Spring Break Adventures

Spring break was good and very, very needed. I was sick the week before break along with taking most of my mid-terms so I was super-tired at the beginning of break. I think I slept 1/2 way to where we went! Ok, not quite...Tommy has been tired of driving my car because it doesn't have cruise control so I drove most of the way there and then he drove for the last hour or so.  It was good that he drove then because it was after midnight and I am not a night owl.  I don't usually study after about 10:30 at night because my brain tends to turn off about that time.  I saw a coyote while I was driving and Tommy saw lots of deer and a cougar after he took over.  I don't remember the deer or cougar because I was asleep then.  Bummer!

I drove tractor for Tommy's dad and harrowed his pastures to get them smoothed out.  I have the radio memorized again now. :-)  One evening I even listened to Adventures in Odyssey...it had been a long time since I listened to that show on the radio.  I really enjoyed it.  I also helped out at the airport and cleaned spray nozzles for the planes and helped take the airplanes apart for the annual inspections.

Since Tommy's dad has cows, I got to ride along for morning chores and help.  Tommy was nice enough to do most of the work with feeding bales so I could take pictures.  That was a lot of fun!  The cows did not really know what to do think of me because I was getting pretty close to take some of these pictures.  While we were feeding one morning, a cow calved...I didn't have my camera that day unfortunately.  The calf was so funny trying to walk around because he didn't know how to walk yet. 

The day we left Tommy and I stopped at a neighbor's place because they had a foal born several days earlier.  He was really cute and so curious!  Since the mare was really gentle, we could get into the pen with them.  We were feeding cubes to the mare so we could get close to him and he thought that he wanted some cubes too, but he didn't know what they were.  The colt wasn't sure if he liked us touching him either.  It was pretty funny!  He'd get close and then he'd spook and move away, but he would be back soon for more.  I want to go back during our next school break and see how much he has grown.

While we were seeing the colt some of the calves in the next pen over became curious to see what was happening so they came over.  One of them was a little bolder than the others (not much), but bold enough that we could hand-feed him. (Most cows/calves aren't)  It has been a long time since I hand-fed a calf!  He wasn't sure that he wanted to be that close to us, but he sure wanted those cubes!

And today I am thankful for:

Curious calves

 Long tongues and courage to take the cubes.

Foal: just 3 days old

Long whiskers and curiosity.

God's painting

Soft muzzles nuzzling hands

Funny newborn calves

Easily fixed hydraulic hoses (yes, there is a story, but not today.  I will suffice to say that it wasn't my fault)

You can see the pictures larger if you click on them, then just click on the back button to come back to the blog. :-)

Thankful for Fleas?!

My fingers itch for the screen with the words flowing through them into the pages...but they know not what to write.  ~Several days ago

I have found the words to flow across the screen now...I hope that these thoughts will help you. 

I have been trying lately to bring eucharisteo from my head into my skin.  Some days I fail horribly.  Others are better.  This thankfulness habit can be hard sometimes.  When tests are looming in front of me waiting to be conquered.  When the papers need to be written, but the supper also needs to be made and dishes cleaned after.  My expectations not being met.  But expectations destroy the relationships I am trying to build.

However, the only way to form a habit is to keep on trying, keep on finding ways to be thankful.

The pastor at the church we attended last weekend (we are on break, so not our usual church) spoke on Philippians 4:4-7.  It seems that everywhere I turn, I am finding eucharisteo more and more.  This has blessed me.  I have found, with the help of eucharisteo--giving thanks, that peace.  The peace mentioned in the above verses which surpasses all understanding.  Still not all the time, but much more often.

Also, the pastor mentioned this on Sunday, and I have found it to be true...long before I knew anything about eucharisteo.  Worry steals the joy that we have.  However, when I worry, I dis-trust God's ability to care for the situations which have entered into my life.  He is able and will take care of my life.  But isn't it wrong of me to question His ability to do so?  All things work together for good.  These situations may not come together as I want them to, but God is not planning my life around my wants.  God made me, us, people to give Him glory!  To thank Him for the things and circumstances He has placed in our lives.  Good or bad.  And even the bad circumstances simply give us an opportunity to praise Him in all things...not just when our life is going fairly well.

In the "Hiding Place," Corrie Ten Boom talks about her and Betsy (Her sister)'s time in the Auschwitz concentration camp.  They were reading the Bible they had managed to smuggle into the camp and came across 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22.

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  Do not quench the Spirit.  do not despise prophecies.  Test all things; hold fast what is good.  Abstain from every form of evil."

They were then thanking God for their circumstances.  Food, togetherness, crammed quarters for warmth, etc...but Betsy thanked God for the fleas.  Corrie was horrified.  Fleas?!  Really?  Why be thankful for fleas?!  However, they were talking with another inmate several weeks later and were curious why they had not been bothered by the lecherous male guards.  The other inmate disclosed that it was because of the fleas!  So yes, even in the most unlikely circumstances, I should be thanking God for the bad things as well.  Good can always come out of the darkest circumstances.

I can also be thankful for the work.  Dirty dishes, laundry, normal household chores, homework, school in general.  "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor 10:31) Have I been thinking of my dishes sitting in the sink like this?  Can thanking God for the opportunity to bless my husband by simply cleaning the dishes give God glory?  Have I been doing these things to the utmost of my abilities?  These questions have been coming up in my mind lately as I have thought about that verse.  I should be working on being thankful as I go about these daily tasks which seem to be such drudgery sometimes.

Eucharisteo comes full circle.  Grace from the Father--Thankfulness and Praise to our Father--Joy and Peace

~ Philippians 4:4-7* ~
"Rejoice in the Lord always.  Again I will say, rejoice!  Let your graciousness be known to all men.  The Lord is at hand.  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

*Italics are mine