Oops, It's Me

Today in the midst of a mini-mad-tirade I caught myself muttering, "Why does he do ________?  Why doesn't he just listen to me?"  My frustration was evident over what, in the expanse of eternity, was truly a very minor thing. 

Oh so quietly the Holy Spirit whispered in my ear a recent specific instance when I had not listened to the Rugged Mountain Man.

Busted.  

I was stunned as I realized I often point the finger at him, when I'm doing the exact same thing. 

It's an easy trap to think that I'm okay and he's the one that needs to be corrected. 

This comes to mind:

How can you think of saying to your friend, 

‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ 

when you can’t see past the log in your own eye?

Matthew 7:3, NLT

May the cry of my heart continually be, "Holy Spirit, show me what needs to change in my heart!"

When Your Mom Gives You a Book...

Not long ago, Mom handed me Seated with Christ; Living Freely in a Culture of Comparison by Heather Holleman.  She excitedly shared that she'd heard Heather speak and as a result, bought a whole stack of books to share with family and friends.  That's code for:

It must be a really great message that Mom feels would touch the hearts of those she loves.

So, when your mom gives you a book, you read it.  

Even if you don't think you really struggle a whole lot with comparison.

Even if you read chapter one and it doesn't thoroughly and immediately resonate.

The thing is, I had a solid, loving upbringing.  I just didn't struggle with comparison to the degree that Heather did as she shares her heart.

However, I do know that comparison is a big problem in our culture and living for Jesus is so counter-cultural, I'm willing to devour anything that helps me swim upstream every day.  I need that in my spiritual diet. I found that the truth that set Heather free was something every Christian needs to grasp, whether or not they struggle with comparison.

So, when your mom gives you a book, you read it.

Is it surprising that Mom just knows best, because I'm so glad I kept reading! 

What a fantastically solid doctrinal book!  How encouraging it is to any believer in any stage of their walk with Christ!  Its application stretches far beyond just struggling with comparison.

What Jesus has done for us changes our outlook over everything!

"And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the Heavenly realms in Christ Jesus."

Ephesians 2:6

We are seated with Christ.  This can be likened to knights around a table, in service to the king.  When we join the family of God, we come to the table, to a seat that He made for us.  No one's worried about another person's seat.  We know our importance and value and we know we each have an important seat.  We don't have to fight for it.  We don't have to be jealous over it.  He gave it to us.  Now we can get busy doing the King's business.

Being seated with Christ is like "a declaration of who I am in the heavenly realms."

It's like knowing and living from that heart knowledge.

Friend, when we know who we are and where we stand with God, we are secure in a way that is not shaken by this life.  When we're free of thinking someone else is better or more important than our part in God's kingdom, we're more usable to Him.

Heather takes these thoughts and brings the application home in these four questions - questions that God used to deeply penetrate my heart afresh.

1. "Is knowing Jesus better than anything?"
2. "Will I live the life God asks me to?"
3. "Is there anything in my life that doesn't please God?"
4. "Am I available to be God's spokesperson?"

We must bare our heart to Him and let Him lay His finger on things that must be dealt with.

"It's because I want to continue to allow God to shape me into a woman who's more and more like Jesus."  That's why this book was so worthwhile.

Grab a copy today!  Her stories will draw you in and its rock solid message will build you up.

Dominique

All direct quotes are from Heather's book.  

Today's pics are from a jaunt in the woods with a friend of mine and a few of her brood.  It was a mere snapshot of a special day with her.  The fellowship was exquisite as we reveled in serving Jesus as mamas in this world.  The pics were as inspiring as this book was, which is why I thought they belonged together.  

And, thanks, Mom.

So THAT'S Why the Cat Has Been Howling Every Night

We have a joke here that if things go wrong on the micro farm, it almost always happens on a Sunday morning.  Did your meat bunnies get out?  Oh yes, it was probably on a Sunday.  

On this particular Sunday morning, Blossom3 went outside to feed the cat.  With frantic, ear splitting screams, she ran back inside, squealing out, "A SICK MEASLE, A SICK MEASLE!!!!!!!!"  I darted out, partially dressed for church, calmed her down and found that she thought it was a mink or weasel (she often gets them confused and settles on the term "measle") in the small shelter we keep over the cat's dish.  I squatted down eye level to the dark and dingy cat food shelter and found a snarling possum hunkered down inside.  I guess I can see a resemblance to a mink or a weasel; they're all ugly.

The Rugged Mountain Man was hastily summoned from shaving.  He threw on a pair of cargo shorts, slipped on his church shoes and grabbed the kind of pest control we keep around here.  

With a broom in hand, I helped by shooing the snarling "measle" off the porch, so he could finish it off... because nobody wants holes in their deck or siding.  Figuring he had the situation in hand, I returned inside to the awaiting Blossoms and attempted to finish dressing for church. 

Again I was summoned with urgent calls of, "Daddy says he needs you!!!!"  (The Blossoms' noses are pressed against the window; this is country girl entertainment at its finest.) Still only partially dressed for church, I darted outside, where my man told me the stinkin' possum had disappeared.  I gingerly searched the bushes until he decided it was probably under the boat. 

While still in my church clothes, I was instructed to lift the boat as he shooed it out from under, because nobody wants holes in their boat, right?  

Those stinkin' things are fast!  I shouted to him that it was now climbing a tree, so we darted to a different side of the tree, because nobody wants holes in the truck that is parked behind the tree.  

Ultimately, the Rugged Mountain Man did his rugged duty and the possum is no longer scaring poor Blossom3 out of her gourd and our cat can now eat in peace.  

We chuckled for hours over Blossom3's "sick measle" estimation of possums... that and the mental picture of half-dressed folks in mis-matched clothes and shoes, shouting and scurrying around wielding "pest control." #sundaysonthefarm

After the laughter died down, the Rugged Mountain Man and I were reflecting on how God's hand of protection was on our daughter.  She stuck her hand in to check the cat food levels.  Her hand was only 3 inches from the possum's teeth.  It was snarling and angry and yet it did not bite her.  If it had, there would have been hospital visits with rabies shots.  

We're just so, so, so thankful for His loving care in yet another adventure here in the Hollow.  

Sweet Corn

What do you do when the sweet corn is ready for picking and freezing on an "inconvenient" day?  When there's already plenty other things to be canned? 

When there's vacation wash to be done?  

When there's oodles of weeding to do?  

When there's a schoolroom to be reorganized?  

You eat your whoopie pie and handle it.

Creekside Company & Critters

It isn't deep and it isn't huge, but "our" creek is a blessing to us.  

They're always armed with goggles and floats and whatnot, even though it isn't much deeper than 24 inches.  Who am I to argue when I don't have to carry it?!  I tote my chair down there and get comfy with my feet in the water and my ears attuned to the soothing sounds of water rushing and kids happily playing.

Even "extras" like the creek!

And lately, we've enjoyed some of the fabulous critters nearby.  We named this dragonfly "Azul" for obvious reasons.  

Oh the excitement over this monstrous crawfish!!!  We haven't seen a crawfish in the creek in ages, so we took this one as a sign that our creek is getting healthier.  After a full inspection, we put him back.

When checking the creek water levels today, we found this gem.

It's a black and yellow argiope!  Honestly, we were just thrilled to be able to use our new spider field guide!  What brilliant colors!!

And on the way back, guess what the Blossoms discovered are ready?  The touch-me-nots!!!

Touch-me-nots are also known as jewelweed, the antidote to poison ivy.  Though some have argued that it might not truly be, I still rub the leaves on myself if I feel itchy in the woods.  I figure, what do I have to lose?!  

Touch-me-nots are country girl fun ~ tiny seed pods that explode when you touch them!  

I love that creeks are free entertainment AND education!

At a (different) Creek

Y'all know my thoughts on socialization.  I'd hardly call the Blossoms unsocialized, although I realize that not everyone agrees with me.  

Because we take a different road, folks question if we'll get to the right destination.

The mother of these boys is a good friend of mine.  We always have something to say to one another so we were aching for a get-together.  The thing is, we've noticed that our kids have very different interests and finding common ground has been a little bit harder for them.  They get along fine and treat each other well, but we were hoping for more.  

We put our heads together and decided to meet up at the park this time, with scooters and bikes in tow.  There was two-wheeled fun, and after lunch, we found ourselves by the creek.  That's when the real fun began.  Wading.  Shouting.  Laughing.  Waving.  Falling.  Slipping.  Grinning.  

My friend and I spent our time with our feet in the creek, laughing about our guesses of which kid would fall in first and discussing kayaking and whatever else meandered through our brains.  

The fellowship happens in the mundane, the deeply meaningful and all the meanderings in between.

Effective socialization isn't about people just hitting it off.  

Developing relationships involves working to cement a friendship, finding common ground and trying to include those that might not "click" right away.  That's so much deeper than mere "socialization."

That sounds like a true life skill to me.

We were happy to hear "I can't wait to do that again!" from both of our gangs on the way home.

Dominique

To Chart the Changes

This little corner used to be dented, dirty and cluttered; cluttered with the measurements of the girlies as they blossom through the milestones of their years.

I could barely paint over it because I'm so sentimental, but I snapped multiple close-up pictures of it and emailed them to myself for safe keeping.

After the Revere Pewter went on and was dry, I used a Sharpie and a ruler to put on the measurements.  Then, I found a font I liked and free-handed that on for the numbers.

Afterward, I added the Blossoms measurements back on with a very fine tipped Sharpie.  I love how it turned out and so does the Rugged Mountain Man!  

I frequently find Blossom3 and Blossom4 measuring themselves to see if they've grown at all and are catching up to their big sisters.  

Aren't those Chelsea Gray doors in the background drool worthy?! 

Dominique

Super School Room

We've been working our way through the main rooms of the house, room by room.  I knew this summer was the time to get the school room painted BEFORE school started. 

Here's what everything looked like before.

We still love our white boards and bulletin boards!

I started off painting the doors in the hallways around the corner Chelsea Gray.  Once again, Pinterest recommended that it was a match made in Heaven with Revere Pewter.  I'm inclined to agree.

I was ecstatic when I got the first glimpse of the Chelsea Gray with the Revere Pewter.

Revere Pewter went up on the walls after I patched all the dents and holes with drywall compound.  And there were A LOT.  This room had been flat white primer since we moved in.  You can imagine what 13+ years of kids and dogs would do to a place.

This room was by far the largest room I did, so everything took way longer than all the other rooms.

It should be noted that in the upper right hand corner of this pic is the tallest corner of the house.  I found dog hair stuck to the ceiling in this corner.  I was cracking up laughing over that.  

We were super happy to get this project finished.  "Normal" is greatly valued at our house, which is to say that we appreciate a peaceful haven-like home.

The major lesson we learned in this room is that stud finders do not work on freshly painted walls.  We were beyond frustrated trying to hang the white boards back up quickly since the children were in bed.  I've NEVER had trouble with my stud finder and replacing the batteries didn't help.  Yep, I googled it.  It's a thing!!  The next morning after the paint had a little more time to cure, we had zero problems!  

This time when we put the bulletin boards back up, I went with a navy blue fabric I dug out of my fabric stash.  #fabrichoarderjustified

This place is really coming together!

I guess you're not wondering anymore what I've been up to lately.

Dominique

Being the "Littlest"

Sometimes when you're the "littlest," you get the most interesting jobs!

I looked up this morning when I was sitting on my swing reading to see Blossom4 helping to move meat bunnies into a bigger pen!

Rather than reaching all the way to the back, Blossom4 happily crawled in and helped out!

#microfarmlife