Farm Additions

Helloo everyone!

In my last post, I told you to stay tuned for a post on farm additions. Well stay tuned no longer! The post is here! 

We have had a few additions to our farm in the last month or so. First off, meet our new rooster, Doodle!

He is a Buff Orpington rooster. We had no trouble at all introducing him to our flock, and within a day or two, it was as if he had never not been there :)  We were hoping that we would be able to hear him in the morning, but unless you have your window open and are listening for his crow, you can't really hear him--definitely not enough to wake you up in the morning!  But throughout the day he crows, and we love listening to him. Sometimes the end of his crow sounds like a broken record! It's kinda funny. Now we have the possibility of having fertilized eggs and can hatch new chicks on our own when we want or need to. Currently we are letting one of our broody hens sit on some eggs; hopefully those will hatch and grow into healthy chicks.

Another addition is that of some ducklings! Here is the story.

Our neighbor had a duck. We named her Inglebert. Inglebert lived with our ducks--with the knowledge and permission of her owner. Our male ducks mated with her. She laid a nest. The nest was in our front yard. The nest had thirteen eggs. Inglebert sat on the nest for two weeks. After two weeks, she got eaten by a predator. We built an incubator. We took the remaining five eggs and put them in the incubator. We overheated the incubator four times. (On accident :) ) We prayed that the eggs would hatch. Hatch day came. No eggs hatched. We waited four more days. One egg began to hatch! It was the only egg to hatch. It was a miracle duckling. We raised the duckling in a box in our kitchen. We let the duckling run around our house. We named the duckling Nibbles because it liked to nibble at our feet. Nibbles grew up. Nibbles moved outside. Nibbles was a female. Nibbles laid a nest. Her nest had eight eggs. Nibbles sat on her nest for four weeks. After four weeks, seven of her eggs hatched. The eighth was a dud.  

So that's how it happened. There were four black ducklings and three gray ducklings, all with a yellow spot on their chest. One of the black ducklings died yesterday; we assume that it got separated from the others and couldn't find it's way back and then possibly died from thirst. Ducklings need lots of water, and easy access to it; this duckling didn't have that when it got separated. We weren't home when the duckling died, so we aren't sure that this is the case, but it's what we assume.

Anyway, here are pictures of the ducklings. Guys, I think ducklings are the cutest things, so I took tons of pictures. Within the week and two days that they have been alive, I've taken about 497 pictures of them! Yikes. I'm just a tons of pictures type of person :) (Ask my fam, they'll tell you)
So, anyway, it's hard to pick just a few of 497 pictures to share with you! Beware.

In this picture, you can see the duckling coming out of the egg. More like it still has half the egg on top of it :) 

The two black ducklings were the first ones born, and are all dry and fluffed up in this picture. The grey duckling beside them however, has just been born and is still wet and floppy. 

I love this picture! 

Mama Nibbles is beautiful, too. The black ducklings will likely look like her when they grow up because she looked like them when she was a baby.

We found Nibbles and the ducklings on our back porch this morning. Apparently, they thought they were dogs or something, because they were standing in the dog dish eating dog food and drinking out of the dog's water container! :)

Stretching

Ducklings have a funny habit of laying their whole head down when they sleep. It's as if they have a pillow! They nod off when they go to sleep, too. Adult ducks nod off, also, but instead of laying their whole head down on the ground, they turn and rest their head on their back. Sometimes they sleep standing on one foot. It's so fun and funny to watch them! Ducks seem to have more of a personality; chickens, not as much. But, I like to eat chicken eggs better than duck eggs, and they are easier to take care of than ducks, so we have a balance :) 

There is supposed to be some more additions to the farm this coming Saturday or so; Another of our ducks, Black Beauty, has been sitting on a nest of her own. She has about six or seven eggs under her. She originally had eleven eggs, but through various mishaps, the number has diminished. 

This is Black Beauty sitting on her nest. 

So, there you have it! There is our farm additions. Now we have eleven chickens--ten hens and one rooster--and fourteen ducks. Hopefully we'll have about twenty-one ducks by the end of the week. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the animals that God has blessed us with! It is amazing to see the natural process of birth, growing, mothering, protecting, etc. that He has ordained in animals like this.  I hope it reminds you that He is in control and has made everything with all that they need--nothing lacking.

"For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him, and He is before all things, and by Him, all things consist." ~Colossians 1:16-17

Blessings,

Julia <3

Memorial Day

Hello everyone!
This was supposed to be posted yesterday, but, as usual, I'm late for everything :)

Recently I watched a documentary, chronicling the journey of a man who visited a missionary, and traveled with him around Albania, Montenegro, and Kosovo. Many of the villages they visited were war torn, desolate, lots of depression and darkness surrounding them, places where violence is not uncommon. There was one village where every single man and boy living there were taken and shot all at the same time. Every man and boy died that day and were buried where they lay, in mass graves. What devastation! 
They went to villages that had been bombed and every single building damaged in some way. The village was just getting back on it's feet and some of the buildings still destroyed from the bombings. 

They went and visited Gypsies, who lived on the outskirts of town and were forsaken, looked down upon and lived in makeshift tents. 
They visited many villages where there was not one believer living there. Places where there was constant unrest, where believers had to meet quietly and secretly and be baptized in the same way, because false rumors about the Christian faith had spread and the lives of the believers were in jeopardy. 

I can't imagine what it would be like to live places like these! I can't imagine living in a place where I had to fear for my life because I was a Christian, or because of the unrest between various parts of the country, or because it's not uncommon for a person to be shot on the side of the road. I can't imagine living in a place where every man and boy had been lined up and horrifically murdered in one day, with the fear of what if it happens again. I can't imagine what it would be like to live in a place where I had to gather in secret to worship God or to be baptized, because my life and that of my fellow believers would be in danger if we didn't. I can't imagine what it would be like to live in a place where, if I spoke out of Jesus Christ, I could be killed or rejected and abandoned by family and friends alike. 

Do I fully realize what if means to have the kind of freedom I have? No. I don't. And that is why we need days like Memorial Day, where we specifically remember and meditate on the great gift of freedom that we have. To remember, and not forget, those who have lived and died to give us our freedom, and to preserve it. The blood of many a brave soldier has stained our ground, the bodies of many brave soldiers buried beneath our soil, the tears of many a torn family soaking our earth. All to give us leisure, security, freedom. No, folks, freedom is not free. We must never forget that. But we do. We do so easily. Tomorrow, we probably will forget what today has been all about. If not tomorrow, surely next week will it make no difference. Why are we such ignorant, ungrateful, prideful people? We really are. 

We have a duty to preserve and protect our freedom. If a gift is given us that was purchased at so great a price, it would be shameful of us to take it for granted, throw it away, and not keep and preserve it. When the lives of so many have been given on our behalf, to give us what we enjoy, it is shameful of us to not preserve, keep, guard, find great value in and be grateful for the gift we have been given, is it not?

There is another memorial today. It is a memorial, a remembrance of One who sacrificed His life to give us as believers in Christ, ultimate freedom. Freedom from our bondage to sin and death. This One who gave His life on our behalf, is Jesus Christ. But this memorial is a little bit different. Because Jesus didn't stay dead, He did more than that. He rose from the dead, triumphing over death.
But just as we have an obligation to give thanks to and for all those who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom, and an obligation to preserve and keep that freedom, so we have an obligation to Christ, to give Him praise, honor and glory, and to live our lives according to the freedom that He has given us as believers. Freedom in this sense doesn't mean that we are free to think say and do as we please. This freedom is from our slavery to sin. 

Before salvation, we, in a sense, had an obligation to sin. We were bound to sin and governed, controlled and characterized by it. In a way, we couldn't help it. We could not be good and righteous on our own. Sin is ingrained in us. But, the difference is, we served it willingly. We were happy to be enslaved to it. We are naturally rebellious people. We willingly rebelled against God and His design and character.  

But, in Jesus' death, we have been forgiven of our debt, freed from it, freed from our bondage to sin and death, and now we have a spiritual freedom to live for Christ. That is the key--to live for Christ.  If you have accepted God's gift of freedom, you have an obligation, in a sense, to live for Him. It would be shameful for you and I to throw that gift out the window. Same with the freedom we enjoy in America, it was bought with the blood and life of another, therefore, it should be extremely valuable to us, and we should not live in ignorance of it. We have an obligation to live up to it, to enjoy it at it's fullest potential, to preserve and keep it. We need to live with our lives characterized by the freedom God has given us, characterized by the Holy Spirit that He has given to us to guide us and empower us to live for Him.  If we are truly saved, we need to live a life that gives evidence of that spiritual freedom.  

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all those who have served, and are still serving our country.  I don't think any of us, except those who have actually been a part of the battle for freedom, really know how expensive our freedom is, and the great sacrifice that has been, and continues to be made, to purchase and preserve it, the grief that the families of those who have given their lives on our behalf, have experienced, or what Veterans have and do experience, physically and emotionally, and I'm sorry that we have not been more grateful and respectful of the price that was paid for our freedom. May God forgive us for our ignorance and arrogance, for taking for granted and so easily forgetting the sacrifices that were given on our behalf, to purchase this great freedom we enjoy.
                                                                                                                                                                   
"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom He hath chosen for His own     inheritance." ~Psalm 33:12                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters." ~1 John 3:16                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
 Blessings in Christ,                                                                                                                                  
 Julia <3                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

*The photos in this post are mine; please do not use without permission*

God's Care

Hello everyone!

Recently my family received a call that my sister wasn't doing to well. We gathered on our back porch and discussed the details and then we bowed our heads to pray. 

I had been working outside and had found a slug behind some old siding. As I sat and semi-dismally watched this slug leave it's gooey, slimy trail along my hand, listening to my dad as he prayed (Yes, I wasn't closing my eyes through the whole prayer :)), A thought suddenly struck me: God sees and cares for this little slug. And if God sees and cares for this slug, small and insignificant as it may be, how much more does He see and care for my sister in her troubles?  

I was surprised to find the slug in the same spot nearly a week later! 

According to the NLT version of Ephesians 2:10, we are 'God's masterpiece, created anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things that He prepared for us long ago.'  We are God's masterpiece. Humans are the only creations that are specifically created in His image (Gen. 1). We are special to Him. 

If God still watches out for, provides for, cares for His minute creations, how much more does He care for and watch out for us, His masterpieces, whom He created in His own image, whom He created to love Him and be loved by Him, to serve Him, to have a way undeserved relationship with Him? 

If you are feeling lonely, discouraged, unloved and uncared for, know that God cares for you. God is watching out for you, and loving you no less than when He first created you and when He died for you. Know that you are special to Him, and His thoughts toward you are more in number than the sands of the sea (Ps. 139:17-18). In fact, read the whole chapter of Psalm 139. It tells about just how special you are to Him; how much He cares for and watches out for you. 

"Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. " Matthew 10:29-31

Blessings,

Julia <3

*The photos in this post are mine; please do not use without permission*

Passover, Jesus' death, and Resurrection Sunday

Greetings!

Recently I was listening to a sermon about the Passover.  In the sermon, the pastor talked about the first Passover, the one where God had been sending plagues to the Egyptians because for 400 years they had enslaved the the Israelite's, God's people, and refused to release them at His command. The last of these plagues was one where all the firstborn in the land, man or beast would die. But God provided a protection from His wrath for the Israelite's. He told them to take a spotless lamb, kill it, take a hyssop branch and, using it, apply the blood of the lamb to their doorpost. They were to roast and eat the lamb, at the same time being prepared for traveling because God knew and had warned them that the Egyptian Pharaoh would set them free after this plague and they needed to be ready.  

When the angel of death passed through the land, the angel would see the blood that had been applied to the doorpost of each Jewish house and those under the roof of that house would be spared. This, the Israelites did, and were spared the effects of the plague. At midnight, the angel of death swept through the land killing all the firstborn of every male, man and beast. When Pharaoh discovered that his firstborn son was dead, he called Moses and Aaron, the ambassadors of the Israelite's, and commanded them to take the children of Israel and leave. 

It was with great rejoicing that the Israelite's left Egypt and their slavery behind, and thus began their great journey.  God commanded that the Passover was to be kept every year in remembrance of how He had passed over them, spared them from the plague of death. The way they were to celebrate this event was by taking a lamb, killing it, and eating it as they did that night--without breaking any of it's bones, God commands in Exodus 12:46, which interestingly reminds me of the prophecy in Psalm 34:20 and the fulfillment of that prophecy in John 19:33 and :36. (These events are found in Exodus 11-12)

Anyway, fast forward about 2000 years and you come to the death of Christ. As you probably know, Jesus Christ died at the time of celebrating the Passover. In the sermon I was listening to, the pastor was talking about what Jesus must have been feeling during that time. He said that at that time, around 2.5-3 million people would be gathering in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. According to Bible regulations, there was to be one spotless lamb sacrificed for every 10 people. You're talking some 250,000 lambs being slaughtered. Each lamb probably contained more than a gallon of blood. The way it would happen is the lamb would be sacrificed, and the blood would be taken and poured at the base of the altar. Now, with more than a gallon of blood per lamb, and 250,000 lambs or more being slaughtered, where would all that blood go? Well, there was a little conduit from the base of the altar that led down to the brook Kidron. The blood drained through this, flowing into the water.

This brook lay in the Kidron valley which separated the Temple mount, from the Mount of Olives. The Garden of Gethsemane was at the base of the Mount of Olives. So as our Lord passed through on His way to the Garden of Gethsemane in the night that He was betrayed, He passed over a river of blood made from the blood of over 100,000 sacrificial lambs (they celebrated the Passover on two days--one day for the Judeans, and one day for the Galileans, so half the lambs were sacrificed on each day). What a picture that must have been to Him to have been probably at the temple, watching all these lambs being sacrificed and then passing over this river of blood, knowing that they all were a picture of what He was about to do; how He was to, very soon, become the ultimate sacrificial Lamb and His own blood was to be spilled at the cross of Calvary. 

The Bible tells us that in the Garden of Gethsemane He was so emotional that He began to sweat blood (Luke 22:44). He suffered such emotional strain at what was about to happen to Him, that He began to sweat blood. He then was arrested and taken through six trials-three Jewish, three Roman (John 18:12-14, Matt. 26:57, Matt. 27:1, Matt. 27:2, Luke 23:6-12, Matt. 27:15-26). Imagine the stress! All His disciples having abandoned Him, being interrogated by these leaders, having false witnesses being brought in to try to accuse Him of something, anything that He did wrong, being mocked, spit upon and hit, and very likely not being able to sleep at all. He then is taken and scourged, brought to a hall, a purple robe being placed upon Him, a reed in His hand and a crown of thorns upon His head, and He is mocked, spit upon and hit some more (John 18:19-23, Matt. 26:59-68, Luke 23:6-12, Matt. 27:24-31).

After that, He is made to carry His cross-piece along a road and the fact that along the way a man named Simon was recruited to help Him carry it, shows that He was probably very weak at that point (Matt. 27:32). He is taken a place called Calvary, or Golgotha which means the place of the Skull, nailed to the cross and tortured. Death by crucifixion was supposed to be a shameful, slow and painful death, and the victim usually died from exposure or exhaustion. Sometimes it even took up to a week for a victim to die. The Romans were experts at this. So there Jesus hung, with the accusation title of 'King of the Jews' hung above His head (Matt. 27:37).

The people came to mock Him and happily watch His suffering (Matt. 27:39-43)--and remember that this was the Passover. In the middle of the celebration of this feast, these people are coming to joyfully watch and take part in the sufferings of another person. This shows the pure wickedness and evil in the hearts of man. The Bible says that even the robbers whom He was crucified with mocked Him (Matt. 27: 44). Now, in crucifixion, breathing was hard and painful. Yet these robbers are using their breath, to mock Jesus Christ. Again, what wickedness and evil in the hearts of man! 

After Jesus suffers this painful agony, mentally, emotionally, physically, even experiencing the desertion of God the Father, He cries, "It is finished!" (I love those words) and takes His last breath (John 19:30)

In the sermon  I was listening to, the pastor only went to the part of what Jesus might have been thinking as He passed the brook Kidron, but as I was sitting there listening, I thought, what a depressing story! Imagine the darkness, pain, loneliness, agony, stress and grief! Imagine how He must have dreaded the coming events--So bad that He even sweat blood. And it struck me, why is this holiday that is coming up so joyous? I honestly, in that split second, forgot about the ending of story. Why is this upcoming holiday such a joyous thing?  

And then I remembered. Because He didn't stay dead. He didn't stop there. He rose again. He rose from the grave. The grave could not keep it's prey, death could not keep it's grip upon Him, He rose again. This wasn't just a spiritual rising. It was physical, but in a new way. He could go through doors and walls, but He ate, and talked and His disciples could feel Him--He was not just an apparition (Luke 24:36-43).
Christ is risen indeed. This is why we can have true peace. Because death has been conquered. Sin has been defeated. So no matter what happens in this life, it doesn't matter--Jesus Christ is risen! If we are a believer, we have forgiveness of sins, we are cloaked in Christ's righteousness, and we will live forever with Him in Heaven--if life brings troubles and things don't go our way, what matter? We have been forgiven. We are made new. We will be with Jesus. It is finished. This is why we celebrate Resurrection Sunday with such rejoicing.  

And the glory of it is, when a sinner, by God's grace, sees that he is guilty of sin, sees that he is in rebellion towards a just God, has broken God's law, the punishment of which is death (Rom 6:23) and falls on his knees--physically or not--in repentance, God looks on him, sees His only Son, Jesus Christ, suffering in agony on the cross of Calvary, bearing the weight of the sin of the world--past, present and future--upon His shoulders, the blood of the ultimate sacrificial Lamb pouring from His hands, His feet, His side, and He is satisfied.  It is enough. The demands for forgiveness, cleansing of sin have been met, and He is satisfied (Isaiah 53). Amazing, isn't it? 

Notice also, the parallel in the observing of the Passover that I wrote about in the beginning of this post.   The wrath of God has been announced, He is coming to bring judgement in the land of Egypt. But He makes a provision so that the Hebrews wouldn't have to suffer and experience His wrath, that is the blood of a lamb. Translated to now, the wrath of God has been announced. He is coming to bring judgement on the world. But He has made a provision for us, so that if, by faith, we accept His provision, we won't have to suffer and experience His wrath; that is the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. Those who applied the blood of a lamb to the doorpost of their homes, were spared the wrath of God. In the same way, those who apply the blood of the Lamb to the doorpost of their hearts, are spared the wrath of God. I sincerely hope that you have already accepted His provision and applied to your heart the blood of the spotless, blameless, ultimate sacrificial Lamb that was sacrificed for you.

"He has made Him who knew no sin, to become sin for us, that we may become the righteousness of God in Him. "~2 Corinthians 5:21

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." ~1 Peter1:3

"Greater love has no than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends." ~John 15:13

Blessings,
Julia <3
*Pictures one, two and four from the top are mine; please do not use without permission.*

Noise

Hello friends!

Last week, my little brother woke up in the middle of the night confused, whining and demanding things. He would not go back to sleep. He wanted a light on, his book, his bear, and other things. My sister and I were half asleep, and trying to go back to sleep, but he kept asking stuff and would not be quiet. Then when he had finally quieted down, and I was able to sleep in peace, our dog Roger started barking at something--probably a cow. He would not stop. And his bark is loud and deep. I lay in bed wide awake and annoyed. Of all the times that he could start barking! Now, in the middle of the night? After I had just been half awake for the last half hour or more?

My adorable little brother <3

But then I remembered something. Something I had read in a book a while ago. 
Living in a house with eight people--two of which are little boys--with noisy, Italian blood running strong, this story has come to mind a couple times.

It is a story of a man named Richard Wurmbrand. You may have heard of him--he was a missionary to his own country of Romania. 
He was imprisoned and tortured because he was a Christian living in a Communist country. 

Making a silly face :)

One form of torture he was put through was lack of sound. He was put into an underground prison that had no windows, and everything was dirt or padded. No footsteps sounding, no open and close of a door, no voices speaking. It made him go nearly insane. Imagine no noise at all?  How loud and obnoxious the constant conversation in your head would get!  How frantic and restless your brain would become! How welcome to your ears even the slightest sound! I remember distinctly a phrase in the book that said that he would be grateful for even a simple fly or mosquito buzzing in his ear. How often do we get annoyed by and take for granted these things? But there wasn't even that in this noiseless, padded cell. In case you are wondering, Mr. Wurmbrand,  by the grace of God, did not go insane or deny his Lord, and eventually was released from prison, later to found the ministry called Voice of the Martyrs.   

Our dog Roger

When I thought of this story that night, and when I think of it at times when I'm annoyed with the noise, I remember to be grateful for even that. Don't get me wrong; I often am annoyed and irritated with things, but I'm grateful for stories like these that sometimes can help me remember that these are blessings from God, and can help me grow more into Christ's image--even if they are irritating.

Next time you are annoyed with noise--even the constant buzzing of a fly or mosquito, try to remember the story of Richard Wurmbrand in a noiseless prison cell, nearly going insane for the sake of his Lord, who would be grateful for noise so simple as that; remember this, and give thanks to God for blessing you with it. 

Julia <3 

*Disclaimer: Story of Richard Wurmbrand is written as I remember it and is subject to some faults :) *
*The photos in this post are mine; please do not use without permission.*