The past few days have been very prayer filled for me. Ever since I received the phone call from my dad saying that although he didn’t have too many details, there was something wrong with my brother-in-law, he was driving himself to the hospital, with my sister in the car, when he passed out, they had a minor fender-bender and the ambulance was on it’s way. Since we live a couple of hours away there was nothing we could do at this point except pray. I immediately began praying that God would take care of my brother-in-law and that He would give my sister the strength she needed to endure whatever was going on.

As more details about the incident have unfolded I have added prayers of thanks. I am thankful for all of the people who stopped the help. There was a person who called 911 and the shop owner who allowed my sister to make phone calls because her cell phone wasn’t working. There was an incredible lady who dropped everything she was doing, (I believe she was at work) drove my brother-in-laws car home, and went to the hospital with my sister, and stayed with her until family members got there. There was also a police officer who took money out of his pocket and gave it to my sister so that she would be able to get something to eat and drink as he new that she was going to have a long day ahead of her. While I don’t know their names and may never get the opportunity to thank them in person for stepping in to my shoes or the shoes of my sisters and other family members who would have done those things had we been there, I say a prayer of thanks to God that these people were there and ask that they be blessed many times over for their acts of kindness.

I’m sure, like me, many people question why my brother-in-law decided to drive himself to the hospital, and my sister even questions why they took that specific route, but knowing how things have worked out thus far. I am convinced that it was Gods hand guiding the way. Unlike in the story It’s A Wonderful Life, we won’t get to know what the outcome might have been if anything or anyone would have been different in this situation. So I am grateful for every person including the first responders and the medical team at the hospital, because although his condition is still critical, we are still praying for my brother-in-laws recovery.

Thank God for answered prayers.

This afternoon we will be setting up our farm wagon on Gratiot in the parking lot of Treeside Market.

We hope to be there several days a week this Fall. We will be selling garlic, honey, soap, eggs and whatever veggies and herbs we are picking. I hope you will stop in and see us.

When I got up Monday morning, and went to make a pot of coffee, I discovered that for some reason the coffee pot was not working. I tried jiggling the cord, flipping the switch a couple of times and even though the green light was on, indicting that it was getting power, nothing happened.  I unplugged it and plugged it back in. I left it on and walked away from it for a few minutes, as if I was going to somehow will it to work. It didn’t, and oh how disappointed I was that I wouldn’t have a cup of coffee to start the day. Can you imagine anything worse than having to start the day without that cup of coffee, that little, or big, (depending on how strong you like your coffee) boost of caffeine, to get you going. Does it get any worse?

Well, the truth is that, while my coffee pot did not work and I did try several things to get it to start and yes, I was pretty disappointed that I wasn’t going to have that first cup of coffee to start my day, this was nowhere near the worst thing that could have happened to me today.

You see, I had already woke up of my own free will, with no alarms to startled me awake, no emergency phone calls, and not even the dogs barking to wake me. When I woke I opened my eyes to see that it was nearly 8:00 a.m., so I knew that I could see. I could hear the blower from the air conditioner running, so I still had my hearing, the power was not off, and it was a comfortable temperature in the house. Before I got out of bed I kissed my husband and he kissed me and said “I love you,”. He too was alive. I stood up and all of my body parts seemed to be functioning fine.

As I walked out of the bedroom Scout wagged his tail at me and Trooper followed me to the living room and then waited for me to let him outside. The dogs were ok this morning.  When I went outside the sun was shining, it was a beautiful morning, and I thought about how much fun we had yesterday with so many family members and friends spending time with us at our farm. It was a really good time.

I decided to let my husband sleep while I went to the farm to let the chickens out for the day. Since I didn’t have my morning coffee, I grabbed a bottle of iced tea and took it with me. The van started and ran good, and I drove to the farm without incident. I was greeted at the farm by my second youngest daughter who had camped at the farm with a friend. She and Trooper went for a walk, while I tended the chickens. When I opened the coop the chickens began piling out. I didn’t have to battle the rooster this morning, even though I didn’t stick around long for him to see that it was me there.

After chatting with my daughter for a few minutes I decided to go into town for coffee, so I asked if she wanted too go. We picked up coffee and breakfast for my husband and youngest daughter as well. Upon returning home, I was joined by my two youngest daughters on the deck for breakfast and coffee and a nice visit. These times with the girls don’t happen much anymore as they are busy with college and working and leading their own lives. Their older sisters are married with jobs and homes and responsibilities of their own. So I do value our times together.

The day went on with clean up at the farm, a siesta, a swim in the pond and an fun afternoon with my husband, and trip to Kmart to buy a new coffee pot.

I was blessed in so many ways today, and I certainly can imagine many, many things worse than my coffee pot not making me my early morning cup of coffee. But our society is so dramatic and programmed to think negatively, that we let the little things that we take for granted become the big things that cause us stress. So many times I hear, or read, about things being “the worst thing that could happen” and I think “no, I can think of far worse things.” Often times, we or someone I know will have an issue, like a flat tire for example that is stressing them out, and my thought is “if this is the worst of my (or their) problems then I (they) should be on my (their) knees, thanking God.” I remember several years ago reading a blog that was written by a mother who was homeschooling her children. She was about to start teaching them algebra, and said she couldn’t imagine anything worse. My reply was, ” be thankful that you are not sitting in a hospital by their bedside, praying for them to wake up from a coma.”

I’ve said this prayer many times in my life, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Well the wisdom came when I realized that, for the most part, I can’t control people, the way they think, talk, or act. I also can’t control many situations; things like the coffee pot not working or a flat tire. What I can control is the way that I react. If I choose to react negatively then I will only cause myself stress. I will not have the serenity that I pray for. It may sound cliché  “seeing the cup as half full instead of half empty”, “don’t cry over spilled milk”, or “count your blessings”, but I find that having a true realization of all the blessing that I have been given can minimalize my stress and help me deal with the “crises” of everyday life. Yes, I believe that attitude is everything.  I could have chosen to let my situation, and my disappointment, control my life, but instead I chose to make it a good day.

I thought I would share some photos that I have taken recently. Starting with some of our pond. This really is the center piece of our property, and it serves many purposes. It is a source of fresh water, it is amazing to see how many of our honey bees drink there daily. We use it for irrigation. It is a food source; we stocked it with fish, and the frogs, turtles, crayfish, and clams arrived on their own.  We use it for recreation or just a way to cool off on a hot day.

The windmill aerates the pond, or it can be used to pump water out of the pond for irrigation.

This next picture is the rest of our irrigation system. The windmill pumps the water out of the pond and into these strategically placed holding tanks.

My husband put spigots at the bottom, so we can connect a garden hose, and it is gravity fed.

Next up – our farm sales wagon. This picture was taken on day one. Today, day two, we set up a 10×10 canopy tent over it instead of the umbrellas. It did provide better shade.

Protecting our crops against deer has been a challenge this year, so when my husband finally had enough of them eating the young squash, we pulled out this roll of net he found in a neighbors trash. The net was unused and there was a lot of it. We  were able to roll it out over the entire squash bed, and he just secured the edges with some sticks. Yea! No more deer in the squash!

One last photo, this one is dedicated to my daughters, who don’t know, or care, much for cooking.

No, eggs do not grow on egg plants, and chickens do not lay the egg plant fruit. Although they have the same name, they are not related.

  This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.  Psalm 118:24

Today we are rejoicing in the rain. 🙂