I Found a Better Way

Today I wanted to do a bit of a review about something that I use with my chickens, just in case someone coming along can get some use from this information. I wish I had have figured this out much sooner than I did.

 

I started out using these galvanized chicken waterers. They cost a lot of money - like 25-35 dollars each. And when you have a large chicken yard - you need more than one.

 

About a year or so ago I was at TSC to pick up a new waterer. I ran into one of my husband cousins and thankfully she told me about using these plastic waterers. When I looked at the price I was sold on at least checking them out and seeing if they would work for us. For less than 10 dollars - and I am thinking more like about 6.99 area it was worth trying out.

 

Not only is this plastic one cheaper - there are some other great things about it. First of all - it is much easier to keep clean. Every couple of days or so I bring them in and I clean them with soap and water and get the chickens fresh water. The other great thing about these is that they don't do what the galvanized ones do - and that is rust. After a while they would rust and get holes and leak. And when you pay so much for them you really want them to lost longer than they did.

So I have bought 3 of these plastic one - plus I have a bucket that I have full of water. And I have a hard plastic - swimming pool for the chickens. For this I use a safety drain pan for a washing machine. This only cost 18.00 at Home Depot. Sorry for the tiny photo all I could get. But you get the idea.

 

 

 

Anyway I hope that this information is helpful to someone. I know I am thankful that I finally changed over to these things. :O)

 

These are photos that I have borrowed from the internet and this is a review only to give information. It is not for any gain for myself.

Stages... of Marriage or Love

Marriage can be a funny thing. In just a few days my husband and I will celebrate our 27th wedding anniversary. We got married very  young and we've both done a lot of changing through the years. And today I wanted to share a funny with you all. I call this the stages of marriage or stages of love.

The first stage- I know you all remember at the beginning of your relationship you just couldn't be around each other enough or tell each other how much you loved the other.

After  you've been married a while you enter into stage two where a plain "I love you" will work.

Then comes stage 3 = and that is where when leaving a room to take a shower or such - just the word "Love" is said.  

My husband and I joked this morning about stage 4 - I said well we've run out of words so I guess it's time for hand gestures- then a discussion on what kind of hand gestures - the "I Love You" one or something else. Uhm...I think that the "I love you" sign will work.

As anyone who has been married for any length of time know that marriage can be a roller coaster ride. Sometimes it's up and sometimes it's down. Sometimes it's good sometimes not so much. But I would like to think that maybe once a relationship gets to stage 3- "Love" then maybe just maybe it'll be time to go through the cycle again.

One thing to be aware of -
I have a friend(I say that loosely because we have not spoken in years now) that gets married and then once the relationship is past stage one - it is time to move on. I guess she feels like she has fallen out of love. And the only result of this is that she has been married many times. And I don't know if she will ever settle down and be ok with going through the roller coaster - called marriage. You have to get through the downs in order to enjoy the highs. Hold on - if you are in stage 3 of marriage and just don't feel that deep love connection- hold on. Because changes could be coming along any time. Pray about it and allow God to work on you - there is hope- especially when we got God involved!

Understanding God's Love

As I studied through Ephesians 3:14-21, I broke down each phrase that directed me to other verses in the Bible to better understand the meaning. Well there is one particular phrase that I'd like to look at today. And this is it:

"above all that we ask or think"

 

My reference Bible directed me to 1 Corinthians 2:9

 

"But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man,

 the things which God has prepared for them that love him."

 

and then Romans 5:5

 

"And hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad

 in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given unto us"

In my Andrew's Study Bible I found a note that went along with 1 Corinthians 2:9 that I really appreciated and helped me in my understanding God's love towards us.

"Only those who love God can see the cross for what it is; God's most powerful expression of love towards humans. Love is a work of the Spirit in our hearts."


It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones.--The Desire of Ages, p. 83 (1898).

 

Just a few of my findings as I studied Ephesians 3. :O)

 

A Glimpse at Ephesians

 14For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

      20Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 3:14-21

 

You can click on the blue numbers and go compare the verses in different translations - at least I think you will be able to. And not only that - when you look to the right - there will be more verses and explanations about the verses!  

Have a Happy Sabbath Day!
May God bless you and your family as we end another week. :O)

What this represents....

Over the past few months my church has been studying The Desire of Ages for prayer meeting. I have already read through the book back in 2012, but this is certainly a book worth rereading. Anyway this weeks reading in chapter 16 had something that really stood out to me and I wanted to share it with you. Here it is:

"In the cleansing of the temple, Jesus was announcing His mission as the Messiah, and entering upon His work. That temple, erected for the abode of the divine Presence, was designed to be an object lesson for Israel and for the world. From eternal ages it was God's purpose that every created being, from the bright and holy seraph to man, should be a temple for the indwelling of the Creator. Because of sin, humanity ceased to be a temple for God. Darkened and defiled by evil, the heart of man no longer revealed the glory of the Divine One. But by the incarnation of the Son of God, the purpose of Heaven is fulfilled. God dwells in humanity, and through saving grace the heart of man becomes again His temple. God designed that the temple at Jerusalem should be a continual witness to the high destiny open to every soul. But the Jews had not understood the significance of the building they regarded with so much pride. They did not yield themselves as holy temples for the Divine Spirit. The courts of the temple at Jerusalem, filled with the tumult of unholy traffic, represented all too truly the temple of the heart, defiled by the presence of sensual passion and unholy thoughts. In cleansing the temple from the world's buyers and sellers, Jesus announced His mission to cleanse the heart from the defilement of sin,--from the earthly desires, the selfish lusts, the evil habits, that corrupt the soul. "The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver." Mal. 3:1-3." DA161


If you would like to look up the whole chapter click here -The Desire of Ages.

Hope Renewed..

Although my problem was not solved by the surgery I now realize that God is still in control and if it is His will He is quite capable of totally restoring me in this area. This is something I have prayed about and continues to be on my long term prayer list.

A week or two ago, I was talking with my husband about how discouraged I was about the fact that God had not healed me. He said, "Are you still alive?" I said, "Well Yes!" He said, "then God could still heal you, And if He doesn't heal you this side of heaven He will totally restore you to perfect health at His Second Coming!" And he was right! This conversation helped but did not get me out of the funk I was in. It took opening my Bible and digging deeper in the Word of God- in order to better understand the meaning. That is when my hope was restored! As I studied I better understood the importance of faith to believing that God loves us. The adversary wants us to think poorly of God and not to believe how much we are loved. If he convinces us of this - he has won the battle. We need to have faith and believe that God loves us. He has given us more than enough proof of that love. All we need to do is to look to the cross to see what Love did for us! Tomorrow I have something great on this subject to share. I look forward to sharing it with you. Hope you are all well. And remember even if you don't feel God's love - it does not mean that it's not there. We can not depend on our feeling to always prove what is real or not. God's love is guaranteed - just read this one verse in the Bible if you have any questions about His love for you:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,

 that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

John 3:16

I'd Lost Hope

Studying Ephesians 3:14-21 was just what I needed to read. I had lost hope and because of that I began to question if God really loved me.

Why had I lost hope? Well the short story is this: In December I had a surgery to repair a problem I had and it was not successful. And this really discouraged me. Honestly I have struggled with this since then.

Every time I tried to take photos of myself to show the progress with my hair I was reminded of the struggle. I noticed the stress on my face, in my smile or the lack of and the sparkle in my eyes were gone. I had lost hope. And I was questioning if God really loved me.

My heart was thrilled as I studied the last half of Ephesians 3. I, not only came to a better understanding of God's love for each and everyone of us, but I learned that faith is a big key in understanding that love. And also in the Christians life - Hope, Faith and Love are paramount. The more you understand about one of these, the better you understand the others. They are linked together and help build your understanding of each item individually. I challenge you to also do some studying and see what you find out. You will be glad you did. :o)