Thanksgiving

Hello friends! It's been a long time! Way too long. I've been dying to boast about the Lord and all He has done in our lives recently. I haven't had internet connection and just barely a cell phone signal for the last two weeks. Still don't have a TV! I guess the Lord knew that Thanksgiving week would be a perfect time to publicly give thanks and share the awesome things He has done for us in recent days. Right before the crazy hiatus, I read a blog that challenged me. It was a challenge to other bloggers to evaluate the purpose of their writing and create a mission statement for their site. That really spurred me on to ask the Lord what HE wanted me to be writing about. Honestly I could write about just about anything. It's one of my favorite modes of expression. But do I just want a blog to update friends and family on the Rodgers? No. I want to do more than that. Do I just want to share my opinions and views? Not really. Everyone has an opinion. Yes mine counts for something, but ultimately it's just one more person's opinion.  I believe the reason God led me to start this blog was to share about HIM. Every believer has a personal testimony, beyond their salvation testimony. We have testimonies each day of His goodness and faithfulness. And as we were discussing in Sunday school this morning from 1 John 1:1-4, we are just to declare what we have seen and heard. I can certainly do that. And my hope is that when I do, I will encourage someone who needed to be reminded of Him.

So what is all this talk about the Lord doing awesome things in our lives in recent days?? Well, for starters, He moved us out into the country, something we have been dreaming about since the beginning of our marriage over six years ago. Actually, something God birthed in my heart as a little girl and my husband's heart as a little boy, but that has been growing in us as a family for the last six years. We moved from a house in the city on a 1/3 acre lot to a house in the country on a 30 acre lot. :) We are absolutely thrilled!! Every time I step outside (and many times while I'm inside) I want to take a zillion pictures of this beautiful place. I'm reminded of the Scripture in Psalm 18:19, "He brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me." Wow. This is literally a broad place, a "spacious place" as some translations say. I still have a hard time believing that He does it because He delights in me. I know how imperfect I am and how very often I am anything but delightful. But it's not my perfections that delight Him, it's His Son Jesus in me. Even more overwhelming that it's all grace. Anyway, here are a few pictures of the "spacious place", which we have decided to call Freedom Farm:

My farmer has already bushhogged a lot of the land and even tilled me up a garden area! He's loving it. He can rarely get on the tractor without a "helper" though. . . :)

The kitchen, my personal favorite since it's where I spend a lot of my time, feeding half a dozen other people. :)

We had a little "practice garden" at the other house just to try our hand at gardening. We've actually had several salads from the greens and carrots it produced! I can't wait to see what a larger garden will feel like this summer.

The other way that the Lord has abundantly blessed us in recent days was with a very positive ultrasound we had on sweet baby #6. We found out that "it" is a "she", and we have named her Bethany. :) Not sure of her middle name, but Bethany has stood out to me over and over this year in my reading through the Bible. Mary of Bethany was like the most amazing woman. Bethany was the place where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and where He ascended up to heaven. It's the area of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem- the villages of Bethany and Bethpage. I just can't get that name off my mind and heart, so I know God gave us that name for her. She looks great and she will be here in April! Just in time for planting season! :)

"The LORD has done great things for us, and we are glad." -Psalm 126:3