twenty sixteen//

So we've almost made it thru 2016 y'all!! How was your year? Mine was good and I thankful to Jesus for granting me with a great 2016. Here are a few highlights of my year, one from each month, in order.

                                           |spending time in Fort Myers FL with my family|

                                                                 |the snow|

                        |winning 1st place trophy at quiz retreat with these lovely ladies|

 | learning how to play ukulele|

 

 

|being able to work with family|

 

 

 |lake tobias with the Sauder clan|

 

 

|fundraiser for Chad, Jo & family|

 

 

 

|an AMAZING week at Rubies|

 

|harvest time|

 

|being able to archery hunt with a cross-bow|

 

 

|living life at home with my family|

 

 

|we didn't do anything that astounding in December other than spend time with family, which is the best!|

 

Now we look to a new year: 2017!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas!!

(Pinterest)




 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

 “Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Luke 2:11-14 ESV

 

 

Merry Christmas to all my wonderful blog readers! May Jesus bless you this Christmas season!

//life lately//

 

 

life lately....

 

    baking cookies for the annual Sauder cookie exchange

                                                                      

                         right now Aubree absolutely adores all her babies and puppies.....

                                            Happy Birthday Mom!! You're amazing!! =)

                                                                
                 the evening of Mom's birthday we all went to Hershey to see the sweet lights!

 

Merry Christmas!! 

Christmas.....

Yes, so many people say it is the most wonderful time of the year, and I agree. But, are we really, truly, focusing on what really IS the reason its the most wonderful time of the year? Jesus is really the reason for the season. He came, as a baby, down here to our sinful world, and lived a perfect life, so that we can have forgiveness of sins and a life in heaven with Him!! So I am challenging you this Christmas season to thank Jesus for all that He did for you and to celebrate Him this season. I am not saying that all the family get-togethers, food, gifts, etc. is all wrong, but sometimes I think we focus on that more than really focusing on Jesus and the Christmas story. This is a challenge for you, as well as me!
Merry Christmas y'all!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Martin family Christmas*

Hi All!! It seems like a while since I did a picture/life post, so here is one for you 😃 Some of our extended family members are going to be out if  state + country over Christmas, so we did our Christmas early. It was kind of fun to be able to start the Christmas season earlier, but at the same time it didn't quite feel "right" beings Christmas is 3 weeks away 🎄 But all in all, it was great!
Grandpa + Grandma are very generous when it comes to gift giving, so this year they took  most everyone shopping for gifts and we were each aloud to spend a certain amount. 2 groups of little girls went to a doll store to get clothes for their American dolls, the big girls went to "big girl stores," and the guys went to Weaver's Store. It was a lot of fun spending time with Grandpa & Grandma. Anyway, saying all that I have some pictures of our family gathering!

Mmhhhh....wonder what's in this one?!

Aubree got dolly stuff, which was a great fit for her beings she loves her babies!

And of course the boys get to add to their farm toys!!

 

 

 

The younger ones played a candy cane game!!

 

 

And the ladies played now you have it now you don't!

\

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into our family gathering!! Merry Christmas!!

 

 

Proverbs 27:17

I am copying these paragraphs from an online source, because I like how they say it:

The phrase “iron sharpens iron” is found in Proverbs 27:17: "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” There is mutual benefit in the rubbing of two iron blades together; the edges become sharper, making the knives more efficient in their task to cut and slice. Likewise, the Word of God is a “double-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12), and it is with this that we are to sharpen one another—in times of meeting, fellowship, or any other interaction.

The proverb also indicates the need for constant fellowship with one another. Man was not made to be alone, for did not the Lord God say this, even before the Fall (Genesis 2:18)? How much more, then, after the Fall of Man, do we need to come together with our brothers and sisters in Christ for seasons of fellowship and prayer? Clearly, this was recognized by the saints of the early church (Acts 2:42–47), who “devoted themselves” to teaching, fellowship, communion, and prayer, all corporate activities that provided opportunities for sharpening one another.

There are two points to make about the above proverb. First, the meeting of two together in the Lord’s name will always guarantee blessing. It is a means of grace that the Lord Himself promised—where two or more are gathered in His name, there He is among them (Matthew 18:20). Also, we see a similar meaning in Malachi, for those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard (Malachi 3:16). When we sharpen one another in real Christian fellowship, the Lord bends an ear from heaven and is pleased. Not one word about Him which brings Him glory escapes His notice.

Finally, a knife that has been sharpened will also shine more because all the dullness has been rubbed off its surface. Likewise, we will shine better for our Lord if we do the things mentioned above consistently, all of which will unite us in harmony. “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity” (Psalm 133:1). Therefore, as the author to the Hebrews says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24–25).

It's Thanksgiving Day...

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

Take a second right now, and just think about how blessed you are. We are all blessed beyond measure, and we can't forget to give all our thanks to Jesus!
Have a great day and remember to give praise to our heavenly Father for all He has done for you!

I am thankful for.....

a darling little sister that loves me dearly-

 

 

a day that feels like Spring-

 

voices of praise choir & hope Bible quizzing-

 

 

 

my new ukulele-

 

time spent with Grandma & cousins-

 

 

 

a pineapple canvas that turned out well-

 

the beautiful leaves -

 

my awesome siblings -

-

 

What are you all thankful for?



Joshua 1:9

We have a WINNER!

Evening to y'all!!
We have a WINNER!!! The wonderful, ANNA MARTIN =)
I will send you a email Anna to finish it off!  Thank you ALL for participating, and hopefully I can do this again sometime 😃 Blessings!
   



Giveaway!!

I promised something exciting coming up and that is: I am doing a giveaway!! Today it is officially 250  days since I started blogging!! Probably most of you are thinking what a random time to do a giveaway!!!! Usually people do them at their blog anniversaries, but I got this great idea that I could do it just for fun, so I did count out the days =)
So I am giving your choice of purple, grey, light yellow, or a tan crocheted headband! You just have to let a comment with your name and one of your favorite hobbies!! I will randomly pick a winner, and by randomly means not my choice, but something like put all your names in a hat and pick one out and tada, that's the winner!!! =) =) I will then ask the winner to shoot me an email so I can figure out details and send it out!
 The giveaway ends SATURDAY night 11/12/16 at 11:59 pm!!
Here are a picture of the head bands ( missing a  grey one)  :

 

Can't wait to have a winner!! Blessings on your day everyone!

Devotional // Proverbs 4:1-2

Good Afternoon Everyone!
I am going to try something new and post something inspirational once a week. Some weeks it may be a devotional by me, a single quote, poem, or a devotional by someone else, etc. I pray that this will bless you as much as me!
Since I am quizzing on Proverbs 4 this quiz year, I decided to do a devotional on the first 2 verses since they have some wonderful wisdom!!

1: Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
2: For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.
I am just going to break down these verses in a sense, and give you my thoughts :)
sometimes it can be so hard for us to take instruction from our parents or older adults, because we tend to think "I know what I am doing, I don't need to hear from you. I got everything under control." But you know what? Just like Solomon is telling us, we need to take and hear instruction. Those older than us have so much wisdom for us, and they also have learned from their past mistakes as well!! Their wisdom can be practical/understood because they are most likely talking from their experience in the past. Verse 2 says it is founded upon a doctrine. Our Father's and those over us are giving us sound teaching (doctrine) which we can not forsake. So to sum up those 2 verses, let's always be willing to accept instruction and advice from our parents and those older than us. They are great people who deserve our respect!!!
If you have any thoughts/questions/comments I would love to hear from you!!



some thoughts from me on the blog:
-stay tuned for an exciting post coming up in a few days!
- if you have any ideas for me on blog posts, they would be more than welcome! I am running a little dry with ideas :/
- thanks for following my blog, I appreciate each one of you and the comments you leave on my posts! I love hearing from my readers :)
- I  was just thinking about another post that Heather over at "Trusting You Lord" posted on a subject that is some what  along the same thoughts as this devotional. The post was entitled "Godly families." Head on over and check it out!  http://trustingyoulord.blogspot.com
- I added some new links on "blogs I follow." Check em' out!

life lately.

Hey Everyone!! Hope you all are enjoying this chilly weather....I finally realize that summer is over :/ I am enjoying fall, although,  not quite  the thought of winter which is creeping right up upon us. Not yet though :) Some of these pictures and happenings were a couple weeks back, but I think you'll enjoy them anyway!

Late summer/fall is a busy time of field work!

Addy acting like a little monkey :)

Sunday afternoon fun with Mr. Caleb!!!

 

A Saturday morning tea party


 

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Have a wonderful evening y'all! Blessings!

Belmar, NJ

So we've been wanting to take this trip once the field work was done and the crops were in. We finally made it happen!! It was a lovely day spent at the ocean with just the right weather. The beach was pretty much empty, although as the day wore on, there were more people. Actually, mostly surfers with wet suits :)   We pulled our trailer with our bikes in and there was a big boardwalk to bike on. Talk about beautiful!

Boardwalk

Little girls having fun in the sand

Aubree and I letting the waves wash up on our feet!

What could be better than spike ball on the beach? :)

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed a little glimpse of our fun day!!