Instagram Feed

Since most of my updating is done via Instagram these days I thought I'd add a section that links to my feed. Click on any of the pictures to get an enlarged version. I hope you enjoy the pics:

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Big Helper



I thought I had posted these pictures before, but I couldn't find them so I thought I'd do them again. Anyway, here they are...this is when Abi helped me grind wheat.



She did a great job...she would scoop it from the bucket while the grinder was going so that I could just pay attention to keeping the lid on and how much we had added...

I am still very blown away at how big she is getting and how much help she can actually be. She doesn't want to sit on the side lines and just watch...she wants to help! (We did get quite a bit of wheat on the floor, but it was a learning experience and she enjoyed it! What is a little wheat compared to that!)

Rain, Rain, Rain -

Don't you love the rain!? I took this shot the other day...it amazes me because things were so brown and dreary just a week ago but now they are really GREEN...

This is looking north into our north pasture...I was so taken by the green that I took a picture of it. Amazing!

Friday, March 30, 2007

Our Frequent Visitors

Sure enough, we have new visitors that frequent our place. Grandma & Grandpa Schlatter don't know what to do with these two...they are their dogs that live FIVE miles away! One day they followed Marion home and ever since then they frequently stop by for a day or two!



Nathan has really taken to them. He gets so excited when they come around.



Even Abigail is starting to warm up to them. She will at least go outside when they are around and even get close enough to pet them. However the other day she was outside coloring on the sidewalk and she came screeking into the house that Spotty and Chelsea were in the middle of the mountain and that scared her! (They were on the cellar).


These pictures all have Spotty in them. Chelsea is a little more stand offish and won't really come close to people. That's why she isn't in any of the pictures.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Abi & Nate

Here are a couple of pictures I took of the kids recently:
I don't know what Nathan was trying to do here for sure, but he came riding up on his car with his duck and blanky! I thought it was just so cute of him. He has really taken to riding this car all over and FAST too!
This is a picture where Abigail got into the letter stickers. She just kept adding them and adding them...she LOVES stickers! She was so excited and proud of herself. They are just growing up so fast!

Monday, March 26, 2007

Are you listening?

For those of you who do not know Beth Moore, she is an outstanding Bible
teacher, writer of Bible studies, and is a married mother of two daughters.

This is one of her experiences:

April 20, 2005, at the Airport in Knoxville, waiting to board the plane, I had the Bible on my lap and was very intent upon what I was doing. I'd had a marvelous morning with the Lord. I say this because I want to tell you it is a scary thing to have the Spirit of God really working in you. You could end up doing some things you never would have done otherwise. Life in the Spirit can be dangerous for a thousand reasons not the least of which is your ego. I tried to keep from staring, but he was such a strange sight.

Humped over in a wheelchair, he was skin and bones, dressed in clothes that obviously fit when he was at least twenty pounds heavier. His knees protruded from his trousers, and his shoulders looked like the coat hanger as still in his shirt. His hands looked like tangled masses of veins and
bones. The strangest part of him was his hair and nails. Stringy, gray hair hung well over his shoulders and down part of his back. His fingernails were long, clean but strangely out of place on an old man.

I looked down at my Bible as fast as I could, discomfort burning my face. As I tried to imagine what his story might have been, I found myself wondering if I'd just had a Howard Hughes sighting. Then, I remembered that he was dead. So this man in the airport . . . an impersonator maybe? Was a camera on us somewhere? There I sat; trying to concentrate on the Word to keep from being concerned about a thin slice of humanity served on a wheelchair only a
few seats from me. All the while, my heart was growing more and more overwhelmed with a feeling for him.

Let's admit it. Curiosity is a heap more comfortable than true concern, and suddenly I was awash with aching emotion for this bizarre-looking old man. I had walked with God long enough to see the handwriting on the wall. I've learned that when I begin to feel what God feels, something so contrary to my natural feelings, something dramatic is bound to happen, and it may be embarrassing.

I immediately began to resist because I could feel God working on my spirit and I started arguing with God in my mind. "Oh, no, God, please, no." I looked up at the ceiling as if I could stare straight through it into heaven and said, "Don't make me witness to this man. Not right here and now. Please. I'll do anything. Put me on the same plane, but don't make me get up
here and witness to this man in front of this gawking audience. Please, Lord!"

There I sat in the blue vinyl chair begging His Highness, "Please don't make me witness to this man. Not now. I'll do it on the plane." Then I heard it... "I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to brush his hair." The words were so clear, my heart leapt into my throat, and my thoughts spun like a top. Do I witness to the man or brush his hair?

No-brainer. I looked straight back up at the ceiling and said, "God, as I live and breathe, I want you to know I am ready to witness to this man. I'm on this Lord. I'm your girl! You've never seen a woman witness to a man faster in your life. What difference does it make if his hair is a mess if he is not redeemed? I am going to witness to this man." Again as clearly as I've ever heard an audible word, God seemed to write this statement across the wall of my mind. "That is not what I said, Beth. I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to go brush his hair."

I looked up at God and quipped, "I don't have a hairbrush. It's in my suitcase on the plane. How am I supposed to brush his hair without a hairbrush?" God was so insistent that I almost involuntarily began to walk toward him as these thoughts came to me from God's word: "I will thoroughly furnish you unto all good works." (2 Timothy 3:17)

I stumbled over to the wheelchair thinking I could use one myself. Even as I retell this story, my pulse quickens and I feel those same butterflies. I knelt down in front of the man and asked as demurely as possible, "Sir, may I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?"

He looked back at me and said, "What did you say?"

May I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?"

To which he responded in volume ten, "Little lady, if you expect me to hear you, you're going to have to talk louder than that."

At this point, I took a deep breath and blurted out, "SIR, MAY I HAVE THE PLEASURE OF BRUSHING YOUR HAIR?"

At which point every eye in the place darted right at me. I was the only thing in the room looking more peculiar than old Mr. Long locks. Face crimson and forehead breaking out in a sweat, I watched him look up at me with absolute shock on his face, and say, "If you really want to."

Are you kidding? Of course I didn't want to. But God didn't seem interested in my personal preference right about then. He pressed on my heart until I could utter the words, "Yes, sir, I would be pleased. But I have one little problem. I don't have a hairbrush." "I have one in my bag," he responded.

I went around to the back of that wheelchair, and I got on my hands and knees and unzipped the stranger's old carry-on, hardly believing what I was doing. I stood up and started brushing the old man's hair. It was perfectly clean, but it was tangled and matted. I don't do many things well, but must admit I've had notable experience untangling knotted hair mothering two
little girls. Like I'd done with either Amanda or Melissa in such a condition, I began brushing at the very bottom of the strands, remembering to take my time not to pull.

A miraculous thing happened to me as I started brushing that old man's hair. Everybody else in the room disappeared. There was no one alive for those moments except that old man and me. I brushed and I brushed and I brushed until every tangle was out of that hair. I know this sounds so strange, but I've never felt that kind of love for another soul in my entire life. I believe with all my heart, I - for that few minutes - felt a portion of the very love of God. That He had overtaken my heart for a little while like someone renting a room and making Himself at home for a short while. The emotions were so strong and so pure that I knew they had to be God's. His
hair was finally as soft and smooth as an infant's.

I slipped the brush back in the bag and went around the chair to face him. I got back down on my knees, put my hands on his knees and said, "Sir, do you know my Jesus?"

He said, "Yes, I do." Well, that figures, I thought.

He explained, "I've known Him since I married my bride. She wouldn't marry me until I got to know the Savior." He said, "You see, the problem is, I haven't seen my bride in months. I've had open-heart surgery, and she's been too ill to come see me. I was sitting here thinking to myself, what a mess I must be for my bride."

Only God knows how often He allows us to be part of a divine moment when we're completely unaware of the significance. This, on the other hand, was one of those rare encounters when I knew God had intervened in details only He could have known. It was a God moment, and I'll never forget it. Our time came to board, and we were not on the same plane. I was deeply ashamed of how I'd acted earlier and would have been so proud to have accompanied him
on that aircraft.

I still had a few minutes, and as I gathered my things to board, the airline hostess returned from the corridor, tears streaming down her cheeks. She said, "That old man's sitting on the plane, sobbing. Why did you do that? What made you do that?"

I said, "Do you know Jesus? He can be the bossiest thing!" And we got to share. I learned something about God that day. He knows if you're exhausted, you're hungry, you're serving in the wrong place or it is time to move on but you feel too responsible to budge. He knows if you're hurting or feeling rejected. He knows if you're sick or drowning under a wave of temptation. Or He knows if you just need your hair brushed. He sees you as an individual.
Tell Him your need!

I got on my own flight, sobs choking my throat, wondering how many opportunities just like that one had I missed along the way, all because I didn't want people to think I was strange. God didn't send me to that old man. He sent that old man to me.

John 1:14; "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Monday, March 19, 2007

What is your birth verse?

I thought this was kinda cool~ It is a website that has found verses that go along with your birth date.  You’ll have to check it out and let me know what yours is! 

 

http://www.birthverse.com/mybirthverse.cfm

 

Melanie’s:  1 Peter 1:23 NIV
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

Marion’s:  1 Corinthians 9:25 NIV
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

Abigail’s:  Genesis 7:16 NIV
The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in.

Nathan’s:  1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Spring has Sprung...Well Sort of...

We had two days that were just very beautiful! It got Marion and I itching for Spring! I worked in the garden some, the kids played outside, and Marion got the chicken coop sealed up and ready for baby chicks.

We still have some little tasks to complete inside the coop but it is at least ready for the baby chicks. Since I had to go to Smith Center yesterday, Marion decided I could go ahead and pick up the chicks. I got 20 chicks, five each of four different varieties (Aracaunas, New Hampshire Reds, Red Productions, and Buff Orphingtons).

Boy was Nathan excited when he saw those baby chicks! Abigail had gone with Grandma and Grandpa Schlatter to Salina for the evening to visit with Piper and Willow and bring Piper back for a visit so she didn't get to see them right away but Nathan...he was EXCITED. I really wish I would have had the camera then but I didn't so the next morning, I took Abigail and Nathan out to see them and I got pictures that time. I wasn't sure how Abigail would like them but she warmed up to them nicely and wants to stay out there and play with them nonstop.

Anyway, here are the pictures, hope you enjoy them:



























































































Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Nathan's Curly Hair!

I don't know if you will be able to truly see the full effects of his curls through the picture but I am so excited that his hair is going curly...


It isn't always this curly either, but some times I can get it to really curl...especially after baths when it is all wet. Daddy isn't so sure he wants me putting anything in it to hold the curl either, but I just think it is awesome that we have this little red curly haired boy! Anyway, just had to share.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Update

Well, I was told I needed to update what has been going on with us. Really at the moment I can't think of much. I have a few pictures that no one has seen. I guess I can post those.

Willow was just here and Abigail really enjoyed playing with her. The spent quite a few hours yesterday and then again some this morning. Nathan would have liked to play but he isn't feeling well right now. He woke up yesterday with a runny nose and had a slight fever yesterday before going to bed. He as pretty groggy today still and still has that runny nose. I haven't registered a fever today but his temps were higher then normal. We'll have to keep an eye on him.

He had his ear check up last week and the tube has come out. He still didn't pass the pressure test and the dr said that they would give him a month and if he didn't pass it then, they would put another tube in. So I guess that is pretty big news.

Here are some pictures while I think of what else to say:



Thanks to Aunt Karla, Abigail's new found love is cup bowling in the dining room! You can't see it in the pictures but we put a line that she has to stand on and she loves to roll the balls toward the cups...she sets them up all kinds of ways and tried to knock them down. The biggest challenge is keeping brother out of the way!






Here you can see Nathan "bowling" with his own cups...it is pretty funny to watch him as he just carries the ball to the cups and knocks them down!











Here is another new love of Abigail's the "puter"! I set up a word document with big font and caps and she types and types her letters. It has been very good for her to learn. Although once she got the caps lock off and said it the "a" was broken because she didn't recognize the lower case letters...I guess we'll try to work on those a bit later on.











Here is a great picture of Nathan and Daddy...they were headed out to check cows...boy does Nathan get excited about that...the whole trip he says "Booo" (his form of what a cow says).




















And finally here we have my big helper...she really is getting into doing things herself and helping more...she really is a helper for me.