My fifth grandchild was born at about 9:00 p.m., weighing 9 pounds and 1 ounce.  He is a beautiful and healthy baby.  Mom is doing well, too.  His parents named him, Eliah Patrick.  

Elijah is an Old Testament name meaning, Lord Jehovah.  But the name, Eliah (missing the "j" in Elijah) means, "MY Lord Jehovah."  This is why they chose this name.

All of Becky and Adam's children have strong Biblical names.   Seth is their first born.  This is the same name of the third baby born into this world by Adam and Eve.  Seth in the O.T. is the one whom the seed of Jesus would come through.  Seth is four years old.  Abraham, another very strong Biblical name, is 3 years old.  Grace is one (and a half) years old.  And now there is Eliah.

A fantastic book – Hell’s Best Kept Secret, by Ray Comfort

I love this book.  Having been blessed by being raised in a church that preached the cross and the message of forgiveness and grace, this book helped me to look and meditate on the other side of grace, which is the Law.

I have always had a concern for those that are perishing without Christ and on their way to Hell.  I can’t help but think about the eternal destination of people that I meet and mingle with on a day to day basis. For decades I have given gospel tracts to those I meet, even having had printed personal soul winning tracts to distribute. 

There have also been many seasons in life that I have become wrapped up in the “busy-ness”  of life, or just become complacent about my position as an ambassador of Heaven.  There have also been times I have not shared the gospel because of discouragement.  Reading this book, Hell’s Best Kept Secret, was a reminder to me of my position in Christ and my responsibility in sharing the gospel.

I loved this book because often when I have witnessed in the past, I have been left with questions such as, “Did I say the right things?”  “Did I miss something that I should have said?” and even,   “Did I make the gospel message too simplistic?”  

The gospel message IS simplistic.  The Bible tells us that it is not our works that will save us.  No amount of good works, even if we devoted our entire life, as Mother Theresa did, to the purpose of good works and humanitarian efforts would deserve us the reward of Heaven. 

“For by grace are ye saved through faith, it is the gift of God and that not of yourselves, lest any man should boast.”  (Ephesians 2:8,9)

If we could be saved by doing good works, then God didn’t need to send His only Son to die on the cross for our sins.  If we could have been saved from hell by earning it, Jesus did not need to die on the cross. 

The Bible tells us that He who comes to Him as a little child, and believes in his heart that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and was raised again, and confesses with his mouth, he shall be saved. 

So the gospel message really is simplistic.  We don’t have to earn it.  We don’t have to DO anything.  Just receive the gift that God has given – His Son, Jesus, that  paid the penalty for our sins.  

But the question, “Did I not say something that I should have?”  I think this book helped me to answer that.  One needs wisdom when sharing the gospel – when you read the responses that Jesus had to those that asked how to be saved, he never answered like I have in the past – “Just ask Jesus into your heart and ask Him to forgive you of your sins, and you will be saved.”   Never once did Jesus answer like this.

Instead, Jesus, knowing the intents and motivations of the heart, responded to each individual uniquely.  Now, I’m not Jesus, and I do not know the intents and motivations of someone else’s heart – yet, I am commanded to ask for wisdom, (“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask for it, and I will give it to him liberally.”) and wisdom is what one needs when witnessing.  Only He knows where each one’s heart is and what their particular stumbling blocks to the message of the gospel is. 

This book helped me to think about the fact that one needs to realize their need for a Savior before seeking to be saved.  One needs to be brought to a realization of what it is that their being saved from.  We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.  The Ten Commandments, the Law, is our schoolmaster – it shows us that we have fallen short of God’s Standards.  We can use the Ten Commandments to lead someone to Christ.

What is sin?  Sin is anything that falls short of His Commandments. 

Have I ever hated anyone?  Jesus told us that if we have ever hated someone, than we have committed murder in our heart, and therefore, we have broken the commandment, “Thou Shalt Not Murder.”

Have I ever had a lustful thought?  If I have, Jesus tells us that then I have committed adultery in my heart.  I have disobeyed the commandment that says, “Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery.”

Have I ever wanted something that was not mine?  Looked at my neighbors house, possessions, (or for me, horses J ) and wished that it was mine?  If I have, than I have broken the  commandment, that says, “Thou shalt not covet.” 

Have I ever not honored the Sabbath and kept it holy?  In our society today, it seems as if we have totally forgotten this one, to the point that we hardly remember it being equal with the other Ten Commandments of not committing murder, adultery, stealing, or lying.   To us, it might seem as a harmless omission, but God changes not, and is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  If I have ever not honored the Sabbath and kept it holy, than I have sinned.

I John 1:8,9, 10

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

IF we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. 

According to God, it takes only one sin for me to violate to make me not worthy to go to heaven.  It takes only one violation of one Commandment, for me to deserve Hell and to go there when death takes place.

This is a terrible position to be in, because certainly I have sinned not only once, but many times, and violated many of His Commandments.  But there is Good News in all this.

God sent His only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross, to shed His blood for me, in order that He would pay the penalty for MY sin (and yours.) He has paid the penalty, and now I do not have to go to Hell for my violations of His Commandments.  But I do have to do one thing –

I have to receive His Gift of His Son dying on the cross for my sin.  I have to realize that He died for me, shed His blood for my sins, I have to believe this in my heart that He died FOR me.  And then I have to confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and then He promises that I will be saved, and that when death knocks at my door, I will be ushered into heaven for eternity. 

   We are creating lots of memories here at Ranch Shekinah with our cherry tree.  ~Go Here~ to read "Summer Memories" - a post from last summer.

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I’ve written a lot about how much I love the gift of the Sabbath.  But ceasing from work for one full day is easier said than done.  When I first started to attempt to set this day apart, I found it hard to do if I had any laundry still undone, or to see a cobweb hanging in the corner of a room.  For the most part, I would try to just leave the dirty laundry and the cobwebs and dust alone.   By disciplining myself in this way, it gave me the motivation I needed to plan better for the next week.

 In this I have found several hidden blessings in honoring the Sabbath.   I have found that I plan my days better, in order that by Friday evening (when the Hebrew Sabbath begins) I am able to sit down with my family in comfort, knowing that I have completed a full week worth of work. My house has been dusted, the floors swept and mopped, laundry caught up, and I have a generally neat and organized home.  It was never like this before my Sabbath days, as I almost always did home management chores from a crisis mode.  I was always busy “doing something”  - organizing a room, a drawer, a closet, – or scrubbing down something – a high chair, kitchen cabinets - or attempting to accomplish a myriad of projects,  always hanging over my head waiting to be done.  I didn’t have time to “enjoy” anything, there was always work to be done. The saying, “A Woman’s Work Is Never Done,” could have been my mantra, stitched in needle point, framed, and placed at the front door of my home.  But since seeking to honor the Sabbath, I have discovered the art of planning domestic management.

Yet, I have found that on the Sabbath, in all of my resting and enjoying, I can’t help but notice and think of things that need to be done around the house/ranch.  I have to restrain myself at times to not jump in and try to get these things done on this day.  But in this restraining and relaxing, comes another hidden blessing.  I have found that my batteries are being recharged on this day, and I start looking forward to being able to get back to the work. 

 A picture taken (on Monday) from inside the house through the front porch screen door.

One of the things I love about blogging is that it encourages me to record special days and moments, either by photography or writing.  This past Monday was one of those days that I knew I wanted to record in my memories.  It was a happy day at Ranch Shekinah.  But it was a full day of work, too, for everyone.  There was an aura of happy children everywhere, even if they were doing some unpleasant tasks.

This is a picture of Joshua and Jacob cleaning the chicken coop.  I know that they look like something out of a science fiction movie, but they’re really only obeying their mom by wearing those gas masks. Sure, it’s a little bit of an over kill, but I have heard of too many horror stories of people that have personally told me of physical sufferings they have today because of past cleanings of chicken coops.  My mother-in-law lost a lung because of a disease that is caused by inhaling the dust in a chicken coop, and a lady I met just this last year is going blind in one eye because of the same thing.  So I make my kids cover their ears, eyes, and mouth before going into the chicken coop to clean.

What I don’t have a picture of is Ruthie and Jacob scrubbing the porch down and hosing it.  We have chickens and turkeys that sometimes make a trek up to our porch and before I can chase them off, have done their dirty deeds.   And I don’t have a picture, either, of the two of them sweeping the basement together – another job that I deemed necessary today.

In the afternoon, Rachel, Ruthie, Miriam, and Mara went over to our cherry tree to glean the ripe cherries.  After several hours of picking, they came home and sat on the porch, listening to country music, and pitting the cherries. 

~Go Here~ to read about a cherry pie made from our Ranch cherries.

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Inside the house, I was busy in the kitchen.  I had this terrific dinner planned, and I was looking forward to cooking.  I washed a lot of dishes (our dishwasher broke L) and made BLT’s for all my busy workers outside.   From my kitchen window, I could see this:

This was a day of happy children – working – yet enjoying accomplishing things and being with their friends that accompanied them. Joshua had a friend named Cooper helping him, and Rachel had her two friends.  In all of the pictures of the sights that I captured on this day, I did not capture the sounds – the neighing of horses, the chirps of the birds in the trees, the chickens and turkeys in the back yard, and the sound of children talking and laughing.  And as I did not capture the sounds, neither could I the atmosphere of hard work being accomplished with the “background music” of contentment and joy.  It is truly a day that I want to store in the treasures of my mind for a long time to come.

This weekend I have:

Sat outside and listened to the waves hitting the beach.

Watched my children swim in the lake and play on the sand.

Ate a simple lunch of whole wheat pasta with garlic marina sauce – outside, with my seventeen year old daughter, enjoying her company and conversation.

Felt the gentle breeze and soaked in the sunshine.

Heard the sound of motor boats and watched the sail boats gliding by.

Looked through a favorite cookbook of mine called, Celebrate Virginia, making notes of recipes I want to try this summer.

Rocked my grandbaby, Kayla, on the lakeshore.

Played with my ten year old daughter, Ruthie, in the water.

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After listing all of the above, I need not tell you that my weekend was delightful in every aspect.  One of my favorite things about being at the lake, is sitting on our wicker furniture juxtaposed directly next to the sandy beach.  I watch the children build sandcastles, and at the same time, I leisurely look through magazines I haven't had time to touch, peruse cookbooks, and make lists of things I want or need to do in the near future.   This past weekend, I I kept a little notebook on the wicker end table beside me, taking notes of all kinds of things that occurred to me while resting.  I made lists:

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Books I Want To Read

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Internet sites I want to visit.

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Herbs I want to grow.

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Recipes I want to try and where to find it (what cookbook or magazine.)

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I worked on making a menu for this coming week taking into account on which days I have appointments.  When I thought through the upcoming week, I could see that I have only one night for a dinner that could be time consuming.  Every other night of the week calls for sandwiches and soup.  With this in mind, and the desire to try the recipes I had marked, I have a wonderful Monday evening dinner planned – complete with Sweet Potato Casserole; Yummy Corn Casserole; and a delicious dessert – Banana Coconut Cream Pie.

I have a lot of excess eggs in my refrigerator, so when looking through my cookbook, anything that used 4 or more eggs, was of interest to me.  I am in the mood to spend all day Monday experimenting new recipes using eggs.  When one has so much excess of eggs, it gives you the feeling of freedom to experiment.  Mind you, I am not known to being a “baker” in the kitchen.  I like to cook, but desserts have never been my specialty.  I think I may very surprise everyone! 

Recipes I want to try tonight (using my egg excess):

Coconut Cream Pie (5 eggs)

Custard (4 eggs AND goat’s milk – another item I have plenty of!)

Bread Pudding (6 eggs and half and half (which I have an entire unopened quart of)

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I keep my laptop by me along with my glasses, camera, herbal ice tea, lip sunblock, and flowers my little eight year old boy, Jacob, brought to me.

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I even made lists of blogs I'd like to post.  I came up with lots of new ideas and I now have lots of posts to keep me busy.  But if I'm going to try all those new recipes I promised myself, I'd better quit now and get cooking!

 These pictures that I am posting today epitomize what I love about children -

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That's Jacob in the far pasture running towards the house with his new found treasure.

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As he came closer, I could see that he had something very special in his net.

This is what I love about children - the excitement and enthusiasm for something as sweet and simple as a turtle.

 With all of my picture taking, though, I forgot to take a close-up picture of the actual turtle.  Suffice it to say, it was something to get excited about.  It was big!!

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He did find one even bigger after this, but it was "scary" big - as in, "Don't touch," says mom.  It was a snapping turtle.

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Visit Mary for other Show and Tells....

Life has been so busy around here; I’ve hardly had time to post.  And to recall just what it is that has kept me so busy is difficult.  The last two weeks are almost like a blur.

Wednesday night (last night) we had  dinner with friends/business acquaintances.  They first came to our ranch – they had never been here before.  This made the day rather stressful – a first time visit by ones we’ve only been to dinner with.  Trying to get the outside tidy – cleaning the porch, cutting the grass; getting the house company ready; and the children looking clean and presentable by 4:00 p.m., - not to mention myself – being ready for going out to dinner after having a full day of trying to get it all done. 

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As my husband left for work this morning, he assured me that I did not need to worry about the house - when they arrived, he told me, we'd hop on the gators, take some trail rides, and then be off to dinner.  Yet, I wasn't sure it would work out quite like that, and I worked inside as the children worked on the porch (washing it down), cutting grass, and edging around the fence line.  As the day went on, the pressure began to build, and I began to question just what I had gotten into. How does one correlate a clean home, a manicured yard, four clean children, and myself ready to go to dinner?

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When they arrived, we visited in the parlor for a while, as my husband had not gotten home from work yet.  ((  ))   They met all of our children for the first time. When my husband arrived, we took a tour of the ranch on the gators.  By the time we went to dinner, I was ready to relax and unwind.  We ate at a very quiet and serene restaurant that has lots of atmosphere.  We lingered over dinner until after ten o’clock p.m.  We were the only diners left in the restaurant by the time we left.  It was a very nice time after having a very stressful day.  Oh, and I forgot to mention the food – tilapia with a pecan/coconut crust and a mango salsa; a salad with watermelon, candied pecans, goat cheese, and greens; and key lime pie for dessert.  It was delicious!!!

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When our friends had initially arrived, I started noticing all the imperfections everywhere around me. I had started really second guessing this whole idea.  And as we drove off for dinner, I was sure this entire  plan stunk.  But after our lovely dinner together, I began to view everything in a better light.  Perhaps seeing our imperfections had made us better friends, after all.

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Tuesday we spent the day traveling to an aluminum siding place (two hours away) to get siding for our crib barn. When we got there, our order was all wrong – burgundy in color instead of barn red. We spent several hours there going over our order and figuring out what all else was wrong. 

We got back just in time for the 4-H equine practice at the county fairgrounds.  Rachel is on the drill team this year, and is entering the jumping competition.  It was exciting to see her practicing and doing well.  Joshua is in the 4-H program this year too, and is competing in Western (Rachel is in English).  It was fun mingling with our horse trainer and her husband.  Every week I have been meeting new people and enjoying myself thoroughly. 

Afterwards, we invited our friends, the Vales, to come back to our home for pizza. Our family plus their family equals 13 people – this called for a very big pizza order!  We had fun sitting around our big country table chatting and eating – we were all starved.  Their two girls stayed around afterwards to help Rachel and Joshua  getting the stalls mucked and re-bedded for the evening for the mares and their foals.  This seemed like a party in itself.  Four happy and joy-filled teenagers -  mucking in the barn with the music playing rather loudly.  By the time I got the girls home, I didn’t climb into bed until after midnight.  Way past my bedtime!

We’ve been busy around here, too, getting ready for the children’s camp we are hosting in just about three weeks.  Our friends, the Vales, have been here at the ranch almost every day helping us in the preparation.  We built a “chapel” (an outdoor amphitheatre made from tree trunks and timber on the property) for outside chapel service, and now we’re trying to build a bridge to the island. 

I haven’t even mentioned, yet, the two new additions to our ranch – Hot Shot and Willow.  Pictures are coming, don’t worry!  

We’re still waiting for our fifth grandbaby….

Since I wrote last….

Tuesday was a busy day around the ranch as we are preparing for a “week of camp” for children in the month of July.  This is a ministry of our home church.  

Between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, a very special event happened   I hope to have a special post dedicated just to this one event on Mary’s Show and Tell.  Come back on Friday!  (no, it was not the birth of our fifth grandchild – we’re still waiting……)

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Wednesday we went to the cottage to do yard work and to plant flowers in the flower boxes.  This was an all day event.

Thursday – Rachel and Joshua had riding lessons in the evening.  In the morning I finished planting peas, and at the same time the children got the house cleaned.  Grandma was here this day so the two little ones did have some school time, too.

Friday – Dad was home in the morning as this was the day of Pentecost.  There are several festivals in the spring.  It starts with the Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) - this past April 9th; The Festival of Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzah) - April 10th; The Festival of First Fruits (Bikkurim) April 11th; and the conclusion of it all is the Festival of Pentecost (Shavuot) - this was last Friday on the 29th.  

On the fiftieth day after the crossing of the Israelites over the Red Sea, Moses called the assembly to the base of Mt. Sinai and it was here that he gave all the laws of God.  This was the day of Pentecost. The word Pentecost means “fifty.”  Are you surprised by this?  I was.  Until I studied the Biblical Holidays, I only thought of the word Pentecost as meaning the religion known as “Pentecost,” (like Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist,) and those that attend there are called, “Pentecostals.”    I didn’t know that the word Pentecost in the Bible meant the number fifty.

In our home, on this day, we gathered together in the parlor and we shared with the children what this day was and gave the history of it.  We also gave testimony of the night of the Passover when Jesus became the perfect lamb and was sacrificed for our sins, and when we accept Him as our Savior, we are saved from eternal death in hell.  We also talked about the Day of Pentecost after Jesus had ascended that the disciples were meeting together and a wind came in through the windows and a tongue of fire sat upon everyone’s head and they began to speak in different languages than their own. 

We had cleaned our house on Thursday in preparation of this day.  As a general rule, Friday is our cleaning day, in preparation of the Sabbath, in order that we may rest from Friday night to Saturday evening.  But with this Biblical Holiday of the Day of Pentecost, we arranged our week to follow suit.  We didn’t do anything “special” this day (like on the Passover and we had a dinner), but rather, we just set aside the morning to sit and discuss what was special about this day and read particular selections in the Bible.  Basically, we used this morning to teach about the Day of Pentecost, the history of it, and to call special attention to it. 

I find the Biblical Holidays all very interesting.  Some books in my library on this subject are:

The Seven Festivals of the Messiah, by Edward Chumney

Celebrate the Feasts of the Old Testament in Your Own Home or Church, by Martha Zimmerman

The Biblical Holidays, by Robin Samson

In the afternoon of this day, I prepared meals for the coming weekend in order that I wouldn’t be labored with cooking but still provide some nourishing meals for everyone.  I made a homemade chicken broth on Thursday, and on this day I added vegetables cooking in the crock pot.  I made a lot of it and this served as a warm meal on Saturday that was tasty.  When I noticed it getting low, I would add a can or two of creamed corn and a few cans of Cream of Chicken soup to keep it restocked. By doing this, anyone that got hungry throughout the day could easily find a bowl of stew cooking in the kitchen at any time they wanted. 

Saturday evening I looked toward Sunday in preparation of what I would serve to our home church.  I made vegetable lasagna and a bean dip made with refried beans, rice, hamburger meat, and Ortega taco seasonings and sauce.  Both recipes were kind of easy as I pulled the already browned and seasoned taco meat and the meatballs and sauce for the lasagna, from the freezer.  I put both dishes in the refrig and on Sunday all I had to do was to put them in the oven to bake.

Things I need to do this week:

#1 priority is to finish planting my garden!  I started a bunch of seeds in pots of soil on my screened in porch. I need to get them all into the ground. I’d like to plant additional seeds and perhaps some extra tomato plants.

#2  Errands:

We need a few items from Tony’s Saddle Shop.

Joshua needs some gym shoes and jeans – need to take him shopping.

Need to make a trip to Costas to get some things.

Groceries I need:  Tuna fish, bread, rice, freezer bags ….(I’ll add more later)

#3 The kids bedrooms need cleaning/organizing.

#4 Plan this week’s meals -

The week for fish?  I’m getting low on hamburger meat and chicken – but I have a plethora of fish in my freezer.  Perhaps I will ask the kids for suggestions today as I plan this and see what they would like to eat.

 It's Tuesday morning (having written the above post yesterday morning.)  I had a wonderful Monday morning.  Although I had a lot I wanted to accomplish, after having a busy weekend with lots of company, my Monday morning moved slow (which is usually my custom.)  I enjoyed writing a post as I hadn't been on the pc for almost a week. 

We did go to Tony's Saddle Shop and Tractor Supply Company.  And I also accomplished my goal of gardening.  I got almost everything into the soil that was growing on my porch in potting planters.

I now have peas, corn, and bell peppers planted in my garden.  I stayed outside all day into the night getting everything done. 

On the agenda for today:

With my goal yesterday to finish my gardening projects, my kitchen went to pot.  This morning my #1 priority will be to get the kitchen looking good.  For those of you without little children still at home, you may have forgotten how messy kids can be! 

It looks as if Dad will be home today - so this will structure our day accordingly.  We will most likely have Bible reading and perhaps some other reading, too.  Grandma is coming today, so several of the children will do some summer school.  I need to take a trip to Wal-Mart. 

Friday

Spent the morning getting the house clean; the afternoon was spent in the garden transplanting my peas that were on the porch; Bob was home working with Mike and Matt on the new stall – this kept me busy making lunch and running to the hardware store.  I didn’t accomplish as much as I would have liked to in the garden.

Friday night we went out for ice cream and a movie – it was a late evening as we were eating ice cream at 9:00 p.m. and going to the movie at ten.

( As I weeded my strawberry patch and raspberry garden, I took pictures from where I was sitting.)

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Saturday

I sat outside with Rachel on the porch just enjoying the beauty of everything before me and the company of my daughter.  I marveled at the beauty of the Sabbath – a day set aside just to rest and enjoy what God has provided. I especially enjoyed watching and listening to the sounds of the birds all around me.  When one is always busy working, you don’t stop to “smell the flowers” or to listen and enjoy the sounds of nature.  As we sat on the big double rocker, we talked about the gift of the Sabbath, and what life was like for us before appreciating this gift.  Rachel was too young to remember, but I spent a lifetime of letting one day and one week run into the next, rarely taking a breather of rest.  The house always needed to be cleaned, there was always the "next" job of organization to tackle.  My life has changed dramatically since then.  Now, our life is more like music, than noise.  Just like a sheet of music, without rests or pauses, would cease to be beautiful music, so is life when one never stops.  In His infinite wisdom, He knew our nature to be goal oriented, and  knew that He would need to command many of us to "stop," and smell the roses.  And more than smelling the roses, for me, I take this day to appreciate and spend time with the people He has surrounded and blessed  me with.

He has told us that the gift of the Sabbath is for us, not the other way around. It's a gift, not a law that is heavy and a burden to bear.   It is to our own lack of blessing should we ignore this one commandment of the Ten. 

As we sat on the porch talking, Rachel got a phone call from our missionary neighbors that were down the road from us at a garage sale that was selling tack.  Although I aim to not shop on this day, I confess, we went over as soon as we could.  We found the deals of a life time, a horse lovers dream garage sale, and bought three saddles, in perfect condition, with all the pieces (stir-ups, girth) for less than $100.00  Rachel got first rate clothes for the upcoming 4-H competition in July - two outfits for $35.00.  This was an answer to prayer.

Late afternoon we went on trail rides, visited with our missionary neighbors, and then got ready to go see our good friends, the Vales.  We arrived at their house close to eight, and stayed until after ten. 

Sunday

This morning we were without fellowship of any other families present, but this did not hinder a wonderful morning spent in worship. We sat on the porch and my husband gave testimony to our children about the first church after the ascension of Christ, and what led us to Home Church.  He then read from Isaiah chapter 40 and gave commentary about the greatness of God.  As I sat on our porch this morning, I marveled at the beauty and simplicity of a worship service that the father of the home leads his children in instruction of righteousness and praise to God.  As he spoke of God’s greatness, he also gave his own testimony to the children that during these stressful and difficult times, it has helped him to draw closer to God and to reveal to him misplaced priorities.  He shared with the children the silver and gold that he is seeing in these times of trial.

 (Our ranch resident ducks taking a stroll.)

At 1:00 p.m. our company arrived.  Mike had offered the night before when we were visiting their home, to come over and give us a hand on the new stalls we are building for our pregnant mares.  I made a simple lunch as this was a last minute plan.  I prepared potato salad, and egg salad and tunafish sandwiches.  Margie brought brownies for dessert. There were twelve of us all together sitting outside at the picnic table, enjoying a simple lunch and the fellowship of one another.  When lunch was done, everyone went to work. We accomplished a lot.

Monday

Our friends came back Monday morning to continue with our ranch project.  I started making breakfast at 6:30 a.m. The night before, I had premixed the blueberry pancakes and dethawed the hickory smoked bacon.  I had a busy kitchen this morning as I had pancakes cooking on the griddle, three dozen scrambled eggs in the frying pan, bacon in the oven, and English muffins in the toaster.  It felt a little bit chaotic and the kitchen looked like it felt.

Matt and Kristi and Kayla joined us and we had 15 people present for breakfast.  There was so much food that I had plenty to spare and sent the remaining eggs, bacon, and pancakes over to our neighbors, the missionaries to Romania.  I felt happy that I was able to do this because they have special visiting company with them this weekend.

After breakfast, again everyone went to our ranch project. The first stall had been completed on Sunday, and today they worked on the second stall.  They also worked on clearing out the second floor of the crib barn preparing it for storage of our alfalfa harvest.  This was a huge project.

Here are some pictures from our weekend I will share with you:

Don't children and kitties go together like peas in the pod?

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Ruthie came and sat down with me while I was weeding my garden.  I couldn't help but make it a picture moment with my camera that was sitting beside me.

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Although we got a lot of ranch work accomplished this weekend, there was still time for horses.

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.These pictures were taken early Sunday morning. It was still cool outside.

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.This is one of of our pregnant mares due any time now.

I love all of our horses, but Minnie is one of my favorites. She has such a sweet dispostion.

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We spend a lot of time on our porch in the early mornings of our weekends.

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There was lots of paddle boating going on this weekend - .

I took this picture from my porch - Jacob is comfortably reading a book in his swing.

The girls work as hard as the boys around here....

Pasture rotation time - this is done twice a day.

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I took this picture from the porch.  I love capturing these mornings with my camera.

Nope, that's not ALL the pictures I took this weekend!  But, it is all the time I have for this morning to post.  I have some adorable ones of Jacob and an exciting moment he had when he found a turtle in the horse pasture.  I'll post more later.

 This picture was taken at the Mayor's Ball in January.   I just found it last night  on a missing set of picture cds.  I have to still find Jacob's birthday pictures!

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It’s been busy around here this past week.  I spent hours Monday and Tuesday weeding my large raspberry and strawberry garden, and also my herb garden.  My vegetable garden is now completely prepared to plant peas and corn – this is something I hope to be able to accomplish today. I’ve been growing vegetables in my screened-in porch for the past month and they are ready – in fact, dangerously close to being over-ready, to be placed in the soil.

Wednesday I was on the run all day getting errands accomplished and a hair appointment.

Thursday was spent in Indianapolis at a business luncheon at Sullivan’s, and later spending several hours in a business meeting. I got home just in the nick of time to get Rachel to her riding lesson in the evening.

 Something I haven’t mentioned yet is the excitement that has permeated this week of activity.  We have two pregnant mares that are due any time.  I get up in the middle of the night, every night, and check on them to see if they are foaling.  I can’t express to you in words how excited I am about this!

My oldest daughter is also due to deliver her 4^th baby this week.  I am waiting for “the phone call.”  As it is going to be another homebirth (I had four at home, and my daughter has had all of hers at home so far) she has asked if I will come to her home to watch the little ones when she goes into labor.  Did I mention that this is an exciting week?  My stomach is turning over with a certain amount of nervousness every time I think of all the pending births this week. It boggles my mind every time I think of the timing of all of this – to have all of these births due at any moment.

My devotions this morning were applicable to this past week, having celebrated my 51st birthday.

“All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth…

(and then repeats -)

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth:

but the word of our God shall stand forever.”

Every birthday is a living testament to these verses in Isaiah 40. We are all fading, although the youth may not realize so! But the Word of God stands forever.  It is eternal. His Word will sustain and strengthen us as these verses in the same chapter so eloquently express;

Even the youths shall faint and be weary; and the young men shall utterly fall:

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; and they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

His Word has been my guiding point for the past three decades.  It is my compass.  When I feel weak, I am made strong through prayer and the reading of His Word.  I love this verse (in the same chapter) –

He giveth power to the faint: and to them that have no might He increaseth strength.”

I have found this to be true.  When I have been utterly exhausted in my own strength, over and over I have been given renewed strength. He has sustained me through trials and overwhelming difficulties at times. He has over and over renewed my strength when I felt myself to be in total weakness.  He has given me physical healing many times through just prayer.  At the age of 14 years old, I asked Jesus Christ to come into my heart and to forgive me of my sins.  At 51, I live to testify His faithfulness. His Word truly is faithful and has/will sustain and strengthen me. 

I got to visit with Becky and the babies last Thursday – I had been praying that I would have a small window of time open up that I would be able to get over to see her (it’s an hour round trip).  I didn’t see how it would happen, but, on Thursday morning my husband needed to make a trip out that way to meet a business associate.  He asked me if I would like to come along – and as much as I wanted to – I’d already planned out our day with the children.  I sent a prayer to Him to guide me in making this decision, and He helped me to be flexible and to take my husband up on his offer. 

When I arrived at Becky’s, I was glad that I’d made this decision.  Being nine months pregnant, three little ones in tow, and living in virtual isolation (in the country, surrounded by vast fields of land), I could tell that my company was appreciated.  I’d brought my cleaning supplies along to help tidy the house, but she desired my company more than my helpfulness.  I did some dishes, but before I could get to anything else, Becky asked me to just sit outside with her to talk while we watched the children play. 

It was a nice long visit as my husband’s appointment took quite a bit of time.  When I left, I was glad that God had given me the flexibility for the day that I needed to do what I had prayed for all along.

I had gotten up early to pray on Sunday morning, and I prayed that He would especially bless our Sunday morning home church service.  I sensed a need that only Christian fellowship and encouragement could fulfill.  I asked Him to prepare the elders with a special message for us and that His presence would be made known.  This prayer was fully answered.

Home church is very unique.  There are no props, programs, or formality.  The little things that many take for granted as being “church” are not present.  No pews or pulpit, and not even a passed offering plate.  Neither are we constricted to a fixed time frame.  When we first congregate, there is a lot of fellowship going on, sipping coffee, and finding ourselves sharing burdens and prayer requests at this time.  We often do this around our big country table, and it is very informal.  There isn’t really a need to ask for “prayer requests” after this, because we have shared out hearts here.

Each service is unique. Because there is no formality, each Sunday is open to be led by the complete leading of His Holy Spirit.  There are times we open with hymns (with me as the piano player), and each person is able to request their favorite hymns, as well as the children (they love to do this.)  There is generally no special music, although on some occasions we have guests that have provided this.

This morning, we opened with congregational prayer.  We sit in our family room, seated in a circle.  Contrast this to pews and straight rows, faced towards the pulpit.  Everyone is invited to pray, even the children.  This is a very precious time.  Because we do not have a fixed time in which our church service must end, this is a very intimate part of our service.  Each person prays, with no regard to the clock. 

We often don’t have one “sermon”, but many times we have two.  We have two elders, as the first New Testament churches did.  Dan gave us a message about sowing and reaping. These were verses that he had read in his own personal devotions that God had spoken to him in a very clear way.  I found it interesting that this was his message, as I’d heard this same principle of sowing and reaping taught a few weeks ago, and it was something I have been thinking about ever since.  I paid close attention because I’ve been dwelling on this in my mind how everything we do is sowing a seed of some sort, either to the good, or to the bad.  Our deeds, actions, and words are all seeds that are being sowed, and we will harvest the fruit of these.

Our time together had started at 11:00 a.m., and concluded at 5:00 p.m. It was truly prayer answered as we felt that we had sat at His table of spiritual blessings and had a banquet of fullness.

We leisurely spent the remaining daylight hours with our children outside.  We took a trip around the trails, I read a little bit of a new book outside at the picnic table, and we stood on our porch admiring the beauty of the green grass before us – after a long and harsh winter, I can’t tell you how much we are enjoying the color green.

When we came inside, we concluded our Sunday with our family reading time.  We read two and a half chapters sitting in the family room, and then moved upstairs to mom and dad’s bedroom.  There, everyone being all ready for bed with their teeth brushed and jammies on, we read yet one more chapter.  

My husband awoke this morning, having gone into this weekend with a heavy load lying upon him, feeling his load lightened after our wonderful church fellowship and time spent with our children.  It’s the way every weekend should be.

My husband and I enjoy visiting different bed and breakfast inns.  We hadn’t been to one in several years, and we decided that this spring would be a nice time to get away for a weekend.  This past weekend, we went to southern Ohio near the Appalachian Mountains.  I found this B&B (Murphin Ridge Inn) in this past month’s issue of Country Living and also in the Midwest Living publication of the month of May.

We left Friday afternoon and arrived late evening (just a little before midnight.)  We found our key in the lobby of the guest house in an envelope with our name on it, by a lamp near the front door.  When we entered our room we found a basket of cheese and crackers and fruit on the dresser.  Although it was terribly late to be eating, it just seemed too novel not to celebrate the moment and snack on it.

It was just what seemed a few hours later that it was time for breakfast.    B&B’s are known for their fabulous breakfast (thus the name, Bed and Breakfast!) and it is something that sleeping-in is not worth it.  It’s the highlight of the day .

At this inn, the dining room is situated in an old brick home, some 200 years old.  It has charm and ambivalence written all over it.  We were seated in the newer portion of the house that has floor to ceiling  windows on three walls. It is truly a “sun” room.  The walls were made of old logs taken from a home that was on the property built in the 1800’s.  While we were drinking our hot coffee, we admired the room as it looked like an original log cabin that had been restored with big beautiful windows. (It was later that we discovered the history of this room.)

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I love bed and breakfasts for many reasons, but one of these reasons is the originality of the breakfast that is served.  I love trying new breakfast recipes, always trying to glean new ideas.  This morning was a French toast that had a cream cheese filling, with baked apples on top.  It was served with a small glass of freshly squeezed orange juice mixed with a cranberry juice. 

After breakfast, we meandered outside of the dining room with our coffee mugs and sat in the gardens directly outside the windows where we had been dining.  Another couple came and joined us and we got to know them as we sat and chatted for almost an hour.  This is part of bed and breakfast tradition – getting to know other people and having time to chat and sip coffee.  I’ve always enjoyed this aspect of the B&B’s.

We took a walk around the property that had trails in the woods.  I enjoyed the walk although it was a bit muddy from all the previous rain and I couldn’t help but think how much I would enjoy these trails with my horse, Minnie.

In the afternoon, we took a drive into the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.  Because we had arrived late the night before, it was interesting to see what we had driven through in the darkness.  I hadn’t realized just how remote this B&B  was located!

Most B&B don’t serve dinner (well, at least that’s been my experience) but this one did.  We returned to the dining house at 7:30 pm (our appointed time to eat dinner).  This time, we were seated in the original part of the house.  There was an elegant fireplace, and old wooden plank flooring.  Every table had a lit candle.  I wasn’t very hungry, so I ordered the homemade tomato soup and a salad that had all kinds of originality – I think that’s what defines the word, “gourmet.”  I think that even the beverage I had could be considered “gourmet” – it was lemonade made in the blender with vanilla beans.  It was delicious!

The next morning we were back in the dining house for breakfast, and this morning they served quiche – a favorite dish of mine.  Thankfully, one was able to order scrambled eggs, to which my husband, not being a quiche kind of guy, appreciated. They had a homemade, delicious, granola (and vanilla yogurt) that was set up in the hallway of the home for guests to help themselves too.

As we were checking out, I bought a cookbook that had been written by the proprietors of the inn.  I always do this when visiting a B&B (many offer this) as a memento of our trip, but also for the fabulous recipes that are always found within.  This one was extra special because it wasn’t just recipes, but rather a journal of the proprietors – what they did before this b&b, how they decided to start a b&b, and how they found this particular one for sale.  It also included the history of the property and buildings.  And the recipes within have made me want to try everyone.

From the B&B we went to Lexington, Kentucky – horse country.  I’ve been here before many times, but I enjoy the drive through the countryside equally every time. We meandered all over the country side, admiring the beautiful rolling hills, the green pastures with the cows grazing within,  and drove over numerous babbling creeks.  Many times there was no one else on the road but us, and we would just stop the car, get out, and take pictures.  We even pulled to the side of the road once, got out, and waded in the creek.  It was refreshing as well as a great place for pictures!

It was 4:00 p.m. and we decided to stay overnight at Shakers Village – a favorite place of mine.  We stayed in the main house where the dining room is situated on the first floor.  I could write an entire post on this place. Well, in fact, I have in the past.  ~Go Here~ if you would like to read about that. Warning: it’s a very long post! It’s all about my intrigue of the Amish, but my experience with Shaker’s Village is written within about mid-point. One of these days, I’m going to write a post devoted just to this destination spot and include pictures of our visits. 

We got back home the next day in the early part of the afternoon.  I was so glad to be back with my children – but also happy that my husband and I had taken the time to write yet another chapter in the story of our life together, building more special memories in the picture book of our minds. 

Don't forget to visit Mary and other show and tells....

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Now, I am going to guess that you have never heard of "coconut chicken" and that you never dreamed that coconut and chicken even go together.  But, I tried this recipe, and it is a hit with everyone.  You've got to try this recipe!

Coconut Chicken

Dethaw your chicken (boneless) and cut up into small pieces (bite-size).

Get some crackers out – I used Town House Flip Sides Pretzel Crackers (Cheddar Flavor) and sometimes I mix these with a completely different kind of cracker, like garlic pita crackers.  Use about a package and crush them – I put them in my blender and made it into cracker crumbs. 

Get three bowls out –

In bowl #1 crack an egg, whisk with an egg beater

In bowl #2 – put your cracker crumbs in this (above)

In bowl #3 – put 2 cups of sweetened coconut flakes (you find this in the baking section of the grocery store – where the flour, sugar, choc. Chips, nuts, etc… are)

Now, take the bite-size chicken pieces and dip in the beat egg (bowl #1), then dip it in the cracker crumbs (bowl #2), and then into the coconut ( bowl #3).  Bake in oven at 350 for about 45 minutes.

My family positively loved this.  Try it!

I served this with rice I had made in a steamer.   Try this recipe with the coconut chicken.

Fried Rice

This is a guaranteed everyone-is-going-to-love-it recipe, too!

Sauté an onion in coconut oil (you can buy this at Wal-Mart).  Then add about 3 cups of cooked rice (I had precooked mine in a steamer) and steamed carrots (cut up).  The onions and carrots really give this ordinarily blah rice a lot of flavor.  Season with sea salt.  (Sea salt is as good for you as table salt is bad for your.  You can use sea salt generously.)

I make this rice every week and keep a big bowl of it in the refrigerator for anyone to eat when they don’t know what else to eat, or add to any of our meals.  This is very filling and healthy.

Tonight, since I was making coconut rice for supper, I wanted to try something different.  I added a can of stir-fry veggies to the rice, and stirred in about ¼ cup of soy sauce.  Everyone liked this, too.

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It was a nice Monday.  Got the kids up bright and early – did our chores with the horses and chickens.  The house was in disarray after a busy weekend, so we spent a few hours before school started getting the house whipped back into shape. It felt nice getting the floors cleaned and having everything picked up.  What a great way to start the week.

We had egg salad sandwiches for a late lunch after our group school time. Before dad had left for work, he had left a two page list of things that needed to be done around the ranch.  Matt and Mike were already here working on the bigger issues, and as soon as we could dismiss school, Rachel and Joshua went out to help.  I let the two smaller ones go play, and I used the time to accomplish a few things.  I organized my check registers, balanced my checking account, exercised, and started supper. 

Tomorrow:

Priorities:

Exercise

Make lasagna for supper in the morning (because the afternoon is full.)

School

Keep the laundry going

Hang up sweaters and light coats that are in a basket in the pantry room

Accomplished all of the above for the day.

On Wednesday, (yesterday) Rachel and I went over to my oldest daughter’s house to help her out.  She’s 8+ months pregnant, and having a difficult pregnancy. She also has three little ones ages 4, 3, and 1.  We went over with some cleaning supplies and a dish of freshly made lasagna.  I also brought a crockpot with chicken and veggies to make her a homemade chicken broth.   By the time we left, her house sparkled, she was able to get her hair washed, and dinner was ready for when her husband came home that evening.  I left content knowing that I was able to help Becky, as well as enjoying her company and being with the grandbabies. 

I have often written about our business trips to Indianapolis but I've never posted a picture in all these years that I've been blogging. This time, I took my camera with me, stowed away within my purse.  The occasion for this business trip was not necessarily "business", though.  It was a luncheon - to say goodbye to Maggie - one of our favorite people in Indy.  She has been a tremendous help to our family business  over the years on a regular, monthly basis, and now, her last day at work was this past Friday. 

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See the guy on the left?  That's Jeff.  Go ~HERE~ to read about how God answered our prayer and saved his life from the clutches of death.  He has been a faithful friend over the years, as well as a tremendous help, too, in our family business.  We have gone to dinner with he and his wife many times over the past decade in our trips to Indy. 

We were hanging out at Matt and Kristi's house, watching the horses graze.  Dad was playing tether ball with his two younger boys, I was holding Baby Kayla and talking to the girls.  It was the day of the Sabbath, and we were just enjoying this beautiful day. 

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A new neighbor of ours, Miguel, who attended our Passover Dinner, came over to us and invited us to dinner.  I hadn't fixed anything, so in another hour, all nine of us were sitting around his table, eating the tacos and tostadas he'd prepared for us.  As we were leaving, he told us he had planned to fix a big dinner for us the next day, and that this was just an impromptu meal he had prepared when he seen us all hanging out together.

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The next day, we came back at 5:00 p.m.,as requested.  Miguel and his brother, Rafiel, had fixed us a banquet of food.  An appetizer of freshly made guacomola and chips; a first course of homemade soup; and a plethora of entrees:  Tacos, flutas, quesadeas.  Each entree filled an entire large platter.  It was a banquet of food!

 Miguel and Raffiel waited on us as if were in a restaurant. 

It was a feast big enough to feed an army, and delicious!

I started this morning with my usual time spent with Him in prayer.  When I finished praying and went to look for my Bible to read, I looked out the window – and to my shock, I seen a horse grazing outside of the pasture.  How many others are loose, I wondered?  I woke everyone up in a hurry, thinking I’d need all the help I could get to herd them all back into the gated pasture.  However, it turned out that only Magic, our little colt, (you know, the little angel I was just bragging about in the below post…) was the mischievous one that had kicked out the lower two lats of the fencing and walked on out.  The others did not follow, thinking that the electric fencing was on (it wasn’t).  

Although Magic had stolen these moments without supervision, we have been purposely letting our horses out into our yard to pasture.  Reason?  The pastures are struggling this year after the severe flooding we’ve had this past year.  We have two totally dry lots, and were trying to not have them all gone dry.  Therefore, we’ve not been allowing any pasture grazing privileges.

However, grass is free, and our grass/alfalfa bails are costly, and like everyone else in the world today, we are trying to save money, not spend it.  So, my husband’s genius idea is to bring our horses into our yard for their meals when the weather permits (no rain, the ground is not wet.)  So far, it’s been working well.  This morning, after the early rise/scare, my husband and I brought all the horses out of the dry lot and into our yard to graze.  We sat on our gator and drank coffee watching them graze for several hours.  It was a nice time of early morning conversation.  The weather was perfect.

Not only are we saving money on food for our horses, but we are saving on money for gas for our lawn mowers.  We actually plan to do this for as much as possible this coming season.  You would not believe how well they edge around our fencing!  And fast, too!

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My oldest son, who lives right next to us, was impressed and asked if we’d bring our horses over to his house to do some lawn maintenance.  So, in the afternoon, we brought all the horses over to his house, and put them inside their picket fence.  What a sight to behold that was!  Seven horses inside a picket fenced-in area.  I am quite sure that his two neighbors (on both sides of him) are wondering about our family’s sanity! 

We spent a lot of time hanging out in Matt and Kristi’s yard – talking to each other and watching the horses graze.  And this is what I love about the Sabbath.  See, I am a “Do-er”   - I always have to feel as if I’m accomplishing something and not wasting time.  This is not a good thing when it comes to enjoying people, because people get in the way of accomplishing “things.”   But by purposely setting this day aside to rest, I have found a hidden blessing.  I relax, I enjoy people, my family, and my surroundings. 

A neighbor that had attended out Passover Dinner, invited us (impromptu) to dinner when he seen us all hanging out in Matt’s yard.  Inviting our “small” family of nine was no small thing!!! He had fixed tacos and tostadas for us.  We all sat around his table enjoying this unexpected dinner (to which I especially appreciated, it meant I had no cooking for supper tonight!).   When we were leaving, he told us he wanted us all to come back tomorrow for lunch for a much bigger meal.  Wow! 

Now, the sun is setting, and the Sabbath is coming to an end.  In reflection, I did not prepare for this  as well as I could have (I was gone most of Friday).  By planning to rest on the Sabbath, and then when one goes to rest but sees all the work still left undone, it is not as relaxing as it could be.  It takes a certain inner self-discipline to restrain and not to start trying to get it done.  What I do, is make a mental note.  I didn’t do too well in planning my time this week, I tell myself, and promise to do better next week.  Today was good motivation to plan next week with more wisdom. 

My show and tell for this week is two-fold.  #1 - It's a show of our cutie-pie colt, Magic.  He's a dream come true for us.  From the conception of our horse ranch, it was my desire to breed beautiful Modern Haflingers.  All of our mares have top-rate blood lines.  We have a favorite stallion (Major Commander of Maple Lane Farms in Shipshewana, Indiana, Gerald and Darla) who also have excellent blood lines.    But, we desired a stallion of our own, here at Ranch Shekinah. 

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I went looking for the perfect ranch stallion - I wanted: #1 Good blood lines, #2 A drop dead gorgeous Modern Haflinger #3 A beautiful mane and tail #4 A sweet disposition.  I did find one that met all of my requirements/wish-list.  Well, almost all of my requirements - his disposition was down right scary. He was also rather pricey.  I declined.

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A year later, we "met" Magic, a colt bred from our favorite stallion in Shipshewana, Indiana.  His mother is Minnie who has one of the world's most awesome dispositions for a horse.  This excellent disposition was inherited by Magic.  He is the sweetest, calmest little guy one could ever meet.  He's like a cuddly teddy bear.  And the best part - since he was a 3 month old baby when we bought him, the price was right.

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But, like I said, this is a two-fold show and tell.  The second part of my show is the new button I've discovered on Photobucket.  The button that says, "Edit,"  - it creates its own "magic."    I've been having a lot of fun with it. Take a look:

Don't forget to visit Mary of Canada Girl...

 Every Sabbath is a beautiful one, but this one was extra special.

It wasn't overly sunny, but it was warm.  When I stepped out onto my front porch, this is what I saw:

Ruthie - still in her jammies playing on the swingset with Jacob.

 This is the perk of not living in a subdivision - being in your jammies and no-one to mind.

We went for a walk - all nine of us. Well,it started as a "walk" but somewhere along the line, the "toys" got involved.    We went down to one of the creeks and there the kids began to explore.

 The view from where we were at:

 I LOVE this picture of Jacob:

I almost always frame my pictures, but I decided not to do that this time, or for at least most of them.  I'm not sure why I chose this particular one to frame out of all the rest of the creek pictures!

 We were in/around the creek for hours.  We started going back home when the sun looked like it was going to set.

 We stopped at the lake for a while....

  This would be a cute picture framed.

Now right about now, I started regretting not having framed all of the pictures.  I didn't want to go back and re-do them, but I was very dissatisfied.  I started looking at photobuckets edit button, and decided I'd try it out.  Then the fun began!

This was the first button I tried,   "Blurred edges".

 I LOVE the look of this old pier on the water. 

Blurred edges, antique frame

 Isn't this a cool effect?  I love it.

Matte, Viginette, greyscale

 We came home and it was starting to sprinkle.  We didn't let a few rain drops stop us from trying to grill hamburgers.

"Hey kids, time to eat!"

Wide Frame, blurred sides

I love this picture, too.  Ruthie is blurred because she is running, but I like that effect.

 Ohhh, I just love this picture!!!!!  It looks like something I'd see in a magazine. 

(Blurred edges, :bronze"  gold frame)

Figured out how to change the size of the borders.  Greyscale, muted borders

I took the picture posted way above, and played with it -  viginette, painted, matte frame.

The fun did not end after the picnic.  We had friends come over - Miguel, Raffiel, and Rosa.  They wanted to ride horses.  They started riding just when the sun was going down, and rode for several hours.  They had a blast!  

The entire ranch was kicken' in the sunset until darkeness had well set in.  Robert and Jodi had taken paddle boats on the lake, and the group of horseback riders was trailing the ranch.  It was a fun day and night!!

 This weeks show and tell is about a dinner "party" we had just one week ago.  It  was the night of the Biblical Passover Dinner that was commanded to the Israelites to observe from generation to generation (Exodus 13). 

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We went grocery shopping about a week before, and a trip out to the store the day before to get a few perishables. We spring cleaned the house Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  .

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On Thursday morning, the first thing the children  did was set the table.  I like having this done in the morning instead of waiting until the evening.  I spent most of the day in the kitchen, from morning until afternoon, cooking. 

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 When everyone arrived Thursday night, I had coffee brewing and hot water boiling (for tea.) The table pictured above is perfect for a buffet/drink/coffee/tea/dessert table.

For about an hour, everyone mingled with one another.  Rachel and Kristi played the piano, and there were different groups of people all throughout the house talking to one another.

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.When it was almost time for dinner to be served, we all congretated into the family room.  One of our guests, who is also our neighbor, is Robert and Jody Frye, missionaries to Romania.  We had asked Robert to give a small presentation of what the Passover is, and how it related to Jesus dying on the cross and shedding his blood for our sin.  Robert is an excellent speaker, and he explained this so beautifully.

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 He concluded his presentation with a little ten minute musical film, a song that tells a story.  The name of the song is called, Watch the Lamb, and it is written by Ray Boltz. 

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Afterwards, we had dinner by candlelight. 

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Entrees:   Grilled lamb; cheese potatoe salad; corn bread casserole, green bean casserole. salad, and "mortar."  If you are wondering what "mortar,” is, think of  brick and mortar.  This dish represented the mortar that the Israelites used while in Pharaoh’s building program.  It is made with raisons, dates, pumpkin seeds, apples, walnuts, and honey.   Everyone wanted to try it, and it was a hit.  “Pass the mortar,” became the night’s joke. 

We liked our "mortar" so much, that we've been making it every day since then.  Today, I asked my mom, who was not present at our Passover dinner, if she would like some mortar.  She didn't have a clue to what I was talking about and looked at me as if I'd lost my mind.  I'm known around here to cook up some pretty crazy things, in the name of being "healthy." 

 After dinner, we had special music, compliments of talented Jodi and Rachel.  They played the guitar together and Jodi sang, "El Shaddi." 

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It was such a beautiful evening, and I wanted to capture the moments with pictures.  Yet, I didn't have my camera set right, obviously.   

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 When the girls finished, Robert took over.  He played some hymns, but also some fun bluegrass music, too.  He even played a song for us that he had written himself.  It was a song with humor in it, and everyone laughed hilarously.

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He sang some old-time country favorites (he’s originally from Kentucky.)  He even taught us all how to sing harmony as we practiced several times our various parts before singing a beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace.  We sounded great, if I may say so myself.  Everyone enjoyed this. 

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 Aren't Robert and Judy just the cutest couple?  I think so.

 Even Baby Kayla loved the live music.

We have many memories in our family of previous Passover dinners, but this was by far the most outstanding dinner we have ever hosted.  Special guests, good food, a candlelight dinner, a presentation about the Passover event, a movie/song, and live music by Rachel, Jodi, and Robert; lively conversation, jokes, stories, and laughs.  It was a night I don’t think anyone will forget any time soon and will linger as a special memory for a long time.

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Be sure to go visit other show and tells and visit Mary, the Encourager.

 Pictures to go with the previous post....

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We travelled up Grandma's house Saturday night.  When we get up, the house smells like Grandma's good cooking.  Yum....

 The kids love having breakfast at Grandma's because she always has the "fun" cereals that mom tries not to buy.

After breakfast, it's not a long drive walk to church.  The original church building is right next to the parsonage.

A long time ago, like some 45 years ago, there was a steeple on top of this building.  It would ring church bells (with a real bell, not a generated bell computer sound) every Sunday morning.

  Ruthie wore her new sari that Dan and Baghya just brought back from India.  It was her "Easter dress."

 I know these two pictures look identical, but I liked them so much, I put a border on them and posted both.

 After church, it was time for lunch.  Have I ever told you how much I love my mother's cooking? 

 That's my brother, David, helping cut the roast.

 That's my husband helping mash the potatoes.

 Rachel is making the salad and  Grandma is doing a little bit of everything.

As you can see (below), the kids took it easy while we were in the kitchen getting lunch on the table.

After lunch, Rachel helped the little ones color eggs.  This is a tradition in our family.  I could compile a book of all the pictures we have for all six kids, doing the same thing, every year. They look forward to this.

 Then it's time for our traditonal egg hunt.  Eggs have been hidden in Grandma's living room everywhere.  As you can tell, Ruthie and Jacob are excited when set loose to find their eggs.

 I let the two older kids hide the eggs, and they get pretty creative.  Their everywhere in this room.  Laying on the dirt of this hanging plant...

 Under the blanket where I am laying and enjoying the hunt....

Behind the sheet music, under the piano lid on the keys...

 Hiding inside the lamp shade...

See those pictures hanging on the wall?  There's some hiding on top of those, too.

 The day is over, the kids have had a lot of fun, everyone has enjoyed Grandma's cooking, and now it's time to go home.  Were taking Grandma with us for the week.

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 And this is a picture taken Sunday night when we were all settled in for the night.

 It was a great weekend.  I took tons of pictures – and I am hoping to get them posted sooner than later, this time.

Our weekend started on Thursday night – the Passover dinner.  My husband had planned to be off work the following day, so we celebrated a “double Sabbath.”  On Friday, we slept in, had our family worship time with reading the Bible and prayer, and then went out for a late breakfast at Bob Evans.  In the evening, we had pizza and watched the movie, “Bedtime Stories.”  This was a hit in our family.  From our youngest – 8 years old, up to our oldest (still at home) – 17 years old, there were huge grins, lots of chuckles, and at times, outrageous laughter.  Everyone loved it.

Saturday morning, I was going to make a simple breakfast of blueberry pancakes.  My husband requested eggs to have alongside the pancakes, so what started out to be a simple breakfast, ended up being rather elaborate.  In our home, everyone likes their eggs prepared a different way.  And I’m a mom that likes to make everyone happy, so I accommodate.  We had eggs over-easy (dad, mom, Ruthie); scrambled eggs with lots of cheese (Rachel); scrambled eggs without cheese and very-well done (Joshua and Jacob.)

Jacob loves hash browns, so I threw some of these on the griddle (Wal-Mart has some of the best hash browns patties.)   Then, I decided, why not some turkey bacon, too?  I had some left over corn bread casserole from the Passover dinner, and I decided to fry that in some coconut oil. We also had leftover “Mortar” – apples, dates, seeds, nuts, honey, and cinnamon.    It was a huge breakfast.

After breakfast, we sat at the table and read the Bible together.  We read from the passage in Numbers Chapter 22.  Are you a Shrek movie lover?  We are.  And that is why we all got a huge kick out of reading this chapter regarding the talking donkey.  If you don’t remember this story, get your Bible out and read it.  Our family enjoyed this story immensely.

It was a sunny day – a little bit chilly, but a great day to get outside.  We employed our horses to do our edging for us around our fencing, and tied them up outside of their dry-lot and on our yard.  Seven horses will do a lot of edging in a very short time!  It was fun having them hang out with us in our yard.  Rachel pulled her MP3 player outside – we had music playing and children running around having a good time (including a few neighbor children).  Rachel went riding Kayleen in the round pen; Joshua worked with his horse, Maria, and I spent some time grooming a few of the horses.  We let our colt, Magic, roam where ever he wanted to.  He took naps and let Rachel lay down right beside him.  We took a ton of pictures - it was so sweet.

Saturday evening we left to go to my mom’s for Easter Sunday.  I love going to the house I grew up in.  I sleep in the same bedroom I did as a child (it is the only home my parents have ever owned.)   I love to wake up in the morning and smell my mom’s awesome meal cooking in the kitchen.  My children also love going to Grandma’s house. 

We had a sweet church service.  We met in the old church building.  I played the piano for our hymn singing; both elders shared Scripture (my husband re-told the story of the talking donkey in Numbers Chapter 22 – all the kids eyes sparkled as he retold this story.)  Even the young adults, Bobby and Dolly, seemed to enjoy hearing my husband tell this story.  He related it to how God can do anything; He can use any means He wants in order to talk to us, even through a talking donkey. 

We had prayer – we go around in a circle, and everyone prays.  We do not try to hurry our church service to end at a certain time.  Each one prays for whatever is on their heart and desires to beseech God their requests.  The little children pray, the young adults, and us older ones.  Some pray short and sweet prayers, others, pray longer.  It is a very intimate time during our worship service.  We had the Lord’s Supper after our prayer time. 

Have you ever walked out from your church service and felt very full and satisfied from within?  This is the way I felt this day.  As my body was physically nourished from the delicious meal my mom had made us for Easter, so was my spiritual body nourished during our time together. 

My mom’s Easter meal was fabulous.  No one cooks a roast like my mom.  With this we had: Sweet potato casserole, broccoli and cheese casserole, green bean casserole, strawberry jello pretzel salad, and rolls. She also made a homemade blueberry pie and a chocolate pie. Did I mention that it was delicious?   After we ate, the smaller children colored eggs, and then we had an Easter egg hunt in Grandma’s living room. This has been a tradition in our family for a very long time.

When we got home in the evening, we had some of Grandma’s desserts (from lunch) and some homemade chocolate chip and cherry cookies (I had made the batter the day before).  We read more chapters in the Bible with the children, and then finished the evening with several chapters in the novel we’ve been reading.

Today it’s cold and rainy outside.  We have a fireplace crackling.  Dad is home – doing some phone calls and paper work from the dining room table.  Grandma’s leftovers from Easter dinner are cooking in the oven, and it’s time to eat lunch.  What a great Monday.

My pc didn’t work this week – in fact, it’s been officially declared dead by a certified computer geek.  This worked out well, as in, I got a lot done this week without one distraction/temptation of pc time.

This was the week of the Passover.  We like to observe this holiday because:   

#1       It’s in the Bible (Exodus chapter 13);

 #2     It teaches our children the Passover story in a way that’s three dimensional – instead of just reading, we eat.

 #3     It is a great way to share the gospel with friends.

#4      We celebrate all kinds of holidays that are not Biblical in nature – how much more important (to us) than to take a day and remember Christ’s sacrifice on the cross?

We spent this week in preparation of this holiday.  We did our spring cleaning – contrary to a few weeks ago when we spring organized.  It was easier to clean with the clutter having already been removed and put in its proper place. 

I had bought most of the food for the dinner last week while at Costa’s, but the items I was missing, I went out for on Wednesday.  The first thing we did Thursday morning was to set the table for the evening.  It felt comfortable knowing that we had spring cleaned, and the table was already set in anticipation of the night’s guests.  

The menu:

Lamb – I put garlic all throughout the roast.  I rubbed on olive oil, put Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper on it; and covered it with the herb rosemary. I threw it on the charcoal grill until it was completely browned, and then brought it inside to finish cooking it in the oven. 

Were not a family of lamb eaters – I only served this because this is the Passover main entrée.  I wanted to make it really good, but when one does not make something very frequently, your just guessing at what would make it taste good.  I was told by one that loves lamb, that the best way to serve it is just to salt and pepper (and rub butter on it.)  I didn’t hear any raves from any one at the dinner table about the lamb, so next year, I think I will try something different.  In fact, I think I need to buy a small rib shank during the year and try different recipes so that by the time the Passover comes, I have something that I feel confident that everyone will love.

I also made:

Potato cheese casserole

Mexican corn cheese casserole (but I forgot the cheese.) L

Sweet potato casserole with melted marshmallows on top

Fresh green salad

Green Bean casserole

We had a Seder plate that had a bowl of salt water (represents the tears of the Israelites while in Egypt) with parsley dipped in it (the parsley represents the new life of the Israelites when freed from bondage.)  There was a bowl of real horseradish – a bitter herb – to represent the bitterness of the slavery.  Placed on everyone’s plate was a piece of unleavened bread –this is made without yeast because yeast in the Scripture represents sin.  Yeast is forbidden in the Passover dinner.  Grape juice was the only beverage served. 

There was one other side dish we served that was tasty, original, a good conversational entrée, healthy, and became even a source of humor.  It is called ‘mortar,” as in, brick and mortar.  This dish represented the mortar that the Israelites used while in Pharaoh’s building program.  It is made with raisons, dates, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, apples (squeeze some lemon juice over these so they don't turn brown), walnuts, and honey.  Just mix a little of it all together, whatever proportions you desire, and you have a great side dish.  Everyone wanted to try it, and it was a hit.  “Pass the mortar,” became the night’s joke.

Rachel had printed out invitations the week before and delivered them to some of our neighbors, and all of our family members.  The invitation invited them to the Passover dinner at our home and listed the date, time and even the menu that was to be served.

When everyone came, I had the coffee brewing.  People mingled, talked, and played the piano.  After about 30 minutes, we gathered into the family room.  Robert (missionary to Romania) shared with us what the Passover was all about.  He read to us the passage in the Bible (Exodus 13) and then talked about why the lamb of a blood was required to be painted over the door post of the Israelites to protect them from the death angel that would pass over.  This event foreshadowed the shed blood of Jesus, the picture of the perfect lamb, without blemish, whose blood would be shed for us, to save us from eternal death in hell.  We then watched a ten minute movie/song video about the lamb called, Watch the Lamb, by Ray Boltz..  The gospel was clearly presented this evening as well as our personal need of receiving the shed blood of Christ for our sins.

We had dinner by candlelight.  I have pictures that eventually (maybe by next week’s show and tell?)  I will share.  When dinner was over we had desserts – Cheese cake and French cake (some of my children’s favorite dessert.)  

Before the evening ended, as we lingered at the dinner table, Rachel and Jodi played their guitars and sang El Shaddai, by candlelight.  Robert played for us, and sang, several songs.  Some were funny – especially the one he wrote himself – everyone laughed hysterically at the words and the humor within them; he sang several that were old-time country favorites (he’s originally from Kentucky.)  He even taught us all how to sing harmony as we practiced several times our various parts before singing a beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace.

We have many memories in our family of previous Passover dinners, but this was by far the most outstanding dinner we have ever hosted.  Special guests, good food, a candlelight dinner, a presentation about the Passover event, a movie/song, and live music by Rachel, Jodi, and Robert; lively conversation, jokes, stories, and laughs.  It was a night I don’t think anyone will forget any time soon and will linger as a special memory for a long time.

It was another week of no appointments outside of the home.  I love weeks like this because it helps me to keep my home better.  The house stays tidier; there are better meals on the table; and I feel more satisfied in every area of my life. 

We had a birthday party for Jacob this week.  He turned eight years old. And as usual, we had two parties.  Our “Uncle Jon” and “Aunt Alexandria” party was held at the company office this year.  We used a conference room (pictures coming soon, I hope) and invited the staff to join us as we celebrated Jacob’s birthday.  The presents were awesome, as usual.  A giant remote control tractor – did Jacob ever love this!!!  A set of funny, silly and goofy looking teeth; a 3-D slide show viewer of prehistoric animals; a neat 3-D coloring book where you draw on black paper with special crayons and wear special 3-D glasses; and a really neat set of prehistoric animals (Jacob loves these.) 

I had  9 really neat cupcakes (strawberry shortcake; pineapple upside down; cotton candy; German chocolate; coconut cream; chocolate ho-ho, etc...)  All of these cupcakes were like individual little cakes and tasted just like their names.  We bought a few dozen more inexpensive ones from Wal-Mart, and served pizza and pop.  It was a fun party.

That night, though, Ruthie got sick.  She had over eaten the pizza and cupcakes, and it made her so sick that I got little sleep that night.  I lay by her side with the bucket and all night long, I held her hair back and helped her aim into the bucket.  I don’t think Ruthie is going to want a cup cake or a piece of pizza for a very long time.

Friday morning we were all moving slow.  We did manage to get the house clean, and we had another birthday party for Jacob in the evening.    On the menu: Mahi Mahi with a coconut batter dipped in macadamia nut and a lime and passion fruit dipping sauce; pepper steak made with a wine sauce and tri-colored peppers;  Fried vegetable rice and a salad.   The cake was a D.Q. peanut butter ice cream cake. 

As I was running out Friday afternoon to pick up the cake, Jacob asked me if he could have a corn dog for his birthday.  With the above mentioned meal all planned, it did seem a little unnecessary to have corndogs (he’s only had these at the county fair.)  But, my husband and I determined that we would try to find him one.  Never having bought one before, it took us a little bit of investigation and time to find it, but we succeeded.  Jacob had his corndog and we enjoyed mahi mahi and steak.

Cute:  We were telling everyone about Jacob loving corndogs at the beginning of the party.  After dinner, as Jacob was coming out of the bathroom, with his hand on his stomach as if not feeling well, he said, “Mommy, the corndogs are not loving me back.”     We all got a good laugh.  

This early Saturday morning, I brought all of my past week concerns and thanks to Him. I started to read in Ephesians chapter one, but never got past the second verse.  “Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”  What a great verse, I thought when reading this, to pray and to claim for others. I got curious about this word, ‘grace,’ and began to look up its full meaning in the back of my Hebrew Greek Key Study Bible (this is an excellent resource – it has a Strong’s dictionary concordance and Lexical aids in the back. It is sold/published by Institute of Basic Life Principles.)  I started looking at all the different forms of grace in the Greek – charis, chara, charisma: I especially was encouraged by the form of grace called charitoo.  This is the grace that does not mean ‘to show favor to’ but rather, ‘to give grace to; to make accepted or acceptable’.    This word is only found in Scripture and in post-Christian text.  What a great revelation that we can pray  that those that we love that do not know Christ, will receive “charitoo” - God’s grace – for God to show His grace to them.  Claiming particular Scripture verses for situations and for people helps me to pray in faith that what I ask for is God's will for their (or my) life. 

 Rachel's birthday has past, and I couldn't find her birthday pictures for the longest time.  In fact, I still haven't found my disk full of pictures from that night.  These are just a few her friends passed along.

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Rachel turned Sweet Seventeen - and such an occasion called for a very special cake. It tasted as good as it looked (coconut cream.)

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Great cake, good friends...

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Rachel is one to not be suffering from lack of friends....

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Come check out more show and tells atMary's Canada Girl....

Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup

1 large box of chicken broth (32 oz.)

1 large mason jar of tomato sauce (28 oz)

½ cabbage cut up

1 green pepper (chopped up)

1 onion (chopped)

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

¼ sugar

1 tbsp of Italian Seasonings (Good Seasons)

Throw together and cook in crock pot for a couple of hours on high. 

This soup is tastes really good and is very healthy for you. 

To get done today:

School:

Group Class:

Bible (Isaiah)

Memory Verse (new passage)

AIP booklet on Truthfulness

History – read 1 chapter

Book on prayer by John Rice – read 1 chapter

Economics: Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?

Individual student time:

*Yesterday, I spent all of my individual time on Joshua – we were correcting math chapters. Today, we have half a chapter left to work on.

*Today, I will spend time with Rachel proofing with her the essay that she is working on.

*Spelling test for both Rachel and Joshua (we did this Monday and Tuesday, too.)

*McGuffey reading with Ruthie

House:

Back closet:

* I organized this closet last week, but I left a couple of bags in the middle of the floor to sort through.  Mostly clothes, need to sort through and send to the kids rooms (seasonal change of clothes.)  Then this closet will look pretty good!

My room: 

·          I have a pile of laundry that needs to be refolded and put away.

·         A clasp that needs to be sewn on better of my black pinstriped pants.

·         Put ironing board and iron away

·         Yesterday, I put on my spring duvet cover. I ironed it first. Now, I need to take the matching pillows that were in storage in plastic and put on bed.

·         Next week: Go through Ruthie’s room and help her sort out of season clothes; reorganize her room.

The desk I’m sitting at:

*It’s getting full of paper, books, and clutter.  Need to organize, straighten.

In the Food Department:

·         Went grocery shopping already for the week.

·         Rachel cleaned out of the refrig last night.

·         I made for supper last night: Pepper Steak in a merlot sauce (store bought) and onions and green pepper; steamed broccoli; scalloped potatoe’s; mashed potato’s (for Jacob) and gravy; salad;

·         Today for lunch: leftovers from last night.  Supper: sandwiches

·         Make my favorite cereal to store in freezer (the combining of about 6 grains)

·         Prepare menu for next week’s Passover Dinner on Thursday night, make sure I have all items.

·         Birthday party for Jacob this Friday – plan menu, cake, make sure I have all items.

Special Events Coming Up:

            *Jacob’s birthday party this Friday (family only)

            * Passover next Thursday (dinner)

            *Horse ferrier coming tomorrow (this takes several hours to do all seven horses.)

Errands:

            *Need to go to Tractor Supply Company to get another horse grain bin and for dog food.

            *Health food store to get a small bottle of lavender oil.

Misc:

            *get Jacob’s presents wrapped for his birthday (bought them last week when I got Matthews)

For Matthew’s birthday, I wanted to have a special dinner. Like most mom’s, I wanted to make his favorite food and have his favorite cake. I served potatoes cheese casserole and steak.  Now, the steak I just happened to have found in my freezer when I was cleaning it out last week (it was still in there from last summer when we were grilling out a lot.) 

Everyone loved the way these steaks tasted, so I thought I would share this with you and for myself also – I want to remember this. 

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I took the steak out in the morning, put it in water (enclosed in the wrapping paper) to dethaw.   I had to leave the house around 2:00 p.m. (and the party was to be at 4:30 p.m.) so before I left, I pulled the steak out of the water, and put it in a small Pyrex dish.  I poured red wine all over it (I didn’t measure, just tried to soak it. Maybe 2 cups?) 

When I came home and it was time to start grilling, I wiped the steak a second time in the wine, put Lawry’s seasoned salt and pepper on it, then threw it on the grill.  I browned both sides, and then brought it in.

Now, my family loves all meat well-done.  This means, “no pink.”   I had been told by a woman that I had lunch with about a month ago, that she had watched a gourmet cooking show on t.v. and that she learned the way to cook a steak “just right,” like a gourmet restaurant would do, is to brown the steak on the grill, then bring it in and put it in the oven to finish cooking.  She raved about how excellent her steaks turned out when she did this.  I made a mental note of this, and this time, when I was grilling steak, decided to do the same.  I took the steak that had been browned on both sides by the charcoal grill to the oven for about 20 minutes at 350.   

This was a success – my married children and daughter-in-law were all asking me how I made the steak.  They raved about it and wanted to know step-by-step how I had prepared this steak. 

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(Here's the recipe for the casserole I served with the steak.)

Some pictures from a weekend around here: .

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.This is Magic, our little colt. He's the star of our ranch.

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It was truly a blessed Sabbath.   It started with the celebration of my oldest son’s 26^th birthday.  It was a sweet time of fellowship with all of my children.  It is always special to me to have the gathering of my married children with their children with our younger children still living at home.  As we sat around the table together, talking, laughing, sharing stories, and singing Happy Birthday, I am always thoughtful (and thankful) of  the love and unity in our family, that exists because of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I pray continually for my family to walk in love with one another.

Saturday morning, after prayer, Bible reading, and writing a post, it was still quiet as everyone was still asleep.  I went outside to feed the horses and to let the chickens out of their coop.  When I came inside, I was surprised   shocked to find my entire family sitting in the family room, waiting for me to have devotions.  What a wonderful way to start Saturday morning with my family – by the reading of His Word together.  After reading several passages we had prayer, each one beseeching the throne of God.  After this: A big breakfast with scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon, and toast.

It was cold and rainy outside – the kind of day that one wants to just stay inside snuggled. And this I did.  I stayed in my p.j.s and my big  fluffy pink robe until around 4:00 p.m.  We had wood in the fireplace crackling and a hot cup of tea by my side all day.  I read a book, took a nap, and for an hour or two we had our family reading time from our G.A. Henty historical novel (St. George for England.) 

In the evening, we took a quick trip out to get some pizza. Not exactly what I wanted to do – it was still wet and cold outside, but one of my children can be pretty persuasive (Rachel).  We watched a dvd on character and integrity (Pastor Bill Winston from Chicago, Illinois), and before bedtime, we watched a family fun movie called, Bolt. 

The Sabbath – He tells us that this is a day that was made for man (not the other way around – man made for the Sabbath) and it is a gift from Him.  It’s a gift to be able to stop and enjoy my home, my husband, and my children.  To take a complete break from cleaning, laundry, and all the other assorted jobs that come with taking care of a home – it is a vacation day ordained by God. 

It is early Saturday morning – the house is quiet and still.  I have just finished reading a passage in Ephesians (1:4) of how God has chosen us before the foundation of the world.  I was using my Defender’s Study Bible (Morris) and began to look at the footnote on this verse.  There listed were numerous references of verses of things that were decided upon before God ever made the  world (John 17: 5, 24;  I Pet. 1:20;  Rev. 13:8;  Rev. 17:8;  II Tim. 1:9;  Titus 1:2;  and Acts 15:8).   Upon conclusion of looking up all these verses, I was encouraged that God is in control.  The God that chose me before the foundations of this world, and has written my name in the Book of Life (Rev: 13:8 and 17:8) has my life planned accordingly.  Although we may live in times of uncertainty, I can be certain that He is with me and has planned everything for His (and my) good.  I recall the verse that says, “All things work together for good for those that love God and are called according to His purpose.”   This morning while in prayer, I reflected with Him upon all the times that things did not look good, things that were outside my control; but how He worked these situations according to His purpose and for my good.  I can look back now, and see how those events closed one door, but opened another.  He has always been faithful to me.  I praised Him this morning in reflection of these things, and looked forward to what He is doing now in my life.

It was a good week.  I feel very satisfied with how I spent my time.  There were no dinner engagements; out-of-town business appointments; luncheons; or last minute calls to the office.  There was one dentist appointment on Wednesday, but praise Him, it was the last one.  I now have a calendar free of any outside regular commitments. 

But because the previous weeks/months have been filled to the brim with activity, the order of my home had declined.  Little piles of disorganization had begun to mount; I found myself missing quite a few things.  Where is the plastic citrus juicer?  I needed it for preparing a lemon drink for my mom.  I could only find one part to it.  Frustrating.  I spent time looking for it, and finally gave up on it.  The next day, the missing part mysteriously showed up.

Ruthie’s McGuffey book went missing.  This was particularly frustrating because we had lost this same book a few months ago.  After looking for it without success, I had ordered a new one to replace it.  And then, within two weeks of its arrival – it went missing in action.  We did find it this past week – it too, mysteriously showed up. 

I had bought a rice steamer recently, after reading a fellow homeschool blogger rave about their purchase of one that they used to cook oatmeal in.  I was enjoying making rice for my mom on Tuesday’s and steaming fresh veggies.  And then, all of the sudden, a main part to it went missing.  I now have a new rice steamer that I cannot cook rice in until the inside pan shows up.  It’s been two weeks since it went missing – I’ve searched my house high and low, and there is no sign of it anywhere.  Did the kids take it outside to play with it?

These are just some of my frustrating moments of missing things (but I haven’t mentioned all of them.)  So last week, I felt it would be a good week to undertake a spring cleaning organizing.  Little piles of accumulated misc. stuff; the back closet that stores a lot of things; re-organizing my freezer spaces and refrigerator; all of this I accomplished this past week. 

I was reminded as I worked of how things used to be around our home since the conception of our homeschooling.  I would copy the surrounding schools calendar “ditto,” with no flexibility.  By the end of the school year, when summer began, there would be one fried mama – burn out with a capital “B”.  There would also be a house full of projects to be done and a summer defined with organization and cleaning projects.  And this would also mean that during the school year, I was often frustrated with the chaos of the clutter and cleaning projects waiting for the summer to begin. 

I had to hit the brick wall before I was able to see that what I was doing was only going to send me to the asylum if I kept it up.  Praise Him, He showed me a better way.  Through Him, He has helped me to become more flexible; do projects during the school year as they are needed (contrary to waiting until the summer); to follow my own calendar of school days; and to rely on Him and His guidance by the Holy Spirit for my days to be ordered by Him.  Believe me, this is a much better way to live.  There is an inherent way of freedom that is felt, contrary to being a slave to a system, or a school calendar.

 Is it too late to post a picture or two from Christmas?  Better late than never, right?

I was going through my post pages, cleaning it up, looking for drafts that were never published.  On page three, I found this, and I just had to post it even if it is three months late!

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 Josh was so proud of himself - he picked out three matching pink, John Deere long sleeve t-shirts for his three favorite girls.  They loved their gift!

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 His cousin, Jennifer, was special - the only one that got a matching pink John Deere cap.

His gift to them was a hit.  He looks loved, doesn't he?

When I woke the children up I told them that there was donuts for breakfast (not healthy, I know, but their daddy bought them), and once everyone has made their bed and is downstairs, we will eat them. But the condition was that everyone was to be down here quickly.  A great motivation to get children moving quickly on a Monday morning!

We started our Monday morning with donuts and a documentary movie about Ancient China.  We are studying Ancient History, and I just happen to have a series of movies that accommodate this study.  This is what happens when one has been homeschooling for as long as I have – you find yourself with a wealth of great resources to draw from. 

We watch our educational movies in the den, turn off all the lights, close the door, and this time, eat donuts and drink milk.  It was an interesting movie and a great way to slide into a new school week on Monday morning. 

From history class in the den, we moved to the family room for economics. Joshua built us a fire for it was cool in the house.  Outside, as is today also, it was cloudy, cool, and damp.  What a great day to have a little fire – the warmth as well as the crackling sound of the fireplace and the aroma it gives off. 

For economics we are using the books by Richard J. Maybury.  This too, I have accumulated over the years and read these to my two oldest children (and that have graduated for close to a decade now) while they were homeschooling. The book we are reading right now is called, Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?  To which, the children wanted to know….”Yes, whatever DID happen to the penny candy?” Interpretation if you need it here – “Hey mom, we should have candy for this class!”  Although I have never made it a practice to give candy for schoolwork (although my mom does this!) I decided for the novelty of it all, that every day when we read a chapter I’d give them a few small pieces of candy to start the class.  Who knows, maybe by doing this I am building a subconscious love for the class of economics J .

We read a page in our character book about truthfulness; we read a section about prayer in our book by John Rice; and before all of this we read a passage in the Bible (Isaiah).  I gave Rachel and Joshua their spelling tests; Joshua read to me a chapter and half from the book, Pilgrim’s Progress (a watered down version published by ABeka); Rachel worked on her English assignments that I’d given her last week for this week.

 I read a Bible story from our set of The Bible Story, by Arthur S. Maxwell, to the two smaller children.  And yes, I have two Bible classes here.  We have group Bible class with all four children, and somewhere in the day, I fit in a reading from The Bible Story to the two younger ones.  This is another accumulation of books that I have from the very beginning.  When Becky (my oldest, 28) was born we bought these books.  I have made it a commitment to myself to read each of the ten books to all of my children, and I write a little note at the top of each chapter (in pencil) the date, and to who I read it.  There are beautiful color pictures in this series, and I learn as much as the children do, although I’ve read these books through many times. In fact, my mother read this same series of books to me when I was a young girl.

There was a project I had put on my list to get done – a big one.  It involved emptying an entire cabinet of gardening and pet stuff, and moving the cabinet to the back closet to our cellar.  While eating our lunch, Rachel started getting a strong desire for a milk shake from Steak and Shake – she’s had this thought in her head for over a week, and it seemed to be getting stronger.  She asked me what she could do to get me to go out for this single purpose – to get a milk shake for her.  Although I make it a practice to rarely drive anywhere on Monday, I can be bribed – and I began to think of what I could get from this J.  I told her about my cabinet project (a big one), to which she quickly agreed to.  Amazingly, the project that I thought was so big; Rachel and Joshua accomplished it in less than 15 minutes.  As I promised, I threw my gym shoes on, and we all piled in the truck, off to get a milk shake.  Rachel got a got an orange cream shake; Joshua got a chocolate shake, and Ruthie got a strawberry one – she earned hers by finding a book that has been missing in action (her reading book) for two weeks. Amazingly, too, she found this book in less than 5 minutes when I told her that a milk shake would be due her if she could find it!!!  Jacob declined the offer of a shake when he realized there was a trade involved.

In the afternoon, and especially on Monday, I love to take some special reading time with Ruthie.  This is where the two of us snuggle on the couch and I read to her.  This is not “reading class,” where she reads to me (I use McGuffey for that).  I spend this time more for me than for her, I think.  It’s time that I take to enjoy my little girl.  Today, we read chapter after chapter, snuggled underneath a blanket in front of the crackling fireplace, and finished the book, Black Beauty (Great Illustrated Classics.) As we are both lovers of horses, we thoroughly enjoyed this book, although it was really sad.

We started the day with a movie and donuts, and I ended our school day with a lovely reading with my youngest daughter.  I love my Monday’s.

As I write to you, I am sitting on the double swing of our ten foot high swing set.  I am feeling a soft wind that is whisking my hair in the breeze.  It is warm enough to be in knee length shorts and my brown converse sneakers (sans socks), but not warm enough to be without my plaid burgundy sweater/jacket. Underneath I am layered with a long sleeve western style shirt, and underneath that, a long sleeveless pink t-shirt.  I found out yesterday that the longer I was in the sun, and the more active I became (riding Minnie) that long sleeves would be just too hot to be comfortable. Today, I am ready for the peeling of layers as the sun and activity warms me.

The wind has just picked up and is blowing my hair with more gusto.  I can hear the rhythmic click, click, click coming from the center power box of our electrical fence.  I can hear crickets far down by the pond, and the chirping of several different kinds of birds.

I hear the sound of birds coming from the right side of me, too, somewhere in the forest beside my house.  And just now, from right behind (and above) me, I heard a loud chirping – I looked to find the source and it is a beautiful woodpecker with a bright red head and seems to have a speckled body. 

The old rusty windmill is a constant perpetual sound to which I have grown to appreciate as the background music of all that goes on here at Ranch Shekinah.  Even as I go to sleep at night when the windows are open, I can hear it.  It makes its presence known 24/7,  as long as there is just at the least a slight breeze to keep it cranking.

There is the occasional whinny and snort from the horses that are right before me where I sit. And further beyond the pasture and the alfalfa field in a distant field, I can see smoke rising from a small outside fire.  If I am standing where the wind is traveling I can smell the scent of burning leaves and branches. 

My smallest children were delighted when they came outside to play and found me sitting solitaire on their swing set.  Jacob threw himself onto my lap and wrapped his arms around me, saying, “Mommy! Mommy!” as if totally surprised to find me in his domain, just waiting to play with him.

I couldn’t have dreamed up a better weekend.  Both Saturday and Sunday my husband led us on a walk meandering all around the property.  He has been smitten by Magic, as if with a magical spell of some sort, for my husband who has not the infinity for horses as I do, has been taking our 10 month old colt on walks every chance he gets.  Just as one might take their dog on a walk with a leash and collar, so my husband does with Magic, leading him with a lead rope attached to his halter.  You cannot ride a horse until it has reached two years old, so this is the best thing one could do for a growing horse – getting him used to being handled by people. But this is not exactly the reason my husband is doing this – it is just because he enjoys Magic and has taken a special liking to him. 

On Saturday I rode Minnie – my backhind has healed sufficiently enough to try bareback again.  When I seen my husband was including Magic on our walk, I couldn’t just but help to hop onto Minnie and walk alongside.  Matt, Kristi, and Baby Kayla joined us along with several of our children.  I mostly walked alongside, but there was some time after everyone abandoned our walk that I was able to try my balancing by riding (bareback). 

On Sunday afternoon, when we ventured out for our walk, again my husband took along Magic.  Minnie has one of the boniest backs to ride upon, and I decided that as much as I love and trust Minnie to ride bareback, I thought I’d take Gretta instead.  When I mounted her, I immediately noticed a huge difference, this horse being more well endowed on the spot beneath me.  But what Gretta had in a plusher ride, she lacked in docility.  I wasn’t sure just how it was all going to go – her spunk is about a thousand percent higher than Minnie.  Although their both sweet horses, Minnie is in her teens and Gretta is just a babe (5 years old).  From the very first few minutes, she argued with me about my intended desire to take a walk.  Round and round we went, her will against my will, until I convinced her that she had no choice in this.  This was to be the first but of many arguments,

My husband had gone on ahead of us while I was mounting Gretta, and when I finally caught up to him, I found him lying down on the grass, spread out, and enjoying the sun.  Jack, our golden retriever was keeping him company, and we (Rachel and I) laughed when we observed Jack snuggling up to my husband, and mimicking his body position, as if our dog was trying to get a suntan, too.  Our two smaller children, Ruthie and Jacob, were climbing on the huge hills that inhabit this part of the acreage.  I don’t think I’d ever seen them play here, but then again, we don’t usually park ourselves here, either.  This spot is usually the place that I practice my faster riding skills, as there are trails that weave in and out of the hilly terrain. 

When we resumed our walk, we ended up at an adjacent part of the property and here it was that my husband got into a conversation with a neighbor.  After hanging out for a while in the vicinity, I parted and went on my own little trail ride.  I explored places with Gretta that I had not been before, overlooking the steep bank that overlooks the creek.  I spent an additional hour just meandering through the forest and by the trail that runs along the creek.  The water was flowing rapidly this day and it was so pretty to listen to it as we walked along. At times I practiced my balance and we would trot, and other times, we just took it easy as I absorbed all the beautiful sounds of nature and the beauty of it all. 

When I got back, everyone was hungry.  We had our first cook out and invited Matt and Kristi, and a few others that are not family members.  The sun had gone down now, and it was chilly, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying our first cook out eating at the picnic table.  We shivered as we ate, but it was a fun meal with a lot of laughter as well as a good burger.

We did finish our lovely weekend with our family reading time – two (very long) chapters from our newest G.A. Henty book, In Freedom’s Cause.  After reading time we had family prayer together, and then hurried off to bed. It was a weekend of not only rest, but total refreshment of the soul and spirit. 

It has been a good weekend, thus far.  Rachel had a party Friday night of about 12 teenage girlfriends.  All went relatively smooth and without chaos. I am now ready, though, to have quiet weekends that are family oriented for quite a while.

I was on the run so much last week, and so many late nights, that I did not get up early to pray as my custom is.  By Friday, I felt my spiritual reservoir getting low, and feeling resentful for obligations that have kept me from communing with Him.  The only way that I can get up early to pray is to go to bed early!!! I prayed that He would help me to do that this weekend, and He has answered this prayer. 

I love to wake up way before anyone else in the house will be stirring.  The night before, I prepare my coffee machine, so that all I have to do in my grogginess and in the darkness is to push a single button, and wait to fill my cup. I take my hot cup of coffee to the back den where it is pitch black (there are no windows in this room); I close the door so I will be as if I am praying in my closet (total solitude); and wrap myself in a blanket on the couch to keep warm. 

When I get up late and I only have 15 to 30 minutes to pray, I feel hurried – I need to get all my requests out to Him quickly and cover all the bases in limited time.  But when I get up early, as in hours before anyone else will be waking around here, it is as spending time with my Best Friend and my Heavenly Father.  I pray in this manner:

I start with the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer.

“Our Father, which are in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name,

The Kingdom come,

Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

I start with this because I want to put my mind and spirit before the presence of the Almighty God, Our Father who resides in heaven, and to come before Him in reverence – to hallow His Name.  I pray for His kingdom to come – for Jesus to come again soon; and I pray that His will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

From that point on, I come to Him in a spirit of thankfulness for all that He has done for me in the past day (or days) since I last met with Him in this way.  I do this by reviewing the previous day, going through each thing and event that happened.  I thank Him for these things – it might be time spent with my husband before going off to work – and then it is here as I thank Him for this that I begin to pray for my husband and to offer up requests in behalf of him.  I pray for his day, for pending business opportunities, for guidance regarding His will in our business, for my husband to have wisdom in these areas; and on and on as I think of specific needs for my husband. (Recommended reading: The Power of a Praying Wife, by Stormie Omartian.)

As I go on reviewing the previous day thanking Him, I come to our school time, and here it is that I bring up specific requests for my children – for spiritual needs as well as academic needs to be met.  I pray for their protection; for hedging around them in safety – for their purity of mind as well as for physical protection. 

When I come to our lunch time, I ask that He will help me in this area – food preparation is not one of my natural gifts – it is only in the past decade or so that He brought me to a deeper appreciation and understanding of this important role as a mother and wife - not only the preparing of nutritious meals for the body, but a feeding of the soul and spirit through the nurturing of a meal prepared with love.  I need daily wisdom and guidance in this area. 

I pray that He will give me aid and wisdom in all of my domestic areas.  In specific, I pray that He will help me to “take dominion” over my home, and to organize it efficiently, in order that we have a home that there is a place for everything – opposite of a home where one is always looking for something lost (been there, still there, but improving with His help.)  I pray that He will help me in every area of my home, from organizing to being a better cook.

As I go through each event that happened in the previous day, it is brought to my mind the needs and requests that I bring before Him.  Did something happen unpleasant? Am I still struggling with an unkind or unthoughtful remark?  It is here that I pray for this person and for myself – to forgive, to forget, to love, to be like Christ and not to take offence.

Did I lose my temper?  Was I unloving or impatient to someone?  It is here that I ask for forgiveness and for increased love and patience towards others. 

When I am finished praying, the sun is now peeking out, and my eyes are sufficiently ready to read the Bible.  I keep a notebook journal by my side.  It is just an ordinary notebook, and I put the date on the top of the page.  Then, any verses that I read that speak to me or I find particularly significant or that I have a question about, I write these verses down.  Then I might write what it is that I found interesting about this passage.  I have been doing this for almost three decades. 

I am a different kind of mother and wife because of my time spent with Him.  I can not exist without this time.  It is time that I covet, and that I seek to ‘make happen.’  He meets all of my needs and I have found Him to be a faithful friend and one that answers all prayers.  

It’s Friday afternoon and it’s a rare event for me to be writing at 4:50 p.m.  I am usually at this time of the day on fast speed trying to tidy up loose ends – making sure the house is clean, exercising, doing that last minute laundry, running errands, and picking up pizza – all before the Sabbath officially begins.

I went to another town forum meeting Thursday night.  This time it was held in a different church.  It was actually a church that I had once been a member of (decades ago, when my first two were small) and now they have this huge, beautiful, Williamsburg building.  I was astonished while walking through the corridor – the professionalism of it all.  As a Baptist preacher’s kid being raised in a simple little church, fancy churches like this one amazes me.  A bathroom just for the little kids, with toilets almost to the floor;  an open library with bookshelves filled with books you can purchase; a simulated fireplace; and the aroma of coffee perking where you can help yourself to a cup or two.  

The meeting itself was better than the one I had attended Monday night. I always bring a book to occupy myself with.  It makes the time go faster.  The meeting didn’t end until almost ten and I got really tired (and really bored.)

Today, I’ve been on the run. Rachel needed some supplies for a party she’s having tonight. We ran to the store first thing at 8:00 a.m.   At 10:00 a.m. there was an appointment I needed to get too; I got home just in time to run in and run out to another appointment at 1:00 a.m.   While out, I picked up some needed items from Target; the health food store; and a book I had ordered waiting for me at Barnes and Nobles.

When I got back home, I was surprised to see my husband.  He is never home on a Friday before 6:00 p.m. and here it was only around 3:30 p.m.!  The house was bustling – a water softener guy fixing something and a plumber doing some other work.  I made Amish noodles for Rachel for her party to serve with pizza; I browned turkey meat and made sloppy joes for the weekend (both dishes are in the crackpots.)  When I finished making both dishes, I sat down next to my husband who is sitting at his pc. And that’s when I decided it was a nice time to write a quick post.

I am thankful for this day – I am home way before the Sabbath begins instead of still out and about running errands.  If I can only plan out all my Friday’s to work out this efficiently, I’ll be very happy.

 It's been busy since I wrote last. Monday night my husband asked if I would attend with him a town forum meeting in regard to a proposed development (by our family business) regarding a zoning change.  I can't say that I consider an evening spent in a town forum meeting to be one that I look forward to.  I went to this same event last week on a wet, cold, and rainy night, and there is no place I would have rather been than snuggled on my couch under a blanket, reading a book.

But, there are to be three of these meetings this week, and I offered to attend Monday night knowing that Wednesday night (tonight) would not work for me.  Each meeting is being held in a different part of the city and Monday night was held in a big, beautiful, Christian church.  It is interesting, now that I think of it, that it was held in a church.  While sitting within the meeting it occurred to me how this evening felt like a church split - having lived through those a few times in my life time (my father was a preacher).  I have discovered throughout the last few decades that there is never a development anywhere that there isn't those that don't want anything in their town or city changed.

Tuesday morning I traveled with my husband to a business lunch in Indianapolis. I am blessed with my mom's involvement in our homeschool that I can be engaged with my husband in the family business.  When we headed back home, it was still early in the afternoon.  The weather was beautiful this day, reaching the high of 75 degrees.  I started thinking about the possibility of going horseback riding,

When I got home, it wasn't minutes before I was brushing down my horse.  The kids were already outside playing and Rachel had been riding her horse.  I often go bareback because I like it, and also because it saves time - no time consuming tack to put on.  But last week, I had ridden so long bareback (and for the first time after the long winter) I created a blistering sore on my back hind.  So, this day, I decided I would take the time to saddle up my horse.

I love to groom horses.  It doesn't even have to be my horse; I just love to groom them.  It's almost like therapy for me - brushing them down, combing out their beautiful mane and tail, and picking at their hooves.  My horse was incredibly dirty and the total time to groom her and to get her already to go, took a total of one hour.  I was so grateful to have this time to spend with my horse grooming her.

Shekinah Ranch was busy this day with the sounds of lots of children.  Joshua and Jacob were playing with William and Randall, the missionaries from Romania's two children.  Ruthie and Rachel were with me grooming our horses.  And after a while, Joshua came over with his horse, Maria, to spend time with her taking her around the property.  Even Jacob was walking around with baby Magic.  Everyone had a horse.

Ruthie rode my precious Minnie, Rachel rode Major, and I rode sweet Gretta.  Minnie and Gretta are two my personal favorites.  If I haven't rode in a while, and desire to save time going without tack, I choose Minnie to ride.  If I'm up to a bigger challenge, I take Gretta, my five year old.  And if Ruthie is riding, I always give her Minnie to ride.

For the first hour, Rachel, Ruthie, and I just travelled slowly enjoying the conversation of each other and the beauty of the spring time.

You never know what you might see while on a trail ride.  The other day there were a pack of coyotes by the willow pond, in clear daylight.  But on this day, we came just a few feet away from one of the most beautiful family of deer I've ever seen.  They all had such pretty faces.  They just stood there looking at us - I think our horses had them captivated. 

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After the first hour, my husband came home from work, but told me not to worry about supper - he'd take care of it with the boys - just ride for as long as I felt like it.  Now, that was music to my ears! The weather was so incredibly beautiful, the winter had been so long and harsh, to spend unlimited time on my horse is an afternoon and evening out of my dreams.  The second (and third) hour was spent getting exercise. I ride English, and my favorite form of exercise is posting in English style.  I like to ride until I'm exhausted and feel as if I couldn't go another moment. When it was finally approaching dusk, I felt a few ounces of energy left. I asked Rachel, "Should we come in now? Or do you think we should ride just a little longer?"  The good sense of my seventeen year old gave me the encouragement to stop. We had just enough time to unsaddle our horse before it started turning pitch dark.

I came in dirty and tired - I couldn't wait to soak in a hot tub of water with lavender scented Epson salts to massage my tired muscles. I did get my work out for the day....and I can still feel it today.

I enjoyed my riding time so much, though I had a hard time going to sleep.  My adrenaline seemed to still be soaring. In the darkness, I kept my husband awake by unlimited chatter about the horses - their little quirks, the fun we had with them, and the enjoyment of being outside with our children. 

Riding - it's the most enjoyable form of exercise that I can think of. 

Like I promised, the picture drought I was experiencing, is over.  I'd been real good about putting a picture with almost every post for months, then all of the sudden, zippo, I had none.  The above picture was the 2009 Mayor's Ball.  To see last years pictures,  - go here - - .

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I was at the mall (a rare occasion) with my daughter, Rachel, helping her to find something to spend her gift certificate she'd gotten for Christmas from her grandma.  Somehow she persuaded me to go shopping for a new dress for the ball that was to be within a few days.  I generally hate shopping, and especially at a mall.  But Rachel took me by the arm and started me in motion.  I went through store after store not trying anything on, not like anything that I seen.  Finally, in the last store, Rachel told me that I needed to try something on, and if I didn't start picking something out, she would.  She selected several dresses and then sent me into the dressing room. 

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I did fall in love with this dress because it reminded me of something kind of vintage looking and it is my favorite color ( I call it periwinkle, although no-one has agreed with me yet on this.)  I have had very few clothes items in my lifetime with this color, but I do remember one suit I had while in my thirties (or twenties, I can't remember for sure) that I positively loved because it was this color.  I was totally pleased when I found out that this dress was a basement-bargain price.

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I just happened to have a scarf that matched it perfectly that my husband had bought for me just several months before.  I loved the scarf when he had bought it for me (we were somewhere that it was really cold and I didn't have anything to keep warm - he went into a store and bought this for me) because it too, was my favorite color of periwinkle.

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At home, it was my delight when I found that I had a necklace that matched that I have never had occasion to wear.  In fact, I rarely wear necklaces, and last year, I had found one that I fell in love with (it had the color periwinkle interweaved into it) and bought it, although I rarely wear necklaces.  I was pleased to have the perfect occasion and the dress to match to wear it.

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It was a lovely evening as I sat at a table with my husband, son and his wife, my niece, Jennifer (21), my daughter, Rachel, and her friend, Savannah (14).  I knew more people than usual at this event so I felt more comfortable than other years at this same event.  Rachel had a blast with her friend Savannah as they had looked forward to this for months from the moment my husband had invited the two of them to attend.  It was a Cinderella night for them.  Their enjoyment of dressing up and getting ready was our enjoyment.

It was for the most part, a quiet weekend.  I enjoyed the Sabbath and took it totally easy. I had my morning devotions; did some reading; took a nap; and enjoyed my family. 

In the evening, we were to attend a birthday party for the mayor’s wife.  Personally, if I could, I would never leave our ranch. I would stay right here and pretend that the rest of the world did not exist.  But, reality calls me out and this occasion was reality. 

My oldest daughter told me last night on the phone that her husband was teasing my husband (at the office, they work together) about all of our recent many night-outs.  They have all been of business type related, yet, most of the events have involved food and socialization.  My son-in-law described us as being like teenagers always being on the go. 

Saturday night was one of our “teenage nights,” - a party of about 20 people met at a Mexican restaurant for a surprise party.  The freshly made chips (still warm) and the incredibly fresh salsa (all you could eat style) was awesome.  Instead of ordering tacos or other Mexican entrees, I had a huge salad. I have to say it was one of the best salads I ever had – I didn’t even put dressing on it.  An entire avocado, and grilled veggies as well as raw greens, made it like a salad I’ve never had before.

When we got home, we read several chapters with the children and spent time with them before all going to bed.

After our home-church service on Sunday morning, we went to lunch with our new neighbors, missionaries from Romania – Robert and Judy and their two children.  It was wonderful to be in the presence of those that share like values and the love of our Saviour.   I am very thankful for their fellowship.

On the agenda for today

School:

Finish watching a documentary movie about the Incas

Bible reading/memorization

Reading in our book about Truthfulness (ATI)

Reading in our book, Prayer, by Evangelist John Rice

A spelling test for the two older ones

Reading with Joshua (Pilgrims Progress, ABeka reader); McGuffy with Ruthie

Working with Rachel a new workbook by ATI for Language;

Joshua to do a math chapter

Around the House:

Dishes to wash (dishwasher broke)

Dust parlor; sweep and mop under futon

Basket full of books and misc stuff to put away

Still the pile in the pantry that’s been on my list to do for more than several weeks (maybe today?)

Laundry

Brown turkey meat for sloppy joes

Make out a menu for the week

Clean the extra toaster – get all the crumbs out, then store it in a large plastic bag, put in basement in storage unit.

Clean my bedroom, vacuum

The desk I’m sitting at needs the paper work cleaned up.

Around the Ranch:

The round-pen needs to be moved

Need to gather wood

Personal items:

Make a phone call to water softener company

Picture cd’s – label and file; put new pics on pc;

Any new pictures for posts/ frame and add to photobucket

It's been a long time since I've posted pictures, hasn't it? Finally, the drought is over.

These pictures were just taken this past Thursday night.

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I find it interesting how God weaves people into our lives.  Mu-su and Jordan are two very special

girls that our family has had the privilege of getting to know and becoming friends with.

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Jordan (the little one with braids) is a foster child of some of our dear friends.  Circumstances provided that she went back to her mother (as of yesterday morning.)  Rachel had the privilege of spending one more time with her the night before her departure.  She was able to play with her, carry her to  bed, tuck her in, and tell her how much she loves her, and how much Jesus loves her.  Although I would have liked to have done the same, it warms my heart every time I think of such a tender and loving goodbye. The next morning she was off to New Jersey, where her mother resides.

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I have never been closely associated with any foster families before.  When our dear friends told us that they were going to be getting foster children, I can't tell you how excited I was for them! I think I was anticipating it with as much enthusiasm as they were.  I also incredibly admired Mike and Margie for opening up  their home like this. 

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When I heard that Jordan would be leaving, I felt sadness.  Such a short time we had with her and I wish I'd taken more opportunities to be with her and to show her God's love.  I felt much happiness for Jordan, though, in the fact that she was going home to be with her mommy.  Jordan is only six years old - just a baby, really.  Now, I pray for her mommy - to be filled with love and a sense of protection for her daughter. For the ability to be able to provide for her, and for Jordan to come to know Jesus as her personal Savior. 

Good-bye Jordan, we love you. 

Chili Made With Spicy V-8

1 jug of Spicy V-8

3 cans of kidney beans, any kind

1 pound of hamburger meat, browned (or ground turkey)

Chopped tomatoes

1 onion, chopped

A lot of chili powder - put it in according to your taste (I put in 1/4 cup.)

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Throw it all together, simmer for a while, and it's done.

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It's been a busy week.  Tuesday night was spent at a very boring Town Hall meeting concerning an upcoming zoning event that is to be voted on regarding a development of our family business.  Not exactly a way that I enjoy spending my evening!! But I was asked by my husband to attend with him and after declining, he persisted by calling me from work asking again.  So, I went.  And it was boring.  Afterwards, past my bedtime, we went for pie at Bakers Square with another couple that we are friends with that was there, too.  The pie was delicious (bannana cream.)

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Wednesday night we visited with my in-laws.  This is our custom every week - and it is something I always deem as time well spent.  I also had a hair appointment in the afternoon. The salon that I go to is anything but glamorous, but my hairdresser is good, so that's all that counts.  I actually like this place better than any ritzy place one could go to because it's very quiet.  There's often hardly anyone else there.  It's peaceful.

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Thursday night we went out to dinner with business acquaintances that have become friends.  The food was good, but I was missing my kids and couldn't wait to get home.  Tonight, we have our family night - I am so looking forward to just hanging out in our family room.

It was a most restful weekend. I was able to get up early, both on Saturday and Sunday morning, in which to fill my cup with the reading of His Word.  I am studying the Book of Isaiah and can’t help but think of our country and its present perilous times as I read this book. 

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I was able to have perhaps four complete hours of uninterrupted time of this communion with Him, before I became distracted.  As I sat on the couch, studying the Word of God with a Bible and a Matthew Henry Commentary on my lap, there was a knock on my door.  Through the window of the door I could see that there were two men, of which I did not recognize either.  When I went to the door, I observed that they were dressed kind of nice, as if going to church; not your usual attire on Saturday morning. 

I discovered that they were from a small country Baptist church a few miles from my home, and they were looking for Jodi (our new neighbor living among us here at Ranch Shekinah.)  They told me that they weren’t sure if they had the right address when they turned into the address on the mailbox.  Our driveway twists and turns and takes one quite a way off of the main road.  Many a person has been surprised when coming here that this piece of hidden land exists. It’s as if we have our private garden of Shekinah glory. It is not to be observed by the normal traveler unless by destined intent. 

When the two men started driving down the lane that turns and bends, leading one to our private paradise, one of the men started getting nervous.  “Hey, we might have the wrong address here. We need to get out of here – we might get shot at by some rifles!”  To which the other gentleman replied that he was way too intrigued to quit now, he just had to see what was back here. When they drove up to our home, they marveled at the beauty and serenity of the landscape before them.  I have rarely had anyone come here without comment of something similar.

I spent the rest of the day enjoying the Sabbath.  His day is to be set apart from the rest of the six days; it is this day that we are commanded to rest (it is one of the Ten Commandments). We are instructed not to profane it.  When I studied that word, ‘profane,’ it seemed to indicate that this day is not to be treated like just any other day and to do so is to profane it. 

It was rainy and chilly (was I ever grateful that I had spent significant time the day before outside on my horses,) and the house just seemed to be lacking warmth.  I turned the heat on, dressed warmly, climbed under a blanket on the recliner, and snuggled with a cup of hot tea and a good book.  In time, the fireplace was lit, and it was there I stationed myself almost the entire day.  I enjoyed the company of my husband whom I stayed close by for the majority of the day, watched Ruthie perform ballet dancing and listened to her stories and singing, and watched her new found game of solitaire badminton in the family room. 

The book I spent the day reading is called, The Way of the Master, by Ray Comfort.  I read a previous book by the same author last week, titled, How to Bring Your Children to Christ. I like what this author has to say and have yet  one more book  sitting beside me waiting to be read after the present one, titled, What Did Jesus Do?  And I even have another book coming in the mail by the same author, titled, Hell’s Best Kept Secret.  The message of Ray Comfort is that the Law is our schoolmaster.  We cannot lead others to Christ until they realize their need of a Savior. 

One cannot be saved if they don’t perceive a need to be saved.  It is the Ten Commandments, the moral law that is written upon everyone’s heart that will lead us to repentance.  We cannot lead one to Christ by promising them a good life, or blessings untold. We lead others to Him by telling them of how short we have fallen from the glory of God, the breaking of His Commandments.

 Have I ever lied?  Stolen? Hated someone? (Hatred in God’s eyes is as murder and is judged as such.) Have I ever coveted what someone else had?  Have I ever broken the Sabbath (even just once?)  If I have, then I have broken God’s law, and the punishment is death – in Hell, for an eternity.  There is only one way out of this predicament and that is by accepting the substitution of Christ’s death on the cross for our decreed punishment of death in hell.  By asking forgiveness of our transgression of His laws, and accepting what He did for us on the cross, we receive the gift of eternal life, instead of suffering eternal death in hell. 

Friday, when I went to pick up Ruthie from Becky’s house, I had a nice time.  I had told Becky the day before about my ‘relaxed dinner’ that I was going to. I relayed my evening to her over an awesome breakfast – a baked banana walnut pancake with homemade whipped cream, fresh bananas and strawberries, and homemade blueberry syrup.    I enjoyed sharing with her my interesting evening. And at course, I especially loved getting to see the babies, and holding Sweet Baby Grace.

When I came home, my angel daughter, Rachel, and son Joshua, had done our Friday cleaning. The house was cleaned, and I had the afternoon ahead of me.  Choices….but this time, I didn’t think of multiple choices.  Just horses, horses, and more horses.  The weather was 70 degrees, sunny, and a slight breeze.  All winter long I had pined for a day like this one. Many cold, wintery nights I had closed my eyes to go so sleep, thinking about a beautiful trail ride in the spring time. 

So here I was today, in the afternoon of one of those spring type days I’d dreamed of while going off to sleep.  It was warm enough for short sleeves and no jacket. There was sunshine and no clouds, and just a soft breeze.  I climbed on to Minnie, and off I went.  Had I waited, I could have had the company of several that were going riding with tack, but I longed today for just solitaire.  I had a strong desire to just be with my horse and nature. 

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It was beautiful walking through the woods exploring the trails after a long winter.  My horse, Minnie, is my dream horse.  She never argues with me. Whatever it is I want, wherever I want to go, she is accommodating.  If you ride horses, you know that this is a rare quality.  All of our other horses have their own opinions and wills to what they would like to do and not.  Some are afraid to cross the smallest of streams and refuse to do so.  Others may decide that they have had enough riding and show their will in trying to head to home.  But not my Minnie.  As we rode through the trails, I felt gratefulness for this beautiful horse.  From time to time, I would talk to her and tell her how wonderful she is. Other times, I laughed out loud with delight, after requesting something of her that my other horses might have balked at. 

It was delightful to hear the babbling of the brook and the sounds of the sparrows.  Feeling the sunshine and the slight breeze that whisked my hair in the wind was a sensation that I’d dreamed of for months.  The winter seemed to be over – at least it seemed so this day.

I came back to the barn and there I seen that one of my other favorite of horses was tied up, saddled, and all ready to go.  After the first time in months going bareback, my back hind was screaming, “enough.”  So I jumped from bareback on Minnie to saddled on Gretta.  Now that I was warmed up I was ready for some exercise.  Off we went, going at a nice speed, through the wooded forest, along the babbling brook, around the alfalfa field, and into the neighbor’s field (who has granted permission to do so.)  I raced back to our property, following the rapid flowing creek (a different entity than the brook); around the lake, and by the small pond.  This is exercise to the supreme of  enjoyment. Enjoying nature at the same time reveling in the beauty of the beast.  

How could this day have been better?  Time with my oldest daughter and my three grandbabies; beautiful weather and the enjoyment of my horses; and the evening filled with time spent with my oldest son and his wife and Beautiful Baby Kayla.  There is such peace to be filled with the love of God, my family, and the enjoyment of His creation.  Selah.

Wednesday I had a morning dentist appointment with Joshua.  He was to have a crown put on, so it was a rather long appointment.  Afterwards, I ended up accompanying my husband and a business acquaintance to a marketing meeting some two hours away.

Thursday I had the opportunity to see Becky, and my three grandbabies.  Rachel had gone to the capital of our state to participate in an opportunity to be a page for the House of Representatives.  I figured this was a good day for Ruthie to be able to go her big sister’s house (which she had been begging to do for months) and stay overnight.  I hadn’t seen the babies (or Becky) in almost 2 weeks, so I was glad to get to do this. Whenever it’s time to leave, it always seems that the time just went by too fast.

When I got back home and finished some school work with Joshua, I had choices for the rest of the day.  We were to go to dinner with business acquaintances at 6:15 p.m., and I had three hours.  Should I go ride horses?  It was a gorgeous day and it’s been a really hard winter.  I stepped outside, smelled the fresh air, and felt the mild climate.  I whispered a prayer, as I often do, “Lord, please direct my steps.  What is the best way to spend the rest of my time?”   I felt really tired and I had travelled hundreds of miles the day before and had gotten to bed really late.  Should I take a nap so I would feel refreshed when it was time to go to dinner?  Or should I ignore my fatigue and get some exercise?  Well, I thought, why don’t I do both.  Take a short nap, then get up and exercise.

I went up to bed – the two boys were playing quietly and sweetly in their bedroom.  As I laid my head on the pillow, I could hear a strong wind that had just begun – I sure was glad that I had decided to not go riding horses.  It didn’t take me long to fall into a sleep.  I woke up an hour later and groggily got out of bed, went downstairs, and decided on what kind of exercise I would do today.  As my custom is, I turned some music on, lit a scented candle, and put a video in.  I did my callanetics, but then I chose a jazz type of dance video that I hadn’t done in ages.  I was reminded how much I love this video.  I exercised up to the very last minute that I could afford (5:30p.m.) and then went and got a bath, and got ready to go. 

I had been looking forward to this dinner.  My husband had told me several weeks ago that we were to go to dinner at a restaurant in town that some potential clients own.  The mayor and his right hand man would be there, with their two wives.  I’ve been to dinner over a dozen times with these two couples and I was looking forward to the good company and the excellent food.  I didn’t worry too much about what I looked like – as my husband was waiting for me at the door, I chose a shirt to go with my blue jeans and off we went.

Now, for two weeks, I’ve had an image in my mind of leisurely sitting at dinner with the wife of the mayor and his right hand man.  When I walked through the door of the restaurant, I recognized right away that this evening was going to be quite different from the one I had imagined.

There were two extra couples sitting at the table – the proprietors of this restaurant.  At course, I understood right away, they are considering coming to our shopping strip, yet, this wasn’t what I had imagined of this evening.  Instead of being seated by the two gals that I would be totally comfortable with, I was placed between multiple people that I’d never met before.  “Not what I was thinking,” is what I was thinking.

The two new gals that I was introduced to looked as if they’d walked out of a scene on Desperate Housewives.   Very attractive women – perfectly coifed hair and a dark tan.  The one woman was wearing a silky leopard print blouse with gold silky dress pants.  The other woman that I sat directly across from had a neckline that plunged as deep as of any true Desperate Housewife. 

As I sat there taking all of this in, I started looking around the restaurant.  I noticed that every woman in this entire place looked like this.  It was as if the women of Hollywood had come here for the night.  It was the restaurant of the Beautiful People – everyone with a perfect tan, perfect hair, perfect straight bright white teeth, and ultra fashionable clothing (like the leopard print coat of one woman that walked by.)  I started remembering how cavalier I had chosen my outfit for the night – giving it a second’s thought just seconds before walking out the door. 

The food was excellent – the meal was “on the house,” – didn’t have to pay for a thing.  All the fancy appetizers one could desire, a salad with a strawberry balsamic dressing (this was my favorite part of the meal), salmon and mashed potatoes, and a plethora of homemade desserts all brought to the table at the end of our main course.  It was amazing.

Although the night was not what I had expected, I ultimately enjoyed myself just the same. The one owner, Matt, that sat to the left of me, was both personable and funny.  Light humor – I like that.  And Beautiful Miss Desperate Housewife across from me – well, she was very open and transparent - a quality I always enjoy the company of.  She has a one year old baby girl with a live-in nanny. 

“How many children do you have?” I was asked.  Oh, I always love this one.  It’s the same thing every time.   After the word, “Six,” comes out of my mouth, it’s the same response always – raised eyebrows, gasp, and the echo, “Six???”   Before I ever say the word, “Six,” I anticipate this, and have come to enjoy it.

Oh, and then when anyone, including the hosts of this dinner party, ask their ages, it’s another gasp and raised eyebrows – 27, 26, 17, 14, 10, and 7.  It’s always that age spread, 27 to 7 that is the big surprise.

Not too long after that, I was asked, “What do you do with your time?”  I guess the assumption here is that my kids are at school all day, so what is it that occupies me while they are gone?  “Golf?”  “Horses?”   I was asked. 

And again, I look forward to this answer.  I turn, and let the words, “I homeschool,” slide effortlessly, confidently, and boldly out from my lips.  And then, as usual, I watch the eyebrows go up even further and the gasp get just a little bit louder, and the question, “HOMESCHOOL?”  

As I had kind of generalized my company as being from the Hollywood jet set, suddenly, I realize I’m probably reminding them of a TV. show, too, but not Desperate Housewife.  Maybe the Discovery Channel?

My daughter-in-law is an awesome cook.  One time my husband was over at Matt and Kristi’s house, and she offered him a sloppy joe.  When he came home, he just raved and raved about Kristi’s sloppy joes.  Now, this took me by surprise because he had always loved my sloppy joe recipe.  It was one of his favorite meals.  But Kristi’s sloppy joes were “like candy.”  So, I just had to try her recipe.

My husband was right; they are so good that describing them “like candy,” is a fitting description.  Try this recipe; I know you will love it, too.

Kristi’s Sloppy Joes

Brown a package of meat (you can use ground turkey or beef); drain the fat if there is any. I actually rinse the browned meat with water after draining it. 

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Add a bottle of Original Open Pit BBQ sauce with about a cup of brown sugar.  Chop up two green peppers and one onion. Add it and then simmer for a long time – the longer you let is simmer, the more it tastes like candy. When I simmer it for at least two hours, it is just the way my husband likes it. 

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We had an excellent Monday.  I had planned to watch a movie as our first class - a documentary on the ancient Mayan Civilization, because this follows in our history time frame in which we are studying.

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After watching the movie, we had our Bible reading; Bible memorization; read from our book teaching us how to pray.  Rachel leaves in the afternoon to participate in the Good News Club where they have a ministry to a local public school.  They have an after-school program that parents have signed a permission slip to allow their children to attend.  The gospel is given during this class, and last week, 6 children asked Jesus to come into their heart.

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I generally don't go anywhere on Monday, but I had something I wanted to return to Target, so I did this and while there, I found a pair of blue jeans for Joshua that cost $6.00.  What a deal!!! He only had one pair that fits him, and when he wore these to a Sunday night skit at a local church youth group participation, I noticed that they hadn't been washed. It was too late to do anything about it, but I vowed to make sure that I got out this week to get him a second pair.  When I seen this pair of blue jeans for $6.00 I wasn't for sure they'd fit, or that he would like them. I was happy when he tried them on and they fit perfect and  he liked them!

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Ruthie has had the same type of problem.  She's been wearing knit pants that have a rip in them.  All of her winter pants have a rip somewhere or an other.  So, last week at Target, I also found some good deals - the kind of pants (and only kind) that she wears on a sale price of also $6.00.  Her one white shirt that she wears under her jumper was looking icky, too, so I was happy when I found knit shirts on clearance for $3.60.  I bought several in a bigger size thinking that she can wear them loose the rest of the cold weather here, and then wear them next year, too. 

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This shopping time took a total of only one hour, including the travel time.  I was back quickly and then started supper:

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Amish Chicken Strips & Sweet and Sour Sauce

Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

Green Bean Casserole

Rolls

Salad

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I often have very quick recipes to save time in preparation.  This frees me up to get more things done.  This meal took more time than usual, but I had the desire and inclination to have a nice family dinner for this Monday night. 

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I also fit in exercise time after I had prepared dinner and put it in the oven to bake.

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After dinner, we watched one hour of the news and then promptly at 8:00 p.m. we turned the t.v. off and opened our book, Winning His Spurs, by G.A. Henty, and began our family reading time.  We finished the book - four chapters - and that took us to 10:00 p.m.  The horses got fed, the chickens put away, and then off to bed.

This past week was an answered prayer in the fact that I had prayed that I would stay home more.  Every week there just seems to be something: Dentist or Orthodontist appointments; music lessons; equine classes; a call to come to the office; an out-of-town business trip; an around-town business meeting; a hair appointment; grocery shopping; or other shopping need. 

When my first two children were growing up, I thought being on the run was just a part of being a parent. I made sure they weren’t “deprived” of any social activities. I sought to help them excel in activities, whether it be in sports or music.  Becky, my first born, was taking piano lessons (Suzuki) by the time she was three years old.  I took her to the YMCA for swimming lessons when she was a baby (really – I did.)  Before she was four years old she was doing perfect flips off the diving board and swimming proficiently. By the time she was five years old, she performed her first piano recital – an event we sent invitations to friends, acquaintances, and business associates.  She played an entire book of classical music (Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven) from memory.   When she was older I enrolled her in art classes and gymnastics.  And when she was of high school age, I totally encouraged her participation in cheerleading at a local Christian school that permitted homeschoolers to participate.

Talk about always being on the go.  And that was just for my daughter – there were other events my son, Matthew, was involved in that I haven’t even mentioned.  I remember coming home, pulling into the driveway, and listening to a James Dobson radio station where they were talking about kids that are always on the go. What happened to the old days when kids learned to work (farm chores) and hours of unstructured play?  When I heard that interview, it was as if I was struck in the heart with an arrow ((conviction I think is what this is called.))  I prayed right there and then that He would help me to change my ways.

I can’t say that I had an overnight prayer answered – I continued in my ways, but a seed was planted in the garden of my soul.  That seed began to grow, and as my family grew, I took a different route. I purposed to stay at home more – and put my children in organized activities less.

I do, from time to time, still get involved in seasons of outside learning experiences.  Equine class (which has dropped off); piano lessons with a teacher a town over (what a brainstorm I had when I realized that my mom, who lives with us three days a week, used to be a piano teacher when I was young!); guitar lessons (to which now have ceased for the time being).  But I still have the weekly shopping (groceries, errands) – I’ve not figured out a way to get rid of that one J but I do try to at least limit my venture out to town for this to once or twice for the entire week; dentist appointments (to which I’m trying to get my kids to brush their teeth religiously in order to eliminate this one); orthodontist appointments (two kids down; two to go).

But this past week, I found myself without any outside appointments of any kind.  What a different kind of life it is when one just stays home and stays put.  I didn’t even go to the store but once at the very end of the week.  If you look at my post If Only Every Day Could Be Like This, I think this is the kind of day that could be even ‘normal’ if one were to stay at home more.  The feeling of a peaceful home (in contrast to a home that is like a railroad depot); a feeling of being prepared for meals; and the feeling of a home that is picked up, organized, and clean (when one is just running in and out, the house quickly demises); this is worth its weight in gold.

My favorite day was Thursday.  Ruthie was feeling under the weather – a sore throat that she could hardly talk without it sounding excruciatingly  painful.  It was rainy, windy, and cold outside.  When I finished our school time, I thought about the projects I had planned on getting done – the two baskets of stuff in the pantry that needed to be put away or thrown away.  But instead of doing any of that or any other housework, I sat down on the couch with Ruthie and together we read the book, Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  We have really been enjoying this book, and we had gotten towards the end of it.  Well, today, one chapter just led to one more chapter, until I finished the last page (Ruthie couldn’t believe the ending of this book – “That’s sad,” is how she put it.)  This book is a real story about Laura Ingalls Wilder childhood in the 1800’s moving from the east towards the west in a covered wagon.  The chapters we were reading described the weather as being rainy and chilly, with really strong winds.  How depicting, I thought.  Here as we sit together reading this, snuggled under the blanket; we can hear the howls of the outside winds.  It was just too perfect sound effects to get the feel of the story.

When I got all done reading, my eyes were sorely tired.  I laid my head down and fell fast asleep for an afternoon nap, with Ruthie right by my side. 

When my husband came home several hours later, he asked Ruthie how was her day. “Wonderful!  It was the best day ever.”  Her daddy seemed surprised that this seemingly mundane day would have been her “best day ever,” and inquired to what made it so special.  “I felt like I was three years old and my mommy gave me all of her attention.”  What good medicine for a sick little girl – to be babied with attention to the point that she described it as feeling as if she was three years old.

It is these kind of days I desire to perpetuate more of.  It is these kind of days, that when my children are grown, I will look back upon with supreme satisfaction, knowing that I trained my children, but I also enjoyed them.  To know with confidence that I relished the brief time I had with them is my desire. Let me capture these moments, these days, these fleeting years, in my heart.   “May I have many more days like this one, Dear Jesus,” is my continued prayer.

  Today's show and tell is all "tell" about a recent event and the interesting things about this day.

We had been invited to lunch by our Amish friends, Gerald and Darla.  Darla told me that she was fixing us homemade pizza and Amish noodles.  It wouldn’t have mattered what she was serving, I was honored that we’d been invited.  I’ve held a long time fascination with the Amish and it sometimes seems that my curiosity can never be satisfied.  I’ve always admired their simplicity of life.

When we bought our horse, Major, from Cedar Lane Farm, I wanted to “meet” his father (the stallion.)  I asked Donna, the proprietor of CLF if she could help me do this, and this is how I first met Gerald and Darla in Shipshewana.  Since then, I rarely pass through there without stopping by to say ‘hi.’  And, subsequently, I’ve bought a few more horses, too.  In my opinion, Maple Grove Haflingers, has some of the most beautiful modern Haflingers my eyes have ever beheld.  And they’re not just beautiful, but they have the sweetest dispositions, too. 

But this wasn’t to be a post on Gerald’s horses; I was going to tell you about our lunch. So back to the story….

From the initial invite, we were all excited.  My children have gotten to know their family over these past few years, and every time we go there, they never want to come home.  Riding ponies, surrey rides, playing with the goats, jumping on the trampoline, well, the fun just never ends there.  When Saturday morning finally came, there was a blizzard outside.  It was a white-out and somewhat hazardous driving conditions, but there was never a waver on whether we would go or not. 

When we arrived, my first surprise was that Darla had not made Pizza as she had said she was going to do.  No, instead she was putting the finishing touches on what they explained to me was a Thresher’s Meal.  Mashed potatoes and gravy; boneless white chicken breaded with Ritz crackers; a sweet and sour sauce to accompany the chicken; a meatloaf that I never tasted one so good; coleslaw (the best I ever had, too); jello with fruit; green beans; bread served with homemade strawberry jelly; and Amish noodles.  Wow!  I was blown away. (We all were.)

While at the dinner table (which was very long – there was 9 of their family, 6 of ours), Gerald explained to me what a Thresher’s Dinner was.  When they would thresh the wheat, all the neighbor’s would help one another and according to whose field they were working, there was a big dinner inside the house for all those that worked.  It is hard work, Gerald tells me, so everyone was really hungry – thus- the very big meal called the Thresher’s Dinner.  And although not everyone in the Amish community is still threshing wheat, the tradition of the Threshers Meal has carried on.

Gerald and Darla have recently built this new beautiful home that has a huge front porch.  Gerald gave my husband the tour (to which my husband was greatly intrigued on the efficiency of everything – how they heat their home; energy savers, etc…)   Darla gave me the tour after lunch was served and we had washed the dishes (washing dishes was never so much fun – there is a big picture window over the sink that let me view the 35+ beautiful horses that they have.)  Before we left the kitchen, Darla explained to me that the noodles we had just eaten had been made just 24 hours before.  Fresh noodles?  Really, I’d never imagined that.  Noodles are something I buy on the shelf of the grocery store, and who knows how long they’ve been sitting there.  It’s no wonder, my husband who’s never been impressed by a noodle in his entire life, could not stop talking about Darla’s noodles all the way home that day. 

I was fascinated with the way things are done without electricity. First of all, in the corner of the dining room, there was a propane tank.  When I first walked into the house, I noticed it, and thought it was oddly out of place – a propane tank sitting in the corner of the dining room.  Was I ever surprised when I realized that there was a long metal pole attached to this propane tank, and at the top of the pole was a very small filament that was lit with propane lighter.  This propane tank was their equivalent to our lamps!  It gave off a rather bright light.  I don’t think anything has ever amazed me as much as this Amish light. 

The Amish don’t have carpet, so everywhere there were beautiful hardwood floors, even the stairs going upstairs to the second floor, the halls, and the bedrooms. As the Amish are known for their quality wood carpentry, this home exemplified this in its kitchen cabinets and the wood trim throughout the entire home. 

In this home there is no television; DVD player; MP3; telephone; dishwasher; or anything that would require electricity.  I marveled at just the thought of a home without one electrical outlet.  It just amazed me.  There was a small refrigerator – I was really startled at the small size of it for a family as large as this one.  We have a large refrigerator in our home, and it’s ALWAYS stuffed full.  I’ve often wistfully desired a second one so I could keep things neater; but here was a refrigerator half that size.  You most likely have never seen a refrigerator like this one (I hadn’t) because it is not run by electricity, but rather, by propane gas. 

When we went down to the huge basement, I was surprised.  Here all the Amish children (and mine) were on roller skates, playing hockey!!! Gerald and Darla’s children looked very proficient at this game (as they play every day after school.) 

While in the basement we looked at their source of heat for the entire home.  It was a Benjamin Franklin type of stove – they perpetually keep wood stoked in it to keep the house warm.  There are no air ducts circulating the heat, just a huge metal grid in the living room (you can see straight down into the basement from there) that allows the heat to rise from the basement.  This keeps the house toasty warm – when we arrived (remember it was a frigid snow storm day) the children were in short sleeves and barefoot. 

There was an entire room in the basement set aside to store wood.  It’s a big job just getting enough wood to keep the fire going.  Another room of great interest to me was the room where Darla keeps her canned goods.  Hundreds of mason jars lined the shelves.  Pizza sauce, tomato sauce; green beans; plums; apples; and even chicken meat and browned hamburger meat!  I never thought of canning meat!  As we looked over all of Darla’s canned goods, she explained to me that this was a major part of their life.  They spend a lot of time in the garden – planting, weeding, harvesting – and all of the children help out.  It’s a way of life.

When we went into the laundry room, well, as much as I admire the Amish, it is in this room alone my fate is sealed to not be converting anytime soon.  There was an old re-built washer that you have to fill with water from a hose.  I forget how this thing washed the clothes – either by propane or by a generator. But it did spin the clothes with laundry soap.  From there, you take the clothes and put them in a big wash tub that is filled with water. This is the rinsing cycle.  The washing machine has an arm on it that extends out – after the clothes have been washed and rinsed, this arm provides the wringing of the water as you put each piece of item through it one by one, much like the old mop and bucket way of wringing out the water.  Can you imagine wringing each item of your family’s wardrobe?  And how about a family of their size (seven children)?  And at course, the dryer is where you hang the clothes outside. Remember when I told you that we came in a snowstorm in frigid weather?  When we first drove up, I noticed right away the clothes hanging outside on the clothes line “drying.” 

It was at this point – after seeing all her canned goods; her homemade noodles; her laundry equipment; her sewing room where she sews each and every article that her family wears, that I thought I was standing in the presence of a woman that is way out of my league. My admiration and awe of anyone that could do all of this for a lifetime is out of my ability to express in words.

As the day started turning into the evening, I knew I needed to get my family going before dark set in.  We had learned a lot this day about a much simpler way of living.  I had enjoyed the conversation with my friend, Darla.  My husband hardly left the table for five hours straight talking with Gerald – clearly my husband enjoyed his company (my daughter Rachel commented that she’s never seen her dad sit so still and so captivated in conversation.)  And as usual, our children were hard to pry away.  If they could have stayed overnight and gone to church the next day with them, I’m sure they would have.  Just the ride in the buggy led by the horses on the main road would be an exciting event!

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On the way home, the Thresher’s Meal was the topic no one could stop talking about.  Even the next day, everyone was talking about it.  I have decided that I am going to have to make everything that Darla made that day and become proficient at my own Amish Thresher’s meal.  And then I got to thinking, wouldn’t it be neat if my daughter’s had an Amish dress so when we visited we could wear it?  I’ll post pictures when that happens!

Don't forget to visit Mary at Canada Girl for other show and tells.

By 10:00 a.m. this morning, the house was in perfect order.  Everything was picked up and in its place, The floors were swept and even shined. The children’s bedrooms were picked up, cleaned, and vacuumed. All the farm chores were done. I had made rice in the steamer for lunch; and a homemade soup for my mom cooking in the crock pot.  I had made a lot of chicken broth over night and divided it into portions into Pyrex glass dishes to be put into the freezer for future use.

We started school on time.  We covered all the subjects.  I finished school with plenty of time to exercise, make dinner, and start tomorrow night’s dinner (sloppy joes.)  I soaked grains for breakfast in the morning; and made a homemade soup for tomorrow’s lunch.

I had time to post; I cleaned my kitchen and all of the dirty dishes I’d made with making so many meals.  And I still have energy left to spare for the evening.

If only every day could be like this…..sigh…..

We were invited for lunch by our Amish friends, Gerald and Darla.  “Pizza and Amish Noodles,” Darla had told me.  A few months ago, Darla had been telling me all about how much company they had over the holidays in their new home.  They had been fixing a lot of homemade pizzas.  I asked about the noodles – I’d never really put “noodles” with “pizza.” 

“Oh, yes, we serve noodles with everything. There is rarely a meal that is not served without noodles.”  Or maybe she said there is “never a meal,” but the jest was that noodles are served all the time.  That totally intrigued me.  For starters, I could see the sense, as in, “Cents,” in this.  How many times have I had a pizza party and worried that I would not have enough?  So I order extra, just to make sure.  Now, if I had served noodles as part of the meal, I wouldn’t have worried about that.  If everyone got a slice or two of pizza, and then there were noodles to fill everyone up with after that, I wouldn’t be concerned about anyone being hungry, and I would have saved some money, too.

The very next party that I had (Joshua’s birthday party in January), guess what I served?  Yep, you got it.  Pizza and noodles.  I bought Amish noodles; I boiled them, and after straining the water,  I put them in the crock pot.  I added about two cups of chicken broth and a can of Cream of Chicken Soup.  I put it the crock pot on low, just trying to keep the noodles warm until everyone arrived.

Now, if you are like me, you’ve never heard of having pizza with noodles. So, I expected my guests (over thirty people) to be equally astonished (and maybe to think like I did, that pizza and noodles don’t go together.)  But to my surprise when I announced that I had pizza and “Amish noodles,” to eat, Jodi lifted up her eyebrows, and with a big smile on her face, said, “Noodles?”  Yes, she was astonished, but she seemed really pleased that we would be having something besides “pizza.”

Now I can’t say that this noodle dish in the crock pot was anything that impressed me, BUT I got all kinds of people telling me that they just loved my Amish Noodles.  My oldest daughter wanted to take some home, and weeks later she was asking me to email her the recipe.  And some of Rachel’s friends were telling her the next day how much they just loved our Amish noodles.  Surprise!  My Amish Noodles were a hit.

Now, I never have a pizza party WITHOUT serving Amish noodles!  I served them at Rachel’s birthday party (around 35 people) and I got the same response that I had a Joshua’s party.  Try them at your next pizza party!

Authentic Amish Noodles

To make Amish Noodles really good, try making your own chicken broth to make it extra tasty.  If you remember, I just happen to have a freezer full of roosters .  When I want to make a broth, I pull out a few (huge) legs (my roosters were the size of large turkeys), or some other body part of the rooster; dethaw it in a bucket of water, and then I transfer it over to the crock pot and cover it with fresh water.  I throw in an onion, and any other veggies I may have in the refrig (like some stalks of celery), and sometimes I put in a cup (or two) of white wine.  I cook it overnight until the meat just falls off the bone. When that happens, I strain it and chop all the good pieces of meat into small pieces.  (Darla tells me that their Amish Noodles rarely ever consist of chicken meat, just the broth, so you don’t have to add chicken to have authentic Amish Noodles.)  ((Oh, and now that I think about it, I am guessing with a high probability that you don't add white wine to the truly Amish broth. Call this part of the recipe, "Antoinette's Version of Amish Broth" ))

I put the broth back into the crock pot (on high) and stir in a can of Cream of Chicken soup until it looks like I’ve managed to stir it in real good, and then I add the chicken pieces back in, and the noodles.  It’s basically all done at this point, and I just keep the crock pot on low until the company arrives.

Now, to really make these Noodles Authentically Amish you would need to make these noodles from scratch (to which Darla showed me how she did this – they are made from egg and flour) but if you’re like me, store bought Amish noodles will just have to do.

We finished reading the Bible together and praying, and then it was time for my husband to leave for work.  I usually request that he get the kids up before he goes (if he hasn’t already) but on Monday morning, generally speaking, I request that he leave them just a bit.  I take advantage of this time and after my husband has gone out the door, I pull out my Bible and begin a most enjoyable reading of the Scripture.  I have been studying the word, Sabbath, by going systematically through a Strong’s Concordance looking up every verse in the entire Bible that  has the word, Sabbath in it.  Sometimes, or should I say, often, I get side tracked. This happens because I start reading the entire chapter that the particular verse that has the word, Sabbath, in it.  And then I see really interesting verses that speak to me or intrigue me, and then there I go, looking up the original Hebrew word and trying to meditate on the entire meaning instead of the English translation of the verse.  I have found a lot of richness to the verses using this method.

We ate a decent breakfast; did our chores; and then sat down to read our Bible passage.  We are in the book of Isaiah, and there are so many verses that use rich imagery, painting word pictures, but as much as I admire and appreciate the metaphor/analogy that Isaiah is using, I wanted to know the meaning behind it.    So, not being a theologian, I did the next best thing to being one, is to pull from my shelves my Bible commentary by Matthew Henry.  I’ve decided that it is best, for the most part, to review what we will be reading in the Bible, and then read what Matthew has to say about it.  I found that by doing this today that I was able to add a lot more to the Bible class then had I just read and gleaned what I could with my own knowledge of the subject.

We reviewed our memory verses (Proverbs Chapter Three); read a few pages from the book on prayer that we are reading (by Evangelist John Rice); a chapter in a booklet about Orderliness published by Bill Gothard of Advanced Training Institute (ATI – from the Basic Life Seminars); a chapter from our book that we’ve been reading about the history of Ancient Rome (the chapter was about the Greek philosopher’s that influenced Roman thought); and we spent a significant amount of time just talking about various subjects, for example,  the original church after Christ Ascended; the persecution of that church; the introduction of Constantine and ceasing of persecution; the corrupted church.  Did you know that it was Constantine that originally changed our Sabbath from being honored on Friday night to Saturday night (as the Hebrews did) to Sunday?  I just learned that recently.  It didn’t surprise me, though!

After school, I was really tempted (again) to go over to Becky’s.  I haven’t seen her in over a week (or has it been longer?) and although I love to stay home on Monday, I was sorely tempted.  I didn’t though, and compromised with a phone call.  We caught up with each other via the telephone, and that will have to do until I can capture some moments to go visit her and the babies.

Rachel is now part of a Good News Club.  She has the opportunity to go to public schools in an after-school program and tell children about Jesus.  She loves to do this.  This has now been incorporated into a new defining of our Monday’s as now we need to quit at a certain time in the day instead of going until I feel like it.  With this after-school time, I not only was able to talk to Becky, but it gave me a few minutes to write a post about Amish noodles (something I’ve been meaning to do.)  I still had some time, so I exercised.  It felt soooo good to be doing this. 

What I didn’t get done today:

I didn’t get to the basket of stuff in the pantry I had put on my list to put away or throw away.  But, tomorrow is another day….