"A little hard work never hurt anyone..."

Yesterday we (Dad, Mom, Trissy, and me) all went to Archer's family's place to help them put the roof on the house they are building. Archer's dad is a great thinker - he's also a Christian, a husband, and a father. All those things come together to make him take the action he does. With the goal of being more self-sufficient, and more private, they're living on a piece of land out in the "boonies" you might say, building a homestead using their own hands, research, and alot of prayer. Bro. S. wants more for his family than the modern 'norm', and takes this mission very seriously. Instead of a TV, they have a trampoline the wole family uses together. Instead of trips to Disney World, they take their kyacks {not sure if I spelled that right} out on their lakes or float the creek. Instead of lots of 'things' to keep the kids busy, they raise produce and animals for entertainment, education, and personal use. And instead of building a small mansion on this beautiful land, they are building a modest, economical farmhouse-style home. Dad really likes to talk with Bro. S. ; his way of thinking is so refreshing and, sadly, so scarce in this age we live in. The family of six is living in a barn already on the property, and a little old camper trailer, until the house is finished.
Anyway, so like I said, the better part of our Saturday was spent baking in the sun, melting from humidity, and helping these dear friends try to knock out the roofing job in one day. It was hot, it was humid, but it was also very rewarding. Archer and Law's two younger sisters gave Trissy and me the grand tour of their farm (Mrs. S. showed Mom around), in between lifting sheets of metal roofing up to Bro. S., Archer, Law, and Dad, and moving scafolding and sheet metal around to different positions. Bro. S.'s mother was also there visiting - a really neat lady, very spry, very likeable, and a master gardener. We helped pick peas and lima beans while she told us interesting facts about plants and bird feeders. After picking, we, along with Mom, Mrs. S., and the three dogs, ;) sat under a tree and shelled as long as the men didn't need water, recharged batteries for their drills, or more sheet metal. That was really fun!

A couple of pictures from the day (click on them to view them larger):

This is where we were shelling. The two younger sisters, Bro. S.'s mother, Trissy, Mrs. S., and Louis the dog ;)

I Heart Lima Beans! ;D

The men on the roof while we were shelling. Sorry the last picture is off-center. Dad, Bro. S., Archer (behind Bro. S., sitting on the roof to tye his shoe), and Law. Law is getting a little head start on the break they were fixing to take ;) .

Law is a very interesting person - guess it runs in the family; Archer is pretty quirky himself :) . This is kindof a side note, but I didn't record it when it happened (I think it was the same Wednesday night service I told about here) and I'd like to remember it:

Law used to not play his guitar much with the group upstairs on Wednesday night because, for one thing, Japan was the 'regular', and for another, he wasn't old enough yet to be in that class. But then Japan left, so Law started filling in more. He's almost as good as Archer. Anyway, after we finished one song and the 'musicians' were getting ready to move to the next, one of the young people (I don't remember who, but it was one of Law's friends) called out, "Go Law!" kindof teasing him, but as a compliment at the same time.
Law looked up, looked them square in the eye across the room, and in front of everyone, stated emphatically, "This is for Jesus!"
He has a funny accent 'cause they didn't grow up in the south, and that, coupled with the fervor with which he spoke (Law isn't one to get riled easily), made me just want to laugh! But I was so proud of him! If he will keep that spirit of the Lord first always, he will grow up to be a great man. God help our young people! May He raise up this generation to accomplish GREAT things for Him!

Sparrows that fall...

Sometimes I wonder, is it okay to pray for animals?
For the past couple of weeks or so, I've been putting my little crippled chicken out in the yard for a few hours, to give him/it more outside air (he's been staying in a box in our garage), and I've also hoped that the grass would provide a little stability for him to learn to walk in. I put a plastic basket with large holes over him, so that he can still see out and feel the breezes, but we won't accidentally step on him (plus it prevents cruelty from the other chickens roaming the yard).
Well, today I put him out as usual. I check on him periodically, to give him water, make sure he's not in the sun (HOT), and just make sure everything's ok. I went out today after he'd been out a while, and he was just laying sortof listless in the grass. I picked him up, and saw he was covered in ants! Now, down here in the South (maybe in the north too, I don't know), we have a particular kind of ant that's very small, but when it bites you, it is very painful. They're called "fire ants". And that is what was attacking my little bird. They had never bothered him before! Mom said that it was probably since we have not had much rain for the past few days. I ran over to the eaves of the house where Dad has some five-gallon buckets to collect run-off, and sunk him up to his neck in the warm water, trying to wash the ants off. He hardly protested at all. Trissy heard my lamentations and stuck her head out the door, and when she saw, she hurried back to the kitchen and made some vinegar-water to bathe him in when I got the ants all off. So we did that, and then put him back in his box under the fold of an old towel, 'cause they say if a person goes into shock that they should be kept warm even if it's hot already. We didn't know if he was in shock or not, but he seemed pretty done in. He perked up a tiny bit after a little while of rest and no ants. After lunch I put some Neosporin (that we keep specifically for our animals) on his bites, and I've been giving him water regularly. But when I went out just now, he seemed to have wilted a little more. He's not a very big body, to absorb the poison, and he's swollen from all the bites; I'm just wondering if, after all this time and hard work nursing him through all those other odds against him, if now he's going to up and die because I left him out to the ants!
Is it ok to pray for animals? I think, answering my own question, that yes, God sees the little sparrows that fall to the ground, so He surely doesn't mind if we care about them too! Nothing is too small to bring before the Lord - we've just got to be willing to accept His outcome.
Surely the Lord's got a lesson for me out of this one too.

Chick Cage

Today Dad gave up a large portion of his day to help me make a sort of cage for my little crippled chick. Trissy and I hope to go to Youth Camp in the northern part of the state in a couple of weeks, and I know Dad and Mom can't give my chick the kind of attention I have been, feeding and watering it every few hours, so I devised a way to (hopefully) accomplish several several things at once. 1 - Dad and Mom won't have to take such detailed care of him while I'm gone, 2 - He will be learning to take care of himself, 3 - I won't be 'worrying' about him as much.
The 'cage' is just a wooden rectangle frame, that I plan to cover with chicken wire, except on the bottom. He can then be put out in the chicken yard, feed scattered around him, a little waterer set in the center, the 'cage' set over the whole deal, and voila! the big chickens are kept away, clean-up is minimal, and he will be forced to scoot around to get the feed and water for himself, thus making him more independent, and me freer.

*Be sure to check this post again later - I've got to go now, but I hope to post a picture of the cage frame (I haven't gotten a chance to put the wire on yet), and an update on VBS!*

Ttyl!

What's Been Happening...

Hello! Just thought I'd try to fill you in a little on what's happening with me! :)

Well, last Thursday morning, my four-member family left on a two-day-one-night camping trip - something we haven't done in AGES! We had an extremely enjoyable time, sitting and reading, swimming, hiking, playing UNO, and just visiting, knowing there was nothing 'pressing' that was demanding our time, and nowhere we had to go. We took our new tent (we've only slept in it twice before, and both of those times were in our backyard, which doesn't count ;) ), and Dad made hamburgers and hotdogs on the little grill provided at the camp site (yea, I know, we cheated) and we roasted marshmallows over a campfire. All in all, we really enjoyed the two days.

Next week (beginning Monday) is Vacation Bible School at church, and Trissy and I have been over there every day this week (except today) helping Lindy and her mom decorate Oliver's classroom. Yes, Oliver is one of the teachers - he's got the kindergarten age group. He's had to work most of the week though, and couldn't work on the room himself, so he was really grateful for the help. We've had alot of fun, but we're about ready for it to be finished! We are really praying for the Lord to get glory out of this VBS. We've been praying for the kids that will attend, and even for adults that might be affected as well.

I made tacos for lunch today, and they turned out pretty good, even if I do say so myself ;). I'm not much of a cook, so that's always 'iffy' - how the meal will turn out, that is. :)

I'm supposed to start a summer class Monday. It's online though, so that is a REAL blessing! I won't have to drive to the college that way, and I might still have a chance at some of the summer trips going on around here. There is a camp in June (I might have mentioned it before) run by some people who go way back with my folks. They used to be missionaries together, and now some of the kids are great friends with Trissy and me. I am so praying I can go to that camp! The Bible teaching is so good, and it's a great challenge - plus I get to see friends (family, almost) who I only get to fellowship with once or twice a year.
Speaking of these friends-who-are-almost-like-family, one of these friends' mother is expecting a baby any day now. Her parents have been wanting more children for years now (she has two sisters), and they've lost about five. This one was supposed to come Tuesday, and she promised to send me a postcard as soon as he got here. I should have gotten it by now, and I'm getting afraid something went wrong. Please pray for this!

Well, I've got to run - So long for now! :)

Catch Up...

Ok, yeah, I know I haven't posted in a LONG time, but you have to understand that I can't spend all my time on the computer ;)! Anyway, with finals in school, and finishing that up, then trying to get at least somewhat caught up on my 'other' life, I just have not had the opportunity to blog for several weeks, as I'm sure you've noticed (my visitor counter tells me you have been faithfully visiting - I'm sorry I haven't had anything fresh for you in so long!). I don't think I've even looked at another blog in about four weeks or so, except for just a short, unsatisfactory glance. So I appologize for the lack of comments on the blogs I usually follow regularly - I hope to do some back-reading, to try to catch up on what's been going on with y'all during my month-long 'blog silence'.



So, what's been going on with me lately? Well, (in a nutshell) of course besides finishing up school, I've been doing alot of picking-up-clutter, vacuuming, yard/garden work, feeding animals, doing dishes, and just in general trying to catch up on all my chores that have been, out of necessity, sadly neglected and/or left on Trissy's and Mom's shoulders while I scrambled with finals and end-of-semester assignments. I've also had the privalege of starting a book (for pleasure, this time - not a textbook!), spending evenings with Dad, Mom, Trissy, and my grandparents instead of studying, being outside, putting in a couple of extra days at work (saving for a camera), being available when my family needed an extra hand with something, planning a baby quilt for a friend, getting in bed before 2:00 AM, and other little pleasures of ordinary, every-day existance that, I regret to say, I took slightly for granted before I aquired a second life and identity called, 'college student'.



So that's it in a nutshell. I'll try to begin posting again in more detail as I get the chance.



I never filled y'all in on the chicks we were supposed to have hatch. Well, out of the dozen-and-a-half, only seven broke the shell. Of those, five actually hatched. And one of those is crippled. But he/it has certainly taught me lessons on patience, perseverance, compassion, responsibility, and determination. It flaps it's wings and kicks with one leg and scoots on it's stomach instead of walking, but it is slowly learning how to get around. The other four are big enough that they are already out in the chicken pen with the big chickens, but this little guy is still up here at the house in a cardboard box, and I feed and water it every couple of hours or so. Since it has such little control over it's fine-motor mobility, I have to hold it so it can reach into the little cup of feed or water, and it pecks and drinks that way. Alot of people would/do think it's an awful lot of trouble to go to for just one crippled chick. Why not just go ahead and put it out of it's misery, and save myself alot of time and trouble as well? But here's the thing: It seems like a principle - I/we prayed that it would live, when it first hatched and it seemed like there was no way it could survive. And the Lord caused it to live and even thrive, except for it's crippledness. Also, I feel like the Lord is using it to teach me lessons in character like the list I mentioned above. He doesn't just throw us away when we're hurting does He? And a parent (at least, a Godly one) doesn't give up, when they have a hurt or handicapped child! Of course not! So, as I try to help it along, I'm praying the Lord will teach me lessons in the situation, and I'm still holding out hope that eventually the chick will become independent and I will be rewarded for all my efforts.

Well, that is all the time I have for tonight. Lord willing, I will be able to update y'all on some of the other things that have been happening to me ;) , hopfully soon, but if not, please bear with me and rest assured, I do plan to come back! :)

May the Lord work mightily in your lives! 'Til we meet again -

SOLI DEO GLORIA!

-Kyrie<><

A 'Real' Saturday

Well, today was something of a 'real' Saturday here. Used to (mainly before I started college), on Saturdays the four of us would either work on little projects we had going, read, do things together, work outside, or other sorts of 'just-for-fun' type enterprises. We haven't gotten to do that in a while, but today, we did! Dad's been working hard getting our little garden in, and today the rest of us got out there and finished it up. So except for some Sunflowers, butternut squash, and a couple of sweet potato plants we're experimenting with (two Mom bought sprouted, and we saved the slices with the sprouts, put them in water, and when they are about 9 ins. tall, we want to plant them and see how they do!), our garden is in!

We've got yellow squash, tomatoes, bell peppers, corn, potatoes, beets, radishes, turnip greens, spinach, asparagus, green beans, pumpkins, okra, and seems like something else too, but I'm not remembering it at the moment. We only have a row or two of each though, so it sounds like more than it really is :). We just wanted a little of the stuff we really like, and we also wanted to try some new things this year.

Here's how it looks now that everything's planted. The little building in the back is our chicken coop.

This is a little potato we found as we were digging to plant something else! I guess he got skipped last year when we dug them - Mom says we can eat it anyway ;)



Well, I'm going to run for now. It's been a long, fun day :) !

Wedding Trip

Well, we're back! We had a great trip and a great time! We left early Friday morning, and arrived a little past lunch time. We stopped at Uncle Billy and Aunt Bonnie's house for a while to visit and talk about what was included in what Trissy and I were supposed to do. Aunt Bonnie had made Trissy a little book with a wrist strap that had all her 'duties' as a "Bride's Assistant" in it that was so cute! Jenae (our cousin that got married) went ahead and gave me her camera, so that I could have it to take pictures at the rehearsal that night. We visited a little longer, then 'us travelers' went over to the hotel and, after getting settled, we just "crashed" for about an hour before getting ready and going to the church for the rehearsal. The naps felt great, and we were glad later that we'd taken time to rest!
A little bit about the people 'behind the scenes': The C. family have been good friends with Uncle Billy and Aunt Edna for years. They have eight kids, 4 and 4, and are hoping to start a family business 'doing' weddings - the older boys are into video and photography, the girls cook, sew, and decorate, and the parents oversee and make sure everything runs smoothly. So they wanted to do Jenae's wedding at no charge! Uncle Billy is legally blind, and they really didn't have enough money for a traditional wedding, even a small one. They told Jenae they could buy her dress, and that was pretty much all they could afford. Then the C. family, and an army of other kind friends and church members stepped in, and literally did everything else! Jenae is an only child, and her best friend is an only girl and they consider themselves 'sisters'. She is already married and has three kids (I think it's three), and they are pretty well off. She and her husband love Jenae to death, and went all out giving her showers and paying for a majority of the expenses to give Jenae a beautiful wedding!

Anyway, so at the rehearsal, Trissy and I got to be friends with the two oldest C. girls. They are so sweet and truly seem like "ladies". We sat together at the rehearsal dinner, and became fast friends!

Jenae's husband, Dane, is a wonderful Godly man, and also comes from a large family. He is the next to oldest, under the only girl, Cavanna. He has five younger brothers who are evidently prone to pranks :) - Jenae was a little worried that they would mess up the house as a joke (instead of the car), but said that Cavanna's husband Ian (she and one of the other brothers are married already) promised he would hold them back. I really liked Ian and Cavanna. They have three kids and have been married for several years, and seem like such wise, Godly people. It was cute to watch them during the wedding, 'cause Ian was a groomsman and Cavanna was a bridesmaid, and they kept smiling at each other across the stage at different parts during the ceremony :).
This is totally random, but I wanted to mention this: A large swatch of Ian's left eyebrow was pure white. He is dark haired, and the effect was very striking. Mom said it was a birthmark of some kind. I have never seen anything like it before, but it was neat looking! Have any of you ever seen something like that?

At the rehearsal dinner, everyone was asked (if they wanted to) to share a story about the bride or groom. Several did, and many of the stories were wonderful testimonies! My grandmother told one of when Jenae was little, that they had gone into the post office together, and she was talking to the clerk. Jenae started tugging on her dress and saying, "Tell her about Jesus! Tell her about Jesus!" One of Dane's brothers shared that Dane had been the one to lead him to Christ.

After the dinner Trissy and I got to help with the clean-up! The kitchen was busy with a bunch of the church women, the C. girls, and Dane's mom and sister all bustling around, putting food away, wiping tables, and washing dishes. The atmosphere was one of cameraderie and fun though, not at all stressful, and we had a ball! They seemed to be glad for the extra hands too :) !

We got back to the hotel and fell into bed. The next morning I worked a little while on writing out my thoughts for Jenna's Joy Challenge, until breakfast, then getting ready to head over to Aunt Bonnie's to help Jenae get ready (she decided to do her hair and that sort of thing before going over to the church), and take pictures of the proccess!
Mom drove us over there, then went back to the hotel to help her parents, my grandparents, get ready to go to the church.
When Jenae was as fixed up as she was going to get before going to the church and getting dressed, Aunt Bonnie drove us over there, stayed to help Jenae into her dress, then went back to the house to help Uncle Billy get ready.

The wedding was scheduled for two in the afternoon, and for me the next few hours are a blur of running little errands, getting lost (it's a huge church building, and very easy to get lost in if the first time you were even there was the night before!), snapping pictures, sore feet (I had to wear high heels - YUK!), laughs, flowers, and a delicious ham sandwitch about 1:30!

Finally, two arrived, and I slipped into my seat beside Aunt Bonnie. Yes, I got to sit with the Mother Of The Bride! Jenae wanted me to be close so I could get pictures during the ceremony.
It was a beautiful wedding. Uncle Billy had a tremendous headache, but he was able to preach (he's a preacher and a Christian counselor), and did an excellent job! He preached on forgiveness, and explained that the reason many marriages don't last now-a-days is because one or other, or both, of the couple are simply not willing to forgive. It was so good!
He did something else that I had not seen done at a wedding before, but that I thought was a wonderful idea. He charged the wedding party, the groomsmen and bridesmaids, that they had a right - indeed, a responsibility - that if they ever saw or knew of anything that was going on in the marriage that was not right, that they, as witnesses of the marriage, were to go to the couple and lovingly confront them about whatever the issue was. I thought that was pretty neat!

There are lots of other details I could share, but for the sake of time and space, I'll refrain ;) !

I did want to mention though that instead of marching out to the traditional "da, da, da dun dun da da" song (sorry, can't remember the name :\ ), they used "Love Is Not A Fight" off of Fireproof! :D

I'll come back and finish this a little later, maybe even finish it in another post... my eyes are getting tired :) !

Bye!

Odds And Ends, And Recent Happenings

Ok, this post is just sort of random stuff that's been happening in my life lately, and I thought I'd share it...

This is just something small that happened about a week ago, that reminded me that the Lord just likes to make us smile sometimes!
I have a keychain that a friend gave me for my birthday years ago, but it is probably my most treasured possession next to my Bible. It is a sturdy little metal cross with ivy engraved on it, and the words, "With God, all things are possible." I was getting ready for bed the other night about a week ago, and thinking about some things I'd like to see happen, but that seemed almost impossible. I flipped back the covers to crawl in, and there was that keychain, in the bed! "With God, all things are possible" My mind immediately jumped... maybe it would happen! Then, almost as soon as I thought that, this verse popped into my head, "...I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. ..." Of course, this is the Apostle Paul addressing the Athenians on Mars' Hill, but the timing was just so perfect, that it made me laugh out loud! I believe the Lord truly does have a sense of humor!

I've been working on a crocheted shawl for about two weeks now, and finally finished it Sunday! It didn't quite turn out how I thought it would, but it works, and was fun to make! Here are a couple of pictures of it:

Thanks to my friend W. for "modeling"!
If you want to try it yourself, click HERE for the pattern. Just a warning though, if you want the triangle to be very deep, you've got to make the beginning chain longer. I have a friend who made one out of the same yarn as the pattern calls for (I made mine out of maroon acrylic), and hers turned out BEAUTIFUL! She even wears it to church over a black top, and it looks so elegant!

Well, in about twenty hours my grandparents, Mom, Trissy, and I will be headed on a six-hour car ride to attend the wedding of one of my cousins! Trissy is going to be the 'bride's assistant", and I'm a photographer! Not the main one (I'm not THAT good LOL), but she (the bride, our cousin) liked some of the just personal pictures I've taken at other cousin's weddings, and she wants me to be sort of a 'candid photographer'. I'm really looking forward to it! The wedding's Saturday afternoon, we'll be staying for church Sunday, and come back on Monday. I hope it's not too hectic, 'cause I have classes early Tuesday morning! Oh, well, it'll all work out. :)

This past Saturday we (Dad, Mom, Trissy and me) went to an evangelism study being started at the church. Justice and another man in the church have been 'trained' to teach the material, and it's designed to teach how to share your faith in a non-confrontational but thought-provoking and loving way. Saturday was the all-day introduction, and now classes will be every Wednesday night starting Mar. 4th. My family, Oliver, Landon, two older ladies in the church, and Ashlyn ( I haven't told about her yet, but I'll try to soon) are the ones who are taking this class. I'm hoping it'll help me share my faith in college. We'll see how it goes.

Tonight's college Bible study, and I'm (of course ;) ) looking forward to that little boost. I still haven't told about last week, and it was about the best one we've had so far, I think. It was so good. Maybe I'll get a chance to tell about it, but with the trip and everything, I may not.

One last thing I thought some of you might enjoy: Hannah Paige is having a photography contest on her blog! The theme is "Color". I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of entries she has! Click HERE to find out more, or to enter!
I'm going to accomplish two things here at once :) This is my entry in her contest, and it's also a mystery picture:




Several of my blogging friends have done mystery pictures, and they have been alot of fun, so I thought maybe I'd try one! You have until next Thursday (a week!) to guess, mainly because I probably won't have much blogging time between now and
then :[ ...

Ok, I'm at the college and class is about t0 start, so I'd better go. Maybe I can come back later today :)

In the mean time, have a wonderful day, and Keep looking Up!

-Kyrie<><