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Farm Girl Faith, 5169 6th Street SE, Sykeston, ND (2026)

06/04/2026

I saw this open gate last month on a hike. Isn't it giving you VBS song vibes?

"When those gates are open wide/ I'm gonna sit at Jesus side/ I'm gonna sing, I'm gonna SHOUT!/ Praise the Lord."

Those gates ARE open wide.

Sing!

SHOUT!

Praise the Lord!

06/01/2026

Viktor E. Frankl: "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

When I think about it, some of my most memorable experiences happen when I am in a good frame of mind. When things don't go as planned, it becomes part of the adventure!

Thank God He gives us the freedom to choose.

What will you choose when the unexpected happens? Will you pout and grumble and be sour to those around you? Or will you choose peace and joy and excitement and adventure?

The choice is yours!

05/19/2026

Tenderhearted

I added this stop long after our original itinerary was planned. I insisted on it, even though time was short and energy levels were low. I thought it would be cool to touch my feet on the North Country Trail in some of the states we passed through on this journey to pick up my girl from college, and this particular spot was only 30 minutes off the interstate.

It was beautiful, and it was fun to explore. I would have loved to spend more time there. But I knew one of my girls was not feeling it at all. You can just tell when the enthusiasm leaves and sucks the joy out of the experience.

So I swallowed my desires to keep going and suggested we turn around and head back.

Later in the car, I asked questions out of love and curiosity. I heard perspectives that I had not considered when I added this stop, and I will change the way I plan trips going forward, to maximize the joy for all 3 of us.

For what is the point in a family trip if it is designed only to please one member? (Oopsie, whelp, that was me with this added stop!)

Ephesians 4:32 came to mind as I wrote this today. "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as in Christ God forgave you."

Fortunately for me, I chose to be tenderhearted, and my girls chose to be forgiving of my pride and selfish ambition.

We finished the last hours of our day's journey in good spirits, even while navigating I-80 through the Chicago suburbs surrounded by fast semis and fast cars and lots of orange cones! With me behind the wheel, one girl calling out upcoming directions (3 miles to a keep left, you're next move will be a right exit), and one girl calling out encouragement (You're doing great, Mom, you've got this! And, look, mom, you're actually passing a car!) [Which, by the way, was the ONLY car we passed in all of Chicago. Everyone else passed me by like I was standing still while I held to the speed limit and maintained a slow lane]

Here's to an easy day ahead with "only" 6 hours to go before reaching my son's family. And no more gigantic cities. Woohoo!

05/18/2026

Not a Room Key

My girls are still sleeping. They're night owls, and I am an early riser. It all works out great, because I can have some continental breakfast, read my Bible, and study today's map for our trip.

Last night, one of my daughters asked if I would fill the ice bucket in the morning. So, armed with my books bag and the ice bucket, I grabbed the room key off the table and left the room.

The ice machine wasn't far. I filled my bucket and decided to return it to the room right away so I wouldn't need to lug it around everywhere.

I held the keycard up to the door to open our room. Nothing. Not even a flashing light! I tried again. Nothing. This time I hunted for a place to insert the card, because sometimes that's the style of lock on these hotel doors. Not finding one, I flipped the card over and saw an arrow, suggesting movement. So next I tried sliding it across the face of the card reader.

Still nothing!

Then I looked more closely at the card and realized it was our arcade game card from last night. NOT a room key at all!

Out in the hallway, I laughed out loud.

And here I sit in the breakfast area, ice bucket and all, quietly waiting for it to be an acceptable time of morning to stand in the hallway and text the girls and beg to be let in.

I am reminded of a quote by Blaise Pasqual, who said this in the 1600s, "There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ."
This took me down a goodreads rabbit-hole, in which someone mentioned several quotes by St Augustine, one of which is this: "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."
The key to peace and contentment does not lie in outward pursuits, entertainment, distraction, or any number of addictions. They're simply not the right card!

The right card, so to speak, is relationship with Christ. Reaching out to him and acknowledging his presence and asking him to make us aware of the Spirit in our lives...now THAT is the key!

Romans 8 says nothing can ever separate us from the love of Christ, which I truly appreciate. Even when I am holding a bogus key, He still loves me and calls for me to gently let go of that bogus key and turn toward him. I would even go so far as to say I can still be holding onto the wrong key, and he welcomes me in! In his presence, we can work on the logistics of letting go of what does not serve me well and clinging instead to the good stuff, the stuff that lights up and unlocks new doors of wonder and also brings me into community with an entire family of believers!

Ope, it's time to head back to my room and beg to be let in. Have a great day filled with the things that truly satisfy, and for goodness sake, let go of those bogus keys!

05/12/2026

The Mighty Clothespin

A big thank you to David M. Smith, Solon E. Moore, and Allan Moore for inventing and improving upon the wooden clothespin between 1853 and 1909.

Here I am, 117 years after that final patent, still making impressively good use of their inventions. In case you didn't know, North Dakota is a pretty windy state! These clothespins are sturdy little workhorses to hold soggy jeans and flappy work shirts on the line during today's 25-55 mph winds.

Do you know someone in your life worthy of being likened to a clothespin? They escape notice: not flashy, almost forgotten at times, but my oh my! They hold tight to the important things, like school schedules, bandaids for skinned knees, a watchful eye on the gas gauge, knowing where to find the mayo in the fridge, keeping in close communion with their creator, and showing genuine interest in those under their care.

And I know this is plucking a portion of a passage out of full context, but I love what it says. "...hold fast to what is good..." (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

We have people in our lives who act as quiet clothespins, holding things together in the gusty winds of life, but even larger than that is the strength of the hand of God and his hold on my life.

Psalm 139:9-10 says,
"If I could fly on the wings of dawn,
stopping to rest only on the far side of the ocean-
even there your hand would guide me;
even there your strong hand would hold me tight!"

Just like these little clothespins.

Only better.

05/11/2026

Happy Feet

Several months ago, I bought more socks than I needed. It's not my nature to buy extra, but these were my favorite brand and I was in town and they were on sale. It was like a sign from heaven to buy more socks!

I tucked the extra set away and began using the original bundle. Slowly but surely, those socks imperceptibly got thinner and more threadbare until this month, 3 whole pairs each developed 1 holey sock. I'm not one to wear mismatched socks, so it was time to store the mismatches for emergency use and break open the new set.

I put on a pair this morning and have been walking on cloud 9 ever since! So much softness! So much cushion! I hadn't realized what I'd been missing until my feet felt these fresh new socks.

It's past my bedtime and I can't rhink of anything profound to tie this in to your spiritual life, so I guess I'll just remind you: you're worth a new pair of socks every once in a while. It pays to treat every part of your body with care, because that's how God sees all of you: as worthy of love and care.

And also: take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

New socks. Happy feet. Good night!

05/10/2026

Just a little reminder to self:

Life is so much richer when you are fully engaged!

I made two full passes around the house before I figured out I'd been mowing with the deck in high transport mode the whole time! My dad's neighbors must have wondered about the cackling laughter emanating from his front yard when I realized the existence of that lever.

Once I released that lever and dropped the deck to mowing height, I began actually making contact with the grass and slicing the lawn to a satisfying, uniform height.

Some days, I live life disengaged, meaning: I isolate, I keep conversations at a shallow surface level, and I don't get involved. It's safe and there's nothing wrong with living like that when you need some respite. But if you're stuck in that mode, you're basically just going through the motions, much like when I made those first 2 passes around my dad's house with the mower.

It's days when I am attuned to the needs of others that I feel truly alive, especially if I take action when the Spirit nudges me out of my comfort zone. I take risks and step into the messiness that comes with being fully present.

I haven't been able to stop thinking about this lawn mower incident the last few days, and thinking about what benefits come from bravely engaging. What harm can come from following where God leads?

Our faith is a living faith, which means it is best "lived." Fully engaged!

05/09/2026

The Heavens Declare

This morning's walk seemed like an extra-special display of God's handiwork.

Moisture was rolling off the top of the waters as the sky changed from black to grey to all the colorful reds, oranges, and purples in the half hour before the sun popped over the horizon.

I couldn't stop marveling. Everywhere I looked was so beautiful! My yard, the road, the slough, and goose island filled with geese honking and blackbirds cawing their praises.

And then the sun poked out, and I said out loud, "The heavens declare...wow!" I knew I was speaking the beginning of a passage of scripture, but I couldn't remember the rest of it. All I knew for sure is that the heavens were declaring SOMETHING this morning, and I was there to witness it!

As I sat at the breakfast table after my walk, I looked up that phrase and discovered it's from Psalm 19. Let me share a few verses with you, but also, I encourage you to read the whole chapter some morning. It's moving!

The heavens declare the glory of the Lord.
The skies proclaim the work of His hands.
Day after day they continue to speak;
Night after night they make Him known....
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding;
It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race.
It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other;
Nothing is deprived of its warmth.....

To God be the glory, wow and amen!

05/05/2026

Coincidence? I Think Not!

There was a mixup by the moderator of That Good Good online bible study, and instead of pulling up the Streetlights audiobible, he brought in a different, older version. As I listened to the deep voice reading out 2 Timothy 1, my ears perked up when I heard the following: "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day."

That might be word salad to some, but to me, it was part of a hymn! Until this very day, I was unaware that I had been singing divinely inspired words of Paul straight from the new testament. So cool!

I sat down this morning to read through the passage in 2 Timothy 1:12 and to open the hymnal and examine it all more closely.

Paul is in prison for preaching the Good News of the plan of salvation through Christ that was set into place long before the world began(vs 9). This plan shows us Christ's love and kindness. And even though he is in prison, Paul is confident that the God he fully trusts will guard that message of personal salvation so that it will not be extinguished no matter what happens to Paul.

Paul has an incredible amount of faith!

I wanted to know more about the hymn, and, fortunately, Robert J Morgan dug up the history in his book Then Sings My Soul Book 2.

The writer of the Hymn "I Know Whom I Have Believed" is Daniel Whittle. Daniel was just living his life when he enlisted in the army to fight in the Civil War. There is nothing civil about war, though! He was badly injured and lost his right arm. As he was recovering in the hospital, boredom got the better of him and he cracked open a new testament Bible. He could feel the Holy Spirit calling him, but he said "nope!", and he closed the Bible and fell asleep.

When he woke, an orderly asked Daniel to come. A fellow soldier on the brink of death had requested someone to pray with him. Daniel was like, who, me? And the orderly said, yes, you. You've been reading the Bible so you must be a Christian.

So Daniel very hesitatingly grabbed the soldier's hand in his left hand and led in a very uneloquent but heartfelt confession and asked Christ to forgive him, and uttered some promises. When he finished, he looked up and the man had died during prayer with the most peaceful expression on his face.

Daniel realized that in this odd praying encounter, "God who used him [the soldier] to bring me to the Savior used me to lead him to trust Christ's precious blood and find pardon."

Doesn't that just give you the shivers?

God's been using hymn writers for years to help spread that great news, and for my part, I've been happily absorbing scripture week by week by singing those hymns.

I think that's so cool! My SDA Hymnal even has a cross reference in the back, listing all the scriptures used or alluded to in hymns. NINE PAGES of references, holy schmoly! Or more accurately, Holy Spirit! Looking forward to learning more about my God as I continue digging.

04/30/2026

The anticipated day has finally arrived! Nothing quite so satisfying as seeing the guys getting into the field to do what they've been preparing for all this time.

As a side note, road crews have the same idea about perfect weather as the farmers. Please build in enough cushion to your daily drives to allow for meeting slow tractors and orange cones! We love our hard working families.

Thanks for helping our guys get home safe, so they can wake up tomorrow and keep getting out there putting crops in.

Farm Girl Faith

06/04/2026

06/01/2026

05/19/2026

05/18/2026

05/12/2026

05/11/2026

05/10/2026

05/09/2026

05/05/2026

04/30/2026

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