Sabbath Keeping

(would love to give credit...do you know origin of this photo?)

"The end of a thing is better than its beginning;

the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry,

for anger rests in the bosom of fools."

~ Ecclesiastes 7:8,9 ~

"Patience is bitter
but its fruit is sweet."
~ John Chardin,
Voyages en Perse et autres lieux de l'Orient ~

"One minute of patience

gives ten years of peace." 

~ proverb ~

"Patience is the companion of wisdom." ~ Aristotle ~

"Patience is not the ability to wait but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting."  ~ Joyce Meyer ~

"Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success." ~ Napoleon Hill ~

"A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains."  ~ proverb ~

"Never cut a tree down in winter time.
Never make a negative decision in the low time.
Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods.
Wait.
Be Patient.
The storm will pass.
The spring will come."
~ Robert H. Schuller ~

"The two most powerful warriors are

patience

and time."

~ Tolstoy ~ 

"Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance."
~ Samuel Johnson ~

"The greatest power is often simple patience." ~ E. Joseph Cossman ~

"How poor they are who have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees." ~ Shakespeare ~

"Just because something isn't happening for you right now doesn't mean it will never happen." ~ proverb ~

"Patience is the ability to count down

before you blast off."

~ proverb ~

"Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm." ~ Syrus, 42 B.C. ~

"Be patient with everyone,

but above all with thyself.

I mean, do not be disheartened by your imperfections,

but always rise up with fresh courage."

~ Francis De Sales ~

"Festina Lente"

"And not only so,

but we glory in tribulations also:

knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

And patience, experience, and experience, hope."

~ Romans 5:3-4 ~

Please pray for - Anita ~ Hazel ~ Phoebe ~ 

It's Been A Year...Already!

So much has gone on that a lot of it has been forgotten and the (almost) worst of it has been the computer has been on the fritz. As in, I couldn't access any web sites except those the computer (or Google...let's not forget Google...) decided I could see. That includes my very own blog which explains no Sabbath Keeping yesterday but today the Good Fairies seem to want to play nice. ??? I'll take it!

I don't even pretend to understand! So...if something wonderful has happened in your life, please let me know because, for more than a week, I've missed it all. Except for the storm last week. I sure didn't miss those zero temps with wind chills below zero. I would sleep for three hours then wake up in a tizzy, afraid the pipes were going to freeze, burst, thaw. When awake, I'd feed the wood stove but when asleep, I had nightmares of freezing, bursting, thawing pipes. Seriously, I would wake in a sweat because I was dreaming the ceiling was falling down around my ears just like it did Jan 8! Speaking of...the epic mess is still not fixed. Pipes are still leaking although it's of absolutely no concern to the insurance rep; he just said, "Oh, that's a separate issue and has nothing to do with this issue."

Welllllll...I do not have issues...I've got problems, one of which seems to be ignoring the fact an insurance policy is a contract. Anyhoo, I'm still waiting on the heat registers which are on order. The insurance rep "allowed" the exact cost at Home Depot and not a penny more. Yeah. Those registers are doing me a lot of good at Home Depot because not only do they not have them in stock, the insurance rep didn't allow shipping. I am puzzled, enormously, how those registers are supposed to get here. Is the insurance company responsible for shipping or not? Home Depot assured us the registers would should might be here by mid-May. At the very least, the end of May. Surely. Yeah. We think. wink. If those registers can be found anywhere else, trust me, they're coming to this farm. No one wants to mess with a cranky, cold senior citizen who knows her rights!

I do know this much...I am well and truly sick of being cold, living in chaos, not being able to get into my closets, having bedroom furniture and clothes strewn in three rooms and a hall, sleeping in sharing a twin bed with Sam P. Spade, still doing laundry of textiles and clothes that were either in the dining room or my bedroom...blah, blah, blah. Three months is long enough to wait...I want to be warm and sleeping in my own bed...NOW!

Okay...rant over...apologies if you require.

I need to make a run to Duchess Dairy, I'm in need of sweet Jersey cream to churn into butter and buttermilk then to make biscuits, gravy and a lot of other fattening, nice kitchen goodies. The two large churns are both family heirlooms with the largest being from my Grand-Grandmother Delilah via Aunt Bonnie. I learned to churn, make cat head biscuits, apple butter and a lot of other things from Aunt Bonnie and have always had a serious case of heroine worship on her.

Aunt Bonnie kept a Jersey and a Guernsey cow for milk and cream and yes, chickens for eggs and the table. If you're going to keep milk cows, Jersey and Guernsey are the absolute best. Most commercial dairy herds are Holsteins because of their prolific production; a Holstein produces more milk but of less, much less, quality while a Jersey's quality is best in the bovine world.

Daddy John and Daniel have been calving...yes, in the nasty, cold, bitter weather. Last week, on the worst day, they had eleven calves born. I was allowed to tag along and took these photos of a calf being born.

This cow's water has broken and the small white dot is the calf's foot. When presented correctly, a calf will come out front feet first. Sometimes, when a cow is in labor, she'll steal another cow's calf which is what this cow did. She tagged a calf and followed it around the field, all the while, in labor with her own. Sometimes, a calf will follow a cow in labor and steal milk. The animal world is funny, just like the human world.

She finally laid down and began pushing only to get up, move around again

laid down again, the calf is beginning to slip out

cow is taking a break and you can see the calf raise his head...he's alive!

cow clambers to her feet but calf isn't fully birthed

 this is where it got funny...

the cow began walking around, poor little calf still caught half out, half in

the cow feels something strange, keeps turning, turning, turning

what in the world!!!!????

calf scrabbles for ground, can't get purchase

and...suddenly! slips out onto the ground

proud cow turns and begins licking the afterbirth and in a few minutes, the calf wobbled to his feet and began nursing.

Sadie, watching over the Peaceable Kingdom, is enthralled with the cow herd and with the idea Spring is here, so says the calendar. The old timers said whatever weather was on the first day of Spring is what we'd have the rest of the quarter. Please God, let it be so! It's been warmish today, a tot of rain and mostly sun. I've done seven loads of laundry, a bit of house cleaning, some re-arranging which means I'm, slowly but surely, putting furniture back in rooms where they belong. Yes, by myself. Don't ask.

Happy Spring People...be safe!

Ponder this ~ conduct is the best guide to character ~

Sabbath Keeping

"...No weapon forged against you will prevail, 

and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. 

This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, 

and this is their vindication from me," declares the LORD."

~ Isaiah 54:17 ~

"God never made a promise that was too good to be true." ~ D. L. Moody ~

Ten Things God Wants YOU to Remember ~

*I will give you rest

*I will strengthen you

*I will answer you

*I believe in you

*I will bless you

*I will not fail you

*I will provide for you

*I will be with you

*I love you

*I care for you

"God's promises are like the stars.

The darker the night, the brighter they sign."

~ David Nicholas ~

"Most of the time God's promises are in your reach.
They are not in your hand. You have to go get them." ~ unknown ~

"You see, faith opens the door to God's promise for you. And patience keeps it open until that promise is fulfilled." ~ Kenneth Copeland ~

"God has promised forgiveness for your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination." ~ Augustine of Hippo ~

"The stars may fall but God's promises will stand and be fulfilled." J. L. Packer ~

"Let God's promises shine on your problems." ~ Corrie ten Boom ~

"I had a choice: I could believe the lies of the devil, in which case I was on my way to suicide, or I could believe in the promises of God, and be taken through my time of trial." ~ Angus Buchan, Faith Like Potatoes ~

"One of the most poisonous of all Satan's whispers is simply, "Things will never change." That lie kills expectation, trapping our heart forever in the present. To keep desire alive and flourishing, we must renew our vision for what lies ahead. Things will not always be like this. Jesus has promised to "make all things new." Eye has not seen, ear has not heard all that God has in store for His lovers, which does not mean "we have no clue so don't even try to imagine, " but rather, you cannot outdream God. Desire is kept alive by imagination, the antidote to resignation. We will need imagination, which is to say, we will need hope."
~ John Eldredge ~

"You are indicting your unbelief by distrusting God's goodness, and you are bringing greater misery upon yourself by disparaging God's blessing. For if you had trust in God's grace and promises, you would undoubtedly be supported. But because you do not hope in the Lord, you will never prosper."
~ Martin Luther ~

"All your days have been written in God's book.

When you go through a disappointment,

don't stop on that page.

Stay the course.

Keep believing.

You may be tired, discouraged, frustrated but

don't give up on your future.

Our God is faithful."

~ unknown ~

"David found the heart to pray when he received God's Word of promise--that he would establish his throne and build him a house. Christians, however, have an infinitely greater Word of promise. God will not merely build us a house, He will make us His house. He will fill us with His presence, beauty and glory. Every time Christians merely remember who they are in Christ, that great word comes home to use and we will find, over and over again, a heart to pray."
~ Timothy Keller ~

"The promise of a dreamer's future will always remain greater than their present ability. God will always give them dreams that are further along than their current level of maturity." ~ Wayne Cordeiro ~

"Every promise of Scripture is a writing of God, which may be pleaded before Him with this reasonable request, "Do as Thou has said." The Heavenly Father will not break his Word to His own child." ~ Charles H. Spurgeon ~

"You were given this life because you were strong enough to live it."

We all go through bad things, trails, tests, disappointments, discouragements, the heart break. Each of us have those things, sometimes it seems in abundance, in our lives; God didn't promise we wouldn't go through those things. He promised to be with us when we do. Keep running your race, walk when you need to and crawl if you have to but keep moving toward Jesus. Do not stop.

"The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, 

but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish

but that all should reach repentance."

~ 2 Peter 3:9 ~

Please pray ~ one for another ~

Sabbath Keeping

"Cast your burden on the Lord,

and He will sustain you;

He will never permit the righteous to be moved."

~ Psalm 55:22 ~

"I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death." ~ Leonardo da Vinci ~

"Discouragement is the illegitimate child of false expectations."
~ Lloyd Ogilive  ~

"If I get up just one less time than the number of times I've been knocked down, I have done one of the most devastating things possible; I have halted my life at that very spot." ~ Craig D. Lounsbrough ~

"Fatigue, discomfort, discouragement are merely symptoms of effort."
~ Morgan Freeman ~

"Discouragement is the cancer of great things." ~ Craig D. Lounsbrough ~

"Should-haves are the devil's greatest tool against our personal progress. He shouts in our ears that they are failures, while God calmly whispers they are lessons." ~ Richelle E. Goodrich ~

"Discouragement is not the absence of adequacy but the absence of courage."
~ Neal A. Maxwell ~

"On the road to nowhere there are many people who lack the vision to get you anywhere." ~ Johnnie Dent, Jr. ~

"What we do not see, what most of us never suspect of existing, is the silent but irresistible power which comes to the rescue of those who fight on in the face of discouragement." ~ Napoleon Hill ~

"Don't be discouraged by people who tease you out of your dreams. What you have in your heart is bigger than what they have on their lips!"
~ Israelmore Ayivor ~

We must be careful to let the Holy Spirit do this searching. If we try to search our own hearts, we are apt to fall into one or both of two traps. The first is the trap of morbid introspection. Introspection can easily become the tool of Satan, who is called the "accuser" (Revelation 12:10). One of his chief weapons is discouragement. He knows that if he can make us discouraged and dispirited, we will not fight the battle for holiness. The second trap is that of missing the real issues in our lives." ~ Jerry Bridges ~

"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."

~ I Peter 5:7 ~ 

Please pray