#525-#541

525. No need for Christmas gifts--I have been receiving them all year long.

526. Behives-so amazing!

527. Tiny infant queen bee creeping across a wax frame.

528.  Surprise sprout of elephant garlic. So that's where I planted it!

529. Slow, easy Saturdays.

530. Grocery money.

531.  Bright red flowers full of December nectar to feed the bees.

532. Extra virgin olive oil.

533. The whole family working together to get ready for a party.

534. Hungry boy after a morning of man-sized work.

535. The first Christmas cards coming in.

536. Nutella--this is beyond mere groceries!

537. Crazy brown dog, running along barking at the truck.

538. Colored Christmas lights outside.

539. Bonfire with friends.

540. Boy majority for a change!  Sweaty, loud game of manhunt.

541. Katie C., 6th grade mom to all toddlers.

#508-#524

508. My girls delighting in the smell of steer shampoo.

509. Katie fingerpainting on Kenny's flank.  Love notes to a steer.

510.  Cold night, crisp morning.

511. Garden tools.

512. A real pea!

513. Excited dogs as they leave for "work" with the Cowboy.

514. Warm sweaters.

515. Honesty from a child that opens my eyes to a frustration I've caused.

516. Repentance and forgiveness.

517. Clean counters.

518. Happy Girl, sharing from her journal a truth that God has revealed to her about how He weaves the tapestry of History.

519. Sun streaming through the windows warming our cold house.

520. Today's gift from the Psalms: "You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of Your presence and the pleasure of living with you forever."

521. Waking up to a clean kitchen. (Don't blink...)

522. A chance to see God provide--thanksgiving always precedes a miracle!

523. Seeing the farm through the eyes of a three-year-old--everything is a wonder.

524. Peeking in to check on the napping boy and finding him asleep on the floor all curled up next to the door.

#491-507 Halfway to 1000!

491. My boy catching up to his dad in height.

492. Cool, sunny mornings.

493. Chickens dashing around the yard.

494. Indoor plumbing.

495. Homemade pralines.

496. Silly girls in the kitchen.

497. Purring cats.

498. Pouting farm dog when I won't let him chase chickens.

499. Evening devotions--reverence and laughter.

500. Warm blankets.

501. Foggy sunrise, drinking coffee outside.

502. Company "perks"--not to be taken for granted.

503. Cucumber "family" in my fridge, complete with faces.

504. Poinsettas.

505. Swamp full of cranes in the morning.

506. Stationary attachment for my bike so I can ride far without going anywhere!

507. Slow-paced days--let them be filled with focus and wonder!

#475-#490

475. Having something to share.

476. Fresh bags of chicken feed.

477. Each student behind every paper I grade.

478. Chuckles over the creativity and silliness of an essay on "Spoons" (which can apparently be used to stick up one's nose...)

479. Funny comments by the kids and their friend as they make breakfast.

480. A husband with integrity and humility enough to take less for himself so others can have more.

481.  A wise and thoughtful father who is generous with his advice when it is asked for, but never forceful with it.

482.  Pitching in on a present that we KNOW is a good one.

483. Dirt under my fingernails from pulling weeds.

484. Cowboy's reading of Genesis 3.  "Who told you that you were nekkid?"

485.  Games with friends, old and new.

486.  Mandoo!  Good conversation and food.

487. Lunch, farm (and feather) sharing, and lots of laughter with the Morrisons.

488. Trying to keep a straight face as Gabe negotiates, "The thing is Aaron....I'm was chasing chickens to lose weight....they give me a good workout." What a sweet soul!

489. Coffee and conversation under the stars.

490. The gift of laughter.  It costs nothing to give, but enriches so much!

Redneck Advent

God has a sense of humor!

He shows me the very day that I write of my desire to shift our Christmas season focus to the Christ child--without losing the fun and laughter of the season.

My very Southern Cowboy solemnly pulls out the evening's devotion at dinner and we read of The Fall that made the coming of Jesus necessary.

Serious stuff!

He reads from Genesis 3--"Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were nekkid...


Suppressed smirk from the Montana girl with the "pure" dialect.

I look up, and across the table my Songbird is wearing the same expression I know I must be wearing.  Our eyes meet.

Uh-oh.

...."But the LORD God called to the man, 'Where are you?'  He answered, 'I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was nekkid;..."

giggle.  


Now Happy Girl is noticing....


"so I hid.'  And God said, 'Who told you that you were nekkid?"

Baaaaahhhhh!  We lose it.  Gales of laughter.  Very perplexed Cowboy.


Cowboy: "What is so funny?!"

Happy Girl: "WHO TOLD Y'ALL YA WERE NEKKID???"


Whoops of laughter.


I can't resist: "This here woman ya give me--she done give me some fruit and I et it."

Now we are ALL doubled over, tears streaming from the laughter.

As we are discussing writing our own book, "Advent Devotions for Rednecks," I have to wonder if this family is capable of solemnity....

We did recover enough to get back to the reading and this beautiful reminder:

 God still whispers, "Where are you?" because His love longs for us.

Maybe laughter is one of the ways He woos us.

#461-#474

461. Wasabi almonds.

462. Soup weather!

463. Cocoa date with my Cowboy.

464.  Secret Santa underwear parties for the girls.  Too silly.

465. Stockings on the fireplace.

466.  Beautiful quilt of the Three Kings made by my talented mother. (Come to think of it, the stockings are, too!)

467. Stories of how God wooed a Muslim girl into His kingdom.

468. Advent devotions before bed.  Time to enjoy God and one another.

469. Pregnancy!  (No, not me but for two special young women who were waiting.)

470. Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the Lord is good.  Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in Him.

471. Curious city boy coming to get his hands dirty doing farm work.

472. A heart that has been softened enough by God that it can grieve with the sorrow that leads to repentance.

473.  Intercessory prayer that pulls my focus from myself and toward God and others.

474. Plants still growing in my first garden!

A Real Love Story (Part II)

We prayed.

He answered.

I don't know how many gathered together to pray for the life of an unborn child, but God brought us a miracle.  I could just sense that He was working, and He did.

This baby will live.

The young woman for whom I pleaded is now a mother-to-be.  She showed her friend the picture of the sonogram she is carrying around with her. To remind her of whom she holds.

What are the odds?

Practically zero, according to my friend Irene who works at a pregnancy center.  Statistically speaking any woman who has had one abortion will almost always abort again in the event of another unplanned pregnancy.

It takes a miracle.

Ann Voskamp noticed in Scripture that thanksgiving always precedes a miracle.  We gave thanks, and we got our miracle.

Now I am praying for another.

But first: Thanksgiving.  Overwhelming gratitude for such a clear answer to corporate prayer.   Thanksgiving that I pray to a God who is not just Able, He is Good.


Thankful for a God who is not done writing this story.  I don't presume to know His ways.  I do know that He can work something beautiful out of any situation.  And I am so grateful.

Still, I am praying.  Praying that this young mother would love enough to allow another woman to be "Mommy" to her child.

I am praying that as she stretches herself to place the needs of her child above her own need for love, that she would find the love she has been craving.

Not from a man.

Not from a child.

But from a God who loved her enough that He gave everything so that she could have the best.

Perhaps in this season of Advent, she will be brought a picture of another young mother who had a VERY unplanned pregnancy.  Unplanned to her.

Not to Him.

And the Babe that He gave up, came so that she could have perfect love.