Yesterday I had mentioned going on a Women's Church Retreat. All I can say is Wow, God is AWESOME! Our group of 13 women stayed at a house on Lake Berkly in Kentucky. It was beautiful and refreshing to be on the lake.



I had SO much fun and learned SO much. Not only did I learn about God, but about myself and the other women as well. I am just amazed at everything that I was able to experience in just a three day weekend!

I could go on and on and on about everything that happened, but I will just give you a summary of what I learned:

Sometimes you have to STOP and listen. Get away from your normal day to day life and jump out of your "box". Listen to what God has to tell you, He is always there and can speak to you directly or indirectly through people and situations. Pray! Pray all the time and don't be afraid to be specific. His answer is NEVER "No." It is either "Yes," "Not Now," or " I have something better planned." Seek God in everything and every situation and Praise HIM! Never stop doing, the moment you STOP doing, your faith dies. You have to make time to STAY IN YOUR WORD! You can read the same passage 50 times and on the 50th time learn something TOTALLY different and new! Don't be afraid of the gifts God gives you, trust that He knows exactly what He is doing and act on those gifts. 

I'm sure you may be saying, well that is silly, I've heard a lot of those comments before, why is she JUST now getting it. Well, being TOLD something and LIVING IT are totally different things. The last line was something that I had been battling with a lot lately. Through the Retreat, I was able totally surrender to God and use the gift he has given me. It was both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time! I know God has great plans for me and I am so excited to learn more!

  My soul yearns for you in the night;
in the morning my spirit longs for you.
When your judgments come upon the earth,
the people of the world learn righteousness.
Isaiah 26:9 NIV

Have wonderful day and God Bless you dear followers!

Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. Jeremiah 17:14 (NIV) 

Growing up I never really saw the healing power of God firsthand. Last month, however,  I witnessed it continuously and even experienced it firsthand. It is amazing and proof that God is alive and very present even in this crazy day in age!

Each Sunday last month church members were being healed. All had different ailments that they were ready to give to God. I found it amazing and unreal, even though I saw it with my own eyes and heard the testimony with my own ears.

I have had constant back pain for years, I've just been able to tune it out until the pain gets too bad. I never realized it until now, but the devil knows that pain is one of my big weaknesses. All he has to do is throw a little pain my way and I fall off the path that God wants me on. I let it rule over me and hope that it goes away soon, instead of looking to God for help.

Last Sunday, my back was hurting more than usual. I was fed up! I decided that I was too young to hurt this bad and I needed help. It was a big step for me to ask for prayer for myself, I always seem to want to pray for others and have others helped. I went up to the alter, the elders prayed, anointed me with oil, and my back was immediately pain free, Praise God. It was strange to me to feel no pain because I had been in pain for so long.

I have been unable to STOP telling everyone about my healing. I WANT this for others and I know that God wants to do it for other, all they have to do is humble themselves before God and ask for His help! It seems SO simple, but SO hard for so many people to do. I know, because it was hard for ME!

If you need healing, mentally, physically or spiritually, PRAY! Ask God for help, He WILL answer! But also remember that God's answers aren't always immediate, they may be "Not Yet" or "I have something better planned." Seek Him in everything you do and I KNOW you will be blessed!

Have a wonderful day!

The past couple of weeks at church I have seen amazing healing just through the power of prayer. Doctor's found a cancerous tumor on the kidney of one of the elders in our church. And yes, I did say THE kidney, about 10 years ago he had to have his kidneys removed and replaced by a donor kidney. So, he in fact had a tumor on his donor kidney. Our church family is very strong, especially when it comes to prayer. I always joke about our church having God on speed dial, because every time we need a serious healing and we pray we see results almost instantly. Now, I'm not saying that praying ALWAYS gives you instant results, however this past month we have been blessed as a church to be able to see instant results.

The doctors were able to remove the tumor along with part of the affected kidney. In the hospital, blood results showed that the kidney wasn't functioning as normal, but that was to be expected. About a week went by and our elder went in for more blood tests to check on the kidney, the results were better than in the hospital and showed that the kidney was working like normal. Another week went by and more blood tests, this time the results showed that the kidney was functioning above normal, as if he had two perfectly healthy kidneys.

From what I've been told, the doctors here had never done this kind of surgery nor expected such wonderful results. Praise God for the power of prayer and for healing! God uses doctors for His will and He certainly did for our elder, there is no other way to explain such a miraculous healing! God has big plans for our elder, our church, and our community. He has great plans for you and you too can have God on speed dial if you believe, seek him, and pray!


Have you witnessed divine healing through prayer and God? Leave me a comment and share, I'd love to hear your story!

Have a wonderful morning dear followers!

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...You get home from church Resurrection Sunday, cook up some lunch, then pull your hair up into a ponytail, step into your rubber muck boots with your Easter dress on, grab a plaid quilted jacket, and run out into the rain to feed the horses and chickens before the real storm hits.

My Chicken Posse following me around this morning.

Yeah, that's right, I'm Real Country!

I definitely was a sight! I almost wish I had had my husband get a photo, it was pretty comical. I half wonder what the horses thought as I rushed around in my dress, probably nothing except "Hurry up lady and get me some food."

On another note, and speaking about the horses... this morning I was doing the dishes and as I looked out my kitchen window I noticed a white bird following around one of the horses. At first I thought maybe it was one of my chickens, but then it stood upright. It had a long sleek neck, much longer than any of my chickens. I don't know what it is about Fugit, our Thoroughbred, but birds gravitate to him. When he was in a stall at our other farm, the chickens would jump up on the gate and he would slide his neck along the gate so that the chickens were crawl up onto his neck and sit. Maybe he liked their little claws massaging his mane, who knows, he is just odd like that. So, it didn't totally surprise me that a wild bird had befriended Fugit. I got a could pictures from the house, but they don't give enough detail to the bird. I have NO idea what type of bird it was, and as I got closer it got nervous and fly away. Personally, I would think that a horse would be scarier than a person, being that they are much heavier and if they get annoyed those hooves don't feel to good making contact with you (not that I think Fugit would ever kick a bird, but it is possible I guess). Well, hope you enjoy the pictures, maybe you could tell me what kind of bird it is and why it seems to like the horses!

Fugit and the Mystery Bird!

Eva trying to figure out why the Mystery Bird is following Fugit around.

The Mystery Bird, sorry its fuzzy, I tried to Zoom In as much as possible from the house...

Have a wonderful day dear followers!
Kelsey

Last night I decided to start the Mulberry Pie for after church lunch, today. I had never made a Mulberry Pie before so I went to the internet to find a recipe. I found a funny recipe on Discuss Cooking for a Cream Cheese Crust Mulberry Pie... I wasn't sure how well it would turn out, but I went with it and decided to give it a try because it just sounded really good. Here is the Recipe without all the funny adds:


I believe that this Recipe can be used with any type of berry, not just Black Mulberries, get creative!


Hope you like it dear followers! We did!
Kelsey

Well we had a pretty good Memorial Day weekend. Sunday we all went to church and the service was wonderful. Night classes were cancelled so that we could all enjoy spending time with our families... SO my hubby and I had a "Date night" while Grandma watched the baby! We went out to dinner then came back to the farm and took the golfcart around the farm, just going for a ride. We saw a beautiful young doe on the way home, tried to get a photo with the cell phone but not sure how well it turned out... Monday we worked a little bit around the farm then went home to relax. I set up a kiddie pool for Katelynn and she LOVED it, I think she played in the water for almost two hours before she was tired and want out for some lunch. I put her in a Haute Pocket shell without an insert and it worked out great as a bathing suit bottom. I slathered her with sun screen and made her wear a hat too. It was so cute, I had to add a picture of her! Later in the evening we had a cookout for dinner and our friend came over and made AWESOME Red Potato Salad, it was SO good that I brought leftovers for lunch today! I think she said that she used Mayo, salt, celery and a little mustard... IT WAS GOOD!!!!!!!! I'm thinking about making some in the future but adding boiled eggs to it too, YUM! After dinner my hubby and I decided to go Mulberry picking around the farm. We have Mulberry trees EVERYWHERE and right now they are all ripe with Dark Purple berries. My plan is to make a Pie, Cobbler, or some preserves. Well, we took the truck and parked it under a tree and began picking. Who knew it was going to be so much fun. My hubby picked with me for the first tree, but the trees after that he just drove the truck under each tree and sat and waited while I picked as many as I could reach from the truck.. then we moved to the next tree. He enjoyed being able to sit and look around at the horses and our farm. He said it was the first time in a LONG time that he felt Ok about spending time picking Mulberries instead of working on something that needed to be done... the farm has come a long way and he should be proud. I think it was really good for him to be able to relax, we have a working horse farm now... no major projects that need to happen ASAP, just projects that can be done when there is time and the supplies are in, no rush. By the end of the night I was covered in Purple from head to toe from the Mulberries from the top of the trees falling on me or me sitting on them as I got down from the hood of the truck. I have to say it was the most fun I've had in a long time, and I laughed histerically when I got home and saw myself in the mirror... my hands were almost black they were so dark purple... and my hubby had to help me out of my clothes and into the shower so I didn't touch anything and get purple all over the house... what a good laugh it was!

On a bit sadder note, this morning was rough, our filly that was born 5/3/2010 passed away in the night. She wasn't feeling well yesterday but I didn't expect her to be gone. We believe she had some birth defects from her Momma being neglected and starved during the pregnancy. The bigger she got the worse defects got. I will miss her... I named her Tamara's Destiny just a few days before she passed. She was such as smart little baby, and was doing REALLY well at learning how to lead. It broke my heart to see her Momma trying to get her up to nurse and then just standing over her, she loved her. This is the second baby we've lost this year and it just gets harder and harder. Its just not fair. For one, the mares shouldn't have been bred, both times the mares were starved. And it wasn't the foal's fault that they were brought into the world. Its just sad. I didn't think I had gotten attached to her and I tried not to, but she does hold a special place in my heart, she was my buddy... she didn't know a stranger and just LOVED to be rubbed... oh I will miss her sweet baby nickers, its just not fair... ugh...

Well, I better get back to work! See you again soon dear followers!
Kelsey

Happy Mother's Day, I hope everyone had a wonderful day yesterday with their family and kids. I look forward to the day when my baby girl is old enough to make me Mother's Day presents like drawings or paintings. At church Sunday the Moms were given flowers to take home to plant, I have 3 and I hope that I don't kill them, I do NOT have a green thumb at all.... one is a Daisy of some sort and the other two are Begonias... so we will see if they make it!

Project Pete never ceases to crack me up. Again the other day I had him loose in the yard, well I went inside for a moment and when I did our little dogs wanted to go out to potty so I let them out. All of a sudden I hear our farm dog Joey barking, his, "Um people you need to pay attention" bark. I went outside and Pete was following the dogs along the front of the property, they like to potty across the street in the tall grass sometimes, don't ask me why. So, I yelled "Hey, what are you doing? You don't belong over there" and both Pete and the dogs came walking back to me... silly pony. He's starting to get more curious as he puts on more weight. Oh, almost forgot, he got his hooves trimmed about two days ago... but he was a little bit of a pain cause he didn't want to stand still... SO we will continue to work on that. I think the main problem was that they were outside with him and he thinks if he is outside he doesn't have to do anything. I always pick his feet up in the barn in his stall and he does ok there.... but I wasn't able to be out with him when he got done or I would have suggested it. I tried to add some Corn Oil to his grain to help him pick up more weight as well as help his skin but is gave him some loose stool so I stopped... bummer... trying to figure out what to do cause his skin is SO dry.

Ok Momma's out there! Stop by The Cloth Diaper Report and enter to win an organic Mommy & Me T-shirt (or onesie) set of their choice from CafePress. Giveaway ends 5/12/2010



Well that is all I have today dear followers!
Kelsey

Okay, so yesterday I was at the house most of the day and I let Project Pete out to graze while I was working. He stays pretty close to the back of the house so  I figured he'd be okay if I took the mower and went up over the hill. I had been there for over an hour when I see Pete running down the hill. RUNNING! This was the first day that he wanted to run, it was amazing. He ran down the hill and stopped. I turned off the mower and sat there, in disbelief that A) he was running B) that he ran over the hill to find me and C) because I wasn't sure if he was going to keep running or not. I looked at him, smiled, and asked him, "What are you doing over here, you don't belong here?" Then I raised my arm and pointed towards the house and told him to "Go Home" at that he paused a second, turned, and ran off. I thought for a minute and was like Ok, Cool, but then I thought maybe I should ride the mower back to the house to see where he went. When I got there, I didn't see him anywhere, I was dreading that he passed the house and kept going. I looked around the yard, looked at the grass along the front of the property to see if there were hoof marks, nothing. I went towards the barn to get a lead rope, in case I needed to take off in the car to find him... and there he was standing in the barn, waiting for me. He just looked at me like "What, I did what you said. Now, feed me!" It was SO funny, he knew what time it was, came to look for me to "remind" me he was still there, and was ready for dinner. I was honestly in shock that he actually went home when I told him and that he was at "his" home, in the barn!

On another note, here are a couple photos of the new baby!

Sometimes we stay after church for lunch. Our church does a carry in after services to help save money on going out to eat after church. Its a great idea, we always have great food and it is so much fun to talk to all the church members. Sometimes we are able to stay and sometimes we are not, this past Sunday we were able to stay. I was just getting in line and had grabbed my plate when a young girl came up to me, maybe 8 years old. I didn't recognize her so I asked if she was a visitor and she said yes, she came with some friends. I nodded and told her that was great and then she said the sweetest thing I think I have heard an 8 year old say. She looked at me with so much caring and compassion and said "Blessed to be with you". If it is possible, I believe that at that moment my heart smiled. Can you imagine if everyone treated each other like that and as we passed each other on the streets or in stores and everyone said "Blessed to be with you"? WOW! Now that is the kind of world that I would LOVE for my baby girl to grow up in!

Yesterday we had a baby horse, a foal, born. It was a little girl, filly. She is such a cutie and her Mama, Libby, is a great mom. She is much bigger than any of the babies we've had in the past. She doesn't look like she was just born, she looks about 1 week old already. I will post pictures as soon as I can. She is just  doll. We are lucky that she made it. Her Mama came in with a group of neglected horses, many of the mares that were pregnant delivered prematurely and the babies didn't make it because they were so underdeveloped. She was the only one that was born full term and healthy. We will be thinking of names for the new little one in the next couple days... I want to see what type of personality she has.

Project Pete is loosing his hair on his face, I think it is from the lice he used to have. They are all dead now but the hair is just rubbing off. Right now he sort of looks like a freak of nature with a half bald face... but it will grow back ;o) He got to go outside for a long time yesterday, which he loved, of course. I gave him a bath two days ago with an Oatmeal shampoo to help his dry skin. If anyone has any REALLY good horse shampoos for dry skin, please tell me or if you sell some, maybe we can use that as a Review and Giveaway?!? That would be fun! Well, anyways, Pete wasn't too fond of being sprayed with the hose, but after a while he got used to it. We just had to do a couple circles until he got used to it, nothing too bad though. He is such a sweet little guy. I swear I'm going to have him bomb proof by the time I get his weight on... he didn't get too upset when I sprayed his backside off with the hose, which I thought would have invoked a bigger reaction but didn't. He had just an awesome personality, and there really isn't another word to describe him.

Great news, I had my first comment on my blog, YES! Thank you Veronica from the Mom Bloggers Club!

Well, that is all I have for right now!
I'll write again soon dear followers!

Ooooh my goodness I am SORE! I have spent the last week catching horses, deworming horses, and delousing horses... I'm SO over going in circles, LOL! My shoulder blades and my shoulders just ache the muscles are sore from hauling buckets of Permetherin mix and holding the lead rope of not so happy horses while they are being bathed... Very productive week, but once again a reminder that having a baby made me seriously loose the great shape I was in. Before the baby stuff like this wouldn't have phased me, I did stuff like this every day, no biggie. But now, I am once again using muscles I haven't use in over a YEAR! I don't even know how to slowly work my way up, because I never knew I used those muscles before! Everyday I do something I find the next day that my body really wasn't quite ready for it. I know you all are laughing at me, my dear followers are laughing at me. What can I say, I'm young, I figured I could just jump right in with both feet and expect to do it all... not so much... Well this is going to be pretty short tonight, I am BEAT! Have a great night dear followers! I am SO looking forward to church tomorrow morning! God is Good!

I am so tired tonight. I feel like I worked hard today, but all I did was talk a lot... Trying to make some changes and get the horses evaluated this spring. Within the next couple weeks I think I'll have everything sorted out pretty good, but trying to find somewhere to start is hard. I just gotta take one project at a time and work the projects.

Project Pete had a rough day today. It started out well, I went out to feed him in the morning, again he was waiting for me and nickered. At lunch I let him out to graze for a bit while I fed the crew, nothing much happened. Well between lunch and dinner he got himself cast in his stall.... for those that don't know what cast means, it just means that he laied down, rolled and got his legs stuck against the wall and couldn't get up. Well luckily I had asked our farmhand to take some sawdust down to the barn for him and he saw Pete stuck in his stall and got him up. He was a little weak but ok. When he came back to the office and told me I went to the barn to check him over. He was ok no sign of injuries, but I gave him some Banamine just in case he was having some colic issues or if he was sore from trying to get up. Its a good thing he was down at the barn because somehow all the miniatures got out and were running around the barn too, little boogers, they figured out how to undo the chain on their gate. So, now I have to figure out what to do with that... Tonight at dinner Pete was waiting for me again, ears perked and awaiting his dinner. He was acting fine and didn't seem to be phased by being cast earlier today. I think I'm going to start adding oats to his grain to help with any gas so that he doesn't get colicy and try to roll in his stall again.

Okay, so I record American Idol... not sure why but I like the show... Well tonight they were doing their "Idol Gives Back" Episode and I was slightly disappointed in the Black Eyed Pease and Alicia Keys. Not sure if they were having technical difficulties or not but their performances kind of, well, weren't good at all. Carry Underwood was good, she seemed to sing well, but the others, they were really disappointing.

Erg, I think that I have poison oak or poison ivy or something, icky. My right arm itches and I have some red raised bumps. That's what I get for working out in the woods picking up landscape timbers. Oh well, its for my birds, hopefully I can get a new area built for my peacocks. Oh that reminds me, I lost one of my Pekin Ducks today, not sure where she is... yesterday she was in te pen and today she was gone. I have a feeling she got out and something got he because when I let our farm dog out this morning he went right over to the woods by the duck pen and starting sniffing around and howling... so I think maybe the coyotes got her, bummer... guess I'll just have to find me a couple more female ducks... I'm totally bummed, she was such a pretty white girl and gave me nice Extra Large eggs, bummer.

On a good note, my baby girl seems to be doing better, thank goodness. Her cough is finally starting to go away, YES! And the congestion is almost gone too! God works wonders, its amazing what a little prayer will do! God is Great! .... "Honey, God don't care which church you go to as long as you show up." Dolly Parton from Steel Magnolias. Isn't that ironic (or maybe its "A God thing"), just as I was writing this paragraph I turned to Steel Magnolias and started watching it, well that line just came on the screen and I was driven to add it to this blog! You know what gets me... I don't know, I guess it is obvious to me since I believe in God, but sometimes I wonder why it is people don't believe in God. I mean seriously, there is nothing bad that can come from believing in God, there are no drawbacks, nothing bad that can happen. Can you imagine a world where everyone believed in God and lived by the Bible? Everyone would be nice to each other, there would be no crime, no greed, and we would all have everything we need in life to live healthy and happy. The greatest lessons in the Bible talk about LOVE. If you love someone and care about them you try to help them and are concerned as to what goes on in their lives. How can believing in God be a bad thing and why would people want to be against God, I just don't understand it. I will be the first one to tell you that I don't always live by the Bible, even though I know I should, I'm a work in progress, but at least I'm trying and making an effort towards becoming a better Christian, Wife, Mother, Friend, ect. by strengthening my relationship with God. I want my daughter to grow up always knowing God, why wouldn't that be every parent's hope? I know our society isn't doing so well, but why not change that? It got the way it is by change, why not change it back?

Oh well, I'm getting tired, I hope my "Midnight Messages" about God make sense... they make sense in my head hopefully they make sense to you or at least make you curious about God if you haven't had a relationship with God before. He's there, listening, waiting, all you have to do it talk to Him! Oh, Small note, if you are going to read the Bible for the first time, don't start at the beginning, skip to John, he makes everything make better sense. The Old Testament is more of a History Lesson and the New Testament is what you live by today ;o)

Have a wonderful evening and good night dear followers!

Ok, so while she is watching TV and playing with her toys, I normally get Baby K's diapers out of the dryer and put the inserts in them. We decided to switch to cloth diapers in February and I absolutely love it, I will make a later post detailing the types of diapers I have, how I like the, costs, etc. Around 9:30AM-10:30AM Baby K gets hungry and I mix her up some Rice Cereal and Oatmeal. She usually eats about 6 teaspoons with 1-2 jars of baby food. I normally start with fruits in the morning. If she finishes a whole jar and wants more then I get out a veggie. Sometimes she'll only eat half, sometimes she will eat the whole thing. If she eats both jars and wants more, I give her a 3 ounce bottle of formula. Once she is finished eating I rock her a little and she usually goes down for a nap around 10:30AM-11:00AM. She normally naps about an hour to two hours if I'm lucky... every so often she goes about 2 1/2 hours and I LOVE it! While she is out for her nap I run outside to feed my birds and the horses. Our horses are out on pasture, but I give them a little grain just to make sure they keep good weight on. When I get back inside sometimes Baby K is awake and sometimes she is not. If she isn't then, I'll grab something to eat and get on the internet or I'll work on writing up grants for the non profit I volunteer for. If she is awake, then I get her up, change her diaper, and then take her out to the living room to play. She will play for a while and then when she gets hungry I fix her a bottle, she normally takes 8-10 ounces at this time. She plays more after she finishes her bottle, then around 5:00PM-6:00PM I mix her Rice Cereal and Oatmeal again and get out a jar of veggies. If she finishes it and wants more I give her another veggie. Some times she will take a little nap after this meal and sometimes she won't, depends on whats going on. When Daddy gets home he will take a shower, we'll eat dinner and then he will hold Baby K or play with her. Around 9:00PM-9:30PM Baby K has her night bottle, about 8 ounces, and usually falls asleep on Daddy. I take her to bed and then I either watch TV with the hubby or I "play" on the internet.

Now some days my schedule has to change, depending on what is going on or if I have appointments to make. Wednesdays she usually skips she afternoon nap because we go to Church. I have my Women's Group. On Sundays our schedule is even more funky because we go to church in the AM so it makes her skip her nap... which she normally takes on the way home from church. We also go back to church in the evening for Bible Study and I do crafts with the children. So on Sundays she mostly gets bottles because they are quick and easy to fix, plus Baby K can hold her own bottle now.

Ok, so now you get a short outline of my day!
Looking forward to sharing more!
Kelsey