An Unexpected Icy Sanctuary

    The morning started out pretty rough. I was taking my life in my hands just walking from my door to the car this morning when I left for work. All the left over snow and ice on the ground was now blended beautifully in a glaze of gleaming ice.It was cold but just warm enough to rain and the sun wasn't out yet. I glided my way to the car and managed to get it turned out to the road which was clear and just wet....whew! I  didn't  fall! (I'm sure I was a humorous site to behold...I am not  known  for  being graceful!)
   As the day went on, it warmed up to something like 60ish degrees! Then the sun came out and it was gorgeous! On my lunch break, I ran a few errands and had my car window down! It's January!...in Pennsylvania! On my way home, it was raining...the sky was dark, but the sun was shining from somewhere behind me..."there has to be a rainbow" I thought...as I drove  over the top of the hill heading into  town, I saw it...a beautiful  rainbow...I wished I  was at home out on the  ridge where we see many...my youngest son Colton took a couple of pictures for me  so I could see that it was in fact a full double rainbow...my favorite!  (....and just as soon as we can figure out how to get those pictures off his ipod i will upload them LOL)
   I love that God's  word tells us it is a sign to remind us of His faithfulness, and  I can't help  but feel like  it's  a  big  warm  hug from my Heavenly Father when I see one.

   I wanted to post the beautiful pictures I took on Sunday. I was home from church sick. When I woke up, the house was quiet since my family went to church. When I looked out my bedroom window, the sun was just beaming off everything! A thick coat of ice blanketed everything! But I could see that the sun was warming it all and water was dripping everywhere. I had to get my camera before it was all gone. I must have  been a sight...Pj's...rubber boots...bedhead...Good thing I live in the boonies!
   The fresh air did me good... I felt terrible all weekend, and  hated to miss church, but God and I had a moment  like we often do.... out in his beautiful creation.
   With as warm and beautiful as it was today, there are no traces of the ice-ing we had. But here are some of the pictures I took in the glistening sanctuary right outside my door. God is faithful to meet us where we are and speak to us in a way he knows will touch us. God loves each of us in a personal way...He knows your love language and He will speak to you too...you just have to listen.

....Here is how He spoke to me :)

"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

Isaiah 1:18

Leave a comment and share  how God spoke to you recently...I would love to hear about it!

If This Chair Could Talk...

 

 This chair was my grandpa's. I can still picture him sitting in it, laughing at a comedy on T.V. or sitting reading the paper....sometimes looking as if in deep thought, sometimes napping. I was very close with him and there are many days I wish I could just sit and talk with him....ask him for advice...make up a silly song like we used to. Aside form my husband, I have never had the love of a better man than him. He taught me what a good man was...he didn't even try, and probably never knew....but because of his love and godly example, I chose a wonderful man to be my husband and the father of my children.
   My Grandpa went home to be with the Lord right before I turned 19. I remember coming home from a wonderful night with Dave...I was so excited because Dave had just proposed. My Grandpa really liked Dave and he knew I loved Dave before I did, so I was so excited for us to come in and share the big news. He smiled as he looked at the ring...he was happy for us. He asked "When's the big day?" ( it was March when we got engaged) I said, "We love the fall, and want to have an October wedding." He said, "Boy I don't know if I can wait that long!"...I just thought he was excited, but it turns out he hadn't been feeling well, but never told any of us.
   Just a couple of weeks later, and he was gone...he had a massive heart attack followed by a stroke. The doctors said he had significant scarring on his heart indicating he had probably had several small heart attacks leading up to that big one....
  Wedding plans kept us quite busy for the next 7 months. We had a wonderful warm October day when we said "I do". There was a tinge of sadness, because I had so wanted my Grandpa to walk me down the isle...
   Time moved on and we moved to an apartment and then discovered we would be adding to our family! We moved to our first little home in  the country with our new baby boy.
   I was given a gift when we moved there...my mom  and Gram decided I should have my Grandpa's chair. More than a year and a half had passed since he had died. That night I sat in that chair...it all hit  me. He  missed our wedding, the birth  of his first great grandson... but here I was sitting in his chair, and somehow that provided a space to heal. When someone passes at  such a busy time, it's easy to not really deal with the loss...there just wasn't any time to let it all sink in.
   Over 18 years later, I still find great comfort in that chair...now I'm the one sitting there laughing at the comedy, sitting with my laptop catching up on the news, writing my blog....many times just sitting deep in thought. I have sat there contemplating many things over the years....held my babies, searched through my Bible for answers, cried for my children's broken hearts....
   As I sit here now, I can see the soft blue fabric faded and tattered around the edges and I remember my Grandpa's strong hands on the arms....fingers slowly rubbing the trim when he seemed to be working something over in his mind.... there are some stains on the matching ottoman...but it is one of my most treasured things.
   I've been  spending  time here a lot lately, heart heavy for my family...I wonder if we were in his mind when he sat thinking quietly. Funny how your perspective changes as you get older.
   I am so thankful for so many blessings in my life including this simple, worn, secondhand chair, whose  beauty is  invisible to most.
  
   How about you? Do you have something that is special to you that ties you to the past?
   

The Liebster Award!

Liebster Blog Awards

A Farmgirl's View was just awarded the Liebster Blog Award!

My heartfelt Thanks go out to Heidi at White Wolf Summit Farmgirl for passing this along. Heidi writes 2 excellent blogs, her other one is My Simple Country Living. Stop by both of her blogs today for wonderful inspiration. Her Country Garden Showcase makes me  want to get out and play in the dirt for sure!

Liebster means Dearest or Favorite in German!

Now, I get to give the award to FIVE up and coming bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers! 

If you are selected for this little blog award, it's your responsibility to give it to 5 blogs and share the blog love! This part is VERY tough, narrowing down your list to just five blogs. 

Here are the rules:

1- Choose FIVE up and coming blogs to award the Liebster to. Blogs must have less than 200 followers.

2- Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

3- Post the award on your blog. List the bloggers you gave the award to with links to their sites.

It is so hard to pick just 5 of the many blogs I read but here are the winners.

1.Our Family - A beautiful blog about a beautiful family and their journey through adoption.

2.Living Life As It Unfolds - An interesting blog by a homeschool mom featuring reviews on homeschool products and inspirational thoughts.

3.Flowers in His Garden - An inspiring blog that encourages and uplifts all who read it.

4.Lady Farmer Parables - This is a fun blog that has great ideas and always has a thought provoking message.

5.Imitation by Design - this blog has some of the yummiest recipes ever! You can always find something great here.

Please stop by and visit these wonderful blogs, it will brighten your day!

New Year Traditions

   Wow! hard to believe it is 2012! I am feeling so hopeful about this year, I don't know why...it's like I have a special peace inside. This makes me excited to see what God will do in the coming year...He's always so faithful to our little family!
   New Year's Eve was a fun night. We always invite our friends over as well as the kid's friends. It is so important to celebrate friendship! Friends are a blessing from the Lord and we should not (but often do) take them for granted. So for us, New Year's Eve is our celebrating the wonderful friends we've had all year and looking forward to the year ahead with them. We had close to 20 over and it's a tight squeeze at times (especially if 4 people are playing Just Dance on the Wii) but that's OK. Hopefully we will have even more over next year.
   Not only do we have amazing friends, but our kids have amazing friends too. It is truly a  pleasure to have these kids over and we have watched them grow up into wonderful people!
   Here are some highlights...

Dancing fun!

Our good friends Kelly & Tony and Brian & Lorilee

Mother/Daughter Dance Duo
( Chelsea & Tammy)

Zach, Brandon, Chels

Great kids!

Playing Spoons!

Intense game of spoons!

Watching the ball drop

Back to playing games :)

Our good friends Tammy & Mark

   New Year's Day we got up and went to church, a few boys spent the night, but amazingly we all got up and out the door on time!
   We are blessed with a great church family and a wonderful Pastor. It was THE way to start the year....After church we went to my husband's parents house to celebrate with family and a yummy dinner. There are always plenty of funny memories being shared and too much fudge eaten by all ( someday I will have to do a whole blog about my husbands Aunt Cook's fudge...and yes it's THAT good!)
.......Somehow I forgot to take my camera for this :(


   Another of our traditions is our Annual Wreath Drop. We have been doing this for the past 5 years and I don't know who has more fun ...the kids, or Dad! I usually stand in front of the house and video or take pictures. Dad runs all through the front of the house "releasing" the wreaths while the boys are outside guessing which wreath will be dropped next.... Mom, of course strongly urging them to not let them hit the ground. I wasn't too worried since I am replacing all the bows for next year. The old ones lasted 5 years so not too bad.
   Here's a visual if it's hard to imagine....

This should have been our Christmas card...maybe next year lol

My wonderful farm boys!

   I hope all of you have a wonderful year this year and that you will walk close with the Lord every step of the way. I'm not big on resolutions...I'm trying to take more time to "listen" to what God would like me to work on and let Him take the lead in making the necessary changes within me. Change is good :)
   Thanks for reading,
Blessings in the new year,
Allison