Well-drilling Rigs Show Up Today!

Last night the first two of the well-drilling rigs showed up in front of our property.

Jonathan tells us we need to get ready for a big mess.
I guess our property is not a big enough mess!! 

He and I had gone out yesterday morning to decide where to drill the well and where to take down fencing so the huge rigs could get in to where they need to drill.

Here Jonathan is talking to the well drillers.

Of course, anytime we take down a fence, we have to mind the steers and horse who like to get out even if the fence is intact!
Just yesterday morning the one steer was already out and down the road coveting and trying to steal his neighbor's hay, shame on him.
Timmy, Danny and their friend who came for the day, put up some better fencing at one strategic spot.

This morning our neighbor and we both noticed how the "whole neighborhood" was worked up,
especially barking dogs and nosy horses,
wondering what was happening at that Lucas ranch.

Please join us in praying that they will not drill a dry hole.
We are in an area notorious for having to drill 1000 feet or more to find water,
and we are looking at the possibility of the cost escalating to $30,000 -$45,000,
due to depth and regulations.
Because of the horrendous cost, Jonathan hired a man whose job is to find water using the same type of technology as they use to find oil.

He came a couple months ago and checked several spots on our property.

His computer data showed that we could find water at a shallow depth of around 300 feet in the far end of our pasture, so Jonathan started planning to trench a pipeline.

Then he found out from the well driller, that he is not allowed to drill a new shallow well further than 50 feet from our old well.
We waited a few weeks till Jonathan could attend a meeting with the local water board to ask
for an exception to be made in our case.

His appeal was rejected by the water board.
We had paid $2100 to find the best spot for water, and it appears that was all wasted.
It was a big disappointment.
The board said we'd have to drill at least 600 feet into the deeper aquifer.
They said wells in the area on the shallow aquifer are drying up.

We had no choice but to plan for a huge expense--and trust God.
When you are helpless--who can you turn to except God?
I love how a ray of light from the sun is radiating down on the backhoe that the well drillers
pulled in just a while ago today.

 It looks like a ray of hope.
Last night, Jonathan said that the verse came to him,
"Do not worry about your life--what you shall eat or what you shall drink..."

and this morning, that was the very verse in his devotional!
The night before the first rig showed up, I had read in Isaiah 41,
"The poor and needy seek water, but there is none.
Their tongues fail for thirst.

I, the Lord, will hear them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will open rivers in desolate heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
and the dry land springs of water."

Pray with us for rivers of water from a good, not-terribly-deep well,
in God's good will.

What if God's Little Brown Sparrow Was Actually--Well, More Than a Sparrow?

Last week on our way to a cleaning job, Rose suddenly gasped, "There's an eagle!"
And I braked and turned around, and we got this picture of a real bald eagle on the top of an electric pole!

Wow! That was special!
On our road here on the prairie we often see hawks perched on the roadside poles, but not eagles.

 And of course, we have horned larks, juncos and finches.
When it snows, our austree at the side of the house is a perching place for birds of all kinds, especially sparrows.

But who ever stops their vehicle and turns around just to take a picture of a sparrow??
For much of my life, sparrows have been special to me
ever since one landed on my attic windowsill when I was about 21 years old,
when I was debating about the safety of going on the Bible and gospel distributing trip
to China just after the Beijing massacre.
Just as I was reading,
"Do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows,"
a sparrow landed on that windowsill!


Since then, I've considered myself one of God's little brown sparrows,
and whenever I see sparrows, it reminds me of His constant care.

Recently, though, I've been feeling like God has been asking me to take a look at that thought,

and ask if it's accurate.

Am I really God's little brown sparrow?

Was that what He was saying?

That I am His little brown sparrow while others are His cardinals, peacocks, goldfinches, or orioles?

It's like God's been whispering to  me,
"When My Son talked about the sparrows, He was telling You that the heavenly Father looked out
even for sparrows.

Then He said "How much more..."
He didn't compare us to sparrows; He contrasted us.

If He takes notice of each sparrow that falls to the ground,

will He not much  more notice when we are going through low times?

Does He not notice when we are struggling deeply with a sense of having no value?

If we really  must compare ourselves to birds,
how about deciding what bird we'd really like to be--or what God might like us to be like?
I don't really care to be a peacock or a magpie or a crow or even a cardinal, bright and flashy and beautiful as it is.

But He said that if we waited on Him,
we would mount up on wings like eagles.

That we could find a nest in His house like a swallow (Psalm 84).

That if we believed on His Son, we could gather under His wings 

like chicks under a mother hen.

We can sing to Him like a bluebird that comes singing in the spring,

that builds its nest for its little ones and bravely defends it,

that perches on lonely fence posts and sings its heart out to the glory of its Creator.

So, Jesus,

what if You really valued me so much more than those sparrows out there on our bird feeder?

What if, despite my mistakes, failures, and shortcomings,

You valued my heart the way You said You do?

"Believe it or not, insecurity is not only a warning; it’s also an invitation. When we feel insecure, God is inviting us to escape the danger of false beliefs about who we are, why we’re here, what we should do, and what we’re worth, and to find peaceful refuge in what he says about all those things [emphasis mine]."

"The more we understand the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more we find it is the end of insecurity — not the perfect end in this age, but the increasing and ultimate end. 

• "Have we sinned and sinned greatly? In Christ 'we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins'(Colossians 1:14).
• Do we feel like orphans, strangers, and aliens? In Christ we have been adopted by God to be his children and are now members of his household and heirs of all things with Christ (Ephesians 1:5; 2:19; Romans 8:17).

• Do we feel like miserable failures? In Christ, almost incredibly, every failure will work for an ultimate good.
• Do we feel weak and inadequate? In Christ God loves to choose the weak and foolish things because, when we are weak, he promises that his grace will be sufficient for us — so much so that we can learn to boast in our weaknesses because of how they showcase his strength (1 Corinthians 1:27–31; 2 Corinthians 12:9–10)! 
• 
• Do we feel insignificant and unimportant? In Christ we were chosen by God (John 15:16), who purposefully assigned us a unique and needed function in his body (1 Corinthians 12:18)."
•  
• "...There is an end to insecurity and all the fleshly striving it produces. It ends in Jesus. Let us bring all our insecurities to him and in exchange take his light burden of grace."

• --Jon Bloom from desiringgod.

So the Women Are Marching on Washington, D.C.?

So I read that women are marching on Washington, D.C. today.

And there was a photo comparing how many people attended Trump's inauguration yesterday

versus the crowds of women storming the Capitol today. 

Maybe some sweet day I'll be part of a huge crowd of people making a scene about something important to me,

but this morning, this woman was up before 6:30 to help get lunches packed for three nephews

and seeing them off on their way back home to PA.

This woman's girls and she packed potato salad and sandwiches and cookies and apples and toffee peanuts and Christmas candy into a sack and filled water bottles.

This woman stood by her husband as he led in prayer for blessing and safety on the road,

and gave all the nephews a hug--'cause she misses the nephews and nieces on her side of the family.

And 'cause she cares about them and wants God's guidance and care for each of their lives.

And she watched her kids watch out the doorway and honk several truck or van horns in friendly goodbyes.

 Yeah, there are tens of thousands of women on Capitol Hill today yelling and screaming and waving posters and raising fists and sacrificing nice breakfasts for granola bars 

just like demonstrators yesterday were urged to do,
acting like anything but ladies.
(Bless all the empty granola bar shelves in the stores of Washington, D.C.)

This lady enjoyed crockpotting elk for supper for her family last night

and showing hospitality to some hungry boys traveling through from a mission trip to Mexico.

 There will probably be a day down the road when I'll be eating my own granola bar,

but today I'd rather have scalloped potatoes and green beans, crockpotted elk and cherry cobbler.

 Oh--with raspberry chocolate icecream dolloped on top!
Enjoy your granola bars there on Capitol Hill, ladies!

I'm busy making buckwheat pancakes with maple syrup from Costcos,

I'm just as happy with potato chowder and toast as with a granola bar on Capitol Hill any day.

I'd rather be teaching my kids and helping them with spelling tests,

and wiping down kitchen cupboards and vacuuming bedrooms
and scrubbing sinks and toilets and tubs that got forgotten too long
and reading a bedtime story to my youngest children
and lovin' on the new little puppies--even though it means cleaning up behind their mamas!

So go ahead and stand there on Capitol Hill shaking your fists at Trump.

I'll be busy cleaning and hanging freshly laundered quilts and comforters,

and cooking meals for my family and washing dishes afterwards,

thank you very much.

I might be interested in the next march on Washington depending on the purpose.

But I'm not interested in just joining the crowd to shake fists and holler stuff like, "My body, my choice!" or "Not my President!" 

You won't get me on board for all the granola bars in the world.  

I'm too busy being a lady.

Being Just a Mom on Inauguration Day

It's been a fun day--even if I wasn't the new First Lady of the United States.
I did not, like First Lady Trump, get a kiss on both cheeks by former President Obama or Michelle,
or by Mrs. Hillary Clinton or Bill,
but I am not the least bit jealous,
for I got several kisses from my own husband,
and I like that better. 

Much, much better, in fact!

I think it would be really hard to get kissed by Obama or Clinton,

all over your makeup,

when there hasn't been any making up.

So while President Trump was preparing for the inaugural address and the swearing in ceremony,

we were making buckwheat pancakes,

washing dishes, going to work, hosting cousins,

and watching our cat's antics when it was thirsty!

This is the way to get a drink, folks!

In short, I was just being a common, ordinary mama.
But I was having a very happy day.
Thank You, Lord of the lowly!
While I was working in the kitchen, it was fun to listen to Ezra trying out a few songs at the piano.
He was playing "Day by Day" for one.
And while it was fun on this day to watch blurbs of the inauguration,
it was also fun to just do kitchen work so my boys and girls could visit, play games, hike, and enjoy one day of company with cousins they hardly ever get to see.

After the boys got back from the  work site this afternoon, all the young people went for a hike up at the bluffs.

We hiked through the pines to this windmill.
You can see Rose hauling off and hurling a snowball at some unsuspecting and innocent bystander! :)

Then the children got the bright idea to throw snowballs to the dog,
who loved catching them in midair and then eating a few bites of snow from each one!

 Here comes the snowball!

I couldn't believe I got such a good snap with the snowball in the air!

And another one!
Can you find the snowball?

This time I got the snowball exploding in her mouth!

From there we hiked to the "lookout," as we call it.

Of course, the boys couldn't keep from doing some climbing and jumping.

I got this snap of Samuel in midair jumping to the next rock where Ezra is standing.

This evening we all gathered around to see the pictures of the work the boys did in Mexico with their missionary friend Aaron Griggs, who works in a small mining town in the mountains.

(The mines are gold mines, and the boys visited an old one.)

The cousins helped Aaron level ground and pour a foundation for a little house next to his church.

All work was by hand.

They also gathered, split and hauled rocks from a nearby streambed to build a retaining wall for the church.

Carrie and Rose missed having girl cousins,
but they got along just fine with the boys, anyhow!
They definitely hold their own!
We did our share of teasing, especially the one cousin who now has a girlfriend!