How much do I have to be thankful for?...Ummm everything.

The Lord is faithful and true. Not that if things had not worked out as they did that He would not be...its just He IS, and we have so much to be grateful for. Ask me sometime what He has done for us. I am not sure I am at liberty to publish anything right now. In time, I will answer this in detail on the post. But for now I thank Him for the life of He has given us and how if we are awake, wide eyed, open hearted....maybe we do not HAVE to go through trial to learn...maybe a good threat will get some of us to shape and mould as He would have us. Lord let that be true. Thank you Jesus!

Horses on the brain...

My husband suggested that I write something for the blog...y'know, it's funny...you can think of a million things that you're going to write about when you are nowhere near the computer, but you sit down and it's like there's a giant magnet that wipes your brain clean of all data.

I have horses on the brain. For those that know me, this is nothing unusual. I have a friend who likes to use the line,"Hi, my name is Judy...I have a problem." It is very true of those of us who are truelly afflicted by the horse-bug. We make rash decisions. We do really stupid stuff. WE ARE NOT RATIONAL!! We have a problem. And if it weren't for our loving, and oft times more practical, spouses...we would have large herds of these beasties, in no time flat.

I thank the Lord every day for my husband. He doesn't understand this horse-thing...but he's very patient with me about it. It used to trouble and upset him...because he knew that getting a horse at this point was just not a possibility, but I would be looking at all these ads and saying, "Wow, look at this one!" or "Oh, I like this one! He's cute!" He now understands that I am not pining for something that I can't have right now. Oh, I would love to have a horse hanging out in our pasture right now, I won't lie about that. And I was very disappointed when, recently, there was a possibility of owning, what sounds like, a really cool mare and we had to say 'no' because of finances. I was sad but recognized that it was out of selfishness. I wanted the horse and I couldn't have her. Having her would have meant putting a financial burden on my family that we just can't handle right now.

It may be that I might not ever be able to own another horse. Maybe not ever again. Who knows? Only God. And I thank Him for giving me this wonderful man who tries so hard to understand this 'horse-thing'. Praise God that I have a man who is strong enough to tell me 'no' when I want something material that has nothing to do with the eternal life and has everything to do with self gratification.

But those of us afflicted, can't help but daydream. We can't pass up that Nickel's Worth magazine with all the classified ads...we have to see what's for sale. We can't help but look while we're on online. It's not pining--though to some it may sound like it--we just can't help but look.

We have a problem.

Finding the Joy amidst various trials

What can I say, its tough.

Choices

It was suggested upon the advice of my brother in law to update the ol' blog. So, here we have a choice; The deep and meaningful discussion or...are we going to rave about our new sleep number bed and what our personal sleep #'s are? So that we do not make you stumble, my brethren, with a jealous heart, I will refrain from praising the inspiration God gave some guy who is now very wealthy. I could cover my recent adventure with the racoon on our porch. He was threatening our 2 cats..."Sunny" and "The Kill em'all Silvana". I released our dog," Oliver" to chase him off. The coon went one way... Oliver went the other. Needless to say, the coon will not return. Mwahahaha! At any rate some photos if nuthin else...Hopeful with KiKi meow meow

Loyal doing his best Calvin imitation from Calvin and Hobbes

Our beloved brother and sister, Brian and Julianne, gave us a series of tapes for Epiphany called " Back to Genesis" by Vision Forums. We have finished up tape 3 out of 7 and it is such very encouraging material. So far, we have learned how important it is to remain faithful to God's Literal Word and some of the dangers and mistakes that can be incurred when making comprimises for the sake of appearing to agree with secular "science". Tape 3 covers alot of evidence that supports the Bible's literal creation account, alot to do with discoveries made during Mt. St Helens. It has inspired my wife and I to start in again and do a study of the book of Genesis. The Genesis plan?? read it once through together. Then we are going to try and go through it piece by piece and concentrate on finding the character and person of our Father in the decisions and direction He led His people. We might need an actual study guide to help us do this so if anyone knows a good one for Genesis it would be helpful. At any rate, a couple web sites is: www.icr.org ,
www.answersingenesis.org and a more controversial one is www.drdino.com .We are excited about the world that God is opening before us with eyes unvieled to the lie and illusion that we were under before. To wrap up; I am going to leave you with my memory verse...as best I can.
Psalm 1: 1-3 " Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of the sinner, nor sit in the seat of the scoffer. For his delight is in the Law of the Lord. And in His Law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree firmly planted by streams of flowing water. Yielding its fruit in its season, nor does its leaf wither. In whatever that he does he will prosper". This last line of course not necessarily refering to wealth. But in all things done for the Lord it will bear fruit. The fruit of righteousness, the fruit of our Father. Love
"Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ"
Trust

Some have asked us, "Why 'Trust' and 'Obey?'" Well, it's like this...Papa is Trust, 'cause as the holder of the position of Grand Puba, Leader of Our Home...he really has to put his faith and trust in the Lord and His Word. As head of the household he is looked to for protection, teaching, leadership (both spiritually and familially), guidence, support, and he is the sole financial supporter for our growing family. Who does he look to for guidence, but God? Who does he look to for protection, but God? All of those things and more...God is faithful and has promised "never will I leave you, never will I forsake you." He puts all his trust in our Father. That's why he's called Trust.

I am called Obey, because that is my goal in this life. I am trying to be as godly a wife and woman as I potentially can be. That means obeying not only God but my husband. That means submitting to the authority of both. If I submit to God than my submission as wife should automatically fall into line. No, this does not mean slavery. It means joyful servitude. I live to serve my God and my family. And I try to do it joyfully and with an obedient heart. But being human and a sinner, it's very hard to keep my heart cheerful and obedient. It's hard not to be selfish and throw tantrums when I don't get what I want or things don't go my way. But just like with our own children, God wants us to obey when He says 'no' or 'not yet' or 'that's not good for you.' We should not kick and scream in defiance...we should bow our heads and say 'Yes, Father, Your will, not mine, be done.' Thus I am Obey.
Our sons are Hopeful ( the eldest ) because we are hopeful for him. Loyal the younger boy displays that admirable trait everyday.

I know that all of this probably sounds very alien to some of you; but, we as a family have committed ourselves to God. In Him is where our hearts lie.
Love you all and God bless!