Could she be?

Could she be? It was a couple months ago that we found an ad on Craigslist of someone giving away their full-blooded Nigerian goat. I contacted the lady and she was diligently screening through who she wanted to give her goat to.

I told her my purpose for getting a male goat would be so I could breed the two goats that we have left Trixie and Jenna. after about a month we were given the go-ahead that we can come and pick up her goat named Bullwinkle.

My major concern was that Bullwinkle would not be very friendly. But I was pleasantly surprised to find out he's very sweet and gentle and unfortunately and fortunately very very stinky. He definitely is a male goat! I decided to rename him Mowgli and he fell in love with Jenna and Trixie right away.

A couple months later and Trixie is growing very quickly. could she be expecting some kids? Jenna on the other hand is the same as always. She likes us but isn't too crazy about Mowgli. We'll see what happens! Always fun things around our little farm.

Life is Sweet

Lots of daily happenings around here. So many wonderful blessings for our family and church.  This season of our lives brings a wonderful busyness...the good kind.  We rush here and there doing so much and put our tired head on the pillow at night thankful for all He's done!  But, amidst the wonderful busyness, it's a delight and a treasure to just stop and enjoy a few moments to just smile.  To just laugh and giggle and have peace that only God can give. We realize that these moments are fleeting.  Our life truly is vapor.  Enjoy the busy seasons.  And treasure the times to sigh, take a breath and just smile.

Journal Covers

I have one more Christmas gift sewing fun to share with you!  I was so glad to be able to get a few projects done!  That's one of the benefits of IV steroids!  Energy at 2 am.  Not normal for me, that's for sure!

I knew I wanted to do something for the amazing nurses God has given me.  I was so excited when I found this tutorial by Cottage Mama. I decided to personalize them and put their names and a Bible verse on them as well.  It really was easy to make and my nurses loved them!  My girls saw them and requested to have one, so there may be more journal sewing in my future!

To Correct My Vision

I thought it was fitting, as I looked up the hymn story of Be Thou My Vision, that there isn't very  much information.  The words to this song are from an anonymous irish poet from the 8th century. It was translated to English by Mary Byrne and published in 1905.  The tune was published in 1909 and the words and tune were joined together in 1919.  There is not a glorious back story to why this hymn was written.  Doesn't that just make sense?  Our vision should be focused on the Lord, not on the story behind the hymn.  What a good start for my year!

It seems with having this as my forethought, many scriptures and sermons are all pointing towards making sure my vision is correct.  In a message preached last night by Bro. Dave Sommerdorf, I was of reminded this again. He preached from Philippians 2 where Paul mentions his friend Epaphroditus.  These two were not the likely pair.  They had vastly different backgrounds, one of the major ones is being Jew and Gentile.  But, then, the Lord comes into play.  It's amazing how when we know Christ, he bridges the gap and creates a unity and bond among believers.  It's called the Family of God.  So thankful for that!    But, when we get our eyes off of Jesus, the family seems pretty dysfunctional, and we argue and complain.

 In I Corinthians, Paul talks of "no divisions among you" and "dwelling together in unity."  With our family and friends we sometimes struggle to do that.  Disagreements and spats come up too easily.  We have people we would rather avoid than to be around.  We have those we feel we don't have much in common with, and choose not to say more than a "hello" to.  That's a vision problem.

  When our focus is on others and on ourselves it's easy to see the differences and difficulties.  We easily get offended.  We decide to pick people apart and try to change them.  It's a vision problem.

But, when our eyes are on Christ, we draw closer to Him.  And when we draw closer to Him, we aren't looking at the faults of others and ourselves.  We're looking at Jesus!  When we look to Him, He gives us the bond of unity that Paul talks about in Ephesians 4:1-3.  It's amazing!

So, I wonder, how are your relationships today?  Is there a wall between you and someone else?  It may be that it's time to correct your vision.

A New Flock for Callie

For my sweet, bird-loving 9 year old, we decided to give her a "chicken basket"for Christmas.  We gave her money to buy chicks, a sign for her coop and an apron to hold eggs.  I'd seen several online and thought I would try to make one.  So, a few weeks before Christmas my sewing machine was buzzing away making a an apron for my Callie!

I'm so happy with how it turned out!

It fits eggs perfectly.

And my girl loved it, too!

Then, it came time to buy her chicks.  Rural King said they would have some the Friday after Christmas.  Talk about an excited girl!  She researched the kinds she wanted to get and we were on our way.  But, unfortunately, they didn't have any.  They said they would the following week.  Waiting a week was hard for her!  But, she was patient, and we were off to Rural King again.  But, there weren't any chicks this time either.  Ugh.

 
I found an ad on Craigslist of someone that had 6 week old chicks.  She wanted brand new chicks, so she didn't like this idea.  But, when we researched the breed, she decided she wanted them!  They are Crested Cream Legbars and they lay blue eggs!


She was super excited to see that they actually are still quite small. 

A neat thing about this breed is that from the time they hatch you tell if it's a hen or a rooster by their coloring.  The hens have a stripe from their eyes, almost like eyeliner.  The roosters have a white dot on the top of their head.

She has 4 hens and one rooster.  And she loves them!!

Hopefully in the next few months we'll be getting some pretty blue eggs.  But, for now, my girl is enjoying playing with these iddy biddy cuties!

Is He my vision?

I believe God equips us for the days ahead.  He will have us read passages of Scripture, listen to a message, or hear a song that will help us in the days ahead.  If we will listen.   It has happened this month with my hymn for January.

I was only a few days into the year when it was time for my monthly infusion to treat Myasthenia Gravis.  As the nurse came I thought everything would go as planned.  She would access my port, give me medication to help with side effects, I would rest while the medicine was infused and I would be good to go.  But, as the nurse tried to access my port, she said, "Oh Kami."  That's never a good sign.  She couldn't get blood return on the port.  My wonderful nurse tried and tried, but no success.  My doctor sent me to the hospital a few days later.  I was forewarned that there was a possibility I would need my port pulled, but they would try to repair it first.

I will be honest.  I was nervous.  And wondering why this was happening.  As I lay on the table while the doctor performed a not-so-comfortable process of accessing my port from another place in my body,  the words to the song kept flooding my head  But this time it was more a question.

Is He my vision?
Is He my best thought?
Is He ever with me?
Is He the Lord of my heart?

As I sung those words in my heart, it was a resounding YES.  He is my vision and focus.  He is the very best thought that I can have.  He is right there with me.  And He is Lord of my heart.   The uncomfortable procedure didn't go away.  The uncertain outcome was still there. The pain was still there.  But, the peace He gave me in the midst was priceless and precious.  I am so thankful for that.

The repairing of my port was successful.  I need to take it easy a few days to heal.  Definitely an unexpected start to the year.  But, God keeps showing Himself faithful and true.

"Now it is High Time"

We just unveiled the theme for VSIBC for 2020.  Taken from Romans 13:11, the theme is "Now it is high time!"

I had fun incorporating clocks into our theme.  I love how everything fit together.
  Patrick had fun making this "NOW" table for in front of the pulpit.

 Goodwill was a wonderful source to find lots of neat clocks!

 And the vines just gave it that greenery touch that I like.

Patrick and Josh did amazing at setting goals for the year for our church.  There's much to be done and it's so exciting watching God work!

When we unveiled the theme, we also showed a slideshow from 2019.  We are so blessed and  have created many wonderful memories through the year.  Souls were saved and baptized and we passed out 50 Bible reading certificates for those that read their New Testament, Old Testament or the whole Bible through.  With that much Bible reading, spiritual growth is inevitable!  It's so exciting!

2020 is going to be a great year!

Celebration with Mom and Dad

For the past several years, we have spent New Year's with my parents.  I am so glad they come for some time with us!  We exchange gifts, go the a New Year's Auction, stay up late, and enjoy every moment together!

My kiddos love to pick out gifts for them!  It's a joy to watch the givers face as they watch the receiver open their gifts.  There is joy in giving!

My parents are also very thoughtful in their giving.  You can tell they really try to give something personal and thought out.  They don't just give because it's that time of year.  They look forward to really buying something the person would enjoy.

This year my Mom made Callie a quilt.  Isn't it beautiful?!  Callie treasures it already!

I love these special moments with family!

Silas's 11th Birthday

My boy just turned 11! We enjoyed a wonderful day with him.  He had many plans that lasted a couple of days!  We let the birthday kiddo have their way for their special day.  And Silas made some awesome plans!  

He told us he wanted to go to the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville with just me and Patrick.  It was fun to have the time to spend with our boy. He talked to whole time!

The museum was a lot of fun!

They also had a neat croc display.  I have to say, they are not my favorite animal!  But, I guess it's better than a snake!

The museum even threw in a little humor. Do you see it?

Then, we took him to Red Lobster for lunch.  He was so excited!

For his birthday cake he requested homemade apple pies.  I made two and they were devoured!

 He invited 2 of his friends over to play laser tag that night.  The boys had so much fun shooting in the dark!  So thankful for friends that my boy can have a good time with!

My boy is growing up, that's for sure. 

You can usually find him with a football in his hands throwing it in the air.  He loves to do that!  He also loves football cards and has them all sorted by position.  When it's game time you can find him right next to his Dad cheering the Eagles on.

He also has  developed a love for math.  He just learned probability and decided his Dad must like probabilities, that's why he's so good at games. :o)

He also loves God and His Word.  He faithfully has his devotions every morning and is working on preaching his next message.  He is a lot like Joshua, he just has a comfortable presence when he's behind the pulpit.  So thankful for his calling!

So thankful for this great kid.  God sure has blessed us!  Happy Birthday Silas Boone!