Guess what wonderful thing God did for me on this beautiful Sabbath morning.  I woke up to this email in my inbox.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Hi everyone, What a great day I had yesterday wi...":

Your blog has been awarded at http://bestchristianblogoftheweek.blogspot.com.

How cool is that? 

I'm sharing this with you all as a resource for you to find other bloggers who write of their love for God.  I'm sure that there will be some new blogs on my sidebar soon. 

Speaking of which, I want to point out a new blog on Jacob's sidebar:http://underthehay-tyler.blogspot.com/  This young  man is 14 and a friend of Jacob's from the LSUK website which is the forum for people who like to play Farming Simulator.  Now, Tyler decided to start blogging because Jacob was blogging so hat's off to Jacob for his good fruit.  ;)

Tyler is a farm boy from Nebraska who makes lots and lots and lots of hay like Jacob does.  I think that they have around 250 head of cattle.  Because Jacob has spoken of him so much, I feel as though he's part of the family and so I'm adding Tyler to my sidebar.  Welcome to the blogging world, Tyler!

We're all happy as we finished the seeding yesterday.  For as long as I've known Robert, which is 33 years, he has had a goal of getting the seeding done before his birthday.  This is the first time that we're actually DONE seeding BEFORE his birthday which is on Monday.  Everything is early this year due to the mild Winter so we're all excited.

During the wet moments of this past week, we ripped out our old rotten deck and the guys got us some new deck boards.  Cora, Jacob, and I stained them when things dried out.  I have one hint for anyone who is going to stain new deck boards--make sure that the stain is thoroughly mixed before you start staining.  We have quite a mixture of colors on our boards but, thankfully, there is an underside to deck boards which nobody will see.  I'll try to get some pictures on here soon concerning our deck project.

It's been a stressful month, even though exciting.  The other morning, as I waited for my client to come to the house here, suddenly I found myself covered in hives.  OH NO--I haven't gone anaphalactic in about 2 years but I know enough to know that instant hives is the first step to my going into shock.

Cora was doing my hair, as I wrote here, and suddenly my face was hot.  Each time it goes faster so it wasn't long until the hives were all over my arms and legs also.  Fortunately, we've had enough experience with shock to know what to do. 

Instantly I took some water with cayenne pepper tincture in it along with a few bites so that it doesn't burn my stomach.  I started my deep breathing exercises and went to work washing the dishes.  I find that I do better if I'm doing some brainless thing instead of laying in bed paying attention to how shaky I'm getting.  Jacob also ran rates for me on his machine for shock.

I was still a little red when my clients came but the shakiness was gone and I just smiled a lot and let them talk as I waited for the radionics to firm up my thinking.  By the time the session was over, the hives were gone and I was only weak.  Cora and I laughed, after the client left, that my sunburn disappeared mighty quick!

I praise God for getting me through it once again!  Oh, I forgot to mention that I also took 4 Loratadine which brings the histamine levels down.  I told Cora that I've been doing so well that I haven't taken any Loratadine in about 8 months.  I guess I'll probably take 1 a day for a few weeks to ward it off.

Did I mention that I slept for 3 hours that afternoon and took it easy the rest of the day?  There hasn't been any sign of it's return so I rejoice in that!  Thanks to Cora for keeping calm and helping me to think my way through the experience.  Praise God for His healing ways!

One other praise is that I got a new client from the sign that I put up at Terry's Health Food store in Bismarck.  This woman said, "The whole world needs to know about these healing methods!"  I told her, "You go ahead and tell them," and then we laughed together.

I was encouraged, though, that I may have found the person to man my office when I'm down here.  There are so many wonderful things that I want to do out of that office but can't because nobody can be 2 places at one time.  We'll see what she thinks of my work after her first session next week.

Once again, I am honored to be chosen for my encouragement to others in the faith!  That is the reason that I started this blog 3 years ago--to give others hope of a better life as a follower of Christ.  Now, to bless your day as much as mine has been blessed, I'd like to share this awesome poem with you!  If you haven't given your life to Christ yet, I pray that today is the day that you too will join the family of God!

God bless all who open their hearts to His amazing love!

Happy Sabbath everyone,

Dawn

Happy High Sabbath

I hope that you will celebrate with me today, folks, that God has given us a weekly day of rest AND the feasts.  Although we don't do much about the feasts here, I dream of having a group to get together with who can teach us HOW to keep the feasts.  This was not in either Robert's or my background and so it seems insurmountable to learn how to do them alone.  Please, God, send us some feast keepers to lead us down the path of celebrating the way that YOU do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the meantime, here is the next part of the great GOP, "Run over the patriots" drama from last weekend. I checked and there are 2 more parts after this one in case you were wondering.  My goal in sharing all of this is to get any sleeping patriots to wake up and join the revolution.

Q.  What are we rebelling against? 

A.  TYRANNY IN HIGH PLACES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  .

Shabbot shalom,

Dawn

PS.  Please go over to Cora's blog to see what Fox News had to say about all of this.

Are they starting to get it?

This blog is called A RAY OF HOPE because sometimes that's all we have-that's the bad news.  The good news is that, sometimes, that's all we need.  That's how I felt this morning when I read this short clip in the email from the Organic Consumer's Association (http://www.organicconsumers.org/).  My day yesterday was so fantastic, as I worked with 5 clients in my Bismarck office, that this little bit of good news has pushed me over into WONDERFUL mood!
  If you are concerned at all about the quality of food available for your family in the grocery store, then I highly recommend you become a regular reader of OCA.  You can also get on their email list and learn of events in the organic food world on a regular basis. 
This made my day and I hope that the last comment will encourage all of you.  Many of us feel like we're the Lone Ranger, but we're NOT!  A lot of individuals working together can take back the world for GOD!  I hope that this will pick up your "What can I do about this massive problem?" spirits.

Monsanto Exec Admits that Nature Is Smarter Than Biotech

"You don't need [biotech] for something that nature has already figured out."
- Consuelo Madre, vice president of Monsanto's global vegetable group, explaining why the company was using conventional breeding rather than genetic engineering to produce its vegetable seeds, in "Sprouting a New Line of Produce Seeds," by P.J. Huffstutter, Los Angeles Times, October 20, 2011.

Huffstutter also points out that using traditional techniques allows Monsanto to "avoid the financial and consumer hurdles that would inevitably come with rolling out genetically engineered produce for a grocery store."

Another option to consider is joining the John Birch Society.  You can learn about their good work at: JBS.org.  Jacob and I attended our first meeting last week and already I am encouraged to learn that we are NOT alone here.  Next month our state's leader will be starting a series of 3 monthly meetings on the US Constitution and how we can use it to save our country.  THERE IS HOPE FOR OUR COUNTRY, FOLKS, AND IT COMES IN BUILDING COMMUNITIES ONE STEP AT A TIME AND TOGETHER MAKING OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS STICK TO THE CONSTITUTION!!!!!!!!
Happy Sabbath to all of you out there.  If you've never kept the Sabbath that God began at creation, I urge you to just do no work tomorrow (starting after dark tonight).  Be still and see the miracles that God has in store for you!  Every week, God shows Himself to our family in new and exciting ways when we pause from our labors and focus on His beautiful character on the day that HE rested from His labors of creating the Earth.
My love to you,
Dawn

Sabbath at home

I love this video about keeping the Sabbath at home.   As much as I love singing in the choir or teaching children about the Lord or being convicted in my spirit about some new concept that the Lord laid on the pastor's heart, keeping the Sabbath at home with my family is oh so wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope that you can begin to grasp how much this means to me by listening to these deep thoughts.

HAPPY SABBATH TO ALL!

 Dawn

Touring the San Francisco Bay

It was next to impossible, but we did finally tear ourselves away from Filoli. Thursday was the time that Cora had written about in our big book these words, "Today is the day that I most wish that I could be with you." We figured that she must know of further delights as she had planned the trip for us so back we went into the beautiful city of San Francisco.

We found the street with all of the gorgeous Pier buildings full of cars from people out on cruises. We were looking for...

THIS one.

This was so that we could board this boat....

which we did as this picture is proof of.

Passengers on the upper most deck

We were standing by the rail with a nice family of 4 from Colorado. The wife told me that they were there to celebrate their 20th anniversary and I, of course, shared that we were celebrating 30 years of marriage. We wished each other a happy anniversary and pleasantly chatted the whole rest of the cruise.

I was very thankful that the children had bought us 2 City Passes for $62 each as this was only one of the tours that we were allowed to enter with our passes. The mother of the family told me that they had paid $70 for their family just to take this one cruise. Good job on purchasing the City Passes children. This picture shows the wake so you can see that we were moving along rather quickly.

The tour took us out to the Golden Gate Bridge where the boat was turned around. This is what the bridge looks like from the deck of the HARBOR EMPEROR.

This is the now-abandoned prison Alcatraz. There was one boat that took people out here for a tour but neither Robert, nor I, cared to spend any money to go and see it. Instead we looked at it as our boat slowly glided past it.

The wife from Colorado offered to take our picture, with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, if we would return the favor and take a picture of their family. This happened quite often on our journey.

One of the delights on the Bay was seeing many sailboats out and enjoying the glory of the lovely weather. Only once had I ever seen a sailboat and this was when my Uncle David from Wisconsin had brought his out to sail on Lake Eureka. It turned out a great disappointment to him as he'd just gotten his sails up when he was at the other end. These folks had no such disappointment as there was plenty of Bay for everyone.

This boat was available for those more adventurous spirits. Robert said that the boys would have loved to have a ride on that one as it REALLY moved. I was happy that I wasn't on it as I would have a ride on a fast boat in a few days and one of those is enough for me. :)

Well everyone, Cora has found a new movie for us to watch, so I'll close for now. We're still not at the end of my picture review of Thursday on that unforgettable week in California, but the rest will have to wait for another time. We took over 1,700 pictures on our journey so you can look forward to many more to come.

I wish you all a glorious Sabbath rest--what's left of it. The guys just came in from trying out their new shotguns; Cora and I played ourselves out on duets at the piano; and dark will fall on us soon. Then the new work week will begin but for now, it is STILL THE MOST GLORIOUS DAY OF THE WEEK!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sabbath hugs to all of you out there whom I love,

Dawn

Harvest of Thanks tomorrow at Alfred

We are GREATLY excited around here as tomorrow we are heading for the annual Harvest of Thanks celebration in Alfred, ND. We received this invitation email from the pastor there which I'd like to pass on to all of you who love the Lord and are in the vicinity. Come join us there for a wonderful day of fellowship with all in the family of God whom He brings to the little country church 60 miles from here. OH COME AND LET US WORSHIP HIM TOGETHER AS WE CELEBRATE THE HARVEST OF CROPS AND SOULS!

Hope to see you there!

Dawn


Friends and Family of the Alfred Church,

We are happy to announce this year’s Annual Harvest of Thanks Celebration. We have a very special spiritual treat as we welcome Jason Overman. Jason spoke at our Dakota’s youth retreat last year. Jason is a minister whom we knew years ago when his family lived in Alabama from the age of 7 to when he was about 12. His family attended churches where my wife and I lived. Also, his wife’s family is from Jud, North Dakota. To round out their family they have 7-year old twins (a boy and girl).

Jason speaks at Youth Camps and Revival Services, is a regular contributor to the Bible Advocate and pastors at Jasper, Arkansas.

It is our hope that you will be able to attend and be blessed by the messages from God’s word; the great music; and the lunch to be served after the Sabbath (Saturday) morning worship services. There is an afternoon of singing and special music and a Youth fun evening and campfire Saturday Night.

The week’s schedule will be as follows:

Thursday Evening Services begin at 7:30 p.m.

Special Music by Terry Schlenker

Message by Jason Overman:

Touching the Resurrection: I Am the God of Abraham


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday Evening Services begin at 7:30 p.m.

Special Music by Renee Listul

Message by Jason Overman:

Touching the Resurrection: I Am the God of Isaac

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sabbath (Saturday) School begins at 9:45 a.m.

Worship Services begin at 10:45 a.m.

Special Music will be the Alfred Church Choir

Message by Jason Overman:

Touching the Resurrection: I Am the God of Jacob

Lunch (provided by the Alfred Church) at 12:00 Noon

Afternoon Singspiration will begin at 2:00 p.m.

Evening Night of Fun and Inspiration begins at 7:00 p.m.

At the Alfred School Building (few blocks north of Church)

(Geared toward youth but everyone welcomed)

Campfire… Weather permitting.


In Christ, Pastor Stephen J. Kyner

P.S. Attached you will find a flyer that you can share as you wish.





Special services with Guest Speaker: Jason Overman

Theme: “Touching the Resurrection”

Harvest of Thanks Schedule: Thursday 7:30 p.m. I Am the God of Abraham

Friday 7:30 p.m. I Am the God of Isaac

Saturday 10:45 I Am the God of Jacob

Jason Overman… and wife Stephanie have been living and ministering in the Jasper, Arkansas, area for the last 20 years. Jason is the lay-pastor of the Jasper Church of God (Seventh Day) and the advertising director of the Harrison Daily Times. Stephanie is a full time homeschooling mom to their 7-year old twin-treasures Tabitha and Isaac. Jason has written extensively for the Bible Advocate and is a favored guest speaker at Youth Retreats.

Come be nurtured at…
The Alfred Church of God (7th Day)
(75 years and Growing)
September 23-25

Services: 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday & 10:45 a.m. Saturday
& Afternoon Services at 2:00 p.m.

Directions: Hwy. 281 (18 miles south from Jamestown or 18 miles north from Edgeley) to Highway # 46 then 14 miles west to Alfred sign (or 6 miles east of Gackle on 46) then south 2 miles, then turn into Alfred, follow sign to Church on left.
For More Information call: (701) 252-1677 or web: www.churchofgodalfred.com

Home away from home

This is the first thing that I saw when Gloria opened the door to show us our home away from home on Friday night, July 30th. I spent quite a bit of time in this kitchenette and enjoyed every minute here, except for one.

You may recall that, before Jacob and I went outside to explore our surroundings, I had put a frozen cheese pizza (with smoked turkey that I'd cut on top of it) into the cute, little oven of "My" kitchen. Well, you must imagine my surprise when I looked at it 40 minutes later. To be honest, I happen to like things a bit on the burnt side, but even I was dismayed by what I saw.

The whole thing was VERY dried up and VERY dark and not one bit appetizing. Jacob, the good sport that he is, though, said, "Ah come on and let's eat it. I don't want to wait another 40 minutes." So we chomped on the thing quite awhile and talked over the day's excitement.

As it turned out, it was a good thing that we didn't decide to try our hand at another one because the results would have been the same. You see, the next morning while Jacob was snooping through the cupboards for a can opener, he found a note which read, "Oven runs 60 degrees higher than the control knob indicates--use the thermometer in the oven instead."

OOPS!!! I had seen that thermometer but just pushed it to the back of the oven when I was sliding the pizza into it. SIXTY DEGREES OFF!!!!!!! Now if it was MY oven, I think that I would have taped that note on the silly thing for people who don't go snooping through all of the drawers before using the oven. :)

Well, this was my kitchen for 6 days and Jacob and I have lots of fond memories of preparing our meals here.

This was half of the living room. It had everything that anyone could want by way of comforts. The only thing that it lacked, as far as I'm concerned, is a piano. Can you believe that I went 6 whole days without playing piano? Oh well, we were busy all the time anyway.

This was my bedroom. I know that we're not supposed to love things but I greatly admired that sweet, little corner table with the lamp on it. WOW--was that ever a lovely piece of furniture! I had the windows open every moment that I possibly could and the scent of pine filled the place--it was just awesome.

There was an adjoining bathroom where I soaked for hours. I made herbal teas to help my body deal with jet lag and tired neck after 9 hours of class every day. I have a special muslin bag where I put the herbs in. As the tub fills, all you have to do is tie the bag to the buthtub spout and as the hot water runs through the herbs, it makes a bathtub size herbal tea. I used alfalfa, the mints, and chamomile depending on which one I was needing most as determined through biofeedback.

Jacob met this young man shortly after we moved in. His name was Logan and he made life interesting for all of us. Here he was telling me that he and Jacob were going on a bear hunt. I told Jacob that I wanted him to find a stick to take along too in case they ended up face to face with a bear on the Chisholm Trail which Grandpa Larry had designed for the daring of heart.

This picture I took right outside of our kitchen window so the playground was close by to our place but alas, my little boy was not even interested. :)

Now, checking for Wi-Fi connections IS something that Jacob was interested in. The owner, Gloria, had said that sometimes it didn't come in very well down in the lower rooms and she was right. It didn't matter, though, as by the next day, Andrew's laptop had quit on us due to the heat. That's a long story that you'd do best to ask Andrew or Jacob about. The point here is that we didn't have Internet connection and had to bug the people at KRT so that we could check our emails from time to time. They are such wonderful people and didn't mind at all! :)

Well, shortly after we'd gummed through the tough pizza, we went up to the parking lot and called home. It was a short call, though, as we were both pretty tired. Jacob and I did sit on this couch and have a short prayer time together and then we both crawled into our beds.

I think that is the most tired that I can ever recall being. We had been on the move for 18 hours and I know that I didn't spend time analyzing how I liked the bed. The next thing I knew, Jacob was knocking on my door.

When I peeled open my eyes, there was light shining behind the heavy drapes. Jacob said softly, "Mom. MOM--it's time to get up. It's 9:30 already." WOW--I had slept wonderfully there at the Inn under the huge evergreens as the waterfall gushed by our new home.

Leave it to youth--Jacob was up; dressed for Sabbath; and ready to go for a romp in the woods. Of course he didn't like it much when I told him that I wouldn't take him over to KRT if he didn't shower first. He got dressed twice that morning but, with an exciting day as that one turned out to be, I guess getting dressed twice made it just all that more unusual. More on that special Sabbath later!

Best get back to these apples,

Dawn

Youngest clients

I am so pathetically behind in posting, but today Andrew got things going so that I can add pictures again. THANK YOU, ANDREW DEAR!!! Of course, now I'm too tired to write a lot. However, when I browsed through the pictures quickly, I thought that these were just too adorable not to post right away.

These are my youngest clients who are outside of the womb. It's kind of hard to take pictures of a fetus, so these are the youngest ones that I can get pictures of. This is Landan and Jocelyn and I worked on them, and their mom, on Thursday. Their mom snapped this cute pictures of us all swinging our legs off of my new massage table. I'm still not finished decorating my office, but it is presentable now for clients.

When I was working on Jocelyn, Landon had to come and sit on my lap. It's all in a day's work, but those of you who know me well, know how very much I loved spending time with these little people. :)

I

It was a wonderful Sabbath rest today with my precious family. We're studying a Preterist tape series now and we watched an awesome Jimmie Stewart movie called, "Pot of Gold." I rested a lot and tonight we played a new game called, "Golden 10." I lost BIG Time, so it's certainly not my favorite, but it was good to see Jacob smoke everybody else. :)

Tomorrow we're going (except Cora who has to work) to a home school graduation at the Geiger house so I guess I should head for bed. It's just so good to be able to come here, to my little place in cyberspace, and share a bit about my life. I hope to write a nice, long post soon to show you a big surprise that my dad had for me last week. I don't have a good picture of it, though, so it'll have to wait.

Hugs to all you lovers out there,

Dawn

PS. We're trying to decided on whether or not to sing at Prairie Days next week. It's kind of late to work up a puppet show, but we really ought to do SOMETHING!

I DID get stuck

I'm going to start my post with some pictures of my favorite animal friends, although I won't write about them until the end of the post. Call me, "Lazy," but it gets so old dragging a bunch of pictures down the page half a mile. :)

This is our dog, Millie, who has been with us almost 2 years. She tries to help herd the cattle, but ends up in front of them somehow. We're working on it, though, as she has learned to come for a doggie bone almost all the time now.

Cora's aquarium is so aluring as one enters the world of under the water.

Cora's sweet Basset Hound, Millie also, whom she renamed, Lady. We are all in love with her ears.

A few of our turkeys and a chicken greeting each other, "Good morning," as they pass.

My sweet old, Clara, and me in the milking parlor a few weeks ago.

Mama and baby in the calving pen. This one needed a little help getting her calf out. The yellow tag means that she is one of Andrew's animals.

A lovely robin I spied in the tree by the deck.

Our little chicks we're raising after their mom hatched them out for us. We don't seem to have much success with incubators.

My very best friends, the goats!

The Holstein calves that we bottle fed last year. These animals, being they were hand fed, are very tame.

And now for my post.

I REALLY DID GET THE TRACTOR STUCK--and I was NOT very popular around here for it!

It happened late Friday evening. It was so exasperating as I had gone around 3 lakes during the course of the day. At each one of those lakes in the field I was working, I was able to keep moving that 300 horse power tractor less than 20 feet away from standing water. That morning had gone GREAT and I was so happy that I was strong and healthy and able to help with the field work.

I finished that 30+ acre field by noon. I was just in time to see our friend from South Carolina leave with our 1486 which they were renting from us to plant their field plots on their farm 8 miles from here. I waved a, "Glad to see you back in ND, Gaylin," and felt on top of the world.

After lunch I took a nap as I knew the 50+ acre field that I had hoped to finish yet before Sabbath lay ahead of me. I try not to do so much field work as bouncing around out there tends to be hard on my neck. When I awoke, I jumped in my, "Carriage" as Robert calls our 4890 Case "Big" tractor and drove south to do the field around the Kintyre curve. He usually drives the tractor up in front of the house for me; pops his head in the door; and says, "Your carriage awaits." :)

Storm clouds threatened our progress, but I started the field with high hopes of finishing it before dark if I would push hard. Robert was working across the road from me planting corn and I waved at him when our tractors ended up facing each other at the end of our fields. HOW ROMANTIC!

Once I got a big rock stuck in between the disc blades, but Cora and Jacob got it out for me as they were out there picking rocks out of the places where the rock piles were. They had the pry bar so I just let them help me out while I cleaned out the mud between one of the places where the scraper had broken out.

At first I tried loosening up the places where the big excavator had driven, but Robert said that we needed the chisel plow for that. After I gave that up, I did some serious praying that the Lord would send the rain around our field so that I could finish it before the start of Sabbath at sunset. He seemed very obliging too, as the storm moved to the North and I was bathed in Spring sunshine which lifted my hopes that I'd be able to finish the field.

Robert and I REALLY both enjoy finishing big projects before the beginning of Sabbath. However, it wasn't to be this time. You see, I came to this low place that looked rather dampish but there was NOT one drop of visible water standing in the field. I thought, "No problem, there's not even any water standing in this field." I charged through, with little difficulty although I did have to lift the disc a tiny bit. Little did I know that different soil types have different affects on tractor sinkability, but I was about to find out.

I was pushing hard and trying to estimate if I'd be able to finish up before dark. The fact that the field is cut away for the curve in the road, gave me a little hope. I didn't think about it much when I came back to the low spot in the field. I guess I should have. All of a sudden the tires started spinning and, when I lifted up the disc to help me plow through, NOTHING HAPPENED.

I kept going for a little while, unable to accept that I had indeed gotten that big beastly tractor stuck in a place where there was no standing water. "How can this be?" I asked the Lord. Gradually it DAWNED on me that I was REALLY stuck. I gulped hard; put the tractor in neutral; pulled down the throttle; and prayed.

"Now Lord, you don't REALLY mean to leave me sitting here like this, do you?" No answer. So I prayed for wisdom to know how to drive out of there and I put the thing in first gear and was positive that I would be able to drive out of there. Nope.

It took a lot of courage for me to call Robert, knowing how STRONGLY he wanted to finish his field before dark too. I was almost relieved when I got his voice mail as I very weakly left a message, "I'm stuck." Then I called the house but Cora and Jacob were out at chores yet. I left the same message there and called Andrew who told me that he had just left Linton and was 45 minutes away.

To make a VERY long story short, the guys all came out to the field to help their damsel in distress. They ended up having to unhook the disk and pull it out backwards. Without all of that weight behind, Robert was able to drive the tractor out of the slop. Then they re-hooked the disc and Robert drove the tractor and disc home.

But what was I doing during all of that? Well, it had become apparent that I needed to surrender the driver's seat to Robert. When I stepped down off of the tractor, the mud instantly sucked off one of my shoes. The next step I took, the other shoe also was sucked off of my foot by the mud. How lovely. Here I was a foot and a half deep in mud with NO SHOES.

By this time, it was dark outside. I drug myself through the muck over to where Jacob was standing a safe distance from the tow chains. I told him that I'd lost my shoes but we had no time to look for them as Robert and Andrew were trying to get the equipment moved around and we needed to stay away from them as they couldn't see us in the dark. It's kind of terrifying to be standing barefoot in mud with big equipment moving around you in the dark.

All in all, I was standing in the dark with no shoes and my feet and legs covered in mud for about half an hour. There was nothing to do about it as the loader tractor was needed to help pull out the disk and Robert was in the Beast. My feet were so cold and I was so miserable that I couldn't help but sob on Jacob's shoulder.

Finally, the tractor and disc were re-hooked together, on solid ground, so that we could have the loader tractor. Jacob took me home then and I have never been so happy to take a nice, warm shower in my life!!!!!!! I thought about taking a picture of my muddy socks but you can't really see anything but a big glob of mud. Jacob said, "I'd throw those out if I were you, Mom." I haven't wanted to touch them yet, so they're still laying in the entryway where I left them that night. They blend in pretty well with the rest of the entry way, as everyone is dragging in so much mud these days!

We were all VERY thankful that they were able to get the tractor and disc out of the mud hole that night as it's been raining ever since. In fact, we've had 4 1/2 inches of rain since then. When I am tempted to feel sorry for myself for getting a cold out of the deal OR to be mad at myself for not getting the field done that night, I just picture the tractor floating out there with all of this rain, and then I am able to find SOMETHING to be glad about.

So, YES, I DID get the tractor stuck. Thanks to the most ingenious men in the world, though, it now sits in the yard waiting for things to dry out so that I can go finish the field. I wonder if I'll see my shoes floating on the top?

What else is new around here? Well, tomorrow is my last day in my office on South Washington in Bismarck. I am soooooooooo excited to pick up the keys to my new office. I ordered some things for that office but I'm going to save the details until later when I can show you pictures of it. My office will go from a suite of rooms to just one 10 X 12 foot room. However, it is the same price as a fifth of the suite and I CAN HAVE ACCESS TO IT ALL THE TIME!!!! No more sharing the room!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really do need to go finish my kombucha batch. Have I told you that I am in love with kombucha? I'm in the brain field you know. I mean it helps to have brains when I'm driving tractor but it REALLY helps when I'm doing BodyTalk sessions. Whenever my brain starts getting fuzzy, I drink some kombucha and it gets right back on track within minutes. It's wonderful stuff and I'd be happy to send anybody a free starter kit, but you'll need to pay the postage. Cora just sent 2 of them to her blogging friends and it cost over $9 to ship them.

Anyway, I am wondering if anyone has ever made kombucha with Apple cider tea from Bigelow? I'm going to give it a try as all of the ingrediants are warming and it smells heavenly. I'll let you know how I like it in about 10 days. :)

Other than that, my washing machine died yesterday; Cora's little buckling, Roger, has stolen my heart; everyone is out loading up scrap metal today as the guys are going to take up a load tomorrow and help me move into my new office; and we got an invitation today in the mail to Ben Dagley and Hannah Stover's wedding next month.

My truly BIG news, though, is that I took an animal communication class on Sunday with a bunch of BodyTalkers in Bismarck. It was an incredibly exciting experience to learn how to tune into the thoughts of Kris's 2 gorgeous cats. The Lord had a wonderful surprise in store for me, though, that has made me so happy ever since.

I'm sure all of you know how much I have been grieving the loss of my beautiful, Brown Swiss cow Clara! Well, I shared how I have been grieving Clara when Kris started to smile. You see, I had just assumed that Clara would be in someone's freezer by now so that is why I was totally stunned when she said, "Clara's still alive!"

"REALLY? How do you know?"

Kris smiled, "Because you can't tune into dead animals." DAAAAAAAAAA

She told me that she had tuned into Clara's frequency and found that she is still alive but going backwards with all of the rain and something else. "She's asking you to keep doing BodyTalk on her," Kris said.

I sat dumbfounded for a few moments. WHY HADN'T I EVER THOUGHT OF THAT????? If I can do distance sessions on people, why couldn't I do them on my dear, sweet Clara? Another DAAAAAAA.

That was when my tears of grief turned to tears of joy. Kris smiled at me and said, "You CAN keep in touch with your cow by doing BodyTalk sessions on her just like you did when she lived with you." OH FOR JOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She cautioned me, though with these words, "You will know that she is dead when you can no longer tune into her frequency." That makes sense.

I did a long session for my girl on the way home that night and short ones each day since. She's doing better now! You know how I know? I ask, "Are you feeling better, Clara?" I got a YES through our biofeedback technique that we use in BT.

Then I asked, "How much better? What percent?"

Yesterday she was 42% better than she had been on Sunday. Today I got that she was 92% better than she had been on Sunday. YEAH!!!!!!!!!!! GO, CLARA, GO!!!!!!

So you see, God wanted me to go to that animal communication class because he knew that the grief of thinking she was dead was too much for me to bear right now--especially since she ISN'T. I needed to be with Kris, who has the skills to tune in to all animals (she's been doing this for 6 years), to learn that I really CAN keep in touch with my girl through her daily BT sessions.

My heart is so much happier now as I see that the Lord opened my eyes to see the door that I had been using to care for my girl STILL EXISTS!!! I just have to do it from a distance, but what do I care. As long as I know that my Clara is well, I am happy. I'm not sure why I didn't think of doing that before, but I just assumed that she would be slaughtered immediately.

I do realize that only animal lovers would ever be able to grasp what I am trying to say here, but that's ok. I was with a room-full of animal lovers on Sunday, so I know that I'm not the only one who cares so intensely for our furry friends. Animals have always been the ones who loved me through the rough times in my life. Now I'm just thrilled to be able to return their love on a whole new plane.

Best get to the performance session that I'm doing for a fellow BodyTalker who is graduating tomorrow. It's my gift to her with the hopes that it will help her to be the very best that she can be on her special day.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings!

Dawn

LOVE

Robert and I pulled out of organized religion to keep the Sabbath, as outlined in Scripture, 14 years ago. We have studied faithfully what the Bible says about different truths on our day of rest and worship. Yahweh (God the Father) has shown us many wonderful things about Himself when we take the time to be still with Him on the day that He hallowed at creation.

When we started our home school 17 years ago, we began memorizing the 10 Commandments. The children were little, so we just kept it simple, and did the short version that is printed everywhere. However, as the children grew, I wanted them to memorize the Commandments as they are written in Exodus 20. We read these passages over and over until, little bit by little bit, these words came from memory and I knew that we had indeed put them into our heart.

Exodus 20:8 - 11 reads like this and I quote from memory:

REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY, TO KEEP IT HOLY.

SIX DAYS SHALT THOU LABOR AND DO ALL THY WORK,

BUT THE SEVENTH DAY IS THE SABBATH OF THE LORD THY GOD:

IN IT THOU SHALT NOT DO ANY WORK,

THOU, NOR THEY SON, NOR THY DAUGHTER,

THY MANSERVANT, NOR THY MAID SERVANT,

NOR THY CATTLE,

NOR THY STRANGER THAT IS WITHIN THY GATES:

FOR IN SIX DAYS THE LORD MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH,

THE SEA AND ALL THAT IN THEM IS,

AND RESTED THE SEVENTH DAY:

WHEREFORE THE LORD BLESSED THE SABBATH DAY,

AND HALLOWED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The SEVENTH day IS the Sabbath of the Lord thy God! It is a holy day--a day to rest from our labors and just trust in Him to have all of the answers to the problems of the approaching week. It is also a time to rejoice in how HE has saved our neck in the past week! I love, on the Sabbath, to recall ALL the times that He gave me the wisdom that I needed to deal with a difficult situation; how HE gave me the strength to do all of the work that He lined up for me; and how HE led me beside still waters even in the midst of all the controversy I faced that week. WOW--GOD IS SO AWESOME THAT HE DESERVES A DAY TO BE HONORED IN THIS SPECIAL WAY!!!

Actually, though this post appears to be about the Sabbath, that was not my original intention. You see, the point that I was trying to make here is that we can get all wrapped up in proving to everyone else that we have done our homework and we KNOW that we're right and they're wrong. But this very process of arguing over who is "Right" and who is "Wrong" must certainly grieve the heart of the God of all love. Certainly we don't impress HIM when we cut some one's throat just to prove to them that we were RIGHT!!!!!!!!

I'm thinking now of one fine, young man who I'm sure will never read this. How grand it is to "Study to show ourselves approved unto God," but what is the point of all of the studying? When the heart's goal is to study, just for the point of having head knowledge, I must argue that God is not greatly impressed.

Certainly, I'd much rather that young men be studying the Word, and about the Word, than out dating a different girl each week. However when one gains knowledge and imparts it with the world, simply for the reason of proving oneself smarter or better or more learned than everyone else, then I must say that this is pharasitical type thinking.

Robert and I keep coming, over and over, to the fact that GOD IS LOVE. When I was getting confirmed in the Methodist church in Eureka, SD almost 4 decades ago, I volunteered to recite

1 Corinthians 13 at the service. I'm sure that most of you know that that chapter in the Bible is called the, "Love Chapter." My heart burned within me that day with the desire to get people to see that LOVE is what matters more than anything else in the whole wide world. I still recall people crying later, saying how it had touched their hearts.

Although I can't recite the whole thing right this minute (although we worked on it in school last year), it IS buried deep inside my brain. I will recite the first 3 verses from it to help to make my point as these are God's words and not my own.

THOUGH I SPEAK WITH THE TONGUES OF MEN AND OF ANGELS,

AND HAVE NOT CHARITY (LOVE),

I AM BECOME AS SOUNDING BRASS

OR A TINKLING CYMBAL.

AND THOUGH, I HAVE THE GIFT OF PROPHECY,

AND UNDERSTAND ALL MYSTERIES,

AND ALL KNOWLEDGE,

AND THOUGH I HAVE FAITH THAT

I COULD REMOVE MOUNTAINS,

AND HAVE NOT CHARITY (LOVE)

I AM NOTHING!

AND THOUGH I BESTOW ALL MY GOODS

TO FEED THE POOR,

AND THOUGH I GIVE MY BODY TO BE BURNED,

AND HAVE NOT CHARITY (LOVE)

IT PROFITETH ME NOTHING!!!!!!!!!

There really is nothing more to say. ALL of our efforts to impress God with words of wisdom to fellow human beings means absolutely nothing to God IF THOSE WORDS ARE NOT MOTIVATED BY LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are simply sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal if we write, or talk, or move, or do anything at all, without love being the motivation for what we do.

What IS love? Well, I urge you to study the rest of 1 Corinthians 13 to find out if you're not really clear on this. Better yet, commit it to memory. I'm always amazed when I hear people comment on how much Scripture they have memorized. They'll say all kinds of grand passages about God, and HIS love, but very few can recite the love chapter. WHY? Well, it's my hunch because being loving really IS a hard thing to do. In fact it's absolutely impossible for us to do in our flesh, being we're filled with sin.

It's not natural for us to suffer long; be kind; envy not; vaunt not OURSELVES; not be puffed up; seek not our own; be not easily provoked; be not puffed up, think no evil, bear all things; believe all things; hope all things; and ENDURE all things. THAT'S A LOT OF SELF-SACRIFICING, ISN'T IT?

Yeah well, if we want to be like God is, then we will let His Holy Spirit work in us to BE love to everyone that we meet. It really doesn't matter what I want, or what I may desire, what matters is what is best for the other person!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT'S WHAT LOVE DOES!!!!

Over and over Robert keeps saying to me, "What the Bible boils down to, in my opinion, is that if I want to be like God, THEN I WILL LOVE OTHERS!!" With all of my heart, I believe that he is RIGHT!!! Oh, to have a heart of love for the world as my Heavenly Father has--THAT IS MY DESIRE.

To love, then, to love. When there is love, 2 people can sit down and discuss every issue in the world and agree to disagree and walk away being fed by the knowledge that the other person still respects them even though they are not seeing things the same way.

Better yet (as I believe that their IS truth in ALL areas) wouldn't it be grand if someone who has done a lot of studying in an area would quietly and LOVINGLY explain to others what they have learned with those who are ready to hear the truth in that area? Then the second person can lovingly and quietly explain a truth to the first person that they have been studying. In this way, the church would grow and prosper and be in good health. AHHHH--that all of Christendom would love each other as Christ loved the church and GAVE HIMSELF FOR IT!

May you all have a love-filled Sabbath tomorrow!

Dawn

Fourth Commandment

It's been a lovely Sabbath again today. After our hymn sing, and the next chapter of BEYOND THE END TIMES, we again got into a discussion on the matter of the 4th commandment. I can recite it, as the children and I learned it for school over a decade ago. It's found in Exodus 20:8--11 and reads like this.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work but the SEVENTH day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work--thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor the cattle nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in 6 days the Lord made Heaven and Earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the SEVENTH day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.

How I long for all of those I love to open their hearts to TRULY hear the words of this Scripture passage. Fourteen years ago, Robert and I felt the Lord leading us to interpret these words literally. We went against all that we had been taught and followed the Lord in obedience to these words. OH THE PEACE THAT IT HAS BROUGHT US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Time and time again, the Lord has honored our obedience to this and I wouldn't give up observing the Lord's Sabbath day of rest to save my life. After all, it is one of the 10 Commandments!!!

Please ponder this passage seriously, for the seventh day is the day that the Lord has blessed and made holy. It is the day that HE rested from His labors at creation. How can we resist following His example on the 4th commandment when we wouldn't dream of throwing out any of the others? May the Lord bless you with the truth here so that you may join the growing ranks of believers who are starting to "Keep the Sabbath."

First day off

Well, this is my first day off of the Master Cleanse. So far it's been exactly as it has been for 2 weeks as I've been drinking lemonade and kombucha all day. For the feast tonight, though, Cora and I are going to indulge in our home made apple cider with mulling spices. We made the guys a neat dish with corn bread on the bottom; all beef hot dogs sliced open on top of the corn bread; ketchup, mustard, and pickles on top of the hot dogs; and melted cheese on top of that. It will be hard not to have any of this delicacy but, thank God, we have THE YOUNG FUR TRADERS to indulge in until our stomachs can make the transition back to solid food.

I've been a little glum today. Oh, how I love the cranes when they come back in early fall. We live in the central flyway here and we get to see lots of birds on their migrations. My favorite are the cranes, though. I just am fascinated by their call. I tried taking a picture of them the other day but they were just too high up in the clouds to see them. Anyway, this morning during milking, I heard them over the sound of the milk pump. That told me that there had to be LOTS of them overhead. Rushing to the back door, I looked up to see about a thousand of them in their long Vs heading South. My heart sank as I was hoping that they'd stay around a little longer.

I was a little glum, too, when I weighed myself. I don't know how some people can possibly lose 20 pounds in 10 days. I went 14 days and ONLY lost 12 pounds. I know, this is no small accomplishment but I was hoping for more this time. Well, as Cora reminded me, we still have the 3 days coming out of the cleanse to lose some more as you really don't eat much on those days.

Well, it's the Sabbath and I don't feel one bit profound. The house is clean; the supper is in the oven along with the apple butter that Cora whipped up today; and I need to finish scrubbing the floor. I like to turn my thoughts to more noble things upon the Sabbath day but I find myself at a lack. It occurred to me, then, that maybe you'd like to read some more about Reiki. I really liked this article so I leave you with it as I bless you with wishes for a peaceful, refreshing Sabbath day tomorrow. This is written by a pastor and fellow Reiki Master/Teacher. Soon I will write to explain why, even though I have earned the right to go by this title, I will not as I feel that the only Master to walk the earth did so 2,000 years ago. So I've decided to call myself a Reiki Teacher (at the Master level). More on this later!

In Him,

Dawn


Christian Minister Uses Reiki
I was born and raised the son of a Christian pastor and became a fourth generation pastor myself. During the 10 years of my pastoral ministry I was often aware of the mental and emotional suffering of those in my congregation and I sought God for understanding regarding the power of love and grace to heal.
I became interested in the field of counseling after my own burn out in ministry-necessitated work with a psychotherapist. My recovery from burnout transformed my ideas of how God desires to work intimately in our lives and led me into a personal understanding of how God’s grace penetrates into the deepest aspects of our hearts and minds.
As my sermons began to reflect this understanding of grace my parishioners began to come to me with deeper issues of their personal suffering. Feeling called to work with people at this level of need I went back to school to pursue a graduate degree in the field of Marriage Family Therapy. My ministry continues to this day a Marriage Family Therapist in private practice running the Center for Open-Hearted Living.
I was exposed to Reiki in 1994 and felt impressed to train with a local teacher. The attunement processes were, for me, a very spiritual experience not unlike my experience of baptism, as I felt an increased connection to God and to His healing power. I continued to practice Reiki on myself and my friends and family, but did not bring Reiki into my practice until 2004.
At that time Reiki self-treatments were becoming very powerful and God was directing the Reiki energy to very deep and pervasive wounds and fears inside of me that I’d been avoiding for years. As I discovered how to let Reiki work this healing within myself I felt confident to begin to integrate Reiki with the psychotherapy that I was doing with clients. To this day I continue to be amazed by the power and efficacy of Reiki with my clients, especially when working with intense emotional processes. Reiki is gentle and nurturing, but powerful in its ability to move difficult emotional energy through and replace it with a sense of abiding peace.
I am utterly convinced that Reiki’s source is the Heart of God. I continued to experience the flow of Reiki as love, wisdom, and healing power. I have been exploring the meaning of grace and its practical application in the lives of human beings for 25 years and I can tell you that Reiki has been my most palpable experience of grace. Its use in my life and in the lives of my clients has resulted in a deepening of the fruits of the Spirit, such as the peace mentioned above, and I have become confident that Reiki is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Reiki, like prayer, belongs to every tradition and no tradition. The word “Reiki” itself may have been coined by Mikao Usui in the early 1900s, but the healing energy itself has been available wherever human suffering has existed. Usui’s gift to us is that he learned how to pass the ability of channeling Reiki to others and gave this process enough structure to allow it to proliferate throughout the world long after he was gone. There are as many explanations of Reiki and its source as there are people who practice it. This is how God is, showing up where, when, and how people need Him and in ways that they can understand and explain from their own experience.
If you struggle with knowing whether or not Reiki is for you, the best way is to seek God’s guidance and have a Reiki treatment. You can read many books and articles on the subject, but ultimately your own experience will make it clear.
God bless you as you tap more deeply into the flow of love and grace being abundantly poured out upon the planet.
Scott Wyman, M.Div., M.A. Marriage Family Therapist, Reiki Masterwww.ScottWyman.com

MC3--Days 7 & 8

Some day I'm going to be thin. I'm just telling you as I tell myself. Someday I am going to be the exact opposite of what my brother's used to tell me after they abused me. They used to say, "You're so stupid, fat, and ugly that no man will ever love you." I believed them too.

I used to always kick myself when I did something less than average in the intelligent department. I'd say, "See, they were right--I AM STUPID." It's taken getting a 4-year degree; scoring very well on the National Teacher's Exam; passing the insurance agent exam; and scoring above the doctor and lawyer level on the GATB test for me to accept that I am NOT stupid.

The ugly part is something that I can't figure out exactly how to go about convincing myself of otherwise. I guess BodyTalk has helped more than anything, to show me the beauty that God put into all of the intricacies that make up me, but it's still something that I struggle with. Sometimes Robert will say to me, "You KNOW that is a lie, Dawn, as I love you and I am very definitely a man!!!" Being as we just celebrated 29 years of marriage, he MUST really mean it!!!

Now the fat part is just plain too obvious to be debatable. I mean there's just NO QUESTION of that part not being true. I've believed that I was doomed to be fat for as long as I can remember that this is what I have become!!! Pretty stupid, huh?

Well, I praise God that He has led me to BodyTalk, EFT, and Dr. David Illig's Success World cassette program. I've never written about Dr. Illig yet but I found him on a shelf in the thrift store in Bismark marked $1 at the end of August. I have been soooooooooooooo blessed with his work as I listen to the tape which reprograms the subconscious mind to come into line with the truth.

WOW!!! I have really come to believe now that I WILL BE THIN SOME DAY!!! If I didn't, I wouldn't be in Andrew's room right now typing on this blog post. I would be out at the supper table with my men folk eating the Barbecued Beef pizza that Cora and I made for them and the poppy seed cake that Jacob made for the Sabbath feast. Oh yes, I'd be sipping the warm mulled apple cider in a mug instead of a tall glass of kombucha seeing as I'm a bit weary of the lemonade right now.

So, you see, I'm writing to all of you about the sacrifices that I'm making to get thin. I want you all to know that this is day 8 of the Master Cleanse diet and it'll be a whole 'nother week until I get to sip some of that apple cider. It's not that I want your pity but it's that I don't want your jealousy when I AM THIN!!!

Let me tell you about a situation that used to hold me back before Dr. Illig came along. This was almost 30 years ago when the trauma of moving back to my home town (when I married Robert) got me to eating big time. It wasn't long before I was up to 220 pounds and nobody would have argued with me then that I was fat.

Well, some ladies from my church decided to start a weight loss "Club." I attended regularly and decided to do something about my problem. It wasn't long and I'd lost 60 pounds. One night I met one of these "Friends" face to face in church accidentally. She stared at me and blurted out these words in a gut-wrenching spiteful voice, "I HATE YOU, DAWN BORNEMANN."

I was so shocked that I burst into tears and ran out to my car. I never spoke to her again and I slowly started putting the weight back on. Somehow I got the message that, if I wanted to have any friends, I needed to stay fat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It wasn't until I started learning BT that I came to understand that we live about 90% of our lives in our subconscious. So, every time I tried to lose weight in the past, or keep it off after I'd lost it, something down below said, "You're going to lose your friends because they're going to be jealous of your success Dawn."

Isn't that amazing??????????? So, tonight while I'm keeping myself from the feast of Sabbath, which is the highlight of the week for our family, I am in here telling myself that I AM GOING TO BE THIN SOMEDAY. It WILL be worth the effort to lose all of the weight--no matter what anybody says or thinks. I AM taking better care of myself now and I AM feeling better and that IS pretty smart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO THERE!!!

It was great yesterday, at the big rummage sale in town, to look at smaller clothes!!! The highlight of the day for me was when I was digging through the underwear box. I always majorally disinfect everything that I buy which isn't new so I was "Just looking." There was something with blue stripes in the box which looked kind of interesting but I couldn't figure out what it was. Suddenly I got it all turned around and held it up to reveal the largest pair of ladies' underwear that I have ever seen in my entire life. I mean they were 3 times the size of mine.

My neighbor, who was volunteering their, was nearby. I said held them up for her to see and said, "Hey, Tanya, THINGS COULD ALWAYS BE WORSE!!!!" She cracked up and we sent laughter bouncing off the hallways of the parochial school. Cora joined in and it felt sooooooo good to have my weight down to the point now where I don't feel like I AM THE BIGGEST PERSON IN THE WORLD ANYMORE!!!!!

Still, I covet your prayers as I push on to greater healing and greater strength. We're half way through this cleanse now and Cora and I are cheering each other on. It really is MUCH easier to do with someone else. The only problem that we have now is that neither one of us wants to cook. She's lost over 10 pounds and I'm almost there so that IS encouraging.

We had a ball at the sale and brought home 4 HUGE black garbage bags full and 2 grocery bags full for the grand total of $27.20. Now that's what I call SHOPPING!!!! Today we've been washing everything and putting away the summer things in the attic. It's always been a large chore for me to manage the change of clothing exchange at the end of Winter and Summer. It's so nice now that the children are older now and can do their own.

We're still working on apples but are finishing up on the tomatoes. Cora has been such a blessing in this area. The guys have been working on the combines to get them ready for the sunflower harvest. It won't be the crop that we had hoped for this Spring, when things were wet, but God always meets our needs one way or the other!!!

Today the Lord struck home the message that I've been sensing He was hinting at yesterday with the turkeys. I had broken open one of the large squashes that are waiting for the goats and chased the turkeys over to it. They walked right by it. I got out of there so that I wouldn't chase them away but they still didn't see that I had given them so food. It was so exasperating and I knew that God was telling me that HE GETS TIRED OF ME AT TIMES TOO WHEN HE'S TRYING TO HELP ME AND I WON'T LET HIM.

Well, this afternoon Ellen called to tell me that somebody we know committed suicide. I was just stunned as she's been working in the BodyTalk clinic in Bismarck for X years and I met her in 2007 in Modules 1 & 2. Ellen said that she learned that every time us BodyTalkers met to practice, this lady would NOT allow anyone to work on her.

It gave me the shivers as I pondered that she could have had the best possible care available today and for free as we exchange sessions on each other at practice. SHE TURNED DOWN GOD'S HELP MONTH AFTER MONTH UNTIL SHE NO LONGER FELT GOD'S LOVE FOR HER!!! Just like the turkeys not being able to see that I loved them enough to break open that squash for them, she couldn't see that God loved her so much that He sent His ONLY son to die on the cross for her. NOW SHE'S DEAD! She leaves a grown son and a grieving mother and many people who tried to help her.

OH GOD, SHOW ME HOW TO HELP PEOPLE SEE HOW MUCH I LOVE THEM AND WANT TO HELP THEM FIND THEIR WAY TO THE PEACE THAT YOU HAVE FOR THEM!!!! This is my Sabbath prayer tonight.

Sleep well and happy Sabbath!

Dawn


PS. This is definitely one of the posts that I'll cringe at later for posting before proof-reading. However, I am tired and I hear that they are done with the feast so I will go and join them for family prayer time. Please bear with the imperfections!!!

Master Cleasne 3--Day 2

Yesterday was as unexpectedly pleasant as today was unexpectedly UNPLEASANT (more on that later). We went to Eureka to see my dad yesterday, as it was the Sabbath day, and Robert wasn't trucking. The weather was fairly nice; we got the camper safely to the pavement by Kintyre without breaking out the back window in the van (driving 10 mph); and we found the apples as wonderful as usual.

I confess right now that I ate one. I'm on the part of the cleanse now where you don't eat ANY solid foods but drink the lemonade, or herbal teas, or kombucha continually. However, after we'd been picking awhile, Andrew reached down and picked a gorgeous specimen of an apple off the ground and began delighting his taste buds. I prayed a LOT right then and had perfect resolve to stand my ground. However, suddenly I just WANTED to mark the Sabbath day as more special than all others so I too helped myself to the abundant supply.

However, Jacob told me that when the Bartlett's young men were here for the shoot, Jonathan ate ALL of the apple. It reminded me of the NORY RYAN STORY which we listened to on talking books a few years ago about the Irish potato famine. In that story, an old woman and 2 children shared an old, wiggly apple and it was a FEAST. The ate all of it so I told myself, "OK Dawn, if you're going to eat an apple, you're going to eat all of it." I've tried this before but couldn't get down the stem. However, just in case anyone is interested, I lumped the stem in with the seeds and core and it went down just fine. I think that I may even have enjoyed it as much as that trio did in the NORY RYAN STORY.

Anyway, after we picked the apples and parked the camper in the shed again, I went in the house as dad had gotten out his rider mower to break up the leaves with. I got a great idea for his 80th birthday in December when I saw that my brother, Rick, had given him a photo album full of pictures of my parents with his family taken over the years.

While I was looking at the pictures, my dad came in and we started talking about BodyTalk--what a coincidence. He can't stand it that he can hardly walk so I offered him a session and he accepted. That's the part that was the unexpected pleasure. It was a great session and very bonding. I do believe that he'll be able to walk somewhat better from that session.

Then we went to Robert's folk's place and watched the men eat spaghetti with Marly. She gave us a very nice anniversary gift of some huge, blue towels; some neat hot pads; AND a wonderful plaque with words from the love chapter in the Bible. It is very attractive so my hug was true and not one of those, "How could you have?"

Marly gave us a special gift right before we left. I'll have to take a picture of it to post later. It was the nut cup that we used at our wedding on the head tables. The ones of ours that I had saved burnt in our house fire shortly after we got married, so this was truly special. She said that she still thinks about lightening her load of "Stuff" in case they have to move to Bismarck for health reasons. I was very happy that she shared that particular item with us although it wasn't very heavy as it was made out of Styrofoam, 2 plastic rings, and a plastic nut bowl.

We came home rather late but with the van smelling once again of the very best apples in the world. We did chores and I hit the pillow with a sigh of contentment. Dad is keeping the house clean; he only cried half of the time that we were there; and our van is full of wonderful apples. As Miss Jen would say, "SIGH."

Out to the barn. I'll try to write about today yet tonight but we'll see how tired I am. Today was a very trying day and I covet your prayers. Thanks a million for all of them for the trip to Eureka to go well--they really helped.

Blessings,

Dawn

Prayer request

WELL, I PASSED!!!!!!!! Many thanks to all of you who prayed for me. I'll write more about that later but now I have yet another prayer request.

Last night I was in class until 9:30 and then headed for home. There was a mini-blizzard about 10 miles out of Bismarck. Traffic slowed to 25 mph but still there were 2 accidents in that stretch. I have no idea what the roads are like now so I'm getting an early start and plan to take it easy. Please pray for safety on the road and for a clear mind to take in yet more information.

One wonderful blessing already from the class came last night when Mary Shield, PHD, explained something about how the brain works. She said, "And that's why those of you with a strength in this area can do fantastic distance sessions."

All of a sudden I had a great joy surge through my being! I have often wondered why so few BodyTalkers take advantage of distance sessions. Most of my sessions are done from a distance and I've had tremendous success. Well, now I understand that God programmed me to have that kind of a brain so that I can have that kind of success. HE knew how desparately I need/want to remain at home with my family. He also knew of my great desire to help poeple with their health problems. No problem for Him--He just gave me "THAT" kind of a brain and away I go. PRAISES TO THE LORD MOST HIGH TO WHOM NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE OR EVEN DIFFICULT.

Happy Sabbath, dear friends!!

Love always,

Dawn

Pictures from a Wonderful Sabbath Celebration

What a wonderful day of fellowship we had yesterday at the Church of God 7th Day's church in Alfred, ND. It's called HARVEST OF THANKS and we figured out that this was our 9th year in attendance. We only missed the year that Robert was taking me up to the health center in 2006. People came from all over the state and even from South Dakota; Minnesota; and Wisconsin for the awesome day.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we enjoyed our trip over (which takes an hour) as Cora read a few more chapters in THE WALRUS HUNTERS right after she put the hot curlers in my hair. When we arrived, many folks were outside visiting and we were especially happy to see our friends, Lyle and Becky Miller from Streeter and the Donald Gill family from my home town-- Eureka, SD.

The choir did a super fantastic job on their song. In the front row in the green sweater is my friend, Kimberly. Her blog is called QUIET MY SOUL and is listed on my sidebar. The pastor is standing in the back row on the end. These are the altos and bases.

This is the soprano/tenor side of the choir. My dear friend, Betty Jo, played the piano and she told us later that they worked 3 months on the song--no wonder it was so uplifting. :)

This is the guest pastor who taught on how to be thankful in ALL things. The way is to realize that GOD loves us and take us through all of our trials. We ARE SO LOVED!!!!!!!!!!!

Andrew snapped this picture of me in the kitchen looking for my purse. I can't believe it, but I "Lost" my purse right before the afternoon service. My camera was in it so I didn't get to take any pictures. Thankfully Andrew had his camcorder along and he got most of the pictures that you see here. I was so thankful when I recalled that I put my purse down on the bench when we ran through WITH MY SONG with BJ right after the morning service. Sure enough, it was waiting for me up by the piano. PTL!

Cora and her friend, Monica Schlenker visiting in the kitchen after lunch.

After lunch Robert and I headed outside to take a walk before the afternoon music program.

This is how far we got as we bumped into Shirley, Harris's widow. It's been so long since we visited with her so there was much to catch up on. I even invited her to the shoot when she said that she gets lonely a lot. She said that Harris left a brand new rifle sitting there, so we'll see if she picks it up and joins us next weekend. THAT WOULD BE SOOOOO COOL!!!

Pastor making last minute arrangements with Curt S. who filled in as MC for the afternoon as Terry S. was sick.

Cora visiting with my friend, Bernette S. Years ago Bernette and I adopted each other as sisters. Neither one of us ever had a sister and neither has Cora. So we started this club called THE SISTER-LESS CLUB. I'm not sure if this was an official or unofficial meeting--it's just always nice to visit with Bernette as she's a health nut like me. :)

The men visiting right before supper. Donald Gill from Eureka is on the far left; Ron Neinhuis from Devils Lake is next; then Robert's adopted father is Elroy Schlenker; next is Andrew; and lastly my sweetie.

Sandwiches, chips, and fruit salad was on the menu for supper. We went through the line fairly early so that we could get on the road to get home for chores. Here Cora and Andrew were winding down from a wonderful day. The pastor's wife is in the background in the plum-colored dress.

We headed for home around 6:00 and we weren't a mile down the road when the Ipod was handed to me. We were sooooo close to the end of THE WALRUS HUNTERS and everyone wanted to know if Cheenbuck and Adolay would get married. I suppose I'll ruin the surprise for any of you who ever read it, but they do.

It was kind of obvious that they would almost from the beginning of the book, but it's still nice when things work out "Right". I do love seeing how God brings couples together!!! I am VERY romantic minded and have had to learn to let God lead in this department for my children and everyone in my life. I'm sure that He is quite capable of bringing people together at just the right time and in just the right place--even without MY help! :)

So after a long day away from home, we ran through chores quickly and had time to watch a Bonanza yet last night. It was as lovely a day as they come and I praise the Lord for it. Many thanks to all of you from the Alfred church who worked so hard to make the day a true blessing to our family!!!!!!!!

Shalom (which means peace in Hebrew),

Dawn

Harvest of Thanks

Good morning,

As you could tell from Cora's post, we've been very busy around here putting up food for winter and preparing for our shoot next weekend. Andrew finished cleaning out the goat's pen yesterday and almost did in the huge manure pile in the yearling's pen. Cora finished painting the merry-go-round; Jacob painted on the teeter totter; and I compromised with myself on painting the door frame after Cora, Jacob, and I searched for the right paint over several day's time. This means that I did paint the visible portion of the frame but left the inside of the door frame until I can find some exterior paint that matches. I ended up using the paint from the dining room, as it's close in color, and my perfectionism could not have stood looking at that white paint on the cream siding that I got on it when I primed the frame. Anyway, it looks much better for now, but it's not a permanent fix.

One of the things I did yesterday was dug through more poetry books for a "Perfect" reading to share today. However, when I talked to my friend Betty Jo from church, she spoke of her willingness to look at WITH MY SONG. BJ is an excellent pianist and can pick up most songs instantly but this is pretty tough in the accompaniment. Andrew helped me get it ready to send to her and I was thrilled when she called to say that she could play it. SHE LIKES IT TOO!!! So, now what remains for me is to convince my family that WE all want to sing it over there.

After BJ said that she would play for us, it made the poem-finding easier as it could be something short and sweet. I really didn't want to walk to the front of the church to read a half minute poem and then turn around and walk back, but I just couldn't find anything longer that I really liked. So, with the hopes that I can get my family to sing WITH MY SONG with me, I easily settled on this poem. I hope that you like it too!

Thanksgiving

(Lizelia Augusta Jenkins Moorer)

Let us give thanks to God above,

Thanks for expressions of His love,

Seen in the book of nature, grand,

Taught by His love on every hand.

Let us be thankful in our hearts,

Thankful for all the truth imparts,

For the religion of our Lord,

All that is taught us in His word.

Let us be thankful for a land,

That will for such religion stand;

One that protects it by the law,

One that before it stands in awe.

Thankful for all things let us be,

Though there be woes and misery;

Lessons they bring us for our good-

Later 'twill all be understood.

Thankful for peace o'er land and sea,

Thankful for signs of liberty,

Thankful for homes, for life and health,

Pleasure and plenty, fame and wealth.

Thankful for friends and loved ones, too,

Thankful for all things, good and true,

Thankful for harvest in the fall,

Thankful to Him who gave it all.

~~~~~~~~

So you see, music came to the rescue once again. Music also was my inspiration yesterday. I'm sure that you say the video that Cora put on her blog. Well, over breakfast yesterday we watched many of Mr. Perry's video clips and I got VERY excited with an idea.

I grabbed Andrew's arm and looked up in his eyes and said, "Andrew will you help ME TO DO THIS?"

He laughed and said that he thinks it can be done. Oh, how I love singing women's trio music. I have the perfect music too as I sang with a women's trio about 10 years ago called HEARTS OF PRAISE. It was a lot of fun but the hard part was getting together with people out here in the sticks to practice. Well, if I'm singing all 3 parts, I can practice any time I want to. OH I AM SO EXCITED FOR WINTER TO COME NOW AS I HAVE AT LONG LAST LEARNED OF A WAY THAT I CAN HARMONIZE WITH MYSELF!!!!!!!!! :)

Well, Cora and Andrew are in the kitchen humming 2 different songs. I got the impression that they think it would be great if all of us would harmonize together out in the barn, so I'd best get moving. I'll post pictures of our special day here later.

Happy Sabbath,

Dawn