Joel's Journey: gals and gardens!!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

gals and gardens!!

Terry's got em some sweet little gals to help in the garden! Hope it rains soon.....its kinda hard to water an almost acre garden with a hose!!!

Yesterday and today have been so nice!!! Being outside in the sun has been my goal!!! I could just sit out there for hours......I do!! :) Once again routine of teh Texas job has settled in. Guys home on the weekends and then back to work! Terry and Elijah are in town this week and even got to come home for lunch they were so close!! The Dallas news said there was a tornado in Grandview over the weekend so when they got to the job site, pallets of the foam blocks were strewn all over. The news reported the library there had their roof torn off. Glad they came home for the weekend!

Our garden is growing but we need rain desperately! We are enjoying spinach, lettuce, onions and radishes......all makes a perfect salad! We still have much more to plant but Terry was really hoping for some rain, the ground is so hard. Hoping rain comes soon otherwise our Farmers Market endeavors could be hurt starting in June.

The little children are building another add-on to their playhouse. If I dont hurry and get our next phase of cabinets, they are going to surpass me in our add-on progress! The cabinet guy said he is hoping to install on Sat. but its not definite. But for sure the first of the week. Then I will call the granite peoples to come measure and then I will breath!! haha! If you know me, I like to finish projects quickly and this kitchen project has been an interesting way to help me learn to wait upon the Lord for His provision. Its funny, by the time we get it ALL finished the beginning will need to be re-done....just kidding!!! I am grateful to Terry for his hard work and he always puts working on it as we have provision before anything he needs for his his own purpose here on the farm. He is very sacrificial. Micah (16) has taken up golfing....out in the pasture! Its Lucas' fault! Elijah is still on the dirt bike thing. Both arms have huge scars.....gives me heebies!! Bethany is very busy with her goat operation, selling milk, selling babies and busy with Lucas!! :) Anna is fixing to explore the world by air. Doing a photography workshop in Maryland. Just hope she makes all the connections. Hosie, Jeremiah, Josh all got new bikes, so they are loving that and Elijah has built dirt jumps that I can hardly stand to watch them jump. I am a wimp!! Caleb and Daniel, poor things they are just busy with work and more work and often find them asleep if they ever get a couch! The weekends are too short to do much activities but they squeeze a few in.

I read a verse a few days ago, Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins. Ps. 25:18. Our sorrows and our sin need to be taken to the same place....the foot of the cross. I still take my sorrow there and his grace is so sufficient and it carries me to go along with a content heart of knowing that all is well with His plan. I sin, and I find too, that as I get at his feet, confessing my sin, He is so Faithful to forgive and the great part is His grace is so powerful to help overcome the things that I do that are not pleasing to Him, and then there is great mercies new each day for the challenges that I still need to overcome through Him! Both sin and sorrow in our hearts require a plea towards the Lord. I think sometimes we cry out more to the Lord to remove our afflictions verses crying out towards him in confession of sin. Nevertheless, He will heed our cries in both areas. What a Faithful and merciful God and Savior I have!!

Hope you all are enjoying the warm weather!! Windows open here.....pollen everywhere, but it feels sooo nice!!

3 comments:

Anne said...: My parents have a farm in Grandview it's where I grew up) and are still without power as of this afternoon. Thankfully they are okay, as is their home, though the farm took a beating. Their stuff is strewn about the 200 acres, and the barn is no longer standing. The also lost lots of huge old trees...but God is good, they are safe, and their home is safe as well.

Prayers going out for everyone as they walk the journey of recovering and cleaning up after the storms.; April 12, 2011 at 5:12 PM
Anonymous said...: Sounds like there is a lot going on there! I sure enjoyed spending the weekend with ya'll. Thanks for having me! :)

Corrie was telling me all about her photography class in Maryland...how exciting! :)

Come on and enjoy the sun here in Blanchard sometime soon for some volleyball!!! :); April 12, 2011 at 7:50 PM
The Ahlgren Family said...: The pictures of Hosie and Mercy helping Terry in the garden are so special! I'm sure he loves the company! And we do need rain, desperately! Although ya'll's garden look a lot better than ours, so maybe we just need 16 years worth of organic matter instead! :D
Thanks for sharing that verse!
Enjoy your vitamin D today! :); April 13, 2011 at 11:26 AM

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Joel's Story

Joel, our 11th of 13 and a twin of Josiah, at age 3 was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer, on December 6th, 2006. Joel had three perfect years of health and he and Josiah celebrated their 3rd birthday Sept. 13th, 2006. The first of Oct. Joel started having unexplained fevers for a few days and would return to active play. After the fourth round of fevers we took him to our family Dr. which they said his iron was low, so we treated that for a few weeks and took him back only to have his hemo. showing lower than before. We were referred to a hematologists and saw him a few weeks with blood checks twice a week. At a visit on Dec. 4th we showed the Dr. the bumps, (which were tumors but we did not know at the time) on Joel's head and he was very concerned and we were told we needed to admit him immediately and start extensive tests the following day. Joel went through rigorous testing and then the dreaded results were given. Joel was at a stage IV the most extensive stage, but we were hopeful that the Lord would use the means of Chemotherapy treatments to restore Joel's body. Joel endured 8 1/2 days in the hospital, came home for Christmas, and returned for his second round of chemo Jan. 3, 2007. Joel had a seizure that night after midnight and went into a coma due to a tumor bleeding in his head area and causing his brain to swell. After tests the following days, the Dr. declared Joel "brain dead" and took us to court to force us to take Joel off life support, as we did not agree with the medical field's definition of death. Our family sought to stand with the scripture, "life is in the blood,"and until Joel's heart quit beating naturally, he was living. We were making arrangements to bring him home and on January 23, 2007 his little heart stopped beating and he went to be with the Lord Jesus in heaven. Our lives are changed forever. God is faithful in the midst of this trial and we look with great hope to be with him someday.