Prayer Needs and God's Faithfulness

Wow, my life has been anything but boring these past few months. I wanted to be more diligent about blogging but I never seem to get that far on my "to do" list for the day. Geez! I feel like I am more busy now than when I had sleepless, nursing babies to take care of and energetic toddlers to chase!! At any rate, the purpose of today's blog is just an update of the happenings around our home.



At the moment, I am sitting in yet another hospital room with Monroe. Sorry, no pictures for today and many thanks to my dear sister-in-law, Sandi, for the use of her laptop!! As many of you may know but some may not, Monroe opted for a second back surgery. The first surgery was in October and at that time the Dr. gave Monroe the choice of a one level fusion knowing that in the future he would eventually have to have two more fusions or the choice of having a three level fusion in the first surgery. Because he has many more years to work and be active we chose to fuse only one level. Everything was going great for the first three weeks but then he had some setbacks. The pain and tingling/burning in his back and legs returned. Through many tests the Dr. concluded that the two levels above the first fusion would need surgery to bring relief. He gave Monroe the option of when to have the second surgery and Monroe chose to go ahead with it. Poor guy. He is just tired of lying around with the recovery of the first surgery but he is not able to go back to work due to the pain he still has. So this past Friday he went ahead with the second surgery. He is doing okay today. Having bouts of nausea which he didn't have with the last surgery but he was under anesthesia much longer this time so that accounts for some of the nausea not to mention the pain medications. Please keep him in your prayers for a speedy recovery with no complications.

Please keep my family in prayer as well. We are dealing with a variety of issues that I am not at liberty to share. Our family is going through many trials right now but oh how we can see the Lord's hand and His provision every day. We are not alone and our faith is growing as we see Him carrying us through. God Is Good All The Time!

As for things on the home front, my spring garden is a little behind. I had planned to have my seeds trays started by now....oh well, I may be late getting them transplanted but it will all work out fine in the end. We left onions, carrots and cauliflower in the ground from the winter garden. Brandon tilled the rest of the garden last week and we added wettable sulphur to the soil because our soil test showed a high ph. After applying this amendment we can plant in two weeks. By then I should be able to get out there and get busy planting. I miss gardening.

We were also able to process one of our hogs before Monroe's surgery. When we get back home and back to some sense of normalcy, we plan to make sausage with the pork and venison from this year's butchering and hunting. Actually, there wasn't much hunting going on around our place this year but God once again showed His faithfulness and the past two weekends we got a call from a friend of ours that he had been hunting and got a deer but didn't want the meat! I'm telling you that is the kind of thing the Lord has been doing in our family lately. I could tell you of many, many more instances such as this! I am writing down all the blessings we have been receiving for my children to remind them of what they are seeing happen in our lives. I want them to never forget the love and goodness of Jesus.

I expect Monroe will be in the hospital a couple more days. This hospital is 1 1/2 hours away from home so I am staying with him. Thankfully I have older boys to hold down the fort till we can get back home!!

Thanks to all for your prayers!

The Dog With the Heavy Head

Our family has a most unusual pet/member of the family. Meet Keiko. She is a Black and Tan coon dog. We "inherited" Keiko from our son-in-law, Ricky. Keiko has always lived with us because she was a gift from Brooke to Ricky before they were married. Ricky wasn't able to have pets where he was living at the time so we kept Keiko here at our house.

Well, after Brooke and Ricky married they moved into a really tiny house so Keiko didn't fit...literally! That was okay with our family so she just stayed on with us. But, back to what makes Keiko unusual. I must say that I have never had a pet that would find such unusual positions to relax! Take a look at the next few shots and see if you don't agree! Here she is daydreaming about being outside. However, when I let her out she is like a child wanting in and out all day long!

Isn't she a hoot?!

We just walked into the kitchen and there she was, all propped up!

She is a wonderful farm dog though. When my chickens get out she loves to catch them but she will not hurt them. She just traps them against the fence and holds them with her mouth or her paw until we can get to her. Other than alot of slobber, the hens are perfectly fine!

My older boys always begged me to let her go hog hunting with them but I never would let her go. She definitely has hunting in her blood but I would never want her to become a hunting dog. So, she is resolved to hunt the family farm hens and when she gets REALLY bored I can find her hunting house flies! Really!!

Wanted: Kitchen Help!

Hunting season will be here before I realize it. That means taking an inventory of the meat freezer. Yikes! Lots of venison still to be eaten. This is a "good" problem to have, however. I just need to get my creative juices flowing for some venison recipes.

We have a stir-fry recipe that the entire family loves (except Brooke) using venison. I thought I would share this dish with anyone interested (Brooke, I know that IS NOT you!) because it is so simple and delicious (that's right Brooke, delicious!).

I called on my two trusty kitchen helpers to pitch in with all the chopping and slicing. Boys love to do that sort of thing. I think it has something to do with using a knife...hee..hee! Hey, it works for me! Bryce was in charge of chopping the veggies. I use peppers, onions, mushrooms, broccoli, cabbage (anykind) carrots, etc. You can really use just about anything you want for the vegetables.
Brandon was the meat slicer. Keep the meat sliced very thin.

Then, I pour soy sauce or tamari sauce in the bottom of my pan. Pour enough to cover the bottom. Next, add about 3 TBS of sugar. Heat the sauce and sugar until sugar melts. Add the meat and cook it on medium heat for a couple of minutes. Then add the vegetables. Cover and cook until the veggies are the desired texture you prefer.

Serve over rice and enjoy! Oh, and a side note for Brooke: Parker and Luke loved this venison! I was watching my little sweeties on this night and they seemed to enjoy it as much as everyone else. Well, for Luke he ate some meat and rice. That is pretty good for him.

By the way, my children really do own shirts. It seems during the summer they never wear one unless we are going somewhere. I just wanted to clarify that incase someone was thinking of starting a clothing fund for them ;-)

Answered Prayer!

Well hunting season is off to a great start for my family!! Monroe has already got a 6-point and Brandon has a great story of his hunting trip with Dad. Before Brandon left for his day of hunting he asked me to be praying for him to get a buck. He has never shot a buck before only a doe. I told him I would surely be praying! So, Saturday morning at 4:00 a.m. Dad and Bran left for the hour drive to the property our dear friends own. They graciously allow our family to hunt there each year. My two hunters sat and waited all day long and saw nothing!

We told Brandon the Lord must be teaching him patience because normally the wildlife is plentiful. They hunting crew came home discouraged but willing to try again the next morning.

Once again they got an early start. It was so very cold but that didn't dampen spirits! Once again they sat and sat and saw nothing. Brandon never stopped praying though. After taking a break in the afternoon, Dad and Brandon headed up the tree stand to try one last time. About 4:00 p.m. they spotted a huge buck headed into the small area of woods. They had a hunch that the deer would come back out before dark. Sure enough, about 5:30 p.m. they spotted him. Brandon was so excited he started trembling. (I don't understand this excitement. Maybe it is a guy thing??) The buck was about 120 yards away and Dad knew it would be a tough shot to make but Brandon was confident he could make it. Dad gave the okay and Brandon took aim, shot and hit that big buck the first time. He never took another step I am told! I don't know who was more emotional, Dad or Brandon!

After a closer look, they realized just how big this one is! He is a 7-point with a spread of 16". According to my guys that is pretty good for Florida deer. So, little Brandon has set the stakes high for the rest of the hunters in my family!! His older brothers look a little green to me. Maybe it is just the light, huh? They haven't had their hunting day yet so we will see....

Dad measured his biggest deer that is proudly displayed in our living room and guess what??

It is not as big as Brandon's deer! Needless to say, Brandon will be getting his deer mounted. He will have to display his trophy buck in his bedroom! There is no more room in the living room for wildlife.

Now there is one happy little boy...errrr...young man, yikes when did THAT happen! I think he is still on cloud 9 around here! Brandon has learned some important lessons about our Lord. He knows that God hears his prayer and He is concerned about every little detail of our lives. He has also learned to be patient and keep praying. He has given the Lord thanks for this great hunting trip! The following pictures are some that Brandon asked me to post. A warning for the animal lovers out there, they are a little graphic. They are taken at our barn where we hang and clean the animals before we process the meat. By the way, no one loves animals more than my family. We care for each and every animal we have, from our pet squirrels to our Missy-mommy to be-cow! We know, however, that this is how the Lord provides for our needs and we are grateful for his provisions.

It's That Time of Year Again

Hunting season is a big deal in our family. But then what else would you expect with a house full of males!! It has definitely given me a "tougher skin". I can remember as a little girl, I cried as I watched TV and saw the wild animals killing and eating their prey. Little did I know the Lord was going to give me a hunter for a husband and plenty of boys to become hunters also! I still can't watch them hunt or shoot the deer and it still makes me a little sad when I see the deer before they are hung and cleaned. I have, however, learned how to process and freeze the venison. The meat for our family has been a blessing. It helps me to know that my guys are responsible hunters and they have a respect for God's creation. They are very humane in their hunting and they have only learned this from their Dad.

This weekend is Brandon's turn to go hunting with Dad. He just found out yesterday and I can't even begin to count how many times I have heard him say, "I'm so excited! I can't wait till Saturday!" He got a doe last year during doe season.

There is quite a story from that hunting trip last fall. Brandon spotted his deer from the tree stand with Dad and then took aim and fired. When he shot this is what he hit...

They had a good laugh over that shot! I am sure he would have a hard time hitting a tree like that on purpose!! : ) He didn't give up though and was able to bring home a nice doe (still kinda sad to Mom...leave the women and children alone!) for our dinner table.

Well, I'll will have to let you know how he did on his hunting trip this weekend. He will have a good time if for no other reason than to sit out in the tree stand and eat junk food! You know, a REAL man with no Mom over his shoulder to say, "Now you have eaten enough of that, son!"

Pam