1983ish
2015!!!
Yes, it’s too good to be true! Today, July 5th, is one of the top 12 BEST DAYS of the ENTIRE year because today is NATHANAEL’S BIRTHDAY!!!! This handsome guy turns 12 today!! :) Besides good looks, the world’s best smile, and an overabundance of charm, Nathanael is a hard worker filled with determination and enthusiasm! He is always on the job without a complaint and will make sure it get’s done!! He has proven to be a Master Tinker, Leader, Encourager, Adventurous Explorer, Extremely Photogenic, Chivalrous, and the Tostada King[he can make the best Tostada!]! :) He also claims to be a Van Johnson “Look-alike”[and if you have to google that name, don’t feel bad. I had to do the same! ;]… as for the accuracy of that statement, I will let you decide ;). Nathanael is well-known for having eyes bigger than his stomach and is nicknamed “ears” because he hears EVERYTHING! ;) One day, in the far-but-near future, Nathanael plans to live up in the rugged mountains of Colorado but until then I am SOOOO thankful to have him here. HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATHANAEL! So blessed to have you as my brother and look forward to what the Lord has in store for your future as you serve Him! Hope your birthday is the BEST YET!!!!
How often do we forget that peace offered by the Lord? As we look at the world around us waxing worse, we set our eyes on our fears and we surrender peace for worry. Yet, we have been PROMISED “perfect peace“[Is 26:12] and commanded to “Fret not thyself because of evildoers“[Ps 37:1-2]! Even in the midst of trial, tribulation, and persecution PERFECT PEACE IS PROMISED as we set our mind on the Lord. A peace “which passeth all understanding“[Phil 4:7]! :) Praise the Lord! I am reminded of Mark 4 when the Lord’s disciples set their gaze on the storm, fearing the possibility of perishing and doubting their Savior’s care for them, “And He was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, PEACE, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? “ We serve the God who “maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still“[Ps 107:29], He “ bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.“[ Ps 33:10]! He is the God of peace[Rom 15:33]. :) God promises He will “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will“[Eph 1:11] and “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.“[Rom 8:28] Trust in the Lord’s perfect will, rest in His promises, and may “ the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means.“ [2 Thes 3:16]! As I type this my 2 youngest sisters are in the background singing “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.” That is a promise worth repeating for those who serve the God of peace! :)
John 14:27 〉〉 Col 3:15 〉〉 Phil 4:7 〉〉 Isaiah 32:17 〉〉 Ps 46
Well, today pickling and canning an over abundance of homegrown cucumbers was a pretty big deal ;). Thanks to all hands on deck, the kiddos and I got the job done in a jiffy! With the Texas rain we’ve received, we literally have cucumbers coming out of ever corner of the kitchen but today we conquered the cucumber. :D Now we have Spicy Dill Pickles to last us a lifetime. ;) Our pickling insanity in pictures!
July || Pickle making with a few of my favorite people!
;D
I know, I know! Random posts have been a little non-existent and I will fix that…. soon. :) But today, in the midst of answering emails and preparing orders for their afternoon shipment, I’m dwelling on my morning reading. The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom!→
Prov 3:7 〉 Prov 9:10 〉 Prov 28:14 〉 Prov 8:13 〉 Ecc 12:13 〉 Prov 1:7 〉 Prov 15:33 〉 Ps 11:10 〉 Ps 34:11-14
Oh my!!!!! ´*•.¸It’s Father’s Day!!¸.•*´ 32 years jammed packed for my Dad and his “fathering” career! So much sacrifice has been made these years that I hardly know where to start….. 32 years, 14 children, countless diaper changes, midnight walks with sleepless babies, long hours worked to provide for a quickly growing family, bike riding lessons, loose teeth that need to be pulled, future drivers to teach[no worries Dad, only 6 more to go! ;D], and late night ice-cream runs for the ladies in his life are just the beginning!! I wonder what my Dad would have thought if he could have seen 32 years into the future way back when he was 18?! ;) I am reminded of John 15:13, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” My Dad has truly laid down his life for each one of his children… from the oldest to the youngest! So a huge →THANK YOU← to my Dad, can’t express our gratitude enough for the daily sacrifice you have made for your family!! Thankful to the Lord for you. :) HAPPY 32nd Father’s Day and may there be many more to come! ❥
“Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.”
YES!!!!!!!! It’s true!! This hansom guy turns 10 TODAY!!! Hard to believe it because[yes, the classic line] I remember the day he was born. :D HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABEL!!!! Favorite hobbies for the birthday boy include bow-hunting[he looks extra hansom with a bow in hand ;], garage saling[he finds some extremely unique items], gardening[his cucumbers are DELICIOUS], and reading the news paper[because he has to keep his eyes open for future garages sales]. Abel is what we refer to as an “old soul” as he is wise far beyond his years! :)He’s ALWAYS the first to wake up in the morning and always the first to wish me a “howdy” when I stumble out of my room. If you need a good conversation, he’s the guy to go to. Abel has a chipper attitude and witty sense of humor that will leave you laughing! He’s quite a guy. ;) I am so excited to see Abel grow in the Lord and beyond thankful to have him as my brother! May the years ahead be the best and most blessed, may your garage sales be filled with fabulous treasure, and may your garden always provide me with delicious produce ;) as you seek & serve the Lord. :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Cucumber!!<3
He even picks me flowers!!! <3 :)
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
“For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.”
All photos credits go to pinterest. ;)
Yes, this post is beyond random but, hey, it’s Thursday and on Thursday anything goes. ;) As I read the above verse yesterday I was completely captivated and overwhelmed with joy as I read it! Why? Because, I instantly said to myself, ” OH YES!!! HE CAN!!” ;) We see the Israelites -God’s chosen people- who He brought out of captivity, the people He delivered from the hands of the Egyptians, who He had brought through the Red Sea while their enemy was swallowed up[Exodus 14], who He had provided water to drink from a rock, this people who had seen the mighty works of God, speaking against the goodness of their Lord. After all that HE had done! WHY?? “Because they did not believe in God, and did not trust in His salvation.”[Ps 78:22] ←That’s a humbling verse! How often do we find ourselves doing the same thing? :) Not trusting the Lord, the God of our Salvation?[PS 68:19, Heb 11:1] We find ourselves in tough situations, hard-pressed, and feeling somewhat hopeless and saying, “can God really —fill in the blank–?” God who is “the same yesterday, and today, and for ever“[Hebrews 13:8], is the God who DID furnish a table in the wilderness[Psalm 78:23-25], He is the God who closed the mouth of lions[Daniel 6:22], fed the 5,000[Matt 14:13-21], healed the blind [John 9:1-12], raised the dead to life[John 11:38-44], He is Jehovah-Jireh, & He is faithful! This is a truth I’ve come to realize more in the past few years than ever before. I sometimes look at myself and want to say, “Lord, can You really make something beautiful out of me and use me for Your glory? ” In all honestly, I fail & fall short but God is faithful! Whether it is shining a light in the dark world or being an encouragement to family and friends I feel SO unable but I know through my weakness He will show Himself strong[2 Cor 12:10] . He is able! And on top of His FAITHFULNESS and His ability, [praise God] He is merciful! His mercies truly are new every single morning[Lam 3:22-23]. Today I echo wholeheartedly the words of Jeremiah and say, “Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is NOTHING too hard for Thee“![Jer 32:17] May He use me in all my weaknesses for His glory. That is my prayer! “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the faithfulness, which Thou hast shewed unto thy servant”[Gen 32:10] I am unworthy but He in His mercy saved me[Eph 2:4-5] and is able and He is faithful to use me and do His good work in me for His glory. Trust the Lord with all your heart, He has proved Himself over and again truly faithful! AND REMEMBER, God’s ways aren’t our ways… they are so much greater! :) “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.” Commit your ways to HIM… completely! He will “furnish a table in the wilderness”. :)
“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”Pure joy, shrieks, and sheer excitement overwhelmed the air when the announcement was made! The question asked by half a dozen little people was “could it really be true?!” Yes, we were headed to the beach!! :) Though a few of us knew in advance, we waited to tell the munchkins of our beach plans until the day before our departure due to the fact they would wear themselves and us out with anticipation. ;) But once they found out we were headed to Port A., they counted the seconds until our departure! Bags packed, chickens pinned up, dogs fed, shuttle bus cleaned, food prepared, and we were off!! Yes, we all went looking like natural-born tourists with “Hawaiian” style shirts & over-sized sun hats and returned red as lobsters. ;) In my opinion if your going to go to the beach, you might as well look like a tourist! :) 4 days filled with sand, sunshine, and seashells. For Emmi, this was her first time to experience the sand beneath her tiny toes and it was such a fun blessing to watch her experience it! We were beyond thankful for the “mini” vacation and the time spent together. In between trying to fix severe lens fog, I managed to take photos and a little bit of video. So, how about a million and one pictures from our Beach Days at Port A.? :) Plus a video!
Packed and ready to go!
Lydia lookin’ stylish and ready to get some sun! :)
Abel’s outfit won “Mr. Tourist” award! ;)
Cowboys at the Beach! ;)
Always time for a selfie… right?! :)
Hat shopping! <3
Ice cream…. A beach essential!
Abel made a few feathered friends on the trip! ;)
May || Port A. with family <3
Mom & Abel! <3
Dolphin watching!
↓Picture Credits go to my Dad! We obviously misjudged the size of the oncoming waves and what started out as a “picturesque” photo turned into a shower. ;)
