Treasuring our heritage...and leaving a legacy.

It's me!, a photo by janelleh1 on Flickr.

I don't know what this is exactly about but I think it's about healing and overcoming, happiness and joy. I want to treasure where I've been good or bad and I want to be happy and joyful over where I am and where I'm going.
This is me. God's creation; a person created to glorify Him. It all begins and ends with him. Everything is about him. So how does that effect my life? I should consume all that I am. I want to be mindful of this and have it be the legacy I leave.
I want to journal about this in different aspects of my life. It hit me last night, this experience could be healing and helpful in my life.
I want to be a better woman of God, a better wife and a better mother, daughter, sister and friend. I am going to dwell here for a while and explore my mind, memories and dreams. I want to be mindful of everything I do, everything I say and everyone I influence. I think it will change me; I want it to change me.
I not a horrible person. But I think there are parts of me that can be horrible if not filtered through the grace God extends to me every moment. So lets begin...

Fall harvest

Fall harvest, a photo by janelleh1 on Flickr.

We are in the last of our fall harvest but seemingly the part that takes the longest! These are the combines finishing up the beans but today we finally got the go ahead for sugar beets again. I have fond memories of beet harvest because it's the first harvest I was a part of when I met my husband.
I love fall and everything that it brings with it. Pears, apples, pumpkins, leaves turning brilliant colors and memories of falling in love. I always thought fall would be a perfect time for a wedding but God knew it was the perfect time for me to fall in love.
So here we go... and hopefully continually until beet harvest is complete. Pray for strength to be a semi-single parent (although our families help me ALL the time). Hope everyone is having a great fall!

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge-Hands

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge-Hands, a photo by janelleh1 on Flickr.

This photo was entered into the I Heart Faces photo challenge – www.iheartfaces.com

Scripture

Lately, my husband has made it a priority of his to ensure I have time in the Word each morning. I have been feeling distant from my faith and lacking time to do my devotions even if I get up early. Now we both get up and make a little breakfast and give eachother 10-15 minutes of alone time with God. This has been such a blessing. The scriptures I have read have been exactly the right words for me to dwell on during each day.
Yesterday, it was Ephesians 4...2-3:Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 14-15:Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. And 26-31(I will finish the rest in the next post).
We can so easily be proud and tossed to and fro. But I want to be anchored on the Rock, Jesus Christ. I desire for my faith to grow and bear fruit for and through my family. I want more, not materially, but spiritually. I feel hungry to grow in my faith again and I don't want to let it pass by!
Praise the Lord for a godly husband, who sees the importance of my spiritual growth and doing what it takes to give my time with the Lord!

Oh how fast things can change...

It's kind of a bitter sweet thing... change. It's crazy too how fast things can change. Just this week, the baby (almost 13 mo) of our family decided to take her first steps! I cannot believe it. And although she hasn't "taken off" yet, I don't think it will be long... even more I hope it's not long before she decides it's the way to go. She is so strong willed so no form of encouragement will sway her from her lightening speed crawl until she decides it's time. How can she be walking... it feels like the baby stage is coming to a close. I will soon have to take the bottle away and then it seems like she will officially be a toddler. I honestly can't say I long for the baby stages but when they are over, it's still brings a sadness with the joy.

Also, this week, Hannah and Bekah (2 1/2 years old) decided it may be ok to use the potty. Yesterday in fact was a big break through; they decided they liked underwear! I thought at the beginning of the week it was a fluke, but as of last evening, I think it's worth working on. I would love to have 2 less children in diapers for many reasons. But this too would end a season and make them seem more like preschoolers. These are all things I'm proud of and thankful for but wondering too how this next stage will feel.
Jack too is growing up so much. As we all count, say the ABC's, learn letters and numbers I'm amazed and overwhelmed by the amount of things children learn in such a short period of time.
So things are changing fast but I hope all for the good...

She's back!

In Jack's words..."our Emily" is back. We are so blessed to have Emily (my husband's cousin) here again this summer. She lives with my in-laws along with her brother who is helping on the farm. She comes to our house twice a week to take care of the kids, help with chores and bring extra joy into our lives. She is so fun to have around. I feel like I will get to know her better and just enjoy her presence this summer as last summer Julia's was a newborn and I was consumed with her care.

We have already had some adventures... we went to our local county park yesterday and played, did some swinging and swimming but I forgot towels, lifejacket, etc. It was still fun especially for our first real summer day. It was high humidity and 90 degree temps so we played in water all day and cooked outside plus tried to stay hydrated.

They are a tough crowd but they had fun. We didn't get pics of the sprinkler or appliance moving for cleaning (long story with laughter) but they were great too. I plan to repaint my entry so we started with removing some uppercase living letters from the wall and Emily transferred them to a mirror so I can still use them in the redecorating process... this will be separate post.
Anyway... we are so glad to have Emily with us again this summer. I hope to document her stay better this time around.
Hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July weekend! Enjoy.

It's time to detox!

I've been wanting to do a detox diet for a while. I remember once,about 10 year ago, a friend of mine at work did a detox diet and my interest was sparked. Now this many years and four children later, I felt the need to explore my options. I have felt, well, like I could die. I do not say this lightly. I truly, most days, did not feel good at all. I was tired from the moment I woke up until my head hit the pillow at night. I had no energy at all somedays and caring almost took too much out of me. I feel like I and those around me suffered. Now it seemed like I would have a few "good days" with bursts of energy when I would get some things done but those were getting farther and farther apart.

So I went to my chiropractor. Now this was a HUGE step for me. The Nutritional Response Testing that he does seemed like a hoax to me. But when all my labs were back and his guess to what was wrong and treatment was presented to me, I could not deny it's accuracy and validity. Long story short... low iron, low vit d, thyroid disfunction, low vit b and possible gluten intolerance. Other than the gluten intolerance, none of this surprised me (and I plan to expand this subject in a separate post). I cried when he said he thought he could help me! Many doctors have told me for year that there is nothing wrong! (and I always knew there was)

So fast forward... I accepted treatment. Some of these things have been life long and the rest were only adding to my overall poor health. I was ready. So on June 1st, 2011 I began a new journey. My first plan of action was the Standard Process Purification Program.
Let me just say, it was hard but so worth it. I think I would like to make it a once a year thing if we can handle the cost. So this was a three week program which toward the end of a found out that I was highly gluten intolerant... but I feel better. I'm not even sure what a 100% improvement looks like but I'm definitely a percentage closer! I hope to continue with this program which I will expand on later but my hope is that through documentation of this journey and other happenings in our lives, I will help someone.