I know it's been less than 3 weeks since my last update, but hey! when you want to share something you've just got to share!!  God has given me a blast over the last week.  Last Tuesday night I went to the Manhiem Farm Show to watch my nephew show his steer.  He did a great job!  I also had to run a mile (ok, at least 3/4 of a mile) to my car to close my windows and sun roof before it started raining.  My folks and I had just gotten our farm show food (there is nothing like farm show food ~ especially the french fries) and it started pouring down rain as we sat under the big tent and enjoyed our meal...what a fun time.  Here are pictures of Seth and his steer and his prize winning pig.....

awwww!!

Last Thursday night I got to hook up with Wheaty and her parents and Mandy and Reuben who were visiting.  It was an awesome time of reminiscing about days gone by and catching up on the present.  We sat around freezing and talking in Starbuck's for quite a while, and it was great seeing Mandy again and meeting Reuben and getting to know him.  Friday night and Saturday morning I had a training session for my teaching English class, it was good to get more ideas and to talk with others about their experiences and seeing the neat ways that God has hooked up the right students with the right teachers.  Saturday afternoon there was a picnic for my 3rd grade SS class that I work with every other Sunday. We met at a farm in the heart of Amish country (you could tell because of the traffic trying to get there).  What a fun afternoon with boating/canoeing, hayrides, games and being a kid with the kids.

Then that night, I met up with my niece and her husband, my nephew and his girlfriend, another niece and her boyfriend, and another niece, to go to a corn maze.  What a blast!  We walked a lot!!  And finally made our way out an hour later.  It was my first time to a corn maze and it was great being with those guys ~ I love my family!!

Sunday afternoon and Monday I was at my church's WILD women's retreat.  Let me start with the house we stayed at....

I don't know the people who own it, but they go to our church.  The house was beautiful and the outside was gorgeous as we were able to have times alone with God in the beauty of where we were at.  The owner is an avid hunter as you can see from pictures I took in his three trophy rooms...and these aren't even half of it!!!!

Wow! what a place!!

What a wonderful time of fellowship with these ladies, most of which I knew who they were, but didn't really know them.  There are 16 in the group although not everyone could be there, but I was encouraged and humbled by these ladies' sincere love for the Lord and their real lives, shaped by hurts and struggles and joys.  God blessed me BIG TIME when He opened the opportunity for me to be a part of this group.  And I trust I'll be able to put into the group as much as I know I will get out of it.

But this is the reason for writing and what fills my heart as I am compelled to share with whoever reads this post.....in one of our sessions we read through Psalm 104, verse 24 says:

O Lord, how many and varied are Your works!  In wisdom have You made them all; the earth is full of Your riches and Your creatures!

Well, another month has come and gone, and it's been great to see the goodness of God be such a constant.  I'm busier at work and it's been great to have the student's back and see things come back to life.  Homecoming is this weekend and I'm working with a group selling apple slices and caramel, that will be fun.  And tomorrow I'm playing golf with two of my bosses and one of their wife's.  So tonight I went to the driving range and hit a bucket of balls and the moon was huge and orange and full as can be ~ God makes ordinary things so beautiful!!  Our ladies bible study has started up at church again and I'm a small group leader again and this year the Lord is giving me and another girl the opportunity to lead the worship song time before the lesson.  And we're studying prayer throughout the semester, which has been a good area for me to grow and be challenged in.  I'm a small group leader for a table of 3rd grade girls and working again this year with the 3rd grade choir kids.  Those kids are a blast.  And guess what else God has brough my way this year....I'm a WILD woman   which lest you think I've gone off the deep end, it stands for Women In Leadership Development.  I'll be a ministry partner alongside the lady that runs the women's ministry at the church.  There are about 14 WILD women and they will be great to learn from and grow with ~ I am very blessed!!

I enjoyed time with John and Christy Page as they spent the night at my house one night a couple of weeks ago.  I've started teaching English to a fellow who is a refuge from Burma/Thailand, which is an "out of the box" thing for me, but it's been great.  I bought a handmade quilt for $40 that I've hung on my dining room wall - looks great and I'm still amazed at the good price I got it for.  I'm heading up to WOL next weekend, so it will be great to see friends up there and should be a beautiful drive too, which means it will be 6 great hours of singing praises to the Lord in my Highlander!!

Which leads me to one last thing on this post.....the other day I read in my QT "this God is OUR God for ever and ever", that's been a phrase that I've meditated on and found great peace and power in it's truth.  It amazes me that "this God" with all His character and attributes, is my God....but He is! He wants to be! He wants me to want Him to be!  When I think of all that goes into that little phrase...whew, it amazes me and makes me love Him all the more.  Trust that thought might encourage you as well.

Well, although facebook is fun and is the new fad and the networking is great, it sure seems easier to fill everyone in on the stories of life on xanga.  Later skaters!

It's definately time to update....