J's Graduation from High School

I forgot to post about J's Grad the end of June. Oops! I posted some pictures on Facebook but forgot about my blog, so will have to remedy that, however late! :o)

The grads always have a parade - J rode on her friend's 4-wheeler.



Before the graduation ceremony we took a few family pictures . . .



. . . and a few of J and her close friends.



J was one of 6 in her class that got an award for getting marks above 90% in at least 5 classes this year. Congratulations, J!







She was pretty excited!





In the evening they had a banquet for the graduates and their parents. It was pretty nice! The decorating committee worked hard to transform the auditorium. The theme of the evening was "One Night in Paris". There was an Eiffel Tower in the entrance that you walked under, a cafe, a bridge, the Paris skyline on the walls, and a replica of the Arch of Triumph, which someone's parents worked VERY hard on! It was amazing!

A. and I at the banquet:



The Arch of Triumph:



J in front of the cafe:



The other two girls from her elementary school:



All the gals in their very colorful dresses, taken on the bridge:



It's pretty hard to believe that this chapter of her life is finished - it's gone so quickly! Soon she'll be starting a new chapter.

We love you so much, J! :o)

Hotspot Festival Parade

Today K was able to participate in a neighboring town's festival parade. K was doubtful that it would work out, so she was quite happy when it did! We were up late last night, polishing the saddle, bridle and her boots. She was up bright and early this morning, raring to go. It was a short night!

She loves her pony, Spanky. Can you tell?



He seemed a little nervous, so she led him around the school grounds where they later saddled up.



A cute little girl with pink cowboy boots wanted to know, "Could I please pet your horse?"







A little ride around the grounds to make sure everything's adjusted right.



It was a pretty short parade. We watched it near the beginning of the parade route, and then moved so we could watch it again at the end.







Smile for the camera, Spanky!

Mercy and helmets - good stuff (mostly mercy!)

Every Monday evening this time of year, and weather permitting, K's 4H horse club rides at the riding arena. Yesterday we got there pretty late, since I didn't get home from bringing J to Wpg for a dental appointment until after 6. Right away when we got to the arena, K hurried up and got Spanky ready to ride as quickly as she could. I joined a parent meeting that was in progress, feeling kind of bad that I couldn't keep my full attention on K entering the arena.

During the parent meeting, I looked over now and then to try to see how things were going for her. I could see her riding, and everything looked fine. Suddenly I saw another horse and rider going at a fast clip toward the waiting kids on their horses, and it ran right into K's pony, T-bone style, knocking him to the ground with K on him. I ran over to see K laying on her side, helmet still in place. She was awake and crying. Someone called for an ambulance. She was able to move everything and talk to me, but had a headache. By the time the ambulance got there she was sitting up and things were looking pretty good. They checked her over and I made the decision to bring her to the hospital myself since she didn't seem badly hurt. We borrowed a van, since I had borrowed a truck and trailer to get there, and got on our way to the hospital.

I was second guessing my decision to not use an ambulance when K started asking me the same questions over and over and began complaining of neck pain and increasing head pain. I felt so bad about deciding to bring her myself, and prayed hard on way to the hospital. I called A and he left a jobsite and started for the hospital.

Once we got to the hospital, they checked her over and did a neck x-ray. The doctor didn't think a CT scan was necessary. He couldn't see anything on the x-ray and spent a lot of time talking to us about why they didn't do a CT scan, since I was wondering - I was pretty concerned about her having asked me the same questions over and over, and her intense headache.

Soon we were free to go, and brought her home. Once home, she seemed more and more her old self, joking with J and C. By then it was after 11, and she went to bed. Her neck felt better, and her headache was almost gone - she didn't even want any Tylenol. I roused her a bit twice before I went to bed, and she responded well, and has again this morning.

Can you say RELIEF??????? I am filled with thankfulness to the Lord for watching over her and protecting her. And I'm glad she was wearing a helmet.

That's Spanky, the pony K got about 2 months ago, on the top of my blog - I've been meaning to introduce him here, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I'll have to do a separate post about him yet. And by the way - Spanky's fine. :o)

C is 15 today!!!

Happy 4th of July

Enjoy! :o)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDA9NbPAK8o&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Egoogle%2Ecom%2Freader%2Fview%2F&feature=player_embedded

Lamentations 3:22-26

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

The Eskimo Chief and John 3:16

Early in the last century Hans Egede, a Danish missionary, left his native land to preach the gospel to the Eskimos of Greenland. He labored and toiled for years seeking to instruct them in the truths of Christianity, and yet he saw no apparent results from his arduous and self-denying efforts. Eventually he became so discouraged and depressed by the indifference of the people that he decided to leave the country. The text he selected from which to preach his farewell sermon was, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nought and in vain." Isaiah 49:4.

Egede was succeeded at the station by Mr. Beck, another Moravian missionary. On his arrival he bagan to tell the Eskomos of God's wondrous love to the guilty sinners as revealed at Calvary's cross. When Kajarnak, the chief, heard the missionary reading the blessed and glorious words of John 3:16, he exclaimed, "Read it again." Beck read the "wonderful words of life" again and again, and Kajarnak burst into tears and wept like a child. God's holiness and righteousness did not move him; the terrors of law and of hell made no impressions on him. But the matchless grace of God in giving His only begotten Son to die that he might be eternally saved completely broke the stony heart of the Eskimo chief.

Thousands on earth praise God for John 3:16, and tens of thousands will do so in the glory. And yet no unsaved person understands the saving truth underneath the words of this "miniature gospel," as Luther delighted to call it. Every word in it is full of the deepest significance. "For God so loved the world." Then God loves you, O unsaved fellow traveler to eternity. However careless and indifferent to your eternal interests, God loves you. He hates your sin with a perfect hatred, but loves you with an unmeasured wealth of love. "Prove it," you say. That can be easily done.

"That He gave His only begotten Son." Loving and giving are inseparable. Here, then, is love that "passeth knowledge."

Why did God give Christ to die?" may be asked. That you "should not perish, but have everlasting life." Sinners are perishing, fast perishing in their sins, yet it is not God's will that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9).

It is His desire that "all men" should be saved (1 Timothy 2:4-6). At an infinite cost He has provided salvation for all. Everlasting life as a free gift can be obtained as you read these lines, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath everlasting life." John 6:47.

"That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." How grand and glorious! Could anything be simpler and freer? No works of merit are necessary. No tears need to be shed, no prayers be made in order to possess the pardoning mercy of God. Salvation is "not of works, lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2:8,9. "Whosoever believeth in Him" who made atonement for sin and paid the ransom for our deliverance "shall not perish but have everlasting life." Everlasting life is not given to those who believe in their believing, nor to those who believe in themselves. We are not saved because of our believing, nor on account of anything we may do or feel. Through believing on Christ who gave Himself a ransom for us, and "put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Hebrews 9:26), we obtain eternal life.

"Whosoever" takes in all kinds and classes of sinners. None are excluded. "I am not sorry enough," says one; "I am not anxious enough," says another. God is "anxious" to save you now. Whatever you have or haven't, whatever you are or aren't, "whosoever" embraces you in its grasp. You are invited and commanded to believe on Christ, without any qualification whatever. YOUR NEED IS YOUR CLAIM.

"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Isaiah 12:18. Don't delay. Time is short. Eternity is drawing near. The Lord Jesus is coming, and you may be left behind for judgment. Let the Saviour into your heart. May you, before you lay these words aside, be enabled to say, "God loved - God gave - I believe - and I have everlasting life."


by A. M., from a gospel paper