A fruitful week

I haven't been blogging of late. I've been too busy outside, but I will try to update, maybe even backtrack.

Our computer is terribly slow, and posting photos seems to take so long.

The first thing I accomplished this morning was to finish reading the book Why I Stayed by Gayle Haggard with Angela Hunt. Forgiveness. No, it doesn't come easy. What a testimony! What a story! Our self righteousness, arrogance, and pride is sin just as bad as any sexual sin. I highly recommend this book. How is my walk with God? When the storms and hurricanes of life come my way, is my foundation strong enough to withstand? Certainly if God is my Rock, then I can stand, but only by the grace and mercy of God.



There's nothing like going outside and getting your hands in the dirt, in my opinion. It's just been too many years that we didn't have a vegetable and big perenniel garden. This year just happens to be THE year to establish some big gardens. And I'm having the time of my life! Thank you Lord for dirt, hands, and sunshine.

This is the first week I spent money on flowers this year. Most of those came from the clearance rack at Lowe's. I just love getting those deals and bringing them home and babying the plants. If they die, it's not much loss.  I love container gardening, but it can get expensive to buy all those plants.The dying ones came from clearance so they are no showcase just yet. It is nice to have them planted.

We had a productive week. Amber and Zach finished the job of trimming all the briars behind the house, a first since we've lived here. We would do a little bit, then just let it grow and be wild. But we're slowly getting the land cleaned up and trimmed. And we're having a grand time working together. I cut a ton of poison tonight then came in the house and washed my arms and legs in bleach water. I've got enough poison right now, as do most of us.

One 'new' thing I've noticed. I've found the best thing for Zach is to have a different project every day rather than mowing lawn every day. This morning he was busy weed eating, because he enjoyed it last night. He went outside right after breakfast. He likes using his Daddy's big one rather than his little one, I'm not really sure why. I do know that it's heavier and he uses the shoulder strap. He also did a fine job by the woods as well as the bank behind the house. I'm so proud of him being a man.

He also hauled load after load of pine bark mulch left here by those who work with tree trimming for the county. We got quite a bit of mulching done - half the pile. We are planning to spend $0 on mulch this year, opting to use grass clippings, leaves, compost, and this bark mulch. It may not look as nice as the mulch you buy, but that's our only choice this year.

We presently only have one lawn mower, and we are so thankful for it. But we would love to invest in a good rider clunker, you know, one you can use in rough terrain.

The girls raked quite a bit of leaves and cleaned up the mess of rotting logs and leaves behind the wood pile in the woods.

We burned our three piles of trash: rotting wood, stumps, and briars. Wow! it's looking nice.

The garden is doing really well for the first year. God is just so GOOD to us. We want to share our blessings with others. While some others had trouble with their beets and potatoes germinating, ours have grown extremely well. But we won't count our chicks before they're hatched. We did see signs of something nibbling some flowers, maybe a rabbit? The season isn't over yet, and there are plenty of deer in the area. So far, we only have the fence separating the property lines to protect the garden.

*****     *****     *****     *****     *****

Yesterday I went to town and was planning on making quite a number of stops. At the second place, our vehicle would not start. We've been having quite a bit of trouble with it frequently. Less than a year ago, we got a new alternator. Last month we had it at the garage and had that alternator replaced with a new one. Twice within the past three months, I was more than 30 minutes away from home when it wouldn't start. Both those times we prayed, and I'm now more convinced than ever that God started the engine.

This time it left me set at our friend's place of business. Even a shot of ether wouldn't start the thing. It would kick in, but just not stay running. And jumping didn't help. So we had it towed to the garage.

Our friend brought the two youngest and me home, then I left with the truck for town. You gotta remember I haven't driven stick shift in years, so there was quite a bit of jerking the first half hour of driving. *wink.  But it was fun again, although it's not as relaxing as driving an automatic. And we had some laughs at the consignment shop!

Life is great, even though the economy is blah. Working outside seems to do wonders to lift my spirits. I just praise the Lord!

*****     *****     *****     *****     *****

The worst/best part of today:

We'd been burning rotted wood in our campfire. The fire was perfect for an easy supper of roasting hot dogs and eating smores. We had a few minutes of talk with the neighbors. The sky was growing darker and we could see lightening.

To me, it's no light thing to mess around outside when there's lightening. My sister's children were shocked by lightening when outside.

We would have loved more time talking with our friends, but the storm was making me edgy. We scurried to load everthing on the ATV and trailer packed with six of us. The entire ride down I was praying that God would keep us safe.

The sky was so dark, looking very stormy after a week of humid weather. I prayed continuously and we rode as fast as I dared to drive. We all scrambled to take showers before the storm got closer.

Task completed. Then the storm missed us. We only got a few drops of rain.

Braden and I talked. He is dealing with fears quite often and I constantly remind him that God is here to protect us. He sends angels to keep us safe.

The best thing my ears heard today was that Braden told me he was praying the entire ride back from the woods. I told him I was, too. Right then and there, we had another teachable moment.

Because when God answers our prayers, He deserves our thanks. We bowed our heads and together as a family, thanked the Lord for His protecting Hand.