I am Mommy

Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers out there-- both biological mothers and spiritual mothers!

My day was so blessed with my sweet little family. I am honored and DELIGHTED to be my baby girl's mama.

Here's our Mother's Day 2016 in pictures:

We walked and laughed through the "Healing Garden."

The strawberry plants were huge!

Rose and heart shaped landscaping

Abigail talking to the frog

I loved these flowers!

She found a friend. :-)

A chapel in the middle of the garden.

And a fairy garden in the gardens.

You know it was a good day when your feet look like this afterward....

I hope you were able to enjoy your day and all that Christ has created.

Be blessed in His love,
~Raquel

Written: May 9, 2016

Don't Count Your Chickens Before they Hatch

Do you ever feel like God is trying to teach you a lesson by redundancy? Where it seems events that happen in a short period of time are teaching you the same message-- over and over and over again?

Yeah.... I'm learning not to count my chickens before they hatch.

Take my little Miss, for example. She wanted to catch this chicken.

At first, it seemed the hen was going to let Abigail close to her. Abigail toddled her way closer. Ah-ha! The hen ran further away. Then, Abigail and a friend knelt down to coax the hen closer. The hen came closer, and closer, and closer-- even touching Abigail's hand and then ran rapidly away.

Abigail never caught that chicken, but she sure thought she was going to!

The Aunties were expecting these kids a couple of weeks ago.

And the same goes for me.... Several scenarios have recently happened where I thought, expected, and planned for something particular to happen. And then.... it didn't, or it didn't go the way I had thought, expected, and planned! You might say it's just part of the spice of life, but sometimes, it can be disappointing, too.

It took them a little bit longer, but they finally came!

Don't count your chickens before they hatch.

Scripture explains it in a different way in James 4:13-15 (KJV),

"Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, IF the Lord will, we shall live and do this, or that."

Brand new babies! Isn't it nice when hope is realized?

We can make plans in faith and hope, but we also must be thankful and content for that which we already have. The Lord's will shall be done His way will be accomplished. I need only just in Him, knowing that His mercy and goodness are following me. What encouragement when we struggle with disappointment because of "unhatched chickens."

The Lord has definitely blessed me, and He knows what is best for me. If He wills it, it will be done. If it is the direction my life needs to take, it will happen. I trust in Him completely.

These kids have absolute trust in their parent. Do you trust in your Father?

He has also given me an honorable husband, ordained to lead our family and bear the responsibility of difficult decisions. I do not have to worry for "the ones that didn't hatch"-- what do I do now? where do I go from here? what are the implications of this situation?-- because the Lord has given me a husband to lean on. I am blessed to have a position of peace and quiet, while my husband has to carry the burden of (sometimes tough) decision making.

I encourage you to not be discouraged if circumstances in your life do not go as you expected. A better plan is in store for you.

Lean on the Father and keep the faith,
~Raquel

Written: April 21, 2016

Written: April 21, 2016

Strawberry Plantin' Time

Oh goodness! I have the most beautiful little daughter in the world. She is so precious.

She was climbing the stairs at a park recently.

This morning, she wanted to eat her breakfast before I or her Papa were ready to sit down and pray. The food was already set before her, and her hands kept finding their way to her plate-- and then, "No. Don't touch it." Tears. :-(

She stopped reaching for the food after about the third time and started reaching for... our hands! We always pray before we eat, holding hands with one another. She was ready to pray, so she could eat! We trained her when she was 9 months old that she could not eat or touch her food until after we prayed. Now that she is 13 months old, she knows the routine well. You know the saying, "Train up a child in the way he/she should go....?" Well, that's actually scripture. One we hold to dearly.

Proverbs 22:6 (KJV), "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

My darling child enjoys being outside.

Scripture has a lot to say about teaching and training our children. One of my favorites is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (KJV),

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou riseth up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates."

Abigail is very interested in strawberry plants.

As the woman of the home, the caretaker of my child while my husband is working hard to provide for us, the daily teaching and training of our child is primarily in my hands. I love one version of Proverbs 31:26 that says "in [the virtuous woman's] mouth is kindly teaching."

I have several strawberry plants that I recently set outside to begin growing. When I first showed the plants to Abigail, she promptly pulled one out by its roots. Oops! Not what I expecting her to do. I replanted the strawberry plant, and then I took Abigail's hands and had her touch the plant gently. "Gentle," I said. "We are gentle when we touch plants." Each day we went outside, I'd have her come to the strawberry plants with me and show her the leaves, or the stem, or a new budding flower and remind her, "We are gentle with our plants." She loves to look at them now and has learned to be gentle.

She's helping me water-- only, she's missing the plants and pouring on the steps instead!

Our Lord is the Master Teacher; He is so kind in His loving correction and guidance.

Psalm 25:4-10 (KJV) says, "Shew me thy ways, O Lord: teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving kindnesses; for they have been ever of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O Lord. Good and upright is the Lord therefore he will teach sinners in thew ay. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies."

My daughter is very teachable. I want to have a teachable spirit, too. What about you?

Be encouraged in His teachings,

~Raquel

Written: April 20, 2016

Blossoms & Blessings

Buds are appearing on the hardwood trees.

Spring has sprung! Or has it? It feels like Summer has made its way into the usually cool, wet Spring season. We are enjoying every 70 degree, sunshine-y moment-- and trying to keep ourselves from thinking what July is going to feel like. (Seriously. It reached 82 degrees F today.... That's a normal mid-Summer temperature.)

We've gone to parks the last few weekends. How could we NOT enjoy the outdoors?

We are seeing fewer (large) wild animals, as they make their way back into the higher altitudes, but we are seeing an abundance of wild plants peeking out. Every season has its glories. For winter, it's the elk and moose and turkey. In Spring/Summer, it's the blossoms and sprouts and greenery. I love it all!

Here's a wild strawberry plant peeking through the forest floor.

Our family of three (four, if you count Titus) is currently in the process of buying our first home on a little sliver of God's Earth. So much has already been established on this beautiful spot we hope to call our home by the end of May, and we are grateful! But we are also dreaming and envisioning making it our homestead, developing it out to provide a sustainable, wholesome lifestyle for us.

This is the driveway of our almost-homestead, looking from the house.

We visit our almost-homestead nearly every weekend, going on hikes and discovering new places. Our sweet little one has had a personal discovery: She likes to walk independently. Thank you very much. She needs to be close to the ground so she can pick up sticks, rocks, grass, and play in the water. You understand, don't you? Oh goodness! She is tremendously precious!! I've caught some sweet moments as she comes into her personality.

Papa and daughter are sitting in Mama's favorite spot on the property.

Titus is next to a cistern full of water we found on one of our hikes.

I have been photographing the various wild edibles and medicinals I see. My hope is to: 1) take pictures of these same wild plants throughout the seasons, 2) gather some of the plants and preserve them (think tinctures, drying, etc), and 3) use them for various reasons. I would like to create a booklet with the photographs I take and the information I learn for our family and friends in this area. Finding a wild edible and medicinal booklet customized to your area can be difficult.

Here's our munchkin next to a dandelion plant: wild, edible, and medicinal!

Our adventures have been many with the snow melt and the warmer temperatures, but I know our adventures in this life are just beginning! I am so excited about what the Lord is doing in us, through us, and for us. I have a beautiful family, and we have a beautiful life. I am counting my blessings every day-- but I can never seem to count them all; they're like the stars in the night sky or the grains of sand on even the smallest beach. They are immeasurable.

Abigail loves the water, and a friend is helping her explore it.

The Lord is truly a good God who desires to give good gifts to His children. Do you know Him? Does He know you as His child?

Matthew 7:11 (KJV) says, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"

Romans 8:28 (KJV) also says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

Be blessed and know Him,

~Raquel

Written: April 19, 2016

A Setback, But a Step Forward

Blocking Up & Leveling Off Grid Cottage