The Journal of Plymouth Rock Ranch

This morning we kept hearing the children say, “Is that the well drillers I hear?” or “I think I hear the well drillers coming!” or “Are they here yet?” and finally, “They’re here!!!!! I hear them coming!!!!! They’re here!!!!!” And they were here at about 10:30 a.m.

The morning was a beautiful cloudy sky day with still muddy ground from the recent rains. When the sun broke through the clouds midday, it was very intense.

First they put a rope with an anchor on it to measure the depth of the hole and to document the water level in the hole. The water was registering at 180′ so there was 200′ of water in the hole.

It took them about an hour to get the 360′ of small pvc pipe with a pump on the end inserted into the 380′ hole.

They started the pump at 11:40 a.m. We waited breathlessly to see what would happen.

Finally, water started coming out of the pipe! We watched and we watched and the water kept coming out of the pipe. Pretty soon there was what Jackson called “A RIVER, Mommy, a RIVER!!!!!” flowing down the driveway.

The water was just too inviting and soon the little boys were walking in the river, playing in the river, getting all limestone muddied in the river.

Then Galilee joined them. Then they started mining the rock river debris that the well drilling deposited on our ground.

They all found treasures of stone. Some yellow limestone, some gray limestone, some quartz and some coral. Now, how did the coral get down there?

Darby and Her Rock : )

We kept waiting for the hole to pump dry, but it kept right on flowing. They periodically ran the 5 gallon bucket test and timed how long it took to fill up the bucket.

Our Bucket Runneth Over!

Our Bucket Runneth Over Creative Shot

They let the water run until 1:40 p.m. and it didn’t run dry! That seemed like good news to us who are practically illiterate when it comes to well drilling. But, we are learning!

The children continued to have fun in the water, buckets and rocks.

So did Darby…..

They then pulled up 40′ of pipe, hooked the pipes back up again, turned on the pump…….and there was still water! They then pulled up 40′ more of pipe, and there was still water. Then they pulled up 40′ more of pipe and there was still water. They did this until they got to 200′. At 200′ there was no water. They added one 20′ section of pipe to 220′ and there was no water. They added one more 20′ section of pipe to 240′ and there was water. They let it run for about 20 minutes. It registered at 6-8 gpm. So, in 2 hours of pumping water we had lowered the water level in the hole by 60′.

They term this well a “Marginal Well.” Not like the 880′ well down the street that pumps between 100-150 gpm. But, that well cost them three times what we have saved for this well. The current wild card is how much the recent rains have affected the amount of water that we’re getting at this rate and this depth. We’re told that as long as we use a water storage system, the current rate will meet our needs. It remains to be seen how this well will perform in time of drought. We are also told that the conditions of our permit will have to be changed. He tried to explain to me why when we went to the depth we were quoted, but I didn’t quite comprehend the difference.

They are currently putting the lower casing to the well in place. This involves 100′ of a piece of slotted pvc pipe surrounded by gravel.

Watching and Learning

So, there you have the most recent Chapter in The Saga of the Plymouth Rock Ranch Well. We have water. Now we’re praying that the Lord will continue to provide us with water in all seasons and all weather conditions.

Stay tuned for new updates and chapters!

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Rick picked up a special little something for the little kids and is working on a bigger, stronger, more daring version of the little kids.  Here’s some pictures for you to guess what the special something might be:

Wiping the Sweat

Better?

Group Effort

A Daddy & His Li’l Boy

Ready!

Wheeeee!

Oh What Fun!

Zippity Do Dah!

The Life of a Well Driller : )

Spewing

The Downhill Flow

Looking Uphill

The Lake of Foam

Swirly Foamy Stuff

Drying Foamy Stuff

Wet Foamy Stuff

More Swirly Foamy Stuff

Cracking Foamy Stuff

Limestone Dust Decorated Mountain Laurels

Close-Up

Creative Photography

Y’all are ready to hear the results of our well drilling, right?

Well, y’all will have to wait, just like us!

But, we will tell you the current twist in the Saga of the Plymouth Rock Ranch Well.

The well drillers came on Friday morning about 10:30 a.m. They had an hour of fixin’ to do on their rig and then started drilling at 11:30 a.m.

Rick and Skylar had a job in San Antonio for which they left very early to go get done and try and get back out here before the end of the day. That didn’t happen. Whodathunkit?

Callan and Ryker had orthodontic appointments at 3:00 which meant we had to be out of here by about 1:45. Since we’re usually late, we were heading out at about 2 p.m. Ryker ran over to get a report from the well drillers as we were loading the van and scurrying out of here.

Their report: We’re drilling to 400 feet and will then put a pump down to see what we have. They were currently around 250 feet deep.

So, we left for our appointment not knowing if we had water or not. And Rick didn’t make it back home as planned so he didn’t get an end-of-the-day report either. History told us that we would not get ahold of the well driller’s office until Monday morning, so we just committed our well to the Lord and went about our weekend - in suspense.

The first evidence we noted in Saturday morning’s light was that they had lowered the drilling boom. That was encouraging. Unless, of course, it is their normal practice to lower the boom for the weekend.

We were very thankful that they had lowered their drilling boom as we had a huge lightning storm come through Friday night. We had one bolt of lightning hit so close that we all thought that it might have hit their drilling rig. If their boom had still been up, it probably would have been hit!

The second evidence we noted was that the color of the rock they were bringing up had changed. Our edjumucated deduction told us that they had probably gone below the Edwards Aquifer yellow limestone, which is what our permit was for. Only time will tell if our edumucated deduction was right : )

Our third notation was that there was also quite a bit of foamy water/sand/rock stuff swirling down the drive. But, was this water from our well or was this water from the drillers blowing the hole out with their hauled in water?

We thought up all kinds of possibilities and guessed and wondered, but, as of now…..We still don’t know!

Here we are on Monday morning waiting with bated breath to find out if we have water or not. It’s raining so the well drillers won’t be out until it quits raining, if we do get a break. We’re scheduled to have rain through Wednesday or Thursday.

Oh, the suspense of it all!

Rick did get ahold of the well driller this morning. He said they drilled 380 feet and hit “some moisture.” Now that’s encouraging! What exactly does “moisture” mean????? Enough to wash out dishes and take a shower, or enough to make wet sand? I’m not sure quite how to interpret that!

He said they were getting a test pump ready and if the rain breaks for awhile they’d be out to install the test pump and see what we’ve got.

Update #1 as I write and post: The rain has broken for a couple of hours, according to the doppler. We’ve called the driller to let them know as the doppler indicates that they are getting blasted with rain while we are a soggy “dry.”

To add another twist to the saga and more suspense to the story: We were supposed to get 500 gallons of water to add to our already low quantity of 1,000 gallons of water yesterday after Church. But, as God providentially deemed suitable for our needs, we had a tire on the trailer de-laminate on our way to church. We had to leave our trailer, whose spare has been at a tire store for 2 months waiting for a shipment of trailer tires that fits our wheel and matches the other tires sizes that is stuck in the middle of the ocean somewhere, at said tire store in Bandera.

We’re now waiting for 2 new tires floating somewhere in the middle of the ocean. And, it’s raining, which means we can’t get a heavy trailer up our slimy, muddy driveway for the next few days anyway. We’re into major water rationing here. Maybe taking showers somewhere else and saving our water for washing dishes only? How do we do it?

Thankfully (?), our washing machine is out of commission awaiting new parts, so we were already doing our laundry at the laundrymat thus giving our water usage a little break. This is a rather expensive alternative, but it works.

Update #2 as I write and post: We got ahold of the tire store. They have 2 - two - TWO trailer tires in stock (different brand but they’ll work in a pinch) that they will put on our trailer and have ready for us this afternoon. Now - can we get a load of water up our driveway???? Probably not….but we’ll see!

So, how about it?

How many gpm (gallons per minute) do you think the test pump will reveal?

Will we have a working well?

Will we have an expensive hole in the ground?

Will we be able to quit hauling water?

Will we run out of our current water stores before getting a well, or having the driveway dry up enough to haul more water in?

Oh, the suspense of it all!

Let us know what you think.

Holstein was totally oblivious to the well drilling adrenaline flowing here today. She found a box a new washing machine part arrived in and claimed it as her own. She has been in this box most of the day. She has washed herself and stretched and then gone back to sleep for the umpteenth time. She’s a happy cat.

Darby, on the other hand, was totally aware of the well drilling adrenaline while the drillers were here. After they left the adrenaline surged stronger. She didn’t nap with everyone else. She decided she needed to play in the river of drilling runoff limestone infested water. What a mess she was! Covered in thick yellow mucky water. Double happy dog!

Cat Naps and Dog Days at Plymouth Rock Ranch!

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well drilling has ceased for the day. The sound of well drilling is a beautiful sound, but boy is it n.o.i.s.y when they are drilling!!!

We started our day out by forming a circle around our well site and praying for God’s blessing to be upon the work we were starting. Imagine this shot here as this photo somehow was deleted from Callan’s phone.

We then broke the huddle and went about preparing for the drillers and fixing a breakfast of crepes with cream cheese filling, peach puree sauce, maple syrup, bacon and orange juice. It was a nice breakfast for a slower morning with all of us at home.

Skylar, Harrison and I headed to Pipe Creek to get a tank of water and borrow a real camera as we weren’t sure of the phone camera photo quality. You see, our real camera was taken to a PotLuck Dinner we were invited to on Tuesday night. And, whoever took said camera failed to bring it home. Then said camera was taken to someone’s work where we were to pick it up. But, the well drillers arrived before that could happen. So, said friend, generously offered for us to borrow their camera which was within driving distance. Said friend also has generously offered us water when we need it (and we needed it) so we killed two errands with one trip. We also picked up animal feed, drinking water and ice while we were in town.

This, obviously is not a photo of our well. But isn’t she cute?

This was the trial photo on the borrowed camera.

Bethany says, “Burp!”

Isn’t she cute?

Callan called at around 1 p.m. to let us know that the drillers had arrived. I then heard Harrison say, “Are the well drillers still there???” about 50 times before we got home. No matter how much I reassured him that they would be there drilling when we got home, he just was sure he was going to miss the excitement.

The well drillers arrived at around 12:45:

Cresting Our Driveway

The Caravan

Then they got all set up:

And, they’re off!

They drilled until 3:30 when they ran out of trucked in water.  In about 2 hours of drilling they drilled about 100 feet. They keep an eye on the type of dirt that is being unearthed which tells them what strata of rock they are in which tells them which acquifer they are in which gives them an idea of how deep they may or may not have to go.

Sifting Dirt

The Drain Pipe

The Drilling Drainage

There was, of course, limestone, and lots of it. Then there were these little quartz crystals that were interesting. And then there was sand. The driller said that was a good sign as it is something that water will flow through. At this early point, he thinks we should have sufficient water at the quoted depth of 360′. That is an educated guess, but a guess none-the-less. Right now, only the Lord knows what is really down below our drilling site. We are trusting Him to provide the water that He wants us to have.

Darby finally got one of the drillers to understand that if he would just throw a rock, not a stick, but a rock, that she would be the entertainment for the drill. She had a fun-filled day.

See the Rock? You See It, Don’t You? Right There! THROW IT!!!!

Darby Found a New Friend!

Darby - All Tuckered Out in the Shade of the Rig

So, for today, the excitement is over, the adrenaline is gone and people are starting to fade, though there is lots of daylight left. Except for Larissa, who is making cookies and pumpkin bread, and me, who is writing this blog post.

Lord willing, we will know tomorrow if we will hit good water at our quoted depth.

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Do you aspire to disciple your children and grandchildren so that they will thrive before the Lord rather than just “survive” the influences of our spiritually bankrupt culture? If so, now is the time to equip yourself for this task. For our children to be mighty in the land, we must embrace a long-term vision of victory, and this will only be achieved if we take steps now to plan and implement strategic discipleship goals for our families. How do you train brothers and sisters to become best friends? How do you effectively pass on your family’s core convictions generationally? How do you equip your children to think like creative entrepreneurs? These and other critical questions are answered in How to Disciple Your Family: A Plan for Generational Victory, a series of messages by Douglas W. Phillips and Geoffrey Botkin geared at equipping parents with helpful discipleship tools for passing on a legacy of godly experiences and wisdom to their children that they can build on as part of a long-term vision for generational success.

Titles include:

• Strategic Considerations for a Multi-Generational Vision
• Seven Secrets of Successful Multi-Generational Visionaries
• The Family Toledoth
• The Family Catechism
• 200-Year Plans that Succeed
• Training Brothers and Sisters to Be Best Friends and The Family Enterprise
• How to Draft a 200-Year Plan
• The Family Investiture, Part I
• The Family Investiture, Part II
• Armchair Discussions: Becoming a Christian Visionary, Developing a Leadership Mindset & Questions and Answers

Over 10 hours of video on 10 DVDs

Click here to watch video clips.

I have gathered just a smidgeon of information on Biblical Wells.  I would like to study more, but would like to share just a little of what I’ve learned so far about Wells in the Bible.

The first thing I realized is that the wells in the Bible were given names.  Names with meaning.  Wells were important.  They meant life or death in certain locations.  They were difficult to dig.  They were a sign of wealth.  They were fought over.  Enemies filled them in.  Some wells had bitter water.  Other wells had sweet water.  Wells producing life giving water were/are very important.

In this post, I’d like to look at Beer-Lahairoi.

Genesis 16:13-14

And she (Hagar) called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me.

Wherefore the well was called Beer-Lahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

Genesis 24:62

And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahairoi; for he dwelt in the south country.

Genesis 25:11

And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.

Beer means well.

Lahairoi means well of the living God.

Lahairoi means who liveth and seeth me.

 

Lahairoi means well of the Living One who sees me. 

The interpretation of the name and location of the place are difficult. After Sarai had Abraham put Hagar out of the house, an angel appeared to her announcing the birth of a son. Hagar interpreted this as a vision of the living God and named the well where she was, Beer-Lahairoi.

John 7:38
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

Beer-Lahairoi - The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.

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We still have no well……….But, we do have more information on wells in our neighborhood than we did last week.

Another well drilling company is drilling on our new next door neighbor’s 10 acres. Rick went and had a talk with the drillers on Monday. We were told that they were hitting caves about 20′ deep in places which was causing them to have to case the well differently. Last we heard they were at about 400′, had water, but weren’t sure if they were going to go deeper or not.

Wednesday afternoon update:  The new well next door is drilling to over 800′.  They said the flow rate at the 400′ level was only 3-4 gpm, which wasn’t enough to call a water well.  However, our neighbors on the other side of us have the old ranch well.  Rick spoke with them this afternoon.  Their old well is shallower than our quote and they say they have plenty of good water.  The depth of our well and quality of our water is in the Lord’s hands.  Thus, I am anxious for nothing and pray.

Our well driller, Pipe Creek Water Well, has been drilling about 3 lots down from us. That well was 880′ last we heard. Yikes! Almost triple our estimate of 360′. They also went through two layers of gypsum rock, giving them a sulfur smell to their water. Yuck. Also in the process of drilling their well, we had rain and the drill rig broke down requiring them to wait on a part.

Before yesterday’s rain, we were told that they may be here on Thursday. I haven’t heard what the prognosis is today. Hopefully, our driveway will dry up enough before they head on over so they don’t get stuck as we did yesterday trying to take our water tank out to haul in some water. We had to unhook the trailer and leave our empty tank behind.

Our estimate is for 360′ of drilling and infrastructure. Every additional foot is another $10. If we have to go as deep as the well 3 lots down, thats another 520 feet or $5200. That’s not quite in our budget so we are praying and trusting God to lead us and guide us in our well drilling.

Please pray that:

• Our well drilling will go smoothly
• We have no surprises once we start drilling, i.e. caves or gypsum or ?
• We hit clear, sweet water
• God would direct us to the right drilling spot if our current chosen site is not a good location
• We will drill through the Edwards Aquifer and down in the Trinity Aquifer into sweet water within the 360′ quote
• we will be able to finish the well at or under the quote we received with no additional materials needed
• that our trailer and tires will hold up until we are able to get a well drilled
• that we trust God for His perfect outcome and provision.

Waiting for God’s perfect timing and provision of a well.

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This was the email update we received late Saturday evening, 8-9-08:

Michele had surgery this afternoon a procedure to remove blood clots that were clogging the line and drain tubes. They did not close her chest back up (giving more room) so that the tubes would not be pinched which may be the cause of the bleeding and clots. Her blood is now flowing smoothly and she is back on dialysis. This procedure is common and may have to be done again sometime. She is stable again and all her numbers are back on track for her condition. With her chest being open, she has a greater risk of infection. Thank you so much for your intercessory prayers on Michele’s behalf.

Psalms 103:1-2 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: . . .

On behalf of the Ringers

I spoke with Michelle’s brother and sister-in-law at church yesterday. I was told that Michelle was in the process of dying when she went into the ER a week ago Sunday for open heart surgery to have the external heart pumps hooked up. The surgeons said that, in their estimation, she only had a couple of minutes to live at that point. When Michelle originally went to the ER 1 1/2 weeks ago, she was minutes away from death then as well. If they had not arrived at the ER when they did, Michelle would have died then as her breathing capacity was so diminished.

God is keeping Michelle alive for His glory and His purposes.

I was also told that while Michelle is still heavily sedated she is able to hear and comprehend and has had some encouraging responses. She is unable to speak because of the ventilator tube, but she is able to open her eyes, she “waved” goodbye to her sister-in-law when she told her she was leaving, and squeezes Craig’s hand. She is aware and responsive even through the sedation.

When she came out of the last surgery, they were surprised that Michelle was “awake.” My understanding is that they have to bring her out of the surgical anesthesia before resedating her for pain and calming purposes. While “awake” after the surgery, she was trying to talk and appeared to be saying Craig’s name over and over again.

Michelle’s father got up and spoke at church yesterday. The Ringer Family is so very thankful for the body of Christ, the many, many prayers that have been offered to God the Father, in the name of Christ, on their behalf that have held them up, for God’s kindness to them and for God working out His good will in Michelle’s life as well as so many others. He stressed that God is working and it is their desire to glorify Him in and through this situation.

Thank you for your continued prayer for Michelle, her husband Craig and the Ringer Family.

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But not ours : (

We were told we were on the Pipe Creek Water Well’s schedule for either 2 weeks ago or this past week. But, with rain and other things, his schedule slipped some. So we are waiting on our well. He’s been drilling about 3 lots down this week though, so he’s getting closer!

We’re also getting new neighbors on the 10 acres next to us. They’ve cleared the 10 acres of all cedars, worked on fencing, had a modular home delivered, a shed put up, and this week their well is also being drilled by another well driller. They hope to be moved in in a week or so.

Needless to say, Rick has been intent on watching those two neighborhood wells being drilled this week, their progress and their depth. Thankfully, we’ve had work in this week so Rick hasn’t been home while the well drillers are actually on the job. So to this point, all of his info is from observation. One thing he’s figured out is what we need to do to have the sludge that comes with the well drilling removed from the well site. He now has a plan.

Our well driller’s rig is down which indicates that they’ve finished the drilling phase. The other well driller’s rig next door is still up and drilling. Hopefully, our well driller’s rig being down means that we are on the schedule for next week’s drilling. Having the well drilled doesn’t mean we will have water next week. I’m told it usually takes a week for everything to set and be able to install the pump and hook the electricity up.

Having these two wells drilled so close to our property and right before ours will help us to know what to expect depth wise and water quality wise. Having that knowledge will be nice, but we ultimately trust in the Lord to provide the water He wants us to have.

The quote we have from the well driller is for 360 feet. Anything beyond this we have to pay extra by the foot. Please pray that we do not exceed the 360 foot depth.

Our other neighbors have the old ranch’s stock well, which old timers say is the best water around this area. This well is only about 15′ off of our joint property line. However where we are drilling is a 10 acre lot distance away so there are no guarantees that we will have the same water source. About a mile down the road they hit sulfur water and had to go over 700 feet to get that. I wish we could have an xray view of the water underneath us! But, since we don’t we’ll trust God to guide us and be thankful for the info the other two new wells may provide us.

Please pray with us that we hit a huge pocket of sweet water to supply our needs and grow our productivity and flocks here at Plymouth Rock Ranch and that it will all come in under our the quote we were given.

Lord willing, next week, we’ll have well drilling photos to post for y’all!

Proverbs 21:1
The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.

Psalm 42:1
As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

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Here is the latest update on Michelle which we received on Friday evening, August 8, 2008.

Michele was taken off the dialysis machine about six this morning (Friday) but her kidneys have not started to function yet.  The doctors said it might take a little time.  She has been given nourishment through a tube but her digestive system has not responded. She was taken off the ventilator and was breathing on her own for 7 min. before having to be put back on.  Which is a praise since the doctors have tried this before but her lungs were not responding.

Craig and the Ringers are so encouraged as Michele seems to be responding to their voices with her eyes opening and squeezing Craig’s hand.  Since her last surgery Monday afternoon she has remained stable but is still in critical condition.

Continue to pray for the doctors to have wisdom as they slowly awaken Michele’s body functions. Pray that the Lord would heal and strengthen Michele’s body and that there would be no infection.

Thank you for your continued prayers.

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The statement we make with our dress is one many of us don’t think about these days.  Dress in our society, like Christmas, has become a societal commercialized commodity, and we’ve lost the Biblical roots and doctrinal reasons as to why the human race wears clothes in the first place.

The uniform of a police officer tells us something about him.  He’s in a position of authority.

The clothing on a construction worker tells us he works a labor intensive, dirty, sweaty job.

The scrubs, mask and plastic gloves on a doctor tell us that he’s probably a surgeon.

The camo clothing of the hunter reveals he either likes hunting or he’s going hunting.

Dress communicates.  It informs.  It reveals……many times things that are not meant to be revealed to the public at large.

This is a huge subject, so I’ll save the theological background for God-honoring clothing for another blog.

For today,  surf on over to Crystal Payne’s, Biblical Womanhood, and read her guest post entitled, “Three Cheers for Modesty,” a true story of two women in New York City.  This story very effectively communicates how one’s dress makes a statement.

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As a homeschool family, we are always thrilled to find resources to help us learn and understand the world God created, the world in which we live. These resources often stimulate a natural deeper study of the subject at hand and piques our interest so we learn and retain what we’ve learned much better than reading a text book. This morning we found this webpage which had us all enthralled in the wonder of God’s creation, the ever so tiny and industrious hummingbird.

So, here’s some ideas on how to take finding a webpage on hummingbirds and making it a fun, family learning experience, making every day life the classroom for learning with God and His Word as the foundation:

1. Gather those around you - both young and old, get a quarter, a penny, a toothpick, a tic tac, and a 1/4-1/3 C measuring cup for visual props, and have fun together observing together the pictorial story of the hummingbird from egg to first flight.

2. After viewing the pictorial story of the hummingbird, have the children draw their own pictures of the story of the hummingbird. Maybe they can even make their drawings life-sized, using their visual props for a guide, for us tactile and visual learners.

3. Read Genesis 1 and focus on these verses:

20And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

21And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

22And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

23And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

4. Have the children write out Genesis 1:20-23 for handwriting practice and Scripture memory.

4. Draw a pictorial of Genesis 1 to help learn the creation days something like Galilee’s. Include a drawing of the hummingbird in the pictorial representation of Day 5 of Creation.

5. Put up a hummingbird feeder or two so you and your family can watch the hummingbirds in your daily life. Remember to keep it filled up and not run dry! This is a great exercise in caring for animals for those who are not able to have their own pets : )

6. Google hummingbirds and see what other information and photos you can find on this amazing little bird.

7. Get a book on hummingbirds from your library. Expand that study into a study of birds found in the natural habitat in your area.

8. Find out what your State’s Bird is and learn about it.

9. Have your children write a creative story about a hummingbird.

10. Leave a comment in the comment section and let us know what other creative ideas you have to add to this unit study as well as testimonials about your own hummingbird unit study or another unit study you’ve done that you enjoyed.

My grandparents have a hummingbird feeder that they faithfully kept filled for their special little friends. When my grandmother became bedridden, she couldn’t see the existing hummingbird feeder, but my grandfather could see it from his chair. He would report to her when a hummingbird came to feed. My grandmother was disappointed that she couldn’t see the little guys. But if we moved the feeder, then my grandfather wouldn’t be able to see it.

On one of my visits I decided to get my grandmother her own hummingbird feeder to put up where she could see it from her bed. It soon became a competition as to whose hummingbird feeder had hummingbirds feeding. My grandmother began to count how many hummingbirds visited her feeder each day. Then she’d exclaim, “I’ve got a hummer!”

Hummingbirds are a wonder for both young and old. A reminder of God’s unfathomable creativity, beauty and intricate design.

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Since Michele’s last surgery, yesterday afternoon, she has been in stable but still critical condition.

The doctors were able to remove some debris and blood clots, place sutures to stop bleeding, and close up her chest.

Some positive things:

• She is now only on 50% oxygen.
• She has been taken off blood pressure medication.
• She has also been taken off 3 out of 4 of the antibiotics.
• They were able to up her dialysis which is working to remove fluid from her body.

The Ringer family is very encouraged, but realizes her condition can change at any time. Your prayers are greatly appreciated!

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” Ephesians 6:18

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Please continue to pray for Michelle and her family.

Sunday morning the update on Michelle’s condition was small improvements.  Sunday afternoon the report was the doctors had to remove Michelle from dialysis for some reason unknown to me and her vitals took a bad turn.

Sunday night around 10 p.m. word came that Michelle had 10-12 hours to live because her heart was not functioning and the catheter installed impeller pump that had been put in on Friday could only pump half of the blood necessary.  They could implant another more powerful pump, but the doctors said that surgery would kill her.

Her family said that if she was going to die in 10-12 hours without the implant then they wanted the doctors to try the surgery to implant the more powerful pump.  They finished surgery at 3 a.m. and Michelle made it through.

At 10:46 this morning I received an email saying that a blood clot had developed behind Michelle’s heart and that she was going into immediate surgery to remove the clot.  I have not heard an update since then.

Please continue to pray for Michelle, her husband, Craig, her parents, David & Lynda, and her brother and sister-in-law, Steve and Isla, and their family.

Just a few months back Craig was in the ICU bed next to where Michelle is now.  He suffered a severely broken shoulder in a go-cart accident in which he had the potential to lose his arm.  God mercifully restored Craig’s shoulder and arm and has been able to go back to his diesel mechanic work.

Now, we are asking God, if it would be His will, to restore Craig’s wife to him.  If it is God’s will to take Michelle home to be with Him, then to give Michelle’s family the faith, strength and peace to let her go into her Heavenly Father’s arms.

May God’s will be done.

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Starting a New Fashion Fad

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On Wednesday I received an emergency prayer request phone call from our Church. The daughter and sister, Michelle, of some dear friends at church, was on a respirator in ICU with pneumonia and a possible blood clot in her lungs and her condition was critical. They didn’t know if she would make it through the night.

On Wednesday night the Doctors updated her diagnosis to double pneumonia, adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and no blood clot.

On Thursday, they discovered her heart was severely compromised and changed the diagnosis once again to viral myocarditis resulting in a very low heart function, fluid in her lungs and compromised organs due to poor blood flow. Or in layman’s terms, an ordinary virus took an unusual detour and had set up shop in her heart. Then her immune system attacked the virus in her heart as well as her heart, severely weakening her heart. Again, they didn’t know if she would make it through the night.

Michelle had had flu-like symptoms for a few days. On Tuesday night she couldn’t stop coughing so on Wednesday morning her husband, Craig, took her to Urgent Care. They told him that either he would take her to the ER or they would call an ambulance. By the time they got to the hospital not far away, she was having trouble breathing and was deteriorating quickly. They intubated her and transported her to San Antonio.

On Friday, they put a temporary pump, which was just approved for use in the US 6 weeks ago, in Michelle’s heart to give her heart a chance to recuperate and be able to give adequate blood flow to her other organs and body. The catheretization went well and the pump allowed her heart rate to come down and her blood pressure to come up. Michelle’s liver was sluggish so they were working to help her liver function better.

This morning, Saturday, Michelle was put on dialysis to help her kidneys clean her blood adequately.

Michelle’s husband Craig, her parents, David & Lynda and her brother and sister-in-law, Steve & Isla and their girls, would greatly appreciate your prayers for Michelle and their family. They know the prayers of the Saints are surrounding them and holding them up in these unexpected days. They are in awe of the enormous amount of people who are holding their arms and hearts up in prayer during this time.

Their hope and prayer is that God would grant Michelle complete healing and restoration of her body’s functions. They also know that God could call Michelle home if He so chooses. Only God knows the appointed time for each of us to be born and each of us to die.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-3

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant,

and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

They are resting in God’s sovereign grace and mercy to give them the ability to praise Him in any and all events, knowing that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

One lesson we can all learn from this situation is this:

Proverbs 27:1
Do not boast about tomorrow,

For you do not know what a day may bring forth.

James 4:13-15

Come now, you who say,

“Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city,

spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”;

Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow.

For what is your life?

It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

Instead you ought to say,

“If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

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For the beginning of this story you can read The Chicken Tree. As promised, here’s the most recent story and pictures of our traumatized chickens.

After Hurricane Dolly, we spent a day working on the area where the well will be drilled, next week, Lord willing. The infamous Chicken Tree was still standing with about half of its branches still intact. This was the day to remove the rest of the branches.

If the chickens thought the end of the world had come with the first pruning, they were totally, completely and utterly thinking the sky had fallen this time. It is amazing how traumatized these poor things were/are.

Five days later, they are still trying to figure out where to roost at night. Some have chosen the truck beds. Some have chosen the table outside the tent. We keep moving them and they keep coming back. Some have chosen the mountain laurel bush that was next to The Chicken Tree. Some have chosen a small cedar across the driveway. Some have moved over to the trees near the animal pen where another group of chickens roosts. Some have tried roosting on top of the tent. They, too, are quickly removed. Some have been able to get up into the heights of an oak tree at the end of the tent. This choice has resulted in chicken poop on the hood of the truck. We decided to find the truck a new parking place. Some still try to get into the tent at night. In other words, their world has been chainsawed and they don’t know what to do at roosting time any more.

Here’s some pictures so you can see for yourself:

The End Result.

See the little mountain laurel right behind the stump? Some are now roosting there.

Their Branches/Roosts on the Ground

The Evil Tool

Happy, Unsuspecting Chickens Taking a Dirt Bath in Goldie’s Barrel

The Rooster Smells Trouble! The Discovery!

Not-so-Happy Chickens.

Diagnosis: Roosting Time Trauma

Confused…..Traumatized…..Milling……Where is My Roost?????

Baby Chicks Trying Out the Branches on the Ground

Baby Chicks Claimed The Chicken Stump

Mama Hen Claims the Base of the Tree and Refuses to Move!

She’s in Mourning : ( Shellshock

My Tree has Fallen and I Can’t Get Up!

The Chicken Stump

Our chickens will slowly find other places to roost. Slowly. Until they do, we will keep moving them to appropriate roosts at night.

Now to remove the stump.

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This is called learning by osmosis!

 Holstein loves Callan : )

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We have a black and white cat named Holstein. She has always been our cat as she was one of our kittens from one of our litters about 14 years ago.

This was back when Rick had his sailplane repair shop at Mountain Valley Airport in Tehachapi. He was having some mouse and gopher issues at his shop so we decided to make the three sisters hangar cats.

One of the three sisters was a fairly ugly calico we named Smudge, as her colors were just one big smudge. She died from a fight injury with something stronger than she.

The second sister was a beautiful calico named, of course, Calico. (Original aren’t we? I think we’ve 3 or 4 “Calicos” through the years.) Airplanes, pilots and rodents were what our hangar cats knew. So, Calico found herself inside an airplane trailer in which a customer was towing his sailplane home from our shop. We got a call when said customer was about an hour away. He’d stopped and found Calico in his trailer and wanted to know what we wanted to do. He was at some other sort of shop (I can’t remember all the details now - call it fading memory abilities if you will : ) and the owner of this shop said that they would keep her if we didn’t want to come down and pick her up. So, Calico found herself a new shop home devoid of airplanes.

Holstein, however, has been with us all these years. Holstein was a feisty kitten. She is a snooty cat. Rick says she acts like a cat is supposed to act. She was a great mouser until she decided it was time to retire and have us bring her food. In her mousing days she would go out into the field next to Rick’s hangar and find gophers, mice and who knows what else. She would proudly bring her kill into the hangar for Rick’s approval. Holstein loved being a hangar cat. When Rick was sanding wings smooth as glass, she would sit on his shoulder and drape herself over his neck pretending that it was the most comfortable place to be.

She loved airplanes. Rick would always have to detail the cat hair out of people’s planes before returning them to their owner as Holstein made it her job to test all of the cockpits out. She knew the regulars and loved their attention. To this day, when Rick gets a model airplane out on which to work, Holstein finds her way out of hiding and into his lap or on the table next to his plane.

She has more than 9 lives. Holstein lived through her years as a hangar cat and through her transition from Rick’s hangar cat to our family cat when we closed the repair shop. Against her will and much to her chagrin, she has survived every other cat we have had since bringing her home to be a family cat. All but one of our other cats has survived Holstein. We had one momma cat that couldn’t stand Holstein, a very nasty-to-other-cats Queen, and moved down the street to the neighbor’s house.

Holstein survived the move from California to Texas with us. She survived the liver disease we thought was going to kill her shortly after moving to Texas. We gave her subq iv fluids for about 3 months along with squirting watered-down canned food down her throat. One night we thought she was dying. She was meowing. This isn’t unusual for most cats, but Holstein doesn’t “meow.” Holstein has a frog in her throat that makes her “meows” sound more like a deep-throated, gutteral sound that is nothing like a “meow.” I tell Rick that he poisoned her with all of his shop chemicals and paints. When Rick got home that night she just wanted Rick. We all thought she was dying and wanted to see him one last time. The next morning she got up, walked around some and started eating. She gained back her weight and then survived our move to Plymouth Rock Ranch and is still with us today.

She’s become a recluse and only comes out when she chooses. If she decides to be out and about, she will often sit on top of the organizers on my desk. If we’re not home, she will make a mess of anything left on my desk.

One day last week, Callan was sitting on a chair on the deck when Holstein decided that she wanted to relive her days of sailplane sanding shoulder surfing, but this time it wasn’t Rick’s shoulders, it was Callan’s. She likes Callan a lot.

Holstein jumped up onto Callan’s back and made herself right at home.

She was very happy! Reminiscing!

Until……

Callan made her get off! Hrumff!

Holstein is a fixture in our family, snooty and Queen-like as she is. She has a special attachment to Rick with Ryker, Callan and I coming in next in line. I think her attachment to the three of us is because we were the ones who nursed her through her time of serious illness. Ryker was the subq iv giver. She didn’t like him at all for a long time. But, she’s either forgotten or forgiven and has a special bond with him now. Or maybe she just knows who the animal people are and which side her bread is buttered on.

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Sunday morning we awoke to a misty fog surrounding us. We don’t have a lot of misty mornings here, especially in July. I guess the humidity from the hurricane precipitated this unusual morning. It was a beautiful sight to wake up to and watch slowly lift.

It’s interesting that this was a Sunday morning and we are studying Genesis right now in the meeting of the church.

Genesis 2:6

But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

The mist of the morning had a soothing, cool, calmness to it.   I wonder if that is what it felt like all the time back in the days of Adam in Genesis 2?

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Last week we had one job before Hurricane Dolly hit.   Our customer’s elderly mother was having a hard time walking out the back door to the back yard.  The landing on the existing stairs was not big enough for her to stand on and close the doors and the steps were rather steep for her step.  So, the guys were asked to build a large landing with a set of stairs outside a back door.

Here’s original steps undergoing demolition:

Demolition complete:

Let the building begin:

It was supposed to be a one day job, but due to a late start for various reasons, this turned into a two day job.  The job is now finished, but due to the camera not being taken on the second day, we don’t have any pictures of the finished product.  We are happy to say that we have a very happy customer who loves her new landing and stairs!  Very happy customers are always a blessing!

We are in the process of putting together a bid for this same customer to screen in her back patio and deck.  We’ll get the final landing/stair photos when we take her that bid.

So………final product pictures are Coming Soon(er or later)!  (This is becoming one of our new themes, methinks! : )

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Tinker Toy House in Texas!

Proud Contractor!

Double-Decker Snack Contractor

Can you guess which li’l boy always asks what’s for dessert before dinner is fixed?

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 NEW FROM VISION FORUM

The Scriptures offer a powerful vision of what a father’s role is to be in discipling his children. Sadly, many men today are falling short in discharging their God-given duties as family shepherds. In this powerful message, Doug Phillips lays out seven critical components of a father’s role in home education. He is to be: 1) a vision communicator; 2) a Hebrew discipler; 3) a defender of the realm; 4) a household manager; 5) a discipline enforcer; 6) the family’s resident historian; 7) and the leader of family worship.

The Visionary Father’s Role in Home Education is a great primer for dads who want to faithfully lead their families with vision.

PURCHASE HERE

Hurricane Dolly has come and gone. We fared her well and got almost 3″ of rain in the process. The grass and vegetation is very happy!

We spent the day hunkered down in the trailer and tent. The boys were working on a talk on a Proverb verse of their choosing that they were due to give on Saturday with the other young men from church. Callan worked on grammar in between Scrabble turns.

We made a big breakfast, a light lunch and a big dinner with dessert. And we were all here to have all three meals together!

Internet service was on again-off again, all day long. We had periods of very heavy rain interspersed with light to moderate rain most of the day. When the rain would let up enough to allow our internet service to return for a few minutes, we’d all grab a look at the doppler radar on weather.com to see what we’d just experienced and what was coming next. We also checked to see what the damage was where Hurricane Dolly made land. We actually had some sunlight in the afternoon, but then a rogue band of showers hit us again in the evening sending us up to the almost 3″ mark.

We were under a tornado watch until 7 p.m. We didn’t experience any winds or tornadoes in our area, though the southern side of SA had a couple touch down.

The next morning we woke up to a mud mess everywhere. Mud, muck and more muddy muck. We were tempted to pile into the van and head for town just to get out of the muddy mess. But, we also didn’t want to drive the big vehicles in the mud and make a mess out of the driveway’s marshy areas. So, we stayed home and cleaned up as much of the the aftermath of Dolly as we could.

We let the cows out of their water-laden pen. They were very, very happy. When the day was over and they needed to head back to their pen, Darby turned cow-dog and barked them back into their pen! Yeah! We have a herding dog and didn’t even know it! She didn’t do that the first time Maia got loose!

We worked on the utility shed.

The Li’l Door Builder

Just Like Daddy!

Perseverance!

I Can’t Figure Out Why This Nail Won’t Go In!

Maybe When I Get Older?!

And we trimmed the chicken tree down to just the trunk getting ready for the up-n-coming well, Lord willing. I’ll save that story for another post and pictures of our completely and utterly traumatized birds. We cleaned up mud…..and more mud……and even more mud……..

So, we had two entire days at home. Well, except for Rick’s trip on Friday afternoon to Bandera to pick up some drinking water, ice and utility shed wood. We almost had two entire days with everyone at home.

All in all, Hurricane Dolly was pretty tame in our neck of the woods. We’ve had much harder rain for much longer periods of time. We’ve had much higher winds and much worse flooding. But, we had a much-needed relaxing couple of days at home doing our home things and not someone else’s home things.

The one thing I learned from Hurricane Dolly is this: When Mrs. Ehlinger says that the Texas Sage bushes look like it’s hurricane weather, I will definitely believe her!

The Sunday before Hurricane Dolly, before I had ever heard there was a hurricane developing, I was standing in the lunch line after church with Mrs. E. I commented on how beautiful the Texas Sages’ beautiful purple flowers had been the past few days. These non-descript shrubs are all over town. At least they are non-descript until they bloom. And then they are absolutely gorgeous. These sage green evergreen shrubs transform into this vibrant purple flower covered shrub. A kind of metamorphosis. I’d been told that they bloom purple when it’s humid and then revert back to their sage green shrubbery when it’s not humid. But Mrs. E. is a lifetime Texan and had more information than that. She said they were blooming like a hurricane was coming. And she was absolutely right!

I sure wish I had pictures of the Texas Sage to post here, but I don’t. You’ll have to Google Images Texas Sage if you want to see them in bloom.

Isn’t God amazing in His creation of something like a vegetation barometer? When these kinds of things in creation are revealed to me, it makes me wonder how anyone could possibly think that something like the Texas Sage bush and it’s barometric abilities is the result of a happen-chance explosion! My understanding is that explosions produce chaos and destruction, not something as beautiful, functional and creative as the Texas Sage that blooms profusely when a hurricane is coming! Evolution requires order to naturally come from chaos. Creation requires a creative Creator.

God is the creative Creator of the Texas Sage which tells us of an impending hurricane. Only a Creator could program that kind of thing into a plant. God’s power is also seen in the organization and massive power of the hurricane. God is all-powerful. The all-powerful, creative Creator of the universe!

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…….you’ll have to read on to find out : )

Our cow, Maia, has always been just a little leary and skittish of us. We tried taming her and bribing her with food to like us and trust us. It almost worked, but not quite. Because we’ve been unable to tame her and lead her by a halter and leadrope like I did all my 4-H steers, so she’s been confined to a pipe and wire pen.

Maia got out one time last year early in her pregnancy. We were trying to work on taming her by tying her leadrope to the bumper of the truck and letting her fight the truck and not us. But, she pushed past the truck and the gate before getting her tied all the way and away she went. Rick got ahold of her lead once she stopped for a moment. But, then she started up again and took Rick for a ride. When they headed into the cactus plant, Rick decided he’d better let go!

Maia was full of herself by then and took off running. Thankfully, there’s nothing around us that she can damage, but we were concerned about her hearing another cow and heading off in that direction. It was a hot day and we tried to make a human “rope” of sorts that encouraged her to go back in the direction of her pen. She’d get close to her pen and then bolt. We did this for a couple of hours. We tried a pathway of buckets of grain and her favorite treats that led to her pen. She would get to the last one and then bolt again as if to say, “Neener, neener, neener!!”

Then Ryker started to not feel well. Then Ashley. At first we thought it was the heat. But a while later we realized we were being hit by a flu-bug at a really inopportune time. I finally came to my senses, removed myself from the panic of the cow being out and decided that we just needed to let her be. She would go back into the pen when she was thirsty as that was where her water was. I also realized that she wouldn’t roam too far. She’s a herd animal and our two Nubian does were her herd. She would stay close to them.

So, we all headed for drinks and bed and periodically checked on Maia’s whereabouts. Later that afternoon she wandered back into her pen, we closed the gate and she was back home where she belonged. We ended up having a really bad bought with the flu, which may have been exacerbated by our unnecessary chasing of the cow.

Since Maia’s always been a little skittish, we’ve been a little skittish about deliberately letting her loose. Two sides of our property are fenced, but we’re not fenced in completely. We have a new neighbor who is fencing in a third side, which will leave us with the back fenceline to finish. We have a few of those fenceposts drilled so we’re already headed in the right direction there.

SirLoin, on the other hand, has been out some with the goats. He enjoyed his time out but wouldn’t stray far from his Mama in the pen.

So, fast forward to this morning. We woke up to the 4 goats and 2 cows outside our trailer. Problem is that only 2 goats are free-ranging. Two of the goats and both of the cows were supposed to be in the pen, but they weren’t.

This time, we didn’t panic. We didn’t envision a wild cow loping off to find her neighborhood buddies and never coming back. In our defense, Maia has mellowed a lot since becoming a mommy which helped us to trust her this morning not to run off. She is still a little leary of us but she’s gotten better, which is a good thing, because we’ve discussed putting her in the freezer because of not being able to tame her all the way. This time I knew she would go back into her pen as that is her home. I really liked seeing them out grazing and free rather than cooped up in the pen.

Every once in a while, SirLoin, the steer, would kick up his heels and run. Then he’d stop and graze. They wandered in circles around their pen and our living area eating the grass down having a grand time. Occasionally they would go back into their pen for water and back out for more grazing. The cows and goats all stayed together grazing like herd animals do.

Later this afternoon Ryker lured the animals back into their pen with some feed, shut the gate, and they were home. They had a happy day of grazing and kicking up their heels. I will be very thankful when we have the entire property fenced so they can do that on a daily basis.

Animals grazing is a peaceful, natural vision to me. I love to see our animals out grazing on the land.

Deuteronomy 11:15
And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.

Psalm 104:13-15

13He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.

14He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;

15And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart.

We’ve decided to let the animals out to freely graze on days where we know we will be home to keep an eye on them and then put them to bed in their pen at night.   We’re also praying for a completed fence!

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Last night I got a call from Ashley, who is caring for my grandmother in California.  They had just received a call that my mom had her shoulder surgery yesterday morning, was finished and was doing fine.

I didn’t even know she was going in for surgery!  When I talked with my dad over the weedend, he said that my mom had been having some pretty strong pain so they were planning on going to the doctor’s office on Monday, which was earlier than planned.

While at the doctor’s on Monday, a surgery cancellation for Tuesday came up and they took it.  Originally, she wasn’t scheduled for surgery until the end of August.  We’re all thankful that God saw fit to get her surgery handled sooner rather than later.  Especially since her rotator cuff was entirely torn off and there was no chance of it mending itself.

I spoke with her today.  She said she felt fine, until the block wore off this morning.  She said it smarts pretty good so she is taking her pain meds and icing it every hour.  She’s hoping that it will start to ease up some tomorrow.

I’m told that she has 1 month before she can travel and once the doctor releases her for physical therapy, they’ll be heading back down to California where they’ll be visiting my grandmother and seeing a physical therapist.

Thank you, Lord, for providentially providing her with a surgery cancellation while at the doctor’s office!

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Today we’ve been battening down the hatches as Hurricane Dolly has hit land near Brownsville TX as a Category 2 Hurricane.  The winds here are starting to kick up.  The current doppler shows just little patches of rain spinning off over our neck of the woods way far away from the hurricane.  The forecast is that the clouds, rain and winds will hit us this evening through tomorrow.

So, the boys have been out putting the sheeting and roofing on the utility shed to try and keep the floor dry.  There’s a rip in our storage tarp garage that we’re working on mending and covering with visqueen plastic.  Callan and the girls have been outside picking up and putting away.  Next we will strategically place our hopscotched pieces of decking out so we can get to and from the vehicles with a minimum of mud problems.  Rick went to finish a landing and stairs building job this afternoon.

If the rains hit like they say they will, we’ll have an indoor day at home tomorrow.  That would really be a nice change.  We don’t have many days at home where we get to stay inside and have a leisurely day.   If that’s what it turns out to be.  Let me think of all the things we could be doing with a leisurely inside day!!!!

Our internet company just emailed and said to be prepared for internet outages as their main satellites are located in Laredo much closer to where Dolly landed.   So if we do have an indoor day tomorrow, it most likely will not include the internet or posting on the blog!

James 5:16-18

 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.

 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

Lord, please let it rain!

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Psalm 5:3

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

Psalm 6:9

The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer.

Psalm 54:2

Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.

We’ve always been down-to-earth, unpretentious people who are content with what we have. And, if there’s something we need, we pray, usually, wondering how God will pull this one off : ) As humans, sometimes we fall into the false way of only praying for the big things and not thinking to pray for the little things. But, God is interested in the little everyday things of life too.

And, sometimes, in our humanness, and to our shame and self-reliance, we just don’t think to pray about something at all. We seek to provide something for ourselves, with our own resources, without consulting God about His plans and ways of providing for us.

Psalm 69:13

But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.

My first remembrance of learning this lesson was about 23 years ago when we had $95 to purchase a swingset for our oldest two girls. Not a penny more. A penny less, of course, but we really didn’t have a penny more to spend than the $95.

We headed for the San Fernando Valley, about an hour’s drive away where there were stores at which to shop. We looked and hunted but we couldn’t find a nice swingset for under $95. I asked Rick if we could pray about it. He was rather incredulous that I would want to pray about a swingset but he finally pulled over to the side of the road and we prayed. Then he said, “Now what?”

I suggested that maybe we should go back to the Toys-R-Us that we’d already been to and ask if they had any broken ones in the store room that we could have at a discount price. He thought I was rather nuts but did it anyway.

We asked a guy on the floor if they had any damaged swingsets in the back room that they could sell at a discount. He said, “Yep! We have 3 swingsets with ripped boxes in the back. We can’t guaranted that all the hardware is in them so we can’t sell them at full price.” We went home with a swingset that day with about $5 left in our swingset fund! God cared about a swingset for our girls!

When we moved into the 5th wheel, it didn’t come with a mattress. Our waterbed mattress was not an option, for sure. As funds were rather limited, we purchased an air mattress and have been sleeping on deflating air mattresses since. Just so you know, deflating air mattresses are a chiropractor’s dream and my nightmare. Thinking back on it, we should have prayed for a mattress way back then. This was one of those times where we relied upon our ability to provide and not His. Our provision only brought back aches, neck aches and head aches.

For the past 2 years I’ve been looking at different kinds of mattresses knowing that we needed to get one and knowing that the kind I wanted was much more money that I was comfortable putting out. But I never thought to pray about a mattress. I knew nothing about mattresses as we always had a waterbed. The temperpedic style foam mattresses intrigued me and always felt the best when trying mattresses out. But, I wasn’t sure about the all night feel or, especially, the expense! I’d seen the 3″ foam toppers at Costco and Sams and thought that might be an option, but we didn’t have a real mattress to top!

The day before we were given the mattress, I had come to the conclusion that the most cost effective way to get something comfortable would be to buy a lower end mattress and then buy a 3″ foam topper from Costco. That was my plan. I prayed for God to show me the right mattress for the right price. One we could afford and one that would not cut into our well funds.

Luke 1:13

But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

The day after my plan came together and after I prayed, we were given the queen mattress which was such a tremendous blessing and a very obvious answer to prayer!

A few days later, I received one of my Costco coupon books in the mail. And what do you think was in the coupon book? Did you guess?

A $30 off coupon for the 3″ mattress topper. Not only that, but I had my Costco 2% yearly refund check that had not been used yet. That made the mattress topper free with another $20 left over to put towards the rest of my Costco p