Prairie Oak Homestead

Every Spring I get all excited about having a garden. As soon as the weather has a hint of warmth in it, I start dreaming. I dream about how wonderful and full my beans will be and how big my tomatoes will be...it always ends up a dream. :( I start with good intentions. The ground is tilled and made ready. I get the plants and seeds and plant with wonderful visions of providing good food for my family. Then it happens...the rains, the deer, the heat...Try as I may I just don't have the strength to fight all those. I watch in horror as my dream becomes grass...It's sad, really. I don't even have weeds, just grass that springs up quickly and spreads itself all across my big garden taking over and making it unrecognizable. We have big plans for next years garden...black plastic and compost. We shall see. For now, I will glean from it what I can and dream about next years bounty. Hope you all are having a better time in your gardens...

I thank you in advance for getting through this post. It reveals an ugly side of me, one that I hadn't really seen until God revealed it. I have eyes that see, but was too afraid to look. He has spoken to me on two separate occasions in the last two weeks... very clearly. Here are the two different times and I'll explain as best I can. Friday....I take Hunter to horseback riding lessons every Friday. He has had several lessons, but on this particular lesson, God decided to open my eyes so that I may see. His instructor is wonderful. I have always thought so. But, on this particular day as I sat in the barn and watched her teach him, I was overwhelmed to tears. (Kinda embarrassing) You see God was revealing to me an ugly side of me and it hurt. I have never seen anyone be as patient as this woman is to Hunter. Her voice is soft, kind, and articulate. There is never frustration in her voice. She laughs with him. She was teaching him how to clean hooves and told him ...

It's been a rough night...I would appreciate any prayers. God comforts us in our suffering and I am so thankful He does. My husband made a tough decision tonight regarding a relationship we have had and it broke our hearts. God will have to heal my heart because it's broken...I know He can mend it and I know that this relationship if not here, will be continued in glory. I just wish I had more time with this relationship here in the flesh. I cry now, but with God and the help of my husband, we will move past the pain. The pain will cease someday, but the love we have will never cease. It will always be...

Yesterday was a cooler, albeit still hot day, and it helped with me feeling better. I made some snickers candy bars, cleaned up the house, volunteered at the gluten free store, and finished a book. Last night we did some target shooting with my brothers, their fiances, my mom, Hunter, and Ryan. It was pretty fun. My older younger brother leaves today back for California. He was talking about talking his fiance into moving here. Why on earth he'd want to move back to central Illinois is beyond me. I guess he just wants to be close to family. I think it's been weighing on them since our step-dad was killed. I just know though that after a while of living here, they would probably wonder why they came to live here in this state. ;) Hunter has horseback riding lessons today and he's excited to wear his cowboy boots. He really likes riding and I really like it for him. :) I'm hoping to get outside while I can to get some weed whacking done. It's very much neede...

It has been very hot and humid here for what seems like weeks. Everyday is muggy to where you feel like you're breathing water instead of drinking it. ;) It has taken a toll on my health a bit. I have become weaker and exhausted. My garden has suffered due to all the rain and heat we've had to which I haven't been able to get out in it and weed. I did do some last night, but I could only do 1 1/2 rows before I got extremely weak and had to go inside. :( The deer ate a lot of our plants and it's been so discouraging. Today is going to be filled with resting and reading...I told Ryan yesterday that if there was anything they could do for me at the hospital, I would go. I haven't felt like I needed to be admitted in a long time. I'm praying this passes soon and I have my strength back. I've been fighting a migraine for 3 days and my brain is so scattered. I know it will get better....I just hope it's sooner than later. :) Well, I'm going to go...

A Little Girl Needs a Daddy A little girl needs Daddy For many, many things: Like holding her high off the ground Where the sunlight sings! Like being the deep music That tells her all is right When she awakens frantic with The terrors of the night. Like being the great mountain That rises in her heart And shows her how she might get home When all else falls apart. Like giving her the love That is her sea and air, So diving deep or soaring high She'll always find him there. I understand that not everyone has a perfect relationship with their father, and this day actually stirs up feelings of bitterness, hopelessness or anger--- you are not alone . Fathers are imperfect---sinners---like the rest of us. Perhaps you were wronged, abused or even abandoned. Then I must point you to my heavenly Father---the Father who" is father to the fatherless" (Ps 68:5) and will "never leave you or forsake you" (Deut. 3...