I left early today from work with goals  to reach before the end of todays daylight.

I just came inside, rosy cheeked, burning ears (from the cold) and decided to have coffee.

In a way I'm looking forward to winter.  There is a part of having to be stuck inside once in a while that I find joy in.  It can be a nice break from the summer business of mowing lawn, weeding, reunions, other events, that take up every weekend.  Winter is still around the bend (calendar wise) but it feels like winter already and it snuck up on Jeremy and I.  We still have a list of things to do.

My goals today were to:

• Find the wood frames to put around my herb garden so I could preserve it through the winter.  Done.
• Put plastic on the windows, if I could find the plastic that Jeremy says we have left over.  Not done.
• Go manure hunting.  Yes you read that right.  I'm a real Gohl now.  I took my mothers recommendation and went out in the horse pasture and got a wheel barrow full of manure for the garden next year.  I might even go get one more once I warm up a little!  It was fun Mom!!!  I was tempted to take a picture of myself, shovel in hand, smiling ear to ear, next to the pile.
• Make a nice dinner for Jeremy, Taco Casserole.  (One of his fav's)

I told Jeremy I was going outside to take some pictures and a little while later he sees me trapsing across the lawn with a box of stuff and the chair, smile acrossed my face, and he says "You're to cute, arranging everything . . ." and looks at me and gives me a huge real smile.  I took dozens of photo's but these are my favorites.

Today I meet a man from Romania, Daniel, and he opened my eyes (again) to how we are so spoiled in America.  It's not just America as a whole.  It's American churches.  He showed pictures of his church building in Romania, which looked like a little one floor house, in need of cosmetic exterior work, not enough room for all the real church (the people), people standing against the wall, sitting in metal chairs . . .it makes me realize how good I have it.  This is his first time in America and he said, "everywhere I go I see pretty things".  We are spoiled.  If we don't have these pretty things our eyes are spoiled.  Some things Daniel said (paraphrasing) that got me thinking . . .

Prayer is not natural; It's super natural.

A prayerless christian or a christian who doesn't pray much is a powerless christian.  A prayerful christian is a powerful christian.

When you don't eat breakfast and lunch you start to feel something in your stomach region.  When you don't pray how do you feel?

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Hebrews 13: 8

We focus a lot as christians on how God has worked in the past and how he has promised us a great future, but we need to remember that God is still alive today.  He is in the present working.  He is in the present making miracles.  He is awesome and mighty today.  He is saving today.  He is still just today.  He still desires to talk with us and answer our questions.  He is Jesus Christ, the living Lord.  He is awesome.  He lives within us today.  He is powerful.  He is faithful.  He is truth.  He is love.