Wanna Be a Steader!

Limit here is 6 deer so he's already half done. If he gets anymore I think we'll give them away. He's still hoping for a big rack to put on the wall though!

James 3. Lord talk to me please.

James 3

Taming the Tongue

3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

In one breath I praise You and in the next, I am cursing You indirectly when I gossip, or back bite, or grumble. You hate grumbling. Your Word says so. Forgive me Lord.....

7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

Is it hopeless Lord? Is there no hope for my mouth? Create in me a Clean Heart Lord, please........

9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt^[a] water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Lord, I just want to take my talents and bury them and hide. I know this is Wrong. Your Word says so. Help me to bring your great returns. Shore me up Lord. Send someone to help hold my arms up in this battle.

Two Kinds of Wisdom

17But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

Wisdom: Pure. Peace-loving. Considerate. Submissive. FULL of Mercy and Good Fruit. Impartial, Considerate. THAT is a huge list. I want to know this way Lord. I want to serve in this way.

God's Will, Really?

Sadly over the past year I have heard of many deaths, from both friends and strangers. It truly saddens my heart. It always confuses me when others who are trying to comfort those grieving say that it was God’s will for their loved one to die, especially a child. You can read just about any book in the Bible and you will find either a verse or a reference to the fact that God wants His people to prosper and live long and happy lives. One of the well-known verses to back this up is in Jeremiah. I know it by heart as it’s one of Mother Dear’s favourite verses.

God knows exactly what kind of life he wants us to have. He wants us to have thoughts of peace and not of evil, and to have an expected end or in other words a long life full of hope. When people say that it was God’s will for a child or a father to die I fear they are completely wrong. Whenever I hear someone say this I think of Job. I have been reading through the entire Bible for over a year now, just letting God speak to me as I read, and the Book of Job really comforted me in more ways than one. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. So many terrible things happened to Job that definitely weren’t God’s perfect will for his life, but God was in control the entire time.

I believe it is a falsehood, however comforting it may be, that it is God’s will for any of His people to die without having lived a full life, but because sin has entered our world when Adam and Eve stepped out from God’s perfect world our lives will be not be perfect.

However we know that all things work together for good (Romans 8:28). We know that He is always in control. We know that He will never forsake us. We know we have His promise of His return and will be reunited with those who are His children.

The Bible says in this world we will have tribulation, but be of good cheer because He has overcome the world (John 16:33)!

Daily Devotion 335

December 1

Influence

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Matthew 5:14

The Bible contains many figures of influence. Leaven is one, picturing the gradual fermenting of influence into a whole mass, for good (Matthw 13:33) or for evil (Luke 12:1). A canker is used in 2 Timothy 2:17, a sore in the flesh which is fatal unless stopped. Tares are another influence, choking the good wheat (Matthew 13:24–30). In John 12, when Mary anointed the feet of Jesus with spikenard, the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. It did not just stay on Jesus’ feet.

In our Scripture reading, Jesus uses two figures, salt and light, to teach us that our lives spread influence. They speak either of godliness, influencing for truth and righteousness, or that of darkness, and that which will be cast out and destroyed. “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

When there is light, one can see. Light is life! Without it we perish. Christians are to let their light shine so others can see God. Paul told the Corinthians, “Ye are our epistles written in our hearts, known and read of all men” (2 Corinthians 3:2).

My life, whether godly or otherwise, speaks. It does not stay only with me, but it also influences others. Christians are the salt of the earth. The power of influence is mighty!

Edward Hochstetler, Hicksville, OH

A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

Bible Reading: Matthew 5:1–16

One Year Bible Reading Plan:

2 Peter 2

Ezekiel 43, 44

Used by Permission of Vision Publishers

PO Box 190, Harrisonburg, VA 22803

Phone: 877-488-0901

E-Mail: [cs@vision-publishers.com]

We're Home

Hi everyone. Dh and I are finally back home. I think the last two days of driving wore both of us out, but we really had a good time with my family and his daughter and her family.

I visited my two sisters the second day of our travel and before we left for Virginia. We were with my Mom for three days too. The night before we left she gave me two aprons. One was made by Nana, (dads mother) and the other one was made by her. I was really happy when she gave them to me. She also gave me the cookie jar that was has had for many years. I wasn't expecting that at all. I was able to visit her four children too. They are all married and have children of their own and a few grandchildren too. We finally had to leave and went to Dh's daughters home in Virginia. She made the turkey for us on Thanksgiving Day along with mashed potatoes, vegetables, and rolls. Her daughter and son made 3 pies and cookies too. Dora also had some friends over with their two children. They also brought some food too. We all had a good time together.

Our granddaughter likes to sew, knit and croquet. I gave her one of my dishcloths I have knitted and showed her how to make it and she she croqueted a little purse for me and showed me also how to make it. I told her I would send her some information I found on the internet that she could read and learn how to make different things.

Finally we had to leave and come home. It took us about 15 hours and two days of driving. I know we need to visit his family too because of their health but we need to stay home for awhile before we leave again.

'Under God' pastor dead at 97

ALEXANDRIA, Pa. - The Rev. George M. Docherty, credited with helping to push Congress to insert the phrase "under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance, has died at 97.

Docherty died on Thanksgiving at his home in central Pennsylvania, according to his wife, Sue Docherty.

She said her husband of 36 years had been in failing health for about three years.

"George said he was going to live to be a hundred and he was determined," she said in a telephone interview Saturday. "It's amazing that he was with us this long."

Docherty, then pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, just blocks from the White House, gave a sermon in 1952 saying the pledge should acknowledge God.

He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and was unfamiliar with the pledge until he heard it recited by his 7-year-old son, Garth.

"I didn't know that the Pledge of Allegiance was, and he recited it, 'one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,'" he recalled in an interview with The Associated Press in 2004. "I came from Scotland, where we said 'God save our gracious queen,' 'God save our gracious king.' Here was the Pledge of Allegiance, and God wasn't in it at all."

There was little effect from that initial sermon, but he delivered it again on Feb. 7, 1954, after learning that President Dwight Eisenhower would be at the church.

The next day, Rep. Charles G. Oakman, R-Mich., introduced a bill to add the phrase "under God" to the pledge, and a companion bill was introduced in the Senate. Eisenhower signed the law on Flag Day that year.

Todays Quote......Thomas Watson

So, this is Christmas?

After spending Thanksgiving dinner in a Chinese restaurant with the A/C on in the house because it was 80 degrees outside, I thought to myself, "Bah, Humbug!" The stress of the holidays was starting to mount. My husband's motorcycle (and mode of transportation to and from work) broke down leaving us to dip into our emergency savings to fix and he had to spend most of the holiday weekend in the garage trying to fix it. It was so hot an humid outside that I just could not get into the holiday spirit. And then something miraculous happened. I got down the box of Christmas decorations and saw my children's eyes light up. We went through the boxes of keepsake ornaments remembering times gone by. We strung lights around the kitchen cabinet and simmered apple cinnamon potpourri to give the whole house the smell of fresh baked goods. I turned the A/C down lower and we strung garland around the entertainment center. My boys played with a train set and took turns playing santa in a santa hat. I got so excited that I even baked cookies (and I don't bake, I cook)! When my husband came in from the garage we listened to Christmas carols and turned on the fake TV fireplace. I read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and we drank hot chocolate. So, this is Christmas! Family, Love, Laughter, Home, Blessings, Warmth, Food, Cuddles, Kisses, and Chocolate Cookie messes. December starts tomorrow with the countdown to Christmas and I say, "Bring it on!" I am ready for more holiday fun!

Just little flakes then this by 7pm tonight. If it didn't get dark so early it wouldn't be so bad!! I would never make it living farther north!! I would go crazy from cabin fever! LOL
SO anyway we got out to get ready for the cold have the well house all insulated and ready. Then we move on to putting out hay..... Tractor's Block heater wasn't working!! the tractor wouldn't start! So we go to get the part(by now its dark!) and its a Special Order!!! Soooooo We did something I do NOT recommend except in Dire circumstances... We hooked come-alongs and chains and pulled one very Large hay bale off of the top of the stack and rolled it ever so gracefully into the back of the truck! It tipped and went sideways!!! But it was in there ! Then we took it to the barn and pulled it out of the back of the truck the same way pretty much. The goats and sheep have hay and I threw some to the cows and their babies as they were staring at me through the panel looking soooo Hungry!

We got all the animals settled and I am now 50lbs lighter then when I went outside... Nope not a new diet just shed the clothes to keep me from freezing!! To go out and keep everything tolerable it takes a fair amount of clothing. We all have rubber boots. The girls don't have the insulated ones because they are still growing and wear insulated socks with them. Then we have leggings and then sweat pants and a skirt over it all. It blocks the wind. Then we have a long sleeved shirt and usually a hoodie plus a hat. With something to cover our chins. About the only thing you can see of our face is our eyes and nose and we cover our noses sometimes when its real cold.. Then we have a coat to cover it all. I usually wear latex gloves under my work gloves to keep my hands from getting wet because that makes me cold quicker then anything. I also make sure I put lotion or something on my face before I go out too. Because I get wind burn so easy!! SO its layers up on layers!!! Hence the 50lbs!LOL It takes about 20 minutes just to get ready to go out. Okay I will quit whining about it now and post a pic of our older dogs!

They are kind of camera shy! I have to turn it on behind me and then take their pic. If they see me turn it on they get up and walk away which is exactly what they are doing in this pic!!! Sam is the first one and Dinah is behind the gate. She still looks a little rough due to the trimming she had. The little ones are cute and have lots of personality! I think they will be good dogs!

What’s Been Coking in my Kitchen?

This afternoon was a little busy in the kitchen. It was a quiet afternoon and seemed like a good day to get a few things done. We ate up just about all our turkey. It lasted Thursday, Friday and Saturday for lunch. On Saturday evening I took what little meat that was left off the bird and used most of it in a Mexican rice casserole. I mixed about 5 cups cooked brown rice with 3 cups chopped turkey, 1 can spicy tomatoes, a little salsa and put it in a 9x13 pan, topped it with cheese and baked it until the cheese was melted and all was hot. While that was baking I made a double batch of my Cuban black bean patties (a new recipe that is in my Cooking with Beans! eBook). We had the rice casserole, black bean patties and salad for dinner.