A Poem by Reagan

Reagan is the writer of our family. Earlier this spring she submitted her book entitled Miss Belle, A Mouse's Tale of Courage to a contest and won the Newbery Award. She thinks in words of flamboyance, illumination, thrill, grandeur, all those words that describe things like a Thomas Kinkaid painting. So, today she went for a walk after the 4 inch rain. Now, THAT was quite something.....not Reagan walking, but the RAIN. Everything that could go on with a rain, WENT ON. I mean, tornadoes were sighted in our area, although we didn't see one, HAIL, lightening and thunder like never before had we experienced and the BUCKETS of water falling from the sky. WOW!!! It was of Biblical proportions, for sure. One friend asked if we had room available on the ark. That was after I had made the comment that our house could double as an ark, as it is an all wood structure and could float away, if necessary. Anyway....Reagan went out when it was still misting and spent quite a while walking through the fields. After some time, she came back in and wrote down this poem. I asked her if I could put it on my blog, as I hadn't written on it for months. So, she put the little flower back ground on it!!! Oops, I couldn't get that to transfer, sorry....it is really pretty!!! Oh well!!! Enjoy the poem anyway. And as Martin Luther said: "Ask God the Creator to overwhelm you with a sense of wonder so that your adoration of Him overflows with amazement and delight."

His Glory

I look up in the heavens tall All hooded and cloaked with gray And watch the raindrops as they fall On this cold, wet spring day Twirling through the air, oh what a sight Each dewdrop like a pearl perfectly made Dancing down to the grass to alight Each stem like a crystal encrusted blade The sun breaks through the clouds Bringing light and warmth the same The grass no longer lies in gray shrouds But is burning with color aflame The wonder and beauty of this field With the sunlight shining upon it That even if it's fullness of life it could yield No artist on earth could capture it Only God expressing His artistic Glory, As across this canvas I gaze, Could create such a picture story Worthy of all mankind's praise

Valentine's Weekend 2009

What a great weekend we had. The weather was chilly and overcast for the most part. Joel worked for our friends, the Crocketts in the Norse area cutting cedar trees with his 290 Stihl chain saw. Reagan stayed with her dear friend Maddie Bowland babysitting the rest of the kids. She loves being with her kindred spirit. Marigrace was with Jody and I for the most part. She loves valentines and loves decorating the house with red and white hearts with I love you's. Our church scheduled a Valentine's party at 6:00. Sharon Nolte and Katy Cordell went all out decorating the place. Very sweet and romantic with lots of red and white. Imagine our church that is old with white clapboard siding 15 miles from town, in the middle of a cow pasture. The picture is of our pastor Perry Garrett with his adorable, fun wife Tanna on the steps of the church. (They won best dressed couple) Inside, candles on all of the tables lit the room, setting an ambience for fun and romance. The first fun game was 3 couples wrapping a present in 2 minutes The catch was that they had to have one arm around the other. Too fun and funny!!! The Davis' won this, easy!!! The next was the hilarious game entitled, Who's smarter than Colby? See picture of poster. 5 couples were chosen to sit on a panel to answer questions to try to beat Colby. Sure enough the Murphy's won this, beating the Crocketts. But we all were suspicious when ONLY Colby knew Barbie's full name. Then we learned that he had been given answers to the questions before hand. AND HE WAS STILL BEAT!!!! Hilarious! Finally, we were chosen to be in the "married" game. We won 4th out of 5 couples. Perry and Tanna won. Great questions that were just too hard for us to answer. So funny!!! Like, what animal or noise does your husband like to make?? Or, what cartoon character does your husband look like the most?? Most answers were Superman, of course. (I said Popeye!) One of the questions was who would your husband say is the most dysfunctional family, his or hers?? Careful, now!!! Jody stood up and read a poem that he wrote for me. It took him all day long to write and here I thought he was working. He had roses (see picture) delivered to the church, (he promised they were on sale so he must have ordered after 4:00)!! Here's his poem.

To My Dearest Martina; A Valentine's Day Poem My Love is like a bright green cabbage, Divided into two, The leaves I give to others, The heart, I give to you. My love is like a Holstein cow, Standing in the sun, No matter how I bellow and moo, You are the only one. My love is like a loaf of bread, Baked for only you, I may be crusty on the outside, But you know my love it true. My love is like a pocketknife, Sharp and strong and handy, I'm always there close to you, I hope you think I'm dandy. My love is like an armadillo, Digging in the yard, You may be mad at times to see me, But, I'll be there when things get hard. My love is like a well-worn pillow, Comfortable in bed, But, I can talk and blow you kisses, And make sure that you are fed. My love is like some bailing twind, Wrapped around your heart, I may get tangled now and then, But, we will never part. My love is like a cowboy boot, Full of fancy stitching, I have a scratch for you to catch, It is for you I'm itching. My love is like a mountain lake, Deep and dark and cool, But, I heat up when you're around, And sometimes act the fool. My love is like a trusty horse, That's sometimes hard to shoe, I may get mad and kick a bit, But, will stick to you like glue. My love is like an old dog true, Asleep under your table, I will be there to care for you, At least as best I'm able. My love is like a basketball, Thrown for only you, The game goes on and you get tired, But, honey we're not through! Your loving Husband!!!

Now, isn't that romantic??? Everyone had a great time. Sunday we returned to church for a fantastic sermon and worship to our God all together. Koinonia!!! Then we had a LOVELY dinner with Cheryl. She cooked Longhorn steaks. YUMMM!!! We really love our church family and friends here in Texas.

Elf Yourself by Office Max

We always get such a kick out of this little gig. Check out Jody's moves. This will make even the dead laugh. This is always fun at this time of year. Marigrace walked in and said, "I think even God is laughing at this". Thanks Holly!!!

Those Old Antlers

We have just moved into a small (1200 sf) home on a 500 acre ranch. This home is located on East FM 217 and is ideallic in a rustic, far from town, up on a hill, sort of way. This is a TEXAS Ranch.

Our landlords are Sharon Nolte's parents. John and Martha Courntey run beautiful Charolais cattle on the ranch and raise hay. Martha is a tough little woman, who comes from a family with 13 siblings, raised in a 3 bedroom home. She is quite self sufficient and an absolutely no nonsense type of temperament, but always has a beautiful smile on her face. We were told that John has the mind that children are in the way and cause trouble and has no patience for their loitering, lingering, or playing in his presence. A side note is that they have let it be known that they don't like renters and really didn't want to get into a rental relationship. But, due to our friendship with Joe and Sharon, and their good word vouched for us, we are renting this perfect little house on the prairie.

Joel, 15, is craving to HUNT. He wants to own his own deer hunting gun and is working to earn that $. Meanwhile, until he is invited to hunt somewhere, or can lease his own hunting property, he takes advantage of his time by learning the habits of the animals. Designing hog traps, learning various calls, watching u-tube hunting videos, going to local gun shows, collecting knives and doing any other sort of activity with a bent towards hunting, has been a consuming past time for all of his free time.

Yesterday, Sunday afternoon, while the rest of the family wanted to take a nap, or read, since it was cold with a wind from the north, Joel wanted to go for a hike on this lovely 500 acre ranch. He said that he wanted to see if he could find any deer. Big hint here that I should have known was that it was SUNDAY afternoon, the most popular day for hunters to hunt. I was absorbed in solving the Thanksgiving table décor issue and had my glue gun ready with the kitchen table FULL of ideas and crafts. The girls were making their own mess with my ideas, so needless to say, I put Joel and his HIKE out of my mind.

Now, this ranch is leased out to a hunter and his son. We are not clueless to hunter etiquette, but for obvious reasons mentioned on the kitchen table, I wasn't thinking of Joel's hike being on a Sunday, the most popular day for a father-son going on a deer hunt. Joel left the house with his Carhart jacket, boots, and some deer antlers given to him by his uncle several years ago. The antlers were tied together with an old rope so they could be flung over his shoulder and carried easier. Since the bucks are in rut, they are somehow attracted to the clattering noise of antlers. When the antlers are wracked together, I suppose the deer are to think there is some other buck around to fight, so they get curious and approach. That's Joel's hope anyhow.

Joel, of course didn't have a gun with him. This isn't his lease or place. He said as he left, “I just want to see what's out there, Mom.” Sounded good to me as I thrust a finger I had just burned with the glue gun into my mouth. He left and the girls and I were on a mission to finish our napkin rings. We had beautiful Christmas music playing and a loaf of bread baking in the bread machine. Dad was napping. All was well on the cold, overcast, breezy afternoon.

.......until Joel came home a couple of hours later. Now, understand that hunters can have an attitude that they own the place, and I guess justifiably so, since they pay good money for the right to hunt on the ranch. And, a boy, who is alone and unaccompanied, becomes a perfect target for expressed indignation. PURE wrath.

After about 3 hours of hiking around and clanking his horns Joel started his trek home. He was walking up a slight hill when over the crest on the same road appeared a white jeep. Now, when we are surprised and awakened from our reveries, we can sometimes absentmindedly react from fear, which can cause us to later regret. Yep, that's what happened to Joel. When he saw that Jeep, he reacted by throwing the antlers over the fence. Mr. Hunter and son approached Joel and,of course, asked if he had a gun and “what was he doing out here?” The discourse continued and Joel stammered he was sorry numerous times and that he didn't want to mess up their hunting. He made that clear to them.

Joel came home and wanted to die. It's one of those questions that ask for you to tell of a time in your life that if you had the opportunity, what would you erase. He was embarrassed!!! Not really that he was confronted by an irate hunter and son because, after all, he was wrong to “disturb” the deer. But, he was completely befuddled as to his throwing those old antlers over the fence, right in sight of the menacing couple. WHY DID HE DO IT???, he kept asking over and over again.

Now, Joel did worry of our predicament when we would be confronted by Mr. Courtney the next day. He did fear that we may be told to leave. He did fear that Joe and Sharon would be mad at our stupidity. But, to throw his antlers over the fence?? That's like saying “No, I didn't take any cookies”, when in fact the chocolate chips had left tell tale smudges on my chin. The evidence didn't look good, very dim indeed.!!

We prayed with him. He didn't eat much and hung out with us all evening, just jabbering, anything to get his mind off the mountain of trouble. He watched some movies until slumber FINALLY took his mind. This morning I woke him at 6:00 so he could be ready for his work. He put on his tennis shoes and ran down in the dark to where he threw the antlers over the fence. Sure enough, they were gone. This did not help his condition. Dad took him to work where he is digging dirt out from under this old cabin with our pastor Perry and friend, Jason. Besides God, those are the BEST people for him to lay out this burden. I mean, after all, parents don't always understand, right??? Oh, how I thank God for His Mercy and Grace.

So, the end of this story is none other than the Glory of God. Right now, Joel's old deer antlers are on his bed waiting for his return from work. Our land lords came to “visit” and were incredibly warm and understanding. Over a half hour or longer chat Jody and I began our hopefully long and blessed friendship with Martha and John Courtney. Martha constantly smiled and John shared he was the president of the school board of Jonesboro. He does love kids. They are gracious to let us rent this wonderful home as they were not really wanting any renters to begin with. We look forward to many more visits and pray we magnify God and His presence. Joel's mountain is now a molehill. This has been written down to remind him to place his burdens on Christ's shoulders and to know God is in Control.