Country Alphabet - C

Yay, it's Show & Tell Friday again! Part 3 of the Country Alphabet this week.

C is for...Chickens & Cows

Chickens are my hobby and I love to raise them. We love the fresh eggs and the chickens themselves are very funny pets. Here is a picture of me and my pet rooster Buddy, who after 4 years still thinks I'm his mommy.

Beautiful Buddy

Baby chicks are just too cute! I can't wait for Spring so we can get some! These we bought at a feed store a couple of years ago, but this year we may try to hatch our own.

This mama hen managed to sneak off and hide for 3 weeks and one day came back with this adorable little chick...

This is a chick hatching in our kitchen back in May 2007. One night after Cary had just gone to bed, I swear I heard something go 'peep, peep, peep'. I searched everywhere and finally figured out where it came from: from inside an egg in the coffee can that I used earlier that day to collect the eggs in. Normally I would have put them in the fridge, but for some reason that day I didn't.
We put the egg with chick in a box under a heat lamp, and the next morning it hatched while we watched. It was amazing to watch! I named this little hen Lucky, because she really was!

Here is Lucky on her 1st birdday, enjoying some cake.

This is my crazy hen, she will peck at everyone's clothes!

6 in a row...

BBQ chicken

Of course Gabriel loves to play with the chickens!

Since October we also have cows. We currently have 16 calves. They are very cute and very silly!




Our most recent addition to the cow family, 4 bottle calves that we got this week.


Sorry for the picture overload, but there were just too many to choose from!

Buddy's Birdday

My pet rooster Buddy is 4 years old! I'm not sure of the exact day that he hatched, but it was somewhere at the end of February. I raised him from a baby chick and he has survived coyotes, bobcats and hawks! I made him a birthday (or birdday, or hatchday) cake, just as I do every year. It had bread, banana, yogurt and carrots. A big success as usual! Happy Birdday, Buddy!

Buddy in my hand when he was just a tiny little chick.
He would always fall asleep!

A few weeks old...

Previous birddays...

Poverty & Wealth

Watch this video from Compassion International about 'The Lie of Poverty"


I was thinking about this and it suddenly occurred to me that there is also 'The Lie of Wealth'. Most of us who read this are very wealthy compared to the children sponsored through Compassion. Yet we tell ourselves that we're not. We look at the things we don't have, the things we would like to have, the things we think we need. But it's all a lie! We don't really need new clothes every season. We don't really need to go out to eat every week. We don't really need that new TV or car. Yet we tell ourselves that we do, and we tell ourselves that we can barely pay our bills. Surely you don't expect me to sponsor a child when I'm not sure if I'll be able to pay my bills this month?

But instead of looking for reasons why you can't sponsor a child, try to look for ways you can save money so you can! Maybe instead of going out to eat twice a week, you can go once a week? Maybe instead of buying new clothes this Spring, you can buy used clothes, or check again if last year's clothes are really that bad? Or try this: have a special piggy bank or box and every day for 1 month put 1 dollar in that box. At the end of the month, see if you really missed that money. I bet you won't! And then think about what that dollar a day could do for a child whose family's total income is only a dollar a day!

Did you know that 12 children die from hunger every minute? I came across this video yesterday and could barely stand to watch it. Tears were streaming down my face. It is shocking to think that things like this happen in our world every day.

Shocking, isn't it? It made me feel so guilty sitting here in my nice home, with nice clothes and too much food. It made me want to do something to help those poor children. We will be sponsoring a second child soon, but it still feels like so little. I wonder in what shape Compassion's sponsor children were before they started receiving help. Most of the children look nice now in their profile pictures, but don't forget that they were not always like that, and that they often dress up in their nicest clothes for those pictures. They are poorer than we could ever imagine and they need our help, your help! So won't you help to give a child a hope and a future?

www.compassion.com

Some Bible verses about helping the poor:
Proverbs 11:24-25
One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

Proverbs 28:27
He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.

Matthew 25:31-46
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' (vs 35-36, but I encourage you to click on the link and read the whole passage.)

1 John 3:17-18
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

2 Corinthians 9:7
Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Note the last verse. I am not trying to judge anyone or make anyone feel guilty. I don't want to force anyone into feeling like they have to sponsor a child. But I do want you to wake up, think about it and not let yourself make up excuses too easily. Don't listen to Satan's lies when he tells you that you don't have the money, when deep down in your heart you know that you do. I promise you, once you start sponsoring a child, it will make you cheerful! It is wonderful to send and receive letters and pray for that child, knowing you are making a small difference in the world, and a huge difference in that child's life!

Compassion

I came across this video today and just had to share! I think Compassion does such wonderful things and it's so easy to be a part of it!


This is the Ruth Noemí from Ecuador. She is 7 years old (this picture is a couple of years old) and we have sponsored her for almost 2 years. I would love to sponsor more children!

"Compassion International exists as a Christian child advocacy ministry that releases children from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enables them to become responsible, fulfilled Christian adults."

Can you think of a better way to spend 32 dollars? Won't you sponsor a child today? www.compassion.com

"He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done" (Proverbs 19:17).

Country Alphabet - B

It's Show & Tell Friday again! Time for part 2 of our Country Alphabet...

B is for...Barn

We have 2 barns, one for tools, mowers, bikes, our canoe, hay, etc., and one for animals and large bales of hay. Here's the first one...

Gabriel riding his trike in the barn.

Every once in a while the chickens will get confused and start laying in the wrong barn.

And here's the second one...the 'big barn'.

Cary built the calf and chicken pens himself.


Every once in a while we'll catch a snake...yikes!

It's a...BOY!

My sister just found out yesterday that she is having a BOY! He will join big brother Rick (born on July 3rd, 2007) on or around June 28. We will go to Holland in July so we can meet our beautiful new nephew/cousin! Here's a picture of my sister's belly at almost 20 weeks:

And a picture of my nephew Rick:

Shopping at the Mall

Gabriel & I went to the mall today to look for a comforter or quilt. I didn't find anything that was nice and affordable, but we still had a lot of fun. And I only spent about 14 dollars in 4 hours of shopping! We bought a book for Gabriel (using some money that Papa & Nanni sent him), a shirt for me for $3.99 and ice cream. Here are some pictures of Gabriel having fun....and no, I didn't put any quarters in there, it's 3 quarters a ride...crazy!

I ended up ordering this comforter online: Abigale Comforter Set with Bonus Quilt. I've really been wanting something more feminine (read: pink and flowery) in our home and this set was on sale! The only downside is that it's backordered and we won't get it until about 6 or 7 weeks from now. But at least it will be here at the beginning of Spring!

Rubber Band

When I watched Gabriel play with this rubber band earlier today, it reminded me of something I thought about this weekend. I was thinking how our connection with God is like a rubber band. We're stuck to Him and He won't let us go. But, like a rubber band, this connection can be 'stretchy' and we're not always as close to Him as we would like. Sometimes we try to pull away from him. But the harder we pull, the further we get away from Him, the stronger we feel the pull of that connection to Him. And when we end up in a place like that, far away from Him, and don't know how to get back to Him...all we have to do is LET GO, stop resisting, and we will bounce right back to Him! If you don't know how to get closer to the Lord, just put it all in his hands. He loves you and will never let you go!



PS. I don't usually let Gabriel play with rubber bands ;) Not only are they not safe, but he'll EAT them too, he loves to eat rubber!

Shirts & shorts

Since Spring here in Texas is just around the corner (it was 75 degrees today!), I went to Kohl's this morning and bought some clothes for Gabriel. He's in size 3T now. I absolutely love Kohl's and get most of our clothes there. Here's what I got today...now bring on the warm weather!

I love shopping for Gabriel, more than for myself! His favorite was the helicopter shirt, but he liked all of them. Here are 2 more shirts that I recently bought for him.

And I got this one for my niece in Holland today...I love it and she does too (she saw a picture of it on the computer)!