More Rain Monday

Someone from Quito, Pichincha, Ecuador stopped by the blog just a few minutes ago.  Sure would be wonderful if ALL visitors would leave a comment and say how they found Baker's Blessings.

Well, it's being raining slowly for hours and it is so nice.  Don's get.up.and.go.has.got.up.and.went.... so he's sleeping nicely in his recliner.  It is a great day for resting, after all.

We drove over to his mom's to visit her for a few minutes.  I too a few pictures to share the rain with you.  See the rain spots on the windshield.Not far from our park is a herd of llamas.  There's a few in this picture, but they're hard to see. (Try clicking on the picture to see a larger view.  It may work and it may not.)It's raining a little harder now.Don picked a few zucchinis out of his mom's garden.  Brother-in-law has finished putting the top on the shed over mom's house.  She's tickled that she can sit on the porch while it's raining and not get wet. Don's mom, Pauline.On the way back home, these horses were standing in the rain. Rain never looked so good.Do you feel cooler?

Sunday is here and refreshed by rain

We are very grateful for the rain almost all night and a little more this morning, to cool off this hot part of Oklahoma.  It's cloudy and temps are down in the 80's.

Thankful, also, for the rest God provided and the restored strength and energy, this morning, we were back at Countryside Baptist Church.  Don taught the Sunday School class and also preached.  It's a very small congregation but very sweet.  I took this after church while we are all visiting.On the way to church, Don promised to stop on the way home so I could take a picture of this old barn. Quite a contrast of the old and the new, houses in the background.How do you like this one, Snookie, with the old cow pen? A different angle.As you can see under the eave of the roof, there is still a hint of red paint, indicating that at one time, this barn was painted red.Nice farm or ranch with an area where folks are riding.At a closer range, it appears to be a family out enjoying the cooler weather on their horses. Wish I could have gotten a better picture of that Paint on the right.

Wendy and Rick came over this afternoon to visit for a bit before they take off for Florida, early in the morning.  They'll be back in about a week.

Back to Countryside Baptist Church tonight and I decided not to take the camera.  Big mistake.  The cutest little guy, about six years old with his guitar, stood by the steel guitarist, Billy, and strummed his guitar and kept time with his little foot and even sang a special with Billy.  It was just a true blessing to watch how Billy, in his mid-sixties, affirmed that young boy.  Once in a while, Billy would whisper an instruction to little William and then encourage him that he was doing a great job.  What I wouldn't give for a picture of little William with his guitar standing beside Billy.  Note to self:  Don't EVER leave your camera at home.

It was a good day of sharing the Good News and the good things that God is doing.  What?  You don't see anything good?  Ask God to show you and be ready to see what He reveals to you.

We are so blessed.

Restful and Relaxing Saturday

Today was a relaxing day.  Don is just pretty tired from this past week in Iowa.  Even so, he was also pretty pumped and couldn't wait to tell Rick and Wendy about the things he experienced there.  We walked over to their 5er about 10:30 in the morning and had a good visit with them.  Noon-ish, we all got in our truck and went into Norman to eat lunch and see Mama Trudy.

Tonight.... Girls - one;  Guys - one.  Guess we will have to play off the tie breaker another time.  I just have to say that it's wonderful to have Don home and it's great to have such good friends here with us.

We are so blessed.

Fabulous Friday

Today was such a fun day with Lydia.  We just stayed in and talked and scanned scads of pictures to make a movie of her.  She showed me how to do that.... so smart.  It was such fun just spending time with her.  We laughed a lot.  I love this age.  She asks so many really good questions and she's revealing a surprising amount of maturity and wisdom for her age.  I am so proud of her.  It's such a blessing watching her grow  spiritually.  God is faithful when we pray.

Can you believe that I did not take one picture today?  We were so busy scanning old pictures that I never took a picture of her.

We stopped by to see Mama Trudy and I did take a picture of these big sunflowers down the street.

A lady dropped off several boxes of toys and Lydia and I took them to Mission Norman to donate them.  Lydia was very curious about Mission Norman and asked a lot of questions.  I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to shared that experience with her. 

After I dropped her off at her house, it was time for me to go pick up Don!  All the way back to Norman, and over dinner, we talked and talked.  Mostly, I listened to all of Don's stories, some very exciting, about his week in Iowa.  The free clinic in Wayland, Iowa is well on it's way to being a reality.

Thank You, Lord, for giving me such a good time with Lydia and for bringing Don safely home to me.

We are so blessed.

Splash Pad Fun

The last night before Don returns home from Iowa and I invited my eleven year old granddaughter to spend the night with me, after I took her and her brother and a friend to the splash pad.Lydia and Blaine... sweet picture, huh?Ouch.tender.ouch.knees.ouch .... poor baby's knees were raw from crawling on the rough concrete, but he never whimpered.Blaine, Lydia and Cody. These buckets fill up with water and then dump on the head of whoever is standing beneath.  Lydia gets a drenching.A huge cottonwood tree near the splash pad.

On the way home tonight with Lydia, a deer dashed across the exit in front of us.  It all happened so fast that I never hit the brakes before it was gone.  Thank God, we didn't hit it. 

We are so blessed.    

Challenge - day two

As I was reading Psalm 51, verses 5 and 6 really caught my attention:

⁵ For I was born a sinner—
      yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
⁶ But you desire honesty from the womb,
      teaching me wisdom even there.

Verse 5 assures me that God considered me a person at conception and even before, as I was planned by Him. Solves very simply the argument of When Does Life Begin.

In verse 6, I saw something I had really never thought of before:  every expectant mother and father should claim this verse and "agree" with God in prayer for Him to teach their baby wisdom, even from the womb.  Awesome!

What spoke to you during your meditation on God's Word?

Wonderful Wednesday

Don called me this morning.  He was outside the bed and breakfast where he's staying this week and I was outside the "Q" at the picnic table... to get a good signal so we could talk on the cell phone.  All I will tell you right now is:  God is up to something awesome in Iowa.

I spent most of the day with Mama Trudy as she wasn't feeling real good today.  I did give her a hair cut and that helped her feel better... it's a girl thing.  And we played a game of Mexican Train dominoes.  She beat me... that helped her feel better, too.

It's official!!!  No more drops for Mama's eye!!! Yeah!!!

We're also very excited that my brother is coming to visit next month.  I'm looking forward to hearing a first hand report of his recent trip to Guam.

On the way back to the "Q", I took a detour down a few back roads in the area.  I hit the jack pot of old buildings, stopping across the street from this.Nice hole in the roof, huh?  I love the vines growing up the roof on the back side.Then I pulled across to the gate in front of this old home.place.to.someone.from.the.past.Of course there was a dead tree, with a bonus... an old out building which was probably a chicken house.  Notice the roll of old chicken wire between the tree and the hen house.The east end of the house.It's my guess that the small structure behind the house was a well pump cover.Another view of the front door.The west end of the house really fascinated me.  There was no glass left in any of the windows.Wow!  What a stately old tree with it's glistening branches reaching toward heaven.A Paint horse!  I slammed on the brakes and turned into the driveway where this horse was grazing about two hundred and fifty yards away, in the shade.Not until I saw this picture on my computer did I realize there was a huge tree laying there, up by the roots.  My focus was on the silo.Part of the farm where the silo was. I think I've taken this Paint's picture on another day, but he was moving and took some more. His shadow.

Tonight, Wendy and Rick came over and we played Mexican Train dominoes.  Wendy won one and I won one... awwwww, poor Rick.  (I really mean it.)  We always have a good time, Wendy and I.

One good thing, though, before the evening was done, we had solved all the world's problems.  Now... if only the world would cooperate with us.

God is good, all the time and we are so blessed.

Are you listening for the Trumpet?

More Horses and Ramblings

All night long, occasionally, I would hear a strange noise that I did not recognize.  When I got up this morning, I heard the noise again and it sounded like it was some kind of bird on top of the "Q" so I got my camera and quietly went outside and walked to the other side to find my strange "bird!" ... a tree limb scraping the slide-out in the wind.Rick suggested that I ask the owner to trim this limb, so I did and they did and no more strange noises.

My sweet husband will be excited to hear that I slept through a storm last night.  I was sleeping in his recliner, but I was sleeping nonetheless.

On the way to see Mama today, I took a few more horse pictures when I saw this Paint horse.The Paint saw me and....smiled for the camera. When I saw this Appaloosa, I had to get a picture, even though it was far from me in the shade of trees.I apologize that the Appaloosa had walked behind the tree... looks like a headless horse, but you get a better look at it's markings. I was alone in the truck today, so don't ask how I got this picture.  I'm just thrilled that it isn't blurry.

I'm a little sad tonight... Don has tried to call me several times, but he doesn't have a very good signal where he is in Iowa and my signal isn't real good here, either.  We didn't get to talk. :-(  I am excited to hear about his day, but will have to wait.  I'm so thankful that we got to talk twice this morning.  He called me the last time to tell me about dear friends that had just called him from Missouri on their way to Kentucky.  He loved talking to them and was just "plumb tickled" to tell me about their conversation.  We do so love hearing from you... all of you.

As I meditated on John 14, the last verses spoke such peace to my heart,  Jesus (before His crucifixion) said:

²⁷ “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. ²⁸ Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again. If you really loved me, you would be happy that I am going to the Father, who is greater than I am. ²⁹ I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do happen, you will believe.

³⁰ “I don’t have much more time to talk to you, because the ruler of this world approaches. He has no power over me, ³¹ but I will do what the Father requires of me, so that the world will know that I love the Father. Come, let’s be going."

At the blog post entitled "40 Days to a Faith that Satan Cannot Penetrate" I failed to explain that by clicking on the scripture, a new page will open to Bible Gateway and you will be able to read that scripture in any translation of your choice.

While I was at Mama's today, she asked me if I had any idea where she had placed a piece of red material that she bought a couple of weeks ago to use as quilt backing.  She said, "I've looked everywhere and I can't find it.  Will you look for it?"  Of course, I looked and did not find the material either.  Mama took a nap and when she got up, she asked me if I had looked for the red material.  We talked about the mystery of the missing material and then I remembered that we know Someone who knows everything and cares about even our trivial needs, so I asked the Lord, "Please show Mama where she put the material."  She looked at me and said, "What did you say?"  I told her I had prayed.  She sat there for just a minute or two and got up, went to the closet, opened a box and there lay the missing piece of red material and I said, "Thank You, Father."  Mama said, "AMEN! Why didn't I think to pray?"  Before reprimanding me for "taking God's valuable time" for such a trivial request, try it sometime and experience that love.  It's a faith builder and a confirmation that He is right here with me.  I had no doubt.

We are so blessed.

Monday Musings

On our way to meet Don's ride to Iowa, we enjoyed the beautiful clouds with the shades of pink and gray.That glow behind the trees is the sun rising at about 6:30 A.M.  I know... you're shocked that I was up at that hour.We met Bill about 6:45 and we said our goodbyes... of course we kissed goodbye... duh.  I drove back to the "Q" stopping at Wal-Mart for a few groceries.  I spent most of the morning, studying, composing an email, and blogging.

This afternoon, Wendy and I drove around this area taking pictures.

For the readers who do not know horses, I'm going to give you a little description as I write and post pictures.

This is a Bay horse... which is the name for the color:  brown-reddish brown with black mane and tail and black legs.  Two subjects in one picture... notice the old barn.This is a Sorrel (U.S.) or chestnut (U.K.).  The Sorrel is usually reddish in color and same color main, tail and feet.  Legs may often be white, one, two or all.  This is possibly a Buckskin However, Buckskin horses are usually a shade darker with a dark main, tail and legs. Could be a Gray.Old barn for today.  That wood is pretty weathered.The door on the other end is open, as you can see all the way through the loft to the blue sky."DB" ranch, home of the old barn.Dead tree for today, from several angles.Wendy and I saw two houses dwellings like this one on the same road.  Strange. Proof I really did take this picture.... that's me in the mirror of the pick-up.  The road actually ended in the driveway , so we just quietly back-up, turned around and went back the way we came.My favorite, the Paint or Pinto. Isn't this a beautiful horse?In the same pasture with the Paint, was this Palomino, blonde with flaxen mane and tail.A cute donkey, scratching it's back on a limb and a Shetland pony pretending to graze but he's watching me. On Wendy's side of the truck were these twin silos on a dairy farm, so she took this picture for me.  Thanks, Wendy.A little further down the road, we found this pair grazing.  On the left is a Black... well not really. Blacks are jet black and there is some reddish color to this horse's coat so it would probably be classified as a real dark Bay horse.  The one on the right is a Gray/Dapple Gray.Here, you can see more of the red in this horses coat.A pretty blaze face Sorrel with at least one stocking leg was in the same pasture with the Bay and Gray.A red and white Paint that shared a pen with a little black goat that I couldn't get a picture of without getting out of the truck and I didn't want to get shot or arrested for trespassing.  Goat was cute though.The picture above looks like a crop of the picture below, but it's not.  If it were a crop, the date would be missing from the top picture.Don called me from Iowa.  He and Gene drove straight through and arrived safely.  Don reported that it was 76 degrees there and very beautiful.  Prayerfully, he will get a good night's rest tonight and be ready for three days of meetings, etc.  I will give a full report when he returns or as he has time to share with me on the phone.  Thank you for your continued prayers for him and thank God for the energy Don had this morning.

This evening, Rick, Wendy and I played Triominoes.  That was fun.  Then we got a report of a tornado watch in the state, so I came home to check it out on the computer.  All the storms seem to be north and west of us.  Praying that Stephanie and family are ok.

We are so blessed.