Undeniable Victory

I'm not sure where they came from, or how they got here, but I knew what their plans were: to take over, to consume our belongings, to overtake us. And I knew I had to stop them…

In the beginning, I hadn't thought much about them. I had seen a couple of them milling around and hadn't really even cared. I had my own cares and concerns, and really didn't see them as a threat. But as time passed, I noticed that their numbers began increasing; soon there was a small army hanging around. Alarms began going off in my brain, like tingling senses, warning me that an invasion may be inevitable

And as if I had prophesied my own fate, they began coming into our home, invading our privacy, going through all that we owned, as if it were their own, and I couldn't stop it. Nothing was sacred, nothing was out of their reach, and I felt all hope was gone. I had no idea of how to get rid of these invaders. I wasn't a woman of violence, and I knew I would not be able to get a hold of the authorities in time.

But then it came to me…a delicious, delectable plan that would win the hearts of my nemeses and happily send them back to their own land. I would prepare a feast for them. Food is a binding element.  What better way to bring peace and harmony to any situation?

So I busied myself making my "guests" comfortable, quietly preparing what I knew they would love. They seemed to not notice as I busied myself gathering up all the ingredients I would need to prepare them a mouth watering meal of irresistible flavors. When I finished, I knew I couldn't get them all into one room, so I served them wherever they were. Some were in the kitchen, others were in the dining room, but most had gathered in the sitting room.

I placed the food in front of them, being careful not to startle or offend, and to my joy they began consuming all that I gave them. I could see the excitement, none of them held back. I gave them seconds, and they were grateful. How pleased they were that this great feast was given in their honor. They had come expecting to have to work at getting everything they wanted, and found hospitality instead.

As I stood back to watch, I felt a little smile form upon my lips. I had conquered these intruders all by myself. Not with strength, nor power, but with poison! Everything they were eating had been poisoned. Soon they would feel the effects…but not too soon, the poison was slow acting and they would be far away before they knew what I had done. They would take the left-overs back to their families and comrades, who would eventually be overcome as well.

The thrill of victory swelled in my veins as I contemplated the fate of each warrior, wreathing in agony as the poison slowly effected their vital organs. And as their loved ones came to their rescue, or their comfort, they too would be effected and eventually die.

Oh! How sweet the thrill of undeniable victory!

“As long as we have faith in our own cause and an unconquerable will to win, victory will not be denied us.”

― Winston Churchill

Each year we are overrun with ants for a short time. As soon as I see one, I know there are more present, I just have to find their trail. That being done, I place Terro in their path, and after they gather around and consume the sweet liquid, they take it back to their nest to infect the rest of their colony. 

I can't help but feel sweet satisfaction (pun intended) :) 

If they would stay outside where they belong, I wouldn't have to be so vicious! 

Home Schooling Moment

I can't believe the summer has ended--well, officially on 9/21--but as far as the season goes and homeschooling, the summer has come to an abrupt end. Daughter #4 is preparing to take college classes, so I only have Daughter #5 to homeschool this year. What a difference! The school closet is cleaned out and I had enough books handed down from previous "students" that I didn't have to purchase any books this year. She's not excited about that, but The Farmer is!

It's kind of a bittersweet moment thinking about all the time and effort we've put into this homeschooling thing. The preparation, the cost, the frustration, the head-butting, (and banging). But all-in-all, it produces a pretty good return on our investment.

What satisfaction to think that I was the one responsible for teaching them their letters and sounds, and hearing them form their first word and listening to them begin to read everything they see; a sign, a note, the back of a cereal box... And watching them as they figure out the curves in cursive writing; writing their name over and over on papers, napkins, and even the plastic table cloths at a church banquet (fortunately, they're disposable). Or the repetition of math facts, spelling words, Scripture memorization, and the constant call (from me) to "get busy". 

Of course the greatest evidence of a successful student is seeing each one becoming an adult, and successfully going on to begin their own life as a wife or a husband, or take on a new job or career. And whichever road they decide to go down, I'm excited for them. Such is the circle of life. 

But as I said, I still have one more learner here, and for at least three more years I'll be a homeschooling mom. So, today being the first day of our new school year, the sweet, familiar sounds of homeschool begin once again: "Aww, come on Mom, do I really need to know this!"

1st day of Algebra 1...Looks like it's going to be a long year!!

Fortunately, a science project always makes the day a little more enjoyable. :)






If you have ever thought about home schooling, here are a few resources you may find helpful:

• Getting Started In Homeschooling 
• The Basics 
• The Laws 

And if you are in the throes of your own homeschooling experience, here are a few encouraging resources:

• Reflections from a Homeschool Graduate 
• Homeschooling Do's and Don'ts 
• Home School Humor 

The Farmer Has Retired

When I look at people who have been working for a long time, it seems to me that they all fall into at least three different groups when it comes to the subject of retirement: 1) Those who fear retirement, 2) Those who can’t seem to acquire enough for retirement, and 3) Those who use work as a means to retirement.

The Farmer belongs to the last group. He’s a hard worker, and he has used a lot of his hard-working years to save up for retirement. He has never been able to sit and enjoy taking time off. I think it’s because he’s had his eye on a greater goal…retirement.

He typically left the house very early, and had at least a 45-minute drive to work. He was very diligent; working in the rain, snow, sleet and hail (the postman had nothing on him). He would often work late, go to bed early, and get up “Grumpy” (me), so I could fix his lunch for the day.

However, that has all changed. He has retired from his “real” job, and he’s learning to live an entirely different way. He’s sleeping in a bit later (I’m afraid that may change when the weather gets warmer), he refuses to go out and work in the rain or snow, and he’s spending way too much time contemplating.

As a son of a farmer, he learned early to work hard. He began following his father around and helping him with whatever he was doing. In fact, some of his most precious memories are chasing his dad out the door as he went out to do some work on the farm. They were always fixing vehicles and machinery or repairing fences. Lots of time was spent clearing the land, picking up rocks, and creating brush piles. And of course there was always wood to be cut, animals to be tended to, and an occasional building project.

Although he has retired from his real job, he has not retired from farming. These next few years are the years we have both been working towards; the years we can spend enjoying the farm. We are raising cattle, instead of building the herd. We get to look out off our porch at fields of grasses, instead of clearing land. And we get to enjoy the things around us, instead of always wanting more.

Oh, that doesn’t mean there won’t be building projects, and machinery to work on, or fences that will need mending, but for the most part he has plans of putting up hay, watching the cattle grow, and enjoying all that God has allowed us to acquire.

This brings to mind a story in which Christ told concerning covetousness. He said that a farmer spent his whole life building for himself. He had land, built barns, and gained riches. One day he stopped and looked at all he had acquired and decided to tear his barns down and build bigger barns to hold more of the things that he wanted. But before he could do that, God ended his life here on earth.

The Bible records that he was a fool, not because he achieved so much, but because as he gained everything he could to benefit himself, and never gave thought to prepare for eternity. Jesus said, “...beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses.” But we are to seek God’s redemption first, and then live according to His blessings.

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36

No matter what riches you have this side of Heaven (or lack thereof), if you do not prepare for eternity, in the end you will lose everything.

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Luke 12:34

Easter 2014

This was supposed to be posted for Easter, which was yesterday. Oh well, the celebration of the Resurrection should never end!

Hope you all had a blessed Resurrection Day!

Without the Christ

Without His birth, where would I be?

In a stable stayed the three

Angels announced

Shepherds observed

Wisemen came to worship the Lord.

Without the Cross, where would I be?

All my sins on top of me.

Full of guilt

A price to pay

My sins would not have been washed away.

Without the Christ where would we be?

Dying for all humanity.

His blood removed

Our guilt and shame

He took our place, we took His name.

Without His resurrection where would we be?

Death is swallowed up in victory

Buried three days

He snatched Death’s key

And rose with life eternally.

                                                                                -Cindra Enloe

Walking On Thin Ice

“I need a camera,” I informed The Farmer last November.

“I thought you had a good camera on your phone,” he reminded me.

“I do, but it doesn’t zoom far enough. I need a camera that zooms so I don’t have to get out in the cold and take pictures. Remember last year when the cow had her baby in the snow? I couldn’t get close enough to get a really good picture.”

I’m not sure he was truly convinced, but since it was right before Christmas, I had a really good chance of getting one. And I did. Doing the research, I got a great deal during the Black Friday sales (online, by the way).

And I’ve taken some great pics. I can sit in my sitting room and zoom in on the McD’s cup that is sitting on the counter and see the advertisement on the cup.

Can you see the cattle?

I’ve also taken some wintery shots off the deck when we had all that freezing snow the last couple of months.

                         

Unfortunately,  after I got the camera, I  lost my muse for a time, because The Farmer hadn’t been doing much around the farm. Well, he has fed hay, and scraped the feed lot, and fixed waterers, and shoveled snow, and chopped ice on the pond, but  it was too cold for me to get outside, and too far away from the porch for me to take pictures. Until the other day when he went out to spread red clover on the pastures.

We re-seed our red clover in our pastures every couple of years, because it’s the natural way to put nitrate back into the ground (nitrate helps the grasses grow). A good time to spread seed is while the snow is on the ground, and right before spring thaw. Since the weather seemed to be cooperating, you can imagine how excited I was to find out The Farmer was going to go do something I could take pictures of and write about. I was also silently hoping to take a video.

Hurrying to get my coat and boots on, I rushed out the door just in time to take a picture of The Farmer pulling away. “Click” (always take two) “Click.” 

Walking along trying to adjust the zoom, I all of sudden found myself lying flat on my back, with a cracked elbow, rattled teeth, and a throbbing backside! The only thing that I was aware of was the fact that I threw my camera as I went down. As I lay there getting my bearings, my rendezvous with The Farmer was forgotten. Completely unnoticed by him, I hobbled into the house to access the damage, and was thankful to realize that nothing was broken. Later, retelling the story to The Farmer, I was amazed to find how much concern he had for my camera. I assured him that I too had come away unscathed.     

Later, as I was again walking outside (being more watchful this time), I thought about how quickly my world was “turned up-side down.” How I was going through the motions of my day, thinking, planning, doing, and then in a split-second my feet were gone from out from under me and I was lying helpless on the ground. All my thoughts, plans, and motions had been changed to something completely different with that one small slip on the ice.

Jonathan Edwards (a 18^th century preacher during America’s Great Awakening) spoke of this very thing in his well-known sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” He used Deuteronomy 32:35 as his text, “…their foot shall slide in due time.”

His sermon can be read here >>Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God , or you can listen to a reenacted version >>HERE<<. It’s a long read, but it is so worth the time it takes.

I was reminded of his key statement, “…their foot shall slide in due time.” When I slid on the ice, there was no warning, no flashing lights, no sounding alarms, and no stopping once I began to fall. My feet slipped and gravity took me down.

Edwards compares this with life on this earth and eternity. We all are walking around thinking about our plans and what we’ll be doing tomorrow and the next day, but none of us are promised tomorrow. No one is ever guaranteed more than the second in which we are living in right now.

All of us are one split-second away from eternity. And once that journey begins, all of our thoughts, plans, and motions will cease on this side of eternity. In a lot of cases, it comes without warning; a health issue, an accident, etc., and then we are on the other side of eternity.

Several years ago I made a very conscious decision to place Christ on the throne of my life. In God’s word He told me that I had offended Him; that I was an enemy of His, because I had been born into sin (we all have). And God cannot, and will not, associate with sin.

I read that God desired for me to be adopted into His family for eternity. He said that He had already paid for my sins that I had committed, and the sins that I wasn’t even aware of, because Christ took the punishment on the cross that was meant for me. And although Christ had taken on the sins of the whole world, there was still something I had to do to make this gift of salvation mine. I had to accept it. The work was done, the gift was given, the relationship between a holy God and an unrighteous people had been reconciled, but until I personally accepted His Gift of forgiveness, I could not be reconciled with God. We could never have a relationship unless I acted on His gift. And I did when I was 21 years old.

However, if God would not have sustained me, if He would not have had mercy to keep my feet on solid ground, if I would have slipped into eternity before I had accepted this Gift, my eternity would have been full of darkness, agony, and total separation from God.

Being a Christian is more than a religion to me, it’s the fulfillment of my purpose in life. It’s the reason I was created, and it’s the reason I wanted to share this with you. I’m not being trite when I ask, but have you been reconciled to God? Have you made a choice to follow God’s law and trust in His gift of eternal life made available to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? I truly hope you have.

When I had questions about eternity, I found my answers in God’s Word. Reading the books of John, Romans, and Psalms answered a lot of my questions. I hope it helps you, too.

“…God commendeth (demonstrates) his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us…being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life…

We also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement." 

Romans 5:8-11