Prairie Oak Homestead

"Many wives do not realize that they have two powerful weapons that are far more effective than nagging, whining, or preaching. The first weapon is a godly life. The second is prayer." unknown Pin It

My husband returned safely from the Dominican Republic Thurs night. He had a very blessed time there. He brought back a little bug/bacteria/parasite? with him though. He is taking his medicine and should be just fine soon. He doesn't feel sick or anything, just inconvenient if you know what I mean. ;) He had a woman there he had only met minutes earlier come up to him and hug him and not let him go for several minutes despite him trying to let go several minutes in. She finally released him and told him that he was going to do great things for God. He was taken aback to say the least. As for me, I have bone marrow edema in my upper tibia/lower femur again . As you can imagine the swelling of bone marrow is very painful. I am to be off my leg and was given a short length of steroids to bring the pain and swelling down. Seems to be working :)  Also, my sleep study full report came back and it seems I wake up at least 11 times during the night. They had given me a pill to take to h

Oh how I needed this reminder! "....this thing is from me" (1 Kings 12:24). "Life's disappointments are veiled love's appointments." --Rev. C. A. Fox My child, I have a message for you today; let me whisper it in your ear, that it may gild with glory any storm clouds which may arise, and smooth the rough places upon which you may have to tread. It is short, only five words, but let them sink into your inmost soul; use them as a pillow upon which to rest your weary head. This thing is from Me. Have you ever thought of it, that all that concerns you concerns Me too? For, "he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of mine eye" (Zech. 2:8). You are very precious in My sight. (Isa. 43:4) Therefore, it is My special delight to educate you. I would have you learn when temptations assail you, and the "enemy comes in like a flood," that this thing is from Me, that your weakness needs M

  I want to start by saying I am not against wearing pants. I wear jeans at times. When I do, it's usually with a nice feminine top. But, this post is simply about why I mostly wear skirts.  You can see in the above picture that my left leg is stretched out. That's because I can't bend it. My knee is very swollen again (common occurrence due to atrophy of my leg) and I have to wear a leg brace.  Wearing a leg brace under jeans is very uncomfortable. I feel more free to move around in a skirt. Wearing a skirt isn't just about modesty, although that is a great thing. Sometimes, it's just more practical like in this case. But, that being said, I also like to wear skirts to be reminded that I am a lady and that helps me with keeping a soft and gentle spirit. I like to be feminine and wear feminine clothes. So even when I am able to wear jeans, I always pair it with a pretty feminine top. That's it. :) That's why I like to mostly wear skirts. I am not legal

Can you say exhausted? I have been so weak lately that every homemaking task is daunting. I am losing more muscle again in my left leg which has caused knee effusion and bone marrow inflammation again. I am down to 109 lbs. (not for trying! I eat, but sometimes only can eat a little due to swallowing problems) I am finally going to go to the doctor to see about the pain clinic. I think the constant pain is causing my MG to become even more exacerbated. Here's what I want back... Maybe someday, Lord willing. Pin It

Dew will never gather while there is either heat or wind. The temperature must fall, and the wind cease, and the air come to a point of coolness and rest--absolute rest, so to speak--before it can yield up its invisible particles of moisture to bedew either herb or flower. So the grace of God does not come forth to rest the soul of man until the still point is fairly and fully reached. ~Streams in the Desert Pin It

Our family makes sausage from the deer we get. It is so good! We make breakfast sausage, brats, italian sausage, and meat sticks. :) We did this over Christmas break.  Hunter and Ryan cutting up the pork to be ground with the venison  The  beast lol  Meat sticks Brats Pin It

Went to the doc today.  The results of the sleep study were back and the good news is that I did not have any desaturation (low oxygen saturation) or episodes of not breathing. The bad news is that it showed I am not getting recuperative sleep. I did not go into REM much and had short sleep latency. That explains why I am in more pain lately and feeling horrible upon wakening like I haven't been to bed. She prescribed me a medicine that should help me sleep more deeply. I sure hope it works. I need sleep! :) I also had to get a neck brace/support as my MG has affected my neck muscles more and my head wants to tilt back too much. That results in very sore and tired neck muscles that need a break and so the neck support was obtained. It helps.  My husband left yesterday for the Dominican and wouldn't ya know the toilet is acting up today. It won't flush right.  The water comes up and then goes down real slow. I plunged the heck out of it as much as I could. That didn't

My husband is leaving for the Dominican Republic on Thurs morning.  I'm going to miss him. It will be lonely and life will be more difficult here without his loving leadership, but we will get by until he returns a week later. :) My son is a great young man and likes to be the head when his dad is gone. Good practice. ;)  My husband and I were watching a show the other night called Alaska: The Last Frontier. It was about a few different families homesteading up there. There was one couple in particular that he connected with. They were high school sweethearts (like us and about our age) and loved living off the land. As we were watching, he pointed out something she (the wife in the show) had said about her husband. The wife was talking highly of her husband about how resourceful he was and and how he could do anything. That there was nothing he couldn't do. My husband turned and looked at me and said, I thought you'd like how she spoke of her husband. I smiled and said I

This comes from the devotional I read...Streams in the Desert "And there arose a great storm" (Mark 4:37). Some of the storms of life come suddenly: a great sorrow, a bitter disappointment, a crushing defeat. Some come slowly. They appear upon the ragged edges of the horizon no larger than a man's hand, but, trouble that seems so insignificant spreads until it covers the sky and overwhelms us. Yet it is in the storm that God equips us for service. When God wants an oak He plants it on the moor where the storms will shake it and the rains will beat down upon it, and it is in the midnight battle with elements that the oak wins its rugged fibre and becomes the king of the forest. When God wants to make a man He puts him into some storm. The history of manhood is always rough and rugged. No man is made until he has been out into the surge of the storm and found the sublime fulfillment

I took some time off of blogging and now I feel a little more rested and ready to get back at it.  I got my homeschooling curriculum ordered and it should be here Tuesday. The family made sausage together. Ryan got another deer and I was too tired for butchering so we had it butchered. I sadly gave my chickens new homes the other day. I cleaned the coop recently and I am just too weak to continue that. Plus my husband was ready to be done with them.  Maybe I will be strong enough this spring to just put all my focus solely on gardening. (I hope so) I wanted to post this video from a fellow MG'er. Her disease is more severe than mine is, but it gives you a good idea of some of what we go through.  It's about 9 min long, but I encourage you to watch. I just want to say that I am thankful that God has allowed me to continue to serve Him in whatever capacity I can. Serving in Venezuela even while having this disease was hard on me, but I am so thankful God allowed me that

I'm baaaack! I hope you enjoy this post from Streams in the Desert. I sure did. "He putteth forth his own sheep" (John10:4). Oh, this is bitter work for Him and us--bitter for us to go, but equally bitter for Him to cause us pain; yet it must be done. It would not be conducive to our true welfare to stay always in one happy and comfortable lot. He therefore puts us forth. The fold is deserted, that the sheep may wander over the bracing mountain slope. The laborers must be thrust out into the harvest, else the golden grain would spoil. Take heart! it could not be better to stay when He determines otherwise; and if the loving hand of our Lord puts us forth, it must be well. On, in His name, to green pastures and still waters and mountain heights! He goeth before thee. Whatever awaits us is encountered first by Him. Faith's eye can always discern His majestic presence in front; and when that cannot be seen

I haven't been feeling the best. I am struggling everyday and I'm very tired. Exhausted so much I can barely do my duties.  I want to "unplug" from things and try and regain some focus and rest. I will be focusing on our son's schooling as we are changing up our schedule to homeschool year 'round. I want to focus on our homestead life and I need to focus my efforts on getting physically and mentally rested to do that.  I go in for a sleep study on the 15th and praying that they can help me get some more oxygen in my system if needed. Feeling oxygen deprived because your diaphragm is too tired to work properly doesn't feel very good. Frankly, it feels awful. This disease is awful. But, our God is good! I will be focusing more on Him also while I'm away from the blogging world. I may be gone a couple weeks sorting things out... Thanks for understanding and I hope to see you soon. Pin It

"I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure" (Gen. 33:14). What a beautiful picture of Jacob's thoughtfulness for the cattle and the children! He would not allow them to be overdriven even for one day. He would not lead on according to what a strong man like Esau could do and expected them to do, but only according to what they were able to endure. He knew exactly how far they could go in a day; and he made that his only consideration in arranging the marches. He had gone the same wilderness journey years before, and knew all about its roughness and heat and length, by personal experience. And so he said, "I will lead on softly." "For ye have not passed this way heretofore" (Josh.3:4.). We have not passed this way heretofore, but the Lord Jesus has. It is all untrodden and unknown ground to us, but He knows it all by personal experience. The steep bits that take away our breath, the stony

"The land whither ye go to possess it is a land of hills and valleys and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: a land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year" (Deut. 11:11-12). Today dear friends, we stand upon the verge of the unknown. There lies before us the new year and we are going forth to possess it. Who can tell what we shall find? What new experiences, what changes shall come, what new needs shall arise? But here is the cheering, comforting, gladdening message from our Heavenly Father, "The Lord thy God careth for it." "His eyes are upon it away to the ending of the year." All our supply is to come from the Lord. Here are springs that shall never dry; here are fountains and streams that shall never be cut off. Here, anxious one, is the gracious pledge of the Heavenly Father. If H