New Year's Resolution.. {TheSarcasticEdition}

 I wonder how many people actually follow through with it? Probably an extremely mini, super tiny, small fraction. =)  (for those of you who actually do have a New Year's Resolution.... I'm sorry if I just hurt your feelings! Just hang on a second... it gets better ;)

"run 78 miles a day",
"eat salads for 45 days straight",
"travel around the world in 10 days... on my bike... blindfolded.",
 "climb Mt Everest in a half an hour",
"learn to play guitar, violin, cello, banjo, piano, harp, harmonica, jaw harp, mandolin and kazoo in a week.... tops!"
.............I mean, come on! Seriously? Yes, it is good to set goals for yourself... I'm all for it! But when I read an article about some of these outrageous and ridiculous resolutions, I was pretty surprised, to say the least!
Just be thankful for another year of life. Enjoy each minute as it comes and stop beating yourself up for not drinking 456,852 glasses of water a day and for not putting your full 8 hrs of exercise in! Oh yeah, and remember....... don't waste $4500 on a treadmill that you KNOW you're only going to use 3 times before you put it on craigslist and eBay!

So here's my resolution.. it's not a new year's resolution, but for lack of a better word, I'm going to use resolution.... ;)

                              I'm going to (or at least try to)....

... probably do a little more of this. Can you believe that I, Gianna, am saying this?!

Don't you just love my PINK John Deere cup?

                                                ...try super hard to shoot more often! And I'm really hoping (and praying!) to get my hunting license this year!
          
                                                                                        Well, ya know... one can only hope! =]

And so there you have it folks. My rendition of a New Year's Resolution. As you can see, I'm not very fond of them.  But it you are, don't let me stop you! Go right on ahead with your goals! I just hope you follow through with 'em..... ;)

Christmas Time's aComin'! Chistmas Time's aComin'!

One of the best 'Christmas smells' of all times.....
                                                        Gingerbread Cookies. (And pine needles)

                                                                                  ....or at least that's how I see it. ;)

Today I made some of these delicious smelling cookies. We have about 1,587,326,821 (most of them aren't even Christmas!) cookie cutters.  There were men, women, Christmas trees, snowmen, bells, stars, angels, candles, and little gingerbread babies. =]  So, needles to say, I had plenty to choose from.

                                                              photo credit ~ Caitlin

                                                                       photo credit ~ Caitlin

I hope you all are having an amazing Christmas Season rejoicing in the TRUE meaning of CHRISTmas!

This one made me laugh...

...a lot. =)

Lord, You satisfy!

Have you ever had such sweet time of fellowship with the Lord that you just did not want for it to end?! Have you ever felt like your entire being was overflowing with an overwhelming sense of His love for you?! Like your soul was dancing with pure JOY and humbled at the thought of being in God's Almighty presence?!

Well... tonight was one of those times. One of those times when I just wanted to bask in His beautiful presence forever more! One of those times when I wonder why on earth I could ever doubt His leading.....

"Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee!" -Ps. 63:4

God is so Sovereign. So Holy. SO worthy of ALL our praise! He can satisfy like no earthly possession or human being ever could! Nothing compares, absolutely nothing compares to the everlasting Love of our Heavenly Father!

"O taste and see that the Lord is good...." -Ps. 34:8

"...all creation sings Your Majesty and Praise...."

"The heart of God loves a perservering worshiper who, though overwhelmed by many troubles, is overwhelmed even more by the beauty of God." --Matt Redman

'Tis the Season

...for Peppermint Mochas! C=

...and Salty Caramels.....

From our family.....

...to yours...      
                      Happy Thanksgiving!

The 30 of us--Parents, siblings, brother inlaws, sister inlaws, nieces & nephews-- plus our Grandparents and Great Uncle. (My Dad's Uncle)

::Giving Thanks Even When It's Not Thanksgiving::

Last night when I saw my Dad sitting at the table with his Bible, notebook, pen and coffee, he told me he'd be preaching on 'Giving thanks ALWAYS.'

Hearing this sermon from my dad, and just hearing it in general, was very convicting. Are we truly thankful all year 'round? Or do we just remember to give thanks around Thanksgiving? This commercialized holiday most of the world see as a day to get together with family, overeat and say some shallow thing your thankful for.. (I know, sometimes I'm really blunt. It comes with being a Prophet! ;) Do we really, truly have a spirit of gratefulness?  How unattractive it is in a person when they aren't very grateful for anything. Even the obvious blessings.
Like my dad said this morning---" Every morning when you wake up the Lord fills you up. He fills you with life, breathe, and a new day." --Do you thank Him for this daily? Are we truly grateful for all that He has blessed us with? Or do we just take it for granted... and most of the time... just expect it from Him.

I would just like to encourage y'all to take a look around you... and I don't mean the clothes you're wearing and the house you're living in! No... I mean the sight that you have... The breathe that you're breathing.... specific people that have encouraged you in your walk with the Lord. ...and like the peppermint mocha my dad just bought me tonight =)  Someone who was patient with you at the register when you're digging through your wallet for the 10 cents! For the mercy and love Christ shows us daily. For His living Word.
May each one of us continue to strive toward cultivating a heart and spirit of gratitude in and for all things!

"O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: His mercy endureth forever. O give thanks unto the God of gods: for His mercy endureth forever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for His mercy endureth forever. To Him who alone doeth great wonders....."                            Psalm 136:1-3

::The things we do for a skit::

                           Don't you wish you were in our CI classes?? ;)

The kids in our church still refer to me as 'Baby Becky'...

Long-Time-No-Post.....(!)

Ah yes.. it has been a  very  long time since I've posted...but life has been exciting and busy so therefore, I kinda, sorta forget about my poor neglected blog.  But I hope to post more often! ;)
The highlight of this month was the amazing opportunity God brought to our family..... being able to serve in the kitchen up in the Northwoods during a Journey! {Happy-ness} God has been so good to us and has blessed us in more ways than I will ever even know! (=
But I must say.... it was pretty sad leaving... I want to go back!!

                                                .......maybe someday... (=

          Have a loverly rest of this week, y'all, and Keep Moving Forward!

                                                            
                                                          {Psalm 103}

Psalm 31:24

"Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord."

This is my verse I'm memorizing this week. It's especially meaningful to me right now. God is so good. His mercy endureth forever! He is Awesome and Powerful! He has that still, small voice that speaks right to your spirit... and it's incredible when He does and so very clearly!!

I love the Lord because He not only first loved me, but because He shows His love for me daily. He shows His mercy and forgiveness to me daily... Our Heavenly Father is so Trustworthy and so Good...

Dominick's Perspective... (Part 1 ;)...

For the past few weeks I've been watching 3 of my brother and sister in-law's 4 kids when they work a market. I LOVE it SO much more than working a market!!
The first time my 2 nephews --Ethan & Dominick--saw that I had brought my camera, they both wanted to "try it". Dominick--who we call Dommy--said he wants to be a 'picture taker', so on this particular week, I handed him the camera {a bit nervously} gave him instructions and..... viola! ;)

I love Dommy so much! He's super-de-duper cute... even with his lithp!

(picture taken by my handy-dandy cell phone ;)  

(=

...Keep MoViNg {Forward}....

This is something that my mom was reminding me of today. It doesn't matter the circumstances, it doesn't matter what someone else is doing.... so many times I get all caught up in "oh poor me because of this situation".... but really, is it going to matter 5 years from now? Even next year, will it really matter? Probably not. I need only to look to Christ and keep going.

            

    "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."Phil. 3:14

So... be encouraged, my friend, to keep moving forward! Run the race that is set before you with endurance, confidence and joy!! (=

~Gianna

...} Hope {...

    This is a word that the Lord has given to me to discover.... expound... and dwell upon.

"For in Thee, O Lord, do I hope....." Ps. 38:15

I looked up this amazing word on dictionary.com. Here's what they had to say...
Noun. -- a person or thing in which expectations are centered:  to believe, desire, or trust:  to place trust; rely (usually followed by in ).

 In 1 John 3:3 the expression "hope in him" ought rather to be, as in the Revised Version, "hope on him," i.e., a hope based on God.
When I think of putting my Hope in the Lord, I think of waiting. Waiting in HIM and Hoping that He will bring my desires about. Which must be followed up with "being of good courage".

"Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord." Ps. 31:24

These were just some thoughts the Lord had brought to my mind and I thought I'd share 'em. I say "just" but really, it's not "just". To me, this was, and is, a "big deal". I believe that every lesson God is teaching us is a "big deal".  My lesson is on Hope. Yours may be completely different. But whatever it is..... don't take it lightly! He is telling us we need to better ourselves in this certain area of our lives. He's drawing us closer to Himself and with each little "life lesson", He is revealing a little bit more of Himself. And for that.... I will praise Him!!

To Market, to Market...

...to sell lots of corn!

These are some pictures from a market we--Caitlin, Jake and I-- did in Grayslake last week Wednesday. With this particular market, there's a lot of good about it :) ....we don't have to be up at 2:00, 3:00, or even 5:00 in the morning! We don't even have to be up at 8:00! It's just that great! This market doesn't start until 3:00, but we have to be at the farm to pick everything up by about 11:30ish. But anyway.... here are just a few pictures from that day. I didn't take all of them, I think Jake took a few, but it gets pretty busy otherwise I could take pictures at this market all day. It's a very clean looking market..... in my opinion anyway! ;) Okay, enough talk..........

And we're off!

The brave Budget truck driver! ;)

Red beets, Golden beets, Cauliflower, Mini eggplant, Large eggplant, Kohlrabi, Red cabbage, Savoy Cabbage.....

Golden beets..

Brussels sprouts.... delicious! ......or not.

Yellow summer squash, Barq squash...

Do you see how intently they're listening to Jake talk about the corn? =D

......it's a long day and we get back late, but in the end.... it'll all be worth it. =]

"Wherefore, I perceive that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his own work; for that is his portion...." --Ecc. 3:22

{...Our Sunday Afternoon...}

Today my sisters and I sang at our county fair... much fun!  (photo credit goes to my little brother Caleb :)

This was Jake's first time playing guitar for us and he did GREAT!!!

"...therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise Him."Ps. 28:7

 

I'm pretty sure I won the "Favorite Aunt" award. ;)

My niece Allison and I share the same love. We both love horses and rodeos.... =]
Last Saturday was her 7th birthday, and there just so happened to be a rodeo in town the same day! So my present to Alli was a glorious, green ticket to go see a little bit of heaven on earth.......

...watching intently....

All of the kids crowding around the clown....

During the break the clown sang "Happy Birthday" to Alli.. she loved it!

(she's the one in the middle ;)

It was a great, wonderful, very hot, sunny, amazingly fun day!!!

...Happy August 1st...

Happy 16th Jake!

Today Jake turns 16.
Jake is probably the hardest working 16 year old I know. Jake uses waaaay too many exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (which is fine, I guess ;)  Jake likes swimming under water more than he likes to be above. When Jake and I were little we used to play with Hot Wheels cars together. Jake used to LOVE to build forts in the woods. Jake is an avid knife collector and has more than I can count! Jake's the best raccoon hunter around. Jake probably knows more about guns than any other male I know. Jake wants to be a Navy Seal one day. (he's still trying to convince mom about that one! ;) Jake is a true gentlemen. He always opens the door for us girls and our mom. He waits at every meal for all of us girls to make our plates and then he goes. Jake eats more than a cow and horse put together and you wouldn't know it to look at him! Jake is a a super funny guy and can make you laugh at any given time!! Jake is a super sweet uncle to his 14 nieces and nephews. Jake is going to make an excellent dad one day. =)  My prayer for you, Jake, is that you will continue to draw closer to the Lord, in everything, daily!

Happy Birthday to the Handsomest 16 year old I know!!! ;)

HAHAHA!! This picture makes me laugh! =D This is what Jake is like in a box truck at 10:00 at night after a farmer's market. I think he was pretty excited about selling out yesterday...... ;)