It's been almost a year since my last post. And since then, so much has changed!


There are some reasons for my delay:

1. Media is such a huge part of this world, and I get swept into it far too often. One of Satan lures is by seduction. Facebook, blogging, email, and etc. can take too much time away from my family and fellowship with the Lord. I have yet to watch the film Captivated which will give us an insight of what I'm talking about. Is media the greatest leap in productivity or the biggest setback from the things most meaningful in life? I'm not against technology or else I wouldn't own it. But all the time spent on social networks, texting, surfing and all is shocking. Do we spend as much time with the Lord? Have these screens become our idols? I ask myself these sobering questions and answer GUILTY. God wants our complete devotion.  
2. Our computer was so slow that posting was taking several hours, especially when I included photos. We were finally able to purchase a new one. 
3. I'm a teacher and it takes a lot of time and effort. But I really love having our family schooling here at home and wouldn't change that for the world. 
4. We started building a house here on the same property we live on. My husband is doing most of the work himself. We certainly were blessed to have family share in some of the work load this past summer. Occasionally, I help out here and there. Merv is running electrical wires and hanging siding any spare minute he has. 

Last Sunday brought 4-1/2 inches of snow, making it the first big snow for the season. 

Then Friday was deliciously warm here, but a bit too unseasonal - so much that there was a tornado watch until 4 PM, striking fear to the hearts of the little guys. It was a time to teach them that we can trust God is doing the right thing whether he takes our house or not. They're like, "Mom, quit talking about it." The highest temps reached 77°.

By evening, a couple rains had cooled things off and somehow the tornado watch had died for this area.

Saturday the temps plummeted fifty degrees and by morning, it was in the mid 20's. Talk about a real change. I went for a walk to the top of the hill where the wind was so violent and cold it blew me very quickly to the new house. In fact, Zach knows what I'm talking about as he needed to go outside to the woods. He came back running, jumping and the wind literally pushed him into making a bigger leap than he would normally have been able to. 

The boys were loving a place to play inside - like roller blading on the new concrete floor of the house while their Daddy framed the stairs. 

Landon has found his love for reading books just this past week. Every night he now wants to read a book to himself. It is so exciting! Braden reads a bit more slowly, but that doesn't matter. His comprehension is fantastic even when he reads slow. And talking with another teacher encouraged me that that truly is more important than reading. I'm amazed how perfect both boys answer questions from their read aloud stories. We just finished Mountain Born by Elizabeth Yates. It's an excellent analogy to the church and the Shepherd, a great read.