Joy comes in the morning

For his anger endureth but a moment, in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.            
 Psalm 30:5

What does that mean to you, "joy comes in the morning" .  It means to me that the Lord has got everything under control.  Doesn't it always seem better the next morning what ever we are going through.  

I originally posted this a year or so ago and it is always a wonder that I am writing something for someone else, but it always comes back to me in the end.  Joy is something I need right now, Joy is not a fleeting feeling that is called happiness, joy comes from within.  I am learning that life is not easy and it is really not easy when you become a parent.  I am learning how to let go and let God have control over my children.  I dedicated them to Him when they were babies, but I never truly have let go of them.  I am in a season of learning to take it one morning at a time, and that the sun will come up at the end of the night and I am going to be able to turn my face into the warmth and bask in it.

Sin has a way of trying to creep in and still our joy, satan wants to rob us of every bit of it.  He wants us to wallow in shame and in the darkness, because when we are in the darkness there is not light and light truly comes from above.

I love the mornings, I love the quietness of it.  The freshness of the morning.  It seems like the Lord cleaned up over night and everything is bright and fresh. Its like a new start.  Every morning that we get to wake up is a blessing from the Lord.

Joy comes in the morning when we go to Him in prayer.  Prayer for our husbands and children.  For us to be better moms and wives and servants for Him. Don't forget to even pray for those little things in life.  God wants to hear about those too. He loves you and wants to hear from you.  Sometimes we get so busy with all the stuff and fluff around us we forget to go to Him.   This is not a me time but a Lord keep me in your will time.  A time for just the two of you to talk.

I encourage you moms and wives to get up a little early, get a cup of coffee or tea and take the word of God and go out side.  There is something about studying His word that time of the day that is special.  I feel closer to Him for sure.  I promise you it sets the tone for the whole day.

God Bless,
Tara 

Its, been a good Saturday today.  It was just beautiful today.  It was rather cool, but you couldn't have asked for a nicer day today.  We got to go to a show today.  It was the first one since Christmas.  Dear daughter has not felt too well so we have not been able to go.  The kids did really good today.  Got several grands, several reserves, and Elizabeth won senior showmanship at both shows today.   I didn't get a lot of good pics today, the barn was really dark, and all the pics, turned out way to dark.

Elizabeth with Cali

Josh, with Gum drop.  We should have named her mighty mouse.  For such a small

package she is a strong little thing.  

Nothing like lunch of the tailgate of the truck.

There is something to be said about the friend ships made doing this, and there

is nothing like little boys and shavings,  

 

It was a good day of fun and winning, kids and calves enjoyed themselves and then we enjoyed dinner out

with good friends to celebrate our winnings, and Elizabeth's up coming birthday. God is good,

God bless,

Tara

 

Why mulch?

There are so many reason that we need to mulch our gardens.  It can conserve water foremost, a good two inches or more can save on the need for watering. Especially in areas where there is not much rain. It also is a good weed barrier.   I don't know about you, but hoeing and weeding is the least of my gardening favorites.  The less is better.  Also is is such a good soil amendment.  It will break down over time and add valuable vitamins and nutrients.  Our 4-H club just did a little work cleaning up the community center where we hold our meetings.  We took home some of the straw and today we spent the day putting it around the tomatoes.  You can use a variety of things for mulch.  You can use pine straw and leaves, to bark and wood chips and even shavings.  Also we have used the hay that we have cleaned out of the stall at the barn before in the garden.  You want to use things that cost little to nothing.  I wouldn't suggest buying straw bales to use.  That can get expensive, unless you have used them as bedding first at the barn.  Remember barn stuff also has the added factor of having some manure in it and that is a good amendment for your soil.

The boys hard at work.  They are blessing to me for sure.

 Homestead tomato.

 There is nothing like a drink of cool well water from a hose after all that work.

We planted a few different varieties of tomatoes this year.  We planted, Homestead, Roma, Arkansas Traveler, and a Cherokee Purple.  All of these are an heirloom variety.  We tried to do more heirloom plantings this year. 
God Bless ya,
Tara

A littlle bit of gardening.

Garden planning is a must.  I see lots of little gardens that are fine for wanting some fresh veggies for the summer, but in order to have enough to put up we need to look at how much we need for an entire year.  You need to figure how many times you have eaten beans or corn or potatoes and figure accordingly.  And this year if the Lord allows I am going to go over that amount.  Last years drought and not being able to save anything really taught me something.  It is better to have to much than not enough.   The chart above is a good one to go by, but if you have more than just 4 people , you will have to alter it.

This was our green bean patch last year, our potatoes were to the right. and off to the left is the corn,  everything was just coming up at this point. If you can't tell, these are LONG>>>>>> rows. ha, ha. 

 We grew the biggest onions, I think we have ever grown. we enjoyed every bit of them.  One of these days I would like to have a root cellar, we really don't have a good place to put our root crops.  I put straw in a plastic crate and laid them in it and then stacked the trays on top of each other. They lasted a long time. We ate them up before they went bad.

  This is JC. standing in a hay ring.  The bull pushed it into the garden and it was his job to get it out.  That is purple hull peas behind him trying to peek out.  I wish I had a pic of the tomatoes and our sprinklers, I will try and get a shot of them this summer.

  

Just remember that gardening is like anything else, it takes a lot of work, time and patience.  Everybody needs to be eating better and eating less processed foods.  The best way to know it is healthy is to grow it yourself. So good luck to you and your gardens this year.  

God Bless, 

Tara 

Enter in this great giveaway, and also enjoy a great read.

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If you would like to join the celebration, HCP is having a HUGE give away.  Go to:  Homestead Drying Racks - Homestead Store - Blog

homemade egg noodles

 I decided to try my hand at making homemade egg noodles.  They turned out pretty good.  I think next time I will mix them up with my stand mixer and not by hand and see if they are smoother.  Over all they were good.









The ingredients are: 2 Cups flour, 4 eggs, 1 tsp salt.  I mixed the flour and salt and then made a well in the flour and added my eggs.  I started on the inside and worked my way to the outside until all the eggs and flour were combined.

 

 

 

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I then turned out on my board and worked it untill it was smooth. I wrapped some plastic wrap around it and let it rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.















         I then cut into quarters , to make smaller pieces to roll out.
                                

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 I rolled out very thin and cut into strips using my pizza cutter.

  

I made one batch to cook now and then cut the other ones into smaller pieces to dry to use later.

I cooked them like I would do any other pasta, lots of water and lots of salt. Make sure to shake off as much flour as you can.  the excess flour can make your water icky.

This is my end result.  We had egg noodles with a cheesy garlic cream sauce and broccoli for lunch today.

Hope you will try them for yourselves.  In fact, if I rolled them out thicker, I think they would be good for chicken dumplings also.  I have the smaller pieces drying in the oven.  You can dry lots of things in your oven if you have a pilot light that stays on all the time. God bless until next time.


God bless,
Tara

Don't forget to go over to Our Simple Country Life and check out all the other great links there today. 

Joyfulness comes with contentment

 

 

I talked last week about contentment and today I want to talk a little about finding joy.  Joy will in the end help you to be contented.  I am unfortunately preaching to my self this morning.  This last week has found me not feeling so joyous.  It is just satan's way of trying find a foot hold in our home.  What is that old saying if momma aint happy ain't no body happy..  There is a lot of truth to that.  We hold the keys to our family's disposition within ourselves.  So there are a few things that you can try this week;

1. simplify your life
That's right try to simplify as much as you can.  Remember I am preaching to myself this morning.  We have a tendency to have so many activities going on.  We have had to cut back on a lot of stuff that we used to do.  We made a choice several years ago that we would not do sports and do our cattle shows.  It was just to much.  I have cut back on volunteering so much at church.  I realized I don't have to do everything and it is okay for someone else to be in charge.  My family comes first.  I know what you are thinking. That is the church you are supposed to put God first. Yes we are to put the Lord first. But, I realized that my family was falling apart because I spent so much time doing other things.  Also the first way to tear a church apart is to start with the family.  My first calling is to minister to them and then go out. Figure out what you just have to do and do only those things.  Learn to say NO...

2Learn to love the little things.
I am still learning this.  Learn to love the everyday job.  The ones that never seem to end.  For me that is dishes and laundry.  And I hate to do both, but am learning to love them .  One thing is, I have my children help me with these chores.  Many hands make light work. If you have children get them in there to help.  Even if they are young.   Talk about things or sing songs. It will make the time go by quicker. Remember to clean as you prepare your meals and the mess won't be as bad. Also one thing that I have learned is prayer.  I pray for my family at this time too.  It is a good time to thank God for all his blessings.  He is the one that gave you all of the food that enabled you to have that meal. There are so many people today that don't have anything to eat and would be glad for a kitchen full of dirty dishes.   He gave you those clothes to keep you warm and most of all He gave you those children and your husband as a gift.  Every time you pick up your husbands dirty work clothes , just thank the Good Lord for letting him have a job and to keep him safe. 

3. Keep a time of prayer and Bible Study
I have found this to be oh so important.  Just a few minutes in the morning and read a Psalms if nothing else and something I have been learning is to pray for others.  when we pray for other peoples happiness and joy it will bring joy to our lives also.  I can always tell a difference in my day when I have not done my Bible reading and prayer in the morning.   It will set the mood for the whole day.  Don't forget to have a time of bible study with your children during the day.  It doesn't have to be much, just a few minutes.

4. Smile 
Remember attitude is everything.  The more you smile and have a bright attitude it will  spill  over into everything that you do.  I am usually a very smiling person and on the days I am grumpy and grouchy, boy my kids know it.  They even tell me "mom if you could see the look on your face today" . That  is always an eye opener for me.   

Most of all just remember that we are all human and we are going to have those days when the phone is ringing off the hook, everyone wants our attention, and everything is going in circles.  Remember to stop! Look around you and the gifts that have been given you.  Take a break and go have a glass of tea outside for a minute and listen to the birds and smell the fresh air.  Learn to love the little things, the boring and mundane jobs we have to do everyday, go to the Lord in constant prayer and smile and remember to love your life and make it the best it can be and be a blessing to the Lord, and to your family. Hope this helps you this morning.
God bless ya,
Tara   

 JC had a great time dying eggs.  He did a good job of getting more dye on the eggs than himself. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of everyone all dressed up.  Once we got to their Mim's house, everyone made a mad dash and changed clothes.  I will say everyone looked very handsome.  Josh wanted to wear pink and ended up wearing a button up pink shirt.  He kept saying all day it takes a "real man to wear this shirt" LOL that boy is a mess for sure.

JC hunting eggs at his Mim's house. 

 

 

  God Bless,
Tara

A quick day trip of fun and relaxation

 We finally got a chance to take a quick day trip on Friday.  We have been working so much and with sister being so sick, we just bit the bullet and took off.  We visited a science museum and an alligator farm.  We also got to see some hilltop views.  It was just a beautiful day and we had the best time.

 This was at an alligator farm.  The boys loved it.

 This was at an over look area.  It was a beautiful spring day. You could see for miles.

I did my first link up this morning.  This is a wonderful one to join.  This one is really where my heart is right now.

Blessings,
Tara

Contentment.. what is it, and how do we get it.

This is a hard thing for me to talk about because I had struggled with it for so long.  Us as Christian moms and wives have an uphill battle that we face each and everyday and that is  feminism.  I see so many women that are struggling with their place , their lot in life, their roll, what their "purpose" is what God's will in her life is.  I too for most of my married life have struggled with the same issues. It wasn't until just a few years ago that I finally came to a conclusion that I had been doing my call in life all along and that is to be a wife and mother.  A stay at home wife and mother.  I was constantly struggling with that saying what is my "purpose" in life.  I was always griping about being home, yet didn't want to leave. Griping about my lot in life, griping about my home, my children, my husband.  Just really not liking anything at all.   When we decided to pull our children out of public school we made a total life change.  We as a family and I as a wife and mother have changed in so many ways.  I finally went to the Lord in prayer and just rededicated my self to Him and His service and you know what that service is. It is my family and home that's right. Not to go on some missionary trips to a foreign country. Not to go all over the country singing , not to be a womens speaker  or all the numerous other things I could have done.  Mine was to be a loving wife and mother and keeper of my home.  Until just a few years ago I had never even understood what Titus 2 or Proverbs 31 meant.  I wasted years of being dis CONTENT.I want you to know how much time I have wasted on WAITING FOR GOD TO SEND A SIGN and I have had the sign ever since I put this ring on my finger. It is there to remind me everyday of what and who I am. Ladies I beg of you to stop right now and rededicate yourselves to the service of the Lord and to the service or your family.  Don't listen to the media and the books and radio talk shows.  God has had our purpose planned out from the beginning and that is to be a help meet to our husbands and mothers to our children.  Don't let feminism rob years of your happiness. You will never be happy or content with yourselves,  or where you are in life if you don't give your selves over to the Lord fully.  He has a plan for each and every one of us. Make the best of everyday.  Listen to the birds in the morning they are music from the Good Lord.  Dive into the word of God each and everyday. Pray for your family and for peace and contentment.  Work hard to be a blessing to your husband and to please him.  When you do that.  I promise you that you will soon forget about self and one day you will look up and realize how happy you are.  How happy your husband is and your children are.  Take the life that God has given you and make the very best of it. God will be so pleased with you and will bless you for it.  Don't let Satan get into the littlest crack in your life fill them up with gladness and joy.  If your having a rough day of it don't forget to tell satan to get behind you and your family in the name of Jesus Christ.  I promise you it works.  Our Savior will win every time.   I hope I have encouraged you just a little bit this morning.  May the Lord bless you until next time.

Blessings,
Tara