Balance

3/14/11 Monday
Time seems to be flying by. It’s Monday already, another Monday and another start of a week, and on top of that we are already halfway through the month. Next Sunday is the official start of spring and I have lots of work to do for the farm. Cutting back this tree for Gary turned out to be a much bigger job than I thought. That’s not unusual for me as I seem to be consistent about overestimating my ability to accomplish tasks. What I thought would be a two day project has taken seven. Today I’ll go and clean up the mess I made and that will be the end of that. Of course I underbid the job so all in all I earned about $43.00 a day but I’m not worried about it as I helped someone out, and that’s more important than making money. God always provides for us. He supplies our needs, not luxuries.


Rascal and Buddy chasing the thousand or so birds that regularly park here. We've had lots of power outages and while out clearing brush off the trailer I heard a loud "POP" and saw a flash of light. Looking up I saw lots of these birds quickly getting off the power lines they had weighed down till two of them touched. Coming inside I once again found the clocks all blinking from losing power. Now we know what caused it.

There are some who believe, and even preach, that God desires for us to all be rich with lots of luxuries. Well, yes and no is the truth regarding that. The fact is that few of us can handle what comes with wealth. It sounds good and this kind of message is one that gathers lots of followers, and in the process lines the pockets of those doing the preaching. Does God want you to be poor then? Absolutely not!!! What God wants is what is best for Him first, and best for you second. That is the order things have to be in, God first, and everything else second. It is so important to keep balance. Balance in our lives and balance in what we believe. Our enemy seeks constantly to upset that balance for once we swing one direction or the other out of balance then we become vulnerable to temptations, and often don’t even realize we are being tempted, thinking we are pursuing something correct when it is evil.
Here's most of the wood we got from the tree job, though there's still a small amount on the truck. We'll need double this come next winter so I'm halfway there.


I’ve seen this so many times and it is always a sad thing to watch, knowing the end of the path someone is on. You are often unable to help for they protest “But the bible says” and repeat the unbalanced teaching they have received and cling to because it says what they want to hear. I remember hearing someone, who had received the “prosperity” teaching, question the faith of those Muslim converts to Christ in Egypt, who live in the garbage cities because they believe in Jesus as their Lord and savior. One of them was worth millions, a dentist to royalty, but as soon as one of his family members reported to the government that he had accepted Jesus as his Lord, he lost it all. His homes, cars, bank accounts, were all seized, and he and his immediate family were issued death certificates, tattooed to identify them as “Enemies of Allah” and taken to the garbage dump. He has since died, killed for the cause of Christ. My brothers question was about why these people weren’t living in prosperity if they truly believed in God. What he failed to realize is that there are riches far beyond anything we can gather here on earth and those who gave their lives for Jesus are richer than we can imagine. When it is all said and done, only what we do for God matters.

Working on this tree for a week has sure set me back on other chores that need to be done. So much has been neglected and now I must pay catch up. The three hundred dollars I earned will buy a new pair of boots as the ones I have are worn out with a hole torn where the leather separated from the sole. Plus now we can buy some plants and seed so there is a hope of growing something. Pray for rain. There hasn’t been a significant rain in six months, though we did get enough to moisten the soil after we went to the women’s aglow meeting a couple of weeks back. They had asked me to pray for rain and the next morning I walked out and found the ground wet with evidence of rain drops pounding the soil. Everywhere else was dry so it must have been a small little shower that hit our place. I think I’ll pray for more rain.
The second load of brush from Gary's tree.

Today I’ll clean up Gary’s yard and thus be done with the tree job. Then I must do my laundry as I’m running out of clean work clothes. Several of my jeans have worn out, gotten so thin they are ripping, so we are keeping our eyes out for sales on jeans. I wear out boots and jeans pretty quick. There’s someone who seems to have classified me as a person who expects everyone else to do for me and that I do nothing for myself, but I sure wear out clothes and boots doing nothing, on top of about twenty pair of leather gloves each year. I pray for that person, and the words she speaks that tear down and don’t build up, and fear for her for I know my God, and He isn’t too happy with those who do these things. Lord be merciful, help them see the truth and recognize the lies they have received, that they may honor You and be pleasing in Your sight.

I’ll be able to finish up the bathroom now too. Need to tile the floor, put up towel racks and the toilet paper holder, build shelves and put up doors for the linen closet, and then install the trim and baseboard. Also on the must do list is our taxes for last year and the business plan information for UTPB. Plus there is a ton of work to do on the farm. Lots of beds to clear of old weeds and yards of irrigation tape that has been eaten by rodents over the winter to repair. Then there is writing to do. I must finish the book on discord, along with several bible studies I’ve started and not completed, plus the biography of my life.