God has blessed me with the BEST big brother!

I just wanted to share with you how God works miracles!!!!!......and he truly loves us so very much!
 Since I was very little I have always wanted a big brother; I knew that the only way I'd ever be able to have one was for us to adopt, so I started praying for a big brother. I kept praying through the years, as nothing happened. As the years went by I knew that there was a very little chance that we would adopt a young man.    I kept praying.
I was thirteen, adopting a guy older than me wasn't going to happen.
Still praying.
Then. There. Was. Rob. :)
 Rob went to the church we were attending at the time. We were moving, and announced in church that we would like help if anyone wanted to. Rob came with another man from church. We had previously seen him at church, but had never met him before. We met him, and learned that he worked with some guys doing computer work, etc..., Dad wanted Laura, Christian and me (mainly Laura) to learn Photoshop, so he asked Rob if he would come and teach us once a week, and have dinner. He started teaching us, and we immediately loved him!  He comes from another like-minded family, with eight children. Photoshop lessons didn't last very long. We ended up just spending time playing games, talking, and socializing.  He would also come down to Branson Landing on Saturdays and watch us play music..... we also met up at Silver Dollar City a couple times, and had a blast!!! :)
 We all looked forward to the night each week he would come. His passion for the Lord really stood out to me. He taught me many thing during that time....things that he didn't even know he taught me. Mom decided to "adopt" him. :) We started calling him our adopted big brother.....and eventually (not too long afterward) shortened to, big brother. No "adopted" in there. He really became like a big brother to us. I was always afraid that someday, when he moved he would just leave our lives and we would never see him again. Well, I was wrong.  A couple years ago he moved.  He kept coming, but the visits became farther apart....then his car broke. Riding a bicycle a distance that was normally 45 minutes in a car wasn't going to happen. I thought the end of our knowing him was coming. Then, he moved even farther away....still riding his bike. We saw him a few times, but it was hard to find the time to drive an hour, pick him up, then drop him off again after his visit. I was amazed that he kept staying in touch. I thanked God over and over. I didn't want my big brother to leave. Then he got a car. His visits weren't every week like they had started out as, but he kept coming when he had some time. Life just keeps getting busier, and there's always plenty of work. But, I'm just so thankful for Rob!!! He never forgot us!
 I enjoy the time we get with him SO much!!! He is one of the most influential people in my life. There couldn't be anyone more like a big brother than him!! He's seen me upset, ecstatic, sad and hurting, joyful and content. It's pretty amazing to see how God has worked. He brought Rob into our lives at just the right time. He answered my prayer, even though I'd been told it was impossible. NOTHING is impossible with GOD!!!!!!! I want my children someday to know Rob as their "Uncle Rob"!!!! =) That's what he is!!!!! Thank you, God, for sending Rob into our lives, and thank you Rob for being such a special part of our lives!!!!!!
We love you!!!! <3

More Garden Info.....

Well, I do believe that I'm doing better at posting on my blog.... hopefully at least some of you are interested in gardening....but if not, oh well, I'll write this out for my own future use. :)

I'm actually not going to have a lasagna garden.  I've been reading about an even better way.  I guess I could kind of do it, but that's not my whole plan.  I've been reading the book, "All New Square Foot Gardening".  A really amazing book!!!  It has really been inspiring me!!!!  It's truly a must-read for gardeners, I think.  It gives you another way to garden.  More effective, simple, and it's a new thought to a lot of us who've grown up on planing our gardens in a row, fighting the weeds for all we're worth, or just letting them take over.  This method makes it so that you have minimal (if any) weeds, lots of produce, in less space. 
I highly reccommend the book.  I'm renting it from my library.
I'll be posting pictures of my gardening adventures soon!

Tomorrow, the plan is to get the wood to build eight 4x4 boxes, and get old cow manure for a rich form of nutrients for my plants.  This week I want to plant, lettuce (a lot), raddishes, spinach (lots of it....I LOVE spinach!!!!!), swiss chard, and any other spring vegetables I have seeds for that I can't remember at the moment.  I have my tomatoes, tomatillos, and bell/jalapeno peppers I planted inside last month, and I just started my thyme and oregano inside.  In a week or so, I'm planning to start my eccinacea, marigolds and basil inside.  The tomatoes, tomatillos and peppers are looking so healthy and strong!  It's my first time starting any plants inside.  So far it's been very successful! I just transplanted them into bigger containers because they were falling over because they were geting so big!!! :)  They look quite happy now, and I'll post pictures of them sometime, too.

I'm still going to try companion planting.  It will work so well with this method, too!  It's so cool!  The guy that wrote the book has been doing square foot gardening for over 10 years, and has had tons of success.  Also, what's really neat is that he's totally into saving money and finding the least expensive way to do everything.  He's very passionate about enjoying the gardening experience.  He explains that it doesn't have to be as hard as everyone makes it. 
I know two families who've done it now, though not in raised beds, and both have been successful! :) 


Fact about Summer (me): I DO NOT like weeding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Anything to have less weeds is a plus for me!!!!!  Also, I would like to work at a great camp I've worked at for the past three years, and if I have to weed all the time I either have to choose to give up camp, or give up weeding the garden, and let it get overrun.  I don't want to have to choose.  I want to get rid of all of those nasty weeds!  If that is taken care of, I can ask one of my brothers to water for me and then I can go without worrying about what my garden will look like when I get back.
So, that's pretty much been my main focus on choosing a method of gardening, but, with this method comes other great benefits that make so much sense. 

Well, that's probably enough for now.... I'll have more info for you soon I'm guessing....  And pictures for sure! =)

I would love to hear about your gardens and how you grow your fresh produce!.....and about preserving garden produce.  It will be my first year in that as well! :) 

What has worked for you? 
What has not?
What would you do again?
What would you advise against?

Friends for (and from) a lifetime!!!

I just wanted to post this picture of my amazing friends (and a couple siblings). We have been friends since babyhood, and I am just so thankful for them, and wanted to say so! God has blessed me with these awesome friendships!!!!  We have always been so close that we consider ourselves almost cousins!!!! :) There's almost nothing better than real, close friends who can love and serve God together, helping and challenging eachother to be godly young men and women; seeking to follow our Lord with everything!!!!

I love you guys!!!!

What started my passion for health? The answer.

God.  Yes, He's the reason for everything.  He turns everything into good....and I am an example of His plans that can seem very hard to understand.
But, there are other things that have happened through my life that have really affected how I think about health, farming, growing organic food, etc...  Here is my story.

As a little girl I was known to my family as the "animal lover".  I was going to grow up and be a vet.... I have changed my mind over the years.... =D  I just loved any kind of animal, bug, anything that could be my pet.  I would dig for hours in my grandma and pap pap's  back yard in the rocks for snails.  I would let them slime all over me. :-p  I got heartbroken when Andrew, a little toddler at the time, stepped on one accidentally and crushed it.  It was my little friend. 

We lived on a farm.  21 acres of wonderful land I would run and explore all over!!!  I LOVED it!  We had chickens, ducks, goats, a pony, plenty of cats, a few dogs and my bunny I got when I turned four.  We moved there right after I turned six.  I got into plenty of trouble, such as riding the goats and the like.  It was a blast! :)  We had a u-pick blueberry patch/farm; around 300 bushes.  It was so fun in the summer when our friends would come to pick blueberries.  I just LOVE fresh blueberries..... and friends to pick with was a bonus!  We also had a wonderful 1/4 acre of asparagus.  Such blessings.  I wish I had really known what I had when we lived there.  I took it all for granted.
 We also had a creek running through our woods, and Christian and I would sometimes go down to fish.... and we actually caught a fish once that I remember! ;)

I have VERY fond memories of riding our pony, Smokey, all over our land!!!  I was the only one who knew how to saddle him, and he was quite stubborn and wouldn't obey almost anyone.  I had to pretty much train him again because it had been so long since he had been ridden.  He was about twenty-five.  I loved him and enjoyed those hours on his back! :)

I have always been a farm girl and love the outdoors!  I've dreamed of living on a farm again.  I hope I will be able to again someday.

Okay, so, I love animals, love the country, love my family and love God!  

I moved from the farm when I was eleven or twelve.  We had to give our animals away except the dogs, cats and my bunny, Tiny Ears (Tiny).

Around the time that we moved I started having some health issues.  We didn't really realize it but now, looking back, I can see.  Years of not understanding why I felt the way I did followed.

About two years ago we were experimenting with my health and took out a lot of different foods.  I was eating a lot of fresh food.  Immediately I saw and felt a difference.  My joints felt better, the bloating went down, I felt less tired among a number of other things.  I few weeks after that I went to a friend's birthday party.  I ate what I thought I should, except I had a *tiny* amount of dessert (a little piece of brownie w/ less than a scoop of ice cream).  It made me feel bad for a couple weeks!  After that, we knew that something I had been eating wasn't agreeing with me.  Since then it has been a huge process, and still is.  One thing I have found to help me feel good is juice fasting.  For my birthday I got a Champion Juicer, and I LOVE it!!!!  It does such a good job, and as a bonus, if you put a certain piece on it, and push frozen fruit through, it makes the fruit like soft serve ice cream!  It's been such a blessing!!!
Having these health issues have really caused me to have a passion for eating healthy.  Our culture's eating is so corrupt!  All the genetically modified foods, growth hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, and animals fed these things.....not good!  I keep hearing about more people who have digestive issues, and there is a huge rise of food intolerances.  I wonder why?  Did we always have these food sensitivities?  I don't think so.  Teddy and Nathan have both had dairy problems, but Teddy has outgrown his.  I'm hoping it won't be too many years before Nathan will do the same.
There are so many thing to be thankful for, and I am *so* blessed!  Lots of people tell me they're so sorry for me, etc..., but I don't want them to be.  I would appreciate prayer, and I do hope that my body is healed someday, but God has done some wonderful things through this, and I don't want to wallow in self-pity.  It has encouraged me to study health, and I have actually had the opportunity to be able to help some people because I have had these problems.  Yes, it's true I don't eat very many different foods, and yes, it is hard for me.  But, God is always with me and helping me to see the good in my circumstances.  It has helped me find myself.  I *love* the homesteading lifestyle.  Growing organic food from the garden, and raising grass fed animals, getting fresh, raw milk from a cow, raise healthy chickens for eggs and meat, canning the produce from the gardens, cooking healthy and making other good choices.  I don't want my children (someday) to struggle with their health as I have.  I hope that by making good choices in what they eat they will have healthy bodies.
I have been very blessed in some very wonderful friendships that have helped me so much....not to mention the support of my family.  They have just been so patient with me.  I love them all dearly!
A few nights ago I was lying in bed just thinking about my health issues...sometimes I lack the faith that I may one day be healed and that is a fault.  But, God spoke to me.  I didn't hear His voice clear, but it was a voice inside my heart.  He told me that even if I wasn't healed on earth, someday, when I die, He is going to take all of it away, and I will have a new body, free of any discomfort.  I will be whole in Him!  It just made me cry.  I had never thought of that before.  I knew that we would all have new bodies etc..., but it had never fully hit me that He would free me! :)  It was a joyous thought!  I know that it will really help me in the future when I am feeling discouraged.

So far my year has been a *wonderful* one!  Some big things have happened and are going to happen!  Big things, and just changes that seem little, but are bigger than you could imagine, in myself.  I turned seventeen in December, had a wonderful dance for my birthday party in January, am really doing well in school this year, which is very important since it's almost the end of my junior year, I've been very blessed in some amazing friendships, God has been working in my heart and pulling me further into His love and protection, I am understanding some things that I have struggled with, I am excitedly planning and working on my gardens for this year (a huge passion of mine) and have loved it!, am just learning so much as I study (a couple of my favorite sources are, The Encyclopedia of Country Living,  All New Square Foot Gardening and Nourishing Traditions, wonderful books filled with great knowledge!) and my relationships in my family are building into great friendships I didn't used to have.

So, I hope that through this you have seen how great God is, and how He has a plan for EVERYTHING!!!  Seriously.  The things that seem so terrible occur because they're part of a great and wonderful plan.  Only He knows what it is, but we can know that all is done because He loves us.