Bucket list...

Should old acquaintance be forgot or is it should "auld" or is it Auld ANXine???   Actually it is Auld Lang Syne but I really had to "Google" it for some insight and clarity...it is one of those songs that I know but I don't.  The English translation says:

"Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne ?"

This blog could very well be one of those patchwork pieces...I had started bucket list around my birthday but put it on the shelf.  I have all kinds of thoughts stirring around.  But yesterday I was on Firecracker duty and ended up spending the night.   I must admit I am not sure I'll make midnight but it is already after 11:00 so I just give thanks that We got LOTS of bonding time...so I pull up this blog and all it says is:

"The week seems to have flown by...and I sit here reflecting on the week...I can't believe how fast it has gone.   I have missed some time at my kitchen table and am ready to get back to it.    Thanksgiving was also my birthday.  While dinner was at our house...I really do not have to provide the whole meal.   Everyone brings dishes and so it always works out well."

And that's all the further I got.   I think someone I know...turning 50 and some one I know even better rapidly approaching I think we start to reflect on things we "coulda, woulda, shoulda"!   

So I think of my Bucket List...you know that list you make of things you want to do before you kick the bucket.   And while I may start working on some sort of lists of goals...there are parts of me that think about learning to play guitar and piano, things like learning to golf, but you know these things while I may work on are really not the "ITS".   I think one of my biggest is to LOVE more!  And one of my favorite places is my kids and of course little Isabel and most definitely in my Faith...

I guess that my list may just be waiting on what the Good Lord sees fit to put on it...so things I work on will kind of be dependent on what my Grandma Bessie used to say, "If the Good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise."    This "list" may take me several years to put together and you know I think it could be just an ongoing process at my kitchen table.   And I hope that each of you reflect on your "lists"...

So here is to a Happy New Year my friends and Family and may God be with you and bless you.    And again Auld Lang Syne comes back to mind...and so I think of the Google descript and I think about what the description says, "Auld Lang Syne literally translates to "Old Long Since," and more roughly it means "long, long ago" or "days gone by."   I think of the "Old Long Since" of 2010 and many New Year's before...and I would like to thank each and everyone of you for being my "old acquaintances" and I stop and give thanks for each and everyone of you.

Here is to a blessed 2011 and all that you mean!   God bless!

lyp

Crazy Update

It was a MIRACLE...or so that's what the shepherd tells me this morning (sometimes he is so funny).  Anyway,  I had told you that Crazy the ewe (she worked hard to deserve that name) had a baby last night.   Well the shepherd had checked her and thought she was done...yet this morning there was another baby saying "hello world"!   TWINS!   Lamb number 2 was trying to stay hid but so it goes...not today baby.

The lamb cam is making some noise so we will have to figure out the static...I kept watching one ewe last night because she wouldn't move...needless to say not a whole lot of sleep...so anyway this morning was a little sleepy at my kitchen table!

Had to have the doc come to the funny farm.  He came to look at one of the rams.  Then since he was here he checked out Sweetie.  Not sure if I mentioned Sweetie Houdini was down and out.   Turns out she was trying to escape out of a place she had no business trying to get out of and hurt her leg in the process...I can tell she is doing better because she has headed back up to her hill and has been back to her vocal self.   But she has become a part of the funny farm...because now she will take off barking and the sheep don't even pay attention.  Bo raised his head from his nap but didn't tear off running.   However, I did see a coyote down the way...so maybe she was telling it to get on out of here!

BUT tomorrow I go to Firecracker's house.   We have to spend the whole day together and then part of the night while her parents are at a work party.  I know it is tough duty, but someone has to do it (wink wink...have I ever told you how cute Izzy is when she winks...)  And here I go off on a bike ride...they are talking cold weather...and if it is going to be cold--well Limon is a pretty sure bet!  I love when my Firecracker Flex Friday comes a day early and I still have days off!

lyp

Christmas 2010 from the Funny Farm

And so another Christmas has passed from my kitchen table...and I reflect back of some of the "gifts" that I received and besides the true meaning of CHRISTmas the most special gift...my favorite gift was being surrounded by those I love (even though I missed some that could not make it)...Thank you everyone for making it such a special day.  

Whether it was my "Firecracker" trying out squeeze cheese while she waited for Santa at 2:00 a.m. in the morning...my kids on the stairs in their Christmas jammies...Izzy giving P-Pa every piece of wrapping paper as she was running around in her jammie top (pants are overrated)...my inlaws sitting around my kitchen table...my nieces boys--Peyton and Mason--with their "sister"...or the Nertz championships of America!!!   All were special moments that make the day special.  We also had a Christmas lamb born...was a special gift for those who had never seen a new lamb born.

But then all of the other gifts I got were definitely a reflection of my "bike riding" personality (I have spoke of this in another blog but it refers to my short attention span).   HOWEVER, I was so surprised as I received an actual bike--a blue Schwinn Legacy Cruiser for Christmas (my very first bicycle was a blue Schwinn maybe I have told my daughter a few too many times how I loved that bike; Thank you Heather, Jay and Izzy I love this one too)...but that's not all....IT CAME WITH THE BELL.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM1hQHAzG20&feature=related

So while the bike was such a special gift.   I got so many more...And like I said I have a wide array of things that I use on my bike rides...of course there is the bicycle bell.   Then I got Photoshop (thanks Lance).   I am so excited to learn to use this and get to play with it.  Santa also gave me a snuggly baby blue robe that will be wonderful for cold winter nights.   For my kitchen table time--A journal with a bike on it, pens, and a couple of inspirational books.   I got music and another special gift was a tea pot from a special friend.  It sets on my kitchen table right now and says: "This is the day which the Lord hath made we shall rejoice and be glad in it."    So funny because I wanted to get this but I told myself "NO" since it was Christmas...and then I got it anyway!   Yes I am soooo spoiled!   And if you look at this picture you might notice that I received bullets.   Well this was for the family trade gift and this was the one I drew.   So while I am not a big shooter--I now have a barter tool for those boys I know who like to...

So you might think we have a little "redneck"...our niece's husband (one of my flower girls) brought a duck for dinner and so he was putting a champagne glaze on it.   Well here on the funny farm we had to use channel locks to get the bottle opened but you know we "gotter done"...and so with that said I will close with a picture that I LOVE from my son--it pretty well sums us up here.  

We are so blessed!   

So I bid you good night as the shepherd has already headed for bed.   Turns out Crazy the ewe had her baby already and Tim got the lamb cam adjusted...so sweet dreams from the funny farm!! 

Merry Christmas 2010 from my kitchen table...

So I am not at the kitchen table but instead I am sitting in front of the tree.  The fire is going, all the lights aglow, and Uncle Buck playing on the tv...waiting for Izzy and her family to get here.   They should be here shortly after midnight and then they can open their pajamas.   Since the kids were little, it has been a tradition that each year on Christmas Eve they get a new pair of jammies...washed and ready to wear!   This has become one of their favorite traditions and so it has carried on even though they are no longer little ones.   I now have new jammies to prepare...but I love it (Izzy and her Daddy).   I also love the fact that my house will be full.   You know that feeling when you can just feel those you love are close by and you just feel the warmth of the love throughout the house...

 



Around the house shots...the winter village aglow...

From my kitchen table this morning I read in Luke.   I think it is one of my favorites of the story of the birth of Jesus.   Perhaps it is the shepherds or Mary holding it in her heart...Part of Luke 2 in the Living Bible says:

About this time Caesar Augustus, the Roman Emperor, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the nation.  (This census was taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.)

Everyone was required to return to his ancestral home for this registration.  And because Josesph was a member of the royal line, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea.  King David's ancient home--journeying there from the Galilean village of Nazareth.  He took with him Mary, his fiancee, who was obviously pregnant by this time.

And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born; and she gave birth to her first child, a son.  She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the village inn.

That night some shepherds were in the fields outside the village, guarding their flocks of sheep.  Suddenly an angel appeared among them, and the landscape shone bright with the glory of the Lord.   They were badly frightened, but the angel reassured them.

'Don't be afraid!' he said. 'I bring you the most joyful news ever announced, and it is for everyone!  The Savior--yes, the Messiah, the Lord--has been born tonight in Bethlehem!   How will you recognize Him?  You will find a baby wrapped in a blanket, lying in a manger!"

Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others--the armies of heaven--praising God:

'Glory to God in the highest heaven', they sang, 'and peace on earth for all those pleasing him.'

When this great army of angels had returned again to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, 'Come on! Let's go to Bethlehem!  Let's see the wonderful thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.'

They ran to the village and found their way to Mary and Joseph.  And there was the baby, lying in the manger.  The shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.  All who heard the shepherds story expressed astonishment, but Mary quietly treasured these things in her heart and often thought about them."

Merry Christmas...may you have the gift of LOVE!   Peace on Earth...

Love,

Penny

 

Merry Christmas from the Pfeiff's!

So many things I take and cherish in my heart...but this is one that we all should treasure in our heart.   A special time of year for sure!   A time to reflect on the blessings we have recieved...a time to share our love with others...God bless you and keep you at this Christmas time!

GAME ON...

"GAME ON!"  So these were the words spouted by the "senior" shepherd the other night.   As the sheep were locked up and it was his way of proclaiming "LET THE LAMBING BEGIN!!"    So with this "game on" announcement also means that the "lamb cam" is ready for all night sheep t.v.

Well the "shepherds" and I went out last night and celebrated the birthday of a special friend (Happy Birthday Kasey Jo).   Home at 2:00 a.m. is a little past our bedtime...but it allowed a good opportunity to check the sheep...So the younger shepherd who had danced all night and "celebrated" a little checked in and NOBODY was doing anything.   With this check it was bedtime.

The senior shepherd turned on the "lamb cam".  (for those who are not familiar with this, we have put a camera in the barn to which we can watch the sheep in the barn ALL NIGHT!   So yes while you might be "counting sheep" we are actually counting sheep.   Or listening to them bang on a panel or just make some sort of noises.   But when it comes time to lamb it is a handy tool so that one doesn't have to go out to the barn quite as often.  Because sheep seem to be very vocal when they are birthing babies.)

I am not a shepherd...that is my story and I am sticking to it!   So you wonder how do I contribute to this whole sheep enterprise!   My gift is that I don't sleep all the time.   So when I woke up at 5:00 a.m. and looked at the t.v.--THERE she was...the first lamb of the season.   And since the junior shepherd was home I headed up stairs and told him you have a baby.   I must say I was impressed for someone who had been celebrating and had not slept too long how fast he hopped out of bed.   So you see that is my part...I wake up the others and say "Hey you got babies...it's cold out there!"

Within minutes the junior shepherd was out to the barn putting the first lamb and mama in a "jug" (that's a pen that they are put in you know their own personal hospital room) who was later joined by a brother and sister with some assistance by the shepherd on call...triplets not the senior shepherd's favorite (because usually this requires some "bottle babies")...but hey they were all alive and so with that said, I say, "game on"!    But think of me more like a SPECTATOR!!

(Perhaps there might be a pic later of the new ones...)

So Merry Christmas from Pfeiff's Funny Farm and Happy Birthday to my Aunt Betty!

lyp

Music and Mom...

And I see December 18th as I write at my kitchen table...and I feel a sadness because this is the day that we lost Mom from this earth.   This is the day in 2001 that I found her in her bed...yet so at peace that I could not begrudge to be able to leave and go to be with the Lord in such a way.

So I write in my journal at my kitchen table:

December 18, 2010 8:00 a.m. Saturday...This date is a sad date--the day my Mom died.  I do miss her and there are lots of--"wish I had been betters"-but I know my Mom loved me and I loved her.  I wish her and Dad could have seen their grandkids grow.  And I stop and fix my tea and the boys some cinnamon raisin toast and the song "Let me watch my children grow and see what they become and as I ___(this would be where I just hum because I forgot the words)__ till I'm too old to die young." But I realize that when it is my time, it is my time.  I know that when I go I will go to a better place and you know--I feel those that have gone on before--know what their children and grandchildren BECOME--and how do you "BECOME"?   Do we ever even stop "coming" and just BECOME!

My Mom (Peggy) and Grandma (Bessie) Jammin...

And I decide that I will just share this...and so I go in to the computer and as most of you know I LOVE music and I am sure I got this gift from my Mom (and my Dad).   But my Mom so loved music.   And so I think of this picture I will post that I had just came across because it is one where my Mom and my Grandma Bessie are sharing music at Christmas time.   So back to loving music...I decide to turn on some music...while I listen to country I often am more of a rocker BUT you know like how I am with life....I just ride my bike and really do love almost every kind of music if it is something that touches your heart...or  you know like in the American Bandstand days....has a good beat and easy to dance to!  

And back to my story....(do you all get tired as we circle and circle and sometimes get to the point....sometimes not.)   I am sitting in my living room with the Christmas tree glowing and there by my fireplace I have a picture of my Dad and a note he wrote to say goodbye.  And then there is a picture of Mom.  It is a picture from her younger days but she loved the picture and had given it to her folks and now I have it and love it too.  She just is so beautiful in that picture and I love the frame that it is in.   SO it is chosen to be there on the fireplace along with the stockings and the Nativity Scene.

I turn on the tv to head for the music channels.   And I pause at the Christmas songs...but am nudged to continue on and all of a sudden there I am at "Honky Tonk Tavern" (and yes you that know my Mom's music are not surprised by this stop) and there is playing probably one of my favoritest songs "IT'S A GREAT DAY TO BE ALIVE" by Travis Tritt and it just makes me smile as there are Jim and Peg smiling at me and saying it is great to be alive!!!    But it doesn't stop there...I keep it on there and up comes probably one of my Mom's favorite singers Vince Gill and Patty Loveless.   SO I pause it on there using all of my DVR skills and abilities because I want to mark the song and play it when I come to this part.   Well it is I think "The Key" and it is a sadder song but when I hit play to start it playing again...GREAT DAY TO BE ALIVE starts playing!   And I smile and say yes it is.   Not a day for sadness!

So I am not mourning today but am thankful that I had my Mom and Dad as long as I did.   And I have had different people tell me how they miss my folks and I think...you know that is something special to have as part of your legacy...that you are missed. 

I have a picture of my Mom and a friend of hers in her later years...high fiving and I smile as that is one of the pictures in my heart...HIGH FIVING LIFE!  

As I am finishing this up Ray Price breaks out singing ain't it "FUNNY HOW TIME SLIPS AWAY".  And he says "Gotta go now...hope to see you round"...You know you just gotta love MUSIC!  


lyp

Hello world...

I was a little delayed on this one because I got sidetracked looking at pictures and then had to scan them...lyp


Welcome to the world little Audrey Ellen Lance!

 She joined us December 2, 2010.  And I think the world better be ready...she just has so much personality for a newborn.   I love her already!!  

I was away from my kitchen table for a few days...which brings up little Audrey Ellen.   Turns out little Audrey has two adoreable sisters Emma and Anna who had to stay home instead of going with their daddy Jim and their momma Megan.  Mom and Dad had to hang out at the hospital a few days in order to bring little Audrey home.   Well Jim's mama--MY AUNT MARY--was going to stay with the girls but you know me and little ones...I wanted to come too!   You know hone in and improve my Grandmotherly (is that a word?) skills--learn from a good one...However, I think if Emma had a driver's license...she probably really wouldn't have needed us (I think she will be included in an upcoming blog!)

Also, looking at this picture below, by the expression on the face...I think I owed my ring bearer a little.   Besides he shares the same name as my dad...so he might be just a little special in my book.   But it is an experience when your ring bearer's children are the age their daddy was when you got married...I can't believe how old my ring bearer and flower girls are getting (just kidding Jim, Casey, and Keri).   They are all just as adoreable today as they were here!

I was thinking how I got to observe the seasons of life on this stay.   The girls...Emma (will be 6 on December 9), Anna (4) and then little Audrey all in the "spring" of their life--new born, so young and innocent.   Then there is Jim and Megan in their summer--taking the heat and the hard work of growing those crops.   Me in the autumn of my life (kind of a cool place to be).   And a very special woman in my life my Aunt Mary who is living in her "winter" season.    I realize what a gift this is to see all these times in our life all in one place CELEBRATING one new event.  The birth of a child!   Life at its beginning...



And I think of family bonds...my bond with Jim and his family through our fathers--brothers--Jim and Jerry--the Lance brothers (so I have this GREAT picture that I can't locate at this time but when I do it will probably just get its own blog).

I feel a connection even though we haven't spent a lot of time around each other as we all seem to get busy with our own lives and before you know it time has passed by.   So it is special moments like the one I had that I get to breathe it in and put it away in my heart.   Whether it is holding little Audrey Ellen one day old and breathing in that newborn "life".   Or playing Cootie with her sisters (okay Aunt Mary may have won but I still hold that mine was the cutest bug).   Watching my Aunt and Emma and Anna playing doctor.  Playing restraunt with the girls.   Or seeing the whole family on the couch as they are all looking at the new baby and knowing their lives will never be the same.  These are moments to take in to stop and say Thank you Lord for these blessing I have received!



And going through some old pictures I feel nostalgic and while I think of Jim and this new generation...I think of our childhood and some special memories I cherish from those days...pictures of little "Jimmy" with his family and now here he is the Dad!    

The Jerry Lance Family...



So I say thank you to Jim and Megan and Emma and Anna and Audrey and Aunt Mary for allowing me to share in this awesome experience...and sorry Megan there may be another blog on ORGANIZATION:)   (note to reader...Megan is VERY organized!  I think she is my alter ego in the organizational realm!)

 

 

 

I titled this Hello World because I think of Audrey joining us and also because I love the song...and it also makes me think of  Jim and know he heard it coming home to check on his girls.   So I dedicate it to the Lance's and just remember what is important...Love to you all from CRAZY COUSIN Penny!    Hear Hello World

 



Do you see what I see...

I bet you think that she is trying to remember the words to one of her favorite Christmas carols...but no it is SWEETIE!   Sweetie Houdini I have been calling her.   Has been funny because Tim will think he has her in where she should be and then she gets out.   I can't beleive the holes that she gets through.

BUT this morning she has been going crazy off to the west just barking.  To which Bo tears off out there and seems to be saying, "WHAT! WHAT! I don't see anything."   But he runs on his side of the fence all the same as if he wants her to show him.   Well I like Bo, try to see as well--but I don't see anything either.  However, there is something that has her not happy!  Which it could be the neighbors a half mile down the way doing something.   Or if there are some cars...SHOULD THEY REALLY BE DRIVING ON OUR ROAD!!    But then she barked again...this time it was a delivery man pulling in our yard!    (Yes Lance got part of his shopping done online last weekend and so he has been getting deliveries!)

I am on day 3 of being home alone...which now has me sharing about me and the dogs watching for something that may or may not even be there!  But I have plenty to do and am getting prodded to finish a story that I have written...so with that said--I say TTFN (that's ta ta for now for those of you not Winnie the Pooh fans)!

lyp

Out sick...

I will spare you the details...but not a pretty bug for sure!   Some sort of stomach thing going around...I just hope that you all are spared!  Sooo I am a little foggy here at my kitchen table and actually haven't spent much time in the kitchen at all...

I now have the "winter" village up.  I have come to call it that because I seem to leave it up on the ledge all winter!   Tim built me a ledge all around my living room that I put up my little village with greenery and blue lights.   Blue Christmas lights make me think of my Dad.   We also have the tree up and this year adorned with blue and white lights and various ornaments as well.  I still want to put up my Nativity scene on the fireplace and the greenery on the stairs.   I don't know if I will get it done today...but I am feeling better...so guess we will see...but as I share below...it's not about the decorating...it's about the LOVE.

When and if I get it all up I will put a picture on.   I love to sit in the dark of the night with just the glow of the Christmas lights and the fire and just pause and think what a blessed time of year this is!   I think of those I love and how blessed I am and thankful for these blessings and give special thanks for all those I LOVE...just how precious life is...and the true meaning of Christmas...the birth of Jesus.

Speaking of love--1 Corinthians 13 is probably my all time favorite chapter.  I got this from my niece and seemed like one to really think on especially at this time before Christmas when we sometimes get lost in the "what" and not the "what for".   It says the author is anonymous so I do not know who to give credit to...so I will give thanks to God and for my niece Keri for sharing. 

"1 CORINTHIANS 13 - - A CHRISTMAS VERSION - By an unknown author.

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love, I'm just another decorator.  If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love, I'm just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love, it profits me nothing. If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir's cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband. Love is kind, though harried and tired. Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens. Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way. Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure."

So wishing you and yours LOVE

 at this special time of year--CHRISTmas!

lyp

Ohhhh Sweetie...

As you know I am easily entertained...and sometimes I just catch myself watching.    The other morning Sweetie was pretty much minding her own business when this lamb comes up to her and wants her to play...WELL she is a sheepdog afterall, a "fierce" protector, she does not PLAY with sheep.  But not to be rude she just tries to stay away from the lamb...to which the lamb wants no part and is very persistent in "playing".   And as I continue to watch this display, all of a sudden I look and there is a lamb chasing this big old dog...such a site to see if you happened to be driving by and not seen the whole thing.

It seems Sweetie has taken over a manure pile to which she seems to be watching over her flockdom (queen of the hill no doubt)...well yeserday morning she starts this urgent bark to which Bo who is outside the pen and free to roam starts running as fast as he can towards the road.   I look out and the only thing I can see is that there are some cows that must be too close to the fence.   So I guess since Sweetie can't go herself...she sends Bo who is more than happy to be the sidekick.

Life is good on the funny farm...like I said it doesn't take a lot to entertain me!   Just let a couple dogs go about their day and it's like going to the show (without the popcorn of course).

lyp

Not the one...

In case you wondered how the ewe was...she did not make it.  I had wanted a different ending to this story--but it was not meant to be.   So this morning at my kitchen table thinking about this I wrote...

 I am still thinking of the ewe we lost...Dying--that brings back the urgency of sharing our faith because in the end we all end up dying!   And that is what makes me want to have those I love know Jesus.  So some may say that if there is no Heaven then wouldn't you have wasted that time believing.  But I say...and if there is a Heaven--and I don't feel my time has been wasted.  To have a peace that there is Something bigger than me watching over me.   Bringing me joy, having me want to focus on love and not hate--I say life is good...But God is better.   I am thankful for my faith even if  I am not all that I should or could be...

And I look at one of my favorite passages...Psalm 23 (KJV).

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters.  He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His names sake.  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.   Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

 I sometimes wonder why I feel a nudge to share certain things...and I wonder if that is really something I need to share...but nonetheless I feel the need to share.    It as though it has been put on my heart for a reason...reasons I do not know or understand and perhaps never will...but I feel the push all the same!

lyp

Feed my sheep...

So maybe it is the season...perhaps just the day.   But at my kitchen table this morning our shepherd on call...P-Pa...was out mixing up a special concoction for a sick mama ewe.   This is a special Southdown and she is not doing well.   He tells me the doc says that maybe you SAVE 1 in 20 who suffer with pregnancy toxemia...and I think of in the Bible of the 1 in 100--Luke 15:4 (NIV).

  ⁴"What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?

And I ponder on that and how important if even one is saved.   That believing in Jesus if one is saved and I think of those who I pray for everyday...those that their souls be saved.   I hope and have faith that they would have Eternal Life with the Great Shepherd.

So I head off to work...(did I mention that God sometimes just keeps giving me message and keeps giving me messages not that it takes more for me or anything).   But back to the radio, the whole thing was on the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32).   The story told by Jesus of the two brothers and one leaves with his half of the family fortune and squanders it away while the other stays and obeys.   Yet when he is down to his lowest point he goes back to his father and his father welcomes him with open arms.  And the older brother is upset with this and asks his father why to which his father's reply is Luke 15:31 (NIV):

 ³¹ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

And again I come back to the one...perhaps this is 1 in 2 but it is ONE.   ONE that is what I am!   But this lesson doesn't end there.   My friend Mary sends me words for the day from a devotional she has received I believe from USCCB.org...but these words just seemed to go with the theme...

"Our Shepherd doesn’t wait anxiously for straying sheep to return. Rather, he arms himself and sets out in search of them, overcoming every obstacle to rescue them and bring them home. Sometimes his kindness feels like discipline as he cuts the lamb loose, dresses its wounds and curbs its propensity to wander. But it is still the kindest thing he could ever do for us.

Jesus, our Good Shepherd, knows us (John 10:14; 2 Timothy 2:19). He feeds us (John 6:35; Psalm 23:1-2). He guides us (John 10:3-4; Psalm 23:3). He cherishes us and loves us (Isaiah 40:1; Ephesians 5:25-29). He protects and preserves us (Jeremiah 31:10; John 10:28-29). Take some time today to pray over these passages. Try to memorize them and make them your own. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to the depth and breadth of love that Jesus has for you. Nothing could be more exciting—and more comforting—than knowing that Jesus has you in the palm of his hand!

Jesus, thank you for seeking me when I stray from the path. Teach me how to shepherd those you have entrusted to my care."

And so I am learning that my kitchen table just keeps getting bigger and bigger.   I finished up a journal while at my cousin's house (another blog in progress but have to scan some pictures)...but anyway like the words from above...it isn't just at my kitchen table...it is wherever I am...He is WITH me!  And that gives this ONE "lamb" peace and joy...

lyp

Let the lambing begin...

So the sheep are all home....ready to have some babies before too long....Lance was home checking through to see who was close.   We will soon be firing up the LAMB CAM!   Tim and I sleep with all sheep tv all night...we have those close to having babies being watched through a camera in the barn.   I hope to get it hooked up to the internet some day...





Sweetie On Guard...

 lyp