Photo Friday and Thoughts for the Week

This is what we woke up to this morning...

It was coming down in huge sticky clumps.

The weight has crushed my outdoor chicken pen.

This tree has been shedding snow like mad, in great scary clumps banging on the roof.

Even the dog was thoroughly disgusted, picking his way out to do his business.

 We also have a tree down across the outdoor goat pen - photos of that to follow when I get the gumption to don my boots and wade outside to see what's what...  In the meantime, happier photos from earlier this week:

Biking at the school with Daddy

makes him a happy boy!

New haircut!

Maple Sunday - looking through a sap pump :)

Field trip to the local airport!

It's been a busy week for the wild man and despite a rather nasty cough, he's been having LOTS of fun!

On the knitting front, I missed Ginny's yarn along again this week...I'm working on finishing up a baby sweater for a friends shower next month.  I still have an arm to finish up today and then I can cast on for the hood.  I'm also reading Kathy Reichs' Spider Bones, it's thirteenth in her fabulous Temperance Brennen series.  You probably know this series is the inspiration for the TV show Bones - if not you do now!  Anyway, here is a poor shot of what I've done so far...the true color is more a sage green - this pic is a tad washed out.

Hubby and I have been doing our own Bible study after the wild man is in bed.  We've done 22 sessions and have begun praying together.  I've always been a skeptical believer, if that even makes sense - maybe more of a seeker, I guess, and this week God has given me glimpses of what awaits me when the skepticism finally drops away.  We've been in a financial crisis and hadn't enough money to buy groceries.  We had started praying about becoming good stewards with the money we were blessed with at the beginning of this crisis and as a result decided to cut out all unnecessary extras; such as eating out, buying magazines, toys, yarn (*sniff*) and we looking at other ways to stretch the dollars.  During one particularly bad week we were trying to decide how we were going to get the bare essentials and put gas in the truck so hubby could get to work.  I told hubby we needed to scrounge up about $50 so I could get enough stuff to stretch into two weeks.  Hubby had about $23 in the bank after the bills were paid and needed $20 of that for gas and I don't work so we were really trying to get creative.  I began rolling pennies from our penny jug and hubby made a trip to the recycling center with several bags of returnables.  This is what became amazing to me - between the few dollars we had between us in our wallets, the rolled coins and the returnables we had exactly, to the penny, $50!  Now you can't tell me God didn't have a hand in that!  Not only were we blessed with this small windfall but I was also able to get what we needed for only $40, leaving us with $10 in case we ran out of milk or bread the rest of the week.  The bottom line?  We ended up with gas in both vehicles and plenty of food and still had a little left over.  The math doesn't work and I can't explain it any other way except this is a glimpse of the blessings that await us when we continue in our obedience to Him.

I just read a familiar passage in Philippians 4:10-13 that has been resonating with me in a new way.  I know the words, have read them many times before, yet never understood the context the way I think I do now.  Paul is talking about learning to be content with your situation, no matter if you have plenty or are in need and then reveals the secret of contentment.  It is "I can do everything through him who gives me strength."  Verse 13.  The NIV describes everything to mean everything pleasing to God and him who gives me strength as Christ himself.  Giving it all up to God and trusting in Him will give us contentment - the key being to give it all up.  That's very difficult for those of us with control issues!  It's a learning process, isn't it?  And when I get encouragement from the good Lord Himself I know I'm on the right track.

Stay safe, God bless and have a lovely weekend!  (Once the snow melts, of course!)

XXOO

**ADDED NOTE:  We have two freezers full of poultry and hamburg so we aren't starving - it's needing fresh fruit, veggies and daily staples like milk and juice that supplement the meat.  We are fortunate to be very blessed with the bounty of our farm and recognize that many people struggle every second of every day to put food on the table for their families and many are unable.  My point is to emphasize stewardship - we created our own crisis by being irresponsible with what God had entrusted us. We have many blessings which we are very thankful for.  To God goes the glory!