Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!!

Pics for the day

After a stint of Arctic like weather it was a little warmer today, about 18 degrees, so I took a little time to take some pictures. Of course "Tinkerbell" our woolly actress gets the first shot here.

Most of our sheep are Shetlands but we have Tinkerbell, which we don't know what breed she is and we have Zinnie, a Navajo-Churro, plus we have a number of Tinkerbell's offspring which are half Shetland. The Navajo-Churro is the taller one in the picture with the black face, middle and left.

I worked with Arie today, training her to behave with the sheep, as she likes to try and play with them.

To keep Arie under control I use a lunge rein, which is used for horses.

Of course Tinkerbell the "ham" that she is had to get in the last shot.

One of our kids took this a couple days ago on the 14th. I thought it was pretty so I added it here.

A snowy blast

The other day our daughter was looking at a calender and she said, "did you know it's still fall?" I said, "I don't care what the calender says, this is winter!".

Right now the winds are whipping up yesterdays and last nights dumping of snow. For a couple days the weather advisories were being issued for us that we were to expect 16" to 18" inches of snow followed by high winds and colder temps. So far they are right on track, with the exception of a little less snow than what was predicted.

Inside the house is the place to be today, as you can see from the pictures above, they were taken from the warmth of inside our home. But, at least today the sun is shining brightly. Which is a little deceptive to look at, in that it is way colder out than it looks.

There is less we have to do outside during this time of year which is nice, but it is also the leanest time for us financially having less of an income. But, one way or another God has been faithful and has given us just what we need, no more and no less.

Just over a year ago our neighbor Mike started helping with the garbage routes. We weren't looking for any help at the time since our finances had taken a turn for the worse. But he approached us and he lives right across the highway from us and I thought it would be nice to have a back up since it was all on me then. Plus I felt a strong sense from the Lord to hire Mike.

It has made things even tighter financially but, the Lord has kept us going for over a year now. During this time God has brought numerous confirmations that HE was in on it and has provided for us in miraculous ways. In such ways that have brought tears to our eyes. One of the times came from what would seem like we were visited by an "angel". Not a literal angel but so close it almost made us wonder. A dear woman blessed our family both spiritually and monetarily at just a time when we needed confirmation that we were on the right track.

And just days ago we received another blessing at just the right time. The transmission on our garbage truck developed another problem making it inoperable.

The story on this particular truck has been one of a series of trouble with the automatic transmission. The truck is a 1995 Isuzu NPR. A month after we got the truck it went out. We spent over $5000 getting the transmission rebuilt. It was supposed to have a same as new warranty but the outfit who did the work was not honest and they wouldn't stand by their warranty after we got it back still having problems. They refused to stand by their work, then not long thereafter, they went out of business completely. Not surprising given the lack of ethics we experienced with them.

Well in time the transmission went out again and we found a local transmission repair shop who fixed it for us. After that we took it back to him for a minor problem which he didn't even charge us for. Then a couple weeks ago something else happened with it. We took the truck back again and it turned out to be another major repair.

We fully expected to get a bill in the thousands again. To date we have sunk in well over $6k in the thing. When they called to let me know it was finished I asked what the cost was. I couldn't believe my ears, when the man said it was under warranty and there would be NO charge. I was astonished!

Afterwards I told Kelli and she immediately burst into tears. Things are tight once again right now and going into winter we sure didn't need a big bill. But, no bill at all is a true miracle! The owner of this transmission shop is beyond honest. In my opinion he would not have had to stand by this repair as it really had nothing to do with what he fixed before as far as I can tell.

This would be the third time he's stood by his work with us, because he did some work to our pickup truck in the recent past as well, which had to be taken back. Again no charge on that one either. It is pretty amazing! That first outfit that we had experience with really took us to the cleaners but, this guy has gone way beyond what would be expected. I suspect he is a Christian since I saw him up at the "Living Nativity" when we were up there.

More confirmation that we are right were God wants us to be. Completely reliant on Him.

Until Next Time

The Madness of a Lost Society

"The last sixty years has given birth to a moral disaster, and what have we done? Sadly, we must say that the evangelical world has been part of the disaster.

More than this, the evangelical response itself has been a disaster. Where is the clear voice speaking to the crucial issues of the day with distinctively biblical, Christian answers?

With tears we must say it is not there and that a large segment of the evangelical world has been seduced by the world spirit of this present age.

And more than this, we can expect the future to be a further disaster if the evangelical world does not take a stand for biblical truth and morality in the full spectrum of life.

For the evangelical accommodation to the world of our age represents the removal of the last barrier against the breakdown of our culture.

And with the final removal of this barrier will come social chaos and the rise of authoritarianism in some form to restore social order. "

Francis Shaeffer, The Great Evangelical Disaster

A woolly actress

We have a female sheep that was given to us a few years back that is in a "living" nativity every year. Below are some pictures that we took of her the other night. Her name is Tinkerbell. We didn't name her that, our friends that gave her to us did. In fact the "angel" on top of the manger in the first picture below is the one who gave her to us.

A church in Eagle River puts this on and it is very nice.

It's funny how well Tinkerbell does during the programs. She is never on a lead any other time through out the year. None of our other sheep will behave for this. But, the folks who used to own Tinkerbell have kids who led her around like a dog and she has always been very tame.

Tinkerbell is an accomplished actress!

Our friend Lenore owns the little donkey in this last picture. He was perfect for the role. He accompanied "Mary and Joseph" to the manger. Very cute!

Luke 2:7-14

"7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. "