Hello! Again. Do We Know You?

I just thought it appropriate to get reaquainted with whoever may be interested in a visit to my blog! I have been highly distracted with various different events happening with us personally and don't forget the "event" of Christmas. Not to be confused with the actual meaning of Christmas which is something I try to celebrate daily with my Savior! Anyway, I am back for a brief interlude to let you know a little more about us and what it is we do(or don't do as the case often is! ;))

We have had a very full and exciting year here on our farm! We decided to add a couple of goats to the mix and with them had to come this


She is so cute and fluffy, for now, but someday soon she will be a BIG goat protecting dog!

That isn't all that we have been doing here. We have been raising a small herd of cattle, eleven cows and 4 heifers and 2 bull calves to be exact! We have a small flock of chickens, and 4 horses. We have been talking about perhaps downsizing even more, but not sure where we could at this point seeings how we have only a small farm to begin with! It may seem small, but sometimes I can feel very overwhelmed by the responsibility that comes with caring for animals! However, there are many more positives than negatives. For instance, I am learning that raising my children out here coupled with homeschooling is such a stark contrast to how I was raised. They love to be home with their Mommy and Daddy, they love each other, they absolutely love being able to go outside and play with the goats and horses, and they are mostly unaffected by other peoples opinions of what they wear, how they play, how they act etc etc. I love that! Someday they will be grown enough on a solid foundation of love and truth in the admonition of the Lord, that I can put my trust in the Lord and hand them into His care, but for now He has given them to us(my husband and I of course!) to train up and with His grace we will perservere!

We have been blessed abundantly with ALL that God has trusted us with even when there have been intense valleys. One thing this past year the Lord has taught me more than ANYTHING is to Praise God ALWAYS, especially in the valleys! And that can be difficult when the shadows of those mountains are looming over you and it seems as though darkness might swallow you up! Always Praise Jesus, ALWAYS...
GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!

ANOTHER Give Away?!

I know!!!! The only thing you get out of me is go here and win this or go there and win that, but a girl has to do what a girl has to do!! I LOOOOOOVVVVEEE give aways! We happen to live on one income for 5 people, so I sign up where signing up is due! ;) However, I also know that a few of you live on one income as well and could be blessed by some free bidness!!!! So, without delay go here and sign up to win a $200 gift certificate for JEANS!!!!
Hurry Hurry!!! I will definetly have an update on my blog about something other than give aways some time, it just might have to be after Christmas! Being a wife, mommy, teacher, baker, cook, budgetier, house cleaner, and ALL the hats that I sport throughout the day, seems to take up a WHOLE lot of my time!!! ;) Who'd a thunk!
Ta Ta For Now! God bless you!

There is a Music Give Away!

If you like Michael W. Smith, you will definetely enjoy this christmas album! Just click free music and sign up--So maybe you can be the blessed recipient of a free CD!!!! God bless you all! Now run along and get yours!!!!

One of my Favorites...

"Over a hundred years ago, Annie Hawks said of this song:

"One day as a young wife and mother of 37 years of age, I was busy with my regular household tasks. Suddenly, I became so filled with the sense of nearness to the Master that, wondering how one could live without Him, either in joy or pain, these words, 'I Need Thee Every Hour,' were ushered into my mind, the thought at once taking full possession of me."

The song was met with great acceptance, which she didn't understand until the day she faced the death of her husband. "It was not until long after," she wrote, "when the shadow fell over my way, the shadow of a great loss, " that she experienced herself the comfort of the truth in the song she had felt compelled to write so many years before." Nicole Sponberg, of Selah.

PART THE WATERS/I NEED THEE EVERY HOUR

When I think I'm going under, part the waters, Lord

When I feel the waves around me, calm the sea

When I cry for help, oh, hear me

Lord and hold out Your hand

Touch my life

Still the raging storm in me

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord

No tender voice like Thine can peace afford

Refrain

I need Thee, O I need Thee

Every hour I need Thee

O bless me now, my Savior

I come to Thee

I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain

Come quickly and abide, or life is vain

Refrain

Tempering His Vessel

I have been learning a LOT in my walk with Jesus lately about various things, that when written in and of themselves don't sound all that profound, but in the heart they have been DEEP, and sometimes painful procedures. Lessons that have been difficult for my natural mind to fully grasp because of the intense supernaturalness(is this a word? If not I want to make it one!:)) that has been occurring!

One of these lessons, probably one of the BIGGEST ones for me lately has been about the "seed" of complaint. What I mean is that it can be so easy to complain, "I'm too fat", "I'm to skinny", "I'm not a good housekeeper", "I'm not doing what I was called to do, I shouldn't be a chaperon God has bigger plans for me, don't these people see that", and yadayadayada the list could be endless, really. But if you look at these things that we complain about, the complaint is really towards God about how He created me or you, or where He has you in your life right this moment. Whatever the complaint, ALL complaints come from Satan, himself. He, was and still is the first complainer, Satan's complaint against God was that he himself wanted to be like God. Satan wasn't satisfied with being an angel in heaven, and not just any angel, as we can read in Isaiah 28:13-17, but a VERY beautiful angel, he wanted to be recognized and worshipped. So he complained against God. Satan's complaint got him kicked out of heaven for eternity. NEVER to be allowed back in again. When he left heaven, 1/3 of the angel's went with him, how do you think that happened? I propose that over time(since God isn't confined by time and this ultimately was before time) Satan approached the hosts of heaven with his "seed" of complaint against God and planted the "seed" in the minds and thoughts of thousands of angel's. Thus bringing a devastating end to their heavenly placement.

Never being allowed back into heaven, my friends, makes Satan VERY mad. So, who, do you think he targets? God's creation, human beings. It started in the garden of Eden, when he approached Eve. He told her that God had not given them EVERYTHING, they only knew of the good. If God really loved them then He would have told them that they too could be as God is and know good AND evil. Thus, placing the seed of complaint against God and His wisdom, into the very heart of Eve and subsequently Adam. This seed of complaint was that God hadn't done His job right. No, apparently He had messed up and forgotten to tell them something, never mind that He created the WHOLE UNIVERSE with His words!!!! So, this little seed of complaint brought all of mankind to be born with a sin nature, or a nature that tries to make evil into good. It doesn't stop there. Oh No... Satan is a roaring lion, walking about, seeking whom he may devour... He has his eyes set on all of God's human creation, because he knows that we are created in God's image! And he HATES God. He wants so desperately to get back at God, that he is willing to pull out all the stops so that he can take as many people as he can to Hell, for eternity. Where he will torment them mercilessly.

"Where is she going with this?" you ask. Well, let me tell you. When we, as TRUE followers of Jesus Christ, have something in our lives, some circumstance, some imperfection, whatever it may be and we openly complain about our dissatisfaction to somebody other than taking it to the Throne of God, then we are ultimately complaining against God. NOTHING can happen or does happen without His consent or knowledge. We have to make our complaints known to Him by spilling our hearts out to Him not complaining about it to other believers. When we complain to other believers about what it is we are not happy with, then we are planting "seeds" of complaint. These "seeds" bring a VERY dark harvest... They can cause a stop in growth, or lead people away from salvation rather than drawing them.

Jesus has been showing me through my struggles with vanity(of the appearance variety) that ultimately this has been a complaint against the Very One who knit me in my mothers womb, exactly the way that HE wanted me! It is a whole lot more involved and deeper than that. But suffice it to say that this has been something that I have been complaining about FOR YEARS!! And Jesus took me through the movie reel of my life to show me the harvest that it has been producing! Not pretty, it has been the underlying discontent in EVERYTHING that I do or don't do! Amazing. This complaint has caused needless hours of unhappiness, where the enemy has wreaked havoc in our lives, for my family. Thank GOD that He is patient and slow to wrath, His mercies endure forever, His grace is sufficient for ALL that He allows us to encounter and endure. So, Take it to the Lord when you are feeling unsatisfied!!!

Anyway, that is one of the lessons He has been teaching me lately.

You must go to this website and watch this touchingpost!

Staight from the Motherland with Camouflage

You might recall me telling you that I am a transplant to the "south". Not just to the "south", but to a farm in the "south". And one of my adjustments, as it were, is that finding decent Italian food is VERY challenging. At best. This poses as a BIG problem for me. You see I LOVE me some great, authentic, mouth watering cuisine, from Italy! People from these parts have only been exposed to what the world of chain restaurants have to offer... Enough said.

So, imagine my joy, my sheer elation at the discovery of a VERY fine restaurant, of AUTHENTIC Italian cuisine! Straight from Rome! AWESOME!!!! It has been over 3 yrs. since I have partaken of such a succulent feast. First on the menu calamari! Yum! Just as I suspected--delightful, lightly breaded, served with a fabulous tomatoey, garlicy type of yumminess. I thougtht that maybe we had made it to a part of my new world that was more, shall we say refined in the art of detecting AUTHENTIC cuisine not of the Hispanic persuasion, or the Chinese(albeit American) persuasion, or even the fried food persuasion.

Let me preface this with a Restaurant that serves some kind of authentic food(and by authentic I am sayin' the food could be served in it's motherland and pass) does not last, people! They go down like "skinny" jeans should. The people have been soooooo brainwashed by mediocre chain restaurant's renditions, that they think it, I don't know, maybe "tastes bad"? It boggles my taste buds, not to mention my mind!

ANYHOO. Moving on to my point.

Not that I make it a practice to be a nosy neighbor, but these people were EXCEPTIONALLY LOUD! My husband noticed that they had ordered the calamari as well! Yeah for them! BUT, then he looks at me and says they just asked for some ketchup(catsup) for their calamari!!!!!!!!!! OH. MY. GOODNESS!!! I could not believe that they were about to assault their mouth with that stuff slathered on some of the best squid I think I have ever eaten! That, my friends sums up the the extent at which some people around my new domain enjoy AUTHENTIC Italian cuisine! They don't. Without some camouflage, anyway.

Now, I have to say here, that there truly is something all together strange about me pointing out the ketchup on calamari thing. Because when you call it squid. It sure sounds gross.

I was just thinkin'.

You Might Be a Redneck if...

Your husband brings this home to you...

Cleverly placed on the HOOD of a jeep.

With strings tied to its legs, for them to hold onto.

So as not to allow the beast to fall.

OH MY whatever would we do if that were to be the case! :)

When you thought they were going to be hunting for deer...

Not at all what I had my sights set on!

Praise God anyway, right?! Right.

Because here is what it ended up looking like!

And MAN is it good(the seasoning we used is absolutely fabulous!)...

My Wish List for the Vision Forum Giveaway!

AN AWESOME GIVEAWAY!!!!!!

My wish list for the Vision Forum giveaway is:

1-Passionate Housewives Desperate For God(84332) $16
2-Women of Vision (67850) $20
3-George Washington's Sacred Fire(57738) $24
4- The Anti-Historical Revisionism Home School Kit(23507) $45
5-The League of Greatful Sons(67880) $20
6-Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary(36547) $56
7-The Original Blue Back Speller(51030) $13
8- Puritans vs. Witches(64105) $10
9-The Kathleen Set(83590) $30

If you are interested in a chance to win $250 worth of awesome christian stuff go here coolstuffgivaway and dream away! God speed and best wishes for you to win!

New(Not Better)

I have been SOOO busy, what with being a mother of 3, one of which is a 10 mos. old bebe!!! I am learning in this walk with the Lord about my need to take EVERYTHING to Him and TRUE servanthood! Which, after all, is what Jesus asks us to be, a servant to the lowly and unlovable... So, since our very lives are a means of tempering the glass if you will, my family is that flame with which He tempers me. Sometimes.

With that being said, do you ever have days when one, or both, or all your children seem to have a new(not better), attitude? And it would seem as if they collaborated in the wee hours of the morning that not one but ALL should don this new(not better), attitude? Well, I have. Today happens to be one of those days! Daughter, age 7 yrs., woke up early, with nary a peep from any other sibling, however when other sibling(i.e. 5yr old brother) appears the crabby comes out as if he had been pestering her all along! Not to mention the ugly that pokes its nose in the business, thus, setting the ball of new(not better), attitudes a rollin' in our home this morning...

And did I mention we home school!! So, when the new(not better) attitude arrives it is ALL mine to "try" and deal with it(appropriately). How, I ask, does one deal with an attitude "problem" that seems to permeate every being in the house by this time?!!! I know, I will send them to their room, to sit on their beds! And that is what I did. Today it worked, for now(since today is not yet through). But this is not the first time that this has happened, nor will it be the last I am sure. I am just not entirely sure how to curtail "bad attitudes". One thing I do know! I can ALWAYS take it to the Lord and lay it at His feet! Now, if I can only remember to do that before my emotions of irritation direct my reaction! That my friend. I am certain. Is the secret.

Knowing is sweet freedom (Part 2)

I left off with me feeling completely weird about that whole introduction! However on the following morning, again at 5AM, Jonathon hollered at me from across the gym! Again, I was thinking, who is this guy?, and WHY is he waving at me?, he is married for crying out loud!!! He seemed to have come out of nowhere--meaning I had NEVER seen him there before and I knew ALL the faces there--not to mention the fact that he continued to be focused on ME!!! WHY?!

I proceeded to do my routine about 45 min. went by and Jonathon approached me. He asked if I knew what my name meant? I told him yes, it means God's princess in Hebrew, he told me that in fact it did, but he expounded on it's definition. Then he told me that God had told him to talk to me(I later found out that he was TERRIFIED to talk to me! because he did not know me AT ALL). Next he told me that he was married to a wife that he loved very much and had two wonderful children with her!(SEE, God knew!!!) What he told me next was that God wanted him to tell me that He(meaning Jesus) knew that I was having, and I quote, "man problems"!!! At this point the Holy Spirit was dealing with and speaking to my heart, because after all it was God using Jonathon, a willing and obedient vessel, to let me know that HE knew me, HE knew where I was at 5AM everyday, HE knew ALL the trouble in my life! What happened next is kind of a blur! I was stunned, shocked, amazed, astounded, but most of all I was FREE!!!! Because I knew, that I knew, that I knew, that I had just had an encounter with the ONE AND ONLY LIVING GOD, JESUS CHRIST!!!! It was glorious! Jonathon told me over the next 45min that he was a youth pastor, that they would be having service that night and that he would really really like me to meet his wife, Raydean. After we finished talking I went into the showers closed the curtain and lifted my hands towards heaven and just began to weep and say thank you(you must remember that I had never even opened a Bible to this point, never believed an any kind of doctrine, but that there was no doctrine!).

Then I knew that I had to have more, right?!! Who wouldn't want more of that!!! So, I went to church and I started to read a Bible that I bought. My curiosity was peaked about the Holy Spirit! Who is this Holy Spirit?! I must know. I asked a friend from church if she could give me some scripture about the Holy Spirit. She gave me a HUGE list! I noticed right away that a good portion of those scriptures were in Acts. I came to the conclusion that I should probably just read the whole book of Acts and so I did. About half way through Acts I told the Lord one night, in my room on my knees, that I wanted the Holy Spirit to baptize me, or whatever it was that I said. I didn't really know christianese at that point, so all my praying was just "talk" to God in my understanding. About 1-2weeks later I went forward for prayer at youth service one night and Raydean started praying Psalm 91: "let Sarah dwell in your secret place Lord, let her abide in your shadow Father, Cover her with your feathers, under your wing she will trust..."--but THEN she started FERVENTLY praying that the Holy Spirit would come down now on me, and she proceeded to pray in that manner. It wasn't very long into it and the Holy Spirit fell on me like I had never dreamed could EVER happen to anyone! It was the most amazing experience that I had ever had outside of salvation. God's peace, love, power, might, fear, glory, and anything else that He has, touched my physical body and I almost went down, but my mind was worried that I might knock my head! So, I tried to collect myself and some people ushered me to a seat not far from where I was being prayed for. Literally, people sitting in the front row directly behind me, ALL felt the power of God as he baptized me with HIS FIRE and Holy Spirit! It was amazing... Words cannot do it justice. I was not the same after that experience, I could read my Bible and actually understand it! I had a boldness that wasn't there before, lots of things were different--it was like the scales had been lifted from my eyes!

Now! I was a new creature! A new creature in CHRIST JESUS!!!!! Praise be to GOD!!! Thank you Jesus for your obedience and choosing me! Because Many are called but few are chosen! Thank you, Jesus, for the grace that is sufficient everyday and the mercy that endures forever!!!!!!! And just knowing THAT is sweet freedom!

Introductions can be awkward(Part 1)

Hello. I am going to just give a little history. I am still trying to figure this whole "blog" thing out! To say that I am technologically challenged would be too kind! I am at best only challenged!

Anyhoo. Moving on.

I am 33 yrs. young, married with 3 children and we live in Rural Oklahoma on a "hobby" farm... I call it a "hobby" farm because it is in fact just a hobby! I don't think that it will be what we as a family will be doing with the rest of our time here on this earth! Plus, I still have a hard time believing that I live on a farm! :)

It has been a wonderful experience choc full of intense learning! Jesus moved us here 3 years ago this November. And you might ask how did He do that? But, I assure you that He did it all, down to selling our house without ever putting it on the market! It is an AWESOME testimony to the faithfulness of our God, Jesus Christ, and what He will and can do if we seek His Will and not our own! Oh how I love Jesus! I will share that testimony at a later date, first I would like to share my AWESOME testimony of how Jesus Christ saved me from Hell...

So here we go, I was RADICALLY saved out of drugs and a very bad life at the age of 22 yrs, by none only than Jesus Christ! I had reached such a low in my life that merely going on and having no point in it was not going to suffice. I was brought up to believe that there was not a God. So, when I reached adolescence I was very immoral and did not understand anything about purity or keeping oneself for marriage, I started down the road of drugs and alcohol at a very young age as well. That road, that I chose, led me to the darkest pits of despair that any human being could ever endure. I started dabbling in the occult, playing with ouiji boards and looking for anything spiritual or paranormal... I had a discernment for spiritual "things" as it were, but had no knowledge of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. By the time I was 21 I had already tried to end my life physically, had suffered terribly from an eating disorder, and had a real problem with alcohol and any drug that would cause me to hallucinate. So, marrying someone that I barely knew at 22 years of age was not too far out of character for me. He ended up not being my husband, at least, not the husband that God had intended for me when He created me. But during that brief marriage I realized that I needed to quit doing drugs and drinking, so I joined AA. It was in Alcoholics Anonymous that I decided that there really IS a God(not yet ready to accept that Jesus was God), but there is A God.

God had been preparing this encounter with me for quite some time, which does not come as a shock to me now, but back then it was amazing--it still is amazing to think that the Creator of the universe cared about little ol' me! Anyway, my best friend, from 5 th grade, Tonya, had moved back to where we grew up(I had never left) and she was now a Christian! She would try to tell me about Jesus and I would tell her-"Don't talk to me about YOUR Jesus, I don't want to hear about that @#%^&*^!" and I am sure other choice things flew from my filthy mouth. Nevertheless she remained my friend. I was in college at the time and in my History class(my favorite class that semester) we had assigned seating, and wouldn't you know it, God sat me right smack in between two Christians! Not just any old Christians, either! They were not scared to profess the name of Jesus Christ! One of those Christians ended up being a very dear friend of mine throughout school! So, the scene is set, I once did not believe there was a God, and now I believe there is, God has seen to it that I am surrounded by Christians--softening that soil of my heart! One night about 1-2mos. after all this happened I told Tonya, that I would accept HER Jesus! That is all I said. She was very excited, but I didn't feel anything had really happened. Move forward about 3 weeks and I was at the gym at 5AM-now bear in mind that not many people frequent the gym at 5AM and usually it is the same group--we all knew each other. I was on the stairmaster reading some school book and somebody got on the stairmaster next to mine, I could tell that this someone was watching me. So, when I thought that Mr. Someone wasn't looking I glanced over. Upon glancing I noticed that he was wearing a wedding ring-not a good sign in my book and that I had NEVER seen him before--He never came to the gym not at 5AM anyway. I finished and went over to the water fountain, where he promptly followed, he stuck out his hand and said "Hi, my name is Jonathon!" and I grabbed his hand and said "Hi, I'm Sarah, I've never seen you here before, glad to meet you." All the while thinking in my head WHAT ON EARTH are you saying, you sound like an idiot, why would you say THAT to him! But I turned and went in the locker room, red face and all, anything to get away from the very awkward moment!

Hello.

I wasn't ever going to start a blog... Famous last words, I guess.

I love reading other people's blogs, but one of my own never really seemed realistic. For one I am not a writer, nor will I ever pretend that I am. And two, I don't know why I would have one, a blog that is. The idea of sharing silly stories about my family and myself, or sharing photos is neat in theory, but think of ALL the people weird or otherwise that might be viewing them! I guess, I will have to use caution and discretion as I share about my journey in the Potter's Hand.

Anyhoo- I am here to tell you that you should never say never!!