My parents are heading back to CA

My Momma and Daddy just left after a week visit with us. The time went by much to fast. We enjoyed each day with them and did a variety of farm life while they were here. Baby Lambs were born, the garden rows were started, more fruit trees were planted and daddy laid out the posts on where his home is going to be built!~ We dreamed together, laughed together and even sat quietly together. Each moment was precious!

Momma helped me get some Excel documents set up for our farm that will prove helpful in keeping orders, expenses and simple farm management in order. If you would like to visit our farm site you can do so by visiting: www.coventantranchonline.com I also started a farm blog for our customers and friends to read about and ask questions on natural farm management. This blog will remain an account of many heart and home issues that I want to journal for my family. >br>
Well, my Joe is needing me to help him pick up some Alfalfa from his friend. I am just “talking company” for the trip there. The boys and Joe do all the work. :-) I pray you are all having a wonderful week ministering to your family. May the Lord be glorified in all we do!

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Hello Friends!
Michele (wildthings) here at homestead blogger shared a book with me titled “The Gentle Ways of a Beautiful Woman” I haven’t gotten far as of yet however, I did want to share with you how the Lord was teaching me. I pray you are blessed and would love to hear your thoughts and how you are growing!

I have been pondering and praying for days, well actually weeks, since you first shared the title of the book with me. I keep asking myself, “Who is this beautiful woman and what are her gentle ways?” As I continued to pray and take this question to the Lord, I decided to do a search of the Scriptures on the word “beautiful” and “gentle.” Here is what I discovered:

By God’s gentleness we are made great! 2 Sam. 22:36~ Thou has given me the shield of Salvation and thy gentleness has made me great. Psalm. 18:35~ Thou hast also given me the shield of thy Salvation and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hat made me great. In both texts it is David’s song of victory to God. I love to read of how God had equipped him to do amazing things and overcome tremendous obstacles. It encourages me greatly! And yet, I ponder all the more…. Perhaps I have been mistaken at times to think that I needed the fire of the Lord or the strength of the Lord to equip me for certain duties when in actuality it was/is the gentleness of God that I need to do the great things He has set before me. I continue to pray about this.

I continued looking up Scriptures regarding gentleness and was reminded in Galatians that it is a fruit of the Spirit. It is a fruit in our lives that will grow and mature making it evident to the world that we are His. I must also consider that it is a fruit that can also wither if not cared for properly.
I looked up some of the Greek and Hebrew words used for gentleness and came up with these explanations: mild, kind, gentle, moderation, patience, excellence in character and demeanor, goodness, kindness, and usefulness. Hmm… There is so much that I find worth my attention when I consider gentleness in my life.

I also began search the Scriptures regarding the word “beautiful”. What does beautiful look like to God? I considered Biblical examples such as Ester, Rachel, Ruth and Sarah.
Genesis 29:17 Tells us she was beautiful and well favored. What was it that made her beautiful? The Hebrew word used in this verse not only refers to appearance but also to countenance. Could it be that she was considered beautiful because of the way she conducted herself? I think so!
Ester and Ruth were both “noticed” and pleased the men that noticed them. Why? While the Scriptures don’t use the word “beautiful” I do think that beauty had a role in getting their attention. Not simply their appearance but their countenance- the way that they behaved themselves.
The Greek and Hebrew words use for “beautiful” include: figure or appearance, beautiful, comely, countenance, fair, favored, form, goodly, pleasant, well, flourishing, and timely. I was very glad to see the words timely and flourishing on this list. I know in my own life that there is a beauty about our home when I am “belonging to the right hour or season.” When I am doing things in a timely fashion and flourishing there is a beauty about the home. How I pray these moments will increase!

Well dear friend, I have shared what has been on my heart this week and I haven’t even got past the title of the book! I did read pages 1-18 but felt it was the title that the Lord was speaking to me about. Perhaps, next week, He will allow me to share some of the gems I have gleaned from these few pages.

With much love,
Mrs. Joseph Wood

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Busy days in Kansas

Hello Friends!
Our days are full of activity and abounding in His blessings here in our hearts and our home! I have not been feeling 100% so I am going to just recap the activity here so I don’t forget to jot these details down.

Timothy was precious to watch today as he gathered bees by feeding them sugar water and collected them for observation. He was dressed in his bee suit and a true delight to watch!

We have our garden, or part of our garden, sprouting in the living room under lights. The children love to see the growth every day. We pray earnestly that the Lord would bless the works of our hands and that our efforts would bring Him Glory!

Harmony is in labor and will be kidding sometime soon. Beth and Sarah have been sitting with her all day singing her songs and telling her stories as to comfort her. The girls enjoy being a part of this experience. I expect we will have kids in the wee hours of the morning. Elisha built a stanchion for us since we gave out other one to friends in CA. This was his first real wood working project without any instruction from daddy. My Joe was so proud of him when he came home and saw his work completed. Elisha did a WONDERFUL job! I am so thankful the Lord has given so many of us different skills and talents!

The boys (Elisha, Ezekiel and Josiah) finished painting the barn fence and chicken coop and took the rest of the day to play in the creek (what would be called a river in CA) and try out their fishing skills. They had a wonderful time! I think this will become part of their Summer routine and build lasting memories as brothers! Last night, the Lord protected the boys from a Copperhead snake while they played a game of tag at dusk. Josiah quickly killed it and buried the remains.

Samuel and Matthew work daily on taking their chickens out to graze after the sheep have been rotated. We do extra work in taking our animals out to pasture each day and putting them away at night but for our family this is the only way we have comfort and can sleep. We have electric fences that we move from here to there for the animals the graze. Once the chicken coop is done the boys won’t have quite so much work to do.

Daily we take the bunnies and ducks out to graze in the garden or the orchard while the sheep and chickens are in the pasture. I enjoy seeing all the animals in their places on the farm! Bly the good and faithful farm dog is a blessing to us. Bekah is talking to trainers and learning how to teach him to be all the Lord created him for! :-)

This weekend we will be traveling to MO to pick up a new kid we are adding to our herd from our Kennedy friends! We are also visiting another friend who will be teaching us to disbud the kids. She has 18 kids to disbud so we hope we can learn and help in the process. Sunday, I will be taking Timothy to his Bee workshop (it is a two part series) where he will be building a hive and learning/reviewing skills that are needed for good bee keeping.

As you can “hear” there is much activity here at Covenant Ranch! We are joyful in all the duties the Lord has allowed us to do each day! Oh! Before I close my note would any of my friends have a copy of a book called, “The Gentle Ways of a Beautiful Woman” by Anne Ortlund? If you do and would like to part with it, I am looking to purchase a copy. Please email me with the details. Have a wonderful weekend friends!

With much love,
Mrs. Joseph Wood

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Always learning… always growing!

Hello Friends!

I am delighted to share on behalf of the entire Wood family! The Lord is always teaching us. We are delighted, that because of His great grace and tender mercy, He keeps our ears open to His voice and our eyes open to His will! What a faithful God to hold His people so closely to Him when we humbly submit to His purpose! We were in fact created for His purpose and not our own weren’t we dear friends? I wonder do our prayer lives reflect that Truth? Is my heart truly wanting to know His will or is it wanting my desires? I wonder what my life reflects? I must always examine myself to make sure I don’t slip down the path of excuses that keep me from resting in His Truth. I am thankful that He has never given me over to my depraved mind and continually calls after me when I start to wonder. Hmm.. so much that the Lord is teaching me. I have so much to learn.

The homestead is peaceful right now! We have garden seeds sprouting, chicks growing, ewes and does preparing for birth and the ducks and bunnies enjoying the warm KS days when they are let out to graze the garden patch for us. There is much organization needed in keeping the homestead moving peacefully. I am so thankful for my children that help me keep this all going right. I could not do this on my own. Who would have guessed that this city girl would be reading farm management books before bedtime and taking her son to conventions where the biology of bees and honey production is discussed? God is truly amazing!

About the Bees: Timothy and I had a wonderful time last weekend at the KS/MO bee convention. I was surprised to see so many in attendance. I believe they said that close to 300 were in attendance from a variety of states. Timothy was so attentive and determined to learn. He was also excited about returning home with the observation hive he had won. I just have to tell you the story of this observation hive. Timothy and I had tried to win some items on Friday with the Silent Auction but were not successful. Most people were paying 4 to 100 times more than what an item was worth to support the organizations. We simply couldn’t do something like that. On Saturday, I saw this observation hive sitting on the Auction table and prayed as I wrote down my bid of 25.00, “Lord, please let Timothy be blessed by this.” See Friday night he had taken me to a display booth and showed me an observation hive he wanted for 150.00. I explained to him that I didn’t feel the Lord wanted us to spend His resources like this and Timothy cheerfully responded, “That’s okay mommy!” I told Timothy not to get his hopes up but that I had bid on an observation hive and we would just trust that whatever the outcome that would be God’s will for us. All through the day, Timothy would run and check to see if we were still the highest bidder. He would cheer and run back to me, with a smile saying, “Yes! Momma we are still winning!” As I went from workshop to workshop I saw people standing by the hive and talking. On three different occasions I heard them say, “Oh don’t bid on that.. the little boy is trying to win that.” Friends, God in His great kindness, put it on peoples hearts to not bid and let my Timothy win this hive! Not one person bid! When Timothy went to pick up the hive I paid the women at the table. When I turned around I discovered a crowd of people had gathered around to share in Timothy’s excitement! There were so many cameras going off that I felt I there must be a movie star in the building! :-) One man was even recording Timothy. Everyone was so happy that Timothy had “won” the hive and many kind suggestions on how to use and display the hive were given. It was a precious moment and something I will cherish for many years to come!

I would love to share what we are learning about the sheep, goats, ducks and chickens but time is limited and I must stop for now. I trust the Lord will let me share with you soon. There are so many good things happening on our homestead! I give God all the Glory for that!!!

With much love,

Mrs. Joseph Wood

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This past week in our home…

Hello Friends!
This week has continued to be an adventure. I often wonder if I shouldn’t call our blog, “The adventures of the Wood family.” It seems there is never a dull moment here in our home and for that I am truly thankful! I will do a quick recap (okay, long recap) of our week~ I hope you enjoy the peak into our hearts and home.

I have recovered from the “car incident.” God gave my Joe an extra measure of grace. He is such a wise and loving daddy. He walked in, saw the little ones with disappointment in their eyes, and without saying a word knelt down and gave the most tender of hugs as he whispered, “I forgive you.” Those babies were so sad that they had disappointed us in their eagerness to find “treasures”. I am thankful that they will always remember this event and grow. I am even more thankful for the grace that we were able to show to them as an example of His grace toward us. In a family of twelve we are always experiencing “Spiritual Growth” which can bring about some “growing pains” from time to time. Side note: Grandpa Rick says he’ll clean out his own car. :-)

In a phone conversation with another Sister. I was reminded of something my Momma said to me years ago. I wanted to share her wisdom with you as well. She said, “Jeanette, any child can have a stay at home mom but blessed is the child who’s mother’s heart is at home.” I have pondered her words many times over the years and even now I am encouraged to do well in my ministry at home. I am so thankful for my mother and the other “older” women that have invested in my life.

Tuesday, My Joe was able to be home with us after being on the road for a very long time. We enjoyed a visit with new friends who were able to fix my printer- Yippee! How blessed we are to have friends that invest in our lives both through prayer and practical measures! I was thanking the Lord today for preparing the body of Christ, here in KS, for the Wood family. As we get to know new friends we are amazed at what love they have for us! It has been such a treat to see this kind of love in action in the body of Christ!

Tuesday night, after taking my Josiah to his guitar lessons, I was taken to the ER. Without warning, I had terrible pain from an internal hernia. After much prayer and careful watching of the “kink” it came undone and I was free of pain. The doctor feels it is the same hernia reappearing from almost two years ago. Some of you may remember when the horse ran over me and caused two tears in my abdomen and a broken foot. I have an appointment this Tuesday with the surgeon to discuss how to resolve this matter. They fear that more surgery could cause other problems. We will see how the Lord leads. I am confident that the footsteps of the righteous are ordered by the Lord and He will direct the doctors and give us wisdom on how to proceed. I am so thankful that the Lord had my Joe home to be with me through this experience. In fact, Joe has been off the road since Tuesday. We have been blessed to know that the Lord allowed us so many days to be in each others company!

The rest of the week has been full of activity. I must confess however, that I have been on the sidelines watching and cheering them on with strict orders to rest. Another friend, Mr. Ribelin, came to help my Joe with the electrical for the new bathroom we are putting in the basement. What a labor of love!! I do hope the girls cinnamon rolls somehow showed our thanks for his kindness!

The baby chicks are growing fast! I just love hearing all the chirping. The variety of chicks we have is simply delightful to look at. I think I have a few of the children “hooked” on watching chickens with Momma. I just love to watch chickens; I find it peaceful and entertaining! We have more chicks coming this week. What fun! We truly do take this privilege of caring for His creatures with great honor. It is rewarding to care for these farm animals!

The goats and sheep are all doing well. We expect to have lambs and kids by the end of March. Everyone is eager to see all the blessings the Lord has in store for us! Mr. Ribelin is coming next week to trench water to the barn for us. This is going to be so nice especially since we have always carried water to the animals wherever we have lived. The barn is really a work in process. Each of us are excited with all the Lord has given us!

The ducks and bunnies have been enjoying some of our sunny KS days out grazing. We acquired some collapsible yard pens for dogs so that the children could work in the garden and have their bunnies or ducks along side them grazing. I have some movable fences we will be using for our sheep and goats grazing as well. We truly are having much fun living where the Lord has taken us!

Joe enjoyed falling some of the dead trees here on the property. Ezekiel took some wonderful pictures of the entire event. I had to tease Joe about having too much fun and falling trees just to fall trees not because they are dead. :-)

The girls and I are getting excited planning and preparing for our garden. It will be fun to see how the Lord blesses the work of our hands. We have so much to learn. I want so desperately to bring Him glory as we work here on the farm where He has led us!

I see the Lord doing a great heart work in each of my children as well as my Joe and I. We are growing dear friends! I am so thankful that He never leaves us to ourselves! Today, I sat and considered the fact that His hands were pierced for my sake. Oh, how I had this overwhelming sense of wanting to kiss His hands, to feel His hands hold my face and to rest in His presence! Hmm…. one day we will be in His presence! It is my prayer that I don’t let the temporal things keep me from focusing on those things that are eternal.

That is an overview of our week here at Covenant Ranch!
Until our next chat…
With much love,
Mrs. Joseph Wood

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