Mama's Country Market

Unaswered Prayer?

All of us have prayers we raise up to heaven that "seem" to appear go unanswered as of yet...... some of us have been praying for something for days, months and yes even years....... does God not hear us? This quote is for you.........and me. :)  ~ gloria ~

" God's timing is not ours to command.  If we do not start the fire with the first strike of our match, we must try again.  God does hear our prayer, but He may not answer it at the precise time we have appointed in our own minds.  Instead, He will reveal Himself to our seeking hearts, though not necessarily when and where we may expect.  Therefore we have a need for perseverence and steadfast determination in our life of prayer.

  In the old days of flint, steel and brimstone matches, people had to strike the match again and again, perhaps even dozens of  times, before they could get a spark to light their fire, and they were very thankful they finally succeeded.  Should we not exercise the same kind of perverence and hope regarding heavenly things?  When it comes to faith, we have more certainty of success than we could ever have had with flint and steel for we have God's promises as a foundation.

  May we, therefore never despair.  God's time for mercy will come -- in fact, it has already come, if our time for believing has arrived.  Ask in faith, without wavering, but never cease to petition the King simply because He has delayed His reply. Strike the match again and make sparks fly!  Yet be sure to have your tinder ready, for you will get a fire before long. "

 ~~ Charles H. Spurgeon ~~

The Joy Giver

I have been so busy this past week......from schooling the children ( there are 8 being schooled now!) and tending  the home fires... that I have not had a moment to sit and blog.... and  I also went into the city this week and that always takes a good chunk of my time ..........in the midst of the busyness,  we have also had time to sing our praises to the Lord and rest in His beautiful promises in HIS  word! As we enter into this week of Thanksgiving, I like to take time to remember those brave and faith filled souls who came from so far away to establish a colony where they could worship their God freely without being "dictated" how they should do so. They believed the Word of God was to be taught freely and not under the "banner" or "control" of some church........ oh, how I can relate to these brave souls!  My journey to the Lord was somewhat of a pilgrimage in many ways! My family travelled over many miles to arrive to a place where God could teach us and show us His ways.  So I do have a tender spot in my heart for those pilgrims who came to America searching for freedom to worship to their heart's content!

This past week we have been learning a new hymn to sing for our Bible devotions.  We recently learned the beautiful hymn:  As the Deer.... if you don't know this lovely song, you so do need to become familiar with it's beautiful melody and even more beautiful lyrics! I have been hearing my children humming and singing this lovely song........

                                                          As the Deer

                                    Music & Lyrics by Martin Nystrom

As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you.

You alone are my heart's desire and I long to worship You.

Chorus:

You alone are my strength , my shield; To you alone my spirit yield. You alone are my heart's desire and I long to worship You.

You're my friend and You are my Brother, even though You are a King.

I love you more than any other, so much more than anything.

Chorus:

I want You more than gold or silver, only You can satisfy.

You alone are the real joy giver, and the apple of my eye.

Chorus

Jesus really is the real JOY giver -- and the apple of my eye! He is what I long for and I need Him like my body needs water!  I long to worship Him!

I hope in this coming week ~ that you too will find time to worship the JOY giver!!

Praising Him!

gloria

Wishing I had more time to post here to ya'll

We are living here in Linden, or should I say south of Linden.  Its beautiful here in fall but boy it sure feels more like winter already. Tonights low is 15 and we have been 2 weeks with no furnace due to the electrical fire in it .  We have rented a 14x60 2 bedroom 2 bath.  Now imagine me trying to sort through all the stuff that we brought with us from our 2200 sq ft house, after getting rid of half of it.  We only brought our beds and  my sewing stuff and my soap stuff and my homeschool stuff, crib, changing table, porta crib, high chair, fold up tables and 2 folding chairs, 2 bins of toys that were left of the girls ( baby dolls and tea set, little people house and farm, noahs ark and play set.)  All the bathroom, kithen stuff and what food I could bring with us.  I am sorta set on baking supplies for a month maybe less and it seems that I only run low on milk and meat, potatoes and those things that come from a garden. Since we were moving we didnt really plant a huge garden as we wouldnt be there to can things.  We left for TN Aug. 2nd.  I did have meat in the freezer but it was not able to travel down with us , what I tried to bring spoiled on the way down though packed good.  Yes I brought my electric sewing machine and serger and vacume and our computers. ( 2 desktops and one laptop with wifi capabilities)

Well the point is we thought we were coming down with less and yet in the RV and in this smaller home it seems like alot of stuff.  So what is really needed anyways ?  Well as I sort through it all much is going in boxes to be sold.  To raise money for other needed things.  ie. land, cabin or small home, wood cookstove.  After all that was the idea, to move here and eventually get land and homestead more then we had been in NY. Somehow living the countrylife no longer seems like homesteading once you have visited many here that life off the grid and have built their own home, rustic as they are, they are home and boy they seem nice to me. What is life all about anyways ?  Was it about nice rooms with painted and papered walls ? Was it about having a nice bathroom with all the fixtures and such ?    No, it is nice to see an outhouse now with paper holder, a light in there and ya know what ? copies of countryside and a real toiet seat !!!! Fancy huh !!!!

Some here have solar, some are living no electric substitute at all and each encourages us to strive toward whatever the Lord tells us is for us to do and each gives "My use to be DH who said we will never go non-electric and we will never live like the Amish"  A new vision for our lives.   The first goal was to live on what money we do have or can make and live on less or with less.   Unless it can make you more money or serves a purpose that is useful, it has no real value here.  ( I will admit I have my country tins, crock, and rooster things with me, but they serve a purpose too. My rose bowl and pitcher and my tea set will be used not just sit on a shelf for looks anylonger.  Here DH has a shed to keep his tools in and we can keep our goats here.  All the new ways are blessings and those we meet are the best blessings in our new life here in Linden TN.  The likemindedness is in the fact that Jesus died for each of us and though we  are each different in our degree of living the life of plain and simple living, we are all sharing the fact that Jesus died for us to save our souls.

Wensday night we attended a local sing, the glorious sound of our blended voices while we blend our lives in friendship I am sure is the most wonderful thing to the Lord God.

Blessed to be in His Child

Love

Linda

Faithful Acres Homestead

Desperately Seeking the Silver Lining

Cold Here in Montana

     Just a quick greeting for my blogging friends from the frigid North Country.

     We have had such a temperate fall that cooler temps and a tiny bit of snow makes for a change. The woodstove is even more appealing on these cold days and nights. I'm thinking this winter I will do more cooking on the woodstove.

     Today I did some cleaning for an 80 year old friend as I do every other week. She is preparing for some Thanksgiving guests and wants her house to be in order. Although she has family in town, her husband has Alzheimer's disease, so she enjoys some conversation. She is very intelligent and has a great sense of humor, so spending time at her house is a pleasure.

     She lives near Jonny's school, making it easy for me to walk over and have lunch with him.

     I talked with Maria on the phone last night. She and her two assistant cooks had just finished their end of the semester "Christmas" banquet at Montana Wilderness School of the Bible. She said it went well and everyone had lots of fun. There were plenty of desserts left over and she froze them. I told her to please keep them up there because they would be a terrible temptation for her dad and me, not to mention her brother. She said that baklava was the favorite dessert and some of the others were: coconut bonbons and chocolate covered cherries. All were handmade. Oh my...

     We will drive to MWSB on Sunday to loan Maria a vehicle. Last weekend, she was driving and hit a rock, tearing a hole in her oil pan. When her engine ran out of oil, the vehicle stopped moving. She will need a new engine in order to use the car.

     We all had visions of dollar signs in our minds, but her insurance will likely pay all but $500 of her repair bill. When David called her to tell her the good news, she said, "Oh, Jesus loves me!"

     The library won't be open next Thursday, of course, so I will take this opportunity to wish you all a very blessed Thanksgiving.

                                                       Denise Chalfon (prairiemom)

Pumpkin Pie Coffee Creamer

Pattern of Insanity!

Affirmation is nice!!

There is NO reward for doing the right thing!

Poor thing, she's just not teachable.............