Family Life - June & July

 

June and July. Both were busy months filled with trips, storms, farm work, weekends with Grandma, projects, and time spent with special friends.

So here is a glimpse of some of the highlights from the previous two months!

I continued traveling on weekends to be a companion 
to Grandma as well as give assistance in various areas
of need. I know that I will never regret the time I spent 
with her. Here we are at Hobby Lobby picking out 
birthday and anniversary cards for family members.

While out in town for the purpose of grocery shopping, Ella 
and I popped into a children's consignment store. I went on
a baby onesie-buying spree when I came across the $1.50
rack! I'll need all these at some point, I am sure.

Florida prison ministry trip-June 2023

Grandma and I went and picked out flowers for her front
porch. Flowers make both Grandma and me so happy, so it
was a successful and happy day. 

We experienced a large series of storms through June and July.
One of the most serious occurred in mid-June when we had some
extremely high winds that had us in the hallway awaiting possible
tornadoes. We lost many trees, the side of a hay barn, and a heifer, 
but the losses could have been much higher, so we are thankful. 
We have watched the Lord encircle our farm with His protection
again and again. Storms have split on either side of the farm, gone
around us, or completely faded out before it reached us. We do not
take His sovereign care lightly and give Him all the glory.

Caden and Joel cutting a tree off a fence. 

One of the many blessings of growing up on a farm is the 
abundant wild blackberry bushes! This summer I gave a 
try at wild blackberry jam! A unanimous success! 

My cousin Kate and I taking a walk while I was in
Louisville with Grandma one weekend. 

Esther has been a sweet friend for several years now. She was 
working at the Bill Rice Ranch when I served a summer there in 
2019 and was an invaluable support to me and our friendship has
carried on past that summer. I had the privilege of being in "the 
know" when Isaac first began to show obvious interest in her, I
walked alongside her during their dating and subsequent engagement,
helped clean her apartment and move her belongings to her new home,
and attended her wedding! This summer, I had the great joy of getting to
hold baby Anna Rose who I prayed for, even before she was conceived!
It has been such a privilege to pray for the future mates and children of
my friends and then get to see the answers to those prayers unfold. Life
is such a miracle!

Grandma enjoys watching the birds that come to her feeder.

Sorting kale to freeze for smoothies. I am thankful for these memories.

In mid-July, my prison ministry, AmyGrace, and I both traveled to
Indiana to spend a few days with our friend MaryEllen, who served
with the prison ministry until the Lord called her to the ministry of 
marriage and motherhood.

We had two cats, who we believe were dropped, make their
way to our home and promptly adopted us!

Emma, Stephen, and James came at the end of July, and we
were able to celebrate Emma's 27th birthday and James' 1st! 

While they were in town, we traveled up to Louisville for 
Grandma, as well as the rest of the Louisville family, to spend
some special time with Emma, Stephen, and James. Here Grandma
points out "her birds" to James.

June and July were blessed months and I am grateful. The summer has been slow in some respects and sped by in other ways. It has been a summer of continuing to seek the Lord and often the strong feeling of needing Him more. I am thankful that He is patient with this "work in progress". He is wonderful!