Chickens and strawberries

The girls are getting so big. I can't help but laugh at their spunk. They keep me running and they keep me laughing and they keep me praying, a lot..How do I do it all? Everyday is fresh and new and everyday I start anew. I know that the days on this farm are changing and I do what I know and I pray that He will fill in the blanks. Little AA is staying with us off and on and he is such a joy. He brings with him laughter and happiness. He is one of the most pleasant babies I have ever been around and I love him being here.  

I can't help but to show you what I'm up against. The girls are so stinking cute but these two need to be watched. They do this little tag team shuffle and keep me guessing who's going to have a bad day. I'm ready for them. They are little pistols fully loaded and it's my job to unload them...it's hard work people!
They are very close to being fully potty trained during the day which in itself is quite an accomplishment. They now stay up late with the family and watch movies and love to cook and wash dishes. They are such blessings and I love shaping them and molding them to love the Lord.

Cooper went on a walking herb class with his grandmother and they told him the benefits of the thistle plant so he decided to dissect one and try and get the milk out of it. He worked on that big brier patch for most of the day and barely got a few drops. That's the joy of homeschooling though. Time to explore and research things. One of the many reasons I love homeschooling so much.

Little sweet flower is doing well. We recently got 10 new laying hens and well, this little country girl loves to sit out there and watch all those chickens scratching around in the dirt. She jumps over the fence and sits out in their yard and just watches. In a day and age where girls hardly ever go barefoot anymore this little girl's feet are always dirty. The dark soil from her grandfather keeping her feet the color of coffee.
This girl loves her chickens. Come by sometime and she'll show you.

More than chickens she loves strawberries and the strawberries are ripe and big and beautiful this year.
She has went picking twice and she is a pro. She can fill a bucket almost as fast as Cooper but she always stops and eats a few. The red juice slowly finding it's way down her shirt.

Sometimes I feel so busy raising up 8 + 1 children and this chair calls me to come sit a spell and write about our life here on the farm but our life here is full, rich, joyful and busy so it keeps me out of this chair...

I do have some upcoming posts on child training so any specific questions you might have leave them in my inbox and I'll try to answer them!

Blessings from the Farm,
Robin

His life a light

He's been here for most of his life. His light pushing back the shadows of doubt and confusion. God said the words, "let there be light" and there was light. God said the words, "let there be an African boy named Jo" and so it was the beginning of his beautiful story. With his story comes the story of his best friend Cullen. His brother only 1 year older, these two share life together and break bread everyday and absolutely cause me to love the smell of boys and the laughter of pure friendship that I see in them.    
Jo is taller and Cullen stands on tippy-toes saying no, he's not taller.

Jo's light of braveness as he stands in a field that is not his country.

Stands with a brother who is not his color.

Stands next to me as my son and showers me with his

ability to cope and laugh and give God thanks for

saving him but in the process having to give up all he knew,

all he loved in Africa for the chance God offered. He has dealt so well

with the many changes I forget sometimes that he was never born here.

I forget sometimes that I never gave birth to him. 

His long African legs stand now in our pasture. The Lord restoring the life of this boy. The Lord smiling at Jo's strength and endurance as he grows another year older and he realizes just how much he has to be thankful for as I explain to him how near death he was. He puts a finger to his scar and runs it down the jagged edge and says "He saved me".
Yes, Jo, He saved you.
God made you and now you should always give thanks and glorify God forever. Tell your children so that they can tell their children of God's faithfulness in your life. Be a thankful person and don't look at the past as a negative, look at it as God's intervention in your life to heal you and save you.

So with those words I pray that you never ever know a day without the Lord as your Savior. I pray that thankfulness continues to be pressed on your lips.
I thank the Lord for your birthday and for His words of "Let there be a little African boy named Jo." and I'm sure He said, "he is good"..:)  

Consider

For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink: nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?.... Matthew 6-26,28 

Can you imagine listening to these words while resting on the grass and watching the gentle mountain breeze entice the wildflowers into a delicate dance on the meadow as chirping birds fly effortlessly from tree to tree? How could you help but feel the pressures of your daily troubles lift as you breathe the fresh air and hear the voice of Truth remind you to rest and trust?

Christ was saying "Come, look at God's handiwork!" and them pointing beyond the handiwork to God Himself.

"Look," Jesus told the crowds and his disciples that day. "Observe."

Another translation says "consider".

Are we paying attention to God's reality and presence in the world around us?

Are we inspired by the handiwork of our Lord and Savior?

I know I am!

Like when I look into the eyes of this little brown eyed girl named Ellie. She is precious to me. My soul delights in her. I consider how every thing about her was created and molded together by God. She is Ellie because He is God. I love that! I love that!

I consider the wonders of the Lord when friends run through your pasture, the sunlight draining from the day and landing on their faces. I recognize that the Lord put it there Himself. Sunlight, the beautiful flowers of the field. He was kind of showing out because He brought it all together and it was captured. This moment can never be relived and yet we can look back and remember.

We can remember the tall grass, the purple flowers, the sun setting and remind them that Christ made it all.
Amazing!

I see the fruit of the labors of planting our garden. The watering and weeding...The beauty of divine

work that He brings together for food for our table.

He has truly thought of everything and given us everything we need. If we do the work

without remembering Him, it's all for nothing.

Oh Lord, thank you for the magnificent gift of your creation. Your handiwork makes me stand in awe at your greatness. May I always find time to stop and point my children to all the wonderful things you have created for us and in return point them straight to you, the creator of it all.

Even our dog Boo....

Blessings from the farm,
Robin

Dance with me

The rays from the moon are twinkling and we dance under the moon beams.
I dance with all of them and I love the sounds of the night. I hear them far off..The frogs making their noise looking for that "someone special".  I smile because that sound has been a part of my life for as long as my memories take me back. The sounds of frogs and crickets. The darkness so deep yet their song so loud.
A constant reminder of God's creation and I'm so happy I have this night to share it with them. To hold their little bodies close and smell them and soak them up.

Channie bringing up a  "make a wish" flower..

"Make a wish with me mama"..

"ok, Channie"

 I wish that you would never ever forget this night and you will always remember us under the moon dancing and holding hands. I pray that you never ever forget that we share nights like this and that they're gifts from the Lord. The Lord gives us nights like these so that when we have hard nights we can look back on these beautiful moonlit nights and remember He is good.

Slow down tonight and dance under the moon with your children. Share a memory under the canopy of God's love.

Blessings from the Farm,
Robin

Genesis 1:16
And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

Gratitude

The light from the cake shining in my heart still as she blows the number 6 out and another year with this little girl has passed and the Lord has been so good.

1. Learning to read and tying shoes 
2. Learning to change diapers
3. Learning to cook
4. Learning to serve
5. Learning to hope in the Lord.. "since I turned 6 Daddy, I'm going to ride my bike without training wheels."  

Channie-Mae has had a wonderful year of health and happiness and as I become "more familiar" with this beautiful person whom the Lord has allowed me to raise up I'm amazed at His goodness..

The old saying goes, "Familiarity breeds contempt". We tend to take for granted the things that have been

a regular part of our lives.We don't live with a sense of appreciation for the lavish food, clothing, housing, and health we enjoy. We are incredibly rich but we do not live with a sense of privilege.

Yet in my life I live with the most beautiful expressions of God's love and  

I don't want to be too familiar that I forget how special she is, how special they all are.

I don't want to ever forget that it is a privilege.

 I am a mother and for the privilege of that one job I am thankful. 

1. Reading stories
2. tea parties
3. library days
4. teaching her to read
5. teaching her about the Lord
6. going swimming
7. holding hands
8. kissing her boo-boos
9. sharing my bed
10. watching movies
11. teaching her to cook
12. holding Rosie
13. smelling her hair
14. jumping on trampoline
15. braiding hair
16. ice cream

She is a sister to many and she wants more.

 He is a boy from Africa who will tell you straight up that

God saved him from a certain death.

I remind him everyday..what God has done for him.

I've taught him to live with a sense of gratitude at what the Lord has done.

He will remember that the Lord orchestrated his adoption and he should live out

his life with gratitude. 

You're looking into the eyes of the next generation and the Lord

has given me marching orders to teach it to them. The brown in their different shades always looking and I pray that I always look into their eyes and see something different..Never becoming familiar and losing my focus and my agenda.. 

Teach it to the next generation.

I remind her that when she was born the cord was wrapped around her neck two times...She was breech and they (the doctors) were going to try and manually move her and after much prayer we decided not to let them.  Later that week when she was born the Dr. said if we had done the procedure the cord would have tightened around her neck. I tell her the Lord preserved her life and how she should live with a sense of gratitude. I help them to remember what the Lord has already done in their life and to look to the future with a great sense of Hope and trust in Him.

If we don't do this our children will never feel connected or see the foot prints of the Lord in their life at an early age. Keep reminding them how faithful the Lord has been. Teach them to tell others their story of adoption, how He healed them with open heart surgery, or how the Lord saved them at birth.

Teach them to look at their life and know that the Lord has had it all mapped out from the very beginning and He's been there.  

His finger prints etched into their very core. 

That's what I tell them.

Channie-Mae, your life is mapped out by a living God who adores and delights in you.

May you, my darling, live your life in such a way that 20 years from now I can still look

upon these pictures with delight and happiness and say, "she has only grown in her Faith"..

May you always remember you were born to Glorify and Love God forever. 

March 31, 2012

love you forever,

mom