Spring has sprung!!

So I have to say, as usual, we've had alot (sorry, I know it is not technically a word but it is in my book, lol) going on at the H household! Last week hubs had the week off, so we got in some quality family time!  We went through and did a deep cleaning of the house, and lots of laundry (which I am sorry to say, our laundry room doesn't seem to recall that happening at all....). We worked on our garden of potted veggies and hubs and his brother destroyed the dead hedges in the front yard. We watched some movies with the kids.  We had Terminex come and spray for the spiders (shudder). We took the kiddos to my friend's farm...(pics below) and the dentist (again, pics below). I think that day was by far the highlight of the week. We ran lots of errands, garage saled, and did a little consignment shopping for Hannie. All in all it was a great week, but it went way too fast.  It just confirmed to both Jacob and I that if we can ever get ourselves to that point, we would love to have some kind of a farm life in the country with some land, and having Jacob home every day.  Not realistic for where we are right now unfortunately, but hey, we can dream though right?

 My friends Linz and Collin, who I have known since I was a teenager, invited us out to their farm quite a while ago, and we finally made it out there! Of course, being a rare week off and wanting to make use of our time every moment, I scheduled Hannah and Bubs' first dentist appointment at Happy Smiles!  I was a little nervous as to how it would go, but they both did great. The dentist office staff was wonderful as well. They explained everything they did in kid friendly terms, and even had movies playing from Tv's mounted to the ceiling to help them feel relaxed and comfortable. All in all, they were great, and I would recommend it to anyone.

See! No cavities!!!! After that, we loaded up and headed down the road for our mini road trip (an hour and half either way) to the farm.

Here are some pics of the kids at the farm. They had both been on a horse before, when we went to Cedar Hill Farms in the Fall on the kiddie pony rides, but never like this. Hannah would love to ride more, and if we had more time, money, and a 2nd vehicle, I would consider signing her up for lessons.  They had a few goats too, some adult and some babies, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about taking one home with us. We do have a large backyard, but it just isn't big enough in my opinion, and I know  I'd want more space and to not be in a neighborhood before we start getting more animals. They also had several chickens that laid eggs, and although my next door neighbor has chickens, I don't know that we would be able to handle them here. Sugar, our beloved dog, killed and ate one of our neighbors chickens that got through the fence, and needless to say, there were feathers everywhere. Jonah loved being able to roam around though, fenced in where he could just explore to his hearts content! Hannah chased the goats till she was exhausted, and Josh just took it all in.

I have to admit I am slightly jealous. If we were in the position to buy a house, I think I'd have to look for a farmhouse with enough room to get some animals. That would be living the dream. Of course, then we'd probably get a few more dogs and a couple cats as well as chickens, horses, and goats. Hopefully, one day we will get to that point!!

Joyous News this Easter!

So, in case you haven't heard already, our six year old daughter accepted Christ last week! My birthday was this past weekend, and Easter is this coming weekend, and I couldn't think of a better gift or more fitting time than right now! We have been talking for several weeks now, about the issue. We have explained, mostly due to questions that arose from her learning AWANA verses (and I thank God for them!) that Christ died for our sins. We then explained even further, sharing what sins were, and why we need God in our heart as forgiveness. I probably talked to her once a week or so, for several weeks.  I was trying to follow the Holy Spirit's leading, because she is so young, I didn't want it to be a forced thing, because then she'd make a hasty decision not fully aware of what it meant, but causing the potential for a slew of problems later on.  However, I didn't want to simply write it off as she was too young, and couldn't possibly understand, because I believe she can (and does). In fact, everyone has their different point in their lives where they realize they cannot live without God, and their need for him-and at various ages.  I was 7, my husband was a few years older. I have friends that didn't come to know Christ till they were teens or even much later in life. I think it just depends on the Holy Spirit's leading, and it shouldn't be something you just assume someone is ready for or to accept till they tell you.  That being said, I felt led to plant those seeds in her heart, and continued to water them weekly, as we worked on our Scripture memory verse for the week, or had Bible Study. Whenever she came to me with questions, I did the best I could to answer them.  She was aware, that because she had sins, she would go to Hell when she died, without Christ.  I made sure to tell her at the end of every conversation, that if she was ever ready or wanted to do that, all she had to do was talk with Mommy or Daddy, or a teacher at church, and they would help her to know what to do next. 

Last week, during our weekly discussions, one of her verses we were working on was for the "A" in SPARKS. A stands for according. "Christ died for us...according to the scriptures." She leaned in to me, and told me that she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart. I asked if she was ready to do it right then, or if she wanted to wait for her Daddy to get home. She did not want to wait at all (and who can blame her!?) and I, again completely led by the Holy Spirit, led her to Christ.  I am embarrassed to say, I have never done that before-helped to lead any non-believer to Christ- and certainly never my own children. She is our oldest, and this is unknown territory for us.  But when she asked, I felt overcome with emotion, the Holy Spirit comforted me that it was HIS leading, not her misunderstanding, and I know that without a doubt, she is saved!  This got me thinking, as Christians, or really even non Christians who are adults, we tend to over think Salvation. We question the fact that Christ is capable of saving us, sometimes doubting that his grace is enough. We wonder if there is anything else we could do to help the process, being completely human, and thinking that surely there is some thing we must do on our part, to justify his salvation. As a child, we respond innocently to the Holy Spirit's leading, without questioning the feeling of pure love and an unwavering trust we freely give to him. We acknowledge the most simple fact that because of our mistakes, we are forever separated from God. His perfection, demands that a wall be put between us, because of the pain of our sins. However, he wasn't satisfied to be separated from us for all eternity. SO much so that he would rather lose his own sin to death on the Cross, rather than lose all for all eternity. He IS a loving God. He is our Creator. Just because bad things happen in the world, they don't disprove that God is loving. In fact, quite the opposite. He allows those things to happen because we have free will. We can choose him or not. For some reason, kids sometimes seem to understand that a little better. They understand a need for God on a very basic level, and are naive still to the ways and wickedness of the world. The way they learn the wicked ways of the world is by other adults, and those ahead of them, who have also been led astray.  Anyways, sorry for going off on a tangent, but the point is, that it's amazing to me that a child can firmly grasp something that an adult can't seem to wrap their brain around.  God is awesome, and there is no denying it!!