Frustrated and Farming

This is ridiculous. I have been feasting since Sunday night after half a month of fasting on the Master Cleanse. This means that in the past 48 hours I have had several white flour buns; lots of our baked beans; plenty of tortilla chips with salsa and hot cheese dip; 1 glass of punch; and 3 pieces of cake. Today I have a sore throat. How can that be? I fought off Robert's bug for almost a month as long as I stayed off of sugar and white flour. Now just a few "Cheats" later, I have a sore throat which is how Robert's bug started. ): I guess I just cannot handle sugar and that's that. Of course, I also know that stress plays a role in weakening our immune systems and I've had a little of that this weekend too.

Then today I GOT to drive tractor most of the afternoon. I was complaining to Robert that I kept picking up rocks in between the disc blades. This means that I had to take the 100 pound (only a slight exaggeration) disc wrench out to the disc. After using leverage to pry the rocks out, I had to drag that thing back to the cab; hoist it up to the floor of the cab which is about 2 feet above my head; climb back in the tractor; and then lift it over the seat as it rests behind the seat. Robert told me not to complain about being held up with all of this because, when I was finished discing, I get to pick rocks. LOVELY!!!!!!!

I finally got the field finished about 4:00 and then did some deep reciprocals while I waited for Cora and Jacob to pick me up with the 9030. Jacob drove and Cora and I picked rocks until 7:00. It was cool and damp and miserable and my throat started to REALLY hurt. This was when I decided that I better get back to placing my health as a priority.

So I'm going in to my room to exercise. According to Peggy Brill, the author of the Core program, you should never skip more than 2 days in a row or your muscles will start to go backwards. I didn't do it last night because I wanted to finish my post about the graduation party. I didn't exercise for 2 nights before as I was at the graduation party or preparing for it, but now I am going. My neck and shoulders really ache and that is the best antidote, so I'm going now. :)

Can you tell that I'm trying to talk myself into this? Why is it that I never need to talk myself into eating sugar or white flour, when I know that they are bad for me? Why must I talk hard to convince myself that it is time to exercise or mix up a new batch of lemonade? I suppose the reason is that I am a sinner and like Paul says, "That which I would not, I do; and that which I would do, I don't." Sometimes I get so sick of the sin in me that I could just scream, "Why didn't anybody love me enough to use the rod on me when I was little?" Proverbs 22:15 says, "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him." Now I am stuck as an adult, with all of this foolishness in me, and I have to wait until God can get through my thick skull to prune it out of me. PLEASE FORGIVE ME, LORD, AND DO YOUR GOOD WORK IN SPITE OF ME TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Graduation Day

Well, Andrew's graduation day is history now. It was such a wonderful day for all of us that I'm sure it will remain bright in our memories as a highlight in our lives just as Cora's graduation day was. Andrew did VERY well with all that he was required to do but went beyond the requirements and touched people's hearts. Robert and I were both so pleased with him

as he took this step into manhood which Robert calls, "Rights of passage." We both think it is essential for our children to have a day like this to acknowledge that they are no longer children-that they have now stepped over into adulthood.

Cora's former music teacher, Rev. Lane Keister, played piano for about 45 minutes before the program started as people came in and sat down. People were just amazed as he got that old piano rumbling in ways that I'm sure it hasn't since he played at Cora's graduation 4 years ago. He definitely is a VERY gifted musician, the likes of which is not usually heard in North Dakota. Thank you, Lane, for blessing us in this way. This was a great way to begin the afternoon and

the program followed. Here is what was on the program.

Introduction and Welcome by Robert

Pledge of Allegiance & Recitation of 10 Commandments

Instrumental music by boys: BLACKBERRY BLOSSOM

A word from the Principal--(Robert's thoughts) with poem, "IF"

Family song:WITH MY SONG

A word from the teacher (Me) with poem, "TROUBLE TROUBLE"

Valedictorian's Address with Poem, "Farmer's Prayer"

Geography Class Skit by Andrew and Dawn

Presentation of Diploma

Puppet show, "Would you grad-ge-ate Jethro?"

with the Dagley children providing music

Andrew's life pictures slideshow

Open mic--Bring a song to share

Closing prayer with Pastor Steve Kyner

I'm hoping to be able to post the video of Andrew and I doing the Geography Class song soon. Andrew did so well and the people just loved him. I enjoyed being able to share the way that we do things in our school and also some of what we have learned.

During the open mic time these friends blessed us with music or a poem: Angelica Miller, Delores Miller, Clifford Johnson, the Dagley family, my brother Rick, Sarah Keister, Robert's mom, and Cora and I played our piano duet. We did, "Fugue on a Russian Theme" and it went ok. It wasn't like playing it on our own piano but it was a good thing that Lane got all of the dust out of the thing before we played. :) At least we couldn't use THAT as an excuse for our mistakes. :) It was more like a case of weak nerves, but Robert said that it sounded good so maybe others didn't notice our bloopers as much as we did. :)

Our puppet show went ok. We were trying out a new concept of putting the puppets in front of us instead of killing our shoulders lifting them up over the top of the stage. We had done puppets like that in Bismarck Baptist because our puppets were not full body puppets. This means that they had no legs so we had to put them over the top of the stage. However our puppets do have legs so it made sense to try putting them out in front of us. It worked great in that our shoulders didn't weary at all. When we watched the video of it this afternoon, though, we all had a good laugh. Most of the time our puppet's feet weren't on the floor--they were hanging in mid air!!! I had noticed it about half way through the skit and kept Polly's feet down better after that but the first half was pretty bad. Oh well, that's how we learn. If we never try anything, we'll never make any mistakes, to be sure. We'll never accomplish anything though either, right? How's that for a recovering perfectionist? Anyway, it was sooo much fun to be able to work with my children in this way. It was a dream come true for, ever since directing puppets at our church in Bismarck 17 years ago, I have dreamed of having a family puppet ministry. Perhaps this will become a reality in the future?

I'd best move on. This is the picture of the punch table. Jerome, Robert's cousin, is helping himself while the Geiger girls and Amanda Dagley visit having caught up with their work. It's always nice, when home schoolers have an event, to see the young people visiting with each other. Check Cora's blog for pictures of the adults visiting. :)

The boys and I are reciting Exodus 20:1-17 here. This is the long version of the 10 Commandments which we recited at the beginning of every school day for the past 17 years. I don't know if I had the jitters or if we just should have gone over it once beforehand, but in a few spots I blundered. This means that I wasn't perfect--oh my. Andrew chuckled under his breath and kept going. Jacob wasn't feeling the best so he didn't really lead out--therefore it was a good thing that we had Andrew with us. :)

The boys are playing Blackberry Blossom here. What a joy it was to see them enjoying music so much that they would choose to share a song. My mom would have LOVED hearing this!

Here Robert is sharing his thoughts about raising Andrew. It wasn't hard to tell that he has a very deep love and affection for this son who is so much like him. Many of us were wet eyed when he was finished--including Robert!


Me in my yellow dress sharing some stories about Andrew's life that only a mother could know.

Here Andrew is giving his speech. Being I had shared that he taught me how to combine sunflowers, he thought he would explain how I happened to get lost that night in the dark. He is a good story teller, an art which is fast disappearing in the computer age. He did such a good job of explaining why he was glad that he was home schooled and Robert and I wiped our eyes several times. I'm sure that he will post the video of this sometime soon.

Our first born son, Andrew Robert Bornemann, on his graduation day.

Here Robert is reading the diploma and Andrew is waiting for his father to hand it to him.

This is Angelica Miller singing THE VIA DOLAROSA. She is the daughter of our friends, Lyle and Becky Miller. It was beautiful especially when she sang one verse in Spanish. Becky was indispensable in the kitchen and as always, her smile lights up my world. Thanks for coming and sharing Miller family!

These are our friends, the Dagley family. Four years ago, when there family was larger by three children, they sang BE THOU MY VIVISON. Andrew REALLY likes that song and asks for it many times in school or church hymn sings. I wasn't at all surprised when he asked them to sing it for his special day. As always, the hearts of this family blesses ours!

This is Delores Miller whom our family has grown up thinking of as a grandma. She took a poem out of her pocket in the kitchen and said, "I was going to read this for Andrew." It was "IF" by Rodyard Kipling which Robert had just read a few minutes earlier. We laughed together. She said that she had a second selection along and would read that instead. This taught me the value of being prepared with an alternate song or reading when I REALLY want to be able to share something for someone special. Thanks Delores!

This is a picture of our dear friend, Clifford Johnson, who sang about our Lord's sacrifice on the cross. He also helped Ellen and her crew in the kitchen when he wasn't jamming with the Dagleys and later with Andrew and Rick included. Clifford and Ellen are examples of what I wrote about at the top of this blog. They don't know the meaning of the word "Old," and just keep getting

better every year! We could not have gotten through the day without their help and their love.

This is a picture of Robert's mom, Marly Bornemann. She conquered her fear of public speaking and did a great job. She read, "The Farmer's Son" to Andrew. It was as though someone wrote it just about Andrew and we all had lumps in our throats. What a fitting tribute it was to the graduate AND to Marly's own son, Robert. :)

Here is a picture of most of the Keister family. Lane at the piano is playing for Sarah who sang, Psalm 121. This is the song that Lane accompanied for Cora 4 years ago when she sang it for her graduation. Sarah is a former opera singer and now challenges herself by singing with a baby on her hip. How wonderful it was to hear you again, Sarah!

This is our pastor, Steve Kyner, right before he blessed the meal. He was saying that he remembers when he came to Alfred that Andrew was "So tall." We were very glad and honored that he and Vangie were able to join us for the afternoon. :)

This is a picture of Andrew after supper. He was showing Justus Geiger how his turntable works. It's built to hold 90 pounds so Andrew had taken the bathroom scale along to make sure that nobody heavier than that stood on it. He's just a little protective of his Lego creations--kind of like me with my goats. :) Andrew told me one time that he has over a thousand dollars stuck into his Lego collection. He certainly drew lots of attention to himself at his Lego creation display where he shared with everyone what he really loves--creating things. I often wonder if he likes yellow because that's the predominant color that Legos come in or does he like Legos because they're yellow? I wonder if we'll ever know?

This is the litle lady who kept the kitchen running smoothly all afternoon--our friend Ellen Johnson. She manned that kitchen like a battleship and not a minute was wasted in preparing the supper. By the time the program was ended, food was being set out on the tables and I never had to lift a finger. What a gift that was!!!! Then Ellen said, "You go and eat with your family." When I protested that the guests should go first, she said, "If you want me to run your kitchen, then you have to follow my orders." We laughed together and I picked up a plate. She said that the family should eat first and then visit with the guests instead of worrying about the food. How's that for a friend? Other ladies helping in the kitchen were Roxanne Gill from Eureka; Delores Miller from Streeter; Becky Miller from Streeter; and the Geiger girls from Baldwin. Cake cutters were Estella Merkel and Marly Bornemann, both of Eureka, SD.

When all of the kitchen was spik and span after supper, Ellen sat down to rest. This was when she picked up her crochet hook. Talk about an amzing woman!!!!!!!!! I have learned so much from Ellen about preparing food--whether for a family or for a crowd. May God bless you richly, Ellen, for how you have blessed my life with your wonderful friendship!

May God richly bless all who helped us to celebrate Andrew's life yesterday, June 7th, 2009. Thanks for all of your prayers that helped make the day a joyous celebration for Andrew!!! Feel free to check Cora's blog for more pictures and Andrew's blog for some videos of the big day.

One thing that I just noticed, as I proofread this post, is that there are no pictures of Cora. How can this be? Well, it's because she was the one taking all of the pictures. Chuck said that he'll send all of the pictures that he took soon so then we'll have pictures of all of us doing things throughout the program. I'm sure that SOMEBODY here will post some of them and then you can see Cora in her cute outfit that she redid from an old prom dress.

Happily tired,

Dawn

Braddock Hall

Well, it's late and we're all pretty tired but the Braddock Hall is ready for a PARTY!!!!! Oh, what fun we had decorating today. I'll post pictures later of our preparations as I'm too tired to do all of that now. Mostly I'm writing to ask for prayer for our family tomorrow. Robert is still coughing a little so I'm hoping that our program will go well with our leader under par.

The weather took a turn for the worse. We accepted today that the campfire is out tomorrow night as it is RAINING CATS AND DOGS! We came home and got a bunch of our favorite games together to take along to play with those who will stay and play with us afterwards. I asked Andy this afternoon when he came over to help us get the piano out, "We can't have our campfire tomorrow night so would it be ok if we stay here and play games?" I meant, "Is there a time that we need to be out of here tomorrow?" He chuckled and said, "You look old enough not to need a curfew." I laughed and was glad that we have a back-up plan now that the good old outdoors has chosen to be so inhospitable. Oh well, I know that the Lord has a reason for everything. It's up to us to be happy in all circumstances and know that He has our good in mind at all times. Isn't that wonderful?

My friend, Becky Miller, called tonight and said that she can come early to help in the kitchen so I was glad for that. The food is pretty much ready to assemble. Tomorrow I'll need to warm the beans and the meat; make the punch; set out the buns; & put the salads together.

The boys mixed up their trail mix today when we were over there. This is Andrew's recipe so if he doesn't like it, it isn't my fault. :) This is a joke as I had my hands full to keep those boys out of it today so we have some left for our guests tomorrow. :) They took 4 cans of mixed nuts and added a bag of craisins (dried cranberries) and a bag of M & Ms. I wasn't too excited about the M & Ms, but it's Andrew's only graduation so I guess he can have a little sugar. We won't talk about the cake. :)

We also spent some time setting up the puppet stage over there. This is going to be a tricky deal and the only thing that makes me REALLY nervous. We're trying out a new idea in an attempt to save our neck and shoulders. Usually we lift our arms over the top of the stage. Well, Andrew said one day, "Why couldn't we just hold the puppets in front of us? That will save a lot of wear and tear on our arms and shoulders." GOOD IDEA. Anyway, he rigged us up a stage out of PVC pipe and an old sheet. We cut slits in the sheet and slid the puppets through from behind. I felt funny because I know that part of me was visible during the going in and out process but Robert said that he never even noticed. Puppets are so fascinating to people that the human isn't even the object of attention. I'm hoping that it will all go well.

Well, I better get some sleep so that I can keep up with my family tomorrow. I've been doing really well so far, thanks to just having done the master cleanse, but sleep is also a big part of good health. :)

Our family prayer time was really special tonight as it entered Andrew's brain that, tomorrow night at this time, everyone in our family will view him as a man. He's no longer my sweet little boy seen in the slide show we put together for the big event. I'll run the video of that ASAP as he is soooooo special to me!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so pleased with this son of mine--what an incredible man of God Andrew will be.

PLEASE KEEP OUR FAMILY IN YOUR PRAYERS TOMORROW!!!!!!!

Barnyard News

I helped move the cattle today which was an interesting experience when you consider that it's naturally wetlands up there AND we actually had rain this spring. Half the time I was praying that I wouldn't get stuck and the other half of the time I was praying that my head wouldn't fall off. I also had a little hitchhiker to consider. One of Jacob's calves just was not getting enough milk and needed to hitch a ride. Later we decided to bring him home and feed him with the barn milk as he was so weak.

After we put him in the milkroom, I mixed up some electrolytes for the thirsty, weak little fellow. Robert sent Jacob out to the barn and he fed his new baby. The calf drank well so we're hoping that we caught him early enough to save.

Jacob doesn't mind his extra chores for summer. He loves baby calves and this little fellow may be just the thing that he needs to spice up his life.

Later I went down to give this old grump some water. Last year we didn't get a single gosling out of all our setting geese so nobody expected anything this Spring. This morning, though, Andrew was pretty sure that he saw a little bundle of yellow fuzz underneath her. She sits pretty tight but she did get off of her nest a wee bit when I started filling her water dish. You have to imagine my surprise to find...

THREE LITTLE ONES UNDERNEATH HER!!! What a pleasant surprise!

The other farm news is that the guys are working hard to get the sunflowers planted around here before the weekend. First Robert plowed; then Andrew disced; then Robert planted. Now Andrew is going over the field and picking off the biggest rocks. It's looking good for finishing up around here before Sabbath.

Best go practice with Andrew. He's singing a fun song the name of which shall remain a secret until after Sunday.

After cleanse day 2

WOW--what a wonderfully busy day it was yesterday. After chores I raced to Bismarck for my session with Gwen. It was so bonding as I realized that she, too, has very bad memories of her childhood in Eureka. Praise the Lord that through His modeling forgiveness for us we too can learn to forgive, which is sooooooooo empowering. Through this, plus the help of BodyTalk (BT) sessions, I have learned that these very negative emotions can be negated. As always, 2 negatives make a positive so YES, we can be free from the things which torment us in our subconscious mind. PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!!!!!

After Gwen's session I went dress shopping at all of the thrift stores in Bismarck. It was a little more difficult than it was to find one for Cora's. Cora's main color was blue and Andrew's is yellow. Did you ever hit thrift shops intending to find a yellow dress in your size? At one place I found this cute little dress with daisies on it selling for the massive price of 99 cents. SOLD to the lady in love with daisies--that would be me! But, alas, it wasn't yellow or fancy so I knew that wasn't the one for the party.

When I was at SEEDS OF HOPE, I found 2 very lovely yellow dresses with roses on them but both were too small!!! It was disappointing, after working so hard to lose the 25 pounds, but then one was a size 8 and the other a size 14. Let's be reasonable here now, Dawn.

Finally I went to the Hodge Podge which so often has had "Just the thing." Actually what I bought isn't what I was thinking of buying but there just aren't that many yellow dresses. It's a very cute jumper with adorable buttons on. I was trying to find just the right shade of blue blouse to go with it but was running out of time, when I saw this very nice white blouse. Now, I have been looking for a nice, white blouse for ages so this was a bit of a miracle. I grabbed it and tried them both on. Although it wasn't fancy or anything, it was very much home schoolish and I was out of time. Both fit loosely and even I had to admit that I looked MUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCH better than I did 4 months ago when I began with the Master Cleanse.

After this I went to Chuppe's chiropractic clinic where Andrew was waiting for me. We went in to see Dr. Steve and in walked John Martins. After greeting him, I asked if Carrie was along and he said that she was outside. So out I went--into the arms of an old friend.

Carrie told me all about how Chuppes had helped their family but also that my 1 session on her had helped her dehydration problem for months afterwards. I told her that I have an office in town now and gave her my card. I hope that they'll come to see me as I have been praying for so long to be able to break into the home school community with BodyTalk.

From here Andrew and I drove out to FCS in Mandan and I signed the papers for the financing for this year. It'll be nice to get some cash flowing in again as we just made the payment on the land in April; the swather in May; and now the graduation in June-although that 's a small bill in comparison.

Then Andrew and I ran back to Bismarck to get new blades and a belt for the lawn mower. In the meantime, Robert went over to the implement lot where he signed paperwork to apply for financing on the big, square baler we hope to buy. While I did a second session, Andrew got his motorcycle spark plugs as it doesn't run very well without it. After this we went to Runnings to get some more things for the party and Andrew picked out some new wrenches which we're giving him for his graduation gift.

We next headed to Sam's club where we pulled in nose-to-nose with John Martin's van again. We all laughed so hard!!! Another neat surprise that the Lord had for us was we some of Caleb Wandington's family. Andrew enjoyed getting to visit with the twins a few minutes and they told us that they had seen us at Chuppe's too. They were playing their instruments in their van when Andrew had come out of the clinic. Caleb had gone into the back room right before we got there and left after we came out, so we missed seeing them there.

I PRAISE GOD for how He times things so that people can meet each other. Twice yesterday I found myself going the wrong way and was getting a little stressed about it for wasting time. Both times, though, I felt the Lord urging me to remain at peace that it was His will so that things would be timed perfectly. Well, I would call 2 families walking in to Sam's Club at exactly the same time as being timed perfectly. They live 120 miles west of Bismarck and we 60 miles east but God brought us together JUST AT THE RIGHT TIME!!!!!!! Now, isn't that comforting?

So we loaded up the van and headed home. Andrew had finished his last required reading for school on the way up to Bismarck. This book is called HOME SCHOOLING-THE RIGHT CHOICE! So he started working on his speech at Chuppe's and on the way home. I laughed so hard when he read to me his thank you to his mom for helping him learn to write when he hated it; for helping him to learn to read when he wouldn't sit still; and for helping him learn Algebra although some of the times he had to teach ME the lessons. What a great young man he is, if I do say so myself!!!

So this is one last invitation to anyone who would like to come to the graduation, PLEASE COME! We're going to have a ball and I have planned for about 45 extra people whom I think may come but haven't said either way yet. It's at 2:00 on Sunday afternoon in the Braddock Hall, Braddock, ND.

When we got home, chores were done so I had time to exercise yet. What a perfect day it was for me. I got to see friends; I got to help 2 of my clients; we got our financing lined up, AND I got to buy a "New" dress. Perhaps the best part of it all was that I got to eat solid food for the first time in 18 days. I helped myself to half a cup of muskmelon for breakfast; an apple for lunch; and a banana for supper. WHAT LUXURY!!! The rest of the day I drank lemonade.

Now I KNOW this is the best news. This morning, when I weighed myself, I had lost 2 more pounds. That makes 15 all together since I started the cleanse this time and 27 since January. My goal is 6 more by Sunday so I PRESS ON TO THE MARK.................

Now this morning Cora and I just got in from getting the mail. It was so cute as we both got checks in the mailbox. She got paid for her 2 cakes and I got paid for my 2 BT sessions. Sometimes I just have to stop and say, "It's a wonderful life."

Will post pictures of the new bulls later.

Appleseed Shoot pictures

I don't have much time to write but I'll say that I didn't have to drive tractor yesterday as the disc needed repairs before it could go in the field. YIPEE. Although that means that I'll have to do it today. Still, I got to dig in the dirt of my garden and that always makes me happy. Cora planted the rest of the west side, including my red clover patch (long story). Jacob and I put out the cabbages, and other brassicas, and the pepper plants. We also started weeding the potatoes.

Graduation news is that 80 people have responded with RSVP cards saying that they're coming. We finished the slide show yesterday, so that's one thing to scratch off of the list. Now we need to get our menfolk in singing condition. Andrew declares that he is "Over it"; Jacob is almost well; and Robert said that his chest is much looser this morning, so all of these are good news. Please continue praying for our family during this EXTREMELY busy week. I should add that we're making the beans for the graduation and that has added a wonderful aroma to the house. We all just LOVE this recipe so it's been hard not to eat any, but I'm sure that I'll enjoy them EXTRA on Sunday. :)

If you're interested in reading about the shoot last weekend, you can go to Andrew's buddy's blog. Jonathan Bartlett posted yesterday, with some pictures, so you can learn a bit more about it. Here's the link: http://jonathanjbartlett.blogspot.com/. As usual, this young man did phenomenally well! I am so proud of him and, I believe I have said before, love him like a son!!!

Lastly is the news on the cleanse. I am officially done with it. The next 3 days will be spent in adjusting back to solid food. Today I drink, with the lemonade, any fruit or vegetable juices that I like. Tomorrow I can add fruits and vegetables; and on Thursday I can eat one light meal. After that I need to gradually add lighter foods and then back to "Normal". So far I've lost 13 pounds which puts me at 25 pounds less than I weighed in January. I patted myself on the back this morning as I pondered this fact. True, it didn't come off as fast as it does for some people, but 25 pounds less is 25 pounds less to carry around all the time. GOOD FOR ME!!! :)

Well, I need to drain the beans; put them in the freezer; and make a new batch. There are also tomato plants to set out; the door frame to be painted; and plans made for our trip to Bismarck tomorrow. Up there I MUST find myself a dress to wear to the graduation. At least now we know that it should be in the yellow family. You can see Cora's blog for details on this if you're interested in knowing how we decided on yellow. Here's the link:
http://maidenhouseofgod.blogspot.com/

Oh yes, I almost forgot. We received an invitation in the mail today to a wedding in Fargo in July. The bride is Cora's life-long friend, Kjersti Braun. As we walked in from the mailbox, Cora and I were dreaming about being able to attend. We reasoned that, being we didn't get to go to Whitney's wedding, maybe the guys would do chores so that we can go to Kjersti's. :) We'll have to talk about that NEXT WEEK!

Until tomorrow,

Dawn

Master Cleanse 2-Day 15

IT'S THE LAST DAY OF THE FULL CLEANSE!!!!!!!!! Tomorrow I will start the 3 day process of coming out of it. Actually I've been a little discouraged this morning. I only lost 13 pounds instead of the 20 I had hoped for when I had such a great start. I am stronger, though, and my brain is more clear than it has been in 3 years so these are no small matters to be thankful for. Still, when I felt led to read MORNING AND EVENING, as I sipped my lemonade for breakfast, I knew that the Lord had something special planned for me. I JUST LOVE THAT BOOK!!! I plan to read it twice a day but hardly ever manage to do it. At times when the Lord says, "READ" then I know it is EXACTLY WHAT I'VE BEEN NEEDING!!! This is what it said for this morning. The passage is Genesis 1:5. The evening and the morning were the first day.

Was it so even in the beginning? Did light and darkness divide the realm of time in the first day? Then little wonder is it if I have also changes in my circumstances from the sunshine of prosperity to the midnight of adversity. It will not always be the blaze of noon even in my soul concerns, I must expect at seasons to mourn the absence of my former joys, and seek my Beloved in the night. Nor am I alone in this, for all the Lord's beloved ones have had to sing the mingled song of judgement and of mercy, of trial and deliverance, of mourning and of delight. It is one of the arrangements of Divine providence that day and night shall not cease either in the spiritual or natural creation till we reach the land of which it is written, "There is no night there." What our heavenly Father ordains is wise and good.
What then, my soul, is it best for thee to do? Learn first TO BE CONTENT with this divine order, and be willing, with Job, to receive evil from the hand of the Lord as well as good. Study next, to make the outgoings of the morning and the evening to rejoice. Praise the Lord for the sun of joy when it rises, and for the gloom of evening as it falls. There is beauty both in sunrise and sunset, sing of it, and glorify the Lord. Like the nightingale, pour fourth thy notes at all hours. Believe the THE NIGHT IS AS USEFUL AS THE DAY. The dews of grace fall heavily in the night of sorrow. The stars of promise shine forth gloriously amid the darkness of grief. CONTINUE THY SERVICE under all changes. If in the day they watchword be LABOR, at night exchange it for WATCH. Every hour has its duty, do thou continue in thy calling as the Lord's servant until He shall suddenly appear in His glory. My soul, thine evening of old age and death is drawing near, dread it not, for it is part of the day; and the Lord also said, "I will cover him all the day long.

Now I must go and drive tractor all day. Maybe Cora will get a picture of me leaving the yard that I can post tomorrow. This is my duty today although it is not my favorite thing to do. I would much rather be transplanting my plants into the garden; or editing the puppet skit for the graduation; or even finishing my thank yous for mom's funeral--maybe even butchering chickens. It usually makes my neck hurt but this is my duty and my carriage awaits, as Robert usually says when he pulls the tractor up in front of the house for me to take out to the field.

We would all appreciate your prayers for our family this week as we prepare for Andrew's graduation day in 6 days. How can it be that my little boy is now a man? This, too, I must learn to accept. Stacey prayed so powerfully this morning, when she called, so I take comfort in knowing that God will answer all prayers on our behalf and give us strength for this VERY BUSY WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My life-long favorite verse comes to mind now and I close with it. It's found in 1 Corinthians 10:13. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." God has ALWAYS made a way for me to escape yeilding to the temptation of self-pity and bitterness of heart. I am confident that He will do so again TODAY!!!!!!!!