Whoohooo! I graduated on May First! =)
Its crazy to think that I'm already 17 and done with school! Boy .. life sure does fly by fast! I cannot wait to see what God has planed for me!
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
This is a song that my momma 'gave' to me and I think it really fits this time in my life.♥ =)
"Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."
Jesus told this to his disciples in Mark 6:31. This verse has been jumping out at me for the last few days as I opened my Bible to read. I felt the Holy Spirit nudging me to share this verse of wisdom with you. So here we go:
First notice that Jesus says...
"Come with ME..."
Notice that it doesn't say to go to your girlfriend(s), to go to the television, or go to your favorite blog-----but to go with HIM. HE is who we should start the day out with. He is who we need to seek first, He is inviting us.. He is welcoming us. He wants us to be with Him, we do not have to be alone ever, either in challenging or peaceful times.
"..by yourselves.."
Alone? Ahhhhhh yes, every mother and homemaker needs time alone. If Jesus, the Son of God needed time alone to be with the Father to pray to Him, then how much more do we need it? Precious time alone with God we can refreshen our souls, rejuvenate our minds and revive our spirits more than anything else. Our cups overflow with Him, but dry up without Him.
"..to a quiet place..."
I often used to think that if I retreated to a coffeehouse or somewhere similar that I would feel rested. How wrong. I used to think rest would come "if I could just get out to the library for an hour or two because it is so quiet there.." How wrong again! These places seemed like they were quiet but I often found myself not truly rested upon returning home. Why was that? Clearly it was because I wasn't seeking the true rest for my soul--having only had indulged myself in a sort of 'pseudo-rest'. I wasn't spending time with God or His Word, so even if I did make it out to one of these places as a supposed 'break-time' for me I would not come back truly rejuvenated as I had hoped. Ladies, have you experienced this?
"...and get some rest..."
Real rest. See, true rest comes from the true living waters. God is the One who truly "makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul." Psalm 23:2-3 Christians know where true rest comes from. We do not have to seek after rest in vain and not ever truly finding it. It is free and abundantly available, all we must do is to make the time.
"Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."
• Wednesday, March 25, 2009 - It is never too late to be what you might have been
Posted By everfaithful
Hello everyone:
Long time since I have posted here!! Still around just busy. We are just about done with process of being certified for foster care. It really is kind of a long drawn out process. Should be ready for children by the 1st of May.
My sweet husband started building raised beds for our garden area. Of course they will last forever as that is how he does things. I did start some seedlings in the house, and put a few things in the small garden we had last year. I am excited,. When that is done then we can move on the backyard. I do have a small little herb garden in the back, but the rest of the yard will be a cottage garden look.
A few of us in my community are getting together and forming a homeschool support group. We will also file together. This is truly an answer to prayer. Since we live 45 minutes from town it is so nice to have a group right here.
I have really had some setbacks with my health and have not been able to move forward as I would like. But getting better again and will continue on. I know the Lord wanted me to rest for a reason.
Blessings to all
Cyndi
"Many are the plans in a mans heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails" Proverbs 19:21
Its easy to be pleasant, When life flows by like a song, But the man worth while is one who will smile When everything goes dead wrong. For the test of the heart is trouble, And it always come with the years; And the smile that is worth the praises of the earth, Is the smile that shines through tears.
It is easy enough to be prudent When nothing tempts you to stray, When without or within no voice of sin Is luring your soul away; But it's only a negative virtue Until it is tried by fire, And the life that is worth the honor on earth, Is the one that resists desire.
By the cynic, the sad, the fallen, Who had no strength for the strife, The world's highway is cumbered today, They make up the sum of life. But the virtue that conquers passion, And the sorrow that hides in a smile, It is these that are worth the homage on earth, For we find them but once in a while.
• Thursday, March 19, 2009 - A Good Wife Is Heaven's Last Best Gift To Man
Posted By Becky Lynn
A Good wife is Heaven's last best gift to man His angel and minister of grace innumerable His gem of many virtues- his casket of jewels; Her voice is sweet music, her smile, his brightest day. Her kiss the guardian of his innocence,
her arms the pale of his safety, The balm of his health the balsam of his life,
her industry, his surest wealth, Her economy, his safest steward, Her lips, his faithful counselors, Her bosom, the softest pillow of his cares, And her prayers, the ablest advocates of heavens blessings on his head
Hello Friends!
Our days are full of activity and abounding in His blessings here in our hearts and our home! I have not been feeling 100% so I am going to just recap the activity here so I don't forget to jot these details down.
Timothy was precious to watch today as he gathered bees by feeding them sugar water and collected them for observation. He was dressed in his bee suit and a true delight to watch!
We have our garden, or part of our garden, sprouting in the living room under lights. The children love to see the growth every day. We pray earnestly that the Lord would bless the works of our hands and that our efforts would bring Him Glory!
Harmony is in labor and will be kidding sometime soon. Beth and Sarah have been sitting with her all day singing her songs and telling her stories as to comfort her. The girls enjoy being a part of this experience. I expect we will have kids in the wee hours of the morning. Elisha built a stanchion for us since we gave out other one to friends in CA. This was his first real wood working project without any instruction from daddy. My Joe was so proud of him when he came home and saw his work completed. Elisha did a WONDERFUL job! I am so thankful the Lord has given so many of us different skills and talents!
The boys (Elisha, Ezekiel and Josiah) finished painting the barn fence and chicken coop and took the rest of the day to play in the creek (what would be called a river in CA) and try out their fishing skills. They had a wonderful time! I think this will become part of their Summer routine and build lasting memories as brothers! Last night, the Lord protected the boys from a Copperhead snake while they played a game of tag at dusk. Josiah quickly killed it and buried the remains.
Samuel and Matthew work daily on taking their chickens out to graze after the sheep have been rotated. We do extra work in taking our animals out to pasture each day and putting them away at night but for our family this is the only way we have comfort and can sleep. We have electric fences that we move from here to there for the animals the graze. Once the chicken coop is done the boys won't have quite so much work to do.
Daily we take the bunnies and ducks out to graze in the garden or the orchard while the sheep and chickens are in the pasture. I enjoy seeing all the animals in their places on the farm! Bly the good and faithful farm dog is a blessing to us. Bekah is talking to trainers and learning how to teach him to be all the Lord created him for! :-)
This weekend we will be traveling to MO to pick up a new kid we are adding to our herd from our Kennedy friends! We are also visiting another friend who will be teaching us to disbud the kids. She has 18 kids to disbud so we hope we can learn and help in the process. Sunday, I will be taking Timothy to his Bee workshop (it is a two part series) where he will be building a hive and learning/reviewing skills that are needed for good bee keeping.
As you can "hear" there is much activity here at Covenant Ranch! We are joyful in all the duties the Lord has allowed us to do each day! Oh! Before I close my note would any of my friends have a copy of a book called, "The Gentle Ways of a Beautiful Woman" by Anne Ortlund? If you do and would like to part with it, I am looking to purchase a copy. Please email me with the details. Have a wonderful weekend friends!
• Friday, March 13, 2009 - Always learning... always growing!
Posted By Mrs. Joseph Wood
Hello Friends!
I am delighted to share on behalf of the entire Wood family! The Lord is always teaching us. We are delighted, that because of His great grace and tender mercy, He keeps our ears open to His voice and our eyes open to His will! What a faithful God to hold His people so closely to Him when we humbly submit to His purpose! We were in fact created for His purpose and not our own weren't we dear friends? I wonder do our prayer lives reflect that Truth? Is my heart truly wanting to know His will or is it wanting my desires? I wonder what my life reflects? I must always examine myself to make sure I don't slip down the path of excuses that keep me from resting in His Truth. I am thankful that He has never given me over to my depraved mind and continually calls after me when I start to wonder. Hmm.. so much that the Lord is teaching me. I have so much to learn.
The homestead is peaceful right now! We have garden seeds sprouting, chicks growing, ewes and does preparing for birth and the ducks and bunnies enjoying the warm KS days when they are let out to graze the garden patch for us. There is much organization needed in keeping the homestead moving peacefully. I am so thankful for my children that help me keep this all going right. I could not do this on my own. Who would have guessed that this city girl would be reading farm management books before bedtime and taking her son to conventions where the biology of bees and honey production is discussed? God is truly amazing!
About the Bees: Timothy and I had a wonderful time last weekend at the KS/MO bee convention. I was surprised to see so many in attendance. I believe they said that close to 300 were in attendance from a variety of states. Timothy was so attentive and determined to learn. He was also excited about returning home with the observation hive he had won. I just have to tell you the story of this observation hive. Timothy and I had tried to win some items on Friday with the Silent Auction but were not successful. Most people were paying 4 to 100 times more than what an item was worth to support the organizations. We simply couldn't do something like that. On Saturday, I saw this observation hive sitting on the Auction table and prayed as I wrote down my bid of 25.00, "Lord, please let Timothy be blessed by this." See Friday night he had taken me to a display booth and showed me an observation hive he wanted for 150.00. I explained to him that I didn't feel the Lord wanted us to spend His resources like this and Timothy cheerfully responded, "That's okay mommy!" I told Timothy not to get his hopes up but that I had bid on an observation hive and we would just trust that whatever the outcome that would be God's will for us. All through the day, Timothy would run and check to see if we were still the highest bidder. He would cheer and run back to me, with a smile saying, "Yes! Momma we are still winning!" As I went from workshop to workshop I saw people standing by the hive and talking. On three different occasions I heard them say, "Oh don't bid on that.. the little boy is trying to win that." Friends, God in His great kindness, put it on peoples hearts to not bid and let my Timothy win this hive! Not one person bid! When Timothy went to pick up the hive I paid the women at the table. When I turned around I discovered a crowd of people had gathered around to share in Timothy's excitement! There were so many cameras going off that I felt I there must be a movie star in the building! :-) One man was even recording Timothy. Everyone was so happy that Timothy had "won" the hive and many kind suggestions on how to use and display the hive were given. It was a precious moment and something I will cherish for many years to come!
I would love to share what we are learning about the sheep, goats, ducks and chickens but time is limited and I must stop for now. I trust the Lord will let me share with you soon. There are so many good things happening on our homestead! I give God all the Glory for that!!!
Today is the day when bold kites fly,
When cumulus clouds roar across the sky.
When robins return, when children cheer,
When light rain beckons spring to appear.
Today is the day when daffodils bloom,
Which children pick to fill the room,
Today is the day when grasses green,
When leaves burst forth for spring to be seen.
Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask How are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say,"Hi"
You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.
Life is not a race
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.
