If I Were a Feminist...........

I knew that would get you!
If I were a feminist I would hate abortion. It kills women (at least 1/2 of all abortions are female). It victimizes women, because it causes long-term mental and physical health issues. Lastly, it encourages the one thing feminists hate most-men using women and then allowing them to dump the "responsibility" on women. Feminists who are anti-life are not consistent in their world view.
I am not a feminist. I do believe abortion is wrong because it kills children, hurts women and men, and encourages people not to take responsibility for their actions. I just happen to believe what God says about children in Psalm 127-8-they are a blessing.


A while back I said I canned some grape juice. All of the seals popped, except the 2 I water bathed. Never again. Always water bath.
Then, i had an opportunity to can 1/2 a bushel of peaches. The big girls and I worked on those, and that gave us 10 quarts of peaches.
On Saturday, a friend sent over a box (approx. 1/2 bushel) of pears for us. We put those up, and now have 8 quarts of them.She called a little later to say she would have access to another tree come October. We'll see where we are at by then.
Not to bad for a lady with no garden, who didn't think she'd be putting any home grown food by?
We finally got some good rain here. It sure has been dry. Pastures have been burning up, and some cattlemen have already started feeding hay. It's a pity b/c beef prices have been better (for them) and now they have increased overhead. One of the most thankless and risky jobs is farming/ranching. I hope we are all as thankful as we should be, and treat those folks with some respect. Prayers would be good,too.
Nothing got done on the house last week due to commitments at church.
Everyone is doing well, progressing in school. Farmerboy is faced with some tough classes, but is working hard to persevere. I am very pleased to see him putting forth the extra effort needed.
I have added in some exercise for Lionheart and Red during the school day, just to help them manage their "wiggles". They are a lot more able to concentrate when the y have had some physical activity.
I also read on The Robinson Forum that it is helpful to have a routine of sorts to help them know when you are shifting to "school time". We have one that we use irregularly, but I am going to try to be more faithful in this area to see if it helps the littles.
I was thinking a while back that our clothing was getting a little shabby. I sort of passed it off to my vanity. 'da Dad brought it up yesterday evening while he was sorting out some clothes, so it probably is for real. Good thing city wide yard sales are coming up.

Be blessed.

Psalm 110 Proverbs1

Update on Our House and Another New "House"

Well, last weekend the men from church came to work on the exterior of the house. It was wicked hot-104 degrees with who-knows-what for a heat index.(BTW, we are this week enjoying 80's for highs and 50-60's overnight.)
They got the front almost completely sided, and part of the soffit up. The south side is just over half sided. The North and west sides were already nearly finished, they are about ready for the soffit and fascia.
A lady from church came out for a little while to help put shelf paper in the kitchen cabinets. That was all the "girl" wok available. We didn't get to finish that job b/c we spent the rest of the day running for the men and helping set up and clean up after lunch. Several ladies at church planned and provided most of lunch. This was a real blessing for us. The older girls and I usually just handle it ourselves.
Last week we were privileged to attend a very special wedding celebration. One of the young men who did so much to help us get moving on the new house got married. The lady he married is also a friend to Gypsygirl. Part of what made it so special was their dedication to a pure, God-driven courtship and marriage. We got to sit on the groom's side of the room, and it was very difficult to see where the bride was going to enter, so I just made up my mind to watch him.
The look on his face was so awesome. You could see so many emotions sweep across his face, hidden by a boyish grin. When she stepped in, he actually took a step forward and then contained himself. He was eager to take his bride to himself. As I was observing all of this, I realized that is how Jesus feels about me (us), his bride. Just as S. had waited many years and had prepared a place for R., so Jesus is longing to be united with us and has been preparing a place for us. It just made me cry. What love.
"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife,even as Christ is the head of the church:and He is the saviour of the body.Therefore,as the church is subject unto Christ,so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.Husbands love your wives,even as Christ loved the church,and gave himself for it;That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church,not having spot, or wrinkle,or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man yet hateth his own flesh;but nourisheth and cherisheth it,even as the Lord the church.For we are members of his body,of his flesh,and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery;but I speak concerning Christ and the church." Ephesians 5:22-31
It's going to be neat to watch them build their spiritual "house".
This week is fair time, so different members of the family will be involved in various activities. Farmerboy also started school. It seems to be going very well, but he sure is gone a lot b/c of the way his schedule worked out and the distance he travels. I'm glad he's so resilient, and able to try new things.
I was looking at a couple of other blogs today, and few mottoes stuck with me. "I'm going to miss this." -talking about the things that we get tired of that we'll miss when our children are grown. "For mothers the days are long, but the years are short."
Psalm 100-103 Proverbs 25

Prayer please

Well, we are going to be using someone else for the dirt work. They are planning to begin work tomorrow. Please pray for the weather to cooperate. It would be great if we could get the concrete work done this week, as well. 'da Dad is off school next week, so potentially we could get a lot done.
The folks that were going to do the dirt work ( father/son team) are both experiencing serious health problems. Please be praying for Johnny, Darren, and their families.
It has been so spring-like the last few days. The daffodils (jonquils) are all blooming. It's just gorgeous.
That's about it. Hopefully I'll have a lot to write about real soon.
God bless y'all.
1 Thessalonians 4&5 "Abide with Me"

Grateful

This morning I woke up to the sharp sound of sleet on the rooftop.When I heard that, I was so grateful for a dry, warm place to live. Thank you, Jesus!
It has been doing "something" since yesterday about 2pm. It sleeted off and on from then until sometime this morning. After that it started snowing. It still is, I think. The snow is very beautiful.The children have hot plans to go sledding tomorrow. I'm trying to decide what goodies I can whip up for them after wards. Spiced cider (apple juice) and popcorn? Maybe.
We did call mo|one|call. The phone company didn't mark the lines because they weren't sure of the address. The reason why was because they couldn't find the house :). Hmmmm......neither can I. Anyway, so, no dirt work till that's done. Besides, they may not be able/willing to do any work because of this storm. Haven't asked yet.
Still trying to figure out the foundation.
We did get a phone call from the framer. He had some suggestions and a supply list. He and 'daDad talked for a long time.
We rearranged things ,again, and now we have more room and privacy. I think we'll all appreciate it.
The public school children had today off. We did school work, as usual. It is very different living in town.I'm not sure what they (the children's friends) thought about it, but I did offer to home school them for the day :). They decided it was time to go back home;).
My parents bought me some books of Norman Rockwell prints off ebay. They surprised me with that this afternoon.
This was to replace the one that burned. Dad and I used to look at it together when I was a little girl. I can't wait to flip through them with my own children.
Scripture-Psalm 24 Song-At the Cross

Timberrrrr!

(As in the UK word for lumber.) Forgot to say on last night's post that 'da Dad was able to go (with some friends and a few of the elders) and do some serious lumber shopping last Saturday. They went to a huge building materials auction about a hundred miles away and paid about 1/3 off retail!
Thank you, Lord, for timing!
They also picked up a few doors and some very pretty transom and paladium windows. I was really excited about that ;).
Today, we did schoolwork, some reorganizing of space and things (we did this all the time in the trailer we lived in before we moved into the big house), washed and put away the laundry. No one wanted to go outside. The high today was...............18. Toasty.
Tomorrow, we hope to finish cleaning up. We'll see how the weather goes. I think it's supposed to get up to a balmy 30-something.
We found out today that a friend from high school named John, may have lung cancer. Please be prating for him, his wife, and two children.
Scripture-Romans 8 (esp. 35-9) Song-All the Way My Savior Leads Me

What's Going On

My brother and his wife had their first child on Saturday. Congratulations John and Sarah! He is a sweetie!
The concert went really well. Everyone did a great job singing and playing. It's very humbling to have people willing to do what they can to help, especially something so personal. May God richly bless those who helped.
The children started their schoolwork again today. It is a good bit modified from what they were doing, but it works. I had the older 4 write essays. Three of them wrote about the fire, so they may decide to post that on the blog. I was very impressed. We are blessed with some amazing children.
Getting back to the books is another way for life to be normal. It is a part of our routine which is necessary and still achievable.
'da Dad is hoping to get started cleaning up tomorrow. That's the first step in starting to build again.
We went to do some pricing yesterday. Sticker shock! Most of the lumber we used in the 1st house was reclaimed (and built 5-6 years ago), so we are having to readjust our thinking a bit.LOL! Nevertheless, the Lord will provide.
Scripture Luke 11-13. Song-"Blessed Assurance".
You all have a blessed night.
the mama