Blessed

Big brothers are the best!

You'll never know how happy this little girl was to go hunting with her KK.

They didn't have any luck, but she was so excited when they got back. We were already at the table eating supper and she rushed in and told us all about it in the sweetest and most precious way! I wouldn't trade anything for these moments, and for having a 15 yr old son who loves to spend time with his baby sister.


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The Bantam of the Opera

This poor little banty unfortunately was born ranking very low in the pecking order. He was first attacked by his "brother" and then again by his "uncle".


Caleb brought him to me and asked if I could do anything to help. It was such a horrid sight, with his eyeball hanging out, that I just gently said, "Put that chick out of its misery."

Well, the Chicken Whisperer decided to try to nurse him back to health. Surprisingly, the chick survived.....with a few scars. (In other words, that's the ugliest chicken I've ever seen!)

Apparently, although he is extremely ugly, he has a beautiful crow.

So, KK has given him a new name.

Meet

"The Bantam of the Opera"




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An Hour and a Half Well Spent

Follow this link to watch one of the most important and informative movies made:

Agenda:  Grinding Down America

The maker, a homeschool father named Curtis Bowers, has decided to make the full length movie available for free on Vimeo from now until the election.

Don't miss this opportunity!  I own this DVD, but you can watch this and easily share it with friends.  Help spread the word!

Schooling or Education?

It is important to distinguish between "schooling" and "education." Not all schooling is education nor all education, schooling. The proper subject of concern is education. The activities of government are mostly limited to schooling.

--Milton Friedman. Capitalism and Freedom

Poor Pepper!

Poor Pepper got to be the "bad guy" for today's adventures.  Bless that dog!

I've Missed Out

30 years ago today, when I was 7 years old, I fell under Holy Ghost conviction and surrendered my life to Christ, and He gloriously saved my soul!  I can't thank Him enough for the blessing of being raised in a Christian home and being saved at a young age.  When I look at the broken and shattered lives of the girls that come into the Pregnancy Care Center, or when I see my classmates on Facebook (most of whom are on their 2nd, 3rd, 4th spouses), I feel no self-righteous pride whatsoever.  I just feel overwhelming gratitude for the grace of God.  I actually struggled with guilt for many years....Why me?  Why was I born to Christian parents in the United States of America and not to radical Muslims in some remote country?  I know, according to Scripture, that the Lord God Almighty can and will save ANYONE who looks up and calls to Him for help, but clearly my chances of finding the true gospel were greater than most of the world's.

Thank you, Lord.
And yet, I know that....

"But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more."  Luke 12:48

considering my blessed status, I will also be held accountable for what I did with this privilege.

And so, on this special Spiritual Birthday, my prayer is twofold.  First, I'm asking my Savior to help me make better use of my remaining time on this earth, to keep my attention on things of eternal value.  Secondly, I am thanking him for all the things on which I missed out!



www.ClarkFamilyMusic.com (check them out on iTunes)

For the Beauty of the Earth

My Seth is such a gentle soul. Here he is teaching his friend (who is a girl ;)) how to sword fight.




He wouldn't let Bub have a sword to play with Jenna because he "would be too rough with her".


For the past several weeks, he's been begging me to let him spend his birthday money on trees. He researched for weeks and decided which ones he wanted. I made him wait a while to make sure that's what he wanted to spend his money on, but he just wouldn't give up.

So, today, we planted 8 trees. He was so excited! It was sweet to hear him talking about how he could help his kids climb those trees one day. What a sweetheart!


It was a family effort.


Summer dressed for the occasion.


My KK is getting so tall and handsome!


Here he is with one of the quail he raises.


These 2 Bradford Pear trees were given to Jason 10 years ago on his 30th birthday. Look how they've grown! Having moved several times as a child, it's a blessing to have a piece of land where my children can plant roots and make plans for the future.



Sis has been learning to play "For the Beauty of the Earth," and that song has been on my mind all day. Here are the beautiful lyrics:

1. For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies;
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

2. For the wonder of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light;
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

4. For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child;
Friends on earth and friends above;
For all gentle thoughts and mild;
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

5. For Thy Church that evermore
Lifteth holy hands above,
Offering up on every shore
Her pure sacrifice of love;
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

6. For Thyself, best gift divine,
To our race so freely given,
For that great, great love of Thine,
Peace on earth, and joy in heaven:
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise. (By Folliot Sandford Pierpoint)

- Posted using my iPhone

Sweet Times

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Let the Punishment Fit the Crime

My little Bub is the most precious little guy you could imagine....but his sloppiness is legendary.  Sometimes I can't believe that I gave birth to such a slob!  It drives me insane!

This past week I had reached my limit with his disobedience.  My kids have strict rules about clutter, but he just can't seem to get it together.  All the usual punishments just seemed to have no effect, so I've had to get clever.  We have an upcoming history fair in which Bubbie was planning to be a Navy Seal, his favorite thing in the world.  I gently explained to him that Navy Seals had to carry their own weight and follow instructions and stay ahead of the game.  I gave him an ultimatum:  either get it together and act like a Navy Seal, or change his history fair character to "an Obama supporter", somebody who free loads and expects other people to carry their load.

In order to help him see his progress, I made him a calendar for daily room check progress.

I think he's FINALLY motivated!

- Posted using my iPhone

Just Because It's Funny

If you're not familiar with the crazy guys at Bad Lip Reading, well...they're just funny guys who take speeches and scenes and turn the sound down, and lip read.  The results are always hilarious.  I'm embarrassed to tell you how many times the kids and I have watched this video, but I will tell you that it still makes me laugh out loud.  This was MUCH more entertaining than the original debate!

No More Sea

I have always been fascinated by the ocean, especially the deep sea.  So much mystery and wonder!  Do you realize that more people have been on the surface of the moon, than have been on the floor of the ocean's abyss zone?  And even below that lies the trench zone!  Who knows WHAT kind of leviathans and strange creatures dwell there.  Scientists admit that the ocean is 95% UNexplored (and that's as far as THEY know!). 

When I see stories like this....

(click on article title to read the story of this giant eyeball)

"Giant Eyeball Washes Up on Florida Beach"

or

this (giant squid filmed for the first time, alive):

my ears perk up!

The ocean covers 70% of the earth.

The earth began as water.
"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Gen. 1:2

The sea creatures were the first animals to be created, on Day 5 of Creation Week (Gen. 1:20).  The birds and flying creatures were created after the sea creatures on the same day, and then on Day 6 the land animals.

God used water to judge the earth in the Great Deluge.  To look at the Grand Canyon and the great mountain ranges gives us an idea of what God can do with water.  In fact, it felt almost apocalyptic when the Tsunami of 2004 occurred in the Indian Ocean.  The pictures were surreal, and over 230,000 people were killed.  Water is powerful.

So why, at the end of this sin cursed age, and the beginning of eternal glory, did God say that the ocean would not be a part of the new heaven and new earth?

"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth:  for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea."  Rev. 21:1

I've pondered on this verse for years.  Literally.  WHY?  No marvelous sea creatures in eternity?  WHY?

I don't know if I'll ever have my answer on this side of the grave, but I came across something amazing while preparing for my Sunday School lesson this week.  I was teaching on what Dr. Henry Morris calls "divine memory loss" from Hebrews 10:17, "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more."

As I was studying this thought out, I came to Micah 7:18-19:

"Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage?  he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.  

He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea."

No more sea.

No more sins.

Well, praise the Lord!

Stringer Hospital

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Oh no! Crisis!

Obama's Teleprompter malfunctions during his family dinner!

My Munchkins

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