Calmer of the Storm

Breathe.deep. This is going to be an incredible journey together!
" To be known and accepted are the two most fundamental needs a human has." ~Jennie Allen

Jesus is not going to BAIL us out from our issues....but to BIND us to Himself as he walks us through the mess. 

We. need. Jesus.desperately.
to. hold. us. tightly.
to. not. let. go.
to. heal.
to. be. whole.


" When my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the Rock that is higher than I."
~ Psalm 61:2

Storms.
Either we have been in one...
We are going through one...
or we are going to be in one soon.
We are human and as humans we live in a world of pain that leaves us battered, bruised and scarred.
The good-the bad-and the just plain ugly.

I have them.

You have them.

The point of this study is to put the Gospel of Jesus Christ in perspective. That God is on the Throne.... and when we see what God has to say about Himself in His word--we can see our sufferings through His eyes.

" Teach me Lord

to have faith 

in what your bringing me

will change my life

and bring you glory.

There on the storm

I am learning to let go

of the will 

that I so long to control.

There may I be

in your arms eternally.

I thank you Lord

You are the

Calmer of the Storm."

~chorus to this amazing song...by Downhere

Cherry Red Hot Rod!

I love our teens. Everyday is just such a new day with them. Each day is filled with....well, teenage stuff and I LOVE IT. (Check out my blog post titled I LOVE IT! for more stuff I love about my life!)

Our son is working on a long term project. A 1964 Ford Falcon...and it needed a TON OF MAN HOURS TO COMPLETELY RESTORE THIS THING TO ITS GLORY DAYS. This is his "Senior Project". The goal was to pick a project as a freshman/sophomore (that would take an epic amount of time!) so by the end of your Senior Year would be complete. The only requirement is that it needed to be in an area of your hobby or an occupation that you may want to venture into as a post grad. 

He loves restoring stuff...

This is the "before"  snapshots...

THIS IS THE TEAR DOWN...

here goes the primer coat...

AND THEN IT TURNS INTO A PRETTY SWEET

CHERRY 

RED

HOT ROD!

By the time his Junior Year rolls around...it will be finished!

THE PAINT JOB LOOKS AWESOME!!!!

He has put so much time-$-and effort into this

life project.

I can't wait to fly down the road

with him-at in the drivers seat...

windows down...

music on..

seeing the joy of a job

well done all over the face

of our really cool teenager.

*

 The car has got a long way to go

before it hits the road.

It still needs

seats.

carpet.

windshield.

doors.

hood.

SEATBELTS...

But, ladies..when it does get road worthy-WATCH OUT! 

*

 Aren't we all like this project?

 The before picture is pretty tough...

the tear down is even tougher. 

But we have a God that sees 

the Cherry Red Hot Rod 

that he created us to be. 

It takes a lifetime. 

It takes work.

 It takes vision.

It takes the skillful hands of our Heavenly Father

who knows what is best!

He created our beginnings

even before the world began...

and sees our ending

and everything in the middle

He wants us to be different-to be noticed not for all the shine and the glam... or for all of the hard work we have done...

but he wants us to be a witness of what 

GOD HAS DONE TO RESTORE US!

INSIDE. AND. OUT.

THAT IS THE GOSPEL OF JESUS!!

AND ONE DAY...

We will hear those words...

Well done.

Not because we did such a bang up job

at fixing our own life...

but because we made much

of The One

who Restores the Broken.

************************

Feel free to check out Derek's other projects over the last few years at Derek's Truck Shop- Quality Restoration

Dirt & the Farm Wife

Most of humanity can see Spring coming by the grass waking up--the daffodils and tulips begin to bloom. Fresh warm breezes blowing gently...ah, Spring.
Not the farm wife.
We first notice that spring has arrived in our laundry rooms.

I have yet to find an appliance commercial that uses

a farmers clothes

to advertise how effectively

their machines work.

Here is my arsenal to battle the 

"SPRING (GREASE AND MUD) FLING"

I can't ever get the clothes as clean as they need to be

 That's ok.

Because typically the next day

you will never be able to notice

....by looking, smelling or touching ...

that they were clean just 12 hours ago.

Same goes for the people that wear 

those clothes...

I love this shirt.

Don't ask me what piece of equipment that he was pressure-washing to get that dirty, either...

you don't want to know.

I have been holding on to these pics since April wanting to do a post on Dirt.

BUT....it was done for me!

Ann Voskamp beat me to the punch on her blog the other day.

I LAUGHED SO HARD AT HER PICTURES!

.... AND THE SCENARIO

THAT PLAYED OUT IN HER KITCHEN

IS PLAYED OUT DAILY IN 

OUR KITCHEN.

Some of the dirt sticks to clothes.

That's the dirt

we deal with as

farm wives.

Some other kinds of dirt

stick to our hearts.

That's the dirt

we deal with as

human beings.

Check out the link

by Ann Voskamp

When your life feels Messy...The Real Truth About Your Dirt- A Blog post by Ann Voskamp

It gives me a new perspective

on laundry.