Friday, September 27, 2013

Another Showing~

Guess what! Our home is being shown again tomorrow at 12 central time. Please pray that the couple will love it and that they will put in a full price offer! I'm so excited. We are ready to go to our farm, but we are waiting on the Lord. Hopefully our wait won't be long! I will update soon. Thanks for praying for us. I'm off to join Cameron and the kiddos coloring in the living room :-) God is good....

Blessings~
Maudie





     Our verse this week for encouragement during our illness. Thanks Savannah!
                                                    

Thursday, September 26, 2013

In still here :-)

Hello! I am still here and I promise I have not stopped blogging again. We have been sick and my husband has been out of work since Monday. When he returns to work next week, I have several post lined up. We also got a call today that our house will be possibly shown again soon. There is a man interested who is working with a local credit union right now to secure financing. Please pray he is the one! This would be an answer to prayers for us. Secretly ( or not so secretly) my prayer is that we will sell this house for what we need to sell it for, be able to buy our farm for what we need to get it for and do all the repairs and clear the land in time to be at the farm for Christmas. That is MY hope. Now its just up to the Lord to reveal His plan and His timing....

Blessings~
Maudie




                                                    

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Pictures from our Week~

I hope this post finds you all doing well. I am super busy, but I wanted to post some pictures of our week, including some school pictures. And I wanted to remind you to check out our church's Bible study tonight on U Stream. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/shepherds-hill-homestead

Hope you enjoy!


Blessings~
Maudie





                                              
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 






                                        

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

No Offer Yet~

I pray that everyone who is reading this is having a very blessed day~ We are doing our regular day to day task and getting ready to start school in about 20 mins. We did not get an offer on our house, but the good news is that they LOVED our house. They put an offer in on a house that will be 30 mins closer to the man's new job. If for some reason that offer is not accepted, they plan on putting an offer in on ours. I am a little sad, but so very grateful that they loved our home, that it showed well and that most important, God's time is better than ours. He knows what we need and He knows when we need it! Praise Him for that. I hope to come on later and post a few pictures of our first official school day ( which was yesterday). We have been doing school a day or so here and there, but all the recent doctor appointments have taken the top spot. I'm so glad I homeschool where I am able to take off and do what we need to do. So off I go...on to another wonderful day that the Lord had made!

Blessings~
Maudie

                                                           

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Still Waiting~

I hope you have had a great weekend so far. Ours has been good. All the kiddos had another yard sale today (they had one last weekend too) and they made $20 dollars to split 4 ways. They made $5 a piece today and $ 6 a piece last Saturday. They also have the opportunity to earn $5 a piece every time their daddy gets paid ( which is 2 times a month), so they really enjoy making and saving money. They are all working towards saving for various different things. And we are also asking them to tithe along with us to the various places we give our tithe too. Our church is a home church and they just ask us to give to what we feel the Lord leading us to give. We want our children to see the blessing that they can get from giving to the Lord and to learn early that they can not out give God! Our oldest is saving for an iPad mini, the middle is saving for a collectable doll, the 3rd daughter is saving to be able to buy Christmas gifts for all of us and James isn't really saving...its the fact that I won't let him spend it. But it is burning a major hole in his wallet :-) 
As for Friday and the people that came to look at our house....they were here for atleast 45 mins and outside for atleast 10. I'm praying that's a good sign. My agent told us today that we should know what they think either tomorrow or Monday. Please pray for good news!
I have decided that in addition to doing a certain topic one day a week, I'm also going to post a link every weekend to out church service at Shepherd's Hill. We are so blessed every weekend and I know that you will be too. Bro. Paul broadcasts on Ustream every Sunday at approx. 10:30\10:45  central time and at 6pm every Thursday night. Also in central time. I will be adding a link to their written message that is on their website and if you want to then you can listen to the real message on Sundays and Thursdays through Ustream. Their website can be found here: www.shepherdshillhomestead.com
You can also "like" them on Facebook and get encouraging verses everyday and  a weekly link to get to the Bible study on Thursday and Church on Sunday.
Well I've got little ones to rodeo into bed and a busy day tomorrow worshipping our wonderful Savior with some of my most favorite people! I pray you all have a blessed Sunday~

Blessings~
Maudie

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Prayer Tomorrow Please~House Showing~

Please pray for us tomorrow. Our house is being shown for the first time and these people are really interested. Please pray that it will sell to them for full price or atleast no less than $5000 below our asking price and that we can get moving! Thanks and I'll update tomorrow!

A New Season~

A new season is nearly upon us! Fall is my all time favorite season because of all the beautiful colors of the leaves and the crisp breeze that usually blows in the air at that time. I am looking forward to baking ( another one of my favorite pastimes) and putting out all my fall decorations. We have a lot going on around here with school getting into full swing, keeping the house in tip-top shape in case someone wants to tour it, and I am also the coordinator for our annual Christmas card exchange on Momys ( an online forum I am a member of for large families). So all in all I have a ton of things on my plate. As time allows I am going to start  a series of several topics on here and I am going to post on them 1 day a week in addition to my normal post. We are experiencing so many exciting changes in our lives right now and along with all those changes comes a lot of things I feel like the Lord is leading to me to share. Among those topics will be modesty, marriage, mother/daughter relationships, mother/son relationships, idols in our lives, bondage ( but not the typical definition that is given in the "Christian" circle right now), homeschooling, and Godly womanhood. I am NOT an expert at ANY of those, and if anything my experience on these topics will come from my mistakes :-) I am NOT a sugar coating kind of gal. In the past I have went along with things and ideas just to go along with them and to not be unfriended or criticized. But the last few months God has  shown me the fruit of my error. In consulting with my husband we have seen where we have been mislead and even wrong in some things that we have allowed and even promoted. I type this post this morning with a grateful heart to my husband and my Lord who have opened my eyes up! My life is different and that's okay. And for the first time in years EVER, I feel like I have been freed to do what the Lord has called me to do without restraint. I am no longer worried about what the world focuses on. I am only seeking what the Lord would have me to do. I told Cameron that I do realize that this is a new chapter in our lives and that it wil mean letting go of so many things I have held dear to me. I do not regret anything I have done, but only wish that I could have been a better encouragement and a stronger witness for Christ over the years. No more time wasting for me. Life is but a vapor;Only here for a moment, then gone. How will I be remembered? What type of impact have I had for Christ in the many seasons of my life? Friends, that is a question we should all ask ourselves? Are we just trying to appease the world to make our lives easier or are we really seeking to do the will of God? To be the beacon of hope in this tainted world.... I do believe that God has called us all to make an impact for His kingdom. In ALL we do and in All we seek to be, may HE be glorified.


Blessings~
Maudie



   "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season;
    reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine."                           
                                               II Timothy 4:2                      



                                

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Waiting on the Lord and Seeking Him~

How did your week go? Ours went pretty well. It flew by as time seems to do that around here lately. We have a couple of people interested in our house, so I'm praying that one of them will be the right ones and they  will get their approval letters and get to come tour our home! We're looking forward to selling our home and hopefully getting our new home in the country. We've already fell in love with the one place we're looking at, but we also have to trust in the Lord that if that isn't the place for us, that He will direct our path, and show us where we are supposed to be. By waiting on the Lord to provide us with the funds to purchase our new home, we get to experience the awesome guidance and provision that only the Lord can provide. Our lives are taking a new turn, and I'm truly blessed to stand back and be in awe of our Lord's will. By choosing the path that we have, we have lost friends, relationships with several of our family members, and our children have lived without some of the "normal" busyness that comes from all the outside activities  that most children are involved in. We do most things as a family and its because we have made a choice to do that for the benefit of our family. Of course my beloved and I try to sneak in at least one outing a week by ourselves. But that doesn't always happen. I'm sure in years to come we will have plenty of alone time, but I am thankful at this point in our lives that we still have little ones that need us. Although our beliefs are not always popular with our family or some of our friends, we know that at the end of the day, WE are responsible for how our family turns out. yes, I do realize that our children will make their own choices once they are of age, but oh how I pray they make the right choices. Hopefully with our help and the Lord's help, they will do just that. Part of helping them learn certain things in life comes with how we choose to live our life. My husband takes our only vehicle with him to work everyday unless I need it. Living that way the past year has allowed me the opportunity to teach my children and learn myself, that you don't always have to be on the road or spending money. We are learning to be content at home. We are going against the norm and that's okay. In years past, I have worried so much about what others will think of me and my choices. I have often done things just because someone I admired or someone "above" me, did them. Kind of like kids and peer pressure. Over the years, especially the last one, I have learned to stand on my own 2 feet. I may not always have a ton of friends, or a ton of people who want to be like me, but that's okay. I have learned and am learning this more every day, that Jesus Christ is my friend. He is the one person I should desire to please at no matter what the cost. As long as He is happy with me, then that's all that really matters. My husband is of course very important as well. He is my earthly companion and I do try my best to please him always, but if he is living for the Lord, then what is pleasing to the Lord, will be pleasing to him as well. I feel like my journey is just beginning. With all the uncertainty in this world right now, especially with all the issues with Syria coming to the surface, we must seek to follow the Lord even more. No matter what the cost. A dear friend of mine, my pastor's wife, and a very Godly mentor to me  ( yes all the same person :-) ), recently told me that anything you give up for Christ will be worth your reward in the end. It may be hard now to loose relationships, or stop doing things that don't honor the Lord, or even give up your time on things He ask you to do. But he will reward you for those things. The things we give up or are inconvenienced by are nothing compared to what the Lord has done for us. Take the time today to thank God for all He has done for you and think about what are some of the things that you could do for Him. I find myself doing a lot of that lately. Well enough ramblings for today. I'm off to get ready for church tomorrow. I'm so blessed to have found likeminded fellowship and we are so excited to be going. Praying you all have a blessed Lord's day tomorrow!


Blessings~
Maudie
 

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Thoughts to Ponder~ a jumbled mess~

I've had many things on my mind lately and I have decided after much thought and prayer that this is a good place to share those things. I know I don't have a super popular blog that tons of people read, but the whole reason I set out to blog years ago was to keep memories and to hopefully inspire a few people along the way. Not to make money or have a ton of followers. I have not posted as frequently as I would have like to, but I really want to try to make a point to post atleast once a week from here on out. In real life, I have very few friends. I can credit the internet to my closest friend in real life and my other friends are all online, although I hope to meet some of them someday. I look at blogs and sometimes feel insecure in my own life. I think to myself, that my life isn't as "perfect" as some of those other ladies. I have struggles daily and live a very real life. My children are not cookie cutter kiddos lined up with fake smiles and perfectly styled hair. My home is clean, but I'm often still insecure of my homes condition if visitors stop by. I am blessed to have a husband that I love more than life itself and I still feel those lovey feelings for him quite often. He makes me happy ( on most days) and quite irritated (on most days) but always at the end of the day I am so thankful to have him by my side as my beloved. He encourages me to be better than I am , and has the faith in me that I DON'T have. He loves me despite so many things that I need to improve on. And he has forgiven me time and time again when I would have walked off and just stewed over my anger. The Lord has blessed us with 7 children here and 3 little ones already gone before us. I have had lived like the world and in fact for the world for more years than not. We have went through the mainstream American dream and found it to be more of a nightmare than a dream. I cut off blessings from the Lord at one point in regards to children, and so did my husband. I am amazed that the Lord choose to honor us with atleast 4 more children so far since our reversals. I have friends who are loving parents and have such a difficult time conceiving and carrying babies. I look at myself and feel so unworthy for the blessings the Lord gives us and wonder why that these wonderful families I know, have such a hard time. My heart aches for them. We have been on a crazy, good, roller coaster ride the last few years. Our lives have changed so dramatically over the last 5 years. I know these things are physical signs of our faith, but yet they are very important signs to us. If you would have told me 15 years ago at the tender age of 17 that I would be married to that wild, tall, stranger I met( in the middle of a busy highway for goodness sakes!) , and that I would be the stay at home, homeschooling, headcovering, very modest dressing, helpmeet to my husband, mother of 7 children ( so far), woman that I am today.... I would have probably slapped you. Literally! As our lives have changed so have our values. Our goals have also changed. We used to be so driven by the world. I used to feel like I had to have the latest and the greatest and a new car every year. Oh yeah and I forgot to add that the preppy, snobby teenager I was, that drove the new white Eclipse, would have never even wanted to ride in a 15 passenger van, much less have that as her only vehicle! My oh my!!! What a wreck I was. I look back at all the opportunities missed over the years. All the time wasted on my selfish desires... Thank you Lord for delivering me from that mess. I am learning and growing everyday. Our lives are on another turn as I speak. We finally found a church home, we finally decided to step out and sell our home, move to the country and be free from all the day to day slavery that we are bound to here. We are breaking free from worrying about what so and so will think of us and doing what we know God has called us to do, no matter what the world thinks of it. Yes, we are different, but shouldn't we be? Why should we strive to be like the world that has forsaken Jesus Christ? We should live in such a way that the world desires to follow Christ. We should be an example in all ways to the world. If we look and act like the world then people will assume we are like the world. I know this post is jumbled but I have so many things that are on my mind and I have been discussing it over with Cameron the last few days. He and I are finally taking steps to make the right moves for our family. We are responsible to the Lord for how we raise them. And I know that I have made many mistakes. I am praying I can correct those mistakes. If you have read all this, thank you; if you have just scanned it, thank you. From now on my goal is to touch as many people for Christ through this blog and my life. And I pray that through my jumbled post you can see my heart. I am going to be posting about our lives and the things the Lord lays on my heart. Blessings to you all dear friends~

Love in Christ~
Maudie