Christmas Sweets !

Future Homemaker ~ Leah

I've heard the saying that "A picture says a thousand words". So this post will need very few to be added. But you know me, I will have to add some from my point of view anyway. At this time of the year in many homes around us there are cookies being baked, shared and eaten in large quantities. Nothing beats warm cookies eaten right out of the oven with a tall glass of COLD milk to wash them down. On many occasions during my lifetime I have baked my share. All alone, with my boys, and along side my mother to name just a few. I felt today was the perfect time to introduce a new little baker to the joys of freshly baked, warm from the oven cookies. Being this close to Christmas it was only fitting that we should bake some that looked like all the decorated trees we see everywhere we go. After nap time today we pulled out the baking sheet, her step up stool and the package of cookies with trees on them. For a 2 1/2 year old, the waiting is the hardest part. While I wasn't looking one of the uncooked cookies showed a suspicious looking chunk missing from it's side. Upon closer inspection of a sheepish grin, on a cherub face, I discovered a tiny set of teeth marks on it. Yes, my apprentice baker in training, had decided to do her own taste test. All the explaining about waiting to eat the baked cookies fell on deaf ears, as she explain in return that it was "good". How could you disagree, when on more than one occasion I suspect we have all done our own taste tests on raw cookie dough, cake or brownie batter.

Her shirts says it all ~ SWEET!

When all were done and cooling on the counter, we toasted our glasses of milk to a job well done, and enjoyed the fruit of our labor ~ warm cookies right from the oven.

Oh, the joys of baking and eating the treats we've made!

Oh, the joys of Christmas and new experiences.

Blessings from Leah & Me,

Deborah

Christmas Glow

First let me start with some Christmas glow seen last night. The night sky held the most glorious full moon in the clear, cold, December sky here on Heartland Farm. I am sure it was just as spectacular at your home as well. Did you see it? We were out and about doing some shopping and noticed it just after dusk from an open parking lot we were in. Where it seemed to hover over us with an intensity larger than life. We commented on it's beauty then and again after getting home. As daddy had called to leave a message for me to go outside and check it out, for he knows how I love to see wonderful things in the night sky. I tried to take some pictures, but they do not give the moon the majesty due it. A creation worthy of being noticed, making me think of the glow of a Bethlehem star seen by some shepherds many years ago.

As seen this morning at pre-dawn through the trees ~ "The Cold Moon"

I also though you might like a glimpse of some Christmas glow seen here at home this morning also.

Blessings,

Deborah

Changes in the New Year

Seems I can't get off the subject of changes. So if you will indulge me for a little longer I would like to add to this subject. Daily I see changes in the lives of everyone around us and in our life here on Heartland Farm as well. I believe we would all be wise to consider them a natural fact of life. It would make life's ups and downs easier to handle if we did. Some of them bring joy, others heartache, but all bring new realities to our lives. For us the opportunity to live out a dream is a change on our horizon. One that is being considered and investigated as a possibility in the next year. Lon and I have mentioned on several occasions of our desire to live on a larger parcel of land. To have the ability to establish a place better suited to the name of Heartland Farm. The idea to "move west, young man, move west" has been on Lon's heart for many years. Thought of his retirement somewhere in the future, has been a tantalizing image dreamed about and spoken of on more than one occasion. I am sure this type of talk is a surprise to many who know us on the surface, but do not know the depth of our hearts. A shock will inevitably be had by all who hear of our plans no doubt.


For many years we have been adjusting our future image of retirement and how we hoped to live those years out. I believe God has been working in both of our lives towards a common goal that would have us in tandem with being who HE would like us to be. The goal to be debt free and at HIS disposal has been a strong one. One that the Bible states will be blessed by HIM in our obedience to it. The freedom from debt would enable us to live life to the fullest and able to be on mission for the Lord in a lot of ways. Like the one coming up next year in July for me.

Another change on the horizon for 2009 is a mission trip to Honduras with a group from Beulah Baptist Church. Something I've wanted to do for many years, but have never followed through on till now. A sure test of my commitment to following the Lord's will for me is coming. Unlike a vacation to a secluded beach somewhere, this trip will challenge me spiritually, emotionally and physically. As we hike many miles a day to reach remote villages with the good news of God's love for them. Working along side of the people to help them establish churches and better living conditions, meeting their physical needs through a medical clinic, living and eating as they do. Talk about a change from the American way of life! It will be a lot different from what I know as reality for me, but I feel the call to go. And go I will, as the Lord provides the monetary resources I will need.


The potential move to Alabama on the other hand, to a rural homestead of sorts is a daily conversation here at Heartland Farm. The changes this move would create are ever before us and we discuss them, even as we bend over them in prayer. To think on all that we would need to do, can overwhelm us at times. Letting go off 32 years of accumulative living, filling our closets and storage areas will be a lesson towards living the simple life on a homestead farm. One complete with varied livestock, barns, vegetable gardens, farm chores, a smaller home and the joys that come from living close to the earth with dependence on God for our well being. I know for many this is not something they would ever consider. As our lives take different roads based on God's will for us and our individual personalities and desires. But as I told Lon last week as we walked a piece of land we are considering to buy. For me, I believe it will be like coming home to the life I have always felt apart of me. He and I are in agreement on what we would like our future to look like. As soul mates, married for life, best friends this kind of move will work for us.

I believe these are just two of the changes the Lord will bring into our lives in the next year and the years to follow. He has brought us through so many already, that I know he will carry us through each one we will face. To be found faithful in them will be a blessing beyond words.

Seeking new directions. . . . in a new year,

Deborah

Changes Come in Different Ways

As I have already mention in a previous post, our variable plans often bring about changes we never considered at the onset. Mine from even a few days ago have been re-adjusted to accommodate life's quirks that have come our way as of lately. I do not believe at this point that I will be able to complete my plans on the house as I would have liked. Mom and Dad are coming for a short over night visit this weekend. So the underlying need to wrap up the decorating in order to have unlimited time to visit is foremost in my mind. I know how Mom loves the holiday decorations and she loves to come and be surrounded by mine. Especially when she has stated that they will not be putting out very many or putting up a tree this year. It is hard for me to think of a time to come, when I would choose not to put up a tree nor decorate this time of a year. But the reality is that it could happen, as we never know what circumstances we may find ourselves, in the future. I take comfort in the fact that over half of the house was deep cleaned before hand and the rest will easily wait till a future date. Cleaning is always a part of home maintenance, a fact that never changes, unless you chose to hire someone else to do it for you. For me I think it is a portion of what God intended for women, in the roles as Wives and Mothers. We are not called "keepers of the homes" for no reason. He knew that to provide stability in the homes, someone needed to be present at all times to exemplify His love and grace to those within it's walls, to create a haven for the souls under it's roof. I have always seen this as my calling in life and have been honored in trying to fulfill HIS plan for me.

I was able to wrap up the decorating in all the rooms by late Saturday. There are a few items that needed to be completed in order to be as close to perfect as I can pull off. But if they are left undone it will only be my eyes to see them. So why worry! Perfection is not the key to enjoying the celebration, it is the willingness to be content with what we have, that will bring a fullness to our lives.

Another type of change came into our home today that has nothing to do with the Christmas celebrating activities. A type of change that has been considered for many, many years. One that has been a constant companion of mine for the past year in trying to decide what to do about it. One that was a step of courage on my part. A change that required that I embrace the statement to the right of this page. Of being true to who I am, of embracing the real me, quirks and all. I chose this past Thursday to stop coloring my hair. For 50 years I have been a brunette naturally and by way of a bottle of hair color. Gray hairs started developing in my middle 20's, much to my dismay. They have steadily marched across my scalp and have joined hands for many years now. Developing headaches and migraines at each coloring session this past 6-9 months have been a signal to me that maybe now was the time to let go and go gray. After all I am 52 and by all societal charts fall into the senior years of life. Though I still believe that you are as young as you think you are, regardless of what the calendar says. I don't feel old and I certainly did not want to look it. I still have a lot of life to live and needed to convince those around me that I am still capable. Today was my coming out of the "coloring" closet, so to speak. Amazement was had by all at the results of uncovering my "crown of glory". It was a sure sign to me that I should have done this earlier than I have. Everyone so far has loved the new look, saying it has taken years off my face and the compliments are still flowing in from every direction. WOW! All of it has astounded me and the freedom it will bring to my life will be a blessing I am sure. I have only been a blond one other time in my life, at the age of 2 or so. But even then it was more white than blond, courtesy of Mom's youthful hair color genes and the bleaching affects of the sun, when we lived in Florida for a couple of years. I have come full circle now and am heading back to my roots. (Yes, pun intended). Thankfully God has blessed me with a gorgeous color of silver for my graying years. I plan to shine for HIS glory and as a testament to HIS faithfulness to me.

This change comes at a time in my life when He has brought me to a point of acceptance, for the life I have lived thus far. Tomorrow marks the 34th anniversary of my terrible wreck on December 5, 1974, one caused at the hands of another driver. I have always been and always will be thankful for the Lord's hand on me that day. It could have easily taken my life and I felt and still do, that I had been blessed by God to be alive, despite the amount of damage to my body. Several good things came out of that challenge, that have brought me blessings over these past 34 years. Plenty of writing subjects for future revelations. I don't know what kind of person I would be today if I had not gone through it all. So to count all the years given to me from that day forward and to acknowledge the life I have lived. It seems only fitting to celebrate the gray hairs of a long lived life.

Celebrate your life it only comes around once.

Deborah