Baby Chicks

Last week I believe I told you about our three newest baby chicks, but I did not post pictures of them.  One is two weeks old and the other two are one week old as of Saturday.  I am so thankful that the Lord saw fit to give us two more babies after the first one because I was afraid she was going to be so lonely.




It was such a fun experience to watch the chick peck her way out of the shell.  Those shells are very hard, so I know she must have worked long and hard during that journey. 

What a truth to perserverence that little chick showed us.  She never once complained, "This is too hard, I think I'll quit now."  She didn't give up, she just kept on pecking away until the shell finally broke free. 

We too need to peck away at the tasks we have laid before us.  God will never give us more than we can handle.  He never once told us that life would always be easy, filled with simple tasks.  He tells us life will be filled with challenges and we are to persevere through them. 

I look around, close my eyes and constantly remind myself that this time my circumstances will never be more than I can handle - He is with me - He is with me.  And then I'll need to do that all over for the next circumstance.

A friend recently shared this beautiful verse with me and I think it shows us the blessing that God will give to us when we persevere.

I Corinthians 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Nothing we do is in vain, when it is done for the Lord.  Perhaps this needs to be on a sticky note somewhere near my mind every moment of the day. . .

How Sweet and Awesome Is the Place

"How sweet and awesome is the place with Christ within the doors, while everlasting love displays the choicest of her stores."

"Why was I made to hear your voice and enter while there's room, when thousands make a wretched choice, and rather starve than come?"

"We long to see your churches full, that all the chosen race may, with one voice and heart and soul, sing your redeeming grace."

We sang this beautiful hymn this Sunday in worship service and I was struck by the words so strongly.  I wanted to share them with you.  These are three stanzas from hymn 469, from the Trinity Hymnal.  We received one as a gift from Redeemer Orthodox Presbyterian Church, which was one of the many churches we attended during the years that the General Manager moved us around the countryside during his Air Force career.  This hymnal is so special to us, as the whole congregation signed it and put their mark on their favorite hymns to sing.

Tonight, I read over and over the many wonderful sayings to us and each of the beautiful hymns that each family chose for their own. . . all from each of our dear friends from Dayton, Ohio.  What a surprise when I saw that Pastor and his adorable wife Sue, put their mark on this same hymn and told us in their sweet note. . . . "We have delighted to know you and your family.  You will be missed.  Our prayer is that the Lord will direct our paths to cross again in this life.  Pastor & Sue"   Another one that touched my heart was from Mark and Jody . . ."It seems like yesterday that we were helping you move in.  So many things have happened in our lives to prove otherwise though!  God will be with you in your military travels.  He is always faithful to His children.  We'll miss you!" 

We have re-connected with many of these beautiful families through facebook and I'm so thankful to the creators of facebook and for the technology that has come about for us to be able to stay in touch with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  It is so important that we stay in touch with other Christians - fellowship is something that God purposed in our lives for our good - it's our way of staying accountable to God.   Hebrews 4:13   Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.  

We have three new chicks - hatched over the weekend to add to our flock in six short weeks.  They will spend their precious time in the garage until then, under the protection of wire fencing and a heater lamp, until they are big enough to fend for their own with the rest of the girls.  Two are multi-brown colored and one is a sweet fuzzy yellow.  She was the last one to be born on Sunday.  The girls have all held them and Georgie is awaiting his turn to hold one - that might be awhile since he could very easily crush one with his over-zealous boy strength!

We've had many warm, sunny days where we've sat on the front porch learning, while watching Abby climb the trees and Georgie dig in the rocks in the front yard.  Hannah's Netherland Dwarf rabbits are finally growing and are very sweet to hold.  I'm thankful that we got two because they are so happy together - two peas in a pod.

My counting of blessings continues on - it's amazing to see that I'm up to 189 already.  This has been such a joyous experience for me and I love being able to look back over the months to see what we've been doing around the homestead.  But alas for now, I hear the pitter patter of feet above me that are getting ready for the rainy morning inside.  I believe I have some chores to finish myself as I take care of our home - what a privilege to be a homemaker.

May God bless your day today!
Michelle


#166 - #189

Mom's night out hosted here at the house - lovely fellowship with many like-minded ladies

So many good soups and salads to share

"momma, baba, momma, baba" - Georgie's favorite saying these days . .  next to John Deere

pitter patter of a rain storm on the windows

back tickling from a 3 year old

watching Hamlet movie with all the children

daffadils peaking up out of the ground

the seasons changing so quickly

bitten baby tongue that heals so quickly

a week of sunshine

eggs in an incubator

the anticipation of having baby chicks

dinner with family

reading through the Bible and sticking to the plan

getting my quilted table runner completed

tea with a friend celebrating her birthday

Abby kisses

fun new signs about the chickens that the town can talk about

beautifully dressed little girls

well children - sickness gone

new baby chicks born from an incubator

being humbled to my knees, thinking that I displeased God

Cozy Sunday Happenings

It's a quiet day today, drizzles falling down, chilly damp cold in the air.  When I say quiet . . .Georgie just fell asleep for a second nap.  My body laid down next to him and I too drifted into a nice peaceful nap, until the little girls wanted to take an afternoon bath, or more pleasantly known as "spa day."

Church was so sweet this morning - especially since the entire family could go because we were all feeling better from last week's sickness.  The coughing and sniffles are still lingering, but the heart wrenching sore throats are gone by the wayside.  When I miss a week from church I feel lost for that week and the next  . . . .until, at last, I can hear God's word and fill my mind and soul back up with His nourishing words.  I so needed it today as last week was a rough week with some very discouraging happenings spiritually for me.  God's word is the breath of life, manna in it's fullest sense.  It is our life-blood, that which can comfort, restore, renew, shelter, provide, refresh, and create anew each and everyday.

Our church happens to be situated right near the homeless mission, so we often get a few homeless people that find their way into our church.  Today was one of those days, where a gentleman came in for the first time.  Usually what happens is that they drink their free coffee, listen to the message, get their free lunch after service and go on their way, not really talking to anyone, but when Pastor made a special announcement that this man had specifically asked for prayer for God's will to be done in his life, my heart ached for him.  Thirty years he's been homeless, wandering the streets, struggling with life, feeling empty inside, worthless, helpless, and afraid.  It was so bittersweet to see him on his knees during service - really feeling the brokenness that we all feel in its entirety every day.  No one, not one is righteous enough to stand before God - we must be on our knees before Him, clothed in the blood of Jesus, and here this man was doing so. .  I could see the life-blood renewing and restoring him.  It was a beautiful display of God's healing love.

The table is set, candles lit and the savory smell of dinner is on it's way. . . left over lobster from our evening yesterday will be turned into yummy lobster alfredo. .  my mouth is watering just thinking about it.  The smells of it cooking are absolutely heavenly.

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice."

-Philippians 4:4

Everyday drawings

Every week the girls and I spend awhile in the afternoon drawing different objects around the house.  We've used several books to learn art from.  One of my favorites was Drawing with Children by Mona Brookes - we used that last year.  We are trying something new that I found at the library (free is always good for me) Art for Kid's Drawing by Kathryn Temple.  It seems that for us, the less complicated the instructions are the better the art projects become. 

I thought I'd share some of the work that the girls have been designing.  I haven't seen a strong desire out of any of the girls to pursue drawing on a more deeper level, but I do enjoy seeing how their drawings evolve over the years.  It's so sweet to watch the stick figures with big circle heads evolve into something with clothes, hands, fingers, shoes, facial features and so much more.  We've been trying our hands at quite a bit of shading and color variations as you can see by their drawings.

I love how Kathryn Temple states that "Everyone can draw and there is no one right way to draw."  So often we get hung up on our pictures being a perfect replication of what we see, rather than seeing that our drawings reflect how we look at the world, how we interpret the information that our eyes have seen.  My favorite blog just happens to be called "Eyes of Wonder," and so often when I look at the girls drawings I get immersed in thinking about how they came about drawing what they did - more about the "wonder" of how they saw that particular object.