The Cold Days are Coming

I thought that since the days are getting colder and Christmas is just around the corner I would make things look festive, hence the background change!

Yesterday was really exciting, we got to start listening to Christmas music! I love this time of year! Hot chocolate, tea, hot apple cider, curl up on the couch on a gray evening with a good book, who wouldn't like this time of year!?!

Don't get me wrong though, I don't just get to sit back and relax all the time. It's freshening season for our goats, and everyone else's too, (for those of you who don't know, freshening means breeding) , and aside from that there's those icy cold days when the barn needs mucking out, and of course the milking morning and evening. Not to mention the countless chores inside the house, cooking for the family, dishes, laundry,etc. But even through all the chores the Christmas music floats on, the smell of spices swirls through the house, and the smiles and excited chatter of me, mom, and my sisters flits along.

A Wonderful Day!

Thanksgiving was awesome! We were cooking and getting ready all morning. Afternoon came bringing with it moms family and a friend of ours, practically everyone brought food. The table was heavy laden with delicious things. The house was full of beautiful decorations, charming aromas, and lots of merry people. The joy was intoxicating and the conversation, full of laughter and mirth, was filling every corner. The dining room had a soft glow and all was warm and cozy.

As we waited for the turkey and a couple of casseroles to finish, we ate tasty hors d’oeuvres*, drank wassail (a German holiday drink) and chatted away.

When we all gathered at the table, mom read Psalm 100 aloud to all of us. Following the beautiful passage we all sang " For the Beauty of the Earth", it was wonderful lifting our voices up together in thanksgiving to our Lord! Then we all bowed our heads as my grandpa said a prayer thanking our loving Father Who has provided us with so much!

Of course we all ate too much and had to let our dinner settle before we went on to dessert. In the mean time some of us napped, others of us (the heroic ones) did the dishes and put the leftovers away, all the while chatting and having a gay ol' time!

Finally came the exciting moment when the dessert call was made. A mouthwatering assortment of pumpkin pie, apple pie, tarts, raspberry cheese cake, and of course, whipped topping, met our eyes as we all gathered to fill our plates. We were pleasantly surprised by our friends husband (who is a CHP) who joined us for dessert and brought such a pleasant happy touch to our group!

The evening was pleasant and everyone left happy, warm. . . and full! All together it was a wonderful day full of newly made memories!

Psalm 100
1 Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing.
3Know that the LORD Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4Enter His gates with thanksgiving
And His courts with praise
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
5For the LORD is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting
And His faithfulness to all generations.


* Yes I did have to look up the spelling on that ;)

Thanksgiving bustle

Well Thanksgiving is upon us! We have been doing prep all afternoon! Were having my moms family over to spend this wonderful day with us.

I was thinking about how I've always been told to be thankful for what I have. As a child I always thought "but I really want that new doll outfit" or " I wish I could have more dessert" Now that I'm older, I don't have that problem. Yea right! Of course I still struggle with it, only on a different scale. More like "I wish I had that CD" or "I want that book" Very rarely are we just totally content with what the Lord has given us. You may be saying "Yea, yea, I know, I've herd this a thousand times!" But when was the last time you thanked God for your trials? How about the fact that your younger sibling thinks that you know everything and asks you all kinds of questions?

James 1:2-4
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

I go through all kinds of trials during the day, weather it's burning the dinner, or having a whining sibling that just wont listen! Knowing that the Lord is producing patience in me is not always exciting because I know it will be very difficult, but knowing that His end result is to make me perfect and complete, lacking nothing, that is exciting!

So this Thanksgiving I'm thankful for the trials that the Lord takes me through knowing that He cares enough for me that He continues to work on me even though sometimes I 'kick and scream' the whole way!

Acceptance with Joy

So I really wanted to start a blog and then I finally found a name for it! You may or may not have read the book "Hinds Feet on High Places" If you haven't then I would strongly recommend it. Acceptance with joy is the name of a flower that was planted in a rocky, rugged area in a spot where she shouldn't have been happy at all, but she said merrily instead "behold me Thy handmaiden Acceptance with joy". She was accepting what her maker had chosen for her and not only that but she was accepting it with joy. It was so encouraging to me, I need to learn to accept all that my heavenly Father takes me through with joy!
My purpose for this blog is to just write! In it you'll learn more about me, my struggles, my joys, my heart aches. My desire is to be totally honest in this blog, I'm not going to try to put up a front, I think it's important to be myself, so get ready for the ride!