Friday, June 26, 2015

theme pink!

The weather may be somethin' miserable this week (about 20 degrees too hot!), but that only means I need to be reminded even more often to be continually grateful.  
I am not a naturally thankful person.  I complain a lot.  But this is a habit I really want to break!  Being thankful is both freeing and a blessing.  It not only blesses all those around you, but is very uplifting for self.  There is a definite joy and contentment that comes from being grateful--like a side effect!  And a great side effect!  So then why don't we try it out more often?  Seriously, I just don't know.  But God says we should continually give thanks...and not just that.  We are to give thanks for all things.  How much I want to break the darkness of ungratefulness in my life!!  "Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:20


Wow.  If only we lived remembering this.







"Yesterday is history, tomorrow's a mystery, and today's a gift."

Sunday, June 21, 2015

a Small dad who lived big

Day by day and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,
I've not cause for worry or for fear.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what he deems best--
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Ev'ry day the Lord Himself is near me 
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,
He whose name is Counselor and Pow'r.
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
"As your days, your strength shall be in measure,"
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then in ev'ry tribulation
So to trust Your promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith's sweet consolation
Offered me within Your holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E'er to take, as from a father's hand,
One by one, the days, the moment fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.


The past few days have been hard, knowing that Father's Day was approaching.  How was I to celebrate?  Or, rather, how was I to watch everyone celebrating their dads when I had such emptiness and loss?

There are so many things I appreciate about Dad.  His internal magnet for Costco, his knowledge and wisdom, his leadership, his always timely puns, his willingness to serve others in their times of need, and his unfailing love for God and righteousness are only a few things.

I am so grateful for the 16 1/2 years God let Dad walk beside me and teach me about life and the ultimate Father.  I would rather have known him and now experience the pain of learning to live without him than not have known him at all.  God gave me such a faithful and skilled dad of whom I am very proud.  Thank you, Dad, for wanting me to live for Christ and for showing me how.  I love you a bunch.

So, happy Father's Day to all dads, but especially to the best: mine.


How I always felt with Dad!  He could be asked anything.



Sunday, June 14, 2015

Theme Yellow



It feels like I haven't blogged in forever.  I fell out of my at-least-twice-a-week routine, and it's been rough getting back into it.  Besides that, I read other peoples' blogs, and wondered what on earth am I doing??  But I'm back, and I hope to become more consistent again...

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet sung by flaming tongues above;
Praise the mount--I'm fixed upon it--mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer--hither by Thy help I'm come;
And I hope by Thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger wand'ring from the fold of God;
He to rescue me from danger interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness like a fetter bing my wand'ring heart to Thee;
Prone to wander--Lord, I feel it--prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart--O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.







Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Those Scenic Beasts

I had fully intended to post about our "dear" cows on June 1st, as that was the 1st anniversary of us getting them!  Then, of course, I forgot until late yesterday.  Feeling extra lame, I still decided to write about them because I have been anticipating a reason to finally post all about them.  (Now they are starting to sound more like pets than future-freezer-filler!)

We have had cows before, but they looked so normal.  I felt no attachment to them, and they probably felt the same with me.  (Besides that they were milk cows and required a lot of consistency, which our family just doesn't do well with.)  Then we went for 4 years without cows....and no other farm animals, either, like before.  I wanted something to eat our over-grown fields.  I wanted something more regular to change the scenery than the occasional elk.  So my dad found us some of these:

our actual cows
We have often admired this breed of cows in the past, and their fortunate owners.  They are so scenic and shaggy.  Other than their horns, they look pretty cuddly...or something.  When Dad announced that we really were getting a little family of Scottish Highlands, I was overjoyed.  They were the beginning of bringing back our old farm...

Now we've had them for a year.  I realize that maybe the owners of Scottish Highlands are not feeling so fortunate.  I was just glad today to find that they had stayed in the fence all day yesterday.  (Although they'll probably make an escape later today.)  They have run down the road, broken the fence more times than I can count, and eaten their share of hay and grain.  I have had numerous opportunities to be gored, learned to quickly climb through fences, and repaired more fences than I can count.  (Or at least more times then I'd care to keep track of.)

Despite the frustrations and set-backs, I am so thankful to have Polly, Wally, and Doodle (as in, "Polly, Wally, Doodle all the day.") to brag on.  (While these names are fitting since they get out so often that they often do take a great deal of the day, the bull, who initiates all the broken fences and running down the road, has recently been renamed The Beast.)  While I am very tired of them hacking every repair job, I am (usually) so glad to have them around!  Scenic, if nothing else.

the calf, Doodle, when we first got him.
Love at first sight.  :)
Doodle, Polly, and the Beast.
the Beast...
Sometimes he actually succeeds in looking scary..
Doodle now--growing horns!
the Beast looking so innocent.
Polly and Doodle look like twins!