Blessings-From Our Home To Yours

Murphy Zoo Day 2012

2012-02-05T11:02:00.001-05:00

It's very rare that the Murphy family gets together to actually spend time together, having fun, visiting, eating, etc. My mom planned a special weekend for all of us to just enjoy each other and have a good time. She put a lot of time into making it special for everyone.

The weekend started out Friday evening with a meal of pizza, burrito casserole, salad and ice cream. Yummo! Mom made some luminaries to go outside for us to enjoy from the window inside and when we left to go home. Since dad works late in the evening, we waited til he got home from work, which actually turned out to be earlier than most nights. He had prepared to pray a blessing over each grandchild and started from oldest and went to the youngest. It was fun watching the children wait their turn with great anticipation to receive their blessing from grandpa.

The Bovees headed home around 10:00pm and went to bed!

Saturday we woke up bright and early to head back over there for breakfast at 8:00am. Breakfast was delicious as all the food was over the weekend, and we waited for the extra guests to arrive. Some of our cousins, Doug, Bev and Benjamin also came to enjoy the fun that was planned. The children knew that there would be fun things planned but only specifically knew that everybody was doing a part in a program. For that we waited for Grandpa Murphy and his sister, Rosie.

While we waited, we put the children to making their party favor bags that would hold all their goodies that they made and received from the day. The owl bags turned out so cute and were perfect for holding all the fun!

We had some busy little critters making owls.

All of the owls lined up on the bureau with other animals and decorations.

Onto the Program!

It takes a bit to get ready for sit down times with nervous little people deciding they have to go potty before they start their part in a program. : ) And two little identical potty trainers take a bit longer, so we had to fill some time before we could start the program. Grandpa Dan did some juggling of bean bags and then with his side kick, lion Benaiah, they welcomed everybody to the program. Benaiah is saying (gesturing to all of the crowd), "Welcome to the program" in the below picture.

After the introduction, Grandma Deborah started off the program with reciting some Scripture. Joshua's family followed with poems that their children had memorized. The Bovees were the grand finale with a little play about animals that they did for their school program last year, a song, and then another song. One evening Jonathon was playing his guitar at home and Benaiah kept yelling, "buck, buck". I asked him if he wanted to sing a song about a buck, and he did. He is very into bucks and guns since going to track the one grandpa Dan shot this last season. So, we decided we would write a song about Grandpa Dan's hunting experience this last year. It turned out to be a special song that we included numbers for points on the antlers and echoes, so that others could participate. It was great, and Benaiah sang right along and did his parts throughout. And it became a song we sang a couple more times that day just for the fun of it. I do believe Grandpa Dan enjoyed it along with everybody else!

After our family program, we had some time to fill before the grand program. I had brought along felt, handmade mittens that contained animals from the Mitten story. All the smaller children got one and we read through the book with the children acting out the story with their own felt mitten and animals. By that time it was nearer to the arrival of our special guest, so potty breaks all around just in time for the next program.

Mom had ordered a Groupon for Indiana Wildlife to come and do a program with animals. So that was next on the schedule. The guy was right on time and had some fun animals to share with us. The children loved it.....adults too. Following are some of the pictures during the program and the animals that he brought.

He brought a special rabbit that was amazingly soft, a lizard, alligator, rat, cock roach, tortoise, kukaboora, and a skunk.

By the time we were done seeing animals, it was time for lunch. One thing the children like to do is go rabbit hunting with Grandpa Dan. There are usually a bunny or two in their yard, grandpa will place everybody strategically around the garden, then he will go to the edge of the yard where the bunnies usually are and chase them out to the children. There is no shooting that goes on, just a scurry of children running to try to catch one. It's quite comical to watch. Today there was only one rabbit, and it ran the wrong direction for the children to chase. It did give them some outside fun though and gave us time to get food around and set up without children under foot.

Time for lunch!

We had alligator roll ups.

Delicious chocolate cupcakes.

Tiger Mac and veggies and jungle joes (sloppy joes).

With so many little ones in the group, there was definitely a nap time after lunch. So, while the younger ones slept, the older children got to do some fun crafts with markers, wood, and paint.

Aren't these adorable? Mom made these to top pencils but they ended up being more like finger puppet size. Another party favor to put in their owl bags.

A fun banner with the names of all the children on it and animal pictures.

Everybody got 3 pencils for their bags with their names on them.

After crafts, naps and visiting time, we had left overs for dinner then played this deer hunting game. One person is the hunter and one is the deer. In the above picture, mom is the hunter, hunting dad. Oh, I should have been videoing instead of taking still pictures because the stillness just doesn't do it justice! By the end they were running around the table, mom was making noises when she'd get close to dad, which would scare him to death and make him jump and yell too. Oh, we got some pretty hard laughs out of this one! What fun!

After the games, we all sat around and sang for a bit and sang the buck song for grandpa again and recorded it, so he can watch it over and over. The evening was definitely coming to a close with sleepiness coming on us all. Was a big day full of learning about animals, enjoying family and singing to end it all.

Alegra turned 10!

2012-01-29T21:23:00.000-05:00

How can it be that time passes so quickly? We have a 10 year old in our house now! We are so blessed by Alegra's life and all that she adds to our family. She's a wonderful addition in the music realm, keeping the house organized and neat, and being helpful with Benaiah when needed. She's a blessing to us!

We had just a small girl's night celebration to honor her. To see the party post on that, check out CLB CeLeBrations for all the details. It was super fun and the best birthday she's ever had in her words. : )

One Chapter, An Amazing Story

2012-01-19T19:30:00.000-05:00

God just keeps taking me to this portion of Scripture often when I'm reading, so today I decided He must want me to expound more on it. So, here goes. A different look on a traditional holiday in our custom according to Jeremiah. Do you think God, the Creator and all knowing One, would have put this in here purposely? I think so.

For one cuts a tree from the forest,

The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.

they decorate it with silver and gold;

They fasten it with nails and hammers

So that it will not topple.

They are upright, like a palm tree,

And they cannot speak;

They must be carried,

Because they cannot go by themselves.

Do not be afraid of them,

For they cannot do evil,

Nor can they do any good.

Jeremiah 10:3-5

I think we can all agree that this sounds just like a Christmas tree. It's a perfect description right down to the decorating it with silver and gold and nailing it, so it doesn't topple over.

Beautiful right?

Here's what the first part of Jeremiah 10 says:

Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel.

Thus says the Lord:

"Do not learn the way of the Gentiles;

Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven,

For the Gentiles are dismayed at them.

For the customs of the people are futile;

For one cuts a tree from the forest,

The work of the hands of the workman, with an ax.

They decorate it with gold and silver............"

What is another well known figure in the Christmas Story? Jeremiah talks about the wise men also in this same chapter, in verses 6-8.

Inasmuch as there is none like You, O Lord

(You are great, and Your name is great in might),

Who would not fear You,

O King of the nations?

For this is Your rightful due,

For among all the wise men of the nations,

And in all their kingdoms,

There is none like You.

But they are altogether dull-hearted and foolish,

A wooden idol is a worthless doctrine.

Then in Jeremiah 10:10,12, and 13 He reminds us who He is, just in case you get too wrapped up in the other characters of His birth story:

But the Lord is the true God;

He is the living God and the everlasting King.

He has made the earth by His power,

He has established the world by His wisdom,

And has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.

When He utters His voice,

There is a multitude of waters in the heavens:

And He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth.

He makes lightning for the rain,

He brings the wind out of His treasuries.

What a wonderful God, Saviour and King we serve! If all that doesn't make you want to praise Him and obey His voice, I don't know what would.

Oh wait, let's not forget the Shepherds! The ones who saw the angel that told them to go see the babe. I'm pretty sure God doesn't want us thinking of them as being such a highlight to the story. Verse 21 says:

For the shepherds have become dull-hearted,

And have not sought the Lord;

Therefore they shall not prosper,

And all their flocks shall be scattered.

Now let's jump into the first part of chapter 11. This is what God thinks is important after all the customs, traditions, and followings of Gentiles:

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

"Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, 'Obey My voice, and do according to all that I command you; so shall you be My people, and I will be your God."

How many people look at that nativity scene as their saving story? Don't get me wrong, we needed Jesus to come as a baby, of a virgin, to save us from our sins, but do we really need to put so much emphasis on the surrounding parts of the holiday and vaguely mention our Saviour during our celebrations, except at the church Christmas program. There is far too much in our hearts about presents, decorations, the spirit of Christmas. I'm not sure the "spirit" of Christmas has anything to do with the Creator of the universe, but with our flesh feeling satisfied and good about the surroundings we are in during this time of year. Read the story of Aaron with the golden calf in Exodus 32. They worshipped in ways that pagans did with creating an idol. In verse 5, Aaron says, "Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord." The next day they even offered up offerings, ate, drank and were merry (verse 6). Now, was God pleased with this celebration that they offered up in honor of Him? Absolutely not, but they thought He would be pleased, after all, they did proclaim it a day to Him. Isn't that just what our customs are with Christmas? Christians call it a celebration to the Lord in honor of His birth, but mix it up with all sorts of pagan ways of worship. In verse 8 the Lord says, "They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them."

My heart feels like those in Ezekiel 4:4, "and the Lord said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it." Oh you people who want to serve God with all your hearts, how do you see that celebrating Christmas is a blessed and pleasing thing to Him? Look beyond how you have always been taught. Try to see it how He sees it. He gives us examples to follow for our own good. Or not follow in the case of Aaron and his idea of a celebration to the Lord.

I realize that only a small handful of people who will read this, also see the truth behind the lies that the enemy has infiltrated in the minds of christians about traditions and holidays. He gives us days to celebrate that are filled completely with His goodness. Why wouldn't you want to be a part of those days? They are a blessing, sweetness to the body and full of joy and worship in a holy and pure way. I encourage you to read about those feasts that are HIS. They aren't just jewish feasts, but His that He established for us to rejoice in. Feel free to contact our family if you want to learn more about them.

John 4:23,24

Jesus speaking,

"But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

Don't forget what "truth" is. John 17:17, Jesus speaking says, "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth." All that Jesus could have been referring to is what was given in the Old Testament. That was all they had to go by for Scriptures. So, He is saying, all of the Old Testament when God was speaking, is truth that will sanctify us. Now in Psalm 119:142, it says, "Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your law is truth." The feasts that He established are in the law, which is part of the words that God spoke in the Old Testament. So, wouldn't it make sense that part of that worshipping Him in spirit (which guides us to all truth- John 14:26, 16:13) and in truth would be observing and celebrating the feasts that He set apart for us? That's not all, but just a portion of what He is seeking from those who say they worship Him. Otherwise, you might hear, "I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness" (Matthew 7:23). Seek Him and His ways!

December at a Glance

2011-12-25T21:16:00.000-05:00

With Jonathon's work being primarily outside, he has been blessed with average weather this December. Hoping that the weather doesn't get too extreme before spring arrives. And yes, we are looking forward to spring already. But in the meantime, we have to occupy ourselves with fun to help it go by faster. : )

Our good friends, the Brothers, planned an amazing date night for a handful of couples at our church. The theme for the night was Sushi, so the party area was decked out in japanese decor and filled with learning of how to use chopsticks and how to make a sushi roll. The food was amazing along with the fellowship of friends.

We also had the honor of dinner with some old friends, Aaron and Sadie, and new friends, their 4 children. I used to babysit for her when she was a girl and used to attend church with her family. What a pleasure to meet her 4 children and see how our children played together. The fellowship was sweet with much discussion of the Scriptures and even some singing before they left. I think our children were very happy to meet and make more friends!

The happenings as of this weekend are the boys have hand foot and mouth disease. Not sure where it came from, but they've got it. We are doing our best at helping them through it and looking forward to it running its course and leaving. Tonight papa and the girls left to return a Redbox, so the boys and I stayed home and read books. Well, Josiah read books. He sure is a good reader! Then when Benaiah saw that I had the camera out, he wanted to "cheese" for me. Poor boys, with their nasty looking faces. Will be glad when it's out of the house!

And as if having a horrible rash around his face wasn't enough, Benaiah tripped and cracked his head on our bed today. Puffed it out and looked pretty nasty. We are something around her as you can clearly see.

A great way to end our evening tonight, with music and song. He is our everything, the beautiful One, the one we adore, worthy of all of our praise! Today at supper when we prayed, Benaiah, during the prayer was telling Jonathon to pray for his ouchy. Jonathon did, but apparently it wasn't enough, so Benaiah closed his eyes super tight and said his own prayer for his ouchy, with a hearty "amen" at the end. The prayers of our children are such a blessing to us and hopefully to our Lord!

Science Central Field Trip

2011-12-06T09:49:00.001-05:00

We took a fun filled day with Christi's parents to Science Central. It's always wonderful when you can count fun outtings for school! They learned a lot and had such a good time doing it too. We were there for a jam packed couple hours, and we all experienced some new things.

We started out with a competition between Grandpa Dan and Alegra with the magnet race. Can you tell who won? Grandma was pretty excited her side won. : )

This was our first demonstration we went to about weather. There weren't very many children there, so our's got to participate and help the scientist out....even Benaiah.

Benaiah loved this area of course! With water and boats, what little boy wouldn't like it? The adults got into it too, playing with the children's toys. : )

This was one of everybodies favorite spots, the tidal pool. What amazing creatures God has created for us to enjoy and learn about!

We damed up the water so the boats would actually float down the river for Benaiah. He was so excited when we let the dam loose.

It's so fun seeing the children experience new things for the first time. Even the simplest of things can be fun!

The shadow room proved to be one of the highlights too. The things we do!

Good thing we had somebody tall with us! And somebody short to hand us blocks!

Yay! We did it!

The weather channel had some pretty cute meteorologists that day! : )

The last demonstration we went to was amazing! He was working with different elements and the last one was putting hydrogen in a balloon and blowing it up. What an explosion that made! Incredible!

And we ended with doing some of the eye puzzle exhibits and crawling through the sewer. The above picture is in the room called the confusion room. The children loved it, but for us older ones, it made me feel like the world was spinning. Crazy!

We had such a good day! Then we topped off our day with a supper stop at Logans Roadhouse. Yummo! Good memories were made and everybody was so glad Grandpa Dan was there since we don't get to see him very much. Was a specia treat for sure!

The Difference- Grace & Mercy

2011-11-24T19:35:00.001-05:00

Some time back, my mom asked me what the difference is between grace and mercy. I don't even remember when it was that she asked me this, but I have been contemplating it and seeing if God's Word can give a clue into the answer. Here is what I found.

Mercy (compassion) is what we receive from Him when we should be killed from our sinful lives. He keeps us alive to give us that chance to walk in His ways. Grace (the divine influence upon the heart, with a reflection in the life) is what we receive from Him to help us walk with Him and in the ways He desires us too. Now let's look at Scripture and see if that lines up.

Let's start in Genesis where the first mention of grace is. In Genesis 6:8 it says, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." It goes on to say in verse 9, "This is the geneology of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God". I had never thought about this portion before. Noah didn't need mercy at that point, because he was already a just and perfect man, which is evident in that the Lord spared his life during the flood. He needed God's grace to help him make the choice to obey God's instruction to him to build the ark and continue serving the Lord. Well, that lines up with just that one example. Onto Psalm 84:11, "For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!" Here the Lord is giving grace to the upright.  Again, to those who trust and follow Him, He is giving grace to help them continue obeying Him and walking in His ways.

Luke 2:40, "And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him",gives us a glimpse of it as well in showing that Jesus also was given grace. Why?  He was given grace to walk in God's ways, because He needed to be sinless in order to be the perfect sacrifice for sins. Without God's grace, He wouldn't have been able to live this earthly life without sinning.  That is another great example! I am just in awe at how He reveals to me the answers that I desire when I seek Him in His Word. He is so faithful! Let's read one more about grace, and then we'll see what it says about mercy. In the Gospel of John, the first chapter, it says that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. This is a fascinating portion of Scripture, but let's continue further on in this chapter. In verse 14 it goes on to say, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth". Again this shows that Jesus came in the flesh and had God's grace and truth helping Him to walk sinless. Skipping down to verse 17 it says, "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ". I was shocked at this portion! How many of you would say that this portion reads that the law was for Moses, but now that Jesus came, we have grace and don't need the law? Read it with the application of what all the other portions of Scripture we have already read have verified to us that grace is. The law was given to Moses on tablets of stone. The New Covenant is that God's law should be written on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-33). So, Jesus didn't come to do away with the law, He came to bring grace and truth, which is the purpose of helping us walk according to God's ways. So, he is saying here, the law came through Moses, but Jesus was sent to bring the grace and truth that you need to allow that law to be written on your hearts, so you can obey them and walk in His ways. It meshes with everything else so clearly.

Mercy shows more of His compassion on us. In Numbers 14:18 it says, "The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation". This is talking about those who have done wrong. He gives mercy to those who need forgiven. They need to die for their sinful lives, so he gives mercy and let's them continue living. Let's go to what Jesus Himself says about mercy. Matthew 9:13 says, "But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance". He desires mercy because He doesn't want any to perish, but to choose Him. Mercy extends their opportunity to choose Him and repent of their sins.

Let's go to Ephesians chapter 2 to wrap this up. It sums it all up quite nicely and as I read it, I again marveled at His faithfulness to give me one portion that clearly says exactly what He sees the difference of grace and mercy being. So here goes, try to stay with me.
Ephesians 2:1-10 says, "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest you should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them".
Now let's break that down a bit. It starts out in verses 1-3 talking about the sinful ways that we once were. Verse 4 expresses God's great mercy towards us by not killing us because of our sinful ways and letting us live to choose Him, because He loves us greatly.  I read verse 8 in a new light this evening. We all know this verse. But do we really know what every portion of it means and on into verses 9 and 10? I didn't, but I do now.  "For by grace you have been saved through faith", it's our faith that causes us to believe that God exists. It's His grace that causes us to walk with Him and that obedience to Him will save us. "and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God", is saying that we can't obey Him on our own, it's His gift of grace that helps us obey. "not of works, lest anyone should boast", is relating to those deeds that some may think will get them to heaven. Works that are of the flesh more to "show" or "boast" that you are a good person will not save you. But He does say that we were created for good works. What works is He talking about? In verse 10 it says, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them". He prepared them beforehand? His grace is given to help us walk in the ways that He established in the very beginning, that He created us to obey. Wow, this passage covers it all! Blessing the Lord for this revelation in my heart! He is writing it on my heart and His Word says by this I will know that I am of Him. That's right where I want to be.

I continued studying and the Lord took me to Revelation 2. I wasn't sure why, until I read the first part of it. I believe that it relates to the "works that He prepared beforehand". Revelation 2:1-5 and this is Jesus speaking, "To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, these things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place- unless you repent." If they were laboring for His name's sake how could He still say that they had left their first love? They weren't doing those first works that He established, God's Law from the beginning . Fascinating! He never ceases to continue showing me His Truth. I love it!

So, I challenge you. Really think on the difference. Have you accepted His mercy that has prolonged your life despite how you have lived in the past. You can always start over and receive His grace that will help you obey and walk with Him. There is no better place to be than walking with God and pleasing Him in all that you do.

A Buck and Boys Makes For a Fun Morning!

2011-11-21T21:00:00.001-05:00

It seems some of my fondest memories are when my dad would come home from hunting and say he shot a deer, and it was time to go track it. I loved being in the woods. I never went and sat with him, but we always went along to track and find the deer. My dad was a successful hunter. Sometimes he would hunt in Michigan and Indiana, bow and gun, and have more than one deer hanging in our barn. School kids that road the bus with us would comment on how many deer he had shot and some of the boys that were also hunters would marvel at how he could get so many. I would just smile and agree that it was number 5 or number 6 for the year. And then to grow up to also enjoy hunting, created more memories with my dad. I only had time to hunt one year, but it was a successful year. I believe my dad was just as excited when he heard my gun shot across our 56 acres, than when he would shoot his own. That was an exciting morning the year we both got bucks the same morning. And great memories made with close friends and neighbors that will last forever.

So, here is the story for the year, in picture form, of my dad taking Josiah and Benaiah to track a buck that he shot. According to Jonathon, Benaiah didn't seem all that excited or interested in what was going on at the time, but that is all he's been talking about since he's been home. And Josiah, well, he too has a love for the woods and the outdoors, so he was super excited. This grandpa was proud that morning, not just to have shot a nice buck, but to have his boys there with him. And we can't forget Mike Troyer who has been a part of our family's hunting stories ever since I was a little girl. Some friends and stories just never get old and remain special in all of our hearts for a lifetime.

Homeschool Cooking Class

2011-11-16T18:06:00.001-05:00

We had a very fun cooking class at the church with all of the homeschoolers. It's something CLB CeLeBrations hosted and boy was it fun and busy! We invited children from preschool on up, so we had varied ages, therefore varied foods we made. Check out the pictures below to see the fun we had!

You know what, just check out our blog CLB CeLeBrations to see all the pictures and get the scoop on how the class/party went. It was packed with lots of educational ideas, fun and of course, food. You'll enjoy all the children in their aprons and seeing the process of many foods. So, check it out over there and save me typing time. : )

Ron and Linda Bovee Whitney got married!

2011-11-13T20:28:00.001-05:00

We were so blessed to be able to plan and host a reception for Jonathon's mom, Linda. God has truly blessed her with a wonderful husband who we know will take care of her. If you want to see the party details, check out the CLB CeLeBrations blog for this wonderful event. This post is more of the family and guest pictures. Everyone enjoyed visiting with one another so much and just spending time celebrating.

Our family enjoyed the time with Jonathon's mom. What a blessing and time to celebrate!

Our four children. We are so blessed!

Michael and his wife, Tara. The baby they are fostering, Jacob.

Benaiah wanted to be in the pics and clearly is taking a liking to Grandpa Ron.

Ron, Linda, Jonathon, Michael and Miranda

Ron and Linda with her sister, Judy from California and her husband, John.

Linda's sister, Hazel.

This is the Bovee table and a Cook.

Todd is the young man that Linda stays with on occasion. He likes Diella and everyone really.

Sisters and in-laws. I think one of them made my camera malfunction. : )

Todd made a great toast in honor of Ron and Linda.

These are our good friends, Phil and Casie (and Aviyah).

Christi and Casie

Ron and Linda with the hosts of the party.

It was such an enjoyable evening! Thanks for letting us bless you with this!

Fire, Fire, Fire!

2011-10-30T20:22:00.000-04:00

Here at the Bovees, we try to keep our children familiar with what to do if there was a fire in our house, especially in the middle of the night. We have a wood stove, so it seems that it would be best to make sure we are all prepared just in case something were to happen. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

This evening before dinner we had some fire drills. I was doing some baking, and I told the children to lay in their beds until the timer on the oven went off. That was there fire alarm signal. Was best to use that than the real thing as we all know what it sounds like and, well, we'd rather not hear it if we don't really have to. : ) Everybody cooperated except Benaiah of course, but once the timer went off he ran to their bedroom as they were rushing around, yelling, "hurry, hurry". These pictures are of our fire drill #2 and was a successful exit.

Josiah's job is to get the ladder. We keep it behind the closet door so Benaiah isn't going up in the girl's beds and messing their stuff up. So, he gets the ladder and grabs his brother. Those are his two jobs, though in this picture, I think his brother grabbed him. : )

Once the boys are up in the beds, Diella gets the ladder and gets it out the window. Alegra grabs blankets.

Josiah and Alegra exit first, then prepare for little brother to come out the window, with Diella's help on the inside.

Diella exits with blankets in hand and uses those blankets to breathe through if the smoke is really bad.

Our family meeting place is at the play house. Everybody must go directly there to wait. But if Jonathon and I aren't out there and a fire truck comes, they are to go to the firefighter to say who is still in the house and where those people sleep.

It's so important to have a plan and teach your children ways to escape in case of a fire. You can never be too cautious in this area, I believe. You would regret it if something happened and your children didn't know what to do to escape. Here are some helpful websites with tips, activities and ideas on fire safety.

http://www.usfa.fema.gov/kids/flash.shtm

http://kidshealth.org/parent/firstaid_safe/home/fire.html

http://www.scholastic.com/firesafety/

http://sparky.org/#/Sparky

We pray we stay safe this winter along with all of our family and friends. At the end of winter we sure are thankful when nothing went wrong with the woodstove. Safety on us all is reason to praise HIM!

Growing our Garden

2011-10-29T21:04:00.002-04:00

We have been learning some great things lately. I can't imagine spending my evenings watching TV when there are so many other things that can be watched to grow in knowledge of things that really matter. Anyways, one evening our family sat and watched a great documentary on gardening by. Check out the video at Back to Eden Film to see what you can do to make your garden soil rich in nutrients and your produce filled with nutrients as well.

So, finally after our camping trip and being busy about with other things, we were able to spend some time getting our garden ready for next year. I will try to explain after each picture what the process was, but I do encourage you to watch the video and gain for yourself the knowledge that you can attain about this new concept of gardening.

The first step is to lay newspaper down over top of the area where you want you put your garden. We increased our vegetable garden area to take up our wild flower area. We moved our flowers to a new location in hopes of growing flowers to sell for bouquets next summer. We'll see if that happens. We have plans, now we'll see when they come to be. : )

After the newspaper, you are supposed to put compost and then mulch. But Jonathon did some reading on what others did and some just left out the compost and did extra mulch, because that's what they had available. This is exactly our situation.

Thank you to friends at church for letting us borrow his dump trailer and to my dad for letting us borrow his truck. We did have to do some hand shoveling but the truck and trailer sure made the first part easier. Jonathon hauled whatever mulch he could from a tree cutting service. They had a skid loader there that they allowed him to use to load it into the trailer. That was a huge blessing!

Load after load he brought and dumped. The children loved playing on the piles!

The beautiful fall colors are beginning to fade, but they are still pretty.

Day 2- spreading the mulch. We were quite sore after the first day of getting the papers down and getting mulch shoveled on to keep the paper in place. This is a big garden. I encouraged Jonathon to borrow the neighbor's tractor to finish out the job just to spare his back from more pain. I certaily didn't want him pushing it and causing back problems again. Neighbor's tractor was a huge blessing also!

The children didn't stop enjoying the piles of dirt.

My little photographer wasn't scared of that tractor. I liked this picture because she got a small area of where we put straw instead of paper. I've been cleaning out the cow's barn and just throwing the straw and manure over to the chickens pen. They scrape through it and clean out all the bugs. Well, I had read that you could also use straw, so thinking that we wouldn't have enough newspaper, I asked Jonathon if I should go scoop up all that straw. I had 2 loads of that and got it spread out on the garden and the chickens loved finding all the bugs that had settled in underneath it in their pen. What a feast of bugs they had!

Still not tiring of the climbing and fun being had!

Josiah enjoying the dirt. A boy's favorite place!

The final spreading.

And the final project all done! Ahhh, now that looks great!

So, now we begin figuring out what all we are going to plant since it's a much bigger area. I'm sure we'll be able to fill it and use or sell what we have. Remeber those old wheels we were playing with earlier this summer? Well, we are hoping to turn that into a garden cart to sell produce off of. It's almost finished. Just needs a roof and some shelves built in and it will be ready. But I think that at this point, we'll wait til spring.

Once it's done, we'll sell what we can, and we will post on our blog here what we have available from week to week. Hope you will all stop by to enjoy the fruits of our labor from this fall.

Feast of Tabernacles- Our trip to Tennessee

2011-10-26T22:44:00.000-04:00

As this feast week approached, I found myself digging deeper into the Word to really search out what I believe He wanted to show me. My eyes were opened to so many new things. Bless Him for His revelation into the Words that He spoke so long ago.

The first portion was in Zechariah at the end of chapter 14. I'll start in verse 16. "And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles". This passage is talking about the end times. It is saying that in the end, we had better be able to recognize the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles, because if we don't join in at that time, there will be a plague to them and they will have no rain. So, why do we think that they celebrated this feast in the Old Testament and we will celebrate again one day, but we aren't to celebrate it now? Hmmm, doesn't make sense to me, so we celebrate it now, as the Word instructs and with this practice, we will for sure recognize it and not miss out.

Leviticus 23 talks about the feasts of the Lord. Interesting to me that the Lord would have special days that He wants us to celebrate in. It should be no surprise that the world has come up with its own days to distract from God's days. He calls them "My days". Have we/you regarded HIS days? He talks plenty about them in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament does He say we should continue to keep these feasts? One more passage from the Old Testament in Isaiah. Isaiah 1:14 says, "Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them." I don't think He is pleased with the counterfeit that we have put into place, calling them His. We'll see that more in the New Testament. In 1 Corinthians Paul encourages keeping the feast of Unleavened Bread in chapter 5:8. The Corinthians were a group who were converted from paganism. They had to walk away from their pagan feasts and celebrations and turn to Yahweh's feasts, which is why Paul is going over this particular feast. Paul also writes in Colossians 2:16, "So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival (this word is translated "holy day" or "feast") or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, the substance is of Christ." The Colossians were similar to the Corinthians in that they also had to walk away from paganism and false teaching within their church. Here, Paul is telling them to hold fast to what they know to be true. Don't let others judge them in the things they are doing that is of God. How do I know that he is encouraging them in God's ways and not telling them that they can celebrate whatever festivals they want, eat whatever they want, drink whatever they want, have their sabbath whenever they want? Well, let's back up a bit. It's best to take Scripture in full context. Let's go back to verse, oh, let's start at the beginning of chapter 2. "For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in sprirt, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philospy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic priniciples of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are comlete in Him, who is the head of all prinicipality and power. In Him you were also circumcised with the circumsion made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumsion of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead."

Let's stop there for a minute. So, we read that Paul is encouraging them to "walk in Him". Then he warns them of those that will pull them away from walking with Him. And then again, reminding them that they have been forgiven of their sins and buried with Him. Now let's see where he takes it from here.

Verse 13, "And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalies and powers. He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. Verse 16, So, let no one judge you in food.............".

Now, some people say that this portion says that the law was nailed to the cross. Read carefully, because that is not what this is saying. "having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." You have sinned, what happens when you break a law of the land? Well, if you speed, you get a speeding ticket. Let's use that for the example. You have broken the law by speeding, He is forgiving you of that sin (as long as you come repentant before Him), He takes that speeding ticket and rips it up, and stomps on it on the ground for you to no longer have to pay. He has paid it for you! If we speed and get pulled over, the officer might give us a warning instead of a ticket, but does he ever say, "Okay, you learned your lesson, you no longer have to obey by the law". No way! Just like the Law was not nailed to the cross, only our certificate of debt, which in fact is what that "hand writing of requirements" literally means. Wow, when you dig deep and truly study it, it makes so much sense and flows together, the whole thing! I love it! Want more?

Okay, then onto verse 18. "Let no one cheat you of your reward (There is great reward in obeying Him, who said to observe His feasts and sabbaths. There is no reward for observing the world's.) taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations- "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle," which all concern things which perish with the using-according to the commandments and doctrines of men? (they had their own man-made laws, mishnah, such as how to wash their hands properly, what they could and couldn't do on the sabbath, etc., but none of those things could save them, they were merely man's doctrines, not God's) These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh."

Wow, how many things in our lives/churches are self-imposed religion? Doctrines that really aren't true to God's Word but only things that we have conjured up to be good ways. We once celebrated feasts and "holy days", but they weren't HIS. They were man's replacement for what God desired of His people. But we looked religious celebrating them. So sad! I am thankful that we are out of that tradition of man and into the ways of the Lord! What more do we need to see that are Your ways, Father? Teach us and show us!!!!

Okay, so we had a blast celebrating HIS appointed time of the Feast of Tabernacles. What a blessing to have extra Sabbath days of rest and to rejoice in His goodness. But most of all, we took the time to really reflect on our family and what areas need major improvement. It was a week of chastening, not just for the children but for us too. Father, help us do better, help us abide by Your Word to guide us in the areas that we struggle in. Enjoy the photos of our trip!

Date Night to Wellfield Botanical Garden

2011-09-26T09:46:00.001-04:00

Double date night with the Boomershines to Wellfield Bonatical Gardens!

Celia and I have birthdays together, and every year we try to do something, just us couples, no kids allowed. : ) One year we went to an old fashioned, homemade drinks activity at a park in Goshen. That was the year that kicked us off in doing something every year to celebrate our birthdays. This year we decided to dress up and take pictures at the gardens in Elkhart, then we went to The Vine on Main Street in Elkhart for supper. Delicious! So, enjoy these pictures of the fun we had together at the park.

There was a lot of smelling going on.

The natives are getting hungry....calling in the reservation.

I was serious when I said "natives". : )

Such big kids.

This park is truly lovely. It looks like they will be expanding it even more in the years to come. We can't wait to see how it looks in a couple years.....well, even next year. We visited earlier in the summer, and they had added a lot more flowers, seating areas, etc to the park since then. It's a gem for sure and FREE! Check it out if you are in the Elkhart area and want a nice, short, quiet walk or a place to just sit and spend time with God.

Anniversary for my parents.

2011-09-26T09:15:00.003-04:00

My parents did something special for their anniversary this year. Actually, my dad did all the arranging and my mom planned the weekend getaway. And my part came in with the cooking and decorating.

Dad had planned to do something special for mom at a park not far from our house, on their way for their weekend away. Jonathon and I got up bright and early to prepare food and load up the van with decorations and special touches. I've included some pictures here, but if you want to see the full details and lots more pictures, see the post over at CLB CeLeBrations.

A Prepared Heart

2011-09-19T14:14:00.000-04:00

Revelation 21:1
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea."

In thinking about this portion of Scripture, it led me to some other passages that refer to heaven and earth and the end times. Come along with me as I search the Scriptures for how God ties it all together.

Let's start in Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament. You'll find it interesting how the last book of the Old Testament correlates with the last book of the New Testament, Revelation. Malachi 4 says:
"For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,: says the Lord of hosts, "so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing," says the Lord of hosts. "Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with curse."

Interesting to me that He instructs us to "remember the law of Moses His servant, even the statutes and ordinances". And He doesn't just say this in the Old Testament. He mentions it again in John 5: 46 & 47, "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?" Jesus takes it a step further here though and says that if we can't believe what Moses said is true, then how will we believe what Jesus Himself said is true? Moses spoke nothing different than what Jesus spoke. Sad how so many people throw out what Moses said to be of nothing we need to listen to and remember. Jesus said we should! But He also said that it isn't the Scripture itself that will save us. The Pharisees thought that just knowing the Scriptures would save them, but if they weren't willing to see Jesus in the Scripture and come to Him, then they wouldn't have life everlasting (John 5:39 & 40).

Matt. 5: 17-19 also speaks of us not forgetting the Law. "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
Let's start with the word "fulfill". Some people say that it means to do away with. It's true meaning in this passage is "to fully preach". I believe Jesus did this while He was here on earth. It doesn't mean that He came so that we could do away with it and don't have to obey the Law anymore. That doesn't make any sense with what the rest of Scripture, both Old and New Testaments say, especially since He says He didn't come to abolish (or destroy) the Law. I don't know how people so misinterpret this portion. And we've already read that heaven and earth are only going to be passed away when the end times are here, and we are in His kingdom. This passage then finishes up with saying who will be called least and greatest in the kingdom. I pray that if you are one who considers the Law to be of no affect since Jesus came to die for our sins, please reconsider. What do you think this portion is saying if it's not what I just summarized here?

In studying about heaven and earth and mostly the new heaven and new earth, I came across 2 Peter 3:10-18, which says, "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprinicpled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen."

What another amazing portion that starts out talking about heaven and earth passing away and the warning of staying true to what the Scriptures say(rememeber these were the Old Testament- the Torah, as this is all they had at that time, they didn't have the New Testament). A warning that some distort the Scriptures and it brings them to their own destruction.  He encourages to stay steadfast and grow in grace and knowledge. Now some think that grace came as a replacement of the Law. Not so. The definition of grace is: A divine influence upon the heart, with a reflection in the life. The divine influence is the Spirit of God. He speaks to our heart all that the Scriptures (remembering that it's the Old Testament) contain. The reflection in our life should be an act of obedience to what He has commanded us to do, both in the Old Testament and New since none of it contradicts itself. That is true grace. It doesn't give us a license to do what we want, picking and choosing only what is convenient for us to obey. Yeah, the 10 commandments are givens of what we need to obey, but if those are relevant for us, then why aren't the rest of His statutes and commands?  It's not a buffet to choose what satisfies our souls from one day to the next. This will lead to destruction.

Now let's go back to Revelation.  All who believe in God know that this book is some day going to come to pass. But let's not ignore the very end of it. Revelation 22:18-21 says:
" I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book; if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book. He who testifies to these things say, "Yes, I am coming quickly," Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen."

Now I know that John wrote this and is talking about Revelation as the prophecy of this book. But when he mentions that nothing should be added or taken away from this book, he is taking that straight out of Deuteronomy 12:32 when God Himself, speaking of what He commanded us to do, says that we should not add to it or take away from it.  I was guilty of taking away from it for so long, thinking that the Law was done away with. This is taking away from His Scriptures and what God said. Be careful! Now the ending of Revelation is just perfect (aren't the Scriptures as a whole though?).  "The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen". It is only with His grace that we can walk according to His Word, not adding to it or taking away from it, so that we too can have a part in the tree of life.

I just love the revelation that He has been bringing to my mind the last couple weeks. The fall feasts are approaching, and I know that He is preparing my heart to rejoice and celebrate during the Feast of Tabernacles which is the next one coming in October. My heart is full and overflowing with His Word that comes to my mind daily. I have so much more to read and learn, but as long as I keep pressing on, growing in grace (a divine influence upon my heart, with a reflection in my life), then I'll be getting one step closer every day.   Blessings as your hearts are being prepared for the fall feasts. What an honor to serve Him and praise Him during His feasts. I am so thankful we honor His times and not the worlds! We live for Him, not ourselves!

Bible, Cereal and Rainbow

2011-09-07T21:29:00.003-04:00

We always get our children their own Bible to follow along at church when they are of reading age. Josiah has picked up reading so well and has been asking for a Bible, so we thought it was time to buy him one. Oh the look of pure joy when he opened it up and saw what it was.

The blessing upon him if he just obeys what it says

And then there is Benaiah. He loves Raisin Bran. And even more than that, he loves the raisins in Raisin Bran. So what do I find him doing one day while I was busy in the kitchen? Yep, dumping the cereal out of the bag and picking the raisins out of it. If he weren't so cute, I'm sure I would have lost my mind by now. : )

And then there is Diella. She got this crazy idea to dress her brother up in her sisters matching skirt. Oh the giggles that this brought about. Okay, it is pretty funny and I did join in on the laughter.

And then there is Alegra. She loves the beauty of a colorful sky. I just happened to look out the window to this lovely lit up sky, and we all went a running out the front door. While we were taking pictures and admiring it's beauty, we heard some deer snorting at us. Four mommas and one lone baby bouncing through the beans hoping the adults don't leave him/her behind were right behind us in the field. There is just something about a peaceful and gorgeous display right before bed and being graced with nature close by. Yahweh created such wonderful things for us to enjoy and our little family sure was enjoying some of them tonight. Within an hour the colors changed to vibrant pinks and purples. And what a lovely little homestead we have here. We are blessed and are thankful every day for what we have been given!

34 Years Ago Was My Day Of Birth

2011-08-31T14:23:00.006-04:00

So, a year can come and go so fast anymore. It's true, the older you get, the faster life goes. And same for, time flies when you're having fun. Guess I'm getting older and having fun both! My birthday was yesterday, and I spent time at my mom's working on relish to can and spent some time with my great friend, eating cupcakes and giving her a pregnancy massage (one of my most favorite things to do!).

Our line up of help cutting, chopping, cleaning, food processing, and crying from onions. : ) The children were great help and it was amazing how quickly we were done with the prep work to can relish.

We actually spent Sunday celebrating my birthday with my family. I invited everybody to go with us to Goshen to a vintage baseball game. Grandpa Murphy even came along for the fun. We all enjoyed watching one game and were volunteered to watch a little girl while her daddy played ball. Glad she didn't mind us trying to entertain her.

After the game we took a bike ride around the around park while the rest of my family went home to prepare a meal. Delicious it was! After dinner and some ice cream cake, we sat around the table listening to my dad and grandpa tell fishing stories from when my dad was a boy when they lived in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. God's hand was on them through so many situations that could have ended very badly. But apparently I was to be a part of this world, so he kept my dad living. : )

And we can't forget about some gifts from my children. Diella went shopping and bought me some new dish towels because mine are all torn and ragged. She even picked my favorite color, blue. But during a bike ride one evening she slipped up and told me what she bought, so when I opened her present, I made sure to act surprised for her. : )

Such sweet cards from my children. The ideas they had to gift me and the words they chose to honor me. I am loved by my family!

Oh yes, and if you are riding your bike on a road, and there is a sign that says "caution slippery", be aware of the sign and road condition. Riding through water on a road with a child in a seat behind your bike, will result in an accident. Yep, you guessed it, Jonathon tested the waters, hit the algea that was formed on the road from the water, the weight from Benaiah behind caused some sliding and down they went. Nobody was hurt, thankfully, and we all learned a good lesson! And we took the bridge to get across.

Health, Yaks and Amish Land

2011-08-26T11:46:00.007-04:00

We always have our first day of school be a field trip of some kind and though we aren't plugging away at books quite yet, we did count this as our first day. There is just too much nice weather for us to enjoy than to be sitting inside doing books.

Jonathon as been researching different cattle that he could be interested in raising and somehow he came across yaks. After finding a yak farm in Michigan, he decided we needed to go visit them. There is also a health musem that I have wanted to take the children to, but it was just too far away for me to take a day trip with them and drive all the way there just for that. The health museum in St. Joseph Mercy Health Center and the Yak farm were just about 18 miles apart, so we combined them to make a fun day. The health museum takes you on a walk through the body. There were lots of fun activities for them to do, read, and compete in.

We figured out that most of us read the word better than seeing and saying the color in ink. This was an interesting activity.

Who wants to crawl through the intestines?

And who wants to come out to the end...our little stinker, that's for sure!

They learned how much money it costs to smoke and what smokers could buy instead.

This nose, if you sat under it, would sound like a really big sneeze. While Diella was in the bathroom we decided we would have her sit under it and take her picture of her reaction. Well, she didn't care at all. I, on the other hand, when I sat under there when noone was looking, got out of there real quick. Good thing the camera wasn't on me at the time. : )

Jonathon seeing how strong he is.....too much work apparently.

Okay, that's better. I was starting to worry about how strong my man was. :D

They learned that their right arm is stronger than their left, except Josiah. He was the same which would make sense since he is ambidextrous (is that how you spell that word?).

And as the competiveness arose in him, he way out did his sisters in this challenge.

Benaiah loved the two slides they had. Just the right size for him.

Now onto the Michigan Yakkers!

We had such a good visit at this farm. The owners were entirely more hospitable than we could have imagined, the children had a fun time playing with their son and we enjoyed learning about the yaks and other critters they had on their farm. They have yaks, sheep, turkeys of all sizes, chickens of different kinds, ducks, a bunny and bees. What a lovely place this was!!!

I believe we gained some knowledge in how the animals are and loved how docile they were, but when Benaiah snuck into the pen with the yaks, I sure wasn't gonna let him get close to those mommas. Yikes, okay, gave this momma a little scare for a second, and I learned that I can squeeze through a split rail fence in short order if need be. : )

They also prepared a meal for us! We were not expecting to be fed, that's for sure. They served yak short ribs, potatoes and beans from their garden. All right up our alley and everything was just delicious! The meat was so moist and definitely liked by us all! Thank you to Michigan Yakkers (Tom and Cayce Kelly) for being so hospitable to our family!

One more stop on the field trip day....Joshua Murphy's Homestead

We weren't expecting horse rides, but what a great way to end our day! We got all sorts of goodies at this stop. Let's see, a bushel of peaches for $17.50 (guess I better figure out what to do with them now), a loaf of homemade bread, watermelon for a snack, horse rides, a bag of organic field corn cobs (so I can make some of my grandma German's corn cob jelly), Jonathon got his first peek at an ice house, saw a mass production of eggs from free range chickens, and I got a lovely, quiet visit for a bit with my sister, Ellen. We don't get too many of those opportunities, and I think my brother was disappointed that he didn't get to join us, but sometimes us ladies just need some chat time. : )

What a full and fun day! We learned so many things from a broad range of topics. I do believe this was a sufficient day of schooling for the children.

Pumpkinvine Bike Trip- Shipshewana to Middlebury

2011-08-24T19:44:00.002-04:00

Since the summer seems to be rushing right by, if we don't say "let's just go now", then it won't happen. After hearing about this part of the pumkinvine trail being finished, we decided we had better try it out. What a great ride!

The trail started at Ed's Supply in Shipshewana. We parked at Ed's, but then once getting back to the van, we realized there was a sign there that said, no parking. Oops! From Shipshewana it went all the way across the country side to Middlebury, right to Dairy Queen. What a great treat after a long ride!
As soon as we got to Dairy Queen, it started to sprinkle. We figured we would be riding back in the rain, but when we left the clouds rolled away and the sun came out. What a great trip! And who can pass up Dairy Queen? : ) A 12 mile bike ride round trip. Some were too tired by the time we got back and some were ready to ride more. Some road circles around others and one could have cared less what happened to him. : ) I, the mom, am just glad that we are all healthy and able to ride our bikes, enjoy the weather and be treated to food at a restaurant. I don't want to take anything for granted. Everything we have is a blessing to us!

Lessons from Tomatoes

2011-08-18T18:55:00.012-04:00

I was canning tomatoes the other day and while I was working, I had a nice visit with God. He layed some thoughts on my heart and mind, bringing to my attention those that I know who are struggling in their lives with feeling hopeless or families that seem to have more troubles than blessings.

He directed my mind to The 10 Commandments. Christians/Americans can really be forceful in how they feel about these commandments, but as I cut my tomatoes, the question came to me, "Do they even know what it is they think should be kept or obeyed? Do YOU even know, really know, what it is that I want YOU to obey?"

So, after my pressure cooker was filled with jars of bright red tomatoes, and the stove top turned on, I sat down to read it for myself, word for word, not adding to it or taking away from it.

The 10 Commandments start in Exodus 20:1. I didn't get very far when I had to reread a portion. And I noticed that it gave more instruction than what I had been reading, so verse 5 says, "you shall not bow down to them (referring to carved images) nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." And because He doesn't ever contradict Himself, He says the same thing in John 14:15 where Jesus says, "If you love Me, keep my commandments." This part of the 10 Commandments sounds to me like if you don't keep His commandments, He considers you to hate Him and the punishment will leak down into your future generations. Could some people be struggling so badly because of the sins of their fathers or grandfathers? Sounds like it to me. Interesting. The pressure cooker is sounding bubbly inside, onto the next verses that catch my attention.

I must confess, the next one that caught my eye, didn't stick out because it was interesting to ponder on, but because I was guilty of not obeying it. This is what it says (It's a long one with explanation on exactly how to keep this commandment and I still messed it up. I would guess He knew we would mess it up since He dedicated 4 verses to explaining it to a T.), verse 8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."

I would make my girls wash dishes. It's not that I think washing dishes is wrong to do on the Sabbath, but to them, it is work. So, I was chastised by my husband just this last week for it, and won't be making them do the dishes anymore, unless they choose to do it to serve their family as unto the Lord. Another thought that He gave me on this passage was, "Why would man change My day? I chose and blessed that day for a reason, to bless you at the end of your tiresome week. I didn't change it to another day anywhere in my Scripture." He clearly said when the day was supposed to be. If we are creating our own version of when His Sabbath is, are we keeping HIS version of the 10 Commandments or our own? He brought an example to my mind. Say I asked my children to put their bikes away, and they decided to wait until tomorrow, and their dad came home after dark and didn't see the bikes, resulting in ran over bicycles. My command was to be done when I said it, for their own good. God wants us to not just say, "Okay", but to then obey what He says, when He says it.

Then the very next commandment is, "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you." I love how He gives more details on how He feels about some of the commandments, almost showing us the ones that would be harder for us to obey.

And another He elaborates on, the last one, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's." Speaking for myself, it's hard to not want more. Just in case you might try to find a loop hole, He covers it by saying, "nor ANYTHING that is your neighbor's." So, don't think there are any exceptions. I usually do though, and this command reminds me to be content in ALL things. I am content now that I hear some bobbling going on. Fifteen more minutes and my canned tomatoes will be done.

So, back to this, "If you love Me, keep My commandments". Does it just refer to The 10 Commandments or all that He has commanded in His Word? I challenge you to search it out as our family has. I do know that Psalm 19:7&8 says,

"The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;

The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;

The judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, Yea than much fine gold;

Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

Moreover by them Your servant is warned,

And in keeping them there is great reward."

Time to turn the canner off, and let the pressure go down before checking out my jars of tomaters.

He brings to the forefront of my mind one more portion of Scripture. 2 Timothy 3:16 & 17, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." The "Scripture" that they had was the Law of God, The Commandments, and His statutes. This is where doctrine, correction and instruction in living righteously comes from. The "New Testament" just reiterates it by using Jesus as the perfect example of how we should obey it.

My canned tomatoes are looking pretty good. What a blessing and reward they will be this winter, after all the work we've put into growing them from seed, planting them in the garden, weeding them, picking them, cleaning them, and canning them. Is that it? Do people just not want to go through the work it takes to make our desperately wicked hearts obey God in ALL He commands us to? Our family is in the process of growing (learning His Word, causing our minds to be opened wider than ever), weeding (getting rid of all of man's version and only following HIS version), picking (choosing only the Truth of God's ways, not what is tainted with man's ways), cleaning (washing away the dirt and filth of our hearts so we can stand before him with pure hearts), and canning (preparing ourselves for that glorious day when He returns to reward us with eternity in His kingdom).

We love to talk about what we've learned and hear Scriptures that may teach us something else that we hadn't considered. Maybe we are missing something, so we always welcome hearing Scripture that we can grow and learn together with other believers. Isn't that what we should all be doing, challenging, questioning and holding one another accountable? The reward will be great when we hear Him say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant".

Produce & Sleeping Children= JOY!

2011-08-12T17:32:00.004-04:00

Oh the joys of harvesting from our own land. This week, we've begun getting tomatoes that I've canned as stewed tomatoes for chili this winter, and just harvested my first ever zucchini. Never got it to grow until this year. Beans were ready to be picked just for an addition to our supper meal, and I accidently pulled out one onion, but added it to our supper as well. I also cut off some fresh mint to add to our mid day snack of mint chocolate chip shakes. Oh, and peppers, which I've been chopping up and freezing. Am always glad to have those on hand when the prices go up during the winter. And my new produce basket that was given to us by Jonathon's mom, Linda. She sure does provide us with some very useful items for around our farmstead, for which we are very thankful for!

Summer days sure are tiring. That's the way we like it around here. As we continue to struggle with having such a small house with our 4 children, it's nights like this one that causes me to realize that they have a roof over their head, are clothed, have warm blankets and a soft place to lay, and are building great memories with their siblings, so what's the struggle really about. Because we live in a society that says, "live the american dream with a huge house, a bedroom for each person, garage, fancy cars, and name brand clothing", that's what the struggle is. It isn't something that is biblical. It is something that is of this culture in this day and age. Things of this world are only a distraction by the enemy of what we should really be focusing on for the Lord. So, as I contemplate on that while I eat my dinner that was made from mostly things out of our garden, I will choose to let all those distracting trends and cultural beliefs go by the wayside while I live simply and focus on only what HE wants of me. That's really all that matters in eternity.

And just for the record, we don't just have 2 beds. We do have 4 beds for the children, but I guess it's more fun to sleep together, at least as long as they are on the top bunk. And Benaiah was quick to climb up into Josiah's bed while it was free. Fun to be a kid.

A Wheely fun Time

2011-07-31T11:17:00.004-04:00

We are wanting to make a produce stand for this fall. Would have liked one for the summer, but it seems we didn't get our thoughts together soon enough. Got the animals before summer was over, but not a produce stand. That's okay. We are in planning mode for that now. And after finding a super good deal on a banner through Hip2Save we decided to get one made for our stand and stop dawdling with it. So, we have a super cute banner now that fits our family quite nicely I think, and now we are getting the parts around to put it together. Here are our first parts in action.....
Jonathon's mom had these two wheels at her house that were beside a cement slab, so after asking if we could use them, we brought them home as our first donation to our project. And as you can see they worked perfectly for some fun too. Jonathon had to do some engineering to make this work, but after some pipes here and a pipe there, he did it. And the children were not about to try it, so we had to demonstrate.

And I think we are getting too old for such games. Well, I didn't get hurt, but somebody thought "he" gave himself a hernia or something. : )

And everybody then had to try their hand at running the wheel. What fun and didn't cost us anything and hopefully the childre will have memories of that evening to tell their children. Think of the fun we'd miss out on if we were TV watchers. It's no wonder our nation is so obese. Children lose out on these old time fun and active memories as they are spending their time infront of a box. So sad. We do enjoy a movie here and there, but I believe people spend a majority of their time watching a box that doesn't give back to them in life. And think of how much money people spend on this entertainment. Okay, that's my soap box for now. : )

Get up, get out and have some good old fashioned fun. You'll feel more alive, with a wellspring of joy from your heart.

The Bovees, Busy at Work

2011-07-14T21:56:00.003-04:00

This summer, we have been busy, busy, busy. But thankfully it's the kind of busy that we all enjoy! We love working together out in the heat stacking wood, weeding the flower beds, and hoeing the garden. Okay, maybe that's an exageration that we ALL enjoy it. I'd say Jonathon and I do, but the young 'ens don't so much. It's good for them!

We have added some residents to our homestead as of late. We added 3 chickens that gave us 3 eggs, until today. The girls came running in saying that they found 3 eggs in the chicken coop and 11 under the chicken coop. We have one lady who likes to hide out under it, so I guess now we know what she's been doing under there. They gathered them all up and brought them inside. Hmmm, now we should figure out which one we've been seeing go under the chicken coop, so we know which one is our good layer.

We haven't had a lot of garden work yet other than keeping it hoed and weeded. That is a job when we get plenty of rain. Thankfully we have stayed on top of it, and it looks pretty good. We have been getting lettuce and peas and some herbs have been cut and are drying in the attic. Today I went out to the wildflower area to gather some mulein to make some infused oil for sickness. And while I was doing that, some more residents arrived.

But our day started out different than most weekdays. Jonathon didn't have any jobs scheduled for today, so he drove his van to get worked on, then from there he biked to his mom's house (12 miles). After stopping at a garage sale and buying some pants for .50 and .25, the children and I headed to pick up Jonathon. He was helping his mom get her barn cleaned up from years and years of accumulation. Slowly but surely it's getting cleaned out and is looking good. I suggested a barn party when it's all clean, but I'm not sure anybody was listening to me. : )

We took him to pick up his van and then he went to Ron Hyre's to ride with over to pick up our new boys. While he was gone, we had supper and worked at getting some other things done around here that were on my list for today, laundry, garlic oil, raspberries picked, and not on my list but accomplished, two spillings of liquids on the floor from Benaiah.

My mom had some garlic that came up on it's own this year, so I dug that up the other day, then today went and cut mulein, St. John's Wart, and thyme. I also cut off the remaining of lavender I had and got out some that I just dried. I put all of those things (cut up) in two jars and then poured all the olive oil that I have into the jars. It was supposed to be filled to the top, but I didn't have enough oil, so tomorrow I will have to buy more to fill it all the way. This concoction will sit for about 6 weeks in my window for the sun to heat up. All the medicinal properties from the herbs will release into the oil while it sits and will become a great oil for earaches and for internal use for coughs (added with honey) and honey. I usually just do garlic and mulein, but this year I thought I would add more things that would be good internally as my children have been taking the oil by the spoonful when they are sick. Doesn't taste good, but it's only for a short bit.

Now onto our new residents......

We have 2 new calves. They are so great! They came from a farm that only pasture feeds which was what we wanted. This is so much healthier for the animal as this is what they were created to do. And take note of the little bird house in this picture. Alegra sure is creative with her picture taking. Anyways, Josiah made it for his dad for father's day and it looks as though somebody else has taken up residence on our little farm.

Tonight, as I sit here blogging, our new boys are not sounding too happy being away from their momma. They aren't used to people at all, so our children are trying to befriend them. They got pretty close tonight to them and I'm sure as the days go by, they will continue to make friends. Not sure how long it will be safe for them to go out there, but for now, it's okay. They sure are pretty and healthy looking.

And the papa is feeling pretty good about all the new additions to our homestead. I believe he is in his element. Does he look like a proud farmer? : )

There was also some ball playing, bike riding, weeding, and ice cream eating tonight. This sure felt like a full day.

What has been keeping us so busy that I haven't been able to blog more? Well, if you check out CLB CeLeBrations, that is where a lot of my time is spent. I have been busy planning celebrations for the ladies at our fellowship and boy have they been blessed. It is so wonderful for me to know that others are being ministered through something that the Lord put on my heart to do. The next one coming up is for my party assistant. A little more challenging without her by my side, but she deserves a good blessing too, so others have stepped up and lended their help, which I'm so very thankful for!

We have also been riding our bikes a lot lately. Last Sunday, we took a ride to my parent's house with one pit stop half way. It was a great ride and felt so good being out, getting exercise. The ride was a total of almost 11 miles. Everybody made it safely and without falling over from being weary. Jonathon is planning on taking a big bike trip of about 150 miles over 2 or 3 days with a few of his buddies, and I would like to make a trip to his mom's which would be about 28 miles. Hopefully, by fall I'll be worked up to that. The children probably won't be worked up as there are lots of hills and it would be nice to have a whine free trip once. : ) Yes, they do whine, and are learning the meaning of overcoming obstacles and having victory over what seems difficult to them.

I believe our work is done for the day. Alegra is reading a book to Benaiah, Diella and Josiah are in bed, Jonathon is showering, and I am finally getting a blog finished of our lives as of late. Always so much to do, but enjoying every minute of it. Hope you are all enjoying your summer! But for now, I'm hoping I don't hear calves all night crying out for their momma. Hmmmm, I remember when I was young going out and sleeping with our sheep. I wonder if they need an adopted momma. I better not. They're gonna be on our dinner plates when they get bigger.

A Day on the Lake

2011-06-20T13:29:00.002-04:00

We spent a great day with my parents on their boat, just relaxing and enjoying the perfect summer evening.

Josiah air surfing and having such a great time doing it! There isn't too much that's better than seeing my children smile so big because life is great! : )

A fish that didn't get away from this good fisher boy.

Brothers just hanging out together and enjoying the scenery!

Keeslar Family Farm Field Trip

2011-06-05T13:46:00.005-04:00

We had one more day to complete for school that we saved for a field trip. The Keeslar family did it last year also, and we missed it, so I wanted to get the children to it this year. Time for shearing the sheep. So, come along as we fed the goats, and watched sheep get cooled off for summer. Very interesting and the children were quite fascinated by it.

Lots of wool left over after all that shearing took place! How amazing that God created an animal to grow a thick coat of something that we as humans can use to keep our bodies warm. He is a master when it comes to taking care of His flock. : )