DO YOU NEED ENCOURAGEMENT TODAY?

I know I did. This was taken from an article written by Elizabeth Smith, wife of HSLDA President Mike Smith in regards to homeschooling high school age kids. Though I don't quite fit into that category (yet), it blessed me immensely in my situation today. I hope it does you as well. God wants to "show Himself strong" on your behalf today!

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect [at peace with or loyal] toward him..
II Chronicles 16:9 KJV


It is hard for me to wrap my mind around the concept that He is going back and forth over the whole world, continually scanning the earth, seeking us out and searching for those of us who are completely loyal to him. To me it means God is pursuing us with a desire to walk with us everyday. He says He does this because he wants to "show" His strength in the things we face day in and day out. He knows our frailties and the limitations of our human condition. And because He is a loving God, it gives Him pleasure to meet our needs in this way.

Saint Paul knew how to tap into God's strength for his life. In II Corinthians 12:10 he says, "Therefore I take pleasure in my infirmities.forChrist's sake: for when I am weak, then I am strong." KJV

The necessary ingredient we need for God to release His strength in our lives is humility. All we need to do is acknowledge our own need our weakness. Our willingness to humble ourselves and admit that we can't do it without Him is all He asks.

Wouldn't it be a little insulting to the Lord for Him to make us this offer and for us to disregard it? Hasn't He proved Himself by sending His own Son to earth to give His life to satisfy God's requirement that our sins be covered by Jesus' blood sacrifice? What more could God do to prove His love for us? It is through God's sheer power, or strength, that He raised His Son from the dead and won the final victory over sin and death. It is this very strength that is made available to us when He offers "to show Himself strong" on our behalf.

~ Elizabeth Smith

Christmas, Puppies, Home Improvement & More!

CHRISTMAS: We had a wonderful day at home for Christmas this year. The past two days we've played more "Horseopoly" than I ever thought I would (and she still isn't sick of it!) :) We spent the afternoon sledding behind the 4-wheeler in the hay field. I just never realize how OLD I'm getting until I do something like that. We had friends for dinner last night. The guys just chatted while the girls and the kids played games. We continued our tradition of spending the day celebrating Jesus' birthday. Everyone enjoyed the birthday cake.

We also managed to make gingerbread houses this year. These were the two that actually survived. If you're interested in the recipe I used to make these, let me know. I definitely think it's easier than graham crackers!

Does he look scared of his monkey or what??? It was very special celebrating Christmas with Aden this year -- his first Christmas.

Barns, horses & farm animals... there is no better present for my kids! Evan made the fences himself!

PUPPIES: I just had to post some more recent pictures of the growing puppies. They are 3 weeks old tomorrow. Including the one we're keeping, we have 4 spoken for. There are still some left if anyone is interested!

HOME IMPROVEMENT: Our schoolroom/office and entry are finally getting the mud done! Paint is next, and I'm SO excited!!!! It's so nice when Evan has a few days at home!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

May the true joy of knowing Jesus be yours this Christmas season! Love from our home to yours!

QUILT PROGRESS!!

We made our deadline! No pictures this time, but my quilt is on its way to Iowa where it will be machine quilted! YEAH!! My only job left is the binding! It ended up being so big that we had to buy king size batting for it. I couldn't believe how quickly we got these done. It was a rather simple pattern with large pieces, so I'm sure that helped. I will definitely post pictures of the finished product. The bears are the cutest! I have already started cutting out my next quilt, which I plan to hand quilt, so it will probably take me much longer. I'm addicted...

UPDATE & MISC. PICTURES

So, instead of going to bed early like I said I would do tonight, and instead of working on my quilt, and instead of getting my Christmas cards ready, I decided to update you all on what we've been up to.

It was quite the exciting weekend around here. Way too busy to experience every weekend, but it was sure fun! Around 4:30 Saturday morning, Mossy started having her puppies. She ended up having 9 total after surprising us twice when we thought she was done. She had 5 blacks, 4 chocolates, 4 of which were females and 5 males. We are going to keep a chocolate male, though it will be very hard to part with the rest of them!

Around 8:00 am that same morning, Evan took Myah and Joel to the "pig guy" where we picked up our pork that we we had butchered last week and picked out two new piglets -- "Biscuit" and "Oreo". They are tiny little things, that are just now being weaned from their mama.

Around 11:00 that same day, we left for Red Lodge to get our Christmas tree. We met two other families there, and had a great time. We didn't win the award for finding the best tree, but it definitely is one of the better ones that we've had in the past few years. We also enjoyed the Christmas stroll there. When we got back quite late, Evan wanted me to see the piglets because I hadn't gotten out there yet to see them. When we went out there, they were GONE! So, sometime around 11:30, we were wandering around looking for two little piglets with flashlights. After a long time, Evan found them in our neighbors horse shed. We could only catch one that night, but got the second one the next morning.

Sunday, we were too exhausted, so we stayed home. It had been two nights with very little sleep, so we had a day of rest at home. One of the things we did accomplish on Sunday was getting our family pictures taken. We decided to take the 4-wheeler down to the river and take them there. If you ever wondered how many people you can fit on a 4-wheeler at one time, we discovered you can fairly comfortably seat 6 people! :) It was a beautiful day, but you'll have to wait to get your Christmas card to see the best picture!

PUPPIES, PIGLETS, PINE TREES & PICTURES!

Life has been so FULL lately of fun and exciting things! I can't wait to share, so stay tuned for more details! (If I can ever find the time!!!)

A GREAT VERSE -- 2 Peter 1:3

His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.

Makes me ask...how well do I KNOW Him???

RANDOM ADEN PICTURES

(I am trying to keep his baby album as full as his siblings'!)

QUILT PICTURES!

Here are some pictures of our progress. Quilting is quite the major operation with 5 kids trying to "help". :) We thought we were finished with the top piece tonight until we put one of the quilts on my bed and decided we needed to make it just a little bit wider. So, now we are planning some more how we can do that and still keep it looking the way we want it to. We are also in a bit of a time crunch as Rachel is bringing these home with her for Christmas to do the actual quilting on her mom's new quilting machine.

Cutting, cutting, cutting!

Planning -- this is one of my favorite parts!



Sewing...

Sewing...

Sewing while holding babies...

Isn't he cute???

The top piece is almost finished.