Thanksgiving Day List.

The Thanksgiving season is a good time to remember what we are thankful for, but usually don't remember all the time.
On this day I am thankful for: Salvation. God's mercy and grace. God's guidance. Family and friends. Work. Skills. A house. Living in the country. Living in America, which is still the freest nation in the world. Those who have sacrificed there lives defending that freedom. Our forefathers who founded a Christian nation. People who encourage me, and love me no matter how crazy I get. The yummy food I'm cooking right now.
Leave a comment with what things are you all thankful for.

Thank you for reading this short entry!

The wonder of nature vs. blinded minds

Today is such a cold day that I thought I would get some blogging done. I am one of those writers that needs inspiration to write anything, and I didn't have any. I was thinking of ideas while hanging the wash when I saw a gaggle of geese flying south. I started having this chain of thought, wondering why they weren't flying north, why they flew in such a perfect formation for cutting into the air, etc....how could they be a product of evolution? Then I started thinking of all these other animals, humans, and the earth's form in general. My mind was just blown at how anyone could think it was a product of random chance. I think it would take a lot more faith to believe in evolution, than to simply believe God's Word that He created it all; when there is not any evidence to support evolution, but Nature itself proves that it has a Creator. I was just amazed at how blind the world's mind was to the Truth, wanting to believe something harder to believe than God, then I realized that that was another evidence of the truth of God's Word.

"In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." 

I believe that the main cause of the wickedness of this society, besides sin and the fall, is the philosophy of evolution. Not only does it deny that there is a God that you will be held accountable to, but it debases humans to the level of animals, and worse. Christians, instead of holing up, and keeping quiet, have a greater responsibility to shine the Light of the glorious gospel of Christ, preach the Word, and stand up against this rampant evil.

Sarah

Whole Wheat Bread Tips and Recipe

I have had several people who buy whole wheat bread from me ask how I get it to rise so much so I decided to share my recipe. Now the way I get my bread to rise so well is that I add wheat gluten to it. You can get the wheat gluten from the bulk section of Shetler's.

For one loaf of bread you need, 4 cups of whole wheat flour, 3 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, 3 tsp yeast, 4 heaping tbsp wheat gluten, 5 tbsp oil, 12 oz warm water. Mix all the dry ingredients together thoroughly, then mix the oil and water in. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, then spray the top with cook spray, cover, and set to rise in a warm place until it doubles, about half an hour. After in has risen this first time punch it down and knead it again. Then shape it into a loaf, and place in your greased bread pan. Spray, or butter the top again and set to rise for about another half hour. Finally you bake it in a pre-heated 375F oven for 30-35 minutes. It is done when you tip it out of the pan and tap the bottom, and it has a hollow sound. Let it cool on a rack. Enjoy!

What's Wrong With Hallowe'en?

Dear Readers,

Today is a day where children everywhere dress up as witches and ghosts and go around asking for candy. I do not celebrate Halloween, and I am going to give you my reasons in this blog entry. My obvious reason is the dressing up as these wicked characters. But if you leave out the costumes, my reasons go far deeper. I am a huge history fan, so I'm going to give you some history about Halloween.
First thing, the word 'hallow' means something very holy and sacred; and e'en is a word that basically means 'evening'. It was called that because in the Middle Ages the Roman Catholic "church" celebrated a day called 'All Saints Day' on November first. On this day, they celebrated all their saints from the past. They belived that on the evening before this holy day, all the demons, and satanic powers came out and would try to ruin the next day with nasty tricks, hence the name 'hallow-e'en'. Anyway, they would dress up as these characters and go down the streets with jack'o'lanterns, and try to scare the demons away. That is why I don't celebrate Halloween, and why I don't believe that anyone should. The way it is celebrated has changed over the years, but I believe that it still is a tribute to Satan.

Random blog update :)

Well there haven't been much exciting events to blog about, so I thought I would just let you know what I've been up to lately. 

Before this, I have been job hunting. It isn't going well so please pray about that if you think to.

So, today I cleaned some gutters in Springfield. If you don't know what get's in there, you're lucky! LOL Just imagine years and years of decayed silt-substance that fills up the entire gutter, AND you have to reach your bare hand in there and get it out. In the cold, and the wet! Okay, so I dramatized things a bit. I actually do not mind doing it that much. 

On Tuesday, I am going to be playing violin for an English Contra dance. That'll definitely be an experience! I am super nervous about it since I have never done anything like that before, but I'm sure it'll be fun! And you're all invited! Let me know if you want any details. :)

I have also started this diet/exercise thing. I want to lose 30 pounds by next summer, now that I have announced it to the world, I can't back down. LOL So, I have been walking every day. I never knew how many benefits walking daily has. I feel more energized, and healthy than I have in who knows how long. I have also started using this protein drink from Arbonne. I love the drink, but I only started it today, so I guess it'll be awhile to see what results it brings.

I hope you all are having a great season!

Fall on the Farm

Well it's fall again, one of my favorite seasons. I actually like all the seasons because there's something special about each. My favorite things about fall are the nice breeze, the sunshine, the bright colors, pumpkins, hot cocoa, and the all-around festive feel to the season. We have been busy harvesting and covering crops to protect them from the frost. And we planted some mums. They are sooo pretty. I will also have to start doing some deep fall-cleaning....soon. Here are some pics!

William with his corn

John and his pumpkins

Mums

More mums.

Have a great week!

Sarah

Farmer's Market

Every week I bake to sell at the farmer's market, which coincidentally, is what I'm doing right now ;)  I make different kinds of bread and pies, and I wake up really, really early to make fresh cinnamon rolls. It is very tiring, and sometimes I absolutely hate doing it, but mostly I really enjoy doing it; and it pays pretty well too. A couple days ago, our fridge gave out, and we had to stick my dairy products in the freezer until we got it fixed. I took my whipping cream out last night to thaw, and this morning I was like 'what! it's still frozen?!' because I couldn't hear it when I shook it. So I opened it to see what was up. It had turned to butter or something like butter! Now I have to get another carton, oh well, that's one of the risks of business. LOL.
One thing I love about when I am able to go to the farmer's market is when I see Camp J-O-Y people there. It's so cute whenever little kids, that you recognize, but don't exactly remember who they are, run up to you and ask if you will be there next year, or say 'I remember you', and other things like that. I also like it when I wear my camp shirt there, and adults talk to me about it. There was this one lady, in her 30's or 40's, who told me how she had been saved down there when she was younger. I really love just hearing these random people tell me stories, it's so cool!
Well, I guess I'm done for now.

My Horse.

My dad bought me a horse a couple years back. She is a registered foxtrotter. Her name is Diamond, or D. She is the most gorgeous thing ever, but she has a BIG attitude problem! It is probably my fault that she thinks she can run you because I have not been very faithful in riding her. In fact I haven't ridden in several months :( So I really need to get on with it! She's so funny though, when you try riding through a high water spot on the road she will just stand in the water and kick, and splash. It shouldn't be funny because she's throwing a tantrum, but somehow, it is. Whenever I ride her away from home she is very lethargic, and oh so slow, but turn her around and she could be flying. I think she is just a moody female :P I will need to work with her more though.

In Christ alone.

The following is a song the counsellors sang at Camp JOY as a special one night. It has been going through my head ever since then, so I thought I'd just post the lyrics. It is my absolute favorite song! Hope it's a blessing to you :)

IN CHRIST ALONE my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! – who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied –
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine –
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand!

Bro. Oscar Cunningham.

Bro. Oscar Cunningham went to be with the Lord last week. I attended his funeral today. The service was truly
wonderful. It was such a blessing to see all the people whose lives had been touched, and to hear the message
preached by Reg Kelly. 


I didn't know Bro. Oscar very well, had only met him on a couple of occasions, but I worked at Camp JOY this year and he came to visit. While he was there, he took the time to talk to me, that meant so much to me! I am also so thankful that he and Ms. Gladys followed God's call and founded Camp JOY. I will be eternally grateful for that because I was saved there two years ago :) You never know how much obeying and trusting the Lord will impact others' lives. I will miss him until we meet again. I'm glad there was a preacher!


God bless ya'll now!
Proverbs 3:5-6 

Trust....

aDear Reader(s),

Because of how jet-lagged, or whatever I am from camp, I sleep all day, and am awake all night (or so it seems). And one thing to do when you can't get to sleep is write, though I prefer reading. So that is the reason for this blog entry.

I have been thinking about trust alot lately. Probably because it was the theme at Camp JOY this year. I memorized so many verses about trusting in the Lord that it's only natural for me to think about it. I wonder how it is that we can trust the Lord with our eternal souls, yet withhold trust in him for our daily lives. I struggle with trust in this area so much, that I am so thankful for this theme this year. It really helped me at a time in my life when I desperately needed it. Total surrender to God's will in my life has provided so much peace about the present and the future. Just remember 'Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.' And remember Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Camp JOY 2011 ~I'll Keep Trusting My Lord~

Well I decided to put up another blog. This one will be focused on stuff I learn through life. I hope it will be an encouragement to you. I would really, really appreciate your feedback though :)

This first entry will be an overview of Camp JOY which I got back from this past Saturday.
I was there all three weeks. I counseled first, cooked second, and camped third weeks. I loved counselling. I met a lot of younger aged girls, and they are really a burden to me, mostly because of the type of homes they come from. They seem so young to have gone through so much. Please pray for them, especially for these two girls, Emma and Katie.
Second week, well I'll not say too much about that. I was under pretty strong conviction, and was having a pretty bad attitude, as some who were there can testify to.
I did not want to come third week because I was struggling with some stuff that I didn't want to let go of, but I decided that I would come to see my friends. First couple of days, I was pretty miserable because I was holding bitterness against some people that I knew I had to get rid of but had held for so long, and it had stolen my joy, but I didn't feel like giving in to God. I had talked with my counselor, and she had given me some 'tough love' counselling. I listened to her, but just didn't feel like I could do it. The next day during bible class the teacher talked about "Wait" It was about waiting to grow up and stuff like that. He had an invitation, and during it he mentioned that you can never go back in your life. I knew then that I had to make it right, because I couldn't serve God holding this, and I didn't want to waste my life. I went forward and just asked God to forgive me for my unforgiveness, and I gave it all to him. I was amazed, as soon as I let go of that burden, I could feel the joy of my salvation being restored!
There was a really good missionary hour message based on Mark 14. And the chapel services were amazing. There was a wonderful chapel service on Friday night. The invitation lasted for several hours. God really did a work this week! I am so thankful for him that although I disobeyed what he wanted me to do earlier, he kept at me until I did obey. I am now waiting on the Lord to see what he wants for my life.
It was a life-changing week, 181 campers, 17 saved, many lives changed.