Blessings

Do you ever wonder if you are blessed?  Maybe another way to look at it is this: have you been given gifts, undeserved and unmerited?  Every time (well, okay, maybe not EVERY single time but you know what I mean) I look at my children or my husband, that is exactly how I feel.  Overwhelming blessings!  I am rich, very rich indeed!  These past few weeks have been crazy busy with harvest, taking kids and meals to the field and often getting the kids into bed before Jay comes home.  And just as the harvest has been plentiful, in spite of the extreme dry conditions, so have the blessings!  I wanted to share 2 with you! A couple of years ago my dad was part of the construction crew that did a huge addition on a nearby church.  In order to do this reno, they removed all the outer bricks on that area of the church.  No one wanted them so dad took them home.  For what purpose, we still don't know but that is his deal!  Now, that church is expanding again and my dad is part of that construction crew once again.  As soon as I knew he would be doing it, months before they even started, I told him I wanted those bricks.  I would come and collect them myself but I wanted those bricks.  One day a couple of weeks ago my dad calls and asks if I still want them.  Yes, I certainly do.  Then find a hard hat and a couple of pick up trucks and come get them.  So, Jay and I stopped everything, drove 1/2 hour to get a few bricks.  They were heavy and the trucks can only hold so much.  Just as we were putting the last bricks in the second truck, my dad comes over and tells us the head-honcho guy said we could use a trailer they had with electric lift to take the bricks home.  Since Jay was supposed to be on the field, he went back the next day and got 2 trailer loads of bricks.  Mind you, they were so heavy the electric lift didn't work until he had thrown 90% of them off but he was gracious about it all.  So, now we have this huge pile of bricks waiting for some great purpose on our new house.  I am thinking pillars for the porch and landscaping around the back patio.  What ideas do you have?

Secondly,  I don't know if you remember but the back part of our new 5 acre property is a swamp!   About a dozen ducks and other marsh birds make their home there in the spring and well into summer.  The rushes tower over my head and the whole area is mosquito haven.  I am sure we have mosquitos out there long before anyone else does.  This year, due to the extreme dry and high temperatures, all the water was gone by about the middle of July (which should be an indication of how wet it actually was to take that long).  We took the time to laser measure the whole yard, finding out just how high the high spots were and how low the low spots were.  We knew we would have to bring in many, many truckloads of dirt to raise the low-lying areas.  We talked endlessly about ways to deal with the water.  Then, early this week, Jay tells me this: "Your father-in-law is doing an amazing job of filling the hole."  I assume he is talking about the mini-Grand Canyon that now exists at his barn thanks to all the clay required to fix the lagoon (and a bunch brought to our place to build the new driveway.).  He corrects me by telling me dad is raising the low spots on our yard.  WOW!!  As a farmer, every fall, after harvest, they dig the drainage ditches and other ditches to ensure water flows well after spring thaw.  He doesn't want that soil on his field since it is a clay-soil mix with a whole lot of sod and weeds in it.  My FIL is a very particular (and excellent) farmer.  So, all that soil is ending up filling up our swamp!  And it is a TONNE of dirt.  Free dirt.  Can I get a "Thank you, Jesus?" and I really mean that!  I am in awe of the way the Lord provides. 

Since the beginning, the Lord has been telling me that this yard is a gift to us.  It is not for everyone, it is a gift to US.  This yard was specially chosen for us in spite of all the quirks.  The Lord, in his infinite grace and generousity, continues to affirm to me that this is a gift.  And he continues to provide for this gift.  What a great and awesome God I serve!