A Post to Please Read

I'm posting a link here to my other blog because I would greatly covet your prayers on something. As a lot of you know, I am an author, and I have a separate profile and blog as my 'author' thing. Trying to keep my author and personal life separate. However, I would greatly appreciate it if you would read this and pray for me. It doesn't apply to book writing only. :-) Thank you.

When God's Plans are Bigger than Your Own

What This Crazy Girl Has Been Up To

Ok, y'all. I promised a better post of what has been going on, so here goes.

First of all, there has pretty much been one thing that has taken up loads of my time in the previous months- Pride and Prejudice. In case some of you didn't know, the ABC drama group did P&P this year in honor of its 200th year of publication. That can tell you two things: 1, it must be a pretty good book if it's been around for that long, or 2, we were crazy to do it. Well, basically both of them, really.

Although this was a HUGE challenge, I think we thespians really learned a lot and grew in our acting skills, which is good. We've always gone with comedy type plays, so to do one that leaned more towards the dramatic and serious side was quite an adventure, to say the least. It was, of course, a blast to do. Everyone did such a fabulous job with their parts. However, this one ran about 2.5 hours- which means everyone had LOTS of lines to memorize. So, I am quite serious when I say that P&P had been taking up most of my time.

However, now that is over, what else has been up? Well, for the first time ever, I've decided to participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). For the month of November, writers team up to encourage one another and attempt to write 50,000 words in one month. So far it has been a lot of fun and not as difficult as I thought. However, as the days are being ticked off every 24 hours, I find that time is definitely growing thin! (is that an oxymoron? Growing thin... anyway). It has certainly been a challenge, especially since I got behind, due to P&P and other family circumstances. However, I am quite determined to finish this thing, and, Lord Willing, you just might see a new book on the market in the near future. :-)

Besides NaNo, something else that is exciting is about to happen. My grandpa is moving next to us! We're extremely thrilled to have him nearby, only not so thrilled with the circumstances. His wife just recently passed away. He lives in Arkansas currently, so Mom, Josh, and I are heading out early tomorrow morning to head down there. We'll spend the weekend packing and packing and packing. Then, my dad will fly up Friday, rent the moving van, we'll load it, and drive it home Saturday/Sunday. I would really appreciate prayers. This is the first time I will be driving solo for 10+ hours... Mom and I will be able to swap out on the way up, but on the way down, we'll all be driving vehicles (dad in the truck, me in our car, and mom in Grandpa's car). Needless to say, we've packed plenty of caffeinated drinks and downloaded lots of audio books. :-) I'll be able to get some work done on my NaNo project, hopefully, when I'm not driving. We'll take the whole 10 hours on the way up, but we're hoping we'll be able to split it up on the way down. That just depends, though, on how quickly we can get things packed and loaded up.

My grandpa will be living in a little one room apartment that is adjacent to our house until we can find him a little bigger mobile home. So, prayers also that his house in Arkansas will sell quickly so we'll be able to get him more comfortable. However, we have currently been cleaning out the apartment (it had sort of become Becca's and my office/craft/sewing room). The biggest project is trying to get the plumbing fixed. We're all wondering why the folks who built it didn't just take the time to do a good job in the first place... *sigh*. However, the Lord has been good with all of it, and the nice bonus is that Josh has been allowed and encouraged to help the plumbers- which means he's learning a lot from that standpoint! He really enjoys working, too, so he is (in the words of Phil Robertson) 'happy, happy, happy'. :-)

And that, folks, is pretty much what has been going on. :-) Sorry there aren't any pictures, but I didn't have much time to look for any. I'm hoping that once we get back home, I'll have some time to post pics of life and drama (the drama group that is, not real drama...). ;-)

So, what have my lovely readers been up to? I'd love to hear how November has been going for y'all!

A Sneak Peak + An Update!

I know it has been FOREVER since I've posted on here... I do apologize. Life has pretty much taken me on it's... something. I can't think of the right term. In any case, life has been extremely crazy. I promise I shall give a much better post, but for now I just thought I'd jump in and say "DRAMA PERFORMANCE TONIGHT!!!" I'm SO excited... and EXTREMELY nervous... and yes, I like used my CAPs... ;-)

(This was taken before costumes were fully figured out... thus why some of us look... interesting.. ;-)

If you want to see a few pictures/sneak peak, check out this LINK! Also, on the blog site itself (in a different post) there is a post of all the cast. We got 'cameo' pictures two weeks ago, so I put them up. :-) Check 'em out!

Prayers that we do well, please!!

I'll pop in for another update a little later in time. :-)

Ever Wonder if You're Going to Get Back to 'Normal'?

At this moment, it really feels like my life is never going to see an easy, normal pace again. I've been running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. Literally. Yet, God is good and I know that He has a plan... I just sometimes wish that He didn't know I could handle so much! ;-)

So, what have I been up to? Well, I've posted before that I'm going to be selling my children's book at our annual Home school convention. Thus, book publishing, working with my cover design guy, and getting illustrations put in have pretty much consumed my life.

However, though it has been stressful, it has been such a blessing as well. I'm so very excited to see it all in print. I'm giving a quick sneak peek as to what it is looking like so far. Just a bit of the inside and a few of the amazing illustrations that my mom has done....

The illustrations are COPYRIGHTED! Please don't steal them. :-) My mom worked super hard on them and I think they turned out amazingly!! (Yeah, probably not a real word.. but it describes it well). 

Hopefully very soon I will be posting links to where you can purchase the book! :-) 

Also, for those that might not know, I have started a 'business blog'. I'd really appreciate it if you visited and followed. :-) www.bookwriter451.blogspot.com

I do have a prayer request... the publisher that I am using is a 'print on demand' company. This means that if I'm third 'in line' for orders, I have to wait my turn. As the convention is practically around the corner, I'd really appreciate if you would please pray that God will keep the doors open so that they can quickly publish my book as soon as I get it sent it. Thank you so much!! 

Sick...sick...sick. Blah. Please be praying!

I have, unfortunately, come down a sore throat..  I might have mentioned several weeks ago that my family had it's cycle of a cold... but, I don't know if this is a re-flare from it, or what.

However, I am feeling absolutely miserable. It hurts to talk, I am extremely tired, don't feel like doing anything-but want to do something!  It is such a weird feeling, being sick.  It's very boring.  I can't visit with my Sib's, I can't touch them.. and I have to try to avoid contact with anything that they might touch.  Yeah, that's an oxymoron since I'm typing on the computer.. however, I just finished washing my hands so that I can keep the germs off of the keys.

If y'all don't mind praying, I would REALLY appreciate it! We've got some things coming up and I really don't want to miss out.  In fact, the rest of the family loaded up to have dinner with some friends of ours.  Big bummer I couldn't go, but I really didn't feel up to it, nor did I want to get the little baby sick (yup, forget about the rest of them! haha!).  I'm actually hoping to post pictures of their evening because they are doing something pretty funny... So, keep an eye out for that.

I also received a HUGE scare just a half hour ago.  My dad called to say that a friend of ours had seen our dogs on the freeway.  Yeah. Super scary! I was thinking for sure that I'd get over there and they'd be road kill...

I bundled up and headed down the road in the truck.  Thankfully, just a little ways down our road, I saw Oreo (my dog-ish).  Whew! but then I was horrified to think that they other two, Bandit and Sadie, had had something happen to them.  So, I continued down the road and here comes Bandit. Phew! But then... where was Sadie?  She is such a big dog, she doesn't move very quickly... what if....

Hurray! Here she came, plodding down the road. Thank you, Lord! We've already lost one dog to being hit by a car.. and it is no fun. I really didn't want it to happen again!

Well, I'd better head out. I gotta do a few things before I can lay down again.  I hate it how, no matter how much you nap, you just feeling even more tired!  I will tell you, though, that if you are sick, the best thing is to walk around (if you are able).  It helps to get your blood pumping to get oxygen to your brain (the lack of which makes you tired), and just kind of helps to make you feel better.

Hope everyone is doing well!
Thanks for the prayers!!!!

In Him,
Sarah

Been wondering what's going on? (plus a prayer request!)

Ok, maybe I flatter myself by thinking that my readers even wonder if anything is up.  However, I thought that perhaps they might have noticed that I didn't post a recipe for two Fridays in a row, and that last week's posts were rather disoriented.

I'm here to tell you that I have been rather busy.  Ok, that is a lame excuse, I suppose...  When I decided to do this whole shebang, I forgot that it would land right in the middle of cattle season! Whoops!  So, my family and I have been a bit busy working cows, doing regular chores, and trying to do a decent amount of school work in our spare time.  Yeah.

Just so you know, I won't be doing any of the "regular" posts this week.  So, in other words- no giveaways, recipes, etc.  I might do some of the interviews, but I'm still getting that all worked out.  My sister and I realized that it would be a whole lot more fun if we had prizes for the winners of the photography contest.  So, I've been trying to organize what I have on the list so far (of items to giveaway) and deciding which items to do as giveaways and which items to do as prizes.  Doesn't help any when you come up a few short!  Oh well, it will work out eventually, I guess!  Sorry, I'm rambling.....

What you might see this week-maybe-would be a couple of posts that I've had laid on my heart to write up.  If you don't see anything this week, then just come back next week as I get back into the swing of things for the LAST WEEK in our Photography contest.  Remember that you've only got 16 more days-SIXTEEN- to get your entries in and spread the word!  Thank you to those who have entered so far.  It looks like it is going to be a pretty tough choice to pick winners! :-)

Alright, I guess I don't have a whole lot more to say.  Off to 'hold down the fort' (it can literally become one with two brothers playing soldiers... ha, at least I get to be the General!). 

Oh, please be praying for a dear friend of ours, Mrs. H.  She just recently had her third little boy by C-section due to the fact that the baby just didn't want to come out.  However, while the doctors were trying to get her baby out, they ended up cutting through her bladder (which had been flattened during pregnancy), pulled a baby through it, then had to do a 3 1/2 hour surgery on the bladder.  So, needless to say, she's had quite the experience.  She has two other little boys (aged 6 and 3). Both have missed their Momma.  The youngest LOVES to snuggle, so he doesn't quite understand why Mommy can't hold him right now.  Oh, and not to mention that while all of this is going on, she still has to take care of a little newborn.  So, please keep them in your prayers. Thanks!

Ok, now I really will "Officially" sign off. ;-)

In Christ's Service,
Sarah

"Though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death..."

"I asked God to give me a sign that He loved me.  I gazed into the heavens and saw the stars, but was disappointed that I saw no shooting ones.
"I asked God to give me a sign that He was mighty and powerful. I looked down and saw an intricate flower that even the most talented artists could not draw, yet I was disappointed that it was not my favorite color.
"I asked God to give me a sign that He would be near me always.  I looked and saw my Bible sitting on the shelf.  I took it down and began reading.  Guilt washed over me as I remembered what I had asked, and how He had answered. 
"I asked God to once again show me that He loved me, and I felt His arms surround me.
"I asked God to show me that He was mighty and Powerful, and He showed me where He had defeated armies.
"I asked God to show me that He would be near me always, and He simply whispered in my ear, "You are My child.  Why would I ever leave you?"

There are times when we walk on mountain tops, and times when we walk through valleys.  I have often questioned, when going through trials, what it is that He is trying to show me.  Sometimes it is obvious, sometimes not.  Most of the time, He simply guides me one step at a time, only letting me see one foot at a time.

"I dissolve my couch with my tears..." (from the book of Psalms)
Trials are painful.  God has said that He will only give us what we can bear... but once our strength has given out, He gives us the strength to stand.

I still don't always know why I go through trials. He gives us trials to draw us near to Him, or to perhaps show us an area in our lives that needs to be polished.  Whatever it might be, it is still hard to remember that He is there, giving us strength to stand, instead of turning His back on us.

However, every so often, when the valley seems the deepest and darkest, He gives us a light in the distance; a Lily to give us hope that He is still there, and no matter what we may be going through, He will always hold us in His hand.

Home Alone.....

No, not the movie.. for real!  Mom and Daddy took a flight this afternoon to the D.C. area.  Why?  Well, my Grandmother had saved up some rewards for the ticket thing, and ended up having enough for 2 tickets.  She gave them to my parents, and my parents are using them for a little giveaway/visit to our Aunt.  We don't get to see my Aunt (my dad's youngest sister) very often, so this will be really nice for them to get in a good visit.

This, of course, leaves us traumatized.... HOME ALONE!!!! AHHHHH!!!  *Evil chuckle* oh, if only they knew what we were planning... perhaps they would think twice about going away.  Just kidding.  We plan on being very well behaved.  However, I will say that this is our first time to be on our own, for this long, without staying with a grandparent.  Usually we head up the hill to stay with my Nana, but not this time.  It is a bit of an adventure, really. Very fun, actually, and we are kind of looking forward to it.

Although we don't have a huge list of things to accomplish while they are gone, we do have a few things that need to be done.  Keep the house in order, keep everyone in order, etc, etc.

Becca and I are actually painting our room.  Yeah.  This poor room has seen several different occupants in it's time.  When we first moved in, it was the 'girl's' room.. Then it was the 'boy's' room, and then Mom and Dad's room.  Now it is our room again. :-)  We had painted it a light purple our first time.. Then the boys painted it 'army sand dune' (I'll post pictures..).  When we girls were moving back in, we decided that we didn't much care for feeling like we were on an army front all the time, so yeah. :-)

Any how, I would like to ask for prayers that my mom and dad will get there safely (actually, their plane should be arriving soon), that they will be safe while there, and that they will have a safe trip home.  Thanks!

OH! One more thing... we got a whole inch and a half of rain last night!! It was BEAUTIFUL!!!  Oh, the smell of rain, the sound of it, the looks of it, and what comes up after it are all just wonderful.  The grass surely needed this.

Now, I get to tell a little story on my self that was rather funny.  Behind our house a little ways is a 'dirt tank' (a natural 'bowl' in the ground that stores up water from rain fall. The cows can get water to drink from these 'tanks').  We named it Tadpole Pond because as soon as it rains, the frogs come out and lay eggs. In a little while you will see a gazillion little tadpoles swimming around.  We also have Banana Lake (the 'lake' that forms on the curving road), and Arena Lake (the lake formed in the arena.. lol!)  All of these were filled full yesterday with the rain.  So, this morning, Josh, Caleb, and I headed out to wade in Tadpole Pond.  Just Caleb and I went in while Josh sat on the banks and watched.  At one point, my boots got stuck in the mud... unfortunately, I lost my balance, and well- you get the picture. :-)  The boys were laughing so hard that they could hardly help me up.  I am sure I did look, and sound, like a sight! Too bad we didn't have it on video! lol!
  Any how, thank you to those who have been praying for rain over here! They have been much appreciated! :-)

I hope everyone is having a great week so far!!

In Christ's Service,
Sarah

The light at the end of the tunnel!

I can finally see the light!!  I am almost done with school!!!  To say I am slightly excited would be an understatement.  Although I do enjoy learning different things, it will be nice to be done!

I will hopefully be graduating this fall.

The books on my list?

The Human Body: Fearfully and Wonderfully Made (this has been truly fascinating!) This one is a huge text book that looked quite daunting when I first started!
The History of Medicine (both of these are smaller books)
The World of Physics


World History, part 2 (almost done with this fella!)
Government History

And then several math books... As you all know, math is not my strong point.  However, perseverance is always good in matters like these, and I am determined to get done. :-)

It is kind of a strange feeling to be close to graduating... I keep thinking that I will have all this time on my hands, but I know that won't be true because I will be doing all those things that are on my other 'to do list'.  Still, at least those won't HAVE to be done everyday, if you get my meaning. :-)

Are some of you close to graduating?  Or perhaps some have already graduated??

Pray for rain! Our poor cows are looking skinny, skinny.  However, God is performing miracles around here... but I think I better leave that to another post!!

In Christ's Service,
Sarah

Keep the prayers coming!

Howdy!

I just wanted to thank y'all, once again, for the wonderful and mighty prayers that y'all have done on behalf of getting rain.  Just wanted to let everyone know that we have rain clouds hanging over us right now, so keep the prayers coming that it just dumps its load soon. :-)

Thank you!!

In Christ's Service,
Sarah

Prayers please!

Hello prayer warriors!

I am asking for some big prayers, please.  Today, the sun started getting dim.... when I looked outside, the sky was also dim.  Unfortunately not from rain clouds!  Instead, smoke.  Fires are never a good thing, as many of you know.  Right now we are extremely dry and are in need of some moisture.

So, my prayer request.  Any time we smell fire, we are instantly wondering if it could be on our property.  Mom and I ran up to my Nana's house to watch the news.  There were two fires.  Both down at the very bottom of NM...  One of them, though, has been burning/already burnt 33,000 acres.  We think the smoke has come all the way from there.  It is pretty hazy out there! 

I would like to ask for two prayers.  1. That the fire will get put under control.  I imagine many homes might have been ruined, and many people have evacuated. I can't imagine how terrifying it would be to run from your home, knowing you might possibly lose it. 
2. That we will get rain.  We desperately need it.

Thank you so much!!

In Christ' Service,
Sarah

Update on Mr.J and another prayer request

Ok, here is the latest update on Mr. J.

He has been moved to the ICU (I don't know why he wasn't there before). He has encephalitis (I finally got the big word for it).  Fortunately it is viral instead of bacterial.  Apparently viral is better (Ok, obviously not 'better' but I guess bacterial is worse than viral.)

Mom was saying that at best he will have about 2 weeks in the hospital.  But, still don't know if he will come away fully recovered or not.

Mrs. J has been able to get some rest and is doing better knowing he is under constant watch.

Thank you for your prayers!

We are heading out to our LAST bull sale!!  Please pray that it goes well! Thank you so much!

In Christ's Service,
Sarah

Urgent Prayer request

Dear Prayer Warriors,

I am posting on behalf of some friends of ours who are going through a lot right now.  Yesterday afternoon, Mrs. J received a call from Mr. J informing her that he was coming home early because he wasn't feeling well.  When the J family got home, he was already there taking an nap.
   Later that night, Mr. J was having problems making himself understood (he was only able to mumble), and couldn't walk without assistance.  Mrs. J and the oldest son (along with the little baby) took him to the emergency room.  By the time he was actually taken in and his problem was diagnosed, it was 4 in the morning. 

He has swelling in the brain.  I don't remember the fancy word used for it, but just those simple words can say a lot.  This is really major and can sometimes be fatal.  He is the father of 7 children, their ages ranging from 16 to a couple of months (they just had another baby).  Please keep them in your prayers.  Please pray that the Doctors will know what to do, that God will give Mrs. J peace, that the whole family will be leaning in God through this whole ordeal. 

Mrs. J and the oldest son have not had sleep for 40 hours, so please keep them in your prayers that God will give them strength.

I will try to keep you updated as soon as I know more.....


Also, although this is not as urgent, our last bull sale is coming up this Friday at 1pm (MT).  Please pray that all will go well.

Thank you so very much,
In Christ's Service,
Sarah

Prayers for Tomorrow/Today

Ok, I am writing this at 30 minutes until midnight, so y'all will read this 'tomorrow', or 'today'...

Any way, our second/middle bull sale is tomorrow.  I am asking for prayers again that it will go well.  Thank you so much for your prayers on the last bull sale. They were very much appreciated.

Now, off to put sheets on my bed so I can crash and put in a few hours before getting up early! ;-) (Thank goodness I don't have to drive.. lol!)

In Christ's Service,
Sarah

Keeping it Classy, modest fashion show- Day 1 and a prayer request

Hello!  Today is the first day of Bramblewood Fashion's "Keeping it Classy" modest fashion show!  I am really excited.  There are several other girls who are participating and it was fun to see their outfits for today. 

(Sorry this pic was bad...  It was muddy outside, not to mention that since we took the pictures this evening, it was too dark to take them outside anyway! I hope to get better ones for the rest of the week.)
What I wore today:

~Dark Purple 'blouse' with 3/4 length sleeves- Walmart

~Brown 'dress' skirt- thrift store  (I call it a 'dress' skirt because it used to be one of those dresses with that scrunchy elastic stuff for the bodice-they are strapless.  Well, I bought it for a few bucks, cut off the excess elastic stuff and made a skirt! ;-) )

~Shoes, Sketchers- Foot Smart??? (I don't actually have them on in the picture.. I am not one to wear shoes for very long if I don't have to... lol!)

~Hair is just pulled back into a clip

~Earrings- my original 'diamond' studs



Thank you to my dear sister, Rebecca, for taking the pictures!!!

I would like to ask prayers for my Dad's Aunt Joy.  She was taken to the hospital yesterday because of some stomach pains.  When they did an X-ray, they saw a mass on her stomach.  She will be doing some more tests to see whether the mass is cancerous or not.  Any way, please pray for her that if it is cancer that it will not be painful any more, and that the family will be at peace and draw closer to God during this time. 

On another side note:
We had church today at our friend's house.  After the teaching and lunch, the dad's and us kids headed outside to enjoy the warmer weather.  Someone decided that since there was snow on the ground, we should have a snowball fight.  We got behind the decorative walls in their yard (after dividing into teams- boys against the girl's and two dads) and soon the air was filled with smoke from the canons (or in our case, snow was in the air as people launched balls at each other), screams and shouting, and lots of laughter.  One of the dad's threw a snowball at the same time one of the boys did and they both collided in the air!! It was SO cool. You couldn't have done that if you wanted to.  Needless to say, I suppose a few of us might have bruises tomorrow.. Which tells you why you NEVER have a snowball fight unless you have the proper snow gear on. ;-)  Oh, and never catch a zipping snowball with your hand.  Let me tell you, it HURTS!  Well, if you hand is bare and FREEZING, then it hurts.. lol! (this is also part of why I am not wearing shoes.. they got mud all over them during the snowball fight...)

After we got home, Becca called my attention to my little (or not so little) filly, Freckle, who was running around outside.  She wasn't with the other horses, so I headed out to investigate.  Looked like she had gotten separated from the rest of the herd and was going frantic.  As soon as I stepped outside and called to her, she started nickering to me- it was so sweet!  Then she just followed me like a little lamb as I lead her through some gates and back to her friends.  Poor thing was extremely glad to be with them again. :-)  So, I slipped and slid in mud some more doing that.. But hey, I am really glad for the mud.  Means this snow was worth something! :-) 

How's the weather at your place?  Is it warming up, cooling down, snowing, raining?   I think we will have warm weather the rest of this week (HURRAY!).  The calves will actually be able to arrive in this strange world in decent weather.. lol!

I would love to hear what y'all did today, so leave and comment! :-)

In Christ's Service,
Sarah