New Things Happening

We are now set up to sell kitchen equipment such as grain mills and mixers. We are setting up an internet store and hope to add more items. I will let you know when it is up and running.

Stop on by Ginny's on Thursday (the 6th) and wish her a happy birthday. She forgets her own birthday, so she needs LOTS of people to remind her. =) Tell her a little bird sent you.

We are still missing Dixie. I see her crate and remember how she would run in there and peek out at you as soon as you touched a treat bag. She would often come over to me through out the day and put her head and one paw on my knee and wait for some lovin'. Once I talked to her and gave her some neck scratches and pats she was happy and would wander off. She had so much excitement.... It is kind of slow around here with out her.

Can you tell I am ready for spring. Here are some pictures from past Springtimes. It got up into the 50's a couple of days and all the snow melted. It is supposed to be down to 11 again this weekend.

Dixie Darlin'

I made this collage of pictures of Dixie!

Giants in Your Life

Today our fellowship met in our home. The daughter of the Wonderful Neighbors brought me this drawing she did. I cried. Didn't she do a good job of drawing Dixie? She has her paw up, which was just what Dixie did and she also put a yellow tennis ball in the picture, which was a favorite toy.

Today felt like a heat wave. I think it got up to around 35. Last night it got down at least 12. That is what it was when we got up this morning.

Two different men talked this morning about facing the giants in your life. Everyone has them and they can all be different. The one man shared Psalm 57.

Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth. They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah. My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.

David was on his own. He could not go home because he was a hunted man. Yet, you see that he was totally expecting God to rescue him. He praised the Lord because he knew who was in control. What are the giants in your life? Are you looking forward with anticipation to the help and answers that God is going to send? I have a friend who just rests and trusts in the Lord. She sees lots of answers to her prayers. I believe this is because she is truly trusting the situation to God. She allows Him to work in is own way. I was talking with someone this weekend. Her son had to do something that was very hard. She asked him how he did it and he envisioned angels with swords of fire and Jesus Himself there with him as he walked through his trial. Goliath was a giant, but he was not too big for God to handle. Trust God to slay your giants for you. Then rest.

Poetry of a Martyr

I read a book back in October, 2006 about the life of John & Betty Stam. They were chosen to receive the martyr's crown. I blogged about the book here. I was going through some files on my computer. I found a couple of Betty Stam's poems. I thought I would share them with you.

I'm Standing Lord
By Betty Scott Stam (1906-1934)

I'm standing, Lord.
There is a mist that blinds my sight;
Steep, jagged rocks, front, left and right
Lower, dim, gigantic in the night.
Where is the way?

I'm standing, Lord.
The black rock hems me in behind;
Above my head a moaning wind
Chills and oppresses heart and mind.
I am afraid.

I'm standing, Lord.
The rock is hard beneath my feet;
I nearly slipped, Lord, on the sleet.
So weary, Lord, and where a seat?
Still must I stand?

He answered me,
And on His face a look ineffable of grace,
Of perfect understanding love,
Which all my murmuring did remove.
I'm standing, Lord.
Since Thou has spoken,
Lord, I see Thou hast beset.
These rocks are Thee.
And since Thy love encloses me, I stand and sing.

This next one is a lighthearted one. I love the rhythm of it.

A Jingle of Words

By Betty Scott Stam (1906-1934)

Don’t you love the common words
In usage all the time;
Words that paint a masterpiece,
Words that beat a rhyme,
Words that sing a melody,
Words that leap and run,
Words that sway a multitude,
Or stir the heart of one?

Don’t you love the lively words—
Flicker, leap and flash,
Tumble, stumble, pitch and toss,
Dive and dart and dash,
Scramble, pirouette and prance,
Hurtle, hurdle, fling,
Waddle, toddle, trot and dance,
Soar and snatch and swing?

Don’t you love the lengthy words—
Subterranean,
Artificial, propagate,
Neopolitan,
Revelation, elevate,
Ambidextrous
Undenominational,
Simultaneous?

Don’t you love the noisy words—
Clatter, pop, and bang,
Scrape and creak and snarl and snort,
Crash and clash and clang,
Crackle, cackle, yowl and yap,
Snicker, snare and sneeze,
Screech and bellow, slash and howl,
Whistle, whine and wheeze?

Don’t you love the colourful—
Amber, rose and gold,
Orchid, orange and cerise,
Crimson, emerald,
Purple, plum and lavender,
Peach and Prussian blue,
Turquoise matrix, jade and jet,
Hazel, honeydew?

Yes, with just the common words
In usage everywhere,
You can capture incidents
Beautiful and rare.
In words you have a weapon
More mighty than a gun;
You can sway the multitude
Or stir the heart of one.

We got snow and ice 2 nights in a row. Today the sun is shining brightly. It is currently 27 degrees. The high is supposed to be 31. Both Michael and I have been having our moments over losing Dixie. We know she was just a dog, but she was our buddy and friend. Even the other dogs are a bit mopey. Michael just came in and told me that you can really feel the warmth of the sun out there and that today is a new day. We called the breeder we got Dixie from. She had her dog fixed and is not doing puppies anymore. She gave us the name of a couple of people that have those lines. We are waiting to hear back from them.
Thanks for all the kind words. Many of you have called or sent emails. Someone even sent us an e-card.

It's Still Hard to Believe

Today is co-op day. It is hard to believe that Dixie is really gone. She had so many cute little habits and routines. After Michael let all the dogs out for the last time each night he gives them treats. As soon as he would put his hand in the bag, Dixie would run to her crate and go in. She would peak out at him. Each morning as I would go by the door to where she was in her crate, she would look up at me as if to say, let me out now. Both Michael and I are having our moments. I think having the truck to unload, orders to sort and people coming by to pick up their orders will be a good thing today to keep me busy.

I was going to blog last night about our weather, and before I got on here, tragedy struck. The first 2 pictures here are what we woke up to yesterday morning. More snow on the ground and it was snowing.

These 2 pictures are from this morning. More snow and it is snowing. They said possibly another 1 to 2 inches. There is more snow in the forecast for tomorrow evening.

The birds are really coming to the feeder when it snows. They ones on the feeder knock so much out that their is always a crowd on the ground as well.

A Very Sad Day On The Farm

We don't know what happened, but we are very sad. Dixie, our pup, was out playing this evening with the other dogs. She was having fun and running and jumping. Michael saw her laying in the driveway. She made a pathetic whine and then quit breathing. Our little Dixie Darlin' is dead. We know you are not supposed to get attached too much to animals, but we love our dogs and they are like part of our family. She had the cutest personality. She was not even 1 year old yet.