God Loves you

I was doing some cleaning up and came across this little story. I thought that it was perfect to share with the holiday season approaching. (and the flu going around)

For god so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever (you) believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

It's a Wednesday night and you are at a church prayer meeting when somebody runs in from the parking lot yelling, "Turn on a radio, turn on a radio!"

And while the church listens to a little transistor radio with a microphone stuck up to it, the announcement is made: "Two women are lying in a Long Island hospital dying from a 'mystery' flu." Within hours it seems, this thing just sweeps across the country.

People are working around the clock trying to find an antidote. Nothing is working! California, Oregon, Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts.

It's as though it's just sweeping in from the borders.

And then, all of a sudden, the news comes out. The code has been broken. A cure can be found. A vaccine can be made. It's going to take the blood of somebody who hasn't been infected, and so, sure enough, all through the Midwest, through all those channels of emergency broadcasting, Everyone is asked to do one simple thing: Go to your downtown hospital and have your blood type taken. That's all we ask of you.

When you hear the sirens go off in your neighborhood, please make your way quickly, quietly, and safely to the hospitals.

Sure enough, when you and your family get down there late on that Friday night, there is a long line, and they've got nurses and doctors coming out and pricking fingers and taking blood and putting labels on it.

Your wife and your kids are out there, and they take your blood type and they say. "Wait here in the parking lot and if we call your name, you can be dismissed and go home."

You stand around, scared, with your neighbors, wondering what in the world is going on and if this is the end of the world.

Suddenly a young man comes running out of the hospital screaming. He's yelling a name and waving a clipboard. What? He yells it again! And your son tugs on your jacket and says, "Daddy, that's me."

Before you know it, they have grabbed your boy. Wait a minute!

Hold on! And they say, "It's okay, his blood is clean. His blood is pure.

We want to make sure he doesn't have the disease. We think he has got the right type." Five tense minutes later, out come the doctors and nurses, crying and hugging one another some are even laughing. It's the first time you have seen anybody laugh in a week, and an old doctor walks up to you and says,

"Thank you, sir. Your son's blood type is perfect. It's clean, it is pure, and we can make the vaccine." As the world begins to spread all across that parking lot full of folks, people are screaming and praying and laughing and crying.

Then the gray-haired doctor pulls you and your wife aside and says, "May we see you for moment? We didn't realize that the donor would be a minor and we need..... we need you to sign a consent form."

You begin to sign and then you see that the number of pints of blood to be taken has been left blank.

"H-how many pints?", you ask.

And that is when the old doctor's smile fades and he says, "We had no idea it would be a little child. We weren't prepared. I'm sorry sir, we need it all!"

"But but... You don't understand."

"We are talking about the world here. Please sign. We need it all!"

"But can't you give him a transfusion?"

"If we had clean blood we would. Can you sign? Would you sign?"

In numb silence, you do.

Then they say, "Would you like to have a moment with him before we begin?"

Can you walk back? 

Can yo walk back to that room where he sits on a table saying, "Daddy? Mommy? What's going on?" Can you take his hands and say, "Son, your mommy and I love you, and we would never ever let anything happen to you that didn't just have to be. Do you understand that?"

And when that old doctor comes back in and says, "I'm sorry, we've Got to get started! People all over the world are dying.

Can you leave?

Can you walk out while he is saying, "Daddy? Mommy? Daddy?"

"Why, why have you forsaken me?"

And then next week, when they have the ceremony to honor your son some folks sleep through it, some folks don't even come because they go to the lake or the seashore, some folks come with a pretentious smile and just "pretend" to care. Would you want to jump up and say, 

"MY SON DIED FOR YOU! DON'T YOU CARE?"

Is that what GOD wants to say?

"MY SON DIED FOR YOU. DON'T YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I CARE?"

"FATHER, Seeing it from YOUR eyes breaks our hearts. 

Maybe now we can begin to comprehend the great Love YOU have for us."

May we remember His birth, crucifixion, and resurrection not only on the earthly given holidays but all year long, everyday.

thank you

Thank you to all of you faithful blog followers!

I know it has been tough when it is so long in between blogs.

Thanks for your patients.

This comes to all of you to let you know that it may be a long time before we add to blog land.

There are to many other things that are important to keep up with and there is not enough time to keep up with blogging.

Happy blogging to you all.

love,

lee family

Good Berries

This picture actually goes with our chicken butchering day instead of good berries. Isaac all ready with his gloves and ready to help. 

He has a good servants heart, may God continue that in his spirit.

"Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that confess His name." Hebrews 13:15

Kaleb was showing mommy the good berries to eat. <3
"Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them." 

 Matthew 7:15-20
"From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things as surely as the work of his hands rewards him."

Proverbs 12:14
I so enjoy watching the joy that the children see outdoors! The awesomeness that they discover of our Creator! It is such a joy to look at things through the eyes of a child. There is such a peace about taking the time to enjoy the simple things. 

There may be days when we wonder if we will ever see the fruit of our efforts, God may choose that we might never see the fruit on this earth, but there is such an awesome joy, comfort, and reward in the fruit of praising His name!

 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9 

May our little ones see fruit from us that will grow onto their branches. 
OH, our God is so good!

Chicken Butchering Day

WARNING. Some of these pictures might be to graphic for some people. But on the farm it is a normal thing.

We had 48 meat chickens to butcher. They are specifically raised to provide meat for the family. We have about 59 layer hens that provide eggs.

This is where the chickens start with Christian removing heads.

These are the butchering cones that Jordan designed with help from Jamie. They did a great job and they worked so well, so that the chickens were not running around with no heads. :)

Then to the butchering table where Jason and Kurt, Jordan skinned and gutted. 
This is the skinning process.
and Jason doing the gutting. 
Some were plucked instead of skinned for baking chicken. Danielle loved this day :) 
Then they were put into cider vinegar water in coolers. When the cooler was full they were brought into the house for us to wash and Jordan and Gabrielle quartered them, then I was the packer and into the freezer. Thanks to everyone who helped. We now have fresh chicken to enjoy. Thank you Lord for your provisions!

First Fish

Matthew 4:19  "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."

Kaleb's first fish!  The proud fisherman!
He doesn't quite know what to think of it. He did not want to touch it. 

"Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope?" Job 41:1
He was excited to try to catch another one. He did catch two more! It was so cute, he would real part way and then just keep backing up and pulling his pole back to bring in the fish. :)
Watching his catch swim back into the lake. He wanted to be sure that it was going to be ok.
Isaac and Adrian admiring Christians nice catch of a wide mouth bass! The boys had a great time fishing after our delcious meal from Maurey and Marge.

New Home Fun

"Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain."   Psalm 127:1

This is Jamie and Jessica's new home! We have been busy having a good time helping them tear it apart :) 

This is a picture of before we started tearing it up, standing in the dining room looking into the living room. It has beautiful oak hardwood floors in the dining room and living room.
This is Christian and Isaac having fun taking out walls. You notice that it is kind of a dusty job. :)
Above you seen the before picture of standing in dining room looking into living room picture. Now after some of our remodeling :) this is standing in the living room looking into the dining and kitchen area. There is no longer a wall separating the kitchen and dining area. We have removed walls and ceilings. You now must enter with a vision :) It is going to be such a pretty home when finished!
Jamie and Jessica even have a pool for the workers (Isaac & Kaleb) to enjoy :)
You can see on Jamie & Jessica's blog that we even had fun doing graffiti on the walls before tear down. It has been fun helping them get their new home ready! We are glad to be a part of it all!

Psalms 84:3-4

"Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young - a place near your alter, O Lord Almighty, My King, and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.

strawberries

Thank you God for awesome strawberries this year!

We so enjoy when the strawberries (and other harvest) starts to be ready for eating!

We are so grateful for how God provides us with home-grown food to eat! He is so good to us. 

It would be so nice though if the strawberries would come all summer! 

We did get a little bit of jam from them to enjoy this fall and winter. 

If you were a quilt

Through the winter my mom came on Tuesdays and we worked on a rag quilt for her.

It was so much fun being able to spend some time with her. And a treat for the children to see mama more. This is the finished project, filled now with memories. 

Think for a moment if you were a quilt, what kind of quilt would you be? 

Try asking yourself these questions:

Would you be hand or machine pieced and quilted?

Would you be "scrappy" or pre-planned?

Would you be made of many different blocks or just a few?

Would you have ornate borders or none at all?

Would you have curved or straight seas?

Would you be filled with heirloom or warm & natural?

What would your label say about you?

Would you be a coverlet or a queen size quilt?

Would you have crisp points and matching seams or just so-so?

Would you be embellished or plain?

Would you want to be shelved and admired or wor

n with use?

And finally, to whom would you like to belong?

God is designing us each as a unique "quilt" with a very special purpose. 

This is the top of quilt. It is done with our old blue jeans and mixed materials.

This is the back side, it is all blue jean in the center and color border.

my special parents Carl and Janet.

teacup

I have been wanting to share this with everyone but have not had time. This is a story that I relate to everyone in our home on our lives. This is the teacup that we had given to Danielle as her reminder of God in her life. We also have our teacups to remind us. 

The story begins in a little gift shop, a charming establishment crammed full of delightful discoveries. A mother had gone there to find a special gift for her daughter with excited oohs and ahs, she picked up books and figurines, intent on finding just the perfect piece. Suddenly, glancing into the corner of an antique armoire, the mother spies a prize. "Oh, look!" she exclaims to herself. Carefully she reaches over to pick up a delicate teacup. A shaft of sunlight from the window shines through the translucent china, illuminating the delicate design. "Oh, isn't it pretty. " the mother sighs. "I would have to say this is the prettiest cup I've ever seen." She gazed at the beautiful little cup, already imagining her daughter's face when she opens her special gift. And at that moment something remarkable happens; with a voice as clear and sweet as the painted nose gay on the saucer, that teacup begins to talk. " I thank you for the compliment," the cup begins, "but you know, I haven't always been like this. " The mother doesn't seem surprised at all to be addressed by a teacup. Instead, she asks with interest. "Whatever are you talking about?" "Well, " says the teacup, "I wasn't always beautiful. In fact, I started out as an ugly, soggy lump of clay. But one day a man with dirty, wet hands started slinging me around, pounding me on the worktable, knocking the breath out of me. I didn't like this procedure one little bit. It hurt, and it made me angry. "Stop!" I cried. "but the man with the wet hands simply said, "Not yet!" "Finally the pounding stopped, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I thought my ordeal was over. But it had just begun. The next thing I knew, I was being stuffed into a mold-packed in so tightly I couldn't see straight. " 'Stop! Stop!' "I cried until I was squeezed too tight to utter a sound. Parts of me oozed out of the mold, and he scraped those away. "If I could have talked, I would have screamed. "But the man seemed to know what I was thinking. He just looked down with a patient expression on his face and told me, " 'Not yet.' " finally, the pressing and the scraping stopped. But the next experience was far worse. I was plunged into the dark, and then the temperature began to rise. I still couldn't talk, but inside I was yelling. 'get me out of here!' "And strangely, through those thick furnace walls, I seemed to hear someone say, 'Not yet.' "Just when I was sure I was going to be completely incinerated, the oven began to cool. Eventually the man took me out of the furnace and released me from the confining mold. I relaxed. I even looked around and enjoyed my new form. I was firmer. I had shape. This was better "But then came the short lady in the smock. She pulled out tiny brushes and began to daub paint all over me. The fumes made me feel sick, and the brush tickled. " 'I don't like that.' " I cried. " 'I've had enough. Please stop.' " 'Not yet!' said the short lady with a smile. "Finally she finished. She picked up her brushes and moved on. But just when I thought I was finally free, the first man picked me up again and put me back into that awful furnace. This time was worse than before because I wasn't protected by the mold. "Again and again I screamed, 'Stop!' "And each time the man answered through the door of the furnace, 'Not yet!' "Finally the oven cooled once more, and the man came to open the door. By that time I was almost done in. I barely noticed when I was picked up and put down and packed in a box and jounced and jolted some more. When I finally came to, a pretty lady was picking me up out of my box and placing me on this shelf, next to this mirror. "And when I looked at myself in the mirror, I was amazed. Not longer was I ugly, soggy, and dirty. I was shiny and clean. And I was beautiful-unbelievably beautiful. "Could this be me?" I cried for joy. 

"It was then, " said the teacup, "that I realized there was a purpose in all that pain. You see, it took all that suffering to make me truly beautiful."

It is to remind us that through all of the suffering and hard times it is only working to make us more beautiful. May this story bless you as it has me.

Family Vacation!!!!

I know most of you have already seen many of our family vacation pictures from other family members. So I have fewer to choose from. :) We had such a great time and are grateful to Jamie and Jessica for being forceful in making us take a family trip! (lol) It was a blessing to us all.

There was so much sand that I think that the little children thought it was great like playing in a never ending sandbox.  Gabrielle is making a sand angel.
I know that the other blogs show all of the jumping, so I thought I would share one of the landings. 
Jamieson and I decided that we needed to tell the baby all about it also so that he/she would know what was going on out here. :)
I know that they have all shared this picture but I had to also put it on my because it is one of my favorites. And it is a nice picture of all of my blessings.
Thank you  God for a great time together!

Jordan turns 18!

We had many friends over to help in celebrating Jordan's 18th birthday, we had a cook out-pot luck.:) 

He choose banana-split dessert for his birthday dessert.
Jordan was real excited to get a new mini laptop to help him out with his business. 

There were also some brave ones willing to endure the cold water. What a flight Isaac!
There was some bubble fun, and a sticker tag game.
Fun with games. Can they do it?

Happy  18th to our sweet blessing. 

Lee Family Gathering

A week and a half ago Kurt's family had a family reunion out at the Sycamore park.

This is the siblings, Jodi, Sharon, Gary, Terry, and Kurt.

Sweet Mama Lee

Good food to eat.
Some had lots of fun playing ladder golf. 
And some juggling. :)
It was fun time together and to see some people that we have not seen in years. 

God's beauty

What an awesome Creator we serve! 

As I was working in the flower garden yesterday, pulling weeds (I enjoy doing that, it is a get away with God for me) There were tons of weeds since I have left it unattended for so long, God gave me this as a picture of us; there was beauty among the weeds, just like the beauty that God has put in every one of us, and the weeds are like sin, and when they go unattended too, they get out of control and cover up the beauty. We have to be sure to attend to our sins so that the weeds don't cover up our beauty that He has created in us.

Thank you God for time in the garden with you!

Mother's Day

I HAD AN ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL BLESSED MOTHER'S DAY!

I received wonderfully beautiful homemade cards from my children! I got to be with Jessica to hear the baby's heart beat!!!(they also gave me a sharp knife :)  Danielle wrote and sung at church a beautiful heart touching song for me and her Heavenly mother!!! The guys all made lunch for us!!! And I got to have a cookout with my sister Darlene and her family (who gave me flowers and a griddle)!!! 

I am such a blessed mother!!!!! Thank you God!!!!!!!!!!!

We all want to know that our lives are involved in something worthwhile. Without a strong sense of calling and purpose, life is nothing more than routine busyness. 

Being a follower of Jesus gives us a distinct advantage when it comes to having a sense of purpose. 

Glorifying god means putting His character, His will, and His ways into action in all that we do. The apostle Paul reminded us that we "are being transformed into (Christ's) image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18) The purpose of our lies is to let others see what God is like as they watch and experience His love through us.

What a profound privilege it is to mirror God's love, mercy, grace, justice, and righteousness to others! Our purpose is to show others less of us and more of Him. That's living on purpose with a purpose.

Our Great Creator

I enjoy so much the beauty that God has put in the flowers! These are some of the early Spring flowers in our flower garden.

As I work around the gardens, battling the invading thistles, thorns, and weeds, I ponder the state of my own heart.

Am I like that neglected yard, or perhaps the field and vineyard described in Proverbs 24-- overgrown with thorns, covered with nettles, its stone wall broken down? The owner is lazy and lacks understanding, perhaps putting off today's tasks for a more convenient time. 

Along with the practical instruction about diligence in work, I find an application for the care of my soul. The thistles of self-interest grow naturally within us, while the fruit that pleases God requires constant weeding and watering through prayer, confession, and obedience to the Lord. Without these, the soil of our heart will become choked with the thorns of trivial pursuits and greed.

"Keep your heart with all diligence," Solomon wrote, "for out of it spring the issues of life" (Prov. 4:23). That requires constant care.

The garden of our heart needs constant weeding and care.


As we till our garden and I walk through the garden it makes me think of these words that someone had once given me called;            

                                                               "Good Roots"

Help me to give my children good roots, God.

As I work with my plants I can see that the sturdiest, and those which bear most freely, are those whose roots go deep, griping rich soil; they have a base from which they can grow tall and beautiful and sound. 

Let this household furnish that kind of soil for my family, God.

Enriched with good music, good books, good talk, good taste. But above all, goodness of spirit. Goodness of action.

So that those who come here feel welcome, and those who leave here feel warm. And those who live here know, in every fiber of their beings, that they belong to people who, for all our faults, are good people. People of decency and honor, who would not willingly hurt or cheat any living thing. 

Let my children grow freely, God in whatever direction You desire for them. But give them root strength too. So that they will never deviate to far from Your desires. 

Help me to give my children good roots. 

Our 24th Anniversary

Kurt and I celebrated 24 wonderful years of marriage on the 4th. We went out for a lovely night to eat. When we came home the children had made the adorable gift for us. 

It read: 

Once upon a time there lived a "butterfinger" playing basketball player who was such an "airhead". His name was Kurt. At each game he got to see his little "hot tamale" who he had such a "crunch" on. Her name was Dawn. One day while she was cutting hair she saw Kurt walk in and  she just had to "take 5". That's when Kurt knew he had "skor" big! From that point on they had "good & plenty" love between them. On that sunny day, Kurt told her how "nutrageously" beautiful she was and asked her to be his wife. She "snickers" and then says yes! After that they had a bunch of "sugar babies" and haven't stopped the "kisses". And they lived Happily ever after! So mom & dad have a Happy .. "whatchamacallit" ?... oh yeah... anniversary!!

Thank you so much to all of our wonderful children! It was so sweet and cute.