Penni

The godly care for their animals, but the wicked are always cruel. 

Proverbs 12:10

Penni

We found this girl standing in the middle of carnage highway [that's what our vet calls it] on our drive home from our hunting property.  Out in the middle of no where, no houses or farms anywhere in sight.  She was just standing right in the middle of the road.  Around these parts, there are tons of loose dogs running around.  Often, we see dead ones along the sides of the roads.  It is just the nature of the beast where we reside.  Country, farms, woods, not too many people in our area fence in their dogs.

God spoke to my heart and I yelled at the Chief, "Slow down, don't hit that dog.  STOP!   We can't leave her in the middle of the road, she'll get killed." 


So my sweet husband pulled over to the side of the highway, and this pup came running right to us.  Squirming, happy, friendly, and licking.  After a few minutes of loving her up, petting her, scratching her belly we looked at each other and my guy says, "Now what? We just can't leave her here."   He opened up the truck door and she jumped right in.

We have two dogs already on our farm.  Koot, our big tub of love Newfoundland and The Bandit, a hunting dog mix the Chief picked up at our local W#lmart parking lot.  We really didn't need or want another dog.  I had been doing research on hunting dogs, something for the real far off future when we did add another dog to our family.  But not something we planned to do anytime soon.

But God.  He had other plans.  He's good like that. 

When you least expect it.  When you have well laid out plans.

 But God had other plans for this redhead four legged bundle. 

We talked on the drive home about what to do with her.  Maybe we would be able to find her a home.   She seemed like a real sweet heart.  We  weren't sure how our animals would react.  Does she get along with horses, or would she chase and terrorize them?  What about our two cats?  Would they be safe?  Koot loves everybody, and he's the alpha, and he is HUGE, so there were no concerns there.  But The Bandit, she's the princess, would she tolerate sharing her place with another female?

The introductions to the rest of our clan went well.  Miss Penni blended right into the family.   She barked once, at the horses, a huge, deep hound dog bark.  [Did I mention I had been researching different breeds of hound dogs?] The following day we dropped her off at our vet while we did the American Cancer Society 5k in town.  When we returned to pick her up, we found out she was not micro chipped, weighed 40 lbs, was approximately 6 months old, some type of mix breed, and full of worms.  Her necked was also rubbed raw and the vet said she was probably chained up and broke loose.  Yesterday, she was spayed and is now officially a member of our family and Freedom Hollow Farm.  We laugh about the "free" dog we found!  After two trips to the vet, she was far from FREE! 

My new hiking buddy, Penni

 Koot, he's my battle buddy.  The Chief bought him for me as a pup right before he deployed to I*raq.  He's one of the best dogs I have ever had the privilege of loving and owning.  Oh, how I love this big bucket of love.   I call him Kootie~Pie.   He doesn't have a mean bone in his body.  Unfortunately, due to very bad breeding/confirmation Koot won't be with us much longer.  Right now we are keeping him comfortable, happy and giving him all the love we can.

Me and The Bandit, my race buddy.  She did the 5k with us.  We've got another one coming up soon that allows dogs.  Penni will be joining us and starting her racing career. 

Rejoicing in His 4-legged blessings,

~s

One Year Bible

I am so enjoying my One Year Bible.  I am falling more and more in love with it each day.  The more I delve into it, the more I understand, the more I can actually envision what I am reading.  That is such a blessing for me and an answer to prayer.  It doesn't feel like a chore to read my bible daily anymore.  I am finding it very enjoyable, like a great novel I don't want to put down!!

My victory and honor come from God Alone,

He is my refuge, a rock where

no enemy can reach me.

O my people, trust in him at all times.

Pour out your heart to him.

For God is our refuge.

Psalm 62:7-8

Resting in pages of my bible,

~s

PRAY FOR LUCY

Lucy needs our prayers folks.  She is 5 years old and was recently diagnosed with cance.  Stop by her familiy's blog  erickandkatekrull.blogspot.com and let them know you are praying for sweet Lucy.  Let's lift this family up in prayer, stand in the gap for them as their little one fights for her life.

Resting in the SON,
~s

Psalm 55:22

Give your burdens to the Lord,

and he will take care of you. 

He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

RESPITE = SHORT TERM BREAK

RESPITE CARE = SHORT TERM TEMPORARY RELIEF TO THOSE WHO ARE CARING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOSTER CARE SYSTEM

I had the honor to provide respite care for my sister's 5 foster peeps this weekend.  They are 11, 8, 4, 3, and 3.  Two sibling groups.  4 girls and 1 boy.  I had them from 5 p.m. Friday till 3 p.m. on Sunday.

I wasn't sure what the weekend would hold.  I've cared for them one other time before, but just over night.  They are the sweetest little peeps.  They are in the foster care system.  They come from two different families.  That is where the similarities end.  One sibling group comes from a huge well known family in the community.  Their parents never miss a visit.  Their parents

ALWAYS.BRING.A.PRESENT.TO.EACH.VISIT.TWICE.A.WEEK

The other sibling group are lucky if mom shows up for her visit.  No dad in the picture.  No gifts.  They come from a really rough environment, lived in a home with no running water.  Only bathed once a week.  Seems so unbelievable.  They live here in the good ole USA and they had no running water.  And they were only able to bathe once a week when their mama heated water on the stove for them.  And this was their life, this was normal for them.  But now, they  have their own beds, my sister is teaching them about hygiene and keeping their bodies clean.  They have clean clothes, someone cares whether they do their homework, someone cares that they have three nutritious meals a day, someone cares that they bathe everyday.

I see the differences between these to sibling groups.  The one group that has experienced so little just soak everything up.  They appreciate every single thing. And, they don't expect "more, bigger, better."  Then I see the other sibling group that comes from an upper middle class upbringing that are showered with "stuff".  They don't seem to appreciate  or get when they are given something special, a treat, a surprise.

I wasn't sure what I'd do with 5 kids for an entire weekend.  I didn't now how I would handle if one of them threw an enormous screaming fit that goes on for hours that is known to happen on a regular basis in that household.  But I did know one thing, my sister and brother~in~love needed a respite weekend, to refresh, to relax, to just spend time with each other without any little people hanging on then, tattling, calling their names 50x every minutes.

They were almost empty nesters, my nephew is graduating from high school in June and my nieces have been on their own for a while now. 

 Almost.Empty.Nesters.

But God had other ideas.  He broke their hearts for the things that breaks His.  Children needing a safe, loving home.  They were asked if they wanted to be on the foster/adopt program.  They said NO.  They don't feel that is the path God is leading them on.  They feel they are to love as many kids as God places in their home.

My weekend with these little treasures was

INCREDIBLE!!!!

We did not watch TV, all weekend!  Friday night I read book after book to the three little ones while the two older ones colored and created fabulous drawings.  Dinner was uneventful.  I gave them two choices, grilled cheese or quesadillas.  Each got to chose what they were having for dinner, everyone cleaned their plates.

Saturday morning again they had the choice of what to eat, cereal or eggs/bacon/toast.  Again, no complaints, and everyone ate.

Then we had some fun.  We went to the beach and ran, skipped, jumped, and collected buckets full of seashells.  The kiddos had a blast!  No whining, no tattling, no crying!!!

I did use a little bribery.  They were told if they behaved, I'd take them to the movies after dinner.  THOSE LITTLE PEEPS WERE WONDERFUL.  Again, dinner went off without a hitch.  They did their chores.  And, we went to see Gnomeo and Juliette.  They loved it!

When we got home we then had a dance party.  Head/Shoulders/Knees/Toes, Hokey Pokey, Macarena, musical chairs.  They laughed.  They giggled.   They screamed.  They danced.  It was so fun to watch these little treasures just being kids and having fun.  Not having to worry about someone hurting them, or neglecting them.  The least of these here in our own backyard.

Sunday I wasn't sure what we'd do.  I decided to surprise them with a trip to Ostrichland USA, which is about 30 minutes down the road from my sis's place.  They were all excited in anticipation of what their surprise would be.  The group that came from the not so nice home ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT.  The other group looked around and said "where's the surprise?" 

All the kids got to feed the ostriches and emus.  They did have a good time.  And the best part of all, they were all very well behaved.

My sister on the other hand, came down with the flu and spent the entire weekend in their hotel rooming puking her guts out.  Poor kid.  But at least she got to do it in peace without 5 little people calling her name every 22 seconds, without 5 little people knocking on her bedroom door every minute of the day.

And, as soon as she got home and I was on my way home, the fighting, the whining, the tattling, the fits started.  Yes, these 5 little peeps are comfortable, safe, and at home with my sis...they act just like normal siblings, in a normal home, with parents that love them.

I was truly blessed to have been able to spend this time with them.  It has opened my eyes to a big need right in my own backyard.

There are kids everywhere who need someone to love them.  Who need someone to care about them.  Who need someone to teach them about taking care of their bodies.  Who need someone to teach them about Jesus.  Who need someone to tell them they are loved, they are wanted, they are special.

Jesus tells us when we do for the least of these, we do for Him...

Resting in the SON,

~s

May The Lord Bless You

May the Lord Bless you

and protect you.

May the Lord smile on you

and be gracious to you.

May the Lord show you his favor

and give you  his peace.

Numbers 6:24-26

Resting in the SON,

~s

Angel Flight - Bringing A Hero Home

This brings tears to my eyes.  Being married to a career mility man now retired this video brings me to tears.  Because it is too  real for me.  My guy could have come home on an Angel Flight.  Thankfully and by the grace of God he didn't.  But too many have and my heart breaks for their families.

The men and women of our armed forces are true heroes...and so are their families that are left at home.  When a soldier goes to war the family goes to war.

HEROES. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. OF. THEM

If you see a soldier at the airport, grocery store, around town, stop and say thank you.  It's because of them that we live in the land of the free...

BECAUSE.OF.THE.BRAVE



Resting in the SON,
~s