Living He loved me...

Living, He loved me
Dying, He saved me
Buried, He carried my sins far away
Rising, He justified freely forever
One day He’s coming
Oh glorious day, oh glorious day

Thankful

I'm glad God gives us instincts that just kick in when you need them. No thought needed, adrenalin hits you and you just do what needs to be done. Had just that kind of moment Friday.
My favorite part of my job is being out in the dining room with my kids. Yes, for about 20 minutes everyday, each one of those kids are mine. I was there Friday watching kids, making sure they do what they are supposed to, and not what they aren't. We were having cheese filled breaksticks. Soft bread wrapped around mozzarella cheese. Kids were eating, talking doing just what they should. Next thing I know I have Jeremiah near me, and he is choking. I yell for Lisa, my boss, as she heads my way, I grab him around his middle and give him a couple of thrusts under his rib cage to get the breadstick unstuck. Thankfully it came out and he was ok, little sore he said but ok. Good thing, as Jeremiah is one of my favorites. Sometimes he doesn't make the best choices, but neither do I. Cool thing is, God gives us a second chance, time and time again.

The secreatary went to check on Jeremiah in the nurses office, she asked him how he was, he said he was ok, and "Thank God I didn't choke to death, and thank God for Mrs. Yontz." I thank God for you Jeremiah!

Things that fill my Joy bucket

Watching my kids get along and love each other

First really warm day after winter

Cool breeze on a warm day

Smell of fresh mown hay

Calves running and kicking up their heels in the pasture after being cooped up

Being with my family at a livestock show, working and playing together

Chinese fire drills, getting back in the van with everyone laughing so hard

My PV kids finding me out in public, and stopping to give me a hug or a high five

Music, music and more music

Good sermon on Sunday morning

Leaving an unexpected gift for someone on their doorstep

Watching my kids share their gift of music, on the field and in the concert hall

Baby pigs

Sunshine, blue skies fluffy white clouds

Cut flowers on my table

Quiet time with a good book, and the Good Book

First time in spring driving with the windows down

The words I love you spoken from my loved ones

Hugs

God's still, small voice

The smell of rain in the distance

Thunderstorms

Winter wheat showing signs of life in the spring, greenest thing around that time of year

Eating supper together as a family

One more PET peeve

One of my friends on FB is getting a puppy. Great, they are responsible pet owners who adore their dogs. One of the responses to her post about the puppy someone asked if they were going to keep it intact, (it is male) the poster wanted to know this because "We want to let Maycei have a litter of puppies for our kids to learn from.."
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? Let's bring a litter of puppies into the world so our kids can see the miracle of birth? Try a book, a video, oh here's an idea, TALK TO THEM! Shoot, want to watch a live birth, both our county fair and state fair can provide that opportunity, or give me a call I have cows that will calve the months of April and May, come watch with no cost to anyone. But for crying out loud, don't bring more unwanted dogs and cats in to the world.
There are so many times that people dump their animals on our farm, 8 kittens alone within the last year, I get asked all the time if we "need" more cats. NO I don't need or WANT to take your problem off your hands, YOU take them to the shelter and explain to YOUR kids what likely will happen to them there.
We have adopted one dog from the shelter, Elizabeth worked odd jobs during a Christmas break about 5 years ago to earn the money to get Scooter. We have another dog we got from a guy that had a litter, and the third, which I didn't want was dumped here about 3 years ago, big Rotti, that is the sweetest dog. Tried for a couple of months to find her owner, then didn't have the heart to take her to the shelter where I knew she would last 3 days max and that's it.
The best lesson that guy could teach his kids, is to be a responsible pet owner, not one that breeds a dog because they can. Take those kids to a shelter, let them volunteer their time, far bigger lesson to be learned there anyway.

Pet Peeves today, Blessings to come...

Music that auto plays when you visit a blog. if I wanted to listen to music, I'd listen to MY music.

Drywall dust, was sanding the first coat today, and that stuff gets EVERYWHERE!!

Kids that whine when you ask them to do something.

People that take up two parking spots, even when there is no snow on the lot and you can SEE the lines.

50 items in the speedy checkout

The name speedy checkout, seriously??

Parking your cart in the middle of the aisle way blocking all who wish to enter to shop rather than have a family reunion (can you tell I was at wally world today??)

Kids dropping a wrapper on the floor rather than actually taking it TO the trash can

Bread crumbs in the Miracle Whip

4 hour drive to Bloomington, can we just cut out a chunk of IN, and shorten the drive?? How about the part between Wabash and Elwood??

Snow, I'm so over it by now

Leaving something out on the counter, could we just put it away when we are done??

Laundry, piles and piles of laundry, might be the only draw for me to a nudist camp....

not enough time to study my Bible....

Speed limit signs are there for a reason, the least a person could do is reach it, 10 under really gets me

warming up the van, did I mention I don't like the cold either???

DVD's in the wrong case

DVD's not IN the case

Life changing moments

God's timing is so perfect, it never ceases to amaze me. 18 years ago, dear friends of mine left our church to start a church for the unchurched, those people that either didn't grow up in the church or had been burned in "traditional" church. We didn't make that move with them, even though they were dear friends. Life happened, and 18 years later we have reconnected.
They are about as real as it gets, and have helped my faith grow tremendously, and helped me discover a spiritual gift I didn't know I had been given.
This all leads to the opportunity for my girls to go on a youth retreat.
They went up to Mears MI for Winter blast. I pushed two of them to go, Sara wanted to go without hesitation. They came back tired, had a fun time. But best of all, they all answered God's call on their life and made the commitment to follow Him. Love love LOVE it, and LOVE them.
It isn't the easy path, but it is the one most worth it.

Enough

It is time to stop blaming others. It is time to stop the hate. This isn't about liberals or conservatives, tea parties, Palin or Beck to blame anyone other than the shooter is to cheapen the whole ordeal. Those that lost their lives deserve better. It is a crazy hate filled lunatic and it is about innocent people. It is time to pull together and be decent humans, to those that have differing opinions, to those that look different, think differently, live differently.

"For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard." Rom 3:23