September 27, 2010

A fun day as a family

Yesterday our family decided to visit a church in another town since they were hosting a speaker that my parents wanted to hear. We also decided to pack a lunch so that afterwords we could go and spend the day as a family. While looking for a park to eat lunch at, we saw a sign for a free outdoor expo that had activities for the whole family. We went to check it out, and we ended up having one of the funnest family days we've had in a long time! It was so fun to spend a day just being a family.

Mom and Lydia (4) kayaking


My little brothers: Caleb (6) and Joshua (8)




Dad and Caleb kayaking
Hannah (12) trying out archery
Joshua getting ready to shoot his arrow
Caleb and Lydia making pop bottle bird feeders
Sarah, Joshua, and Caleb all shot a BB gun for the first time
I decided to try shooting a shotgun (this was the first time I had ever done it).  My dad, mom, and Hannah all did this too and I'll just say that...they all did better than I did. It was actually a lot of fun, but my arm is a little sore today :)
The perfect ending for a perfect day
Dad and Lydia enjoying their ice cream

September 21, 2010

Life on the Farm

Well, as usual, life has been busy. But, instead of giving you a long, boring update about what's been going on, I thought I'd add some photos to make it a little more interesting.

A couple weeks ago we got 100 chicks that we'll be raising for meat birds. I bought 40 of them, and my parents have the other 60. 

 
 When they are three weeks old (maybe a little bit older if it's cold) we'll be putting them out on pasture in coops that we move daily so that they always are on fresh forage. These pictures were taken the day we got them, but right now they are a little over 2 weeks and are feathering out, so they're not quite as cute.

The baby pigs (which are no so "baby" anymore) are now about 10 weeks old, and still quite cute. They are weaned, and I'm hoping that they can also be put on pasture soon. That may be my farm project this week :)

 
We've been working on canning vegetable soup (this is a family favorite!), and a lot of the vegetables are from our garden. If any of you are interested in getting the recipe, I can try to post it.


I've been taking a lot of photos lately, which isn't too untypical for me (you can ask any of my family members...or friends...or anyone who knows me). I would post more of the photos I've been taking, but I really want to use some of them in future posts.

 
Our kitten (Bobby) decided to yawn just as I snapped a photo. 
Isn't he cute?

This is a photo of a yellow flower at my grandma's house

And then, on top of farm life, photography, and everything else, I've also been getting going on school. That's been going really well, and I'm enjoying it! 

My friend and I recently started a Bright Lights group in our area, and I'm so amazed at how the Lord has been working. We had both been praying for quite awhile that the Lord would provide the funds needed to provide Bright Lights notebooks for all the girls, and I was kind of starting to wonder how God would answer. But He worked it out in His perfect timing! A couple weeks before the first meeting my friend called me and said that a friend of hers, who had led a Bright Lights group several years ago, dropped off a whole box of Bright Lights materials for us to use in our group. In the box were 15 notebooks, as well as many of the lessons! Then, last week at our first meeting I realized that 8 of the girls already had Bright Lights notebooks, so that left only 11 girls who didn't have one yet. And God had provided 15! It was so amazing how He worked it all out!

Well, this is kind of a brief update about what's been going on here. Before I close this post, I want to share a verse with you that has encouraged me lately:

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Colossians 3:23-24

When I look at this verse, I think it applies to so many things! Whether that task be school, cleaning out a pig pen, writing an article, or babysitting, do it with all your heart and remember that you aren't serving man, you are serving the King of kings, the Lord of lords, Jesus Christ. Strive to please Him in all that you do, and make Him top priority in your life. I find that when I think of this verse while going about a task, it keeps my mind on the Lord and praising Him...even if it's one of those tasks that your not too excited about doing.

Shine for the Lord in ALL that you do,
Rebekah

September 20, 2010

Beautiful Gems Issue 12

I finally e-mailed out Beautiful Gems Magazine Issue 12! If you are a subscriber but didn't receive it, please contact me and I'll see what I can do.

If you'd like to learn more about Beautiful Gems, you can visit beautifulgemsmagazine.weebly.com for more information.

Love in Christ,
Rebekah

September 13, 2010

Your Word, O Lord


"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path."
Psalm 199:105

September 11, 2010

Maidens of Virtue Photography Contest

Maidens of Virtue is having a photography contest! Maidens of Virtue is a ministry to encourage and inspire young ladies who desire to follow God's role for women. They have recipes, articles, contests, links, reviews and more to encourage and challenge you as you live for the Lord and stand strong in Him.

 This photography contest is a year long contest (it stared this Spring), and it ends December 31, 2010. If you'd like to learn more about this contest, or if you'd like to find out how to enter, click on the banner below.



September 10, 2010

Little Works of Art

On Labor Day we were at my grandma's house, and in her backyard was a whole colony of monarch butterflies! It was so neat! I was very glad that I had my camera as well as a full battery :)

God put so much design into these beautiful little works of art! Which one is your favorite?



I think that I ended up taking like 150 pictures that day (not all of them were of butterflies...but most of them were)! The only problem was that my camera didn't focus on them quite like I was wanting it to. With them being so active, it was hard to get really clear photos. On the screen of my camera they looked great...but not quite as good when I got them loaded on the computer.