"Sharper than a Two-Edged"- Meat Saw!

Recently Jonathan ordered a meat saw, because with a steer to butcher, and possibly a deer and/or elk during hunting season--oh YAY! Jonathan just texted minutes ago from the mountains,
 that "Sam got her!"--I think that means a cow elk.
(No comments from peanut galleries!)
 it's hard to cut up our own meat with just knives and a hacksaw!

It took Jonathan and Sam hours to put the thing together, due to the instructions being in a foreign sort of English from--you guessed it--China. 

When we brought the meat quarters home from the butcher last week, we had to decide whether to go by the book in how to cut it up, or just cut the thing up any which way.

We compromised. 

We sort of went by the book, and cut up some of it every which way. 

 But the good news is, that meat saw actually worked! Yay!

Jonathan also bought a set of big butcher knives that were actually sharp, Iva!

(Iva is my sister who does NOT like my dull knives.)

So here everyone is working at their respective jobs and positions in the assembly line of butchering and cutting and wrapping beef for the freezer.

We set up two folding tables besides our kitchen table, and that, along with sharp knives and a meat saw, made the job so much easier.

 After supper, I helped with the finish up, and with cutting a big hunk of pork that had been frozen,  waiting from months ago to be turned into sausage.

I noticed how easy it was to cut that big hunk into small pieces for the grinder

when I had a strong, sharp knife.

Very sharp. 

You have to push and pull dull knives, but sharp ones slice right through with  much less effort.

You  have to pull and push and heave and wrestle to try to get some truth across to someone when you are doing it in your own strength, or just trying to push your own opinion across.

But when you have in your hand and on your lips the Word of God,

that Word that is sharper than any two-edged sword, 

it divides between spirit and soul, between emotions and the eternal soul,

between things of earth and things eternal,

between what feels good and what is good,

between man's opinion and God's opinion on matters.

Some of the meat we cut up, and some of the bones we turned to soup bones, and some of the bones we cut the meat off and then threw the bones to the dogs.

But some of the meat we ground up--twice through so it would be nicer meat.

That meat and its bones didn't have a choice whether it was cut up,  ground or thrown to the dogs.

The butcher and the family putting it in the freezer decided all that. 

But we have a choice with what is done with our life and our eternal soul.

Jesus said, "He Who falls on this stone shall be broken;

but on whomsoever it falls, he shall be ground into powder," like this winter squash given us by a rancher neighbor, that I put through the seive and turned into total mash for pies!

 

Lord, let Your Word divide between my soul and spirit, showing me the difference 

between merely what feels good and what is good.
 

I choose to fall on Your stone, the Rock, Christ Jesus, and let my will be broken into obedience to Your commands,

lest by setting myself up against You and Your Word I find myself later put through the grinder of Your judgment and be ground into powder. 

Honeycomb Behind the Woodpecker Holes!

A couple days ago when Jonathan came home from work, he said there was a "sweet treat" in a Home Depot bag in the truck. 

But before he told us what it was, he told us of arriving at the work site that day and discovering his work crew licking their fingers!

They had been tearing off stucco from a wall they were repairing, and found all kinds of holes drilled into that wall by woodpeckers!

But around the corner, as they continued tearing off stucco, they found an area dripping with honeycomb!

One of the workmen was so excited that he was nearly shaking, Jonathan told us.
The guy said he hadn't had that much excitement at work since the day he pulled a black rope out of somewhere and discovered it was a 7-foot rat snake!

 The honey bees seemed to be away to town while the guys harvested their honey, but soon the bees came back and one of the men got stung, but not before there was plenty of honey to share around
and enough for "boss man" to take home some to his family!

The wall that had a zillion holes pecked into it by woodpeckers
yielded square after square of honey comb.
There it is, big chunks of it between the feet of one of the guys.

Has your heart ever felt like a wall that has had a million holes pecked in it by woodpeckers?

The Lord loves to send honeybees into those very holes to make honey.

Honey enough for you and to share.

Here come the honey bees: 

His promises.

Comfort.

Hope.

Joy.

Verses of Scripture that come just when you need them.

New friendships.

Encouragement.

 

Old friendship renewed when a friend from 2000 miles away flies into Denver  for a day just to spend some time with you to encourage you and ask, "What do you see the Lord doing in your lives right  now?"

 This is what He is doing.

He is making honeycomb in the woodpecker holes so we can share with others of His grace.

Sunshine Through Basement Windows--and Will it Be I Who Will Be Unselfish?

The other day it was a beautiful sunny day, and I hated to spend it indoors,

so I hit a blissful compromise:

I painted the basement window frames in the beautiful sunshine!

It had been a beautiful sunrise that morning.

And I had stood there with Jonathan, both of us taking pictures, and I was remembering Psalm 19:1,

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork."

And basements can declare His glory, too, if we open their windows to the sunshine!

And basements can show His handiwork when we paint to the glory of God!

It's up to us if we hole up in our basements--

 or get out into the sunshine and rejoice in His love and goodness.

Though it's true, work has to be done in the basement, like painting or sorting through stuff that has collected.  

Like old college papers and artwork from childhood, 40 some years ago,

and photos.

Photos of happy days long ago--like this one above with my happy baby Carrie in our log home in Ukraine,

my Carrie who is now 18 and has a driver's license and a job and raises puppies and is away with the guys and Rose to go hunting tomorrow!

And the one below where my hubby is coming in filthy--and we still shared a kiss with all the kids looking on!

The morning before I spent hours prepping and painting window frames and sorting through a couple boxes of stuff in the basement, I'd been thinking of somebody else who I thought was doing something selfish.

It wasn't selfish on their part, but their choices affected me in a way that hurt.

So it was easy to feel like they were being selfish and not very fair or thoughtful.

And anyway it was a really rough morning anyhow, as I wasn't feeling well at all.

But all of a sudden, the thought came to me, 

"Why don't you be unselfish?"

And that sounded like a really nice thought.

A really nice attitude.

A really nice deed to do.

There was something freeing about it.

Being unselfish myself, letting the other person do what they wanted to do,

even though it would be hard on me. 

Just letting go of thinking how selfish they were, and choosing to be unselfish myself instead.

That is when I remembered this plaque in  my room.

It's when I remembered to ask the Lord for His arm.

And the great thing is that when He asks you to be unselfish, and you choose to just obey 

without any bells or whistles or trumpets or fanfare or glory,

there is a really sweet peace that is there.

It's His arm.

Country Wedding, Barefoot Bride and Her Beautiful Mother

It's been a few days since I could write on my blog, between school, butchering a steer, painting,  helping get the family ready to go hunting, and so on. 

But I wanted to share more pictures of that most interesting country wedding we attended last week.

And what a crowd! Jonathan estimated around 300 people. 

The bride and her parents are very loving and much loved people!

The seats were hay bales with long planks laid across them, and there were just simple jars or buckets with flowers in them.

The entrance to the gathering!

The bride, groom, wedding party, ushers, and even the bride's father were all barefoot!

Loved it!

The groom bringing both mothers down the "aisle."

Before giving the bride away, the bride's father shared that when Katrina was young, 

she had told them that she wanted to walk down the yard and be married right down at the bottom of the little hill that was their front yard.

And that is precisely what happened!

Talk about a dream come true!

You can click on this picture below to read the informal and fun order of service!

The father of the bride, before giving her away, shared how Nick had asked to date her,

and how he, the dad, had let Nick know the things that were most important to him about whichever young man was to date her.

Then, the dad said, "when I got done letting Nick know all that, I realized that he [Nick] was already doing it!"

Nick was already treating his daughter with respect, serving God first of all, and having a servant heart.

So the dad gave Nick permission to date his daughter, and went home to tell his wife, 

"I believe I just talked with our future son-in-law!"

While the wedding party was getting pictures,

(including a few funny ones!)

the crowd stood in line for a light lunch served from long tables at the side of the house.

 Tables had been brought in a trailer to be set between the hay bales and planks, and other round tables were set up with folding chairs. People were free to come and go as they chose. It was a very laid back atmosphere.

Instead of wedding cake, there were cookies to choose from!

The drink table.

Bachelor days are over, Nick!

The bride's family

The groom's family

The sweet, beautiful bride and her groom.

I loved the simplicity of her dress and just flowers twined around her head.

Meanwhile, in the back yard of the big old farmhouse, youngsters (and youth) were playing games, swinging, and jumping rope.

That's what's so neat about getting married on your own farm--

everybody can feel so at home and enjoy themselves!

After the pictures and meal, everyone who was still around attended a time of praise and prayer before the bride and groom departed. 

This brother and two sisters led in singing several hymns and songs, accompanied by guitar and keyboard played very worshipfully. We really appreciated the spirit of these young people.

Jonathan sat on the planks on hay bales,  but I could not manage in the heat and brightness, so I got a chair and slipped over into the shade.

The bride's mother (who had already made us feel like a million for coming to the wedding)

was coming up the hay bale aisle to find a place to sit.

She saw me over in the shade and came over and sat down right beside me!

She sat by me the whole devotions time, sharing her hymn paper with  me, and two other ladies slipped over into the shade with us, too.

The way the bride's mother made sure that this other little mother didn't have to sit alone, and just sat beside me even though I was different than everyone else, 

made me think of Jesus.

This couple is known for being very down to earth and being approachable and Christlike, as evidenced by all the people who end up coming to them for guidance and counsel, which is why they were attending Caring for the Heart Ministries seminar a few months ago where we met them and their daughter and son-in-law-to-be.

Above is the final kiss before the bride and groom take their leave of everyone.

And below is the final prayer--and I took a quick photo before closing my own eyes, 

because I thought this was so sweet.

It was obvious that God was number one in this couple's life, in the way that they chose to end the festivities with praise and prayer.

Jonathan and I helped the many others who all helped quickly gather and stack chairs, tables and planks before a possible storm that was brewing nearby.

It had poured down rain shortly before the wedding, but dried out quickly just in time!

What a lovely time we had!

We so appreciated the spirit and character of this bride and groom.