I have friends, I've never met. I have mentors who, most of the time, don't even know I'm there "listening" and learning.

I live a fairly isolated life out here without a lot of "girlfriends". I've never been good at the whole "girlfriend" thing anyway. Never have been a very social person. I like my life to be kind of slow and quiet. I'm a stay at home mom, by choice, and I'm not unhappy about it. But, I must say what a blessing it is, that, any time of the day or night I can associate with true ladies... people I look up to for various reasons.

Some of these ladies are "rough and tough" country folks who, two weeks after giving birth at home without a midwife, can handle a sick calf and a mama cow with an infected udder, while their husband is away. Some grow a garden and preserve their harvest. They can milk a cow or a goat, make cheese, sew their own clothes or make quilts to keep friends and family warm.

Some are sassy, and city-sophisticated. They know their kids better than anyone, and their bible better than most. They worry that they may be drinking too much coffee or wearing too much makeup and they are quick to tell you about God's love.

Some have a dozen or so children at home. Some are almost through their first, full-term pregnancy. Some have grandchildren all across the nation. And many of them have children in heaven.

Some live with chronic pain and illness. Some live with fear of rejection. They juggle tight budgets, allergen-free diets, home businesses, Sunday School classes, homeschool or after school activities.

Their husbands should count themselves blessed to have them. They make their husbands richer, his work easier, his nights more pleasant, and his house a home... He can be confident in her abilities and comfortable in her arms.

Some of them are married to great guys who understand that. And some of them are married to guys who simply don't give nearly enough thought to 1Pe 3:7 "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered." or Eph 5:25-31, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh." [Or Pro 5:15-19; Mal 2:14-16; Mat 19:3-9; 1Co 7:3; Col 3:19; for that matter.] and fear the Lord who wrote these things.

I'm not saying these ladies are perfect. They are not perfect, BUT they are all trying very hard to do the best they can with what they have, while continuing to learn, grow, and love those around them. And that's what makes every one of them so lovely to me.

Thanks Ladies.
WR

Go here....

http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/podcasts/live/

And listen to the one titled "Imputed Righteousness". This message will not be there forever, so don't put it off.

WR

Remember my To Do list from September? If not.... it's only two posts down.
Well I wanted to update.
So here's the honest and ugly truth...

• The baby clothes are still here. As well as summer clothes and clothes they have simply grown out of.



• The earrings are finished and SOLD! We made some money! We also learned from our mistakes and will hopefully increase our profit margin next year (I need to be able to pay my salespeople )..... if Bull lets me do this again next year. LOL!
  
  
• Rearanged most of the kitchen but stalled and never finished.



• The herbs are still in plastic bags, piled in a cabinet.



• Haven't gone thru the toys and gadgets and probably won't before the new year.



• Ain't gonna happen. LOL!

WR

I just finished reading the first book in the Little Britches series aloud, to the kids. Even though I knew before starting the book, that his father was going to die at some point, I could barely read through the tears! Rooster was a man and barely let a tear escape (but a few did). SweetPea is still crying.

BTW, I've haven't accomplished even one of the things on my to do list. Boohoo!

WR

There's stuff that I've been meaning to get done around here for months! And I've never gotten around to it (that's typical of me). Well this week, while Bull is out of town on business, I'm going to pull out a few of these projects, make great big ol' mess, and try to finish before he gets back.

Here's my list. It's all mundane stuff, nothing creative, just stuff that needs to be done.

To Do:

• I've got a ton of baby clothes (from the last two kids!) that I just couldn't bear to part with, so they are in boxes and bags all over the house.... I'm over it. I'm going to go thru them, keep a few extra special things, and sell the rest. We need the money and space.



• Last year SweetPea and I hit the after Christmas sales and bought a bunch of supplies to make Christmas themed earrings to sale this year. We worked on them 'til we ran out of fittings, so now's the time to dig 'em out, finish them up, and see if we can make our money back. LOL!



• I need to rearrange my kitchen. It is beyond inefficient right now. I not only want to move the microwave, and see if I can find a place for all the large items that are just sitting on the counter now, I also want to.....



• Clean out the herb cabinet. I'm going to get rid of old stuff and try to find containers for everything. It would be so great to have a matching set of small, medium, and large tinted jars with printed labels.... ok, back to reality. I'll probably try to cram everything into canning and baby food jars and label them with a permanent marker. But it will be nice to get rid of all the plastic bags I'm using now.



• It is a MUST to go thru the kids stuff and get rid of broken, unused, and forgotten toys and gadgets before Christmas comes around. So why not get a start on it this week?



• Clear off or set up a space for me. I used to do art work on commission. Now I don't have the attention span for it. But, maybe, just maybe, if I have a nice sunny space set aside to work in, with all my stuff right there and organized.... ok, stop laughing honey -you too Daddy and Special K!

WR