God is Our Refuge

My heart is hurting for a friend. There are no words for unexpected tragedies, especially when a child is involved. I've been holding my little ones closer. (My big ones too.) Why must it sometimes take real life nightmares for our eyes to be opened to what is important in life? Why does it take a loss to see all the blessings we have to lose? My sense of security is shaken, but not my faith.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea. Psalm 46:1-2

Fair Days

 Just gonna warn you...unless you absolutely love seeing pictures of this family (Mom),
 you may get a little bored with this post. We all had a great time at the fair. Some days were a little more stressful than others but that is to be expected with 6 kids, 5 calves, and 8 pigs!!
Austin and Brooklyn left Tuesday after the swine show for a conference in Ashland, OH. They planned on leaving around 1:00 but Brooklyn's barrow won champion Berkshire so she had to show in the grand drive. I bet there never was a girl who wanted to lose so badly. :-) Dakota enlisted her friends to help out with all of the extra chores. I'm pretty sure she had the best time at the fair this year. My niece Jo Anna is in the Horse and Pony Club. It was nice to get to watch her show her pony! It was also fun for Emmaly and Corbin to ride the carnival rides with their cousins. Here are the awards for all of my kids' hard work:
Austin: Reserve Champion Angus Steer, Reserve Champion Angus Heifer, 4th place crossbred gilt
Dakota: 1st with crossbred gilt, 3rd with Berkshire gilt, 3rd crossbred barrow, 7th place cross barrow, 2nd place- cross heifer, Blue Honor- misc crafts, Blue- wearable art.
Brooklyn: Champion Berk Barrow, 5th Overall Barrows, Reserve County Born and Bred Barrow, Reserve Champion Berk Gilt, 3rd-cross gilt, 1st place- cross heifer, 3rd place- beef feeder calf, Blue Honor- misc craft, Champion- wearable art.

Bored yet??? These are stats that grandmas and aunts want to know! I'll give you the rest of the week's story in pictures.

The lake view from the ferris wheel. 

Our tack area was the happening place to be.

 I'm happy that we have the opportunity to be able to let the kids be in 4H every year. And I am also happy that it is over for this year!  Well....I guess there is state fair. :-) Good times and good memories made!

Judge Not

If you would have looked down my pew this morning in church this is what you would have seen.

Maybe you would be appalled to see a teenage boy on his phone during service. (Or worse... to see the mom taking pictures during the sermon!) If you would take a closer look you would see that he's not playing a game or texting. He's following along with Pastor Tom on a Bible app.

 

It was hard for me at first to let them use their phones during church. Them, as in all three teenagers. After all, what kind of mom do I look like letting my kids have phones out during worship?? And what kind of ill-behaved teens can't leave their phones put away for an hour? 

But after months of thinking about it I realize the only thing holding me back from letting them read the Bible on their phones during church is the way it looks to others. Shame on me. I'm trying to teach my kids not to judge others by the way they look or act and I'm doing that very thing. Well, today I forgot my Bible at home. I joined my kids and got out my phone. (As you can see because I snapped some inconspicuous pictures too. I'm thankful for my muted shutter release.) I love having the Bible on my phone. Genius idea! It even has red lettering for words spoken by Jesus. And I can read the text in any version I'd like. 

I'd still rather read my leather bound Bible but my kids are welcome to read the Word of God in whatever form they'd like.

 Here is a picture of E and F on the way home from church. E has a Bible in her pocket. (Not sure why F is holding a pen??)  We are blessed to live in a country where we are free to worship and have a variety of different ways to read or listen to the scripture!