Loyal Heart

This morning I was reading 2 Chronicles 25:2.

"And he (Amaziah) did what was right in the sight of The Lord, but not with a loyal heart."

This verse struck me and reminded me again how important the state of our heart is to God. He doesn't just look at our actions, but he looks at our hearts.

Our pastor just finished up a sermon series on "Following Jesus". In one of the sermons he talked about following Jesus, not out of duty or habit, but out of love for Him. What a powerful truth to live by.

This is something that God has impressed on our hearts again and again over the years. We have been sure to teach this truth to our children. When we have a situation that needs discipline, and as we go through the steps of repentance, we are sure to bring in the principle that we obey God because we love Him...not out of duty, but out of devotion. If we can get this into our children's hearts....our hearts....we believe obeying God will be a joy rather than a list of do's and dont's.

As followers of Jesus it can be so easy to get caught up in all the "rules" that have been put there, whether through principles of the Bible, or man's teachings. It can be so easy to get caught up in the action rather than the actual state of our hearts. Don't get me wrong....I know there are absolutes in the Bible....laws that God has put there that we need to live by....but if we are just doing them to do "right" and our hearts are not loyal...what good is this?

Let's say you give your child and instruction like, "Please go clean the bathrooms." It doesn't take long to see what the state of their heart is like, does it? They may say "Yes Ma'am" with a smile and a spring in their step or they may say "Yes Ma'am" with a pout on their face and body language that is less than energetic! They will still clean the bathroom....they still obey you and do what is right...but which reaction makes your heart happy?

And I believe so it is with God. Our Christian walk should not be about rules and how far we can bend the rules....but rather how can we please the heart of God. How can we show our love and loyalty for Him with a spring in our step, a smile on our face and a "Yes Sir" on our lips? How can we show Him that we obey Him out of love for Him rather than just duty?

So as you live your life "for God", ask yourself, "Is my heart loyal to God or am I just going through the motions?"  I find that true joy comes when I obey God out of love for Him and a loyal heart rather than duty. Sure I can go through the motions....but what kind of child would I be? One that pleases the heart of God? I want to please Him....don't you?

                                                                                                                               

Harvest In April?

Well I meant to post about our harvest way back in September, but that just didn't happen! And since my amazing daughter-in-law gave me all these harvest photos I figured they shan't go to waste so....I will post about harvest...in April!!!! Since we still have lots of snow here and are experiencing major spring fever I thought this might be good therapy....to remind us that there is hope....nice weather WILL come!!!!

As I have mentioned before, harvest is a team effort around here. Every person from the oldest to the youngest has a special part to play. It's times like this that we are especially grateful for many hands....for they do make lighter work!

Harvest is a very busy time for us. A time where we put in long days and a few hours of sleep is a luxury. The weather largely dictates what we will be doing in a day. If it is raining, harvest is on hold, but that doesn't mean we get much of a break because this is the time that all the work that has been put off is done :) For the men this time is usually used for fixing, fixing, fixing, and for the ladies it is yard work, garden work and house work.

Here's what a typical harvest day would look like for us. Now I say that very loosely because no two harvest days are alike :)

We wake up anywhere from 5-8 depending on how late our night was and what we have to accomplish before getting to the field. An average wake up time would probably be around 6:30-7:00. From the time we wake up until around 11:00 or 12:00 we basically run around madly trying to do the things that need to be done in the house, on the machinery and in the yard. For the ladies it is often laundry, house cleaning, gardening and running after kids :) For the guys it's unloading grain, moving grain, testing grain, fixing and anything else that needs their desperate attention!

Then we head out to the field when we think things might be dry and we test the grain. We use a moisture tester. I wish I had pictures to show you how we do it...but I don't. Maybe someday :) Anyway every grain has their own "dry" point. If the grain is not dry enough when we put it in the bin it could mean spoilage. That's why we test it :)

If it's dry enough, then we go go go!!!! And keep on going until we can't anymore....or until we need some sleep!!! And then we go to bed, wake up and repeat :) Except on Sundays.....God sure knew what He was doing when He gave us that day of rest!

So just to give you a visual here are a few pictures (thanks Becca) of us out in the field and those left at home to feed us :)

Let's start with the food :) And the wonderful people who bring it out to us. There is nothing more wonderful, after being in a combine cab all day, than seeing the meal truck come into the field! Yummy :)

Here is Kerri making sure everything is packed.

 Every once in awhile someone ends up without a fork or something like that....but not very often :)

They do a great job packing an average of 

10 or 11 suppers every day. 

And here is the wonderful duo working hard to feed the crew

And they are still smiling :)

Everything labeled with sweet little notes :)

The notes don't happen every day, but it's a treat when it does :)

A tradition started a few years ago to make perogies 

and send them out to the field.

It's something we all look forward to 

All the meals are delicious but not too many beat this one!

Kerri putting the potato filling in.

Frying them up

(the reason we only have them once in awhile!)

This just makes my mouth water!!!

This is Caleb and I and another passenger (not sure who:)

We have a schedule for which kiddos come out to the field. 

We rotate who they go with every day. 

This lightens the load at home and gives some great bonding time for those in the field. 

How can you not bond when you are in a small cab together for hours on end!!!

The kiddos usually bring something along to play with, read or even school work. 

They also love to listen to stories that we have downloaded on our phones.

And they even get to play on the iPad once in awhile (if they come with mom:)

The combines unloading into the grain cart. 

The grain cart then empties into the grain truck.

And the trucker brings the grain to the bins.

Unloading the precious cargo into the bin.

This is canola.

The grain cart driver, Jen....reading I think :) 

And her little sidekick for the day...Brooke

Jen sometimes gets to have a bit of downtime during the day 

while waiting for the combines to fill (depending on the type of crop it is), 

but I don't envy her because she is the only one without air conditioning :(

The trucker, Josh, and his side kick for the day (Zach I believe).

We keep him pretty busy most days :)

And then there's the cute little helpers 

ready to be taken home from the field!

And who could forget these little sweeties, 

Makayla and Elijah.

I can't believe how much they have both grown over the winter!!!

Ahhhh.....I feel much better now!!! 

Warm weather will come....it has to!!! 

And for now we will try to enjoy the slower pace of life :)

For once it gets warmer and the snow melts and the land dries.....

life will get busy because....

That's life on the farm :)