so until something happens in our own lives and suddenly we change direction because we are hurt, angry or even scared and unsure. Our own faith has been challenged and we want to change our minds on what we believed and how we did things. We become hipocrits in the eyes of those younger women and they come away shattered and unsure. They are confused and are left floundering. What are they to believe? WHO are they to believe?

   I receive many many emails and private messages from other women who desire direction and validation in their lives as mothers, wives, sisters and daughters. They ask me questions and take my answers to heart. I always make sure they know that I am firm in my faith and through trial and error I have learned the things I've learned. I also let them know that I am only human, just like them. I make mistakes and will continue to make mistakes as I journey with my Lord.

   I have also learned that when I do make my mistakes that instead of sharing my knee jerk reaction, my faltering thoughts, my pain right away, I take time to kneel in prayer. I seek the Lords wisdom and direction. I know the Lord has led me this far for His purpose and even when I'm stumbling, His truth is still the same as it was before my trial.

   God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. His direction will never change. Onward and upward! He still wants me to be His. He still wants me to be obedient to His will. He still wants me to love Him and to be loved BY Him.

   Be careful! When you have a following of women and girls that admire you for your faith, who seek your wisdom and encouragment, it's important to be consistent. It's important to show them that the trials in life, no matter how difficult or world changing they are (your world), God is the same. His Word is the same. Don't be afraid to ask for prayer. Don't be afraid to ask for direction. Don't be afraid to admit that your ground is a little shakey. Above all else...don't change God, let Him change you.

God be with thee!

Sister Lori

Blessings!

   You've heard that saying, An apple a day keeps the....? Well, unfortunately here at Heavenly Acres Homestead, it doesn't keep the worms away:(

   We've been waiting and waiting for the apples to finally be ready for picking. Literally thousands of apples just waiting to be made into sauces, spreads and pie fillings:) We were so excited.

   Today was the day! We were going to be pulling those lucious, ripe wonderful fruits down and getting them ready to be made into our favorite fruit preserves. We were looking forward to humdreds of quarts of apple sauce, apple butter, pie fillings, chutneys etc.

   Standing below the trees and pointing and calculating getting them down, bagged for quick future use etc. I pulled the first one down. I seem alright and I squeezed it (like you always squeeze a fruite to see it's lovely firmness) and it split wide open! The outside of it about 1/2 an inch of firm fruit but the rest of the inside was literally dark brown and black! It smelled just awful!

   I pulled another. Same thing! Then another and another! We have no idea what is wrong but these apples, every singe one of them, is rotted from the inside while still on the tree looking every bit as pretty as a healthy apple on the outside! Soooo disappointing:(

   Tomorrow I'll be taking a couple of the apples and a small branch and some leaves to the extension office and asking them to identify it for us. Then asking them what we can do about it for next years crop. Because as of right now, we have absolutely NOTHING to can from those trees:(

   We'll be paying attention to the papers in the area though asking for gleaners to come grab what's left on their apple and other fruit trees. It's a common practice here. In fact, once we had used up all the apples we could possile use here we would put an ad in the paper ourselves asking anyone who wanted apples to come get them. It's easier than letting them go to waste and watching them rot.

   We still have plenty of blueberries to can up and we'll be picking blackberries to fill up the missing apples:( I'm so sad about it. I had such plans and it is not to be. Oh well, such is life:) We'll figure out what is wrong and see if it can be fixed with perhaps good pruning, vitamins, pesticides? Whatever it takes to bring those trees back to a healthy state.

   We also discovered that our pear tree is finally producing and the fruit seems very healthy so this is a blessing for sure:) We've pulled several down and though they are not quite ripe we'll ripen them in the paper sack on the table for a few days:) We did cut one open to be sure we weren't looking at the same issue as the apples.

   On the bright side too, we discovered that the apple rake picks up the hazelnuts like a charm:) Those are tough to pick up on  your knees for sure:) We have bags and bags of those:) Not sure what we'll do with them just yet but in the meantime everyone likes cracking them open and eating them:)

   Well, I best get down to writing the ad for the auction on our goats:) It's time to get those babies sent down the road to someone elses greener pastures:) Have a very blessed weekend!

God be with thee!

Sister Lori

   What girl hasn't bemoaned how she looks, walks, talks? Society sets a pace of fashion and beauty that MOST girls and women try to stay in line with. In the 1940 and 50s girls with rounded shapes were desireable. A little meat on those bones. Boney girls were considered weak and unhealthy. Girls that were TOO big were considered gluttons and unhealthy. Girls with just enough pudge to round them out were girls that weren't afraid of hard work, were healthy eaters and most times even from well to do families. THOSE were the desirable girls. THOSE were the girls you brought home to mom.

   In the 60's and 70's any size was alright with everyone although there was still that underlying desire to be glamorous. If you weren't a hippy you were a snob. By snob I mean girls of means vs. girls from poorer families. You had your cheerleaders and your earthy girls and never the twain shall meet.

   In the 80's and 90's boney was in (as usual). Pudge was definitely taboo. You weren't judged anymore by your health your ability to work hard, you were judge by being a party girl or a prude. You could spot even the pretty prudes by their body language. They wore modest clothing, usually found in places where party girls wouldn't be caught dead! Yes they were dressed nicely and had a wholesome look about them but they were treated as outcasts.

   The new century began and fashion became out of this world. The goth look became the norm. Anime was highly asteemed. I witnessed boys and girls in our area dress, talk, walk just like those anime creations.

   Slowly throughout all of these changes, our girls became non-entities. They had no self esteem, no self worth, no societal value. Not as girls. This tragedy continues today. Women of today's society are thought of as nongender specific. They are equal in all things. They are in control of themselves and all that is around them. They must look powerful, in control, feared and revered.

   Even Christian women become absorbed in the outward appearance. What they believe is attractive, not realizing that it is dictated by society. When challenged they blame their husband/boyfriend. HE wants her to look "pretty". She wants to be attractive for HIM.

   Have we ever wondered what our lives would be like if we had met our husbands/boyfriends without the makeup, jewelry, perfectly coordinated clothing? Would that same man have been attracted to us? I've been on three sides of that ponder. Each with a different outcome. The most common denominator being, God. Either that He was included or denied access to that relationship.

   Through my own experiences, I can safely say that before we seek mans approval we need to seek God's. It isn't important how the world sees us. What IS important is how we look in His eyes:)

   (Many of you know that I am Mennonite. That we dress a certain way. I am not suggesting that everyone has to dress in a uniform way. It's not about the specific outward adorning, it's about the style of that outward showing of who we are as Christian girls/women. I do not believe that clothing is a "saving" factor. I DO believe it's a factor in obedience and dying to self.)

   God be with thee!

Sister Lori

   I have decided to close my blog for a while. I have gotten bored of posting to have no one read it. I am sorry to the few that do read my blog, but I am very discouraged right now to continue. I have only had 29 comments in the last four months, which just shows me that no one is interested enough in what I write to leave a comment. I know that everyone says "well, not every one has time to leave comment, maybe you don't post often enough", but they seem to have the time to leave them on others blogs, ones who blog less than I do. I do not intend to offend anyone, I just feel I need to do this. I will take it up again someday, but for now I just need to let it be for awhile. I have been thinking about doing this for a long time now. I will continue to read others blogs and leave comments. Please do not take this post as a "Leave a comment or else", I am not looking for a flood of comments saying "Don't leave". I just thought you all should know why I have decided to stop for now.

Sorry,

Mary-Ann

Blessings!

   Let's see a show of hands here...How many of you do Spring Cleaning? Now how many of you do it more than once a year?

   I used to just clean clean clean all year. Not that I don't keep up but I don't deep clean every day anymore. Why? Because keeping everything THAT clean means having to go back over it again and again, sometimes several times a day! Now I deep clean twice a year. I "Spring Clean" in Spring AND Fall:) Here's why:

   Spring cleaning is something I do to get under it all after months of indoor activities. Yes I still keep up on mopped and swept floors, dishes, counters, bathrooms, bedrooms etc. But the actual "Spring Clean" is to get rid of all the extras that were accumulated throughout Fall and Winter. It's little things that we don't realize. Things like pulling out the extra serving dishes because we all know that the most family oriented activities are in winter like Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and Easter. At the end of it all, the icebox needs desperate cleaning, floors of closets need scrubbing, mudrooms need complete overhauls, front porches need arranging and sprucing up. Curtains should be taken down and washed, dried and refreshed, quilts, blankets, pillows and even mattresses should be cleaned, aired and refreshed. But I think ya'll get that part:)

   For us, Fall Cleaning is just as important. For all that was overlooked during the summer when we were busy with planting, gardening, animals, family picnic's and anything else we can think of to keep us from going back inside until it's time to sleep:P As Fall approaches us we are slowly turning toward those thoughts of organizing and preparing for our sequestered life of several months.

   This is when we pull down all window coverings (I don't have many because I love the fresh air and natural light pouring in during my summer months), pull all bedding and clean and air it all. Dragging the matresses out for a day of just airing, whacking and turning letting the sunshine (God's natural disinfectant) cook all the germies and smellies out of them:)

   Canning causes us to look at storage difficulties and choices. This is when we pull the kitchen completely apart only to put it all back:) We wash down all shelves and reline them with something new and pretty, scrub the freezer and icebox down inside and out, pull all furniture out and get on hands and knees and scrub the floor and windowsills. Relabel all shelves and put the foods and cookware back in order once again.

   Once that is done we get to the bedrooms. Get furniture moved around to suit our taste for the winter (it all has to do with where the sunlight falls in winter vs. Summer), take down pictures and such and sweep walls, windows etc. Rehang and pull all things out of the closets. Get rid of anything not worn for too long, air out coats, boots and other winterwear.

   The mudroom is usually the last thing to get redone. Why? Because it gets overused throughout all the year so it's usually the one room that needs the most attention. We pull all things out including the washer and dryer. Floors get scrubbed, walls washed down, shelves redone and then put it all back. We make sure that anything that is partly used is combined with another partly used (who doesn't let that happen now and then?:P), throw all empty things out even if we had thought we could use it for "something" in the near future. If we haven't by the time cleaning comes around, chances are we won't!

   I have sent my clients their to-do lists and I am already receiving phonecalls with a few questions and "I hope to's":P I tell them the same thing I tell my own family...it's not vital to your existence, it's not worth sacrificing the space and it's not happening:P

   If you are a Fall Cleaner like we are, I pray that you are able to get it all done with a joyful heart and a clear mind. Our minds tend to clutter up some during our summers and we tend to focus on reuse, recycle and frugality. Just remember that sometimes frugality is getting rid of and if you haven't resued it yet then get rid of it. Someone, somewhere might need it. I suggest freecycle in your area. We get rid of all kinds of things that way. It helps someone else who is seeking those items and gets it out of our hair:)

   Have a very wonderful week!

God be with thee!

Sister Lori

   Who am I? What am I? Where am I? Why am I? How am I?

   These are some of the many questions I have asked myself over my many years on this earth. I used to ask them a lot more often before I came to know my Saviour. In the last two years I've discovered I need to ask them even more now that I AM saved:)

   My answers never change but they do give me direction and help me to remember what my greater purpose is in this life.

   Who am I? I am me.

   What am I? I am woman.

   Where am I? I am here.

   Why am I? I am because He is.

   How am I? I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

   Summing it all up in a single thought, I am who God created, a woman, to live here in this time, because He has begun a work in me to fulfill his purpose for my life.

   I desire to know God's will for my life. I don't always ask Him what that is. I should! I should want to know each day what God's will is for me that day. It's not so simple to say that God has a specific purpose for my life from beginning to end by doing this one thing. It's more complex than that yet more simple that we can imagine.

   The complexity is that God has a desire for my life. A purpose just for me. I don't share that purpose with anyone else, it is mine alone. God has chosen a purpose for each of us individually. Yes we can look alike on the outside and seem to be doing the same things but in reality He has a relationship with each of us alone. No other can interfere or change that. What He works in my life directly affects my thoughts, actions, attitude and heart. What he works for me will affect you differently because you are in a different place than I am. Yes all of us have the same goal, but getting there is an individual journey.

   This journey we take is easier to travel when we have others to share with. To experience with and learn from others mistakes and triumphs. Each trial, even when we experience them with another, will change us as individuals. God sends each of us into others lives to encourage those changes. Seeking truth in all that is around us comes only from our Father in Heaven. How we come to that truth will vary. Some of us will feel lonely in our journey and others will feel surrounded and even smothered at times. We must all remember that no matter our circumstance that we are NOT alone and not smothered.

   Our Father gave us all the opportunity to have a free will. He didn't even restrict Adam and Eve! He gave them free choice too! Did he ultimately forgive them? I believe He did. Just as He can and will forgive me for my mistakes. The mistakes I will make when I excercise that free will.

   That free will comes in many forms. The 10 commandments cover them all. We will never be able to live a sinless life because we are not perfect. We can only strive to do His will in our lives and try with all our hearts to avoid those pitfalls. But just like those potholes in the middle of the road, filled to the brim with water distorting it's depth until we are in the middle of them and jarred sharply to one side before returning to the smooth surface of the road once more.

   On our way, we will find many potholes on our path covered with things to disguise them. Outward adornings, material possessions, status, all designed to lure us into the middle of them causing us to jar sharply off our path. We must keep our hearts and minds focused to bring us back to that smooth path He made for us. So simple.

   I pray that each of you finds His will for your lives as you Journey to the Heart of God.

God be with thee!

Sister Lori

    As you all know we have a puppy named Tipper, she is sweet and cute until it comes to training, that is when her sweetness rears back its ugly head and bares its teeth. This is when a cute dog becomes a very ugly dog. This is the adventure we have had over the last three days of intense puppy training. We couldn't just be training a puppy to sit and come and lay down, we are training a bird dog, so she has to be taught things like HUP and heel and water retrieving.

   Since Tipper has returned: Well, when we got to the vet and they brought Tipper out the first thing she did was pee at my feet. That was one of her least charming features. We then got her loaded in the car, and the ride to my Bother and Sister-in-Law's was rather pleasent, perhaps it is because the vet doped her. Then we got her out of the car and the creature from the black lagoon returned. The dog had suddenly "forgotten" her name, and was out of control. After we we left Matt and Kristina's, the dog settled down again and was pretty much calm until we got home. When we got home Tipper got no more than three feet in the door when nature came calling again and she peed on the floor. I then cleaned up the mess and took her out to finish her business.

   After we spent half an hour outside Tipper had taken me all over the farm 16 times and did not so much as make an atempt to use the bathroom, so we returned to the house. I opened the door and the first thing that came into that little demon's mind was to go on the carpet. I left the dog unattended while I got some paper towels to clean up the pee. Upon returning I found the dog behind the arm chair doing the other call of nature! I had to change the towel in her kennel three times.

  Day Two: I woke up to find that Tipper had soaked her towel clean through (good thing most of it was from her spilling her water dish). So after replacing the towel for a forth time, I took her out to do as nature intended, she did and we came back in. She was good most of the morning, told me when she wanted out and was rather quiet.

   I went out in the afternoon to work on the flower beds and clean up some of the yard. When I returned inside my hopes were shattered, I just knew she could not be good for a whole day, I returned to find a smelly present in the center of her kennel. The rest of the day went down from there, she stopped telling me when she wanted out and wouldn't stop barking at her water dish that she kept pushing out of the kennel on purpose, just so she could cry.

   Today: The dog was good this morning until it came time for feeding. I had her out in the house with me while I was getting her food. She was doing well, I filled the dish with watered down food and returned to the kennel, I was starting to lean over to put the dish down when Tipper decided to put her two big paws on the bottom of the dish. This sent the contents all down the front of me and in my shoes.

   After she was fed I took her out for a walk.....in bare feet, since my shoes were now filled with wet puppy food. She decided this was a good time to drag me all over the yard, through the blackberry bushes and under the nut trees. I finally brought her back in.

   She is behaving, for now. We will see. In the words of Alfred North Whitehead, "If a dog jumps in your lap, it is because he is fond of you; but if a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer."

Sincerely,

~Mary-Ann~