At the Farm Show

Fair week is in August, y'all.  Right?  Well, yes, technically, it is.  

But, this is FARM SHOW, the largest indoor agricultural fair in the USA!  

Surprisingly, it's been a long, long time since we've been there!  

We set our alarms, steeped our tea, and headed out early to (hopefully) beat the rush.

I always want to do events, thrift stores, and fairs in a thoroughly methodical fashion.  Yet, it seems we arrive and are propelled forward into finding a bathroom and a drink of water.  Before long, we are wandering... despite my best plans.

Probably some of our most favorite displays this year were in the horticultural tent.  

Unique bouquets and miniature landscaping displays caught our eyes!

The Blossoms felt that it had been so long since we went that they made lists of all the food they'd try this time. 

Mozzarella Cubes

Apple Cider Slushies

Apple Pie Pizza

Potato Donuts

Apple Cider Donuts

Deep Fried Veggies...

The list goes on and on and on.

Blossom1 was pretty proud that she made a serious dent in her list, but I think this alpaca was judging her for it.

I loved the Christmas tree display, with oodles of varieties of Christmas trees side by side in all of their unique piney glory.  

The Rugged Mountain Man loved his Smoked Beef Sandwich and the 10% off coupon for Tractor Supply.

  

This gigantic Connect Four at the wood display area was EPIC.  Blossom3 enjoyed her game with a random new friend.

And the escalators.  

"Let's recreate that scene from Elf."

We couldn't believe how deep this sheep's wool was.  

The butter sculpture had me thinking about how many slices of toast and how many batches of cookies we could have made with all that dairy goodness.  

It was memorable, but the funny thing was, the ride home was full of laughter, good theological discussions, and light-hearted banter ~ the glue of family life.  It's what makes me happiest amidst the busyness that life is lately.

Then Will I Have

Do you have all the endurance and patience you need today?  

This verse landed in my journal on a recent January morning.

"We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power 

so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. 

May you be filled with joy"

Colossians 1:11 NLT

His glorious power is what strengthens me!  Then, I have all the endurance and patience I need!  That's the very word I needed!

The book of Colossians is a treasure trove, but this tidbit really stuck with me.  

There are often mornings when, in the natural, the gauge is reading closer to E for me.  I'm tired, edging toward overwhelmed, or weary of the current character issue we are addressing.  

His glorious power is what strengthens me!  

I cling to this promise that THEN will I have all the endurance and patience I need!  

Dominique

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Sometimes a Book Just Finds You

Sometimes you find a book and sometimes a book finds you.  

Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund is a book that found me.  A friend mentioned it during Ladies Bible Study the other day when we got on the subject of going to God when we're weary.  It's based on Matthew 11:29,

"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, 

for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

Matthew 11:29, NKJV

It was a passing comment that piqued my interest and so, like any good friend, she had it in her purse for me the next time we saw each other.

This book is a deep dive into the love of God.  It's thought provoking and meaty.  It's meant to be read slowly.  I've been using it almost like a devotional, reading a few pages or a chapter each day during my time with God, looking up the Scriptures and mulling over it.

We view God's love through our own human lens, and I love how eye-opening it is to realize that God IS love.  He doesn't have an end to His love because He IS love.  When we think we are no longer lovable, He still loves.  It's heart-movingly beautiful and solidly Biblical.  

"God's love is as boundless as himself."

~Dane Ortlund

He then quotes, 

"...God's love is, as Jonathan Edwards puts it, 
'an ocean without shores or bottom.'"

Our God is so much more incredible than we can even imagine.  Though we often believe He is a loving God, it's like we have a limit to how much He can love us.  I'm challenged even moreso to let the Word fortify my thoughts and views of Him and His character.