Author: Sarah Garrett

Wow. This month has been completely insane! First of all our daughters dog (who is staying with us right now) had puppies. Kelsey (our daughter) was here to help birth them. But now she is on the road with her trucker husband and we are enjoying these babies, their mama and their uncle! Soon the two adult dogs will go with their parents and one of the puppies will go to his adoptive family and of course, I fell in love with the first born girl! Daisy. So, she will stay here!

Anyway, you can see all about them in videos on my YouTube playlist PUPPIES

ALSO! During this month we bought some meat pigs. 2 to be exact. My husband built the pen, the gate, the feeder, and got everything ready. We named them Rock Steady and Bebop! The first day Bebop escaped twice so we were chasing him, then had to add extra wire to the fence we had. It was an adventure!

I also have some Piggy Tales Videos on YouTube! They are fun to watch as well. I’ll be adding more videos to their story as they grow!

Today in the craft department, I finished 2 aprons, made a video on how to sew a strawberry! And got a celtic tree ready for my next walking stick. A video on that process will be in the making.

My husband Randell has been also working so busy lately! Besides the pigs he has made a couple of raised garden beds and some planter boxes.

There is probably more to tell about! Lol. But these are the highlights. There were other challenges and things we have had to deal with, but I try to focus on the positive. There are so many blessings in our life right now, that looking at the challenges is just a reminder that we are so small. God is sovereign and has our life and future planned out. We can’t know what the future holds but we do our best to keep steady.

Life brings storms. And yet Beauty. The skies are exquisite nomatter what we are going through.

For God so loved the world, He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Have a beautiful day friends. God bless you and keep you.

I am SO excited!! I’ve got my first two paperback books published! Both are in the How To category. With a twist. A DARE. These books are inspired by life lessons and experience and just the state of the world these days.

We need to get back to what’s important. Focus on the truly valuable things in life. Marriage is the first one and being truly dedicated to your spouse in a “disposable ” world. Sometimes in this “me” society it is easy to fall into prideful traps in our thinking and this book addresses those things. Just click on the picture to see the book in Amazon.

The second is slowing down in this fast paced, never stop society we seem to be entranced by. We put off breathing until something takes our breath away. And I’m not talking in a good way. We need to change these habits! We need to learn techniques to truly slow down, the reasons behind them and the benefits. This is so important. We can accomplish a lot and live a very full life even with these techniques implemented into our lives. Check them out by clicking on the picture.

If you have Kindle Unlimited these are free for you and I ask that you’ll leave an honest review. I feel these subjects are for everyone, although my books are written towards women. Forgive me guys. Anyway. Take a look! Save for later. Or try it now! Whatever you do, thanks for reading!

I do have several more DARE books in the works! It’s just a debate as to which one I will finish first.

Also. Cover art is original digital art.

Have a beautiful day! May God bless you and keep you. Thank you 💜

Wow! This years garden has been nice. Randell has been working the ground with the tiller and getting the majority planted when I wasn’t able to. Then he has also been helping with watering and now some with harvesting what we do have.

So far, I got last years harvest of garlic in. Then this week we got some radishes. We have also pulled about 5 cute little tomatoes so far.

Nothing much to speak of yet, but it is large and we are expecting a wonderful crop! I am excited to see what all it will do. I am hoping to take some of it to market and be able to barter and trade and give some away also.

My cabbage is my most surprising and exciting crop I think! I’ve never grown cabbage and it looks wonderful! It is starting to head. It is getting so hot I wasn’t sure it would. So we will see!

I am so excited to see all of this cabbage! and everything else!

We are so blessed to have God growing our garden so well. He is blessing our little spot of land. I am thankful to have all these groceries. Most of it hasn’t shown yet, but I will hopefully remember to post about it here. I love sharing pics of our garden and any nature really. I love the beauty in nature!

What have you got growing?! I’d love to see. Or just tell me about it. What is your favorite plant to grow? Or favorite flower?

Have a blessed day! Stay hydrated! Don’t get too hot out there! and use something to keep the ticks off!

Sarah Virginia.

But it is still summer! It rained almost all summer this year! Our garden drowned, and we had mud up until a month ago and it is September now. Our yard looks like the middle of Autumn! But it is 100 degrees ! I am so ready for a cool down.

I have not been homesteading much this year. Life took a different turn a couple of years ago and everything changed for us. My husband’s mom got sicker and went on hospice. It was a tough year and a half. Our older daughters went through a lot of phases and life changes as well. I was a care giver for his mom and that was a new experience and one I won’t forget easily. It has only been 4 months now since she is gone and I still wonder if I did enough. But isn’t that what we always do? Hope we did enough.

Our property took a back seat for about 2 years. I cannot say I would change it, or that I wouldn’t do it if it came again, but I know that was the toughest 2 years i have had in my lifetime. I am still recovering from the schedule and pressure and emotional marks it leaves on a person. I don’t know if someone who hasn’t gone through that can even imagine. I sure didn’t. But now, I will have an understanding when someone else is going through similar. So, once again. Life was a lesson. A training session.

We sacrifice some things for others. And sometimes the price is high. Just remember you cannot do it all.

Thinking of this years season of Autumn and the changing world we live in. I think it is a good time now. Time for new seeds to grow. Time for new flowers to show themselves. I believe everything happens for a reason. No matter what. God has a bigger plan than we can see in our finite minds.

I started going to a little country church a little over a year ago. And I love it. I wanted to get our youngest daughter in a youth group and around like-minded friends. Little did I know, I needed it more than I ever imagined. I have grown, changed, and even should I say, realized just HOW important it is to find a good church. A Bible teaching church.

What does this have to do with the changing season. Everything and nothing, I suppose. But it is the changes I have learned over the last year. What is really important is knowing God. Not just knowing OF Him. When you immerse yourself in the gospel and share with others as you learn, you share a closeness that can’t be described. Friends take on a new meaning. Old friends take on a new level of love and new friends raise you awareness of what is real.

I love our beautiful life. There are heartaches and there are joys. There are new beginnings and old themes. It is life. That is just plain and simply the easiest way to describe it. Continued changes.

Grace. What God gives us to save us to heaven with him. Why is it was as people are so quick to be unforgiving? When what we are rescued from is so immensely huge. Hell is waiting at the door and the devil is knocking. Jesus walks through both of them and takes our hand. Then someone on this side of heaven hurts our feelings or even truly does us wrong and we are so quick to dismiss them from our life.

Practice grace. Jesus says i desire mercy not sacrifice. He wants us to show mercy and love not just go through religious motions in falsehood. Sometimes it is harder than life itself to forgive someone, but isn’t that what we should do. Isn’t that what we would want them to do if the places were reversed?

Even what seems unforgivable sin in this world to us, is forgivable in God’s eyes. We have all sinned and deserve hell. We are hanging over the cliff when Jesus grabs us and rescues us from falling eternally. Why is it we are so quick to eternally pass judgement on another because it may be a sin we wouldn’t think of doing?

All sin is equal in Gods eyes. Noone has gone too far, except the one who rejects Jesus until it is too late.

Can we forgive each other? Can we save families? Save marriages? Stay together and work things out. Have mrecy with one another? Believe in one another enough and have the grit to stick it out. Even when it is the hardest thing you’ve ever done.

Pray harder. Read your Bible more. Bring God into your life, Bring Jesus into your relationship. Pray more. Let Jesus calm the storm. Let Jesus be the judge of you and the one you have mercy on.

Am I condoning abuse? Absolutely not. That is a totally different situation. Just wanted to add that in. If you are in danger or your children, it is a time to get out and get help.  You can forgive in time and pray for Gods mercy. But do not stay in danger.

If you are in a relationship or have a family memnber who does something wrong and continues even when they know it is wrong. Pray for them. God is omnipotent and can change and save anyone. Never give up onb those you love.

This is something we all struggle with at one time or another. Where do we find the answer? The world tells us a mixture of different answers while the Bible says the same answer every time. Lets check out what we can learn about love.

In First John 4:7, John tells us love one another, for love is from God. Anyone who loves truly has been born of God because “why?” Because GOD IS LOVE.

Next in Corinthians we hear what love should look like. Patient, kind, humble, selfless and we are told to pursue love. If God is Love and we are to pursue love, how do we do this? By seeking Christ. Christ is our first and truest love, our creator, our Saviour. He loves us more than we can even fathom. No earthly love can compare.

Romans 5:8 tells us of Christ’s truest love for us. That even while we were still sinners, He died for us. He died for you. He loves us. He loves you.

In Psalms (139:15) it says you are fearfully and wonderfully made. You are beautiful just the way God made you. Are you seeking Him to fulfill you and your yearning to feel loved? Only He can fill that empty spot deep inside.

I know relationships are a difficult subject for many. Lets remember Christs’ love for us and take our eyes off of ourselves. No relationship? Lost relationship? or Lacking relationship? Whichever you have or even if you have a seemingly ideal relationship, lets look at how Christ shows His love.

We are going to look at three women and how God showed his love to them. Starting with Sarah, Abraham’s wife. She was infertile and she tried to make things happen when she lost hope. I think we all do this. Then when the angel said “you will have a son. ” She laughed! She didn’t even believe him! She just couldn’t see how it was possible, yet God kept his promise! Because God does that. He loves us and keeps his promises.

Then there is Ruth. There was a famine, her husband died and she is childless. She chooses to travel with her mother in law to a strange land. Ruth must start over with the added responsibility of working and being at the mercy of the system. Basically. but look what God does! He provided for them during the famine. He made a way for her needs to be met. He made the impossible happen and she was redeemed and put in the direct linage of Christ! Now that is the Ultimate!

The last woman we will look at is Mary Magdalene. I know y’all have heard rumors, right? Well, I want to just go with facts. There are just a few. She was despised and unworthy because of her reputation and past. She was possessed with seven demons! The Bible says evil spirits and infirmities. But ya know what? Jesus SAW her. He saw beyond the past, beyond the problems. Beyond the demons. And he healed her, because He LOVED her.!

What I love most about her is her reward! She gets a most beautiful reward. Just for being loved by God. She is the first to see Jesus after He is resurrected!

Talking about these women can hopefully put a little perspective on romance for us. What is love? Let the Bible describe it for you, not the world. Don’t let chocolate, cards and flowers (aka. Romance) overpower your knowledge of who you are in Christ.

Make someone smile. Do something kind. Be the light of Christ for others because He first loved us and He keeps His promises. God has plans for you and He works them out in His time. Be patient. God is love.

Just a thought. If there is a feast before us. All the wonderful foods. Nourishment and sweets. Tasty and healthy. Everything even imaginable! Even more than we can fathom. Yet, You are not hungry. I am not going to force you to eat.

I will continue to nourish my soul on the feast. I will point things out that ought to entice you. I will even suggest you enjoy the feast! But I will not force you to take part.
I will pray that you get hungry. I will beg God to give you that hunger and thirst for this feast put before us. I will not go unnourished myself, and yet I will not beg you or plead with you or make you feel bad for not taking bites. You walk by the table every week, and not even tempted to take a taste of what is good. 

Just a glance of what is there, and a walk away. I do not understand. But I will trust that God has a plan. I will pray in anguish for your coming to the table with me. I will plead in my soul for you to taste what is good. I will continue to grow and become what I am destined to be. I will pray that you get hungry before it is too late.

If you refuse that bountiful feast, over and over. Refuse the gift of this blessing day after day. Eventually you will starve and life will leave you. Chances will be gone. You will fall the last fall. God will let go. He is holding you up and offering the feast.  But if you  continue to refuse His goodness and honor his invitation to dinner, he will in time allow you to not have any more chances to come to the table.

We see things through our own experiences. That also means someone else may see the same situation as differently as night and day. We have life experiences that shape our way of thinking and it molds how we live and how we approach each day.

Sometimes it is good to step back and just look through that tiny crack o what someone else’s view may be. Don’t assume something because that is how you see it. Really look at the situation as a whole and be careful how you approach people.

I like to look at it like what I learned in child development. Assume good intentions. A child (who is very young) doesn’t color on the wall to mess up the wall, or to destroy the paint job. They color on the wall bedcdause3 they have art in their mind and found a way to express themselves. They were doing something nice for you! They don’t pick your prized flowers to destroy your beautiful flower bed, they wanted to give you a piece of beautiful nature. (This reminds me of Dennis the Menace!)

Sometimes we need to take this thinking into situations with adults we know. They are coming from different backgrounds and different experiences than we are and their intentions are not always ill.

Of course that isn’t always the case, but sometimes we as adults can assume ill meaning from something very innocent and it harbors harsh feelings. Let’s not let that be the case!

If we have acquaintances or friends who act a way that we don’t expect, maybe they had a bad day. Maybe they just weren’t very talkative when we saw them. That doesn’t always mean they had bad feelings towards us. It could be as simple as they were feeling quiet.

If you think about their feelings and their life and maybe what you see is only a shell of what is going on, you can learn to have patience and compassion for others.

Our world centers around us and radiates out to touch others. Our perception comes from what we feel and are aware of. Be aware of others. Don’t get wrapped up in the “me” syndrome. Be a blessing to others no matter what the perception you have of their situation. Enjoy things when the focus is on them!~ Enjoy their enjoyment! Life is so much more fulfilling when we take the focus off of ourselves.

It has been a wonderful two days! Planting and working with the dirt. Getting beds ready for the next week and putting baby plants in the ground where they can flourish! Digging, watering, tending, watching.

It is truly wonderful to be a part of growing the food we eat and that our friends eat as well. We have had very productive years in the garden, and very not productive years.  That part is not up to me. It is up to God above if he deems to bless our work here.  Either way, we have enjoyed the process, and intend to share what ever we do get.

It is truly exciting to be able to do this. It feels so good to step back and see a project you labored and sweated over looking so nice. Then even more to see it produce. To watch that baby plant grow from tiny; fight off bugs and sometimes birds, or whatever else will come along.

I think it should be a lesson for us. A life lesson. There are always struggles. Some big, some small. Some shaking us to the core, and some just irritations. We are here as long as God allows. We will continue to grow as long as He gives us breath. And then if it is fitting for us, we will bear fruit.  If we are a child of God it is godly fruit. Fruit of the spirit.

When it is our time to no longer be a part of this life here, we will be gone like a vapor. Like the flowers of the field. Blooming in season then moving on.

 

I challenge you today to grow something. Plant something. Watch it grow. Or just get a beautiful plant from the store. Watch some videos on how to care for it. There are a plethora on youtube of no matter what plant you want to grow.  If you do this, you will get to reap some of the benefits of working the dirt, even if it is the smallest amount.  If you have a yard, I challenge you to more. Do some research, get a few seeds or baby plants and some potting soil. (Some yards are rich enough to not need the extra soil, but some are not.)

Do something today. And be outside in the sunshine!

Have a wonderful day! God bless your efforts. ❤  Happy Gardening!

 

Are you frazzled? Are you overworked? Are you having a hard time finding the time to relax? Is life flowing so fast that you don’t know what direction you are going half of the time?

I have some techniques and tips for you on ways to slow down. Our bodies were not created for the speed we have grown accustomed to. Our current way of life with the rush, rush schedule is taking its toll on our body. We have to be sure to slow down in between if we want to stay healthy.

The first few steps from my book I will include here. First is stretch. Stretching elongates our muscles and helps with circulation. Which in turn impacts how your heart responds to stimuli. Your body will move easier throughout the rest of the day if you start off with a little stretching.

Next is to take a little walk. Once again, our bodies were created to move. We have been laying down and mostly completely still for hopefully enough hours to shut some things down inside. We need to wake our bodies up. A walk gets all the muscles moving and gets our organs awake and functioning properly. In my book, I will go into more detail on each of these.

The next thing I’ll cover here which is one of the simplest ways to slow your mind down is to read something inspirational. Take a passage of scripture and read for a few minutes. This will get your mind on positive things to start our day. Sometimes it will make you think. But it slows down some of the chaos inside. This is so important to your mental, physical and spiritual health.

These steps are actually very easy to do. In my book I cover several more things and specifics on each idea and how to incorporate these into your everyday life. How to make them just part of your habits. DARE TO SLOW DOWN

Take the time today to find ways to slow down. For you, your family and your future. It is so important.