First Day of School 2013

What do I say?

I'm blessed that these four young girls call me Mom.

I am their teacher.

The Lord is teaching me how to teach them.

It is not easy.

Homeschooling has taught me more about my need for the power of the Holy Spirit.

I do not pretend for one minute to do this within my own strength or wisdom.

I am so thankful for God's grace and His help that He gives each day.

Our new school room! 

When we moved our furniture in the new house, we decided to put the piano and organ in the school room. Why not? I'm glad we did. By the way, God has blessed us with a new piano teacher. And Mary Ellen started lessons for the first time this year. 

This is, kinda, Mary Ellen and Molly's section of the room. 

The girls each have their own shelf for their school books. 

I've always wanted a horse-shoe table for our school room. The church had an extra one and we were able to borrow it! What a blessing! It's so nice!

Pella, Iowa - Dutch Country

From the time we visited Knoxville, Iowa, we were told about Pella, a little Dutch town. Everyone encouraged us to go. From Knoxville, there is a nice scenic route that includes alot of Red Rock Lake, the largest lake in Iowa. This picture was taken from the "Mile Long Bridge." We were headed to Pella one Friday morning for Dutch pastries. It's so worth the 15 minute drive!

Molly is enjoying doughnut holes in this picture. Behind her you can see the Jarsama Bakery Shop. The town has a nice park in the middle of town, perfect for enjoying pastries!

Everyone around here loves the Bakery's Dutch Letters. I had never had one before. I thought it was neat that on the day we came, they made them just for me! 

(Not really. But it's nice to think that! I think they always make S's.)

I wish I could figure out how to turn pictures the right way! Oh well. 

This one is still so cute, notice the Dutch Bakery in the background!

Iowa State Fair

We were blessed to be able to go to the Iowa State Fair a few weeks ago. There were 2 young couples in our church that took us and showed us the highlights of the fair.

This is a "green bean" type vine that created a tunnel for children to crawl/walk through. The girls really enjoyed it!

There was a farm experience for kids that we enjoyed participating in. 

First, kids pick seeds and plant in the ground.

You must water your seeds for them to grow!

Then you harvest your fruits and veggies!

Next, the kids took their produce to the barn or farmer's market to sell.

They milked pretend cows and received a "school" like milk carton for their basket.

After the farmers did all their work, they sold their produce to buyers and received "money." They then got to take that "money" to a little store and buy something.

Lexie and Mary Ellen bought popsicles.

Molly bought chocolate milk, go figure!

And Leah bought a potato. Yes, a potato.

Fresh Produce!

We have been so blessed with so many people giving us fresh produce from their gardens. I've already had help with some ladies helping me can 35 quarts of green beans! Nearly every day, someone is coming to visit us with produce from their gardens. I'm not complaining! I love it! You can't beat fresh tomatoes on bread with mayonaise! Yummy!

Here's a pic of 7 quarts of bread and butter pickles that I canned this morning. 

First Two Weeks in Knoxville

On our first Sunday we were invited out to a family farm for lunch. We had a great time fellowshipping with the family and the food was wonderful! Afterwards we were invited to go flying! One of the family members is a pilot and owns his own 2-seater airplane. We all enjoyed taking turns and going up in the plane! The girls had a blast!

The next week, we were invited by the same family to go to the Iowa State Fair. We all had such a good time looking at all the farm and exotic animals. We rode the big slide and enjoyed our favorite fair foods!

Last Sunday, August 11th, Greg was officially installed as the pastor of the Knoxville Church of the Nazarene. Our Iowa D.S., Kim Smith and his wife Rosie, were there for the special service. 

This isn't the best picture of the girls, but I assure you that they are excited to be here and are enjoying all the "new" that comes with moving. 

Moving to Knoxville

  I've had several messages of people asking how we are doing since our move. So... I thought I'd share a bit of how we are doing.

  Well, we are doing great! God's presence has been so real and His peace is absolutely incredible!! We've had so much help with packing and unpacking over the last 2 weeks, that it seems as if everything we owned just magically appeared here in our new home. The girls are doing just wonderful and adjusting wonderfully. We are so thankful. Our first Sunday was awesome! God spoke powerfully through Greg's morning and evening messages. On Sunday after church we were invited to one of the families home for lunch and fellowship. They invited their parents and siblings and their children. It was a great time together out in the country on their farm. One of the family members owns a small 2 seater airplane. He graciously took each of us up in the plane for a short ride!! What a way to spend our first Sunday here in Knoxville! This was mine and the girl's first time to EVER fly! We all enjoyed it very much!
  Today, the girls and I went to visit w/ another family on their farm. The kids played and 3 ladies and I worked on green beans. We managed to can 35 quarts of green beans! Then we rode around the farm and looked for blackberries. We found a half gallon. We also found wild grapes and enjoyed snacking on those.
  I could write so much more!! God has been so good! I cried for the first hour when we pulled out of the Iberia Church and parsonage. I prayed during that time that God would heal our hearts and do something incredible and help us to make friends quickly. All I can say is, He did. He loves us so much and truly cares for us. I love Him.

God is Faithful

I'd like to share two stories of how God has been so faithful to us, just this last week.

Story #1:

 Last week, we received a $530 medical bill in the mail. It was 2 years old. I thought, "This is odd. Why am I just now getting this?" It was slightly disturbing because the bill was for when I made a visit to my OB when I had my first miscarriage in May of 2011. But I immediately gave the bill to God and surrendered it to Him. I prayed, "Lord, you are faithful. You know we don't have an extra $530 laying around. I've seen you work so many times with situations like this. You can do it again. I'm sure."

 Still yet, I knew I had to do my part and at least call the insurance companies and doctor's office about the details. To make a long story short, the accountant told me that she was going to zero my account!! 

 God is good. I knew He would come through. He did. Will you trust Him with your situation today?

Story #2:

 After we move to Knoxville, Iowa, Greg and I decided that we wanted to buy Mary Ellen and Molly bunk beds that match Lexie and Leah's bunk beds. I've been selling stuff left and right on the facebook yard sale page and God has blessed my efforts. I had made enough to purchase the bunk beds and new mattresses for them! But then one day I saw a post online that someone had two twin mattresses for $15 each. I had already planned to pay $60 each. So I got excited and thought I was going to save some money, something that I love to do! Anyway... I put myself in a situation where it was difficult to not purchase the mattresses, even though they were NOT what I wanted. Like my husband had warned me, I was probably gonna get what I was paying for. He was right. I made the mistake of not heeding his advice. I beat myself up. Apologized to him. Beat myself up so more. Then prayed for God to help me resell and at least, maybe, get my $30 back. Well, God did even better! Don't ya know? I instantly remembered that our Church District's Girl's Camp was looking for old, used mattresses for a "mattress surfing" event next week. Wah-lah!!! I was so excited. I called the camp director and she said that they would be so happy to take the mattresses and that they really needed them! I was so happy to donate them and know that God took my mistake and turned it into something that will honor Him!!! He is, indeed, so very good!!!