Rock on Andi

The horse that we are all on is 3 year old Rockin Andi. Bob in the first picture, Eleanor in the second and me in the third.

Rocki Andi is a filly. Most people get confused by the name. Andi is my granddaughter and Rockin Andi is named for her. That is why it is spelled Andi instead of Andy.

Thursday found us at Van Bert Farm and riding Andi. Eleanor had been really wanting to ride Andi. Andi is not yet 3 full years old and has been under saddle since she was 20 months old. The first time I saw this filly, I knew I would have to buy her. I liked her the instant I saw her. I think this may have been pre-planned on Larry's part. He knew I would like the way she moved. I mean who wouldn't.

Andi has a wonderful gait and even though she is less than 3 years old, she has a wonderful temperment. She is easy to ride and extremely well trained. She is willing to work and willing to go. She is not at all nervous and carries herself and her rider in a nice even gait. I can not say enough good things about Andi. I have had offers to buy her but not enough to make me want to part with her yet.

After our scare this week with J R we are being extra careful. J R is fine. He had no ill effects from his foray into the freezer. We had a good laugh over it only after we knew he would be alright. A horse like him does not come along very often and it would have broken my heart to lose him because of Eleanor. But also because J R is such a special horse. J R is a horse that I don't have to worry about Eleanor riding out in the pasture. He is calm and he is lazy. I have never seen him jump or act startled in any way.

We had a big snow last night. We must have had 6-8 inches of snow. I was really glad we bought the horse hay home yesterday instead of waiting until today. I do not have hay that is grown on the farm without fescue so I have had to buy some clean hay for the mares in foal. The mares in foal need the hay especially when it is so cold. But they are also feeding a foal and need plenty of good quality hay. They are getting extra now. It is very cold tonight and will be extremely cold in the morning.

We are counting down the days now until foaling season starts. The first one should foal around March 14. About 43 days. We think that Magic Rhythm will be the first. But who can be sure. Anyway we will have the movie camera ready to see the foals hopefully getting up to take their first wobbly steps.

Hope you will attend church tomorrow.

God bless you and keep you in His loving care.

Regards,

Mary

Nay in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8: 37-39

A Horse in the Freezer

The first picture is of Bob riding Eleanor's horse, J R. In halter is WOF Celine's Shinin Star. Celine is a yearling born in May of 2009. She is out of our mare L S Mountain Wind Socks and by Sudden Impact. Sudden Impact is owned by Mark and Vickie Smith.

J R was in the freezer early this morning. WHAT??? Let me start at the beginning which I have found is a pretty good place to start. We had taken J R for a test ride last Saturday. More accurately, Lucy and Melissa had taken J R for a test ride. My sister Eleanor is 77 years old and although I know J R is a really calm horse, I had not seen him out on the farm yet. Eleanor has been craving a ride out on the farm with J R. I wanted to make sure he could be handled by anyone out in the open. I rode him one day last week when the weather broke a little and had a good ride. Then Lucy and Melissa wanted to ride last Saturday so they took J R out too. He behaved beautifully for both of them. Melissa is only 7 years old and it was her second ever trail ride as she explained it to her Granny, my daughter. And she added, she didn't even fall off.

J R is the most laid back horse on the farm and if one of the bossy horses wants his place at the stack of hay, they will take it. So he has some bite marks and I thought had lost a little weight. Not that he was showing ribs by any means but the weather has been so mean that I thought he could use a little TLC. So I made arrangements for him to be housed in the barn for the last several days and we started him on a diet of grain and extra hay.

J R has certainly enjoyed all the TLC he has been getting lately and he has looked forward to us coming into the barn and especially getting his grain.

Yesterday my daughter-in-law, Natalie thought the feed room needed cleaning. So she and Annie went on a cleaning binge. We had moved an old freezer into the barn where we could store feed and it would be handier. It also has a top and can be closed against rodents and nosey horses. It seemed like a perfect solution to keep the feed closer to where we needed it. The freezer is close to where we were stalling J R. Not a regular stall actually just an enclosure in the barn with a gate tied with baling twine across it.

J R must have gotten to thinking about grain during the night or perhaps it was that big stack of hay across from his enclosure. Anyway J R being smarter than the average bear (I mean horse), got to pushing against the gate and knocked it completely down. He then helped himself to the hay.

After a generous helping of hay, I suppose he started thinking about his grain. Now J R as I have already said is smarter than the average bear (I mean horse). He had very obviously watched us put his grain in the freezer and get it out of there for him. So he went over to the freezer and raised the top of the freezer up and proceeded to eat grain out of the bag. How did we know? He had left a lot of evidence to convict him of his theft. We figured there was maybe two scopes of grain gone from the bag. We certainly couldn't call him a pig over it because there were several bags of feed unopened in the chest freezer. And the open bag wasn't even empty. We could tell he had been into it by the droppings around the freezer and the mess in the freezer where he had dropped grain from his mouth.

But this horse is Eleanor's and he means a lot to her. I could not take a chance on his health so we called the vet. What happened to him next was not nearly so pleasant as his little foray into the grain supply. It involved a tube and his nose. Plus some nasty shots. The vet wanted to be sure we avoided colic and laminitis. We are still watching him closely. The vet says the next two days will tell. J R was most definitely in our prayers today and tonight.

Is it wrong to pray for an animal? I am sure you have your opinion just as I do. My opinion is "no it is not wrong". God cares about us and about what we care about. God provided J R to Eleanor through the generosity of H T Derickson. If God is good (and He is) and if He saw to it that Eleanor had a horse of her own that she could ride and be safe on then He cares enough to answer our prayers if that horse is in danger. And I believe with all my heart that J R will be alright.

I will keep you posted on how J R is and let you know from time to time about Eleanor's rides on the farm. There will be pictures. I am really getting ready for some sunshine and warmer days so we can get her on J R and let her ride on the farm. I know she is going to love doing it. She has been craving a ride all winter. She loves that horse and he is perfect for her.

I hope you are doing well through this cold winter. We had some snow this morning plus enough ice under the snow to make the morning commute tricky. I heard there were multiple accidents due to cars slipping on the ice. As it turned out, my commute to the barn was uneventful. Of course, it is right here on the farm about the distance of a city block from the house. I hope yours was uneventful as well.

My God bless you and keep you in His loving care.

Regards

Mary

Here is advice Eleanor doesn't need.

"Always smile when you are riding because it changes your intent."

James Shaw

Chicken Soup for the Horse Lover's Soul

"Delight thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy ways unto the Lord, trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass."

Psalms37: 4-5

Flair for Fury

S T displays the trophy that Flair for Fury won for high points in Yearling Filly Conformation.

But there is so much more to Flair than just a great conformation and a pretty face. We visited the Van Bert Farms this week and I took Flair to put back in training and get under saddle. She is now a coming two year old and she is awesome.

Last year she was a great conformation filly.

Larry handed the lead to Brandon and told him to saddle her up. She of course was being ridden with just a halter and lead instead of a bridle and bit. She didn't seem to know exactly what to do at first. As Brandon rode her around in the barn she started to catch on pretty fast. She immediately settled into a nice walk in the barn.

Larry asked me if I wanted to bet him $5. on whether she would do obstacles. I am not foolish enough to bet against Flair. Brandon took her down to the obstacle course. She crossed the wooden bridge, the sounding box, the poles and up onto the terrace and down again. He took her through the plastic streamers. She did it like a champion. He took her on the seesaw. Again no problem. Then Brandon had her to jump barrels. That was ok too. Next he ask her to go up the steep hill. Then back down the steep hill where she was almost sliding down on her rear end.

She is an awesome little filly. She is calm and she is steady. I think I will be riding her before summer gets here. She was so calm last year in the conformation classes that she would almost go to sleep. It almost became a problem.

What seemed to be a problem then is a blessing now. She is calm and trusting. She is a very smart and willing filly and understood just what Brandon was asking her to do. She is going to be a pleasure to ride. She will be started under saddle in a way that will make her the best she can be.

As I was meditating tonight, I started thinking about Flair and how trusting she is of Brandon. She has had a really good start in life. She started learning to trust those who handle her early in life. She started out with imprinting at birth. Lewis worked with her to teach her to lead. She learned confidence from him. He is kind and gentle, yet firm with his little charges. She has learned to obey. Now she is willing and confident that her rider is going to be fair yet firm.

What a picture of our relationship with God if we learn early in life to trust Him and obey His word. Our parents have imprinted us. Hopefully it is with faith in God. As a very young child hopefully we are led to Christ to trust Him as our Lord and Savior. In our lives we are asked to do some very hard things. We do not have all smooth trails because we are Christians. But we do know the one who guides our lives. Flair did not know exactly where Brandon would lead her or what he would ask her to do but she trusted him. That is a picture of the trust we should have in God.

We can learn from Flair and how she has learned to trust and obey so willingly. She knows from past experience she will not be asked to do anything that will harm her.

If we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, we should be as willing to trust and obey because we should know that He will never ask us to do anything that will hurt us and that He is guiding our paths. If you have never put your trust in Jesus, now would be a good time as our world seems to spinning out of control. We all need to be led by the Good Shepherd.

May God bless and keep you and make His light to shine upon you.

Regards

Mary

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil.

Proverbs 3: 5-7

Two Days in Winter

My brother Bob loves my new camera and he loves landscape pictures. I really like the one to the right. It is about what you see as well as what is in the shadows. The one on the left was a day just little over a week ago late afternoon and the one on the right was late this afternoon.

Welcome to two of my new blog followers. Liz told me this morning how much she likes my blog and I really appreciate her kind comments. It is always encouraging to know that people read my blogs and like them. The other new follower is Sydney. I hope I spelled your name right but I do welcome you and feel free to correct me if I misspelled it.

We are finally past this cold snap. The water hoses no longer freeze during the night. Life is getting easier. Of course now we have the mud. It is ugly around here. But one must be involved with farming to really understand what all of it is about. The seasons of the year are very valuable to those who till the soil and make a living from farming.

It is hard to not talk about God when we speak of the seasons. A friend of mine, Roger Brown, told me a couple of weeks ago that if it were not for winter, we would wear the soil out from farming it. He also said we would wear ourselves out quicker as well. That is very true. When we go out to feed the animals on a cold winter day the first thing we want to do when we get back to the house is get warm and rest. Then it is harder to go back out for the afternoon feedings. Winter is a time our bodies seem to want to slow down. I have often said of fall that my body feels like it is getting ready for hibernation. That may be partially true. But in any case God is giving us rest from our intense labors of the summer.

We had a wonderful ride yesterday afternoon. We rode all the way to the back of the farm. About a mile from the house. Bob rode Rosie, Natalie was on Romeo and I rode Eleanor's horse J R. J R is such a laid back horse. He is really one of a kind. Nothing bothers J R. If there is such a thing as a bomb proof horse, J R has to be it. Usually it is cluck to him, kick him and smack about three or four times with the dressage whip. He will trudge along and sometimes get into his show gait. He is really a wonderful horse.

Rosie was pretty full of herself yesterday as was Romeo. Romeo loves the barn. He know that is where he gets the feed and hay. Natalie hasn't quiet convinced him yet that she is the leader in their two horse herd. Someday she will get the message across and then he will be such a joy for her to ride. Bob had a good ride on Rosie. He and she are making a good team. And he really likes riding her.

I can't not write this blog tonight without talking about our service at church this morning. For those who have not remembered, the date of January 22 is the day in 1973 that the Supreme Court decided a mother could choose to kill her baby legally. Our country was turned upside down when the Court decided that abortion should be legal and available to every woman. Since then 50 million babies have been aborted. This morning Dave Stone of Southeast Christian Church where I am a member reminded us of that date in a powerful sermon.

Near the end of the service he invited us to watch and pray as 37 people came forward to lay a single rose on the table at the front of the sanctuary. Each rose represented a year of abortions and each rose also represented over a million babies aborted for that single year. The procession of people started with a man born the first year that abortions were made legal. The line of people declined in age as they came forward. The last few were children led by or carried by a parent to lay their rose on the table.

One little boy, carried by his father did not want to let his rose go. We chuckled at his innocence but maybe there was wisdom in his innocence. Perhaps he was symbolically saying no to the slaughter of so many innocent babies who did nothing deserving of death. The last baby to be presented with it's rose was still carried in the womb of it's mother who had chosen life for her unborn.

It was a very touching and heart rending service. I cried. Dave talked about going to the hospital to see a young couple that had lost their baby at 22 weeks. He entered the room and the young mother was holding her recently born baby in her arms. She asked Dave if he wanted to hold her baby. Like it was yesterday, I was sitting in the hospital room holding my 32 week Great grandson, Michael. I touched his soft little cheeks and I looked into his precious face and felt his sweet little hands and arms. They were still warm from the warmth of his mother's body. But he had already gone back home to be with Jesus. His mother did not choose to end his life. It was out of her control.

Thinking of that time, I wonder how a woman could choose or a man could pay for an abortion to take the life of one just as innocent as Michael.

It is heart breaking to see our country so deeply involved with the taking of Innocent life. Some want to make it a political issue and in many regards it has become very political. But the whole basic thing about abortion is that is it a moral issue whether people like it or not. And we are told in the Bible that "thou shalt not kill". We can not turn away as a body of believers from issues that are moral issues. We have to make our voices heard.

May God bless and keep you in His loving care. And would you pray this week for the end of abortions in this country and around the world.

With regards,

Mary

But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not to come unto me,, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 19: 14

Horses and Winter-God and us.

If we were voting on the horse that loves most to have her photograph taken, we would have to give it to Sughee. She will pose any time she sees a camera. She rivals some of my granddaughters for loving to have her picture made. Sughee belongs to Annie Hart.

On the other hand, Magic Rhythm would win honors for the most pregnant looking mare in the herd. Magic Rhythm is due to foal in March. She is mother to Butterfly Kisses, Kailey's Magic and my colt Blaze. This year she is bred to Blue on Black. He is a stallion that stands for breeding at the Van Bert Farms in Stanton. I am eager to see what that foal will look like.

It is bitter cold here as it is in other parts of the country. I talked to my daughter-in-law, Chrissy in Mississippi this morning and at noon it was finally just getting up to 20. They are having teeth chattering cold in Ms again this year. It is so cold down there that Steve is letting his dog Chief in the house. That is almost unknown for Steve who believes dogs belong out side. He is right too. Although, my dogs come in the house everyday. Winter and summer. Nice

weather and bad.

God in His wisdom has prepared animals for outdoor weather. In the summer the hair gets shorter and shiny. In the winter as it is now, our horses here are very heavily coated. Most of mine are staying outside as I have limited facilities to keep them indoors. The only ones staying indoors is the three yearlings and the old rescue horse.

I was given Aladdin. I took him because I felt sorry for him. He was woolly, thin and had missing spots of hair in the late spring. We began to feed him and brush him every day. He started to put on weight and slick off and look good. I turned him out with the herd. He has his favorite in the herd. She is a boarded horse named Hershey. He loves Hershey and if we see Hershey by herself or Aladdin without Hershey we start looking for one or the other.

Last winter Aladdin got thin and summer didn't helped him at all. We started making him stay in the fall last year (2009). He paced the floor day and night because he was separated from Hershey. She stood by the barn a lot. She missed him too. So we put him in a stall that blocked their view from each other. Hershey started mingling more with the herd and Aladdin continued to pace for days.

It seemed at first that Aladdin was going to burn off all the extra feed we were giving him by pacing the floor. Aladdin also had a bad case of rain rot. We have treated that and groomed him. He is beginning to grow hair back and now he is putting on weight. We have been letting him out of the barn to graze. He doesn't go out in the field with Hershey. He has the privilege that no other horse in the herd has. He is let out around the barn where the grass is taller and there is plenty of it but there is no fence. He stays around the barn and near the fence by the herd. He goes back in at night. He is putting on weight and looking so much better.

But how much has this free horse cost me. I have poured more money in his feed that I have spent for my pregnant mares. His teeth cost me more than my show horses. His coat care cost more than my weanling (just turned yearling) colts. He is worth less than any horse out there. He is a gelding so there is no breeding fees to be had from him plus he is a mutt horse. There is some Arabian in there but who knows what else. He is a total pain in the neck because of his care and expense. He can be ridden but he takes a very firm hand because he is so herd and barn sour. He can't be ridden very much because of his age (20+) and his condition.

So why do I bother with him? Horse lovers know the answer. For the rest of you, I will give you my take on it. Yes, I love animals too but the realist in me says I can't afford to keep this horse. He is of no or little use to me. But God has made me to be a compassionate person. He shows me things through this horse. Maybe, I could look like that to God if He looked at me the same way I sometimes look at Aladdin.

But God looks at me the same as He looks at everyone in this world. He loves us all unconditionally. It matters to Him what we do and how we act but like a good parent He loves us no matter what we do. As parents we try to imitate God by loving our children unconditionally. No matter what they do or how they disappoint us. God never gives up on us even though He is rejected time and again. On the cross Jesus ask God for forgiveness for those who crucified Him. That was us. You and me and all the other people of the world. He died for us because of our sin.

So we can see God in our relationship with animals and our relationship with other people. Those in our family and those outside our family. We are called on to love our neighbors. I don't think we have to like them but we do need to treat others as we would have others treat us. And the way God deals with us. In hard times as we are experiencing right now in this country, we need to turn to God. We need to keep our leaders in prayer. We need to keep our country in our prayers. We need to ask God to forgive our National sins. Yes, we have National sins.

May God bless you and keep you in His loving care.

Regards,

Mary

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.

II Chronicles 7: 14

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3: 16

Winter is Here

This morning as the day started to dawn, we saw that overnight had brought what was the beginning of our first major snowfall of the new year. In the first pictures is my brother, Bob. The second picture is Rosie. Pictured in the third is the most beautiful mare in the world, Blue Ridge Mountain Girl. And standing behind her is Once a Hobo. Mt Girl is looking very pregnant these days with her Venture's Black Fury foal.

Just two months more and we will have three new foals. We recently moved the three mares to a smaller field to feed them separately. Rosie is not in foal but we have another mare that is not pictured that is. Rosie is there because she is the most timid mare in the herd and we are hoping she will do much better in a smaller herd.

Rosie is a very shy little mare. She does not like strange noises around her. She does not get close to other horses. In fact, although she is probably the lowest in the pecking order, she does not have a bite mark on her. She just does not let any of the others get close to her to get bitten.

She doesn't like dogs for sure. We have one on the farm that likes to chase around behind all the horses and Rosie hates the dogs at her heals. I love my Rosie Girl.

Mt Girl is really a nice size horse these days even aside from her pregnant condition. She has certainly grown in the last year or so since she was last in the show ring. She is still very gentle and Annie has ridden her. She did really well and was very calm. It is too late in her pregnancy to ride her now. Mt Girl really has the bloom that some pregnant women get. You know the ones. They get more beautiful when pregnant and they have a special glow about them. She has always been a beautiful horse but now she is something special to see.

Yesterday, Annie and I went to buy hay for the pregnant mares. I needed to have hay that didn't have fescue in it and I found some really beautiful hay that was off of a field that was sowed in orchard grass last spring. It is really a nice color and the horses are really going after it. It was getting really dark and cold when we got home and we unhooked the trailer and headed to the house.

The house was warm then as it is now. I remember writing last January just a year ago when I first started blogging that the furnace was running and the dogs were snoring. Well, as I sit here writing tonight, the dogs are snoring and I thank God the furnace is running. It is really cold outside but tonight it is toasty warm inside. Last January brought a terrible ice storm and I was without power for 9 days. So to hear the furnace run is pretty nice.

Annie took Blaze out for a good run today. She put him in the round pen and he started running and jumping and rearing up. He was running and kicking up his heals. He was really overjoyed to be outside. He laid down and rolled and then got up and went down and rolled again. He was estastic. My brother Bob thinks that horses must get cabin fever too. I had not thought about that but I bet he's right. Yesterday when Celine was out in the round pen, Ann was beside herself. She was running back and forth really having a fit to get out of the barn and play outside too.

I had an email from Vera today and they are getting a snow storm there too. I think they get more than we do. They have already had a pretty big snow fall before Christmas. I know we can expect some really good pictures from Vera now. She may be too busy redoing her basement to take very many but hopefully we will be treated to some really good ones. I wonder if there will be any horses in those pictures. Humn

Our road work was done just in time to be done before the snow. We got our hay home in time. I have new gates up in the barn. The horses are trimmed and wormed. The mares in foal are separated from the herd where they will get extra TLC. I have found a good 3 horse trailer I wanted for a reasonable price. Much has been accomplished in this new year already. God is good and merciful. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

May God bless you and keep you in His loving care.

Regards,

Mary

The old mare watched the tractor work

a thing of rubber and steel

ready to follow the slightest wish

of the man who held the wheel.

She said to herself as it passed by,

you gave me an awful jolt,

but there's still one thing you can't do,

you cannot raise a colt.

George Rupp

from "Chicken Soup for the Horse Lover's Soul"

Pictures

Pictures of family and horses on or near Christmas. The top picture finds us resting after dinner. My picture is horrible and Debbie may not like hers either but I don't know how to delete it so it stands. In one picture, Erica my 2 year old Lab is showing she is ready for Christmas.

Another picture Annie and Amego have a pre-Christmas ride. Mt Girl and her mother, Wind Socks share some minerals. Where you see one of them, you often see the other. In another picture Andrea, my granddaughter, looks very thoughtful. She is probably trying to think how she will tell me the sweater I bought her for Christmas doesn't fit.

Steve is holding his youngest grandchildren. Both granddaughters. Alyssa on the left and Layla on the right. Pretty, pretty little girls and oh so sweet. Mary Beth is thoughtful probably wondering what I did get her for Christmas. She still doesn't know. A story perhaps for another day.

Michael, in the blue shirt is ready to take pictures.

Lastly, Annie poses Ann's Mt Treasure for pictures. I had a request for pictures of her. She is really growing and very sweet. She is still a good conformation filly. Just turned yearling with the change of the calendar.

Hope you enjoyed some pictures from my Christmas album.

God bless you and keep you in His loving care.

Regards,

Mary

Home Again

This is the farm house as it looks now after the remodeling job that was finished in 2008. I moved back to this house when the remodeling was completed in 2008.


Bill and I got married in 1959. Had he still been living in November we would have celebrated 50 years of marriage. We lived in Jeffersonville Indiana for the first 11 years we were married and all of our children were born there. We lived in the same little house on Victory Court for those years.

In 1971, we bought the farm that my grandfather had bought in 1902. My father was born here as was his little brother that died. My Uncle and Father bought it from their parents and owned the farm I was born on and this farm. They farmed together until my Uncle died in 1969. A little over a year later, Bill and I bought this farm from the heirs to my Uncles estate.

We lived here and raised our children here. Our children were all grown and married and living on their own when Bill decided that we should move to a house we owned in Taylorsville. We moved there in 1997. He was starting to feel his age and felt we should live closer to town. Another factor was that I was going to and coming from the post office at some odd hours. Often leaving before daylight and getting home after dark in the winter. One winter I had to park my car a mile from the house and walk to and from the house in the dark. I did that for almost a week before our road was clear enough to drive all the way home. He didn't like that I had to do that.

Bill died in 2007 after a battle with Pulmonary Fibrosis for over 5 years. When he died, I knew I would be coming back here to live. I know God put it into my heart to want to live here so badly. I acquired my first Rocky Mountain horse in that year. I know God put that desire in my heart as well.

Upon returning to the house and letting my tenants know they would need to move, I found the house in pretty bad disrepair. The man had attempted to do remodeling projects (without asking or telling us he was doing it.) Trash was thrown all over the farm and the yard was overgrown. In short it was a mess. When we first came into the house after they had moved, I could not eat lunch here. I couldn't even go outside and get a sandwich down from the filth and the stench. No one would even use the bathroom inside.

My family started pitching in and cleaning the trash out of the house. My grandsons had so much fun tearing down a closet he had decided to put into one of the rooms. It was only partially and poorly done. They tore out the old deck. We burned and tore stuff out and my family worked so hard to get things done here. Especially Mary Beth. I was still working at the post office so I was gone most of the time. So I felt I contributed little but Mary Beth worked really hard with Chrissy's help and she and Natalie put in several days. Also Debbie and her boys came and worked.

I hired a contractor, Jim Maumaw. A man who is a real workman. He is an old time contractor that knows the value of doing the right job the first time and standing behind his work. He had a good house to work with. My father and a local carpenter, a Mr Brookshire, had built this house. It has stood through a lot of storms. Jim told me that he didn't know why this house had not burned down because of the terrible wiring it it. It was old and outdated and the circuits were overloaded.

My house was built in the 1940s when I was just a very young girl. It was built out of real 2 x 4s and 2x 6s. Good solid oak wood. The floors we had covered with carpet in the 70s are real oak floors. Every part of the house was the work of men who honored God with their work. Jim was amazed that every closet upstairs was within 1/4 inch of being the same size.

The only part of the house that was not well built was the sun room we had added onto the house in 1988. The roof was leaking and the ceiling were about to fall in. Some of the floor was rotted out and a big section had to be replaced. Jim took a well built house that was run down and made it a place that is comfortable and I could be proud to have guests to come in for a visit.

My parents were good Christian people that honored God with the lives they lived. Daddy made a good living for his family and Mother made a comfortable home. We were warm and well fed from the fruits of their labors. We also learned the value of contributing to the work by helping Mom in the house and working in the fields.

It was my desire to honor God with the house that my Dad labored to build with his strong work worn hands and the sweat of his brow. He had honored God all his life and now I felt a strong desire to honor God and at the same time honor my father for his faithfulness to God.

There was a lot of tearing out. Old carpet, rotten places in the floors, old cabinet and bathroom fixtures. I won't go into all the details of what we did but it does have a country home look with many modern updates. A larger bathroom with a Jacuzzi and a beautiful kitchen with modern appliances and beautiful oak cabinets are two of the biggest improvements. I also have a modern laundry room on the first floor.

As the work progressed, I started to think about something I had read about the church I attend. Southeast Christian Church in Louisville Ky. They say of the church that it was built on the word of God, under grace and under the cross of Jesus. All over the church on floors now covered by carpet are scripture verses that members wrote there. In the Church building, in the entry halls and in rooms where we study the Bible in our Bible Study Classes. There is scripture on the floors that is hidden by the carpet but we know it is there and we walk, study, worship and pray on the word of God.

So to honor God in my home, I borrowed that idea and I invited friends and family to write their verses of scripture. On the bedroom floor upstairs where all the rooms are carpeted including the huge walk in closets, is written John 3: 16. "For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son that whosoever should believe on him should not perish but have everlasting life."

We honored God with scriptures from all through the Bible. Each putting a favorite verse or many favorite verses. In the new addition in the bathroom there is scripture. In the sun room where the walls were torn out to insulate and redo the walls there is scripture. In the laundry room there is scripture. We put scripture in the closets and on the floors of every upstairs room.

God is here in my house and I often feel his presence because we are living on and covered by the word of God. Because we honor him here in my house and on my farm by asking him for wisdom in the decisions I make and give him thanks for all things.

As we pray together at night my brother, Bob and I pray for family and friends. We thank God for his many blessings and for working in our lives. We pray for the protection of our families and friends and ask God to bless them. We pray for those who are sick by name. We pray for our country. And yes we pray for our leaders. God has honored our prayers and we see prayers being answered.

May God bless and keep you in this coming year. The New Year that we have welcomed in today. May you know the joy and peace that comes from knowing Jesus as your Lord and Savior. And may you learn to honor him in everything you say and do.

Regards

Mary

Call unto me and I sill answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.

Jeremiah 33: 3

God is a gentleman and He always knocks at the door; He has never pushed it open and He never barges in. He waits to be wanted He waits to invited and He waits to be loved."

Peter Marshall