Gravel Road Musings

We would see Jesus Said the Greeks one day We've heard so much about Him We've come to the Temple to pray We would see Jesus Is still repeated today Be we want Him on our terms Without taking time to pray. We would see Jesus As a God of love and delight Who always forgives our wrongs And is quick to make everything right. We would see Jesus But what does this really mean? He's a God of terror and love Who wants to make us clean. We would see Jesus We must come at His call Not simply asking forgiveness But completely giving our all We would see Jesus But do we know how much He hates When we whine and complain and disobey And then say His love makes it right We would see Jesus Yes, I will see Him someday But til then I must follow His law And always Him trust and obey. Last night we read in our devotions about the Greeks wanting to see Jesus and it struck a chord. That combined with the messages we heard last weekend on being second-mile Christians. We want to claim God...

"Oh, I just wanted to say how cute you are sitting behind your desk. You, a Mennonite, sitting there behind the computer. " The whole simple lifestyle and modern technology combo must have really impressed this lady. This was not a verbatim comment, but it gives the gist of our cute secretary. This same lady had mentioned to me the day before. "I wore a hat today too--bad hair day" Is that why we wear them? I had no idea. Okay, so i had a bunch more written and then realized too late the internet had disconnected and nothing was saved. Not humored and not in the mood to rewrite it all. So long

I've been reading a book called "Bold Love" by Dr. Dan B. Allender and Dr. Tremper Longman III. I think I've alluded to it before possibly. The thing that has been sticking out to me this week is in a chapter called "Hungering for Restoration". Allow me to quote a few things that have stuck out to me. "To forgive another means to cancel the debt of what is owed in order to provide a door of opportunity for repentance and restoration of the broken relationship" "Biblical forgiveness is never unconditional and one-sided. It is not letting others go off scot-free, "forgiven," and enabled to do harm again without any consequence. Instead forgiveness is an invitation to reconciliation, not the blind, cheap granting of it." "Forgiveness involves a heart that cancels the debt but does not lend new money until repentance occurs. A forgiving heart opens the door to any who knock. But entry into that home (that is, the heart) ...

The sun is shining, the sun is shining. The sun is a beautiful thing!!!! After about 5 3/4 inches of rain, the sun is a welcome treat. Life just looks so much better when the sun is shining and when your man is home. D went for an overnight primitive camping trip. I stayed home and did things that I used to do, like stay up really, really late and then sleep in really, really, really late. It was great, but it is also very great to have D back home again. It's weird how it works. I used to get along just fine by myself, bragged about it really and now I love having my husband at home. I will admit though I do enjoy the occasional evening at home by myself. Last night all the "widow" ladies got together for supper. I went, but I would have been just as content at home by myself. Besides they all were mom with at least 3 children, most of them have 6 children, so it was a little out of my league. And I dont like coming home after dark that much with stuff to bri...

I try to be a fairly upbeat person, but when I come out to the kitchen at 5:00 in the morning and step in a puddle of water that is running in a straight line clear across my kitchen and can be traced under the freezer and then turns and goes along the trim to the door. If you lift the rug, you will find a well soaked and soppy floor. Oh and the newspaper that the tomatoes are laying on has the well-sogged look of wet newspaper. Then we go outside and our ditch is clear full of water and running down into the next ditch, which is running into the next ditch and so on until it reaches the culvert where it runs under the road. The area outside the door of the calf barn is a pool of water which requires strategic arrangement of the door, the truck door and the feet to prevent a foot soaking. Fast forward an hour and a half: we are returning from chores; the water has gone down considerably in the ditches, but alas a peak into the barn shows the poor calves are up to their shins in wa...

I'm not sure why this picture was taken, except maybe to show the clutter on the floor. We always keep leaves on our rugs. It gives the house more of an outdoorsy look!! Grandpa helping Ryan feed a calf the bottle. Ryan was very excited about feeding calves. He still remembers a little calf we had over a year ago that we had called Mikey. He has no fear. I'm sorry, there are lots of pics of Ryan. Blame Katrina, I got them off of her camera. I guess when you are little and cute and excited about life, you get lots of pics taken. Ross' version of helping with chores. He was busy combining corn. Shelling, that is the word I want. I couldn't think what the word was for getting the corn off the husk. Ryan seeing what some field corn tastes like. He soon gave that up; someone combined the corn and on the way home, they had fun throwing corn kernels at people. Headed out on a walk. Almost everyone walked down Sunday evening to where we were choring. Ryan bonding ...

Calves have a real mind of their own. I wonder if it is something in the air around them when they are born, but you just don't get a cooperative calf. Maybe they have a carnal nature in them just like humans do. So I decided to be a nice helpful helpmeet to D yesterday. Actually, I wanted to do it, because it looked like more fun than dishes, peaches, and laundry which I needed to do in the house. So I went out and helped him vaccinate about 127 calves and then we had to run them through a foot bath. I got to carry this cool calf stick around for some of the time to help in the herding process. That made me feel important. But calves really have no respect for you person. If they want you to, they will make you walk through muck that is several inches deep and so you sink in while chasing them and hope you don't fall. Then when you have chased them out of the muck they continue the chase for as long as they can. It actually went fairly well, I thought. I would open...

It's been a little while since I've updated; I've been meaning to, but life goes on. Actually, now isn't the best time either as the book I would like to quote from is at home and I am at work, so I guess that part will have to be another post. I've been reading this book called "Bold Love" lately and it's challenging. That's the book I wanted to quote from. He calls us to a higher standard of love than I live up to many times. I will see if I can give the gist of what he says. He says until we learn to forgive, we cannot truly love. He also brought out a point that stomps on my toes. We can not truly forgive until we are stunned into silence and awe over what Jesus sacrificed for us by going to the cross. I've known the crucifixion story from a toddler on up; but how many times do I sit and consider the agony and torture that Jesus went through. He died so I could live. Do I want to die now? No, but if I do, I want it to be quick and painless....

So, it's been awhile since I've posted. I'm at work right now, but have a little down time, so thought I would say hi to everyone. Tonight, we are going to attempt our 3rd camping trip of the year. Rain has occurred at every other camping trip so far, and this one doesn't look so favorable. We got a good dump this morning and now I am hoping that will be it. But the beautiful thing is, the rain has decreased the thermometer's rising levels. Wow!!! It was warm the last few days. Warm enough to make me almost crabby. Most of it was pretend, but I wouldn't have done well with a child. Warm flesh against my warm flesh would have about done me in. But of course, I am sure when you have a child, all such selfish inclinations flee and I would have been content and happy rocking my baby to sleep while the sweat slithered gracelessly down my back, my forehead, my neck..... Is that how it works? Yesterday, was a bad day at work; the main computer crashed first t...

I will do more than belong, I will participate. I will do more than care, I will help. I will do more than believe, I will practice. I will do more than be fair, I will be kind. I will do more than forgive, I will love. I will do more than earn, I will enrich. I will do more than teache, I will serve. I will do more than live, I will grow. I will do more than be friendly, I will be a friend. -Donna Partow-

I wonder if I don't start about all my emails like that. Just sort of a non-commital way of saying I have no idea what I intend to say, but want to say something anyway. It's been a while since I posted. We had a great camping trip, in spite of getting rained out. But hey, camping in a house with a real bed is my style of camping anyway. I might post pictures of it sometime. I just spent a lot of time cruising the internet looking for cool blogs to follow. If I didn't click on yours, please do not take offense. I have a love of blogs that show room make overs and ideas of things to make for cheap. Not that I would ever actually get around to doing these projects, but I like to dream about the fact that I would. Lately, I have been contemplating embarking on the task of a kitchen makeover. It looks big and it looks complicated and it looks like a lot of trimming involved, but I keep toying with the idea that if I save my pennies well, maybe I can tackle a small piec...

Its been a while since I posted so I thought maybe it is time for an update. However, I am on my phone and not sure it will be worth the effort to do an in depth post. First of all, let me say that it is 6:30 in the morning. We have been driving since 9:06 last night and so any attempt at philosophizing may be sadly lacking. So I will try to spare you the trial. We are enroute to New York to go camping with the in-laws. We have our last puppy riding along in the back seat. Not sure what went wrong but since stopping the cage is sitting back there rattling away!!! But the good news is the puppy is tucked away for another nap. So far he makes a fair traveler. Does traveler really only have one L? I consider myself a fairly good speller and I just don't know if that's how I would have spelled it. Sometime I need to talk about my garden. Well, maybe ill just do it now. Since I started keeping track about 2 or so weeks ago, we have taken off 93 buckets of weeds. These are 5 gallo...

Mocha and a litle puppy all snuggled up together. That doesn't happen very often-Mocha tends not to want them too close to her for fear they will try to eat. Jax is our other puppy. He is terribly selfish. He can't handle it when the puppies are playing with something that he wants. He drug this poor little girl all over. She wouldn't let go and he was determined to get it. She was by far our most aggressive little puppy. She now goes by the name of a Star Trek character. Padman? Not quite sure. My Flag cake. Don't look too closely, but I was relatively pleased with how it turned out.

Happy July 4th. This post will really have nothing to do with Independence Day or will it? I don't know yet, I guess. The biggest challenge will be to see if I will still have internet service by the time I finish this post, so it can even be posted. I made this "cute" cake for July 4th: little flag cake with blueberries and raspberries. Didn't turn out too bad for a first-time try at anything real creatively decorative. But I learned one cardinal rule. Don't try to make stars or any design with frosting when the room temp is about 85 degrees. It's more like pudding at that point, so instead of nice star lines, I just tried to smooth them out. However, my cake is now just sitting in the fridge, with one small sliver taken out of it. We were going to have a small party last evening, but then D got sick and the party was cancelled and there has been no one to eat my cake. I took a small piece out this morning so I could taste it, but now I am afraid t...

So here's a small recap of my week. I'm not sure why I'm doing this, except I think to emphasize what I did with a lot of my spare time this week. Okay, maybe not a lot of my spare time, but some of it. Sunday: stayed home from church due to cough and bad nose. This caused everyone to assume I was PG. It's ridiculous the way people jump to conclusions. Okay, maybe not everyone assumed this, but.....it sounds so much better to say everyone. Oh and my dad came to spend a couple days helping D on the barn. Monday: I worked, then in the evening I browsed the great world wide web for canning recipes. More like I browsed http://tastykitchen.com/ for some of their recipes. Tuesday: I worked all day from 8:30 to about 9:45 helping a mother labor her child into the world. Let's say, she had a lusty voice and made the comment that she often has a sore throat after delivery. I understand why. Wednesday: I weeded the garden for a little in the morning until I decided that ankl...

Now that is a dramatic Title. I bet no one knows what is going to come under this post. Well, that is true, because even I am not sure what all I am going to post. It's going to be more random here and I will try not to take half the post to tell you how random this will be. So the secretary and I at work are coming up with a new business--selling T-shirts. Somehow, I think we will have to branch out beyond our normal customer base and get out of our comfort zone. But these will be medical specific shirts. The main color will be blue and pink, I guess and then in white or black words across the front, it will say, "GOT LYME?" and below that will be a picture of a little tiny tick or a bulls eye rash. Seriously, that is the rage right now. Even if your tests come back negative, I am sure you still have Lyme. And it is always Lyme or Lyme disease, never Lymes. Even, when the most liberal lab out there says your test is negative; if the ever-present chiropractor s...

Friends are the flower of life. I know that is a trite comment, but they really do brighten up my life. I have many friends; but a few really close ones, and they are just special to me in so many ways. Why the dialogue on friends? Well, because the other night Linwood and Jo and Raquel stopped in for a few hours on their way back from Stevens Point. It was such a great evening. Dave and I were so glad they went out of their way and stopped in to see us. We both enjoyed the evening so much. Thanks guys for doing this. It was a spur of the moment spontaneous visit that was just such a blessing. I felt revived and ready to finish out my week. The night before, my sister had been there overnight and I got to spend some good time with her as well. So all in all, it was a great week. Oh, and let me not forget to mention 2 good phone calls with 2 other friends. I really did have a "friendly" week. I love those kind and can't wait to hang out with 3 of my best friends...

Puppies The puppies are getting bigger. Now, I realize there are strong feelings on either side of the debate for whether pug dogs should be allowed an existence or not. There does not appear to be too much ambivalence on the subject. If you are of the class of people that fail to appreciate pug puppies, then I would suggest you just back out of this site and go look at something more to your liking. If you would like to find it in your heart to appreciate the cute little things then scroll down and enjoy the pictures. They are in no way professional, but they show a small amount of what the puppies are like now. You can overlook the fact that one day these puppies will be full grown and if they are like their mother will destroy the house if the owners decide to leave for the day and leave her penned in. I have no idea; why, when they have the whole kitchen to themselves, a mother pug must break through the barriers built for her protection and go into the living room and bathroom to ...

It's Tuesday. Tuesdays are wonderful days because I get the whole morning at home to catch up on stuff there. And I did get some stuff accomplished this morning: - Bran muffins made and they turned out very yummy - Granola made and nearly done - Last load of laundry is in the washer - After the granol is done, I am off to fold laundry and then to sew. I enjoy sewing, but not just any kind of sewing. I'm not a big fan of sewing clothes, though I don't mind it if everything goes well. I like to sew quilts; they may be more challenging in some respects, but much easier in others. I've been pondering this thing of stillness and quietness. I read a part of a verse in Psalms that has stuck out to me. "I have stilled and quieted my soul..." Do I do that? Not on a real regular basis, I don't. I get too busy doing other things that are not near so important as resting and being still before God. How do I change my habits? It's not going to be easy, but I want t...

I'm back again. I am not feeling overwhelmingly newsy, but am feeling the urge to write something, just anything. I think it has to do with the new thing. When you have something new, you want to use it or see it. For instance, I bought a keyboard back on black Friday. I played that keyboard all the time for the first few days; now I play it on Sunday mornings for a few minutes. I really do need to play it more. I enjoy playing it; but the newness has worn off. So, bear with me, but I'm sure in a few days, the newness will have worn off of this blog too and then I will rarely post. I must figure out how to use it though. I thought I had a profile picture posted, but can't find it anywhere. I wrote some little ditty about myself and it didn't show up anywhere. Oh dear, what shall I do? I guess I must take the time and figure out what is going on, or just be content with not having a picture or explanation on here. But things like that bug me really bad. I l...

Hi, You may ask the question; "Why are you doing this?" The answer to that is, "I'm not sure." So here I am; I have just created a blog for myself. At this point, nobody knows I did this; nobody, but myself and God, and I'm not totally sure why I did this yet. I like to write; I like to journal; I like to put my thoughts down on paper. Why did I pick the world wide web? Maybe someday I want to have a famous blog where many people are hounding it daily to read what new brilliant idea I have come up with in the last 24 hours. But, to do that, I will need to tell someone about my blog. I told my husband I might do one; does that count? So, until that time in the future when I branch out and tell the world that I have a blog, I will come on here and chronicle some of the journey life and God are taking me on and no one will know. I kind of like that idea; though I am sure at some point I will want to tell people. It's kind of like Facebook and Xang...