This is a picture of a girl who got a job this week!!!

And not just any job, but at a place where I really want to work and with people who have like minded morals and values.

That means a LOT to me.

I'm excited for the journey God has in store for me and my family.

Thankful for his timely provisions and his never ending love and faithfulness.

He is SO good to us, time and time again.


And furthermore, I need to mention my amazing hubby. He has stood by me and helped me figure out what I want to do "when I grow up".
He works so hard for our family and I don't know if he can ever really absorb how thankful I am for that.
He works a full time job on the road during the week and takes on extra jobs over the weekend doing heating and cooling work.
He comes home tired and sweaty and I don't always have the best attitude because I've missed him for being gone all day.
90% of the time I have a meal ready for him and a mostly clean house. I try and show him love in different ways.
Do you ladies realize how loudly your love speaks thru a clean house and a home cooked meal for your husbands? 
It took me awhile, but I've got it now :)
And in my case, a freshly baked pumpkin pie really does the job :)

I have a couple more weeks to enjoy being at home and I'm going to savor it!

Some things I will be doing this week are:

*Reading and coffee are definitely on the agenda, 2 of my favorite things.

*Snuggling with my little Charlie.

*Making more salsa, also some marinara sauce, and canning peaches.


* I am going to master the art of a homemade pie crust.
{ Have you read the ingredients on a store bought pie crust??? Eeew!}

I'm linking up with the girls at Beautifully Rooted today for the Found Link up.

Barnheart- Found Link Up

I've got a serious case of it.
Barnheart that is.
Remember this post about Farm Living?

Do you know what that means? It can best be described Jenna Woginrich, here.
She wrote a book about it.
And now she's living out her dream.
Here is a little excerpt from her book that she shared with Mother Earth News :

The symptoms are mild at first. You start glancing around the internet at homesteading forums and cheese making supply shops on your lunch break. You go home after work and instead of turning on the television — you bake a pie and read about chicken coop plans. Then some how, somewhere, along the way — you realize you are happiest when in your garden or collecting eggs. When this happens, man oh man, it’s all down hill from there. When you accept the only way to a fulfilling life requires tractor attachments and a septic system, it’s too late. You’ve already been infected. If you even suspect this, you may have early-onset Barnheart.

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/The-Happy-Homesteader/Yearning-To-Farm.aspx#ixzz1syOuDlT1

It started by watching some of the recent foodie documentaries. You know, like this one, 

I could get on my soap box right now and tell you more. In fact I pasted the links to some other videos, but for fear of scaring you off, I'm going to help you get your feet wet before we dive right in ok? OK.

The bottom line is that my husband and I want to go back to a simpler life. He was raised that way. I was not.

Remember?

City mouse meets Country mouse?

We own some acreage near our home in town.
About 10 miles out in the country, down a dirt road.

We started building on it when we first got married.

And there was a series of different events that caused us to stop building and buy a house in town instead.

I know now that it was God's way of saying " Not yet".

And so now, we revisit the options at hand and see that our heart's desires may indeed be leading us to those 17 acres once again. To raise a few cows/pigs/goats, have a big garden, chickens pecking around the yard, evening walks down the dirt road to visit neighbors who are like family, bonfires on the "back 40".

I worry though if it's the right choice or not, it seems so obvious..... and yet, unsure.

In times like this, I know who I need to turn to.

He knows.

He always does.

He will lead us.

¹ The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
² He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
³ he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
⁴ Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,^[a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

Psalm 23

I'm linking up with Beautifully Rooted today.

I'm looking towards The Savior, finding out His plan for us.

Found on Wednesday

Earlier this week I was putting the dishes away.

I opened up the mug cabinet and the first thing I noticed was these two, extremely large"His and Hers" mugs neslted together. They were wedding gifts.

I always keep them together like this in the mug cabinet. They keep each other company amongst all the other mugs.

I have to be honest, it melted my heart a little.

I try to serve our coffee in these mugs at least once over the weekend. The weekends are all we have together you know, his job keeps him away during the week. He has great benefits, and vacation time and a nice dental plan and good pay. He is definitely the bread winner in our family. But it keeps him away from me 4 nights a week.

It's hard. Really hard.

But God is good. And HE has provided me with this hard working man that I sometimes take for granted. This man that I had prayed for before I even knew him, or wha a real marriage looks like and feels like. Before I knew what kind of wife I would be (still figuring that out FYI).

Proverbs 18:22         

He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.

God had all that under control.

And it constantly reminds me of HIS awesomeness.

That he put our two lives together from far distances, different backgrounds, crazy families and made it whole.

HE brought us together.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7     

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Linking up with Beautifully Rooted today.

Where have you Found Him lately?

Found

 It's Wednesday and sure enough I'm linking up with Heather and the Beautifully Rooted crew for our Found challenge. God is everywhere. And while on vacation with the hubby this past weekend we saw this church while driving out of town.

    The red doors drew me in.  And I wonder who else they have drawn in? A lot of churches are very mute and bland, maybe thinking that the less flashy the more they will show God's love. And maybe for them that works. But I started thinking about how those poor bugs are drawn to the bug zapper's bright light. It litterally draws them in to their death. A little morbid, but stick with me here. What if a church was decorated and painted  so it caught the attention of everyone walking/driving by it? Would people want to find out what's going on in there?I would. “The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.” Proverbs 16:9  Happy Wednesday.Where have you Found Him lately?   

Found

For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:6 NLT

Happy Wednesday!

You must go check out Beautifully Rooted. Really.
It is real and unfiltered ( in a good way!). Women are laying it out and sharing God's love there.


 

Found @ The Mercy Mall

This past Saturday, the hubby and I had the opportunity to serve at our church's Mercy Mall.

Basically it's a pumped up food pantry. It has clothes, shoes, toiletries, kitchen goods, lots of food, some baby supplies and lots more. It's mainly on donations, but the church does purchase some things they know are needed.
It's a place for people in the community who are struggling or going thru a rough time to come in and get what they need.

While we were there, someone dropped off several bags of donations.

Our church is also on the list to send people if there home or belongings have been destroyed by a fire or tornado, etc. Because when you have nothing, a place like this is a true beacon of light.
It's an intimidating experience for some to come to a place like this. Because they might feel like they have failed or pride gets in the way. These are tough times for people. Lots of people.
This wasn't like going to the downtown of a metropolitan area and handing out brown bag lunches to the homeless. This was serving people in this town. The town we live and work in.

Brand New Church knows people.
When I say that I mean they know how to love people. They know how people hurt and when they are down and out they need to be lifted up and brought back around.
We've all been there at some point. Maybe not to the extent of needing food or clothing, but everyone needs a boost.
The Mercy Mall is a judgement free zone.

Teddy and I helped carry in all the bags and started sorting them.
A few people came in. Some of the other volunteers got their information, showed them what we had and helped them get what they need. It's such a basic concept, but it meant the world to these people.

It was a true blessing to be a part of this. And in the future we hope to help out as much as we can. Right now their busting at the seems and are building on. How awesome is that?!

This was posted near the coffee pots at church. And as I was preparing the coffee to share with other volunteers, I thought how true this needs to be in my life. I need to be serving these people, my work, my marriage as if I was serving The Lord.

Dear God,
Help me to remember your love ALWAYS. I need to focus all my energies on that. Let me find the ways to spread your love to others who need it most. Thank you for leading us to Brand New Church.






Have a great day!

Finding Him Wednesdays

There is a fairly new blog that I'm excited to share with you.
It's called Beautifully Rooted.






It was created by two Godly women, looking to bring other women of faith together. To share everything from recipes to heartaches to victories to challenges. It's AWESOME!

The founders are :

Rachel Reeves from Number 17 Cherry Tree Lane . Like the Cherry Tree Lane from Mary Poppins. Swoon.

And Heather Hamilton from Life Made Lovely . I've mentioned her before. Still loving her and her blog. You must check it out if you haven't already.









Source of pics found Here.


On Wednesdays, Heather is starting a link up called Found .

It's about finding God thru the day or week with pictures and what it means to you.


I was having one of those days.
Feeling blah. Wanting to come home to coffee, but not wanting the caffeine to keep me up to all hours of the night. Thinking I should spend time in my Bible but instead flopped on the couch to watch the last Downton Abbey of the Season. Seeing the dirty dishes and not having the want to do them ( do I talk too much about dirty dishes?). Wishing there was more money in the bank account. Feeling bad about not getting the craft room shaped up in order to actually get crafty. Guilty about not doing better with my "Get Healthy" plan. Feeling complacent in where I'm at. Wherever that may be.

And on the drive home from work, I rolled the window down and enjoyed the fresh air. It was like a shot of happiness. And when I got home and took the silly beagle out I let that fresh air fill my soul. It was so sweet.
I opened up the front door and let the sun come in.

Or maybe I let the SON come in.
And I remembered that God chose me.

For God Loves you....He chose you to be His own.
1 Thessalonians 1:4

We are not here by chance, but by God's choosing. His hand formed me and made me the person I am. He compares me to no one else, I am one of a kind. I lack nothing that His grace can't give me. He has allowed you to be here at this time in History to fulfill His special purpose for this generation.

I suddenly didn't feel as bad about not doing the dishes or getting into the craft room. Everyone needs time to replenish and renew.

Go visit Beautifully Rooted .
You will leave there feeling blessed, guaranteed.

Happy Wednesday!