Not Forgotten

I'm at home today from Sunday School and Worship as Matthew is fighting off a cold and he has a fever. So, I have been sorting through Jacob and Matthews' clothes and organzing. It is safe to say it is not my favorite job. I decided to listen to our CD from the Watoto's Children Choir. They were at our church in the Fall of 2007 and I fell in love with them and their music. The following is one of my favorite songs from their CD. These children are orphans and yet they have the "Joy of the Lord". The first part is a little hard to understand but once the music starts you will be amazed at their talent. Turn up those speakers and dance along, I know you want too!

White As Snow

This morning we woke up to a white sparkly blanket covering our yard. Everything looked fresh, new, and clean. I love the look of the first snow.

It reminds me of this song that we recently sang in church. It is based on Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, let us reason together,"says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."

We are but poor miserable sinners. There is nothing we can do save ourselves from our sin. Jesus did it all for us on the cross.

Thankful and Grateful

I didn't have an opportunity to write this post before we left for our whirlwind Thanksgiving trip to visit Jimella and family.

As I reflect upon this past year I have so many things to be grateful for. I wish I had the time to write about all of them. I think I need to start writing more gratitude posts throughout the year.

First and foremost and I am thankful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I do not have to face life's daily challenges as He walks with me and is my constant companion. To many times I want to fix or control things. I have discovered time after time this never works, maybe one of these days I will learn my lesson. I need to place it all in the capable hands of Jesus, and I cannot even do that on my own. He has already taken care of my biggest challenge by dying on the cross for my sins, and making my payment for me.

All of my blessings are gifts from the Lord and so I will try and list as many as I can, with some pictures!

I am truly blessed to be married to my soul-mate. Troy, is a wonderful husband and he is my best friend. We have been through a lot together, and God has walked with us each step of the way. We have had the privilege and the joy of raising our two sons Jacob and Matthew. Having boys around is always an adventure.

For those who know us best you know we have had some huge financial, health, and emotional challenges over the past couple of years. The Lord has provided for us in countless ways, all of our needs were met on a daily basis. For those who walked this journey with us, prayed for us, loved us, listened and cried with us, and for all of the other gifts you gave to us....Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Even though we have experienced some dark moments, we felt and saw God's love through the heart of His people.

This past year we were able to farm our ground again. Even with late planting because of flooding and a very dry August, we were blessed with bountiful crops. I have learned as a farmer's wife there is always a time to plant and always a time to harvest...all of it guided and directed by the hand of the Lord.

We have decided to farm differently and so we have hired someone to help with the planting and harvesting, while Troy works full-time with a contract position at John Deere, which hopefully will soon become permanent. Troy has been able to help farm our ground with our boys when time allows. Mart, the guy we have working for us has been very kind to our boys and we appreciate it. Here are some pictures of my favorite farmers!!!! And of the harvest!!!!

Notice, Jacob, resting in the wheel of the tractor!

This last year as many of you know we almost lost my Dad. The four of us siblings were able to all be together with my, Mom as we waited for Dad to recover from his surgery. He was in ICU for a long time. We are thankful, Dad is still with us. I have been deeply blessed to have wonderful parents and siblings. It is a gift to be able enjoy a close relationship with all of them. I wanted to include some pictures from our time spent with them this summer.

Jacob & Matthew with Grandma and Grandpa with Willy the Walleye. Some of my favorite childhood memories are fishing for Walleye, on Lake of the Woods. Willy is stationed near Lake of the Woods and so we took advantage of a kodak moment!

My four favorite Dudes, enjoying a picnic lunch together! Don't they look cool in their shades?

Grandpa and Matthew on his first fishing adventure from boat! We didn't catch any keepers but we have some wonderful memories to enjoy.

Prayer Request

Please pray for Zoe. She is a little baby girl who has lived 8 months longer than what anyone ever imagined. She has trisomy 18 and she will be having heart surgery on Tuesday. Please hold the family close in prayer. You can read more about this precious little girl and her family here. Your hearts will be touched by this amazing story and family. We have never met this family but we have prayed for Zoe since the day she was born.

May God fill this family with His perfect peace.

May God bless all of our troops that served. May God grant peace to all the families who lost their loved ones. May God Bless the United States of America. May we never forget the price of freedom.

For more on VI day please go here.

LIFE CHANGING DEVELOPMENT

It has been awhile since I have posted. I have been busy with a project I have been working on for over a year. It is one of those "life changing" moments. It will change some of my time, have a positive impact on our budget, and it is a milestone for a member of our family.

Only another Mommy or Daddy could truly understand this as a "big deal." A few of you have probably guessed as to "what in the world" is she talking about.

Have you guessed, yet? Are you curious? Or are you wishing, I would just hurry up and post about it all ready? LOL!

Matthew is officially potty-trained! WOOHOO, want to join me in my happy dance ;-)

For those of you who do not know, Matthew is almost 4-years-old! I have tried just about everything a Mother can do to accomplish this important detail in our life.

I was beginning to think I was a failure as a Mommy. I stay at home with my kids...I'm with them all of the time...why is this not happening. I tried everything from bribery to taking almost every important toy away from him. The only thing it accomplished, was him holding it in for way to long.

Many Mom's told me, relax, he will decide one day he want to be a big boy and it will happen. Easy to say when it is not your kid. And even though, I hoped they were right...I really didn't believe them. I was beginning to think it would never happen.

Well guess what?!!!!? Those other Moms, knew exactly what they were talking about. So, to all of those Mom's who hung in there with me, THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU!!!

Seven Weird Random Facts About Me

Paula at Amused Mama has tagged me for this fun and interesting MeMe.

• Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules in your post.
• Share seven random/weird facts about yourself.
• Tag seven random people and link to their blogs.
Let each person know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment in their blog.

SEVEN RANDOM/WEIRD FACTS ABOUT MYSELF:

1. When I was 15 I fell off a hay wagon, and ended up in the hospital for 9 days. I missed a month of school. It took me almost 5 years before I could even sit on a haywagon again.

2. On one my many youth ministry adventures: We (the girls) were in a Finnish Sauna for about twenty minutes in our bathing suits. Than we put on our wool socks and went running outside in the snow and jumped in the lake which had frozen ice chunks everywhere! We ducked under the water and scrubbed our hair. We jumped out of the lake as quickly as we could and put our hats on our head. I'm so thankful no one had a picture of this :-)

3. I was the Co-Captain of our Pom Pom Squad/Dance line in highschool!

4. I Danced with Zig Ziglar on the beach in CanCun, Mexico. You can find the story in my blog.

5. I wanted to become a Cruise Director like Julie McCoy on the Love Boat! I am totally serious!

6. I love to dance to 80's music with my boys!!! We have fun jammin out together!

7. Since we live on a farm, we have way to many fly's in our house. The boys and I will go on fly hunts around the house and when we get one....we sing..."Another one bites the dust."


Okay, I am tagging:
He Won My Heart(Shannon), Cheryl, Melisa, Angie, Kristi, and anyone else that woud like to play along. Please let me know if you, did and I will link it to my blog so others can see!

Celebrate!!!

Seven months ago my Dad had a heart attack. Many of the visitors to my blog know the whole story, but if you don't you can read about it here. Thankfully my Dad is still alive and doing remarkably well. My Dad's story is a miracle and we give all glory and praise to our Father in heaven.

In the days following my Dad's surgery, when we did not know if Dad would survive or not...we wondered about many things.

Would we have an opportunity to talk to our Dad about life, God, politics, or share a good joke? What would Dad's life be like if he managed to survive? Would he be able to enjoy fishing with his children or grandchildren? Would he be able to hunt again? Would he be able to watch his oldest grandson shoot his first deer?

The questions and thoughts raced through my mind until my head began to pound relentlessly. I soon realized, I needed to place everything into the capable hands of the Lord. I could not control the outcome or change what had happened. All I could do was trust the "One" who loved my Dad more than I could even comprehend.

Today I want to celebrate the second chance my Dad has been given. This week-end he is hunting with my brother, David, and his oldest grandson, Sidney. Dad is not able to shoot a gun this year and so he is helping, Sidney. I have heard from my Mom they are having a wonderful time. I am thankful they can all be together and I look forward to hearing the hunting stories. The Moorhead family is known to tell a few "tall tales" from time to time!

This summer we were able to go fishing with my Dad. As the boat pulled away from the dock...tears of joy filled my eyes. Jacob had fished with Grandpa before...but Matthew had never had the opportunity too. We had a wonderful time together and I will share some of the highlights of our trip at another time.

Leading up to the election, Dad and I had many political conversations. We were both convinced that John McCain would win the election....were were devestated when that did not happen. We will put our trust in the Lord.

We have had many opportunities to laugh, talk about God, and just enjoy wonderful conversations with each other.

Today, I give thanks for my Dad's life! I give thanks for my Mom...she has been Dad's biggest cheerleader. Their lives changed...but they are doing great. God has given us so many wonderful gifts to be thankful for each and every day.

"The Lord's Prayer" by the Martins

He leadeth me~ by the Martins

In Christ Alone with scenes from Passion of the Christ.

Battle Hymn of the Republic

Get a load of these high school kids singing. At the conclusion listen to the high notes on the trumpet, played by a high school kid! One of the fathers recorded it, added some graphic enhancements to the recording, and posted it on the web. The song, of course, is the ' Battle Hymn Of The Republic.' Be prepared - it could send a few shivers up your spine. Click below:
http://www.greatdanepromilitary.com/Battle%20Hymn/index.htm