Dirt and Ducks

Jules and Emily, you have inspired me to make my blog a reflection of what is happening in life, not just tidbits of information. Thanks for sharing so intimately the happenings of your life!

What have we been up to? Well, allot :-)
Dirt, trees, ducks, life, life, life!

Soggy back yard.

Some new developments on the Powers estate (hehe). Two dump truck loads of dirt that are raising our soggy back yard. Seth has been working tirelessly to bring the dirt to our back yard from the front yard. Our very generous neighbor has let us use his tractor to do so(wow, what a blessing) We have trees coming this week and we have to have our dirt project mostly done... We feel so blessed to have been able to take this step to heal our land and get it done so early this Spring.

This is where 3 of our pear trees will go.

We have 3 new ducks. They are Muscovy ducks. They are going to be good mothers and raise their own ducklings. We plan to have a nice flock of ducks to use for meat and eggs this year. Muscovy ducks are wonderfully large meat birds and they are wonderful at foraging for their food. Our other ducks are Khaki Campbell ducks and they are good foragers too, but they are mostly for egg production as they are much smaller than the Muscovy. We were thankful to find a good deal on Craigslist, and they were not too far away either. Praise God for another provision this Spring!

Muscovy ducks.

Ducks enjoying the water.

Are your ducks in a row?

Poor ducks, they thought it was dinner time because I went to the pen :-)

Those are just a few of the busy things going on these days. God has been showing us so much from His word. I don't even know where to start, but He continually woos us to Himself and is showing us the delights of trusting in Him and allowing Him to change us from the inside out. I have been continually struck by the Pharisees in the gospels. (I am reading a chronological Bible, and I highly recommend trying one)They think they have it all together, that they are even doing things the best and right way, yet their hearts were so far from God. It has been my hearts cry to keep from being like that, to love God so much that He pours out and effects all of my life, not because of a bunch of rules, but because of love.

Raising children continues to be one of the hardest endeavours of my life. There is never a dull moment. If only there would be one once in a while ;-) Somebody is crying, or fussing, or needs something. Sacrifice and growth are the name of the game as God stretches me and teaches me about relationships mattering more than the externals and every day responsibilities of cooking and cleaning. My task oriented nature says, torture, but it is so rewarding to have a sweet smile or a hug from one of my children because I spent time with them. They love it, and what good have I done if I loose their souls and gain the world. I have been so blessed by these two little people, I couldn't imagine life without them. Their personalities already shine so brightly. God has good things for them, and I hope to be a part of that!

Speaking of kids.. I guess they need some dinner :-) A woman's work it never done they say. Humn, I think it's true :-)