Despite the weather, the day or the work.......

Here are a few pictures I was able to get while doing landscaping today...even though it was rainy all afternoon I was still able to capture some of these fun shots at different times of the day! I am just super grateful for God's creation... and not only that but His love He shows me through it! Praise the Lord!

  "Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding."

 Isaiah 40:28 

Welcoming..................

THE FIRST DAY OF FALL!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D......JOY!!!!! :) Wow, I just look back at this summer and think of how time has flown! But at the same time though, I see God's grace and mercy in my life in depths I had never known until now. God has been sooooo good to me and has never fallen short of ONE of His promises! I know that as we start heading towards another year full of excitement and adventure, I can fully trust my Father as He leads me by the Hand! God bless you all!!!! :)

"Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." Psalm 16:11

I am trusting, resting and assured in my Father! :)

The Reality of Farm Life...

Many times we Americans take for granted sooooo many things. Even our basic necessities are many times taken for granted such as food, shelter and clothing. This post is just a simple reality check and helps put in perspective the work, effort and blessing that is in attaining these things ! Yesterday Dad, Tom, Joey, Danny, Johny and I went to help some friends butcher chickens. Believe it or not, I really do enjoy this process compared to processing steer, deer or larger animals for food. Chickens are quick and easy especially if you have many hands! We were able to process over 60 broilers in just a couple hours. Yes, I know this is not the prettiest thing to see in the world, but I am just thankful to have the privilege to get pasture fed organic chicken!!! ;D

"He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame." Proverbs 10:5

Fall is.......SOON COMING!!!!!!!!!

Just soooo everyone knows...I thought I would tell you that fall is right around the corner!!! ;) JOY!!! I have been busy with doing landscaping projects and other odd jobs so that is pretty normal for me, that is kind of why I have not posted anything to recently. But for a new twist on things for once, I did something that I had never done before and I was reminded that fall was just right around the corner! Last week, I had the opportunity to help pick apples in someones orchard. It was 2 of my friends and I who were doing the picking and we were able to pick about 10-11 bushels of apples in approximately 1 hour!!! I enjoyed the picking process because it gave for an amazing time to talk and "taste test" from the different apple trees we picked from. These apple trees were well established and well taken care of. Plus, on top of that they were organic trees!!! :D
After finishing a hour of picking, we quickly headed off to do something with the apples that I had never seen done and that only brought the true fall spirit into reality.....we were off to a press to make....ORGANIC APPLE CIDER....JOY!!! :D This press is actually a family run business and it was really neat to see them work together to make cider out the apples we had picked. At first, we were not sure how many gallons of cider we would get from the apples since there can be different reasons for getting more juice....so we waited and watched with anticipation.
Well, just so you know we ALL were totally BLOWN out of the water by how much apple cider came from the apples....do you want to give a guess......................................................................................??????????????? Ok, I will tell you, it was about 30 gallons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my, I think that is enough for a whole army! We took it all back with us and my family was able to take some of if it and the rest went to be distributed to others. One of the nice things about apple cider is that you can freeze it, so that is the case with our family.
So, in short we had an amazing time and I learned alot! Just with thinking back on this, there is a very applicable passage of scripture that might go right along with this post, and that is Matthew 9:35-38 speaking of the harvest. "And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest." May the Lord bless you all with a burden for the lost and a heart to truly reach out sacrificially in bringing in the harvest!
(Ps. Here are some pictures, please forgive me if they are blurry because I took them on my cell phone... :( )

Back in Chi Town.... :)

Well... after posting on our families website I don't really have to much to say....lol! Other than, the moments found spending time at the feet of Jesus are some of THEE most precious moments I think I will ever find! I just am grateful that during the trip I was able to "be still and know" God! I am confident that my Father is faithful and nothing can budge me from that! It was awesome just to see God's creation and to hear His voice in the peace and quietness. Here are some quick shots I took while being there... nothing to special but I did enjoy taking them. :)

  "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." Psalm 46:10