I MADE IT!!!!

I made it - I picked Darin, Alexandra, Miranda, and Sydney up from the airport last night so my tour of duty here on the ranch is almost complete.  Unfortunately, the paperwork is STILL not complete so Beth, Mauricio, and Miguel are still in Cali, Colombia.  This has made everyone very sad.  The boys just get a family and then most of them have to leave them.  They are also very anxious to start their new lives in the United States and it's hard for them to understand what is taking so long.  As for me - it's just not fair!!!!  I have been away from home for over 6 weeks and I still won't get to spend time with my new nansons!  I'm also having trouble understanding.

And now for the final tally - 6 dead chickens, 1 broken lawn mower (now fixed), and numerous bruises, scrapes, and bug bites.  Not too bad.  The animals were fed, cleaned up after, the grass was mowed (several times in between the rain), the garden was tilled and planted, the barn was tidied,and  some fence and hot wire repair was done as well as keeping the house.  WHEW! Now, before anybody has the misconception that I am "Wonder Woman", let me just say that all of this really isn't as much as it sounds and I also got to do A LOT of reading and movie watching.  Needless to say, I'm a very happy "city girl playing in the country". (-:

Thank you, my precious family, for trusting me to take care of your home and allowing me to help.  I get great joy and happiness from being needed!  Now, all we need is for everyone to be together.  Take care and God Bless.

"happy city girl playing in the country" signing out.

Bruises, Scrapes, and Bug Bites

     Oh Yeah, I coulda been a country girl!!!  I was going to add "dirt and sweat in lots of places" but I thought that would be too long for a title.  I haven't had any more casualties but I'd be lying if I said that all has gone smoothly.  Nothing is easy for a "happy city girl playing in the country".  Things may get done but it seems like it takes twice as long and it's twice as hard. For instance, you would think that it would be an easy thing to put 4 horses into the back arena and tree line and keep them out of the back pasture area that is not safely fenced.  But, oh no, not for this city girl.  Meko has gotten through the fence 3 times into the back pasture!  Now, she didn't go very far because there's lots of yummy clover and grass that kept her attention, but she was still in an unsecured area which was scary.  I mended 2 places in the fence and was very proud of myself for doing that, but then she got through the 3rd time so I gave up and put them in the front pasture. That's what I get for being prideful.  I've mended electric fence a couple of times, but still can't find where it's weak.  I've gotten pretty good driving the 4-wheeler  though - better watch out, Sydney, I may give you a run for your money.  And I even sort of remembered (and figured out) how to run the really cool riding mower, but I refuse to hang from the seat like Beth in order to mow the ditches - I'll do it the hard way, with the push mower.  That is, I'll do it the hard way when I get the push mower fixed.  You see, this happy city girl broke the push mower.  But it wasn't all my fault!  I was mowing the extra dog pen where the grass was hip high (my hands are still sore from it) and I hit a stump hidden in the deep grass.  It sounded pretty bad but did start again and I was able to finish, I was so proud. There it is again, I should have known something was going to happen.  Sure enough, I started mowing the deep grass in the garden, getting ready to till and plant, and it made a horrible sound and quit again.  And this time when I tried to restart it, it REEEALLY made bad noises!!! I'm told I broke or bent a shaft of some sort.  So, we're off to the lawn mower repairman.  It's supposed to rain for a couple of days so now we'll get to see what I can break indoors. (-:

     "Happy city girl playing in the country", signing out. (-:   

God Is So Good

I already knew this, but He keeps amazing me with just how VERY good He is!  I just met my 2 new nansons via videocam and I can't seem to put into words how I feel.  I'm full to overflowing with His blessings.  Beth and Darin learned more about Mauricio and Miguel at a meeting yesterday and everything about these boys is a PERFECT MATCH for our family!!  Imagine that!? Adoption is based on faith.  They agreed to adopt these boys sight unseen and knowing nothing about their personalities, but our Father knew.  And now, because of Beth and Darin's obedience to the Father, we have 2 more precious little boys to love.  I am overwhelmed and humbled by the love and faith my children have and I am so blessed and grateful to our LORD.  Thank you, Jesus, for blessing this unworthy little "Jesus girl" so very much.  I love You so much and I thank You so much for my family.  They are everything to me this side of eternity.  I pray that You continue to bless them and take care of them.  Thank You, Father!!! 

SOMETIMES NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS

This is certainly the case for "happy city girls playing in the country".  I have survived my 4th full day of doing chores all by myself and (except for the aforementioned 5 chickens), all is well on the homefront.

This, however, is not the case when you are waiting for other people to handle your paperwork so that you can welcome 2 little boys from Colombia into their "forever family".  It is hard being at the mercy of other people.  I, for one, would rather do things myself so that I know they are going to get done on time and correctly.  This doesn't work with government paperwork.  This being said, I just checked an e-mail that said things are finally moving in the right direction and maybe Beth, Darin, and the girls will get to be with the boys tomorrow afternoon or Friday.  PRAISE GOD!!  I know there have been lots of prayers being said during these last 13+ months and many of them have been during this last week.  It's hard to see and understand God's timing when you're sitting in the middle of it but I know He sees the big picture and is in complete control.  Thank You, Jesus!!  I'm so excited!  Hopefully I'll get to see my new nansons very soon, thanks to technology.  I guess I'll cut this post short since I was going to complain about paperwork, etc. and now it is almost over so I'd rather not jinx it.  

Good night, I must get my rest so I can rise with the chickens and do some "farm stuff".  Not really, but I thought it was sounded good.  (-:  Keep praising Jesus - He certainly deserves it!!

Another One Bites The Dust

Sad, but true, the one injured chicken died yesterday.  )-:  This brings the total casualty count to 5.  This one will be cremated just like the others - as soon as the winds die down.  They are supposed to be 15-25 miles per hour for the next few days, are you sure I'm not in Kansas or Oklahoma?  

Yesterday was relatively calm compared to Sunday.  I found where Meko went through the fence and put the boards back up thanks to Beth's "handy dandy super duper battery-operated drill/screwdriver thingy".  However, fence mending is really a two person job, 'pardner', but I managed to "getrdone"!  Then, later in the afternoon Peg showed up at the front door.  That dog climbs fences!!  When I went out I found that I had forgotten to turn the electric fence back in after I fixed the arena fence so she took advantage and climbed over or squeezed through a tiny gap in the gate.  Whichever way, she was out again.  At least she didn't chase chickens this time.  So I put her back and plugged in the fence but it wasn't popping as good as it should have been.  I walked all the way around looking and listening for where it could be shorting out but I couldn't find it anywhere so I gave up and just hoped that it is hot enough to keep the dogs in their pen.  I'll have another look around today.  I got the stalls cleaned, the manure dumped (I starting to really like that 4-wheeler), and the horses behaved very well when I brought them in for the night, so everything was calm and quiet.  

Then, at about 3:00 this morning, something woke me up.  It sounded like a telephone ringing so I got up to check it out.  Phone calls in the middle of the night usually are not very good.  BUT I COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING THAT HAD BEEN RINGING!!  OOOOOH!  Whatever!  I'm just thankful for a somewhat calm day.  This morning's chores went smoothly too so maybe I won't have anything to report tomorrow.  We can only hope and pray.  (-:  Have a great day and I pray God's Blessings to all. 

"Happy city girl playing in the country"  signing out  (-: 

Chickens and Dogs and Horses, Oh My!

Lots of chickens, 3 dogs, and 4 horses to be exact.  Add to that mix, 7 or 8 cats, and a bunny and you have the life of this "city girl" for the next 30 days while my children are in Colombia, South America getting my 2 new nansons.  Did I mention the several acres that I get to mow on this really cool (and huge) professional looking riding mower and the REALLY huge 4-wheeler that I get to drive to pull the wheel barrel full of horse manure for dumping?  Now, don't get me wrong - I love it, LOVE it, LOVE IT!!  Did I mention that I love it?  And I really am able and capable of doing all of these things but it takes me a lot longer and I'm not as smooth and graceful at it as Beth is.  In fact, I'm quite clumsy and funny looking but I manage to get the job done and I love it (I think I mentioned that already).  Even the girls drive the mower and 4-wheeler better than I do. (-:   AND the best part is that I am doing something helpful for my children - which is what I live for.  I love being out here in the country, it's so pretty and peaceful and the air smells so fresh and clean.  I can say this right now because it's not raining or storming and cold, just the normal wind.  So, with all of this said, let me tell you about yesterday, my first day on the farm:

It started out pretty well.  We left at 4 am and got to O'Hare in plenty of time for the kids to get checked in for their flight.  I even drove all the way back without even 1 wrong turn - thanks for the great directions, Darin.  I got home about 7:45, changed shoes and went out to do chores before I dropped from getting less than 3 hours sleep.  The chicken coop had been left open all night so the chickens were already all over the place and Belle and Peg were in the horse trailer (I forget why).  I fed the horses, let Peg out to potty, and put Belle's collar and leash on her to take her back to her pen.  We went around to the pen and found chickens in there so Belle starting pulling on the leash and I tried shooing chickens but Belle is strong and chickens are dumb so she got hold of one and I had a hard time getting her to leave it.  She finally let it go and I drug her back to the horse trailer and shut her in.  When I got back to the dog pen to bring her breakfast to her, Peg was chasing and catching chickens too!  She wouldn't listen to me to stop and the dumb chickens couldn't get out of the pen, so 3 more went down before I got her stopped and chased out.  I then shut her in the horse trailer, too.  Total damages: 4 fatalities and 1 injury - sorry, Beth and Darin.  So, I finished chores and came in the house, furious, trying to figure out what to do and praying that they'd come back to life.  There was cardboard and paper that needed to be burned so I decided to put them in the burn pit since there was no wind for a moment.  I went back out, they were still dead, so I scooped them up, put them in the wheel barrel, and burned them in the burn pit.  It smell like Sunday dinner around here.  End of story, right?  Wrong, there's more.

I went back out later to clean stalls.  The wheel barrel was already full so I figured out how to run the 4-wheeler (I remembered what you taught me, Sydney, good job) and dumped it and filled and dumped it again.  I took the long way around to dump it and when I started driving toward the back pasture I thought Meko looked a little far away from the other horses - sure enough, she was in the back pasture, not under the trees or in the arena that are safely fenced off.  Since the fence in the back pasture needs some repair I thought, "Oh great!"  Really, that's all I thought.  So I kept checking on her while I finished stripping the stalls and putting in the fresh bedding and decided to bring them in a little early.  The other 3 came right in without me going out and leading them in but Meko just stood out there looking at me.  When I went to get her I found that she was closed in the back pasture so she must have gone over or under the fence between the arena and the pasture.  I guess Beth and I should have put new fencing along the side of the arena and not just the back so I'll go look at it today and see what I can do. When I took the wires down, she ran into the barn and got a little stuck in the corner between Crash's stall and the tractor but she calmed and I was able to lead her into her stall.  Surely this is the end of my day, right?  Wrong, there's more, read on:

I put Belle and Peg back in their pens with their supper and plugged in the electric fence.  IT WAS SPARKING AND SNAPPING LIKE CRAZY AND SCARING BELLE who refuses to come out of her house when it's making noise.  Beth and I had just spend hours securing the fence in the arena and fixing the hot wire.  So, I kept going back and forth plugging in the fence, finding where it sparked, unplugging the fence, taping it up, plugging in the fence, finding where it sparked, unplugging the fence, taping it up, plugging, etc, etc - you get the picture.  I FINALLY found all of the spots and got them taped up.  WHEW, now that's it.  The rest of the night passed uneventfully - except for Moses randomly barking at the door and scaring me to death. Boy, did I ever sleep good last night!!  And morning chores went very smooth - thank you, Jesus.  I'm going to put the horses out in the front pasture in about an hour and be busy outside again.  Hopefully, I won't have any problems that will make for another long, boring post.

So, please pray for the happy but clumsy city girl playing in the country. (-:  And, please pray for my precious children and nanchildren in Colombia.  Be safe, my darlings, have fun and don't worry - I'm slowly, but surely, doing fine.  (-:

Milestones

I hit a milestone on Saturday (5/9) - my oldest nandaughter has just graduated from high school. I remember the first time I met her, she was a tiny, 4 month old bundle of adorable. 

The adorable part still applies.  She has always been precious and loving.  It always amazed me how much she seemed to love me even when I only saw her once or twice a year for most of her life. Beth made sure the girls knew me and knew how much I loved them - this means so much to me and speaks volumes about the precious daughter that she is.  Alexandra, my sweet Alexandra, I am amazed, awed, and humbled by the beautiful young woman she has grown to be!  She is so in love with Jesus and has such a discerning spirit for someone so young.  I love her more than our language has words to express and I hope that someday - maybe when she has children of her own - that she will understand how much I love her.  I am so proud of her! She is intelligent and has so much talent - she can sing, dance, play the guitar, and act.  WOW! So much talent in one tiny package.  Needless to say, I struggle with pride but I'm sure that the LORD understands and forgives me.  After all, it's His fault that she is so special - He made her. But with all of this going on for her, she still cares for and loves others.  Her heart is as beautiful as her features.  She is precious and beautiful inside as well as outside and for this I truly praise God!  However, it occurred to me this morning that I don't love her because of how beautiful and talented she is - I love her because she is my own precious nandaughter, my flesh and blood.  I would love her no matter what!!!  And so, another year has passed and now I have a nandaughter in college.  How did this happen?  How have I been so blessed?  I don't deserve the blessings but I am certainly thankful for them - especially my precious family.  Alexandra, you are one of the most important things to me this side of heaven.  I love you, my Angel.  "I love you" seems so inadequate for the feelings overflowing in my heart, but they are the only words I have so they will have to do.  Thank You, Father, for another milestone in my life!!!  As much as I hate birthdays, I do want to be around to witness many more milestones for my children and nanchildren.  I love You Father - Daddy - and I thank You for my precious Alexandra and this latest milestone in our lives.  I pray that You continue to bless her in whatever You lead her to do and that she continues to fall more and more in love with You. Whatever else she does, if she does that, she'll never go wrong.  PRAISE JESUS!!!

I've Been Tagged

As much as I hate doing these things, if Jonathan can do it so can I.  It's been awhile but I'm finally getting around to listing my 7 favorite things.  Obviously, I'm obsessed with my children and nanchildren, so I won't include them on my list.  So here goes:

1.  My Jesus!!  I love Him so much and I continue to fall more in love with Him every day.  

2.  I love women's bible study!  I love my Sunday School class and church but there's just something special about women's bible study.

3.  I love Hawaii!  This is one of my favorite places this side of heaven.  I love the sun, the beaches, the colors. the beautiful flowers, the beautiful fish, and the culture.

4.  I love mountains - the Great Smokey Mountains in particular.

5.  I love to travel - any mode of travel.  I like driving alone to visit my family as well as regular vacation trips.  I love visiting new places and sightseeing.   

6.  I love walking with my girls.  They are so caring, kind, and helpful and we are such great support for each other.

7.  I love volunteering.  I love to help others and I can't wait to finish school so I'll have more time to volunteer at our church and the church's Community Center.

So, it's done.  I'm sure there are others but I'm not very good at things like this so this will have to do.  Besides, I don't think anybody reads my blog anyway. (-:

Is Pride Always Sin?

Is pride always sin?  I struggle with that thought.  You see, I have the most amazing children and nanchildren!!!  They total 6 (including my 3 "in-love" ones) and 5 (soon to be 7) respectively, and I am incredibly proud of all of them!  I keep thinking, "surely this can't be sinful pride, I don't take the credit for them - except maybe for carrying and giving birth to 3 of them."  The people they have, and are, becoming is completely by God's grace, anything messed up in them I'll take credit for, however.  They all love Jesus and try to be obedient to Him - thank You, Father.  I don't think I could bear the thought of not spending eternity with any of them, it's hard enough not seeing and talking to them daily.  I love them all so very much and I pray that they know that. I would do anything for any of them, including giving up body parts if needed. (-:  I finally decided to check out the back of my Bible to see if I could find any references to let me off the hook and guess what?  I think I did.  Check out Romans 15:17 in the New Living Translation.  Paul writes, "So it is right for me to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my service to God."  Stick with me here.  The commentary at the bottom says, "Paul was enthusiastic about what God had done through him."  This is the good part, so pay attention, "Being proud of God's work is not a sin - it is worship."  I figure that they are God's work through me, 3 of them directly through me.  It continues, "If you are not sure whether your pride is selfish or not, ask yourself this question: 'Am I just as proud of what God is doing through other people as of what He is doing through me?' "  And guess what I answered myself?  YES!  YES!  YES!  I am very proud of what our Father is and has been doing through my children and nanchildren!!  So you see - pride is NOT always sin!!  So now I can PROUDLY say, "I am EXTREMELY proud of my children and nanchildren!!!  Thank You Jesus for these precious people in my life and Your permission to be proud of them!!!  I love You so much!!  And I love them, too!

Stay safe in His Loving arms   

"Sticks and Stones"

  This is the title of the sermon our pastor, Marty, delivered last Sunday.  It keeps running through my mind so I feel compelled to write on it.  The Scripture he based the message on is James 3:2-12 and begins, "We all make many mistakes, but those who control their tongues can also control themselves in every other way." Then 7 & 8 say, "People can tame all kinds of animals and birds and reptiles and fish, but no one can tame the tongue.  It is an uncontrollable evil, full of deadly poison."(NLT)  AMEN!  He goes on to say that words are 3 things (I love sermon note sheets):  #1 - Words are Powerful.  (Prov. 18:21 & 10:19); #2 - Words are Dangerous.  (James 3:3 & 3:5-6).  Words are dangerous because: - We are inconsistent people.  (James 3:9), and - We are all different.  And, #3 - Words are Memorable.  (Prov. 12:18 & 16:24).  Why do people (we) say the things they do?  And why do we believe them?  In "Pretty Woman", Julia Roberts' character is telling Richard Gere's character about how she grew up, always being told what was wrong with her and how worthless she was and she said, "Why is it that the bad is always easier to believe?"  THIS IS SO TRUE!!!  We (I) can receive many compliments and just blow them off but when someone says one mean, hateful, hurtful thing we remember it word for word forever.  It's too easy to say hurtful things, we can do it unintentionally.  I remember saying something to my son that I meant to be encouraging but it wasn't received as encouragement, it hurt him.  If my sweet daughter-in-love hadn't had the courage to tell me, it might have destroyed our relationship!  My children are my life, I would never intentionally say anything to hurt any of them - but it still happened.  Words have so much impact and once they are said they can't be taken back.  We can fall to our knees and tearfully and heartfully beg forgiveness, and even receive that forgiveness, but those words have still been said and will probably be remembered.  I think this message had so much impact on me because I have been hurt so often by words and it's hard to let go of them.  I try so very hard not to do the same to others, I pray that I succeed at least most of the time.  Kindness is a legacy I would hope to pass on to my precious children and nanchildren - I love them ALL so very much!!  And I hope that they will remember me as the Mom and Nana who loved and cherished them and said sweet, encouraging words over them - this is my prayer.  

Stay safe within His loving arms! 

One Hit Wonder

We had a substitute in Sunday School yesterday and I thought, "ok, this will be a boring, overdone lesson that I've heard a thousand times before."  Boy was I wrong!  The LORD kicked me in the pants and gave me 'a fresh Word', as Beth Moore would say.  Michael taught on Luke 16:19-31, which is Jesus' parable about the Rich Man and the Beggar, Lazarus.  He began by saying that we all have our heroes that we look up to and want to be like and in the Christian world we may say that "he/she is a great man/woman of God" or "he/she is blessed of God".  In our culture today the "blessed of God" are those who are successful or prosperous in their career &/or financially or they seem to have the perfect life or family.  But, he said, sometimes the "blessed of God" don't look like it from the outside looking in - this is what this parable teaches.  The parable is about Lazarus, the beggar, who was laid at the Rich Man's door daily longing for scraps from his table.  He was diseased and covered with sores that the dogs licked.  They both died - the Rich Man went to the place of the dead and Lazarus was carried by the angels to be with Abraham.  The Rich Man, in torment, saw Lazarus with Abraham and asked Abraham to have pity and send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool his tongue because he was in anguish in the flames.  Abraham explained why this wasn't possible (verses 25-26) so the Rich Man asked him to send Lazarus to his warn his brothers so they wouldn't also end up in that place of torment.  Of course, that wasn't happening either (verses 27-31).  Michael said the main point of the parable is often missed - it is NOT to tell us what heaven and hell is like.  He pointed out that the Rich Man is never named and a person's name is very important, on the other hand, "Lazarus" means "God helps".  This parable has 3 principals: 1) Being rich and healthy does not mean you are in God's favor.  2) Being poor and sick does not mean you are NOT in God's favor.  3) God may or may not heal the righteous.  He said that Christians get sick and die, they have financial problems and other problems but they/we are still "Blessed of God"!!  Hallelujah!!!  God sees the whole picture that we are not able to see when we are in the middle of something, He is in control and He's knows best!!  How awesome to be reminded that even we are not feeling very blessed when we are going through difficult times, we are still the "Blessed of God".  THANK YOU JESUS!!!  OH HOW I LOVE YOU!!!      

3 DOWN, 32 TO GO

  I just finished 2 incredible Intercession classes.  One was Adoption Issues & Answers and I learned so much.  I discovered that there is a huge need for adoptive parents right here in the United States, that there are birth mothers looking for "forever families" to love their babies.  The feelings I had about birth mothers from the experience my children had with Jaxon's have now changed - it seems that the majority of birth mothers are not like her.  I learned about foster parents and how difficult it is for children in DHS foster care.  I just want to take them all in and love on them.  I need to do something to help these children when I graduate.  The other class was Children and Grief and was full of information about helping children with the losses in their lives.  Whether it's from the death of a loved one or from divorce, children still grieve and need help dealing with their grief.  It shouldn't hurt to be a child but too often it does. The LORD has blessed me with an incredible family and has filled me with so much love that I need to lavish it on someone.  I am continually amazed at my Father's goodness and mercy and I want to share it with His littlest lambs.  I love my children and nanchildren so much that sometimes I think I will explode from it.  It doesn't matter whether or not I've given birth to them or if they've married into my family or been adopted into my family.  I LOVE THEM!!  And I know that the LORD has given me this love for them.  Thank you, Jesus, for these precious children and nanchildren!!!  Help me to know what You want me to do with all this love inside me.  I LOVE YOU!!!