When God Puts Something on Your Heart.....

Do you respond immediately?

Do you wait to get "clarification" that it is actually from God?

Do you push it to the side and ignore it, hoping it was a fleeting thought?

More than a year ago, I felt God's tug on my heart.

It might have even been longer than a year....I'm not sure.

While looking around my own life, I saw clutter.

In a cleaning frenzy, I must admit that I have just thrown

clutter in the trash can to make my life feel less

cluttered.

It worked.

The freeing feeling was amazing....at first.

Then that "cluttered" feeling crept back into my life.

So, once again I decluttered.

I threw clutter in the trash.

I felt free again.

Then HERE it came again!

That feeling I just couldn't shake.

How many times would I have to declutter to get rid of

that nagging feeling I was doing something wrong?

Finally, I stopped.

I prayed.

I opened my Bible.

I tuned into God.

I listened.

God revealed to me His infinite wisdom.

SHARE.

LOVE.

LIVE.

I prayed some more.

Here is what I heard.....

Instead of throwing away perfectly good "clutter".

SAVE IT.

STORE IT.

WHAT?????  Did I HEAR that correctly?

Um, Dear God....I said I have CLUTTER and you want me to SAVE IT and STORE IT?

HELLLLOOOOOO.....

I questioned whether he really understood my problem.

I sat on it for at least a year....surely he didn't want me to SAVE and STORE my clutter.

One day while at my Thursday Sisters' Bible Study....I blurted out a suggestion...

"Hey, what if we had a clothing closet at church and gave away clothes?"

I think I hoped they would not show any excitement...and then I would

know for sure it was not a GOD thing.

WRONG!!!

They were almost TOO excited.

Matter of fact, the entire plan was hatched, planned and set in stone on the church

calendar that very day.

MARCH 26, 2011 would be the very first LOVE CLOSET.

We started spreading the word to save gently used and new clothes.

We facebooked it, we put it in the newspaper, we advertised in the church bulletin.

We made fliers for school, we made fliers for the local food pantry.

We collected items - we asked for ladders and hangers and broomsticks.

This last picture is all that is left of the March 26, 2011 LOVE CLOSET.

(Minus the kids.)

We planned to be open from 9:00am - 2:00pm.

People were at the door at 8:00am.

Each person received a paper grocery sack (Donated by Reasors Grocery).

If they could get it in the sack, they could take if FOR FREE.

Of course in the planning stages we had the nay sayers....but what ifs and so on....

we stood strong and said we would do this from the love in our hearts and

not judge whether someone "really" needed the things or not.

We didn't have any problems because

we knew we were tuned in to what God was calling us to do.

When we finished and locked up on that March 26th day, my heart was

swelling with LOVE and relief for God's children.

Here I sit, typing this post and can honestly say my heart hasn't deflated a smidgen.

Matter of fact, I think I continues to grow bigger.

Our next LOVE CLOSET will be a BACK TO SCHOOL LOVE CLOSET.

We are already SAVING IT and STORING IT.

Thank you God for continuing to whisper to me until I could take it no more.

By SAVING IT and STORING IT, we were able to SHARE IT and SHOW LOVE and in return, LIVE!!

(Thanks Tresa for noticing I had last year's date...oops...it is 2011, sorry)

Got Problems?

Do you ever feel like you are minding your own business;

heading in the direction you feel is right.

It isn't until then, that you look up and

BAM, it is right on top of you!

Sometimes life just feels out of control.

Sometimes everything seems too big to handle.

Sometimes we don't realize just how bad it really is for us.

....until we look UP!

What do we do then?

We start running for our lives.

We forget everything and everyone around us.

Sometimes it looks like we are getting ahead of the

problems.

It looks like we are making progress.

But the problems keep barreling upon us.

The problem is....most times, when life gets like this we

think that doing a 180 degree turn will get us out of this dilemma.

When in reality, all we had to do was jump to the SIDE, take

 a breath, turn to our Heavenly Father, and watch the

"train" go on by us.

God works like that.

Notice that I said it will GO BY, He doesn't promise

that He will REMOVE it from your life.  It still has to pass.

If you keep focus, he can help you see the correct path you will

need to get you where HE wants you to go.

We don't want to spend our time, running in the wrong

direction from things that are so much bigger than we

will ever be.

Be Still and Know that I am God! -Psalm 46:10

(P.S. No XS GROUP girls were injured in the making

of this life lesson.  The train was just setting on

the track and we thought it was a great photo op.)

I Can't Explain It......

When I take pictures....I get emotional.

I just do.

It doesn't happen while I am taking them...

It happens the moment I pop them up on the computer.

I don't get a thrill when I take pictures of animals.

I don't get all gushy when I take a picture of

a beautiful sunset.

I get emotional when I take pictures of

PEOPLE!

My love for it started in 2008 when I took my oldest daughter, Carly, out

to shoot some pictures for her senior portraits.

It was my first use of a Nikon digital camera.

I was hooked.

Each time I pick up the camera, I get a surge through my body for

which I can't explain.

I have ideas in my head and the camera helps me get the ideas out.....

Only my love for my heavenly Father and my family

can compare.

I pray I never run out of this emotion.

I want to continue to bless others with what the

good Lord has blessed me with in this lifetime.

Thank you!

(P.S. This is my nephew and his beautiful family)

How to Shoot Pigs and Goats.....

Made you look didn't I?

It was really funny to post that on facebook and

see what kind of comments I received.

The top collage is Hunter and Holden.

This was their first experience with goats.

They are experienced pig kids.

I think I was able to convince them that goats

are pretty neat and smell just a tad

bit better than the pigs.

The next collage is of Naomi and her pig, Shemaria.

  Naomi took at least 45 minutes to scrub

Shemaria until she sparkled and it took the pig 10 seconds to find

a mud hole.

The last set is of Poss and his pig, Gordy.

Gordy cooperates much better than Shemaria.

Gordy also knows when he has had enough picture taking....

he just bowls Poss over and gets the heck out of Dodge!

52 NEW Recipes in 2011: Recipe #8

Baked Paprika-Parmesan Chicken

(Click the above Link for the Recipe)

I totally forgot to take a picture of the ingredients.

I bought a container of supposedly "fresh" Parmesan cheese....

should it be dry?  This was very dry.

 This recipe is really simple....a little messy since

you have to dip the chicken, but still easy.

 Doesn't butter make all recipes better????

 Davie gave it the THUMBS UP!!

This took less than one hour from start to finish.

For some reason, I can NEVER get the same amount

of chicken as in the recipe.....I know I am doing something

wrong.  It called for 6 breasts.....I guess mine were DD breasts

or something.  :)

Even the daughter loved this recipe.

The chicken was very moist, but I would also probably

add a bit more spices to the breading......

52 NEW Recipes in 2011: #7

Chicken, Jalapeño and Cheddar Casserole

(CLICK THE LINK TO SEE RECIPE)

I have delayed posting the new recipes because we have been super busy with stockshows...but I am still cooking!!!

I am ashamed to put my pics on here because her pictures are soooo much better than mine.

Ok, my dear husband had to leave early and didn't get to try

it while it was HOT!

He did give it a 2 Thumbs up!!!

It was really easy to make and had a great flavor!!

It took less than an hour to get onto the table!

How to Excercise Goats for Stockshows

Remember JoJo the GOOSE CHASER?

I managed to get a video of his excitement

when it comes to exercising our show goats.

This is not a posh poodle...he would happily

live outside in the barn with the goats.

BEFORE YOU HIT PLAY

SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM

AND PAUSE THE MUSIC!

2011 GOALS - FEBRUARY UPDATE

All February updates are in RED.  I am going to keep them running...each month will be a different color.

1. 52 NEW RECIPES - I have successfully tried 4 new recipes in January. (Hoagies, Homemade Pizza, Sauerkraut/Pasta Dish, and Homemade Tortillas with Homemade Queso) The husband has loved every dish....so they are keepers.  We tried 3 new recipes in February.  I haven't blogged all of them yet.  I missed a week, but will make up for it in the future.  We did finally get the THUMBS down recipe.....


2. CLEAN OUT THE OLD HOMESTEAD - Not a thing done to it.  Still nothing done to it.

3. TEAR DOWN THE OLD GARAGE - DONE!! I have a picture somewhere....it still hasn't been hauled off or burned, but will by summer.



4. RUN A WATER LINE TO THE BARNS - NOPE!  Nope again.  We had a huge blizzard hit, so even if we wanted to do this, we couldn't have done it.

5. PAINT MASTER BATH - NOPE!  Uh, still a NOPE!


6. GET VW WINDSHIELD FIXED BY FEB. 1ST - NOPE! We have had other expenses come up, so this has been put on hold since it isn't a safety issue yet.  This still hasn't been done.


7. TAKE MORE PRIDE IN OUR VEHICLES - YES! I spent the first Sunday sweeping and sweeping and sweeping out the VW...it took about 2 hours altogether to get the inside of the car cleaned out. I am proud to say that it only takes less than 10 minutes to sweep it out each Sunday after church. This was a HUGE light bulb moment for me. Even if it doesn't LOOK dirty, CLEAN IT! It will never get gross dirty if you do. I washed the car once in the month...which is a great accomplishment...as I was lucky to wash it 3 -4 times a YEAR. Don't judge me! We live on dirt roads and it is depressing when you wash and by the time you get home, it is covered in dirt.  OK!!!  YAY!!  Finally I have a great update!  I have still done this PLUS washed the outside at least TWICE in February!!!


8. ORGANIZE THE CURRENT GARAGE - NOPE! We are still hashing out the details of what we want and need in it.  Still a big fat NO!

9. LEARN SOME NEW THINGS TO DO WITH THE BREAD RECIPE - YES! I made homemade pizza crust and it is AWESOME!  I haven't done anything else with it....I am having a lot of fun doing the pizza though.

10. CONTINUE TO FLY WITH THE FLYLADY - YES! I did deep clean all 5 zones in January. I have some buddies who are also trying to focus on the zones and we have come up with a ZONEBUSTER game we play together. Because I have become more passionate about the zones, I didn't stick too well with the weekly home blessing hour....but I did manage to keep the floor swept and the feather dusting done.  At this current moment as I am typing this, I am using my timer!  I did learn that if I don't keep the routines, then my house will look like I haven't done a thing in weeks.  Also, I got the sewing/guest room mostly finished.  I wouldn't be afraid to have someone sleep in there now.  My bed has been made EVERY DAY.

11. FEED MY SPIRITUAL SOUL - YES! I am continuing online "classes" through lifechurch.tv. Our Sunday school class has really stepped up and decided to make a change and be a part of the solution. I have really stepped up my prayer life as well and am seeing a big bonus in that area.  I have slacked a bit in this area on a personal level.  I attended our women's retreat with my church and it as a wonderfully renewing experience.  I roomed with some of the most amazing women!!!


12. READ A BOOK A MONTH - EH! I have a book I need to finish.....fiction is my downfall....seriously, I can start a great fiction book and put it down and not pick it up again! I am currently snowed in...so, maybe I will finish it. It is called "A Vintage Affair". It is realllly good.....I have no idea why I can't sit still and read it.  Yah, still not so good.  I will have plenty of time to read while at the stockshows this month, so maybe I will catch up.

13. DRINK 8 GLASSES OF WATER A DAY - YES! I have had very few days where I didn't get them all in. Most days, it is more than 8.  YES!!  I have done really well with this....I can't even think of the last time I had a soda pop.


14. PLANT A GARDEN - NOPE! It isn't time yet...hee hee.  Not yet, but I do need to get the old stuff torn out...right now, the birds are reallying loving it.


15. GET CHIMNEY CLEANED - DONE! We were having problems with back puffing into the house, so we went ahead and had it cleaned in January. It was NASTY!

16. FIND A NEW COUCH - NOPE! I have been looking.  I am still looking and will look while we are at the BIG CITY.

17. WEIGHT LOSS - YES! I lost 5 lbs.  Boo!  I gained 3...I know it has to do with the fact we eat out a lot in February and March...but know that is not an excuse.


18. BLOG UPDATES ON THE FIRST OF EACH MONTH - DONE! You are reading this on Feb. 1st.  WEEEEEEE....here is the FEBRUARY update, so YES, I did keep up with it!!!

Jan - So far, I am doing pretty good on the goals. I need to figure out how to list the recipes so they are easy to find.....I know there is a way, just have to figure it out. I encourage you to try the recipe thing.....it has really helped get us out of a slump of having the samo samo stuff.

Feb - I never really set my goals high for February and March due to it being very hectic months for our family.....if you don't already know, we show livestock and we have 3 huge shows in these two months.  The one thing I am really proud that I accomplished was the sewing/guest room!  I used the FLYLADY method and got it done 15 minutes at a time!!  I use the FLYLADY chat to find other people who use this method.  Although it has gone through some weird changes, I've still found some people who help keep me on track and still have a sense of humor.  Thank you to those who are helping me FLY.

January = BLACK
February = RED