Motivation and A Heart Full Of Praise

The kids were taking a bit longer with some of their subjects this morning, but they are motivated by their desire to help Daddy out in the field. Scott was up early this morning, mowing the lawn around 6am! I think the excitement of planting wheat and barley, etc in our field is motivation for him to get through some of his non-favorite chores too:).

So far the kids are finished with their math and reading. I told them that they can go help Daddy, have lunch and come back to finish up the other subjects after lunch. It's not like this planting thing is an everyday occurrence and I'll include it in their school experience as "learning life skills":).

Adelaide is pretty worn out from our late hours last night and has been taking a good nap for over an hour now. I'm kind of going backwards in my writing about the events of the past two days. What I really want to share is VERY GOOD NEWS!!!

CALEB STERLING HOLLOWAY admitted that he was a sinner, in need of Jesus' forgiveness yesterday and asked Jesus to save him and come to live in his heart. I had Happy Mommy Tears over that one! It's been coming for awhile and he's even cried at times because he wasn't saved, but wasn't ready to pay attention long enough for us to talk to him and see where he was at in his understanding of why we're sinners, why we need Jesus to save us and that we need to ask his forgiveness and accept His free gift in order to be saved. What a wonderful day! He was very excited after he finished praying and gave me a big hug. He said "I love you" and when I asked him where Jesus was now, he said, "in my heart". I've asked him several questions since then, like, "Will he ever leave you?, Can anyone take him away from you? What's he doing in there?" The answer to the first two has been "No" and the 3rd one was, "He's cleaning my heart". We all realize that this doesn't mean he will instantly change and be the perfect little angel, but it does give us extra power through prayer. That now God can change Caleb from the inside. The older two have been talking to him about being a baby Christian and that they all need to grow. He's soaking it in and thinking through things. So, this definitely goes on my chart as one of the best Mother's Day Presents ever! The days that they were born are at the top of that list, but I think that's pretty obvious:) Their "spiritual" birthdays have more and more meaning as the years go by. Thanking the Lord for his wonderful blessings!

Last night I took Adelaide in with me for our Ladies Bible Study. This is the last one we'll have til September. There will be quite a few get togethers aside from that and we just find that it's nice to have a bit of a break when others are farming and vacationing so much over the summer. So, Adelaide really seemed to be competing with me for the attention:) She was doing a good job and being quite cute, but as soon as I got through the parts that I needed to read notes for I sat down and nursed her to sleep. It was much easier to talk with the ladies after that;). It was a sweet time of fellowship and I pray that the Ladies were encouraged by it. I know that I was. Encouraged and Strengthened for the days ahead. Thank you Lord for the wonderful group of ladies that have become my friends(family, sisters in Christ).

So many things going on right now, but mostly pretty good. My mom is flying to Germany on Saturday to visit my brother, Luke, and his family for a couple weeks. We'd appreciate prayers for her safety and all of theirs as they travel. We're still waiting to hear another update on Carter's condition. His platelet count was down again, but still no explanation for why... Trusting the Lord has a purpose and a plan in all of this.

Lots of cleaning, packing and last minute baking to do this week. It's kind of fun ticking off the days. No more pancake breakfasts before we go. No more laundry days before we go. No more office days before we go:) One more town day, baking day and cleaning day. We got the van all cleaned on the outside yesterday, so probably vac out the inside and start putting some things in to get it ready. That's always the challenge when we head out on a Sunday. We'll have morning church, but then we'll be visiting friends in Lethbridge and going to their church in the evening. We're very blessed that the church in Prince Albert is sending a couple out to preach while we're away. Thank you Lord for men who are willing to be used of you and are such a blessing to our family and others around the world.

Have a wonderful week everyone!!!