Chicken news of the day

Just when you thought they were old news!

I wanted to post a picture of our new chicken resort. Some gracious friends of ours donated their gently used coop to our cause. Then some other friends hauled it over here and helped my husband rig it so that our meger chicken pen became a high class chicken resort. We hope to add to the flock in the near future.




Thanks W's and B's! The golden girls are livin' it up!

An analogy if you will:

My 8 month old took up the pacifier the other day. He found one in his toy basket and decided to give it a whirl. As a tiny infant I could not get him to take a pacifier for anything. He suffered with terrible gas as did my daughter, but I could not convince either one that a pacifier would soothe their need to suck without adding milk to an already upset stomach. So at 8 months old he acts like he's been a pappy baby all along.

Here's what I am learning from this:

So often I know of my need for fellowship with my heavenly father. I know it is good for me. I know that his word will give me comfort it will soothe me. I know communication with him through prayer will strengthen me and lead me in his everlasting way. So why is it that I can not be convinced to spend quiet time each day with the Lord? Is it the quiet or the time that turns me away. Maybe both.

I think silicon was the main deterant for my son as he would never take a bottle either.

While fellowship with God of any kind is not fake I often use my time in Christian books as a substitute for real quiet time. I keep my mind full of thoughts and ponderances (is that a word?) so as not to allow for quiet.

As to the lack of want to spend the time...I can come up with a million excuses. But that's just what they are and I'm sure by God's standard they would fall under the wood, hay, and stubble category.

God, help me to spend quiet time alone with you each day. I can not say what that time should look like (morning, night, mid-day kids nap) but I know that you want fellowship with me and that it should start with a committment to what you have given that is good for me. Just like my son has learned that a pacifier can in fact offer him comfort and joy, help me to know that your word and your presence is comfort and joy to my soul. Thank you for your faithfulness!

Time for Tea

Can I post twice in one day?
I wanted to share a milestone in my experience as a mom....our first real china tea part!
Boo boo Princess and I used hand-me-down Hawthorn Bone China from the 1940's(?) to have a real bonafide tea party today. Here are some pictures to enjoy:

Tea for two

Say "chocolate and cranberry juice"

Not my best picture, but I needed a mother daughter!

This is what My Nator did while we had "tea." My Piggy was faithfully cleaning his room.

The faithful season

So here I am in the house I grew up in raising my 3 beautiful children 1st grader, preschooler, and infant. I LOVE where I am right now. I am so comfortable in my home. I feel like my life is doable. Yes I realize saying that is just asking for God to add some kind of unexpected storm for my own good.

I want to follow God! I want to be faithful now, not just in the future. I was so encouraged by the testimony of my sisters in the Lord last night during our Small group fellowship. The Lord has been stirring hearts for His calling. People are responding to the passion God is giving them to be the living Gospel for the lost. We all want very much to LIVE the gospel.

Is this just for a season? My God I pray not! True our lives are but a season but may they be lived fully in service to God. To proclaim the gospel!

Enough already!

Tired of hearing about chickens yet? Are you even reading still? Were you ever really...honestly...?

I'll take time away from the Golden girls to post something of a different nature.

I'm not sure how this pertains to any particular season in life, but it certainly speaks to the business of living.

My husband and I have been given very real and clear vision for following the Lord in our lives. Stick with me here and remember I too used to think this was nuts!

About a month ago I received passion (for lack of a better description) for the lost in our town. It was more of a "hey here's how we can reach them" type of moment. I shared my thoughts with my husband (Dave) with the understanding that what I felt like God had revealed to me was to be shared, prayed about, and waited on. Dave came back to me with a list of things he felt like needed to be done to prepare for whatever it was we were going to do...starting with being in close intimate fellowship with God. He assured me he had prayed and received the same passion and was ready to be open to the Spirit's leading.

We have since talked with many people who have the same vision for this town. They are passionate on fire men and women who are already seeking the Lord for the next step.

It's one thing to organize a group of people to go out and street preach or knock on doors and share the gospel. But it's a whole new level when you ask people to start praying for revival.

I have learned that Revival isn't so much about what happens to unbelievers as it is what happens in the hearts of believers. It's getting on your knees asking God for even the desire to see the lost saved. It's begging for the all consuming passion of evangelism to burn in your very soul. It's being willing to follow the Holy Spirit no matter the cost. It's trusting God above all. It's being so connected with the Heavenly Father that when you go about your day as you always have and run in to person after person who wants to join with you in praying for revival because their hearts are overflowing you can do nothing more than stop and Praise God!

That's where we are. God has made it UBUNDANTELY clear that we are following him in this. I have seen people receive a word from God as to how he wants them to serve only to fall away when they take their eyes off Christ and begin planning on their own. We want nothing more than the complete will of God in this matter. That will only happen through much prayer. Being sinful human beings that we are it is so easy to fall off track.

Pray for our community. Pray for the churches here. Pray for Unity. Pray that Dave and I will have nothing to boast in except for Christ and pray for the lost as we seek to serve them as Christ has served us.

If you want to know more please visit Dave's blog "Texan Calvinist" on the link to the right.

First Fruits

We have our first egg!

I was so surprised to see an egg in the nest this afternoon when I checked on the girls that I thought maybe someone had "planted" it in the nest to trick me.

But alas here is the first fruits of our flock. I will post more later about how we give this first of the harvest back to the Lord.

Did someone say Bawk?

We have chickens!!!

Yeah, I'm so excited about my small flock of red feathered hens. They fit in so well here at the Ward Compound.

They are my Golden Girls:
Dorothy
Blanche
Sophia
and Rose

I couldn't tell you which one is who in the pictures above. That's a converted rabbit cage that's probably 15 or more years old. The chickens don't seem to mind.