Convicted?

The other day, I was driving with my four children to church.  My six year old was sitting in the back where he could see the speedometer.

“Mom, can you go faster?”

I had to clarify what exactly he was asking.  Did he want me to drive faster or was the van capable of going faster?

“Oh, MOM, I know the van can go faster.  It says it will go 140″.  (He was pointing out the top speed marking on the dashboard).  “Will you drive faster, so we can get there sooner?”

Then, I began to explain that there is a law called the speed limit.  We can’t go any faster than what the law says.

“Well, there aren’t any police around, so you can!”

“Buddy!  That would be wrong.  It would break the law.  Just because you won’t get caught doesn’t mean you should do it.  It is against the law–and God’s law too–to kill people.  But do you think we should kill someone just because the police won’t catch us and put us in jail?”

At this point, all the kids let out a resounding “NOOOOOO!!!!”  That’s where the conversation ended.  Pat self on back for teaching kids important lesson.  Drive on, mom.

Five minutes later…..  “Mom, you said the word speed limit earlier.  What is that?”

“Well honey, it’s the speed that is the most you can go on a road.”

“Then why do you go faster on the way to the store than to the bank?”

“Because speed limits are different for different roads.”

“What is the speed limit for this road?”

“55.”

“Then does that mean you are breaking the law?  The arrow says 60.  Are you going to go to jail?”

OUCH!  yeah.  That was bad.  (As a side note, our speedometer is off a little, but not quite that much.  I was going 58 in actuality.  My GPS lets me know that.)

I always go 3 or 4 over   was going 3 over.  Boy, did I feel convicted…of a crime.  My six year old asked “if it is the law that you can’t go faster than 55, and you are, then I was right about the “no police around” thing, right?”

Parenting conundrum.  a) Slow down and be late to prove point and relieve conscience.  b) Continue at 58 dismiss the overage as the “speedometer is off” to the kids, numb my conscience (and theirs), and make it on time.

Well, I was 10 minutes late to church that night.  And there wasn’t a cop around.  (I have actually been known to not slow down when in the presence of a cop car–because then you look suspicious.)  Will I continue to drive only up to 55 in a 55?  I don’t know.  Sometimes, I think (especially on the interstate) that it can be dangerous not to move with the flow of traffic.  Otherwise, I will probably be the slow one putt-putt-putting along on the country roads, with eight little eyes watching me.

Ps. 37:8b

“do not fret—it only leads to evil.”

David warns against even fretting (or worrying) about the evil ways of others, not because it is evil in and of itself, but because it only leads to evil. No good can come out of it. When someone does something against me, I have a tendency to really fret over it.

“why did they do that?
Did I do something to them first that they took as offensive?
It really bothers me that……
If they were here right now, I’d tell them a thing or two.
Man, that really eats at me.
How can I punish them?”

All of that: questions to assumptions to dwelling to unloading to planning revenge (and eventually carrying some of it out) can rush over me more quickly than it took to write it all down—or type it out. That which simply started as “fretting” led to evil. If fretting only leads to evil, then it NEVER, ever, ever, ever leads to good. No matter how many times I try to convince myself—If I just think about this a little bit, I can come up with a way to “fix” it. It’s not. gonna. happen. It will only lead to EVIL.

Resolve for Each New Day

Happy New Year! What is it that makes January 1st different from December 31st? Not much. Except that we see it as a new beginning.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” 

Lamentations 3:22-23

There are so many new year’s resolutions being thrown about this time of year.  For the past few years, I have resolved NOT to make any resolutions, so as to not break promises.  This year, I have decided to try something different.  I want to make my resolutions not based on the year, but based on the DAY.  I want to wake up each morning saying: “This day I will be committed to serving God and living out my beliefs practically.  [read: live like I say I believe]”

I used to get so disappointed when I would break a New Year’s resolution.  Once I had failed, it was no use, I had failed until the next year.  If I fail my New Day’s resolution, I have only failed for that 24 hour period and can start fresh tomorrow.  (Perhaps I should do New Second’s resolutions…?)

God has been faithful throughout 2012 (as always).  He has provided for all our needs.  We have seen His hand at work in our lives.  It seems almost counter intuitive, but it has been wonderful to have the hard times.  It gave us a chance to see God move on our behalf, to show His love for us in tangible ways.

COLORADO

As promised last week, here are some pictures.  If you hadn’t figured it out from the clues last Friday, or the title today…We went to Colorado.

It was our first time without the kids in 5 years.  We dropped off the kiddos two by two with their aunts and headed out.  Just the two of us.  It was weird, especially at first.  It felt awkward to be in a quiet minivan.  But we got used to it. 🙂 

A friend of ours was getting married in Denver.  I have an uncle and aunt that live between Colorado Springs and Denver they offered to put us up while we did some sightseeing and then went to the wedding.  Here are a few of the highlights.

1) strangest object found on side of road:  gavel  [no, not gravel]
2) coolest word found on sign:  “mudjacking”  [definition: a technique of pressure injecting grout for the purpose of raising or stabilizing concrete slabs]
3) Random items to break up Nebraska:  Fake giraffe head poking out of a barn.  Life size replica of T-Rex charging the interstate.
4) We played the License Plate Game.  And found representation from 46 states!!! And 5 provinces!  [I thought that was a lot.]

anyway…here’s what you’ve really been waiting for:

We found a pony express station.  Cool factor:  Buddy and I are studying the Pony Express this year in 1st grade.  So… we stopped, took photos, talked to the local historian, bought a neat Pony Express coloring book, and had fun just looking around learning.

                                                               

The best part of Nebraska was when the sun set.  SO pretty.

This outcropping of rocks on Pike’s Peak was pretty big.  He’s the king of the world. 

 

We actually did a TON more, but I’ll just have to save that for another post.  Happy Friday!

Where am I?

It’s Friday.  I’m not home.  Here is a fun little scavenger hunt to find out where I might be.
1.  I am “out West”
2.  The elevation is 5,280 ft.
3.  Sunsets are “Orange and Blue”
4.  I am approx. 1,000 miles from home.
5.  The mountains here are a little bigger than my Ocooch Mountains.

Have fun guessing!  Next week there WILL be photos.  :0)

EGGstraordinary EGGstravaganza

Oh yeah, that’s right….it is Friday.

Well, let me begin by explaining.  The Amish sell pullet eggs for .40/doz.  (Yeah, that’s 40 cents!)  My neighbor asked me if I wanted some eggs. I said, “Sure!”  Little did I know that meant 15 dozen.

Terra, what do you do with 15 dozen eggs!!??  Well, my friend, I’m glad you asked.

I started frying them.  And since I have only ONE frying pan, it was beginning to take quite a while.

Then, I came up with an AMAZING idea!  My mom used to let us cook eggs in the microwave.  (I don’t own a microwave, but I have an oven….)  Instead of sticking them on a cookies sheet–which I thought might possibly turn out a teeny tinny bit messy–I opted for my muffin pans.  One egg per hole.

I baked them at 350 for 15 minutes.  BUT they weren’t quite done all the way.  Ok, so they would’ve been done enough for my dad, or anyone else who likes their eggs “over easy.”   I wanted to freeze these, and I wasn’t sure how well that would work out.  SOOOO, I poked a hole in the yolk.  (You can see the fork holes in some of them.)

This is after they were cooked.  I cooled them on a rack and then froze them between sheets of wax paper.  BONUS:  They fit perfectly on an english muffin.  Since Ben has an “Egg McMuffin” knock-off every morning for breakfast, I pretty much scored!

Now, I have a freezer full of eggs.  The only thing I’m not actually cool with is that I think they would freeze better if they were scrambled.  I did this project a while back, and you can tell the eggs don’t taste quite as fresh anymore.  I know that Bob Evans sells a frozen breakfast sandwich with egg.  It keeps well.  The eggs are scrambled.  All in all, it was a good idea.  With the tweak of scrambling, I think it would be PERFECT!

An explanation, an apology, but no excuses

Good day all! I have been out of the blog world for quite a spell. Many of you still kept visiting OneAcreFarm even though there have been no posts for a while. This spring, Ben’s teaching contract came to an end. That meant it was decision time for us. What are we going to do now? Because Ben was finishing his degree (he’s done Finally!!!!), he put his resume out to a couple of different places. It looked like we were going to be moving…..AGAIN. To say that I got a little bummed would be an understatement.  I was downright grouchy about the whole thing.  I just wanted to be normal for a change!!!  I was mad at Ben. I was mad at my kids.  I was mad at his perspective places of employment.  I was even mad at God.  It was not a good time in our home.

I decided to not post OneAcreFarm.  Mostly because I was being just plain cantankerous.  …and I didn’t know whether we would be on one acre, or two acres, or in a tiny apartment with no land….  Pretty much bad attitude reigned.  So, I stopped posting.  It was my revenge on everything that was “ruining” my idea of what life should be.

Throughout the months of waiting, I learned a lot.  Like how when we ask God to teach us patience, He does…..through experience.  (insert Argh!)  I also had to learn a really BIG lesson about letting God take control.  [I’m kind of a control freak.  Not in your typical sorts of ways.  I don’t have to be in charge.  I just have to be “in the know,”  and I was far from “in the know.”  In fact, I was out of the loop.  All decisions were in the hands of others.]   Now, I hope that I’ve actually learned these lessons.  I hope that I don’t have to re-learn them anytime soon.  It was really, REALLY hard.

To my patient husband: “I’m sorry for being ornery during that time.  I know it made life especially hard on you with finishing up your school and all.  I will try to be more considerate of you in the future, and less wrapped up in my wants.”

 To my kids:  “You better not be on the computer!”  (I apologized in person. Besides, they can’t read.)  :0)

To my readers:  “Thank you for continuing to check if I had posted anything new.  I am sorry for leaving you out of the loop.  I will try to keep you posted if I am going to take a break anytime in the future.”

I suppose some of you may be wondering what happened in the job situation with Ben.  Well, we aren’t moving across the country!  We did not get the church he had begun candidating at.  Instead, he was offered a position as the administrator of the school that he taught at part-time last year.  He started in July!  He has been SUPER-DUPER BUSY trying to get things ready for the next school year to begin.  He is so excited about his job for the first time in a loooong time.  In fact, I can’t recall if I’ve ever seen this kind of excitement about a job.  He still wants to pastor, but for now he is using his management major.  ;0)   I think he’s a perfect fit for the job too!  (although I might be a teeny tiny bit biased.)

Meanwhile, back at the RANCH…

As many of you know, the internet can be an endless black hole.  The other day, I got on facebook to scan the feed and see if any of my friends had anything exciting happen, then I saw a blog I like was linked up to a free giveaway.  I clicked like.  It redirected me to another blog to like.  Then another.  and another. and another….  Before I knew it, I’d clicked onto a blog that had NOTHING to do with the original giveaway, but she was giving out a coupon code for a skirt, and I LOVED her shoes, so I found myself scrolling through her blog and came across a recipe for ranch dressing.  I printed it.  I checked the time.  OH, MY!  how did that happen?   Nap time was screeching to a halt and all I’d accomplished was signing up for free diapers, more free diapers, coupon codes, and printing this recipe.  OOF! 

Well……It totally paid off!!  I made the ranch.  It was loved by all.  In fact, Ben has begun to request salad, just so he can use the ranch dressing. (!!!)  He announced that I’m not to ever buy ranch again.  Because this stuff is soooooo stinkin’ amazing.  I thought it might  be a passing phase, but it has been almost 2 weeks now and he was ready to make a special trip into town just for the buttermilk that I would need to make another batch.  Oh yeah, and some lettuce too. 

When I made it, I decided to store it in an old ketchup bottle, so the photo would look just plain tacky.  (white Heinz with cracked pepper…eh.)  But Michelle’s picture looks way AMAZING!!!!  And if you want the recipe for this awesome stuff, just click the picture. 

Seriously, I thought of doing a sequential scavenger hunt for you to find the recipe (you know, with clues that lead to the next clue and you finally end up at the destination) just because that’s how I got to it, but I thought that might be a bit tedious for some.  So all you have to do is click the photo.

And again a HUGE Thank You to Michelle!!!

cheese and quackers (without the cheese)

Two Fridays ago, Ben got off work early.  (At noon.)  I asked him before he left for work that morning if he would please make sure to bring home a loaf of bread so that the kids could have peanut butter sandwiches for lunch.  Well, at 2:30 he finally pulled into the driveway.  I could not, for the life of me, figure out what had taken him sooooooo long.  I asked him and he responded with, “Just get the camera and come outside.”  My first thought was: Someone hit the van.  So, there we all were running outside to see what possible could have held him up for so long.  He threw open the back hatch for me to see some bedding (supposedly for Carmel Addison)  and a mysterious bag of “Chick Starter.”

Did you bring home chickens?  No. Uh…what’s that then? You’ll see. 

And he disappeared around to the front of the van where he reached into the passenger seat to retrieve a small box.  Yeah, I have it on video.  Yeah, I tried to post it.  Yeah, I’m technologically dysfunctional.  Anywho, let’s just say “squeals of delight” would be almost sufficient.  Yup.  He brought home two baby ducklings.  The kids named them, I take no responsibility for THAT.  I wanted to go with Drake-O and HENrietta.  Buddy named the “boy” duck: Fuzzy.  Yep, he’s going to outgrow that name faster than bamboo once he starts to feather out.  Puddi named the “girl” duck: Thankful.  So there ya’ have it folks, Fuzzy and Thankful.   (We actually don’t know their genders, but the kids claimed one as a boy and one as a girl.  We’ll see if they were right.) 

On the second day we had them, I put them in the bathtub.  Fuzzy took to it “like a duck to water.”  Go figure.  Thankful wasn’t nearly as adventurous.  However, by the end of the week, she had stopped throwing a tantrum every time we stuck her in the water.

Note: baby ducks do NOT quack.  They “BEEP.”  Especially when they are not content with life.

Ducks grow at an alarming rate.  They more than doubled in size during the first week!  At the end of two weeks, they seem HUGE compared to the little fluff-balls that Ben brought out of that tiny box.   Ducks are also reallymessy.  I had no idea that two animals so little could make such a BIG mess.  After almost two weeks of indoor poultry, they have been moved to the great outdoors.  (And there was much rejoicing in the streets…. or at least in the kitchen.)

Buddy had a great idea to make the ducks a pond out of a sled.  So that’s what we did.  They seem to like it.  I like that they are OUTdoors.  And…..I’m currently looking for good recipes.  If anyone has any good Duck recipes?  The kids are actually excited about eating their new “pets.”  Puddi suggested that we “eat Carmel too!  And…. maybe get a cat and eat that, …..and a dog.”  Strange girl.

Officially a FARM!!!

What is a farm without animals??

There will be a larger post coming, but since this is PhotoOp Friday, here’s a PHOTO!