Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you. - John Owen

Friday, May 27, 2011

God is SO good!


"God is SO good!"

  That has been my "motto" over the past week and a half.  I think that I've realized God's goodness in blessing me even more after going on a challenge along with a very dear friend of mine to write down 1,000 (yes, you heard right - one thousand!) things that I'm thankful for.  It has been a tremendous blessing to me and I find myself more quick in my praise of Him and His wonderful goodness to me than ever before.   

  I am amazed at how truly gracious and merciful our God is.  All that we deserve is to bear His righteous wrath, but instead of that, He sent His one and only Son to die for us and to bear the punishment that rightfully should have been ours.  So, whenever you find yourself thinking how unfair life is, or how "this isn't what I deserve"  be thankful that you aren't receiving what you really do deserve and praise God that life isn't fair, because if it was, it would be a living death - unbearable!

  Thank you, Jesus for being the propitiation for my sin! 

  Another aspect of the goodness of our King is expressed in Hebrews 4:14-16 which says:

 "Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
 
  Praise Jesus that He does indeed sympathize with our weaknesses, that He is our High Priest, and that we may, because of His perfect sacrifice, come BOLDLY to the throne of grace!  I just love this passage of scripture and words fail me to tell of what an encouragement it has been to me - and of what hope there is here in this life because of Jesus!
 
Soli Deo Gloria!
 
Hannah

Monday, May 23, 2011

A Weekend on the Farm

  We were blessed with the opportunity to stay at the Richter's farm while they participated in a clinic in Minnesota.  It was great to finally learn how to do things on a farm and I got to milk Amanda's two goats, Dakota and Honey.  On Saturday, we went to a friend's house and the guys built chicken pens for the 200 meat chickens that we bought along with some other friends.  I am glad that I will now be able to do chores with Amanda and not be asking every couple of minutes "What can I do next?" or "Am I doing this right?".  Here are some of the pictures that I got over the weekend.  Please pardon me for all of the horse photos!!! :)


These guys moved around so much that this was the
 best picture that I was able to get all weekend!
The chicks
I thought that it was amazing how much larger
 the horse's head is compared to Jonathan's.
Hannah
Hope
Faith and Hope
Jonnie looks ready for anything! :)
Josh
Christian and Jeremiah (not our Jeremiah!)
The finished product(s)!
The sunset was incredible!  I just love sunsets! 
God is SO creative and knows just how to bless His children.  Praise Him!
Me and Otis, the "escape artist"
Milking Dakota

THE HORSES:
The horses could sense the storm coming and got really restless right before it broke.  The rain started so quickly and the drops were so big that I thought that it was hail!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Hard Work, Sunsets, Photos, Friends & More!

L-R:
Me, Christian, Jonathan, Kynna, Isaac, Ashlyn, Amanda

   Yesterday, we were out at the Richter's.  The boys helped to put up a fence in their horse pasture, and the girls, well, we took a lot of pictures and kind of helped with the "clean up" jobs.  After it got dark, we started a fire, made smores, and got to "help out" with chores.  I had a WONDERFUL time (as always!).

Three boys and a tractor
Best buddies
Father and Son
Christian tried to hide from the camera ... but I got him!
Isaac
A deep discussion over dinner
Amanda got this of me while I was tying my shoe.
The wind started blowing and I thought that my camera and
tripod were going to fall.  Thankfully, it didn't happen!
Yep, it was WINDY!
"Jeddy"
"Kynna"
Our attempt at a heart shape ...
... an "H" for "Hannah" ...
... and an "A" for "Amanda".
The hard-working guys.
Isaac and Ashlyn
The sunset was so pretty!
Praise the LORD!
I couldn't resist messing around with this one on Photoshop!
Ashlyn and Derek
This photo makes me think of the Chris Tomlin version of
 "Amazing Grace":
"My chains are gone, I've been set free..."

PRAISE JESUS!