Alpaca Christmas

I found this fresh take on an old classic, in a previous December "Alpaca Magazine" issue and thought all of you might enjoy it :]

 Alpaca Christmas by Gay Moller

Twas the night before Christmas and out on the farm

The 'pacas were dozing, no cause for alarm.

Their stocking were hung on the side of the shed

And their two legged friends were all tucked up in bed.

They smiled as they cushed and chewed on their cud,

Remembering happily rolls in the mud.

They dreamed of lush pasture and pretty spring flowers

Of leaping and pronking and eating for hours.

When up in the sky there arose such a clatter,

They sprang to their feet to see what was the matter.

The tinkle to sleigh bells the sound of deep laughter

What could it be, was it them it was after?

The moon was full and away to the north

A small speck approached; the sound billowing forth.

As it grew nearere, they saw 'twas a sleigh

Pulled by eight tiny 'pacas and loaded with hay.

With a little old driver, so lively and round

It was he who was laughing, a curious sound,

More rapid then reindeer these 'pacas they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name.

"Now Suzy! Now, Sally! Now Murty, and Locky!

On, Becky! On Geordie! On, Dougal and Rocky!

To the top of the paddock! To the top of the wall!

Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up to the housetop the 'pacas they flew,

With the sleigh full of hay, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, they heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

The 'pacas all stared, how could THOSE 'pacas fly?

And where did they come from, up there in the sky?

The hay looked quite luscious, but was it for them?

Or was some for the goat, and some for the hens?

Would all get a share or had some misbehaved?

It must be okay, Santa smiled, and then as he waved.....

He slid from the roof landing right at their feet

He spread out the hay and told them to eat.

You've been excellent 'pacas, he said with a smile

And say himself down for a rest on the stile.

You've brought lots of smiles to the two-legged team

Who feed and caress you and keep your yards clean

You've taunted and teased and kept them on their toeses

You've waggled your ears and you've whiffled your noses

You've come when they've called and sometimes you've not,

You've shivered to worry them, groaned when to hot,

You've delivered your cria when it's suited you,

You've oft made them anxious and oft made them stew.

You've brought magic and peace to their boring routines.

You've coaxed and cajoled them and given them beans.

You've done all the things that alpacas should do,

And I'm here to thank you for just being you.

He rose then and stretched, said he must carry on

His team was now rested, his twinkly eyes shown,

As he smiled at the 'pacas and wished them adieu.

And he climbed to the roof while admiring the view.....

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But they heard him exclaim, 'ere he drove out of sight,

"Happy Christmas To All,

And To ALL A Good- Night!"

The Refining Process

Last Wednesday we had our church Bible Study and one of the topics that came up had to do with the "refining process" in our lives.  Our Pastor explained the similarities between the process of gold being refined and Christians being refined....

The Gold Refining Process:

In the old days, when the gold needed to be separated from the impurities, they would put the gold into a pot filled with water and then would bring the water to a boil.  As it would boil the "dross" or impurities would rise to the surface of the pot.  The dross would be spooned away and they would continue the process of boiling the water and spooning the impurities that floated to the top until you could see your reflection in the water with no blemish.

The Christians Refining Process:

God creates a new creature when we accept His gift of salvation and repent of our sins.  However we are still human and are full of "impurities."  God brings trials and lessons into our lives that cause boiling pressure in our lives, but if we see the boiling time as part of God's plan and part of the refining process, then bit by bit the impurities will be taken away.  Our ultimate goal is to be like Christ.  To be so like Him that when people look at us, they see a reflection of Him.

I loved the allegory found in the pictures above.  We will never be perfect and while we are on earth people will never see a perfect reflection of Christ in us.  However, everyday is to be spent trying to become more and more like Jesus.  Those times where we seem to be at the end of our rope are usually the times where we learn incredible lessons such as leaning on Him rather than on ourselves.  Those boiling times can be so painful spiritually, physically, emotionally and mentally, but when we look back on those times, we can see God's hand at work refining us and as we bring those impurities before His feet, He cleanses us so that we can reflect Him better.

Andre Rieu Concert!!!!!

Hello Everyone!

God is so good! About a month ago I saw an advertisment for an Andre Rieu Concert in our area. (Andre Rieu is a the director of the Johann Strauss Orchestra.)  I checked out the orchestra and Andre at his website (Click here to view it :]) and loved what I saw.  The website had videos of the music that they play and some of the different things they do and I fell in love with it :)  How could I not?  Beautiful, classical music, ladies in ball gowns, men in tuxs and musicians playing with such joy conducted by a laughing, talented director.  What is not to love?..... The prices were a bit high for me, so I hinted to my family that if someday, if it is in the Lord's plans that I court someone, that this type of activity would put me right over the top :]]

I sent an email to a friend letting her know about the website, knowing that she, like me, would love the videos....and that was the end of it.  Or so I thought :]

A few weeks after the email my friend recieved a phone call from a mutual friend that new we were interested in the concert......She had two tickets that were 50% off if we wanted them!!!!! 

What can I say?  We were so excited!! 

The tickets were bought and we planned for a wonderful evening!


All that to say, 'That night was one of the best nights of my life!'  The beauty, music, romance, grandeur, elegance, peace & joy took my breath away.  I don't think I stopped smiling the whole evening. 
Andre kept us laughing throughout the night and yet could bring us the next moment into such a mesmorized state as we listened to the music. 

Music is truly a wonderful gift God has given us!  As the music played I was filled with such intense happiness at being there and yet at the same time overwhelmed with the splendor!

The following pictures are from the concert.  I'm sorry the quality isn't better.  The lighting wasn't that great in there and our camera is not all that fancy ;)  I think the videos turned out the best but for some reason they are not loading onto blogger!  Hopefully you will be able to get a glimpse of what we saw!

Looking in from the entrance.  We sat on the floor on the right, second to last row.  You can't see them in this picture but there were bleachers surrounding the floor.

Looking at the stage from the bleachers on the left.

This picture came out the brightes of them all!

They played the "Snow Waltz" and as they played a blanket of feathers was released and covered the audience.  The next picture will show it better :] 

It was so beautiful!

I'm going to insert a youtube video since my personal videos are not loading. 

This video shows exactly what happened :) Except obviously it was in English and the "snow" was feathers.

I have a short clip of Stephanie Detry playing this piece on my camera but this video does the whole song.  This was definitely one of my favorites!

Of course they played several waltz's.  Andre Rieu is after all, the "King of Waltz's" and during the "Blue Danube Waltz" there were people all over the room waltzing!!  Some of my other favorites were the "Skater Waltz" and "Amazing Grace" with the bagpipes!

One of the peices of music included a shower of colored balloons that I caught a great picture of!

As I said above, 'That was one of the greatest nights I have ever had.'   I hope you enjoyed the pictures and videos!   You can see even more of them at the website I mentioned above.  I especially recommend watching the "Blue Danube"  it is lovely to watch!

When you think about it, isn't it amazing how God gave man a big enough imagination to figure out how to put onto paper, musical notes that would guide people on all different types of instruments, let alone create all the different instruments that we use in todays culture.

God is so good!!

A Guest Writer: "Saying Goodbye"

I recieved an email this morning from a friend of mine and he shared with me a poem he had written.  I loved it and he said I could post in on my blog, so here it is. 

It helps to read it slowly, it has so much meaning.  This young man has some wonderful talent that God has given and I can't wait to see where God leads him!

SAYING GOOD-BYE

To sadly say Good-by, a path we all must take.

A word we would not use, a word that makes us
ache.

When death upon us lies, is thought to last
forever
.
To people we love the most,a word that always
severs.

Jesus through His love for us ,a sacrifice He
made.

And for us , sinners, was lade into the grave.

Now if we trust in Jesus, a child of God may be.

To everyone who does believe, of heaven we will
see.

Because of what Christ did, Good-Byes can now
be sweet.

Good-Bye is now a parting word, until in glory
we meet.

"Overruled: Government Invasion Of Our Parental Rights" has been released

My Mom and I just watched the movie that was released by ParentalRights.org and were pleased to see what a great docudrama they have made.  You can visit their website http://www.overruledmovie.com/ to watch it for free.  It is only 37 minutes long and truly worth it. 

As Adolph Hitler said, "He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future."  The parents have the right to raise their child.  Not the U.N., not the Government, not the State, not the Town, not the Schools.  It does not take a village to raise a child.  It takes loving parents who care about their child, who know their child best and will do what is best for them. 

Here is a re-posting of the trailer for the movie:

Parental Rights Amendment

Okay, so I know I recently posted on the parental rights issue, but it is something that the Lord is really laying on my heart.  This evening as I read another update from ParentalRights.org I was convicted again of my inactivity against this horrible treaty that could be enforced in our nation.

So, I decided that I would write two notes. One to our Congressman and one to our Senator.  After finishing those two emails.  God gave me the words to write the following letter that I am considering submitting to different newspapers.  As I finished it, I realized that putting it on my blog could be just as influential if not more-so, because you, my dear readers, are from all over the world.

　

Dear Editor,

    As a monumental, presidential election looms in our future it has caused many different issues to come to the surface. All of the issues hit close to home as they relate to our jobs, families, homes, economy, education and many other areas of our lives.

However, there is one issue that does not seem to surface to often and yet it is so critical to our continuation of freedom in the United States.

That issue is in regards to the Parental Rights Amendment. Our Founding Father's fought for the freedom of this country. That we the people would have the right to decide how we want to live, how we raise our children, how we worship our God, how we spend our money and in so many other ways. Yet those freedoms are slowly being chipped away. Over the years the government has stepped farther and farther into our private lives and has made laws that take away parts of our freedom and has instead given more control to the government.

We must not allow that to happen in regards to our parental rights. Currently, the role of raising, guiding, training and deciding what their children do, hear and see is being quickly usurped by faceless bureaucrats.

Our freedoms are slowly being taken away. Freedoms that made this nation strong and great. United families that had the liberty to raise their children in a way that they felt was best for each individual child created a country that had strong morals, strong families, and love of country.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is a treaty that, if signed, would dictate that the federal government must enter each and every persons home and decide for itself if what is going on is acceptable. The rights of the parent would be replaced by "the best interests of the child" and the people deciding what is best for those childeren are 18 people on an international committe in Switzerland. The vast majority of parents know and love their children better than anyone. Our goverment should be supporting the parents and their rights.

If signed, we would be bound to this treaty and under the direction of the whim of these 18 people who will interprert "the best interests of the child" in whatever way they see fit.

In the United States, any treaty signed and ratified by congress is considered the law of the land and trumps an other laws already in place.

The ParentalRights.org is an organization that is desperatley concerned with the future of the families in the United States. They have drafted a bill that already has sponsors and co-sponosors in the house and senate.

The Amendment is as follows:

Draft Parental Rights Amendment

For The United States Constitution

Section 1

The liberty of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children is a fundamental right.

Section 2

Neither the United States nor any state shall infringe upon this right without the demonstrating that its governmental

interest as applied to the person is of the highest order and not otherwise served.

Section 3

No treaty may be adopted nor shall any source of international law be employed to supersede,

modify, interpret, or apply to the rights guaranteed by this article.

We the people of the United States have been given inalienable rights. It is our duty and responsibility as citizens to make a stand and support those who desire our country to be a nation of liberty and freedom.

You can go to ParentalRights.org and find out more information about the treaty, the amendment, as well as additional information. You can also sign the petition if you believe that protecting parental rights is important. Please, share this information with your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers.

There are so many things you can do to help support parental rights and become involved.  Here is just a small list that I have compiled for those of you might be interested.

1. Pray - God can do anything and He wants us to come to Him in prayer.  Nothing we do can compare to what God can do. 

2. Sign the Petition - The more people who sign the petition in support of the amendment, the more people will know about it and congressman, senators and our president will know that we the people do care.

3. Read the different articles on ParentalRights.org and familiarize yourself with the pros and cons of the treaty and the amendment.  There are also lots videos that give you information as well.

4. Tell your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors and anyone else you come across about the treaty and how it would hurt this country.  Then tell them about the petition :]

5. Write to your Senators, Congressman, and let them know that you would like them to sponsor this amendment.

6. Write to your local papers or even your statewide papers and get the word out.

7. Post about it on your blog :]


Thank you for spending the time to read this whole post :]  I know it was long, but my prayer is that others will see the need and step forward and make a difference. 

May God bless you as He directs your steps.  If any of you decide to post about it on your blog, please let me know :]  I would love to know that the message is being spread!

Snow in October!

You never know with New England weather...it is so unpredictable :]  One day you can be enjoying the beautiful fall colors and the next day looking out the window at a full blown Nor'easter. 

This storm broke a record for the most snowfall in October for NE.   Obviously different places received different amounts of snow, however our count as of Sunday morning is around 17 inches!

Here are some pics that I got this morning during chores :]  Enjoy!

Looking off our deck.

The snow has yet to come off the roof on our four-season room.

Doesn't it look like something bit that chunk of snow? :]

I caught this photo before Dad started plowing.

I had wanted to take a picture of my boots to show how high the snow came up, but because I wasn't standing in them they didn't sink down as far as I had hoped they would.  Oh well, I still liked the picture :]

The sun was trying to peek out behind the clouds.

Alright, now it is time for some animal pictures.....

Cole was waiting for her breakfast when I came out the door. 

Tynedale's first look at snow.  He looked around the corner and saw me and I snapped the picture right before he bounced off. Dad was plowing by this point, so he was skittish and just wanted to stand next to his mom. 

I LOVE this picture.  He is always moving and if for some odd reason his legs aren't going his ears are.  To catch him in such a perfect stance, with no movement was fantastic!

"OVERRULED": Government Invasion of Your Parental Rights

Parental Rights is an Organization whose focus and mission is "to protect children by empowering parents through adoption of the Parental Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and by preventing U.S. ratification of the UN's Convention on the Rights of a Child (CRC):" (1)

Parental Rights has done amazing work so far and has been faithful to keep us, the people, updated on there work.  We need to be supporting them and letting them know that we are behind them.

On November 1, 2011 they will be releasing a short docudrama called "Overruled: Government Invasion of Your Parental Rights."  Please be letting your friends and family know about it and consider signing the petition which can be found on there website HERE.

Here is a trailer of the movie.

Footnotes: Part of Parental Rights Mission Statement, at parentalrights.org

180 video

"Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy." - Psalm 82:3

Last night I was directed to a movie by a friend, who, knowing my interest in politics, as well as my desire to spread the gospel, thought that I would find it interesting.   

She was right.

Ray Comfort put together a video focusing on how different people he had talked to, changed their minds about abortion after explaining to them that we as Americans are allowing a "Holocaust" to happen right in our backyards through abortion.

Although the movie is around 30 minutes long, I would hightly recommend you watching it.  It breaks my heart to think of all the abortions that go on everyday and the fact that so few people even think about what is going on. Or, for that matter, even believe abortion to be wrong.  We need to get the message out and be spreading the good news of salvation as well.  

Ray Comfort is a fantastic speaker and can think on his feet :]  Please take a few minutes to watch it.  It may change your life or you may be able to use it to change the lives of others!

Please Note:  The movie does contain images from the holocaust as well some language that although it was "bleeped", you are still aware of something being said.

"I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." ~ 2 Timothy 4:1-5

"Courageous" To Be In Theaters Tomorrow

The makers of Flywheel, Facing the Giants, and Fireproof have joined together again and made another movie!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Although this is not another movie starting with the letter "F"it looks like it will be just as powerful!  "Courageous" is a movie that I think we will all want to see!

Watch the trailer below!  It's really good!

A New Addition.... :]

A little over a week ago we had a new addition added to our alpaca family!!! The little guy was about a month over due and we were wondering if "Mom" had just gotten really fat when all of a sudden on Sunday, September 18th, at around 1:30 we had a cria (baby alpaca) born!

 

Just a half hour old!

It's a typical NE fall already and we've had some early, cool fall days. It was a little chilly on Sunday so we had to get out the hair dryer and dry him off and get him warm.  After he got used to the sound of the dryer, I think he started to enjoy it.  The warm air was putting him to sleep ;)



First Steps!

Within an hour he was actually running around the pen.  He was obviously cautious as his legs still were not very strong, but he was bouncing around the best that he could =}



Soaking up the sun!

The next day we put mom and baby outside in the pen to enjoy the day and soak up some sun.  We couldn't have asked for a nicer day for his first time outside!



Sprawsed right out =]

 By this point you're probably wondering what we've named him right????  Well, I like to go with names that have some historical background to them.  For example, one of his older brothers is named "General Hancock" (a name from the Civil War) and his other brother is named "Lafayette" after the french general who helped us during the Revolutionary War.  So....I decided to go with "Tyndale" after William Tyndale the famous Bible translator.  

His mother Dorothy is a wonderful mom and both of them are doing really well!  God is so good!

Hope you enjoyed the pics!  I'll post some more in a few weeks.






Watch your thoughts;

they become your words.

Watch your words;

they become your actions.

Watch your actions;

they become your habits;

Watch your habits;

they become your character.

Watch your character;

it becomes your destiny.

~Anonymous

"In My Seat": A Pilot's 9/11 Story

I viewed this video on another website (Side by Side) and immediately wanted to share it with all of you.  This movie reminded me of how precious life is and how we are living here on borrowed time.  God has a purpose for all of us and has given us the resources, talents and abilites we need to accomplish His goal for us. However, it is up to us to make the choice to follow and obey Him in order to find that purpose and live a life worth living.

This video caused me to ask myself, am I using every minute of every day to glorify God?  Do I thank God for the time He has given me to make a difference for Him?  Do I see His hand at work in all that I do, to the point that I thank Him for the things that come into my path everyday and slow me down, ie. traffic, illness, talkative people, etc.?

Please, take a few moments and watch this movie.  This man was supposed to be the pilot for the plan that crashed into the North Tower on 9/11/01. 

I just finished reading a post over at "Your Sacred Calling."  Stacy MacDonald's daughter Jessica wrote a post titled "So This Is Love" that touched an area that God has been working on lately. 

Ever since I won the book "Sacred Singleness" through the give away at the blog "Radiant Purity and True Beauty", I have been convicted daily about my desire to find fulfillment in other ways other than finding my fulfillment in Christ.  Jesus wants to be our all in all.  He wants to be our best friend and we will never be able to fill that void in our heart because it can only be filled by Jesus.  We will never find a friend, spouse, or family member that will never fail us.  Jesus is the only one that will ALWAYS listen to us, cry with us, hold us, hug us, comfort us, encourage us, helps us and strengthen us no matter what.

He is there all the time and is just waiting for us to look to Him for help.  His hand is outstretched waiting for us to take hold of it and find in Him all that we are looking for.

The post Jessica wrote talked about what God has been teaching her lately and it was exactly what He has been teaching me. 

"It’s overwhelming.  In fact, the air is thick with it. Everywhere I look, I am bombarded by illusions of “love.” It’s in the music, the movies, the marketing—it’s even in the food. I see young people who are attracted to one another merely for their looks, or for the ego boost they get from all the attention they receive (isn’t that what flirtation is all about?).
I see it in movies where the beautiful girl falls instantly in love with the Brad Pitt look-alike. The fact that he’s a “bad boy” who she needs to make “good” only adds power and romance to the story. Or what about the song where the man croons over the girl he saw for only a moment? Without any knowledge of her character, he knows instantly that she is the one for him! The fact that he doesn’t even know her name is supposed to be proof of some “magical spark” and convince us of his deep and profound love. Easy come, easy go.
Though stories like these might appeal to our sense of romance (or maybe an amused eye roll), we need to recognize that we are being wooed by a superficial, self-focused, unrealistic, and empty view of “love.” In fact, sometimes I feel like I’m being indoctrinated by an evil fake—by a false definition of love....." Read More

This post was such and encouragement to me and I pray it will be to you as well.

"As We Read Your Holy Word"

Every morning as I start my devotions I ask God to open my eyes to new truths in His word and that His Holy Spirit would give me understanding as I read.  The past few mornings the song "As We Read Your Holy Word" has been going through my mind as I pray and I have used it several times. 

I heard this song for the first time last Christmas, on the CD  "A Quiet Heart," that my Mom had received as a gift.  I'm not sure how well known it is, so I thought I would share it with all of you.  I hope you find it a blessing!

As We Read Your Holy Word

by

Fred & Ruth Coleman

As I read Your Holy Word,

Help me see, Lord, help me learn.

Holy Spirit, from its pages lead the way.

Come and melt my stubborn will;

Make my heart and soul be still.

As I read Your Word, may I heed it and obey.

Like the first rays of morning light,

It will pierce my darkest night:

Showing sins of doubt and fear within my heart,

Showing self-confidence and pride,

The rebel thoughts that plague my mind.

Then it brings cleansing hope that quiets my heart.

So as we read Your Holy Word,

Help us see, Lord, help us learn.

Holy Spirit, from its pages lead the way.

Come and melt our stubborn will;

Lord, make our hearts and souls be still.

As we read Your Word, mat we heed it and obey.

Open my eyes and let me see

Glimpses of truth you have for me,

For in Your Word I find the truth that sets me free.



Kitchen Lessons at Camp :)

Where to start..... There were so many lessons... I guess lets start with the two biggest.

1. Do everything for God's glory.  I know, I have written about this in my blog as well as talked about it with those of you I know personally and yet God brought it into the light for me to refocus on while I was at camp.  You see, I have this strange problem of wanting to please others and doing a job perfectly so that when the job is inspected there will be nothing for the person inspecting to say in the negative :)
However, the young man in charge of the kitchen and dishroom is a perfectionist.  Yes, I am too, but he is REALLY particular.  Now, I don't think there is anything wrong with that, but it made me work doubly hard because I knew that he would be inspecting my work and would make me redo it if something was not done properly.  For example: I used the meat slicer to cut up deli turkey for around 250 people.  Needless to say, when I finished there was a greasy piece of equipment that needed to be cleaned.  Having never cleaned anything like it before, he showed me how to take it apart and then how to clean it.  Therefore, I wiped it all down with soap and sanitizer looking for anything that I may have missed.  When the Head Cook came to inspect my work he was pleased but showed a few places that I had missed.  Since it was my first time, they were areas that I wouldn't have even thought to look at or check.  I cleaned those spots and moved onto the next job. 

However as I worked on other jobs in the kitchen like arranging food on a plate, cleaning and wiping down a mixer, scrambling eggs, cooking french toast, making muffins and so much more I thought about how I was to be doing everything for God's glory.  There I was, striving for perfection so that the Head Cook wouldn't find anything wrong with what I was doing and yet every job I do no matter what, should be done with that same amount of energy and perfection.  God is watching everything I do and all that I do is to glorify Him.  The jobs the Head Cook had me doing were to be done so that if someone checked them they would glorify God.  If God was going to come and inspect the job I was doing would I be leaving a drip of batter on the muffin pans? What about if He was going to inspect the counter space I had been working at?  If it was you and He was going to inspect your counter space, wouldn't you pick up every object of the counter and make sure it was in its proper place and clean?  No crumbs from the last bread job or smears from a dirty rag.  I know I would want it to look perfect for my King.   

2. Smiles mean the world to people. God gave us mouths to smile with because He knew how encouraging just a slight movement of the lips turned upward would make someone's heart glad.  He gave us eyes that twinkle with mischeviousness or sparkle with excitement.  I've always believed that a genuine smile comes from a heart that is filled with joy and is expressed through both the eyes and mouth.

To be honest, I was excited to be at camp, but also very nervous and feeling like an outsider.  I knew many of the people there, but camp had already been running for 5 weeks and everyone was comfortable with who did what and how to do it.  I was the "newbie" walking in with no experience.  I had met the Head Cook once before when he asked me to come and train, but otherwise there was only a waitress from our church that I new well and then a cook that I had been friends with several years ago but hadn't seen in years.

Although I like to meet new people, I tend to be on the quiet side. Allright, I admit, I'm what you would call shy.  Not so much one-on-one with someone but with a group of three or more people I don't know well, I tend to become very quiet.  This was going to be a challenge which I knew God would help me through.....

And He did, by sending me smiles.  Don't they always make you feel better?  There were several people in the kitchen that made me feel at ease as soon as I met them simply by smiling across the room.  Others were not as friendly, but as the week progressed they became friendlier and I think a huge part of it was God at work in their hearts, as well as the smiles that I kept sending their way telling them that I wanted to be their friend.

So, the lesson?  If smiles mean so much to me, then they probably mean a lot to others as well and should be used more often :)  Sometimes it can be hard and other times not so hard, but as Christians we always have something to smile about......our salvation.  No matter what, we should have a joy in our heart that radiates through our body language, our words and our actions.  A smile is a great way to start expressing that joy and thanksgiving for everything God has done for us!

There were many others but these two were the biggest that God showed me while working in the kithen.  He gave me several blessings in between and during the lessons that were great as well!  For example, I gained some new friends and renewed some old friendships.  I learned some interesting hidden talents people had that had all the kitchen staff holding their sides while we laughed and I was able to sing without feeling self-consious because everyone else was as well. ;-0 !!!    (Where there are homeschool girls gathered together, musicals are bound to come up in the conversation - and therefore singing -  and if we all grew up listening to the same music - Soundforth, The Wilds, Steve Pettit, etc., well you can imagine the menagerie of music that was sung throughout the week :]

God has used the Wilds as a wonderful ministry and blessing both to those on staff as well as those visiting and I am so thankful for the opportunity God has given my sister and I to be a part of it!


I hope this post was an encouragement to you! 

Thanks for reading :}

Camp Lesson Part 2

Here is the continuation of my notes for the week at camp.  I hope you all enjoy them!

night 4:

The fourth night he brought us to Isaiah 6.  Do we realize who God is and how great He is? That was the main focus of his message.  If we realized who God is like Isaiah did when he said the words,
"Woe is me! for I am undone: because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King the Lord of hosts.", we would live our lives so differently.  No one or thing is like our God and Isaiah saw God's glory and was overcome.  Can you imagine seeing what Isaiah saw?

"v. 1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 
v. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain* he covered his face and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 
v.3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 
v.4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried and the house was filled with smoke."

 Are we overcome with God's greatness, power, glory, holiness, righteousness, perfectness & justness like Isaiah was?  Or do we forget and get caught up in our own little worlds forgetting about Him in our own lives.  He is our Creator and Savior.  We should never forget who He is and what He has done for us for one second of our lives.  Everything we say, do and think should be for His glory.  Our time here is so short.  What will we do with the time we have here on earth to serve Him?

night 5:
The last night he spoke out of a passage in 1 Timothy.  The fifth night was spent explaining that although we were all on a spiritual high from being at camp all week, spiritual growth and godliness does not happen because we are in a "zone"(a Christian environment).  The kids have Chapel, God & I Time, God & I Time follow up and an evening service everday, as well as being surrounded by Christian friends, counselors and staff that want them to grow in there relationship with Christ.  Mark wanted the kids to understand that to have spiritual growth and to encourage godliness in their lives, it would take discipline and work to accomplish.  At camp, many things that distract us from God are taken away. For example, no phones, computers, music or movies are allowed on the camp.  Mark wanted the kids to see that that they needed to find the "weights" in their lives. - Things that were holding them back from spending the time they need to spend with God. Things that are ultimately meaningless.

Mark's definition of becoming godly was: to exercise or work to be more like God.  It doesn't just happen, we have to work at it. How much time do we spend working on our relationship with God?

Gym in the greek is where we get our english words, gymnasium, gymnastics, etc.  In gyms we work out and strive for perfection in whatever it is that we are there to do.

Are we staying in the "spiritual gym?"  Are we working hard and striving for perfection in our relationship with God?

As we all know, any serious athlete is disciplined.  Are we serious about godliness? Are we disciplined when it comes to "working out" in the spiritual things? Do we make it a priority to be godly?

1 Timothy 4:12 is a self test that we can take to see how godly we are.

"Let no man despise thy youth ; but be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, and in purity."

Our godliness needs to be shown in our word(speech), conversation(life), charity(love), spirit(faith), and in purity.  We need to live so others can see Christ in us at all times, not matter the situation.  - This was a reminder to me, that I need to wake up every day asking myself who am I living for and what will I do for Him?

Everywhere we go we are leaving an impression.  What kind of impression are we making?  Our words should be backed up by our actions.  If we are truly God-focused then our actions will show it.

When we are struggling in any area, we need to immediately go to the gym.  If an athlete is weak in any area they go and strengthen it.  If we are weak anywhere we need to go to God and ask Him to strengthen it while striving to obey and live for Him.

Where is our focus?  On God, or on ourselves?  It takes work to be godly, but well worth the effort.  We need to take the self test everyday and make sure our focus is on God and what He wants of us.


I learned a lot under the teaching of Mark Kittrell.   God used Him in the lives of the young people that were there.  It was a week filled with many blessings and all the staff could see God's hand at work!

Well, those were my notes from the week in condensed form :]  In my next post I want to share with you some of the personal lessons I learned in the kitchen :]  It was truly a stretching time in my life, but I loved it all!

Camp Lessons Part 1

Hello Everyone!  I'm back from an amazing week of training at the Wilds!  There was so much to learn in such a small space of time, but God used the time He gave me in amazing ways!

Mark Kittrell was the speaker for the week and he had some very convicting sermons that I thought I would share with you first thing.

night 1:
The first night he spoke from Psalm 10.  His message was about how dangerous it is to live like God is not watching and that our actions, words and thoughts display what course we are pursuing. -  A God filled and centered life or a self-centered, world focused life.

His four points in the sermon were:
1. God is watching us and He catches it all; our motives, thoughts, words and actions. To live as if He isn't watching is so incredibly dangerous.
2. God is stronger than us.  If we think that God can do nothing to us we had better watch out.  Our sin does have a consequence and God knows how to humble us.  He is All Powerful.
3. God is King.  We can be a willing subject now or a forced servant later. Either way we will bow the knee on the day of judgement.
4. God will vindicate those who have been persecuted.  We do not want to face God's wrath.

The first service of the week was supposed to really catch the kids attention and make them think about why they were there at camp. 

At first I felt this message was more for those people who literally stand there with their arms crossed thinking, "You can't tell me what to do...I want to live the way I want to with no interference from ANYONE- especially God." However, as I listened to Mark speak, I realized that even though I am not actively trying to stand against God and live my own way, when I sin I make that decision to rebell and stand against Him.  God sees all my motives and thoughts even when others don't.  I may be rebelling inside and no one outside would ever know, but God knows and I need to see my sin as the rebellion it is.  All sin is equal in God's eyes and my sin of fustration or anger is just as bad as the sins of  murder or stealing.

night 2:
The second night he preached on some verses in 2 Chronicles 14 &16.  He talked about how "The eye's of the Lord run to and fro" and that they are looking for a heart that is perfect toward Him.....a perfect heart.... 

He moved to different passages and I couldn't write them all down, however he ended up using Asa, the King of Judah, as the example of a man whose heart was fixed on God during a specific time in his life.  Asa's first battle was the "Battle of Numbers."  He was outnumbered and knew that there was no way he was going to win the battle through man's own strength. His heart was pointed in the right direction though, and he called out to God even though the odds were against him.  He knew who was ulitmately in control and who he should go to.

2 Chronicles 14:8-11 "Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah, equipped with large shields and with spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin, armed with small shields and with bows.  All these were brave fighting men.
Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with a vast army and three hundred chariots,....Asa went out to meet him,...Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said, 'Lord there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty.  Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army.  O Lord you are our God; do not let man prevail against you."

Asa was definitley in the minority when it came to that battle and yet he was willing to follow God's leading into battle even with odds against him.  His heart was fixed on God.  God's eyes found a heart that was perfect toward him.

The point of this message was to ask ourselves several questions.
Are our hearts fixed on Christ? If not, where are they pointed and where should they be?
Are we willing to be in the minority when we decide to be different for Christ?
Do I care more about what my friends & family think of me then what God thinks of me?

night 3:
Wednesday night the service was directly after dinner, so when the kitchen staff finished we moved immediatly into the service. I hadn't noticed how short the time would be between cleaning up after dinner and then entering the service, so I had forgotten to bring my Bible and notebook....I wasn't able to take notes and therefore can not remember what it was about. :[  Sorry about that..


Well, this was the first part of my notes from Mark Kittrell's messages.

May God Bless You All!  Praying that God will use these notes to encourage you in your walk with Him.

Posting....

Hello All!

I just wanted to let you know that yes, I'm still here, but I will not be posting anything this week or next week.  Lots of things going on around here and I'm trying to spend less time on the computer :}

I would covet your prayers though.  Next week I'll be working at the Wilds of New England.  A Christian Camp in New Hampshire.  I will be learning how everything is run in the kitchen during summer camp so that come this fall, I'll be able to help with the fall camps!  I'm so excited but nervous as well. It will be a huge learning curve for me :]

Last year my sister was able to waitress for the men's retreat and then we both were waitresses for the ladies retreat.  This year I'll be working in the kitchen as a cook while my sister will be waitressing for 8 of the 9 retreats!  We are so excited about this opportunity to serve at the camp!

If any of you are interested in the camps this summer or fall you can visit the website here.  They have some great speakers lined up and we are looking forward to seeing God's hand at work in the lives of those who come! 

Hope you are all doing well and enjoying your summer!

America the Beautiful



One of the views from the Summit of Pikes Peak

 "I will meditate on the glorious splenor of Your majesty." ~ Psalm 145:5

The hymn "America the Beautiful" was written by Katherine Lee Bates after she climbed to the top of Pikes Peak, Colorado, in 1983.  She said, "All the wonder of America seemed displayed there, with the sea-like expanse."  She was overwhelmed by the sights of vast, open skies, planted fields, and the majestic Rocky Mountains. These were what inspired her to write the following poem.

America the Beautiful



O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain,

For purple mountains majesties above the fruited plain!

America! America! God shed His grace on thee,

And Crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet whose stern impassion'd stress

A thouroughfare for freedom beat across the wilderness.

America! America! God mend thine every flaw,

Confirm thy soul in self-control, thy liberty thy law.

O beautiful for heroes prov'd in liberating strife,

Who more than self their country loved, and mercy more than life.

America! America! May God thy gold refine



Pikes Peak



Till all success be nobleness, and ev'ry gain divine.

O beautiful for patriot dream that sees beyond the years

Thine alabaster cities gleam undimmed by human tears.

America! America! God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.

Thank You, Father, for the beauty of this land You have blessed us with.  May we do all we can to protect the beauty of America as well as the freedom we enjoy.

"A faithful man will abound with blessings" ~Proverbs 28:20

Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

I was visiting the Ellerslie website and saw that they had a few short films for people to view.  As soon as I finished watching this film I knew I wanted to share it with all of you!

May we always remember how much we owe Him and never be ashamed, but thankful for what He has done for us and proud to be sons and daughters of the King of kings and Lord of lords!

We are truly blessed to be chosen to be part of His family.  What will we do with that gift?

Waiting....

 

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried:

Quietly patiently, lovingly, God replied.

I plead and I wept for a clue to my fate

And the Master so gently said,

“Child, you must wait.”

“Wait? You say, wait!” my indignant reply,

“Lord I need answers, I need to know why!

Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heart?

By faith, I have asked, and I’m claiming Your Word.”

My future and all to which I can relate

Hangs in the balance, and YOU tell me WAIT?

I need a “Yes” or a go-ahead sign,

Or even a “No” to which I can resign.

And Lord, You promises that if we believe

We need but to ask, and we shall receive.

And Lord, I’ve been asking, and this is my cry:

“I’m weary of asking! I need a reply!”

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,

As my Master replied once again, “You must wait.”

So I slumped in my chair defeated and taught

And grumbled to God, “So, I’m waiting …for what?”

He seemed, then, to kneel,

And His eyes wept with mine,

And tenderly said, “I could give you a sign.

I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.

I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.

All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.

You would have what you want-

But you wouldn’t know Me.

You’d not know the depth of My love for each saint;

You’d not know the power I give to the faint

You’d not learn to see though the clouds of despair;

You’d not learn to trust just by knowing I’m there;

You’d not know the joy of resting in Me;

When darkness and silence were all you could see.

You’d never experience that fullness of love

As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove;

You’d know that I give and I save, for a start,

But you’d not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

The glow of My comfort late into the night,

The faith that I give when you walk without sight,

The depth that’s beyond getting just what you asked

Of an infinite God, who makes what you have last.

You’d never know, should your pain quickly flee,

What it means that, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”

Yes, your dreams for your loved one

Overnight would come true,

But, Oh, the Loss! If I lost what I’m doing in you!

So, be silent, My child, and in time you will see

That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.

And though oft’ may My answers seem terribly late,

My most precious answer of all is still, “wait.”

Author Unknown

 

I read this on a fellow bloggers blog (http://theprovidenceofgod.blogspot.com/) and it spoke to my heart.  God is teaching me the lesson of patience and to wait on Him for direction and guidance.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did :]

 

God Bless!