Suzanne Griffin

I received this in a email. I didn't write it, although with hunting season fast approaching, I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories to share soon. Roping A Deer...Names have been removed to protect the stupid! Actual Letter from someone who writes, and farms. I had this idea that I was going to rope a deer, put it in a stall, feed it up on corn for a couple of weeks, then kill it and eat it. The first step in this adventure was getting a deer. I figured that, since they congregate at my cattle feeder and do not seem to have much fear of me when we are there (a bold one will sometimes come right up and sniff at the bags of feed while I am in the back of the truck not 4 feet a way), it should not be difficult to rope one, get up to it and toss a bag over its head (to calm it down) then hog tie it and transport it home. I filled the cattle feeder then hid down at the end with my rope. The cattle, having seen the roping thing before, stayed well back. They were not having a

But oh how easy it is to say. I woke this morning still sick to the pit of my stomach over a situation that has arisen that is breaking my heart, putting my character on trial and hurting others. I do not understand why this has come upon my life, but it is here. So what now? I feel so void. If I have ever given the impression that just because I post what I'm learning when I'm reading through the Bible that it means I have perfected that area of my life, then forgive me. Most of the time I can post because I feel I have so far to go. I often go back and reread my own notes and think, "Did I write that? I don't remember writing that" or read something that I really needed to hear. I have long prayed that my words would glorify Him and that He would use me. That only He would be glorified. I pray for wisdom, but any wisdom I appear to have is only Him. I read and study and share because I need Him and His grace so deeply in my life. I share all my shor

1 Listen to my prayer, O God. Do not ignore my cry for help! 2 Please listen and answer me, for I am overwhelmed by my troubles. 3 My enemies shout at me, making loud and wicked threats. They bring trouble on me and angrily hunt me down. 4 My heart pounds in my chest. The terror of death assaults me. 5 Fear and trembling overwhelm me, and I can’t stop shaking. 6 Oh, that I had wings like a dove; then I would fly away and rest! 7 I would fly far away to the quiet of the wilderness. 8 How quickly I would escape— far from this wild storm of hatred. 9 Confuse them, Lord, and frustrate their plans, for I see violence and conflict in the city. 10 Its walls are patrolled day and night against invaders, but the real danger is wickedness within the city. 11 Everything is falling apart; threats and cheating are rampant in the streets. 12 It is not an enemy who taunts me— I could bear that. It is not my foes who so arrogantly insult me—I could have hidden from them. 13 Instead,

Our moms group has started up again and our 1st speaker of the year challenged us ladies to have a daily devotional time with God. And the book we are reading, Small Changes For A Better Life , talks on the importance of doing just this. Quiet time with my Lord is something I feel very passionately about today. I thought I would share what I do and how I got to this point. I didn't just get convicted one day. I like everyone else, had heard how important it was to have a daily quiet time...many times over. Christmas morning 1983, my dad gave me the Thompson Chain reference Bible (I was 12 years old.) I started going through the concordance, looking up the verses in order of the topics A-Z. I wasn't so much interested in learning in depth as just the goal of studying through the Bible, highlighting as I went according to the suggested color codes. This is still my main bible & it is quite colorful. Over the years I was hit and miss on my consistency depending on whe

Part of our homeschool studies include the study of a Character Value (just one a month) and this month it is Creativity. I asked the kids to tell someone who is creative and how they are creative. Brian pipes up, "I think daddy is creative because he always finds new ways to be mean."

Psalms 56 Everyone is largely affected by their fears. Our fears can even be our puppeteer when we give in to them. Even among the professing Christians there is much fear. Many prayer requests that are voiced are fear based. Rather than for the peace, strength, direction, building of character, the beatitudes , the fruits of the spirit, or becoming more like Christ, our prayers are for specific answers to take away the problem. Why do we fear certain situations, circumstances and things so much? If we truly believe that He orchestrated all things to come together for our best, we can stand in peace, eyes closed, looking up and take a deep breathe I am still striving towards this myself. Allen has been dealing with a Staph infection. It has been difficult to not let fear of the medical bills grip, or the fear of what if he gets worse? It is easy to pray for an answer to what is causing the fear, but I forget at times to pray also for letting the fear itself go. To pray for peace and

Last week sitting at the coffee shop swapping these beautiful cards, me feeling so delighted with how mine turned out, the conversation took a turn for the more intelligent. Several of these ladies are involved in the Library's Book club. What? I didn't know our little library had a book club. And the books these ladies were discussing really had a depth to them. Not that my current reads of Raising Godly Tomatoes, Bringing up Boys and Chris Madden's Personalizing your home, do not offer something uniquely fascinating, but, seriously how much more learning to be better at what I'm already doing can I stomach without expanding my world somewhere. So I proudly walked to the front desk at the library the next morning and asked to be part of the current book club. I felt....old. I think this is 1st time that I ever thought a book club for just pure enjoyment might be interesting. I've done plenty of book studies, but for the purpose to be a better wife, a better mom, a