Sorry about the ads.  I don't like 'em, but I'm not sure what to do about them.  Trust me, the eucalyptus radiata from Young Living will work far better for your sinuses than anything advertised here.

Last week I had a mini-meltdown.  I had reached the breaking point with being criticized, talked down to, and just the general nastiness that seemed to be running rampant, not just in my own family, but everyone I talked with.  Not a good word about anything (maybe not such an absolute, but it sure seemed that way).  People were being critical of people being critical, it seemed to be reaching epic proportions around here.  I ended up hanging up on my daughter, the one I almost never fight with.  I spent several minutes crying and pouring it out to hubby.  He was supportive and understood where I was coming from.

I resolved at that point to really work on my own tendency to criticize and to try to seek to build up, rather than tear down.  God confirmed my struggle with all these negative attitudes with a song my beautiful daughter-in-law sang in church on Sunday morning.

 

Holy Spirit, living Breath of God,
Breathe new life into my willing soul.
Bring the presence of the risen Lord
To renew my heart and make me whole.
Cause Your Word to come alive in me;
Give me faith for what I cannot see;
Give me passion for Your purity.
Holy Spirit, breathe new life in me.

Holy Spirit, come abide within;
May Your joy be seen in all I do—
Love enough to cover ev'ry sin
In each thought and deed and attitude,
Kindness to the greatest and the least,
Gentleness that sows the path of peace.
Turn my striving into works of grace.
Breath of God, show Christ in all I do. 

Holy Spirit, from creation's birth,
Giving life to all that God has made,
Show Your power once again on earth;
Cause Your church to hunger for Your ways.
Let the fragrance of our prayers arise.
Lead us on the road of sacrifice
That in unity the face of Christ
Will be clear for all the world to see.

Holy Spirit, Living Breath of God
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
© 2006 Thankyou Music

"In each thought and deed and attitude, kindness to the greatest and the least, gentleness that sows the path of peace. Turn my striving into works of grace.  Breath of God, show Christ in all I do."  Amen and amen!

I cried through the whole thing!  Then the pastor's sermon was on judging others and building up and not tearing down.  God had a message for me last weekend and it came in loud and clear!!

Today, I'm just trying to not get in a panic.  We are putting in french doors (pics will come later) and I am not good with the destruction part.  Gets my heart to pumpin'!

July, but.....

I do love July, but.....I do begin to miss routine and quieter schedules (although, in reality, I'm not sure what that is).

When you live in a geographical area that has pretty distinct seasonal changes, summer is a wonderful thing, however, a lot of activities tend to be crammed into the short 3 month period (more like 2 1/2 if you go from the end of the school year to the beginning).  I tend to be a fairly routine gal, but I've had to adapt to having a lack of routine since I've been married to my farmer for almost 26 years now.  There is very little routine in the life of a farmer, especially if you have livestock.  Anyway, it's been a busy past few days and the week continues to be busy.

E and I put this together Saturday morning.  She helped me clean up the sawdust after we got it in place.

 

The finished area.  So much better than the pile we had there before!

We had chips and dip with lunch and she decided that the dip would make a lovely moisturizer!

Our first trip to the county fair!  She loved it! 

L was a little bored with the "Barnyard Battles", but when we headed for the animal barns, she perked up.

Watching the kids do their thing.  We were close to the lasso area.

The fair was fun.  We enjoyed the free meal they always have on Sunday, provided by livestock producers.  I enjoyed a lamb burger!  Both girls loved the animal barns.  I think the farm is in their blood!

Monday was another trip back to the fair to look over the knitted items.  There are some very nice pieces!  

Tuesday was a trip to the Iowa Girls Softball tournament 2 hours away.  My niece's team lost their first game, but get to play for 5th in state today.  A is quite the ball player!  She gets my adrenaline pumping!!

The kids spent part of the evening picking produce from the garden.  The cucumbers have gone crazy!!

The haul!

Today's very Iowa summer dinner!  BLT's (with the best turkey bacon I have ever had!), fresh corn on the cob, picked last night by my bestie, and watermelon!  Yummo!!!

She loves the corn!!

Looking ahead to the weekend.......it's our 26th anniversary and there's a good chance we'll be putting a big hole in our living room!  

Oh, and that post about sinus headaches a couple of posts back.......

God brought me an answer to prayer! Young Living's Eucalyptus Radiata essential oil!  One swipe on each side of my nose and across my sinus each night before bed.  I have not used Mucinex in 3 weeks and I haven't used nasal spray in almost 2.  My sinuses have not felt this good in years!  We slept with the windows open last night and I woke with a bit of the beginning of a sinus headache.  I put more eucalyptus on and some peppermint essential oil on my temple and it brought sweet relief!!  I have prayed for years for a natural solution to my sinus issues and the pray has been answered.  So thankful I didn't give into the surgery as a friend of mine had it done just a couple of weeks ago and she had to be readmitted into the hospital just the other day because she was hemorrhaging.  I'm having wonderful results and nothing invasive is happening!  Praise Yah! 

July

I love July!  I find it to the be the most beautiful time of year in Iowa.  The greens are so varying and so intense.  The crops gently wave in the breezes, looking like lush, green velvet!  It is stunningly gorgeous to me!

The view from the front door

The corn

The little garden planted by son-in-law and daughter-in-law

Of course, I forgot to take my camera (but I got a couple on my phone) for Independence Day festivities, but we have had a fun week!  We started out Wednesday evening with son and daughter-in-law and a couple of friends joining us for some skeet shooting and grilling out.  The weather was beyond perfect, so we hauled a table into the front yard to enjoy our meal.  It will be so nice when we finally have our porch and our french doors!  They will be here by the end of summer, Lord willing! (Oh, and for my Rav friends, 7 adults, at least that many guns, lots of shot clay pigeons and not a single trip to the E.R).

Independence Day began with our annual parade.  We found a wonderfully shady spot and enjoyed the parade of veterans, followed by all the traditional floats, etc..  Again, the weather could not have been more perfect!!  After the parade, we grabbed some sandwiches and picnicked right there on the church lawn.  

After lunch, we headed back to our bestie's house and they got out the '57 Chevy and we went cruising!  There is nothing like being in the backseat of a classic car tooling down the highway with your hair blowing in the wind!  The green of July was, again, just enthralling me with it's beauty and I felt more relaxed than in a long time!  

 It's a beauty!

Getting to sit in the cool car!

The rest of the afternoon was spent resting and getting ready for our campfire at bestie's house.  

What a spectacular evening!  The weather was beyond perfect!  I still can't get over just how perfect it was!  There was lots of good fun.  A ton of good company. And, we could even see the fireworks from the front yard.  The neighbors also had a few going off so 18-month-old granddaughter got her first real taste of the pretty!  As she was watching she would say, "Oh, wow....", and "pwetty"!  It is so wonderful to see things through a little one's eyes.  It makes the wonder real again for grandma.

Learning to drive!  

Yesterday was spent working around the house, etc., and then the bestie's came out and we spent the evening target shooting. (Hmmm, about 250 rounds shot and not a single mishap.  Gosh, from what I read on Rav, the odds are way against that.  We must be superhuman!)  Anyway, snark aside, we had a good night and are all getting better at many different aspects.

I'm looking forward to a quiet day today, then off to Great-Great-Grandma's for the evening!