Faith Family Farm
Showing posts with label Joys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joys. Show all posts

Choosing Joy

I am thankful for many things.  Yes.  I am grateful for a tiny pine cone in the snow.  Surrounded by crystals of ice, this little pine cone would be passed up by many.  But, God desires us to enjoy even the tiniest of gifts, because when we are able to see those small glimpses of joy, that is when our eyes are truly opened. 



We have been giving many thanks these past few days.  Our Sarah had her first accident as she was heading into work this past Saturday.  She is perfectly fine, well, physically, and is giving praise and thanks to our great God!



The tire, bumper, and fender above, along with very few minor scratches, were the only noticeable damage to her little Nissan Xterra at all.  

She was heading South, in the right lane of the interstate, remember this, when she began to swerve a bit, then heard a loud "pop," and while swerving, somehow, ended up turning in a circle, slamming against the guardrail on the LEFT HAND side facing NORTH!!!  

Our Great God definitely had His mighty hand on her this day!  He always does, but it is in situations such as this where we can see His Hand at work.


She called, talked with Julia, and as she is still getting the details, we are rushing, grabbing shoes, keys, and running to the van.  Steve is one who does not go over the speed limit, but given the circumstances, yes, he did this day, as we rushed toward her.  We are normally a good 30 minutes away; but we were there before that :). 

I had called and she said she was fine, was out of the road, and after calling 911 as her dad asked her to, we were there shortly.  After talking with the wonderful State Trooper who helped her, he was shaking his head and said, "No, she was not out of the road. She was a good foot or so still facing the oncoming traffic!"  He was the nicest Trooper we have seen in awhile.  God definitely sent a great one to help Sarah.  When he first arrived, he parked and ran to help her, he showed me his dash cam and where she was, agh!  He was scared for her, and him!  Traffic still zipped right on by...of course, it's the interstate!

He told her she had to move the car to the other side and she said, "No, she couldn't," and he replied, "Honey, we have to move the car or we are both going to get killed!"  He moved it, had her get in, then drove to the right side, off of the shoulder.  Then, he went back to get his car and bring it over.  Her tire had blown the treads off, and it was leaking air, but we were able to very slowly hobble on down the last two miles to the exit, to a gas station and change it.  Steve drove her car, and the Trooper stayed behind us with his lights on til we got there.  As I said, a wonderful man he was!  We were blessed!


The state trooper finished his report, while Jamin changed the tire, and we watched, being ever grateful for her safety!  

Yes, we serve a Great God!  

And we give Him all praise and glory for keeping her safe!  

He gets all the glory!!!


We took her on to work, just around the corner to Lifeway, left her our van, and we brought her car back.  Check out her blog here, to read her account of the experience.


"Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father."
Eph. 5:20

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, 
call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples."
1 Chron. 16:8

"It is good to give thanks to the Lord
And to sing praises to Your name, 
O Most High;
To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning 
And Your faithfulness by night."
Psalm 92:1-2

Still and always giving thanks!

Always Experiencing Him,
Jody

Indian Boundary

Here's the last pictures of our Indian Boundary trip.  If you missed the 1st, simply go here.  We had a wonderful time, walking, talking, laughing, being goofy, and all the while being surrounded by each other and God's own wonderful creation.  So amazing!  I'm always astounded when we are in the middle of it, love it!  Be thankful, always...

I 'snuck' a couple pics of dear hubby, and then some-body, aka, Jenny, got a couple of us, we have a good time too!  *wink,wink*  ENJOY!!!



























"I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
He brought me up out of the pit of destruction,
out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock
making my footsteps firm.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the Lord."
Psalm 40:1-3

Always Experiencing Him,
Jody

Picnic!

A couple of weeks ago our family went to my favorite place for a picnic and a hike, Indian Boundary, Tellico Plains.  Such a wonderful time was spent with goofiness, laughter, resting, walking, eating, sunshine, breeziness, such awesome scenery from the Creator God Himself, and just an overall good time was had by all.  It was so nice to be away, as much as we love being home, sometimes you need a change of pace to revamp, to see things in perspective, and to see, again, what really matters.  

I loved seeing the girls and our guy have a great time being silly and funny; the smiles on their faces are yes, priceless...
Julia's beautiful smile :)

Jenny, of course, as you will see in more than one picture is the one who keeps us laughing with all her antics!



They brought their sling shots Jamin had made for them and had a blast slinging rocks away, way out into the lake.

Such beauty, such poise. :)


We had never been there when snow was still on the mountains, what a sight it was.  God is so amazing to give us the wonderful seasons to experience and keep us out of our drudgery, snow, rain, green trees and grass, colorful and falling leaves, lightning, thunder, all so amazing!



It took us a good couple of hours to go around the lake because some of us wanted to take many, many pictures, :) and enjoy the restful, relaxing time.


I had shouted, "CAR!" just to see what they would do, 'cause that's what we do on our roads, but of course, no cars here, so I got more of a, "What did you just say?" look.








Ok, so, No, Jamin probably shouldn't have been hanging by the rafters, but they seemed strong enough, so I hope it was ok.  He made it a good ways along trying to see how far he could go and hold on.


If you will notice, Jenny, aka, goofiness, is at the right, pretending to be a "bike" at the bike rack!  And,  we did remind Jamin of all the AFV videos we have seen and what happens to most guys when they attempt to walk a rail...Yeah, he was lucky here, it didn't happen, he stayed up, whew!




Yay! A normal photo for Jenny!  Actually, I suppose this is an ABnormal photo :) .  Aren't they just the best looking bunch ever!!!
We had a wonderful time!

"A cheerful heart makes a cheerful face."
Proverbs 15:13a

"A cheerful heart has a continual feast."
Proverbs 15:15b

Oh, what peace when you choose JOY, choose a cheerful heart; there is so much to be grateful and thankful for, always have a joyful heart.

Always Experiencing Him,
Jody