Remember THIS POST about the bees who adopted us and our back yard? Well, take a look at what those little creatures have been up to!


Daniel found a beekeeper and asked him to come out and help him take a look at our bees. They cut open the computer box that the bees had occupied and found this beautiful honeycomb!


We are thrilled about this sweet surprise from the Lord! Daniel learned all he could about how to handle the bees, and the bee guy gave us a smoker, which is used to calm the bees while they are being dealt with.


The bee guy said these are excellent honey bees, and very docile. These are bees that people WANT to attract, or go out and purchase. And they simply came to us. I think the Lord sent them. :o)


We cannot allow them to stay in our cardboard box because it makes harvesting the honey difficult. (Not that we complain about mounds of luscious honey in the comb.)


..So the guys began to carefully remove large portions of honeycomb, and the bee guy tied them to the panels of the artificial hive Daniel had bought. These panels can be inserted into a honey extractor in the future, which will spin the honey out of the panel without damaging the honeycomb.


Our bee guy found the sections where bee larvae were, where he knew the queen would be. He said once she was in the new artificial hive, the other bees would follow.


Looks like the transfer is going beautifully. I hope they like their new home!

Meanwhile, back in the house...


We have this beautiful comb in three big bowls, draining the sweet honey out. Yesterday at church we presented our firstfruits to the Lord and asked His blessings on our bee hive, and shared our abundance with the brethren.

One nice aspect about beekeeping is that it really does not require much time or expense. Another is that raw, natural honey is so nutritious, and renders many health benefits. I'm so thankful that we will be able to harvest our own now. Thank You, Lord!

We took a walk a few days ago, and had fun snapping some photos outside with the children.


My lovely young maidens are becoming lovely young ladies!


Little ones grow SO quickly, and it's not long before the seasons change...


...and your little boy is suddenly looking like a young man.


And your little girl is leaving behind her babyish ways.


Savour them while they are little! Every word they say, every kiss, every hug...


..Every impish grin. ;o)

I love it all!

It's a cool, crisp Autumn day in San Juan Ostuncalco. The corn is all dry on the stalks, rustling in the wind. The morning air is like crystal with a bit of frost on the edge until the sun rises to oversee the bustle of harvest.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving with a couple of other missionary families yesterday. The fellowship was nice, and the laughter hearty! My soul is full of gratefulness for God's blessings, for the abundance of His provision, for friends and family with whom to share the abundance. God is so good to us!

I have to admit that even though each year I very much look forward to Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday all year, I always seem to feel a little let down the day after. Did we truly honor God on this day we set aside for Giving Thanks? What did we offer as a sacrifice of thanksgiving? Was He pleased? Or was it just all about the special meal?

There is a danger in assigning Thanks Giving to one day on the calendar. Perhaps I am not the only one who lays great expectations on that one day, and when they do not all come about there is disappointment to deal with afterward. Could that be the reason that there is so much depression around this and other holidays?

I was reading Psalm 92 when it struck me that giving thanks and singing praise to Him is to be a daily thing, not a Thanksgiving Day thing..

"It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To show forth thy loving kindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night.."

This and many other psalms show that praise and thanksgiving are to be offered up daily! Doing so is a daily reminder to us of His great works, and it makes us glad on a daily basis. Praise Him!

Thanksgiving comes but once a year, but Giving Thanks is for all year 'round. Let us thank Him today, too, for all His blessings on us!

Can a mother be too proud of her little girl? I am struggling with that right now, as I attempt to write what is in my heart about our firstborn, our daughter Jessica Faith. The Lord gave her to us eleven years ago, and we were so ignorant, so unsuspecting of the treasure we had acquired in her.

When she arrived, I became a mother. I learned for the first time what it was like to carry a part of me outside of my body. So small, so vulnerable, so beautiful, she quickly won our hearts. Our lives had changed forever, and we never looked back.

As she grew, we learned so much about ourselves, about humanity, about God. We denied ourselves so that Jessica might have what she needed, and it was our joy to do so! We taught her God's Word, and promised to teach her to walk in His precepts. In training her, we were being trained in valuable life and ministry skills. We made mistakes. She readily forgave, and adored us as the gods in her little universe.

All too soon, she was no longer a toddler, but a spunky, happy little girl full of boundless energy. Her younger sister had arrived by then, and she eagerly took on the task of showing baby sister the world. How she made us all laugh! I might have kept her a little girl forever, but God knew better. He knew the best was yet to come..

As the years passed, I marvelled at her intelligence, her charm, her individuality, and her growing faith. She often surprised me with the thoughtful things she said, many times displaying wisdom beyond her years. I wrote many of those things into a journal, lest I forget them. We often talked about God and the Bible, and she loved to sing about Him! One day, she told me she wanted vida eterna, to be with God forever. That day she gave her heart to Christ.

And now she is eleven years old. Practically a lady! She chooses for herself to love God, to walk in His ways and seek to please Him with her life. She still adores us, her parents, but she knows we are not perfect. We still make mistakes. And she still graciously forgives. Whereas once we led her entirely by the hand, now she is beginning to walk by our side in this grace of the Christian life. I catch a glimpse of who she is becoming. A Christian. A lady. My friend. I am breathless at the thought that this beautiful person is my daughter.

Thank You, Lord, for giving us our Jessica for these eleven years!

And now, here are eleven things I love and admire about Jessica:

1) Her sweet, friendly personality.

2) Her kindness toward others.

3) Her willingness to help her mom.

4) She is so good with handicrafts and sewing.

5) She loves to give to others.

6) She loves and honors her parents.

7) She enjoys helping care for her younger siblings.

8) She readily memorizes God's Word, and is quick to recall key passages.

9) Her godly desire to learn how to be a keeper at home.

10) Her lovely, feminine ways which delight those around her.

11) Her sweet Christian testimony she maintains among her friends.

Happy birthday, sweet Jessica! I love you!

I love autumn. I love the cool, crisp air and the rustle of corn stalks waiting to be harvested. I love pulling out the warm sweaters and dressing in layers. But most of all, I love it that we have a day set aside when family, extended family, friends who are like family, and people in need of family, come together to acknowlege God's goodness.

For He is Good!

Last month we started a new tradition that we call the Thanks Box.


I covered a small shoe box with fabric, then printed Psalm 107:21-22 onto pretty cardstock, to affix to the top of our box.

"Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing."

Every member of the family may write down on slips of paper what they are thankful for, and add them to our box anytime.

On Thanksgiving Day, we will all gather together to open our box and read all of the things that we thank God for, and praise Him together for His goodness and for His wonderful works.

For He is so Good!

Soon after Thanksgiving Day this year, we'll make another box for a full year of acknowledging the Lord's goodness to us.

That's what Thanks Giving is all about!