On Best Things

I could tell you that the farm is being invaded by flies. 

I could tell you that these flies are driving me absolutely CRAZY!

I could tell you that the Charmer colored his entire face AND arms green yesterday with a marker, but I'm still a little flustered about the whole thing  simply because I know for a fact that I put ALL the markers in the house on a high shelf in the school room and I can't  figure out for the life of me where on earth our curious little guy found the continual cause of my chaos.

I could tell you that that same little Charmer drank a glass of paint water this morning while I was a little distracted in my painting of the castle on the wall in the girl's room.
(Wondering if I should have called poison control? The bottle says, "ALL NATURAL" on it. Wondering what's "all natural" about paint? When I took the cup away from him, he licked his lips and declared "ahh". I think while I thought it was horrifying,  he thought it to be wonderfully refreshing. :)

But where's the joy in wallowing over the flies and a green marker and paint water?

No,  I'd rather tell you about the loveliness of this place instead.

So here it goes, summer's best, here on the farm...

1. The best text I got this summer came while I was away at a conference. It came from the Cowboy, and once I read those three heart-warming words, I couldn't stop smiling for days!!!

Yes, our little dog is gone.

And I feel like a new woman. :)

2. The best thing we've done for our marriage this summer was the forty bucks we spent on the two lovely rocking chairs that sit on our front porch. We've spent hours in them, talking and laughing. Instead of watching TV, we've sat on the porch watching the treasures race their big wheels down the dirt hill. Some nights we put the kids to bed early and rock together without a word watching the thunder storms roll in over the mountains. 

3. The best thing we've done for our treasures this summer, is sent them outside to play... for hours! They've found so many of life's secret glories out there in the farm fields. Last week they found a tiny bird that had fallen out of it's nest. They watched for an entire hour, all four of them crouched down in the grass, as the little bird tried to flap it's wings and find it's way home.

I love that all FOUR now play together so well. The four of them load their things up in their electric Jeep each morning and take it all out to the tree house then spend the hours exploring all things wild. And on most days, I don't see them again until lunch time.

I love this place.

I'm thankful for the life these treasures get to live. I'm thankful for their independence, their imaginations, their friendships with each other.

We made the right choice moving out to this farm.

4. The summer's best recipe was light and flavorful and seriously lovely for summer. You can buy pre-made crepes, but it's a lot cheaper and not to difficult to make your own. You can use whatever vegetables you have on hand. We used zuchini, yellow squash, shredded carrots and a handful of diced tomatoes that had been soaked in sunflower oil, fresh basil, cilantro, salt and pepper. And instead of the chives, we used dill in the sauce. (We doubled the sauce portion of the recipe... the Cowboy loves himself some sauce! :)  It was delicious! Even the treasures gave this recipe two thumbs up!

5. And the best book I've read all summer just might be the best book I've ever read, period. It was given to me several years ago when I first got married. I had opened it and read the first few chapters way back when, but it didn't captivate me then, the way it has this summer. I think certain books are meant to be read in certain seasons of our lives. This summer was definitely the perfect season for this Wife and Mama to soak up the richness of these pages. It's long and it's wordy, but it's worth the time and effort.... I promise. :)

6. The best use of our time this summer has been spent resting. 

Yes, 

rest.ing  /to rest/

verb, meaning__ 

to cease movement, in order to refresh oneself. <>  the  act of regaining ones strength.

Try it. It's fabulous I tell ya!

Each afternoon after a leisurely lunch, all five us (the Cowboy's at work so he doesn't always get to join us in this glorious afternoon ritual), LAY_DOWN.  

The act of  purposing to slow down, it does wonders for this Mama and these four kids. 

It's harder than it sounds. 

But worth working into the schedule on these long summer days. 

And there you have it... 

The simple things that have made this summer great!

730 Days Of Sheer Gift

I feel as if every mom says it about their boy each time another birthday rolls around, but truly,

I can't believe our little Charmer is TWO_YEARS_OLD today.

It's almost unfathomable to me.

The day we met our little guy, I pulled him out myself and wore a very confused look on my face as I stared at his, squishy, handsome, old-man-looking face.

I had prayed soo hard to have a least one that looked like me, and instead I got the spitting image of My Cowboy. Good thing the Cowboy's one handsome man! :)

Little Jedi,

You make me smile till my insides hurt. 

When you arrived on the scene, you turned my world upside down. Your curious little spirit has brought to light the truth of how little control I've had over all you precious treasures all along. 

You're cute, and by-golly, you KNOW IT! You bat those bright baby blue eyes at me, and shoot me that dazzling smile with those two little dimples on your perfectly squishy cheeks. 

And as much as you cause a bit of a rukus with your curious little mind, you've taught this Mama more in your short two years than she ever could have imagined her heart even needed to learn. 

The way you fake laugh when I catch you unrolling the toilet paper roll for the third time in a day, you've taught me to find joy in the mess of things. 

The way you run like a little football player through the farm fields, you've taught me to speak gratitude for even the smallest of gifts that He gives.

The way you jump right into what ever the big kids are doing, you've taught me to be courageous, even in, especially in, the times when I feel frozen and unable to move.

THe way you love life, and get right back up when you fall off your bike, you've taught me to accept the good with the bad, and to stand right back up, cheer for myself, and get back on my bike.

You are one amazing little man and there is not a day that goes by that I don't whisper thanks under my breath, for the gift of having you with us under this farmhouse roof. 

You the man! :)

Happy Happy Happy BIRTHDAY sweet man of mine! I just love you with my whole heart! :)

Love, Your Mama

The Hard Gifts

"Not my will, but yours be done."










We met when we were twelve, the Cowboy and I.

And when we gave our forever love to each other on that flaming hot day in August nearly twelve years ago, I didn't know how the word "submission" might change me over the years.

I didn't know then that the difficult things in this life so often become the very things that bring the most joy.

I didn't know that God's instruction in submission was actually going to turn out to be one of the greatest gifts that He's ever given me.

But as I ponder it all now, I wonder, how submission could be anything less than a gift, knowing that  it's something that He Himself modeled with His life?

When all was truly grim, He gave it all away submitting to the will of His Father.

"Not my will, but yours be done."

When the Cowboy and I got started over a decade ago, we were two kids really. And if we are honest with ourselves, we really knew very little of love and trust. We knew little of the ways of God and of the way that even when He asks things of us that make little sense, if we're brave enough to trust Him and walk through whatever He gives, then we just might see and know this nearly unspeakable joy like nothing else on this earth can offer.

But the trick is, we have to be willing to walk. And sometimes the journey can be long and painful.  

And so today, when we got to the reading of Ephesians 5:22-30, I couldn't help but reflect on the way that He's tenderly brought me to a place of joyful submission in my own life.

I like how our Shepherd said it today from the pulpit,
"Submission is an act of worship."

When we can hear the word submission, the way He intended us to hear it, the word can actually bring our souls this unimaginable freedom.

I know, "submission" and "freedom" in the same sentence... what?

But really, it's true. Because He didn't put authority in our lives to torture us, but rather to bless us, to free us from any unnecessary burdens.

Yes, He's asked women to submit to their husbands.

But it hardly stops there. He's also asked husbands to love their wives like Christ loves the church.

And how does Christ love the church? He loves them with a 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love.


The way Christ gave Himself on this earth...
The way He poured into souls...
The way He forgave the unforgivable...
The way He spoke life into the broken-hearted...
The way He gave up EVERYTHING, that those who believe in Him, might have life in abundance!

This is the way that He loved,
He gave himself up for us.


But even beyond that, He asked Jesus to submit to His ultimate rescue plan. He asked Jesus to submit literally to the grave. And quite frankly, if Jesus was willing to submit to the Father, then I know that I can trust Him to lead me and strengthen me to obediently submit to the authority that He's put over my own life.

And even though there are some days that I have convinced my soul that what the Lord has asked of me could not possibly be what He really means, I have come into the humble realization that I am simply foolish to think that my ways would ever be better than His.

I will admit that the Cowboy is not a very difficult man to submit to. He loves the Lord with his whole heart and he's tender and kind to me, his bride. 

But it hasn't always been the way it is now. 

The Cowboy and I have this history together. We've walked through many things in our twelve years of marriage and it hasn't always been smooth sailing. 

Nearly seven years ago now, a trust was broken between the two of us over an issue with our finances. I was devastated over a discovery I had made, so much so that the Cowboy left work in the middle of the day and came home in desperate hopes of restoring what had been lost.

Up until this point in our marriage, finances had always been a cause for tension. The Cowboy was a spender and I was a saver and we both had a completely different mind on how we should be using our money. 

At the end of our conversation that day, he humbly asked me if he could take over all the finances. In my mind I was thinking, "Are you insane? You just broke my trust like never before and now you're asking me to trust you to take over the giant mess that we're in?"

We sat there in silence for a few minutes and the craziest thing was going on in my spirit. I kept hearing this still small voice in my mind repeating, "Let it go. Gift him with your trust. Not because he deserves it, but because I'm asking you to."

I could hardly believe what was happening, but I found myself saying, "Yes. Yes, it's all yours."

Our financial journey has been a long one. It's been seven years since we had that conversation in our little apartment by the beach. And I am more than beyond grateful that the Lord nudged my heart that day and allowed me to submit in the most unlikely of circumstances. 

I have not seen our bank account in seven years. But, all glory to God, our finances are finally in order. Our debts are gone. Our cars are paid off. We have learned to live simply. We have learned to live within our means. The Cowboy didn't get us there the way that I would have gotten us there. But he followed through with what he said he was going to do. He simply needed me to honor him by trusting him. And that giving of respect to my man has enabled him to soar. Watching your man soar is a gift beyond words.

And it's not just our finances that took a turn for the best, it's our love for one another that has turned into something way more than I ever could have imagined it could be. 

Because The Lord so graciously taught me the joy of submission back then, it has enabled me to trust in the Cowboy in so many other things through out the years. 

Submission isn't always easy. I don't want to pretend that it doesn't sometimes come without some deeply rooted pain.

There have been times that we've made decisions together that have led us to difficult circumstances. 

Today I thought back to when the Cowboy asked me to move to Colorado. I was scared, but I knew that he had sought the Lord and I knew that this is where the Lord was asking us to go. So we did it. We packed up everything and left everyone we had known for thirty years. 

When we got here, it was lonely. Work was scarce. I was an exhausted Mama of four treasures, all five years and younger. I started homeschooling for the first time and quite frankly I wasn't very good at it. (I know now that it was ridiculous of me to even think that I should have been good at it that first year. New things take time to become something beautiful. :)  Life those first few months out here WERE HARD. 

But now time has passed and the Lord has been faithful. He's brought deep, intimate friendship. He's blessed us with an unbelievable place to raise our treasures. He's plugged us into a body of believers who love His Word. 

Through a hesitant submission of my own fears to Him, and a willingness to move forward into the unknown with my Cowboy, I have received gifts beyond anything that I could have come up with on my own.

He doesn't ask us to submit to torture us. He asks us to submit to bless us beyond measure. 

And our sweet Jesus is the best example I know. I want my life to be a reflection of His. And when He submitted to the Father, as incredibly painful as it was, together they were able to pull off the absolute greatest rescue plan that man has ever seen! What intense joy they must have experienced together once all was said and done, and man, whom they loved, was no longer separated from them because of sin. 

 

Man, the true joy of submission! :)

The Gracious Fancy Nancy Spunky Girl

We were all geared up for One Extravagantly Simple Fancy Nancy Princess Party, when, one by one, we started dropping like flies.

On Thursday it was My Siah. He just might have thrown up fifteen times before the day was over.

On Friday morning, it hit the Mama...

Then the Spunky Girl...

And around midnight, The Charmer started crying. Sure enough, his bed was covered in strawberry nastiness.

On Saturday morning I had to break it to The Spunky Girl that we were going to have to cancel her birthday party. I was dreading it. I just knew she was going to be so sad and I didn't want to break her heart. And bySaturday morning she was feeling her chipper self again.

"Reesie-piece. I'm sorry sweetheart but were not going to be able to have your party today cuz everyone's sick.

She looked at me, smiled that awesome Reesie-girl smile of hers, and offered this Mama more grace than I even thought a four-year-old knew how to offer,

"That's okay Mama. I'll just go outside and play with Halee."

Oh my goodness!Sweet Grace!

What four year old wouldn't cry at a canceled birthday party?

I guess my Spunky Girl... And she hasn't said a word about it since.

So once we were all feeling better, our whole family had our own Fancy Nancy party, got all accessorized, and went out for some ice cream. 

Even the Cowboy put on a tie for his daughter. 

The Cowboy doesn't actually own a tie, but thankfully the folks across the farm had an ample supply.

And as we were getting ready to pile into the car, the Cowboy came walking up the dirt road with the newest little additions to farm....

Sweet Spunky girl...

Thank you for your tender grace,

Thank you for your fun spirit that gets our family all dressed up and eating ice cream out by the lake.

I'm so thankful for you. 

Happy Birthday precious daughter of mine!