He brought me out. . .

of the miry clay.  He set my feet on a rock to stay.  He puts a song in my soul today.  A song of praise, HALLELUIAH!

When our kids sing this song, they SING with ALL their HEARTS.  Some days, I need to be reminded to do that too.  This is a wonderful week to remind me that my Savior died for MY sins.  He brought me out of that miry clay and set my feet on a rock.
Now why in the WORLD do I want to keep jumping in again?  I am thankful for so much, it's just that sometimes my mind gets cloudy and I have to shove things aside to see the beauty.  In shoving aside today, I am grateful for. . .

. . . . . . .

41 - daddy's helpers

42 - mommy's helpers

43 - Goodwill stores

44 - SPRING!

45 - days of making food for the freezer

46 - naps of rejuvination

47 - inspiration for early rising

48 - a Sunday afternoon with old friends

49 - good books

50 - praising God through song

. . . . . . .

And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.  And if any man say aught unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.  All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy king cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.  And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.  And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strewed them in the way.  And the multitudes that went before, and thatfollowed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.  - Matthew 21:1-9

33 years. . .

Servant of The Most High, Son, Husband, Daddy.

Happy Birthday to Joe!

We love you! 

This morning, after Joe left for work, Ethan wondered, "How many years have we had Daddy?"  I am so thankful that out of your 33 years, a little over 10 of them have been with me.

So thankful for your prescence in our life!

Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.  -1 Peter 2:17

not pa's haystack. . .

Saturday was an eventful day at the Hess Household.

Friday night Jonas had came and excavated for our new shed. He scraped topsoil, moved dirt, and dug holes. Wow, all that big equipment was a child's DREAM!

Saturday morning, everyone was out bright and early, getting ready for the concrete truck. We were planning to get cement poured in the holes that Jonas had dug for the new building and also in our new sidewalk. It was one action packed day!

After all this, Ethan & Elisa took LONG naps, and when they got up they had the MOST fun of all. . .

Remember reading On the Banks of Plum Creek, by Laura Ingalls Wilder? Remember how much fun Mary & Laura had sliding down Pa's haystack? (until there was no longer a haystack?) Remeber how Pa stacked it all back up and told them not to slide any more? Remeber how they did it again? This was one of our favorite stories in the book, so when Ethan and Elisa started playing on the big dirt pile that Jonas had made, it made me think of this. I reminded them about it and they laughed.

When the day was done, Joe & I lauged a lot too!

Lo, children are a heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. -Psalm 127:3

Praise to God,

immortal praise, For the love that crowns our days; Bounteous source of ev'ry joy, Let Thy praise our tongues employ.

Once again, I come to a "normal" Monday and pause to pursue gratitude and be a joy finder.

. . . . . . .

31 - Aged Women

32 - "firemen" (or firechildren)

33 - happy kiddos at 6a.m.

34 - helping hands

35 - grace

36 - forgiveness

37 - long-distance friends

38 - Godly folks to look up to

39 - picnics in spring

40 - quiet time with Him!

. . . . . . .

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.  Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.  Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.  Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.  - Psalm 51:10-13

a trick. . .

Tuesday, Joe had service school in New Holland, PA.  Ethan, Elisa, & I all spent a fun day with Sherry while he was at school.  I was suppose to be back to pick him up at 4p.m.  Well, as usual, I was running late, and then (of course) got stopped in traffic which made me even later.  I didn't arrive until 4:30 or so.  We had started home (a 2 hour drive) when Joe made the comment that we should just stop and get new tires on the van.  He said that we would arrive home too late to do the outside work he had planned, so we may as well get the tires done.

We did that.

We continued home with new tires, and what we thought was a quieter riding van. (although it was hard to tell for sure with all the commotion from the second seat)  :)

When we got home, we just relaxed in the living room reading books.  I thought that it was a winding down time before heading up to bed. . .

In a little, I heard Joe say, "Ethan, do you want to come outside with me?  I'm going to do a trick."

Of course Ethan took him right up on that.

I thought I would go find out what the trick was also.  What I saw didn't resemble "going to bed" in any way.

It reminded me more of the "tearing up of the sidewalk" that Joe had said it was going to be too late to do. :) 

Well, this continued for some time. (much to Ethan & Elisa's delight)

Until, finally, Ethan said, "Daddy I thought you were going to do a trick!"

Puzzled, Joe said, "This IS my trick!"

To this Ethan replied, "OH.  I thought you were going to do a flip or something!"

Then we had a GOOD LAUGH!

After the laughter, Joe finished demolishing the sidewalk.

I LOVE the way kids think!

&

I LOVE the way my husband keeps my life interesting!

After sitting in a classroom all day, who WOULDN'T need to do a little work before bed?

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:  - Ecclesiastes 3:1

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; . . .  - Ecclesiastes 3:5

with thanksgiving,

praise, and in hearing His word; O worship with singing, the Master is here!

He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.  I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.  And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labor, it is the gift of God.   - Ecclesiastes 3:11-13

. . . . . . . .

21 - studying joy

22 - boy teachers

23 - girl students

24 - long distance phone conversations

25 - clean rooms

26 - suprise visits from friends

27 - a girlie that talks more every day

28 - chipotle

29 - a boy who loves his chickens

30 - visitors sharing the gospel with us

. . . . . . .

Care to join the Gratitude Community?

a picture is worth a thousand words. . .

. . .so here are a couple thousand words about January 2010

:)

welcome new friend, zoey kate

thanks grandma!  happy family day, elisa!

we have fond memories as we celebrate your 2nd year with us!

thanks for sharing our day, braden

the piñata was lots of fun, even after it was "broken"

snow buddies

recycling crayons

happy 3rd birthday, elisa!

Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.  Remember his marvelous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;      -Psalm 105:4-5

so, i have this friend. . .

. . .that is holding me accountable for memorizing scripture.  What a blessing to have friendships like this.  Yes.  I fall flat before her.  Yes.  She watches as I pick myself up and ask for more time.  I absolutely cherish my conversations with her.  What encouragement!  I thank God for friendships that help me grow closer to him.

Tonight at Bible Study, we discussed JOY.  In all the studying that I have done, I can only come to one conclusion.  That is this:  to have true JOY is only attainable by having an intimate relationship with my SAVIOR.  So whenever I seek happiness, I am seeking the wrong thing.  Happiness totally depends on circumstances around me.  If I want to have JOY, I only have to seek HIM!

Right now I am praising God for giving me relationships that help me seek HIM more.  I can't be thankful enough for ALL my friends that encourage me in my WALK WITH THE LORD, but especially right now I want to say thank you to my friend for memorizing with me, because. . .

For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  - Romans 8:6

i could never count them all. . .

. . .so good is God to me!

Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:  -Psalm 147:7

. . . . . . .

9 - evenings of sweet fellowship and singing praises to our creator

10 - cheerful helpers

11 - freedom to travel

12 - friends who encourage

13 - spring

14 - good health

15 - sidewalk chalk

16 - first blooms of the season

17 - humor

18 - clean clothes drying in the sun

19 - hens that like to sit on eggs

20 - healthy food

. . . . . . .

Care to join the Gratitude Community?

woe yut?

This morning I was in the laundry room and I could hear Ethan & Elisa playing.  When I went in the living room to check up on them, Elisa came running up to me.  With much concern she pointed to her baby.

She said, "Bee-bee tich, woe yut!"

Being pretty clueless, I looked at Ethan for help in translation.  He informed me that the baby is sick and throwing up.  (I could HARDLY keep from laughing)

I (with concern of course) said, "That is too bad!  You will have to take really good care of her until she is better."

This is when Ethan informed me that the baby had been outside playing in "goose mud" and apparently she had eaten some.  When she came back in she started throwing up.

Okay, I am really close to loosing it by this time, but to top it all off, when the baby was done throwing up, Elisa picked her up, and Ethan promptly "shut the toilet lid"!  (Put the blue frisby down on the yellow one)

This is when I had to go in the other room.  Really!  How can I get any work done when I have such wonderful entertainment?  (yes, Ethan & Elisa just had a round of the stomach bug)

I loved EVERY bit of this, but once again I am sobered when I remember that

CHILDREN LEARN WHAT THEY LIVE!

And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.  And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:  And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.  -Deuteronomy 6:5-7

multitude monday

Yesterday, after hearing about the Reece Family, we had a pretty DULL afternoon and evening.  At times like this, it is easy for me to question God and wonder what his plan is.  

  This morning was busy in preparation for our up-coming communion weekend.  When I got home, I decided to see if there was any news.  I noticed that Ann Voskamp had a new post.  I am always inspired when I read her writings.  She pretty much always has something to say that I need in my life.

Today it was a reminder of HIS LOVE for us.  I was reminded once more that HE is in control and that he CARES for me.  (each one of us)

I want to make it a point in my life to be grateful for ALL the blessings that come my way, and to live a life of Thankfulness.  Hence, I am starting today to take part in

1 - God's many promises

2 - my WONDERFUL husband

3 - tremendous energy in the form of KIDS!

4 - family

5 - sisters in Christ

6 - warm fires in winter

7 - inspiring friends

8 - prayer

. . . . . . .

God IS in control, blessing us daily, and I want to REMEMBER.  I am assured of all this in Ecclesiastes 3:1:

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven