priceless art

spring has sprung!

Day 2 of spring has come to a close. We’re all whipped, sore and sunburned!  We’ve been outside more then inside the last 2 days and it has been wonderful!  I managed to take a few pics..

Spring clothes are not out yet..so we’ve just cut off old wore jeans.  Nolan’s favorite camo jeans I rescued after his sister threw them!  I’ve started washing winter coats, snow pants and gear to put away  and it’s going to take many loads but I look forward to doing it each spring.

They’re not dead, just enjoying the sun and fresh sand!  We’ve done tons of yard work already including cleaning the lovely ladies’ coop out today which took L, A and I several hours.  We love letting the girls out to forage around the yard and watching them.  The Martinson Girls’ Farm Eggs business has picked right up! 
Carly and I attempted for like 5 seconds to clip their wings so they don’t fly out of the coop fence (b/c the dog has lots of fun with them when they get out) but we decided we need Uncle Dallas to come help us   OK?!  We know how but we’re just not real farm girls I guess.

 

This guy doesn’t nap well and ends up crashing in random places.  This time it was on the gator ride.

We enjoyed a extended family dinner- grilling, I painted my nails sparkly turquoise and I even got some quiet time outside reading a book for an hour!  A real book!  And I think I’ll finish it soon…

We took in Lindsey’s first 7th grade fastpitch games today.  She was pretty nervous but had so much fun and I’m so proud of her!  They won big time.  This is the best I could do.  Will try and take some videos of her games soon.  Hittin the couch.  Enjoy the rest of the warm sunny weekend!!!

what are you going to be..

When you grow up?!

faith is the victory!

The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.  But thanks

be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always

abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

I Corinthians 15: 56-58

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world.

And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 

Who is he who

overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

I John 5:4-5

Faith is the victory! Faith is the victory!

Oh, glorious victory that overcomes the world!

 

Faith and this hymn and verses swirling in my head today…

Stars in the desert

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: There’s a certain kind of beauty that’s found only in the desert. When you can get away from the competing lights of the city, you can see the stars shining brilliantly.

That can be true in life too. You may be working for a hard-to-please boss. You may be facing a difficult move. You might have some financial pressure or a health issue. Each of these could be considered a desert experience. But there are aspects of God that we can’t see unless we’re in the desert.

• The desert is a place of danger, and that’s where we learn that God is our protection.
• The desert is a place of dryness, and that’s where we learn that God is our provider.
• The desert is a place of desolation, and that’s where we learn that God will always be with us.

Are you in a desert? Gaze up above your situation to the brilliant light of God’s glory. Ask Him to show you more of His beauty during this time.

With Seeking Him , I’m Nancy Leigh DeMoss.

my grandma

Marie Olson, age 87, of Baudette MN passed away on March 17, 2013 at LakeWood Health Center in Baudette MN.

Marie was born at home in Baudette Township to Nick and Grace (Loupul) Marchuk on January 12, 1926. She attended school in Baudette and graduated with the class of 1945.

Marie and Hanlon Olson were united in marriage on June 16, 1947. Together they built the first motel in Baudette, the M&H Motel, on the banks of the Rainy River. They also owned and operated the Redi Mix concrete plant and Olson Trucking business. Marie was the US Postal carrier on the Carp mail route for 30 years. She drove 120 miles a day, six days a week, in all kinds of weather and never had an accident. Marie retired in 1990 and she & Hanlon enjoyed traveling with their camper while being “snowbirds” in Arizona.

Music, gardening, camping, traveling and fishing were some of her favorite past times. She loved the outdoors and cherished her pet animals. Marie enjoyed painting pictures and was a very gifted artist. She was a devoted and loving wife, mother and grandmother. Family was high on her list of priorities and she loved to spend time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Marie was a beautiful person inside and out and she touched many lives with her gentle caring way. Her warm smile will sadly be missed by her family and many friends.

Marie is preceded in death by her husband of 63 years Hanlon, her parents; two infant siblings; sister Lenore; brother Bob; sister-in-law Iris and great grandson Carter Michael.

Survivors include her children Steve (Jan) Olson of Baudette, Robert (Gret) Olson of Copper Center, Alaska and Cathy (Ron) Norquist of Baudette; sister Elouise (Dan) McKinnon of Warroad MN, brother Louis Marchuck of Victor MT, brother-in-law Vern Olson of Baudette, sister-in-law Pat Marchuck of Fulton MS; granddaughters Cara (Scott) Lanz, Jill (Jared) Martinson, Michelle Hudson, Cindy Beshaw; grandsons David Norquist, Derek (Jill) Olson, Jason (Alisa) Olson, Brent (Lisa) Olson, Ryan Norquist; and thirteen great-grandchildren Lindsey, Alyssa, Carly, Eddy, Nolan, Chloe, Abby, Thaddeus, Weston, Henrik, Shawn, Nicholas and Gabe.

A memorial service for Marie Olson will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 30, 2013 at the Lakeroad Chapel in Baudette MN. A visitation for family and friends will be held one hour prior to the memorial service.

     ** Please pray today for the good news

of the Lord Jesus to go out today,

especially for my uncle as he shares.**

boldness

As soon as the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.(Joshua 3:13)

Who can help but admire those brave Levites! They carried the ark of the covenant right into the water, for the river was not divided until "their feet touched the water's edge" (v. 15). God had promised nothing else.

God honors faith—stubborn faith—that sees His PROMISE and looks to that alone. We can only imagine how bystanders today, watching these holy men of God march on, would say, "You will never catch me running that risk! The ark will be swept away!"Yet "the priests . . . stood firm on dry ground" (v. 17). We must not overlook the fact that faith on our part helps God to carry out His plans. Be willing to come to the help of the Lord.

The ark of the covenant was equipped with poles so the priests could raise it to their shoulders. So even the ark of God did not move itself but was carried. When God is the architect, men are the bricklayers and laborers. Faith assists God. It can shut the mouths of lions and quench the most destructive fire. Faith still honors God, and God honors faith.

Oh, for the kind of faith that will move ahead, leaving God to fulfill His promise when He sees fit! Fellow Levites, let us shoulder our load, without looking as though we were carrying God's coffin. It is the ark of the living God! Sing as you march toward the flood! Thomas Champness

One of the distinguishing marks of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament church was the spirit of boldness. One of the great essential qualities of the kind of faith that will attempt great things for God and expect great things from God is holy boldness and daring. When dealing with a supernatural Being and taking things from Him that are humanly impossible, it is actually easier for us to take a lot than it is to take a little. And it is easier to stand in a place of bold trust than in a place where we cautiously and timidly cling to the shore.

Like wise sailors living a life of faith, let us launch our ships into the deep. We will find that all things are "possible with God" (Luke 18:27), and "everything is possible for him who believes" (Mark 9:23).

Today let us attempt great things for God, taking His faith to believe great things and taking His strength to accomplish them!

Taken from the Streams in the Desert Devotional.

My Anchor

 

                                                                                        my dad-6wks old

My sweet Grandma Ree passed away a week and a half ago.  This was the last card we received from her back in February. 

My older girls and I were privileged to be with her when she drew her last breath here and went into the Lord’s presence.  He worked out all the little details.  It was precious and I am so thankful I was able to be there.  I reminded my great uncle that the Lord says it is precious, the death of a saint.

Grandma’s life was a beautiful picture of the Lord’s grace.  His salvation and blessings in her life more then she (or any of us) deserved!  

87 full years.  Most of them living her way in darkness and sin against a holy God. (Grandma would be the first to say that)  But her heavenly Father was there, shining His Light out to her in the dark stormy sea.  Calling to her, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life!”  John 8:12   Longing to save her and be her haven of rest….

This hymn has been in my heart since she passed.  She drew a lot of lighthouses and loved the water.  This is exactly what happened to my Grandmother in the fall season of her life.

My soul in sad exile was out on life’s sea,
So burdened with sin and distressed,
Till I heard a sweet voice, saying,
“Make Me your choice”;
And I entered the “Haven of Rest”!

I’ve anchored my soul in the “Haven of Rest,”
I’ll sail the wide seas no more;
The tempest may sweep over wild, stormy, deep,
In Jesus I’m safe evermore.

I yielded myself to His tender embrace,
In faith taking hold of the Word,
My fetters fell off, and I anchored my soul;
The “Haven of Rest” is my Lord.

She realized it was for her He died!  Her chains of sin and bondage fell off as she by faith put her trust in the Lord Jesus Christ alone and His work at the cross to save her from her sins.

Romans 10:9-10  that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.    For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

After she went home to her Saviour I learned she had sat up in bed the day before she passed and said, “The Lord is so good!” 

When we got home I was looking through all her beautiful letters to us and found this I hadn’t seen before on that last card she sent us in February…

 

Oh the Lord is good!  And she knew it!  Hallelujah! 

He is not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance! 2 Peter 3:9   BUT there is a problem- He is good, he is love, but he is also holy and just, he’s perfect!  We’re not.  Our hearts are deceitful above all things, and desperately sick, the Bible says.  Jeremiah 17:9  

One of my favorite Bible verses says, BUT GOD ( I  love that part) shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:8    What a wonderful weekend ahead to remember my Grandma!  He loved her so much He died for her and all of us.  We don’t deserve this.  It is a gift, a very simple gift,  but we must except it, each one of us for ourselves…. 

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air (Satan) , the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.   BUT GOD (there it is again) , being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,  not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Ephesians 2:1-9

He’s alive!  And my Grandma’s been raised up with Him.  He’s coming back soon and I know I will be raised up to be with Him forever.  My terrible sins and dark heart have been washed clean by his precious blood.  He no longer sees me and my sin, guess what he sees when he looks at me?  His Son!   And that is amazing grace.

 

O come to the Savior, He patiently waits
To save by His power divine;
Come, anchor your soul in the “Haven of Rest,”
And say, “My Belovèd is mine.”

friday nite fun