Wednesday, December 30, 2015
It's not even Jan 1st yet, and I'm already chomping at the bit to tackle my goals for 2016. Does anyone else feel that way? First on my list is to get my garden seeds ordered. As the New Year draws to a close, I like most people, can't help but spend some time reflecting on these past 365 days.
Bracing for the New Year!
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
The holiday hustle and bustle may be behind us, but perhaps
you’re like me and find you have a few regrets over the neglect of your health.
It’s so simple in the rush of the season to find a few bad habits sneaking in …
times where we take the easy route over the best route.
For example, on a busy day, it’s quicker to zip through a
drive-through than grill some chicken and veggies at home.
Not only can we take the easy way with our health, we can easily
slip into bad spiritual habits as well. When we’re exhausted, it’s easier to
slump onto the couch and seek comfort in milk and cookies, rather than open
God’s Word for encouragement.
It’s so enticing to sleep late on Saturday mornings, rather than
get up and spend quiet time with God.
Let’s face it, easier and quicker isn’t always better — either
physically or spiritually. The best choices often take extra time and effort,
but they are crucial for our health and a strong faith.
Monday, December 28, 2015
Christmas At The Johnson's
I think it has been 3 years now since the ice and snow hit in South Central KY. We all were stuck at my daughters house for the night on Christmas Eve. Only three bedrooms at the time, with nine people. The boys loved it! Well, this year we have made it a tradition. Rafferty, followed by Church and then onto the Johnson's for a sleep and a wake to Christmas morning. Now we have 10 of us! With 4 bedrooms and a bonus room to boot.
Thursday, December 24, 2015
I wonder if Mary wished her mother were there to help her
deliver her new baby. I wonder if she was saddened at her station in life. Did she wish that she had more to
give her new son than a birth in a manger?
I wonder if she mourned the absence of her friends. Did she feel alone? Lost in a big
world that seemed not to see her? I wonder if Christmas day — the
day Mary delivered her baby — was a day of mourning, too.
I wonder if the holiday season — the time of year where you sit
right now reading this devotion — is a time of mourning for you. I wonder if
you’re lamenting another Christmas season spent not quite the way you thought.
I wonder if you’re grieving because someone you love is not here
this year. I wonder if you’re sad because you feel alone, or life isn’t quite
where you’d like it to be. I wonder if you feel twists or twinges in your heart
as the notes from "Joy to the World" don’t seem to ring true in your
life. I wonder.
Sometimes, there is mourning in the midst of the merry.
And I don’t have an answer. I don’t have anything monumental to
say to get rid of the heart-hurts you might have today.
But I do know that if we keep going,
mourning can TURN into merry.
I know Mary saw her Son live the only perfect life in history.
Any mother would love to see her children live their lives well.
I know there was glory waiting for Jesus after the agony of the
cross.
And I know that while I miss my grandmother, I will see her
again one day.
You will not always be in this place. You will not always feel
the same intensity of hurt, pain or sadness. You will not always feel lonely.
Sometimes there is mourning. But the merry is still happening.
Walk through the mourning. Don’t deny it. Be honest about the
pain or ache that you feel. But don’t miss the merry.
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Jesus didn’t have to spend as many years with us as He did. He
could have skipped the first part of His life, shown up just before Good Friday
and left after He rose from the dead.
But He didn’t. In fact, for over 33 years, He made planet Earth
His home with the full experience of life: birth, growing pains, even puberty.
He went through the awkward stage of gaining independence while still being
respectful to His parents. He learned a skill, worked, made friends.
Jesus came and engaged. He wasn’t too good for this place or the
people. That’s powerful, unselfish love in action. It is a love that invested
all the years of His life on Earth leading up to His ultimate act: dying for
us.
Thankfully, I no longer exhibit all the selfishness of a child,
but there are places in my life where I am still "just visiting."
Fulfilling my responsibilities, but not seeing those around me who need this
unconditional love Jesus came to bring. I want to change. I need to change in
order to fulfill my purpose on Earth.
Are there places in your life where you are just visiting, too?
Missing out on investing in and really loving on the people around you? At
work, church, home or the gym? Open your eyes today to see with love the same
value Jesus saw in others.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Monday, December 21, 2015
Prepping For Houseguests
With the addition of a few niceties, your spare bedroom will be as
inviting to visitors as a fine hotel room. Set out essentials such as
towels and an alarm clock, then provide little luxuries as well: bottles
of water, foil-wrapped chocolates, and a few cut blooms in a vase.Towels with a Special Touch
Keep sets of guest towels together, bound with twill tape
or ribbon. When visitors arrive, just transfer a stack from linen
closet to guest bedroom.
Chilled Bottle Service
Give your overnight guests the five-star treatment by
setting chilled spring water on their nightstand. Choose a vessel, such
as a vase or a large julep cup, that is deep enough to accommodate a
small bottle and ice. Place a saucer underneath to collect the
condensation and protect the surface of the table.
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Fill a bowl with warm water. Cold water will cause the bacteria on the surface to be driven into the egg. Don’t use cold water. Just don’t. DON’T I SAID. Place the dirty eggs into the warm water, if only for a few seconds, the utilize your sponge or a wash rag to gently scrub the poo from the shell. This is pretty easy, unless a hen has broken an egg over the other eggs. Dried egg is like cement. But poo is pretty easy.
Monday, December 14, 2015
Why Are Chickens Sleeping In Nest Boxes
I couldn't tell you exactly why these girls
want to sleep in the nest boxes rather than on their roosts. I don't
know what your coop is like, how and where the roosts are.
My guess would be that they stay warmer all nestled in to a cozy nest. Legs & feet would be warmer, so they could use their energy to keep the rest of their bodies warmer.
It's important that the coop be draft free in winter, and that it be free of dampness, especially at night. It's possible that the nests are less drafty than the roosting area.
If the girls have entered their natural break from laying, it's unlikely they are feeling broody and most likely they just want to feel warmer through the cold nights. Not laying allows them more of their physical resources for staying healthy.
The only reason I don't like my hens sleeping in their nests is that they tend to poop, so nests get dirty faster. The warmer they can stay in winter, the healthier they will be.
Chickens are tough creatures and generally don't need supplemental heat if fully feathered and mature, and if they have gotten used to the cold temps as they drop through fall & winter. They have usually shed old feathers and grown new and more insulating feathers during the fall molt.
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Things You Never Clean, But, Really, Really Should.
Your cosmetics: Wipe down the rims of the bottles etc.
The Walls: Believe it or not your walls get dirty. You dust your furniture, so why not dust your walls. I use my Swiffer to do so.
The kitchen sponge: I personally don't use one. They harbor bacteria.
Your wooden cutting board: That board gets a lot of use. I wipe mine down with white distilled vinegar.
Bath tub toys: A breeding ground for bacteria. Wash with warm sudsy water.
The bottom floor of your oven: That's a good one. I am doing this right now. Putting the items I store in the bottom in the dish washer as we speak.
Your mop: I don't use one. I get on my hands and knees and clean my bathroom floors with white distilled vinegar. I have tile porcelain floors.
Light switch plates: All those dirty finger prints can be wiped off with a clean rag.
Your umbrella: Prevent build up of mildew.
Your computer: Netfix will look 10x better.
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Have You Ever Wondered...
What do bees do in winter? how much honey must bees store to last an entire winter? How many flowers do bees have to visit in order to make one pound of honey?
When winter rolls around, bears hibernate and birds fly south, but what about the bees? Like every other creature on earth, bees have their own unique ways of coping with cold temperatures during the winter season. One way bees prepare for the winter is by gathering a winter reserve of honey.
Honeybees head to the hive when temperatures drop into the 50s. As the weather becomes cool, the honeybees gather in a central area of the hive and form a “winter cluster." A winter cluster is much like a huddle you may have seen at a football game — except it lasts all winter!Bees have one main job in the winter — to take care of the queen bee. This means they must keep her safe and warm.
In order to do so, worker bees surround the queen and form a cluster with their bodies. The worker bees then flutter their wings and shiver. This constant motion and continuous use of energy is how the bees keep the inside temperature of the hive warm.
In order to keep shivering, the bees must have enough honey. This is how they get their energy. One of the most important jobs of the beekeeper in the winter is to make sure the honey supply stays full so the bees can keep shivering.
Though the queen is always at the center of the cluster, worker bees rotate from the outside to the inside of the cluster, so no individual worker bee gets too cold. The temperature of the cluster ranges from 46 degrees at the exterior to 80 degrees at the interior. The colder the weather is outside, the more compact the cluster becomes.
In order to produce body heat and stay alive, honeybees must rely on honey for energy. Some studies have found that hives of honeybees will consume up to 30 pounds of stored honey over the course of a single winter. On warmer days, bees will leave the cluster briefly in order to eliminate body waste outside the hive.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Love
Why do we love fairytales? And long for them to be true? Are
they just fantasy, a way to escape our lives? I believe they are the opposite.
These longings of ours are not fantasy. They are signposts.
Pointing us beyond what we can see. Leading us into the heart of things. Into
Hope and Joy and Love.
There is a Prince.
There is a Hero.
We are loved.
We are chosen.
We are beloved.
There is a Hero.
We are loved.
We are chosen.
We are beloved.
There is a Love we all long for.
There is Joy at the center of everything.
And Hope beyond the walls of the world.
There is Joy at the center of everything.
And Hope beyond the walls of the world.
There are Hands that hold us.
There is a purpose in the middle of it all.
There is a purpose in the middle of it all.
And one day, God will heal His broken world and His children’s
hearts, and wipe away every tear from every eye.
Oh how I long for this!Monday, December 7, 2015
Peace
Peace is a word that gets thrown around a lot at Christmas. It’s
on cards, decorations and sometimes even lit up in bright lights.
It’s a word that seems to stir a longing in all of us, yet it
also seems hard to come by — especially at Christmas. I mean, seriously …
there’s a house to decorate, gifts to buy, meals to cook, relatives to connect
with and loads of events to attend. How on earth are we expected to find peace
in the midst of the extreme hubbub?
Consider this: The circumstances of the first Christmas were
very stressful, too. There was an unmarried, pregnant teenager. There was a
scared but faithful fiancé. There was no room in the inn. There were smelly
animals and scratchy straw. There was an unidentified star in the sky.
Yet God gave the gift of prevailing peace in that story in the same way He longs to give our hearts the gift
of peace. How did Mary and Joseph overcome the chaos of their circumstances and embrace peace instead?
Perfect peace isn’t dependent on circumstances. It comes from a
steadfast, trusting heart. Let’s start the Christmas season by intentionally
growing our steadfastness by focusing our trust on God who is faithful. The
resulting peace will point to the Savior we’re celebrating!
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Fixed a place for the small chickens in the chicken house. They will adjust to the others in a couple of weeks. Butch is front and center.
Can you tell which is the pullet and which is the cockrel?
It's becoming extremely difficult to find a college student who is a
responsible, independent thinker and doer. Higher education is now
producing entitlement-minded clones that wander around oblivious to how the world really works. An alarming number of young people coming out of colleges today have no concept of finances, debt or economics.
They were pressured to attend college in the first place, and simply
found a way to get through by pleasing their liberal teachers so they
could get a piece of paper that "proves" their superiority in an
academic subject!As graduates are pumped out of the college campuses like sour milk, they come out thinking the world owes them. Their entitlement mindset is the only thing holding their lives together, as they demand that others pay for their educations and the lifestyles they choose.
Friday, December 4, 2015
Winter Concert
Why can't they call it what it is a "Christmas Concert." Our grandson plays the French Horn. He played in the BGHS Band and the BGHS Orchestra last night. They sounded beautiful. Saturday is the Christmas Parade and I will post more pictures of my grandson playing. Honey is a gift to be shared; it’s that feeling of “home,” which we all crave this time of year. But honey is so much more than just a plastic bear on the pantry shelf that is brought out at tea time. In addition to its many culinary benefits, honey’s various uses outside of the kitchen make it the one ingredient that spans your entire gift list! From beauty treatments to festive cookies, you have got just what you need to strike gold this holiday season.
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Where are the chickens? You never heard such a fuss in your life as the chickens scurried into the chicken house this morning.
A red tailed hawk was in sight, and David killed him with a 16 gage shotgun. He wanted one of the chicks for a meal. This is what happens to you when you go after my chickens.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Aging is one of the most dreaded life experiences in western culture; however, it doesn't have to be.
'I think we get enough positive changes with age, especially wisdom, that the psychological outlook can actually be better than in middle age.'
"On the bad news side are certain detrimental changes in the lungs, they don't expand as well, so that a deep breath isn't as deep in old age as it was in youth. The kidneys' ability to filter waste out of the bloodstream decreases by as much as 50 percent between the ages of thirty and eighty.
With aging comes fewer allergies and reduced sweating
It's my friends birthday today so I took her to Panara.. I got her a cake. She is such a sweet friend.
Older people have better self-images and are less judgmental about themselves
"In other words, we tend to judge ourselves less harshly, like ourselves better, and see our flaws as a good deal less tragic than they seemed in painful youth. 'In middle age,' as the writer Pete Hamill once put it, 'you tend to forgive yourself.''I think we get enough positive changes with age, especially wisdom, that the psychological outlook can actually be better than in middle age.'
"On the bad news side are certain detrimental changes in the lungs, they don't expand as well, so that a deep breath isn't as deep in old age as it was in youth. The kidneys' ability to filter waste out of the bloodstream decreases by as much as 50 percent between the ages of thirty and eighty.
With aging comes fewer allergies and reduced sweating
"But
like everything else we've talked about so far, there are
compensations. For example, people become somewhat less sensitive to
pain as they get older. They sweat less (sweat glands tend to dry up),
sneeze less (fewer allergic reactions as the immune system slows down),
and have fewer nightmares (no one knows why).
"Taste sensitivity
remains relatively constant, while the skin is more resistant to insults
from harsh chemicals and other irritants. Even the course of the day
often improves for older people: since they need about two hours less
sleep, the day is two hours longer, giving them extra time to exercise,
socialize with friends and family, or even use their lives creatively." "[T]hat while in many ways aging does mean slowdown and decline,
in other and in some cases equally important ways, getting older
actually does mean getting better. And the way to start this battle
against aging is to have an optimistic and enthusiastic attitude.
"If
we know that the second half of our lives can be a time of active good
health, contentment, and genuine achievement, then the battle is already
partially won."
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