Inspiration to be Godly from a Garth Brooks song??

Like my title??

Last night I was going for a run and had my iPod on shuffle. I have probably 10 years worth of songs on there, mostly Gospel and some bluegrass, but then Garth Brooks' song "The Change" came on.

To back up just a tiny bit it has been a hard few days. It seems like from every which direction I have getting slack if you will, for some of the decisions being made in MY family regarding the path we wish to take.

 Nothing too bad, but a few small things:
- I was made fun of at work when I declined an invitation to go out for "Happy Hour" when a collegue was leaving for a new job. We don't drink, I don't like to be around it, and I for sure wasn't going to waste 2 precious hours of my family time to go to a a bar to watch others get drunk. No thanks!
-When discussing back to school shopping with a few friends that have daughters my age I again was made fun of because of my decision to dress my children modestly and not allow certain items to be worn ( spaghetti straps in this instance) It just seemed a little hurtful to have to defend these actions.

So off for my run last night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYYSUHxiIE8&feature=player_detailpage ( have a listen to this song if you would like)

And here comes this song:

It's not the world that I am changing
I do this so
This world will know
It will not change me

Wow Rachel! Duh! I just got reminded that the decisions my husband and I make for our family isn't to change the world. I was not trying to put manufacturers of spaghetti strapped tops out of business. We make decisions based on what we beleive to be the right choice for US. For OUR family and at the end of the day we do it kind of in defiance of the world.
No matter how many spaghetti strapped tops are on the racks, we aren't buying them for our girls. We aren't caving in to alcohol and the bar scene. We aren't changing just because the world is!

Happy Homesteading Ya'll!

My Dad's love for me shown through the dead blackberries............

Funny title eh? You may know from reading my blog that we live on family land. When my husband and I got married my Dad gave us some of his land. It' really quite magical where we live.... anyways my dad has several huge garden, always has. We help with them and of course have somethings of our own planted, but we all share the fruits ( literally) of each other's labours. When my husband and I firt started living down the road from my childhood home, I thought it was important for me to prove myself as an independent green thumb by planting my OWN garden. Instead of just getting an extra row in the main garden, I was ademant about proving that I could infact grow things myself. My Dad obliged me by tilling up a small plot to the east of my home. I planted tomatoes, and peppers, and cabbages and all kinds of yummy stuff. But what I really hoped to grow was blackberries. At the end of each row I plant beautiful blackberry bushes. I could almost taste the sweetness... Well I was starting a new job, and had family responsibilities and this and this and this and as much as I hate to admit it, I didn't take care of the blackberries like I should have. They died. All of them. One day I was sitting out underneath the tree with my family and my Dad asked me how the blackberrie were doing. I had to confess to my green thumb hero that I had killed all the blackberries by lack of nurture ( and more specifically water). He just smiled , patted me on the back and said " There's always next year". A few days later I was taking a walk by the failure of blackberry plants and there at the end of each row, were new, freshly planted, freshly watered blackberries. My Dad had snuck in and planted them without me knowing. You better beleive I took extreme care to make sure these grew and to this day they give the sweetest, biggest berries EVER.

Tuesday Archived Link up!

That's right, the Tuesday Archive Link-Up.

Time to pull your treasured old posts out of those cobwebby archives, dust them off, and give them new life where they will be seen and enjoyed by untold millions OK, thousands of viewers.

See, this link-up is hosted by several people, who, all together have thousands upon thousands of followers. So when you link your post up with this party? Your post will show up on all their blogs, to all of their followers.
All you've got to do is:
1) link up your post using the linky tool below,
2) visit the hosts and leave a comment to say hi, if you'd like
3) and try to visit three or more of the blogs linked up and leave a comment.
4) Please keep it Family Friendly Ya'll!

They'll all be doing the same, so it's like a giant hippie love fest.
Bring your own flowers. Oh and when you comment?
Put in the secret code "TALU" (Tuesday Archive Link-Up) and then give a little wink so we'll all know what you're talking about.
Have fun! Now here are your TALU hosts, wonderful gals every one....
Jennifer, author of I Am Not Superwoman
Anne, author of Life On The Funny Farm
Debbie, author of Wrinkled Mommy
Shanna, author of Motherhood On The Rocks.
Rachel, author of Homesteading Quest

TALU- Tuesdays Archived Link up

That's right, the Tuesday Archive Link-Up.

Time to pull your treasured old posts out of those cobwebby archives, dust them off, and give them new life where they will be seen and enjoyed by untold millions OK, thousands of viewers.

See, this link-up is hosted by several people, who, all together have thousands upon thousands of followers. So when you link your post up with this party? Your post will show up on all their blogs, to all of their followers.
All you've got to do is:
1) link up your post using the linky tool below,
2) visit the hosts and leave a comment to say hi, if you'd like
3) and try to visit three or more of the blogs linked up and leave a comment.
4) Please keep it Family Friendly Ya'll!

They'll all be doing the same, so it's like a giant hippie love fest.
Bring your own flowers. Oh and when you comment?
Put in the secret code "TALU" (Tuesday Archive Link-Up) and then give a little wink so we'll all know what you're talking about.
Have fun! Now here are your TALU hosts, wonderful gals every one....
Jennifer, author of I Am Not Superwoman
Anne, author of Life On The Funny Farm
Debbie, author of Wrinkled Mommy
Kenya, author of Here's The Thing...
Shanna, author of Motherhood On The Rocks.
Rachel, author of Homesteading Quest

Homecoming at our church this weekend

Ah Homecoming! I'm not sure if this is a Southern thing, or what, but around here we have "Homecoming" at our churches. It is really just a way for people to come back and visit a church they may have attended as a child, then they moved away, got married, or just went to a different church. Today is our church's homecoming celebration and get this - we are celebrating 142 YEARS!. Our little church has some great history and wow if it could talk. It's more of a family reunion and it's always such fun. I'm excited as my children are getting old enough to start really appreciating how important this day is. There have been some hard times, they went through the Great Depression, several wars, and even now we are seeing shifts in what some churchs beleive in do. But our church is still standing and just as on fire for the Lord as I can remember. I love to hear the older generation talk about revivials that were held under an old Oak tree, with benches made from logs, that would bring in hundreds of people to our tiny community and have revivals that would last for 14-20 days, each night bringing a 4-5 HOUR service. How remarkable. We still sing songs of Zion that have been passed down through the years, Rock of Ages, Amazing Grace, I'll Fly Away are some of my favorites. Then we have "dinner on the grounds". Everyone brings in their favorite dishes to share and we eat and fellowship on long tables underneath the same oak tree that is so notable for those revivals of yesterday. I love it. I'm exciting just typing this. I have some food that was prepared last night, and some that I am just beginning to smell it's wonderful aroma wafting from the oven. I know the service will be a blessing and I just wanted to share this tradition with my readers ( few as there may be). Happy Homesteading Ya'll!

Wordless Wednesdays

 

TALU Tuesday Link Up Party

That's right, the Tuesday Archive Link-Up.

Time to pull your treasured old posts out of those cobwebby archives, dust them off, and give them new life where they will be seen and enjoyed by untold millions OK, thousands of viewers.

See, this link-up is hosted by several people, who, all together have thousands upon thousands of followers. So when you link your post up with this party? Your post will show up on all their blogs, to all of their followers.
All you've got to do is:
1) link up your post using the linky tool below,
2) visit the hosts and leave a comment to say hi, if you'd like
3) and try to visit three or more of the blogs linked up and leave a comment.
4) Please keep it Family Friendly Ya'll!

They'll all be doing the same, so it's like a giant hippie love fest.
Bring your own flowers. Oh and when you comment?
Put in the secret code "TALU" (Tuesday Archive Link-Up) and then give a little wink so we'll all know what you're talking about.
Have fun! Now here are your TALU hosts, wonderful gals every one....
Jennifer, author of I Am Not Superwoman
Anne, author of Life On The Funny Farm
Debbie, author of Wrinkled Mommy
Kenya, author of Here's The Thing...
Shanna, author of Motherhood On The Rocks.
Rachel, author of Homesteading Quest