One day at a time

ONE DAY AT A TIME
One day at a time, with its failures and fears,
With its hurts and mistakes, with its weakness and tears,
With its portion of pain and its burden of care;
One day at a time we must meet and must bear.

One day at a time to be patient and strong;
To be calm under trial and sweet under wrong;
Then its toiling shall pass and its sorrow shall cease;
It shall darken and die, and the night shall bring peace.

One day at a time - but the day is so long,
And the heart is not brave, and the soul is not strong,
O Thou pitiful Christ, be Thou near all the way;
Give courage and patience and strength for the day.

Swift cometh His answer, so clear and so sweet;
"Yea, I will be with thee, thy troubles to meet;
I will not forget thee, nor fail thee, nor grieve;
I will not forsake thee; I never will leave."

Not yesterday's load we are called on to bear,
Nor the morrow's uncertain and shadowy care;
Why should we look forward or back with dismay?
Our needs, as our mercies, are but for the day.

One day at a time, and the day is His day;
He hath numbered its hours, though they haste or delay.
His grace is sufficient; we walk not alone;
As the day, so the strength that He giveth His own.


by Annie Johnson Flint

A new family

You may remember our two sweet little goats we had, Ricky and Lucy. Ricky and Lucy now live out at the Brawley ranch with Micah and Lynette. The very first week they were out there the neighbor goat took quite a fancy to Lucy and eventually hopped the fence to come see her. I'm sure you can guess what happened from there.

Fast forward 5 months to last Wednesday and Lucy gave birth! We are all smitten! They are the cutest, sweetest little balls of fur ever! We were very concerned because the other goat was a bigger breed and we had been told that it could mean Lucy wouldn't be able to birth them and may die during labor or have to have a c-section. We were told that by how big she was that we really should hope she was having more than one baby as they would be smaller then and safer for her to deliver. We prayed and prayed for her and had sweet friends praying for her as well. The Lord is good and He really does care for His creatures. Not only did she have more than one baby, but she had three!

Lynette is thoroughly enjoying her new little family! She spends much of her day out holding them and sitting with them. They are jumping and running around already and even playing king of the mountain! Her little ranch really is looking like a ranch now with her cows and now a little herd of goats!

You can bet we will be spending as much time as we can out there this spring!

OTHERS MAY, YOU CANNOT

OTHERS MAY, YOU CANNOT

If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
(Matthew 16:24-25)

If God has called you to be truly like Jesus in all your spirit, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility. He will put on you such demands of obedience that you will not be allowed to follow other Christians. In many ways, He seems to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.

Others who seem to be very religious and useful may push themselves, pull wires, and scheme to carry out their plans, but you cannot. If you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

Others can brag about themselves, their work, their successes, their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing. If you begin to do so, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

Others will be allowed to succeed in making great sums of money, or having a legacy left to them, or in having luxuries, but God may supply you only on a day-to-day basis, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, a helpless dependence on Him and His unseen treasury.

The Lord may let others be honored and put forward while keeping you hidden in obscurity because He wants to produce some choice, fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade.

God may let others be great, but keep you small. He will let others do a work for Him and get the credit, but He will make you work and toil without knowing how much you are doing. Then, to make your work still more precious, He will let others get the credit for the work which you have done; this to teach you the message of the Cross, humility, and something of the value of being cloaked with His nature.

The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch on you, and with a jealous love rebuke you for careless words and feelings, or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over.

So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign and has a right to do as He pleases with His own, and that He may not explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealings with you.

God will take you at your word. If you absolutely sell yourself to be His slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love and let other people say and do many things that you cannot. Settle it forever; you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue or chaining your hand or closing your eyes in ways which others are not dealt with. However, know this great secret of the Kingdom: When you are so completely possessed with the Living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of heaven, the high calling of God.

By G.D. Watson

The God who is enough

The God who is enough

'Tis far better to let Him choose the way that we should;

If only we leave our life with Him, He will guide without mistake.

We, in our blindness, would never choose a pathway dark or rough,

And so we should never find in Him the GOD WHO IS ENOUGH!

In disappointment, trouble, or pain, we turn to the Changeless One,

And prove how faithful, loving and true is God's beloved Son.

Valentines Day

The children recieved a large box before Valentines Day from Papa and Nana. They were so excited to open it, but being the mean mom I am I made them wait until all their school was done first. Funny how quick things can get done when they choose to!

When the box was opened they found the complete makings of a Valentine party! Wow! Nana is one clever cookie! She covered everything from the streamers, balloons, and heart decorations all the way to sugar cookie mix, candy, toys, and even plates, cups, and napkins to serve it on. It was a party in a box!

They had so much fun getting all the snacks made. Shelbie and Shaylah decorated when the little girls were taking a nap so they were so excited when they got up to all the pretty streamers and balloons. The kids all had a great time having their party.

After the kids had their party we had an amazing dinner. It's a tradition around here that Duane makes dinner every Valentine's Day. He started that years ago. This year he really out did himself. He made chicken cordon blue, rice pelaff with cashews, (no, it wasn't out of a box!) and for dessert he made his wonderful cheese cake and even cut it out in heart shapes! What a guy I have!!