The Path, in these Changing Seasons

With the seasons changing, and summer in the past, the seasons in weather and my life have been changing once again... Back to school, finishing up that, busy with things on the farm, this fall has been pretty crazy for me and my family... With all the beautiful weather we have had, I have been able to reflect on how powerful and glorious out Lord God is. All around us is proof of His beauty and perfect creation... From the changing leaves, to the birds flying South, He has made everything so perfect, so whole and complete.
Seasons have been changing in my own life, the Lord has been doing, and teaching me many things. Situations with friends or family going through things...the Lord has been my peace and strength through it all. Psalm 16:11 has been a huge encouragement for me. It says, "You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." (~Psalm 16:11). Just the truth in that verse makes me praise the Lord even more! The fact that He leads me down the path, and there is so much joy and fullness in a relationship with Christ! Love it. I Love my Lord and Savior more each day.
Guess that's all for now... :)

HJH

A blessing in disguise....

Last Wednesday evening, I was tucked away in bed, fast asleep when Leif wakes me up. "Hannah," he says "family meeting downstairs..." My first thought was "come on, it's 10:30 pm! I need to sleep! But as soon as I got down to the living room, I was wide awake, and focused. Apparently papa had gotten a call from uncle Paul or one of the other family members, with news that grandma was not feeling good.... After some discussion, it was decided that I would drive out to grandma's house that night, and be there for her. So, I threw some clothes in my backpack, grabbed my Bible, headed out the door and was down the road in 10 minutes. When I arrived at grandma's she was sound asleep (looked like she fell asleep while doing something on her iPad....) so I tucked her into bed and then hit the hay myself. The next day we went to the clinic in Ashland and found out from the doctor that she had food poisoning, and a small bladder infection.... Not fun. :( the past few days I have been hanging out here at the cabin grandma, helping her get back to normal... I thought about it....as much as this has been hard on both of us, we have had a wonderful time together! It had been way too long since grandma and I just had some time to ourselves... So even through these trials and tribulations, The Lord still shows His blessings.... :) I am still praying for grandma's health and strength, and would appreciate it if you could keep her in your prayers, too.....

Trail Ridge Bible Camp 2013

 Me, Ethne, and Courtney (Courtney by the way memorized 130 Bible verses that week!!! Way to go girl!)

 Miss Mariah (one of the other counselors) :)

 The AWESOME slip-n-slide!!!

 After skit night. Yes, I had to dump makeup on because we had a funny skit. Haha! Oh my...

 Walking to the sports center...

 Hailey and I.

 Annie and I in the go-carts on Friday.

 Me and Eppie (Ethne) going around the track.

Chilling at the lake after all the kids left on Saturday....  Joshmo (Joshua, one of the other counselors), Esther (In the far far left), Miss Laura from SD, and Big Josh (on the far right).

 Big Josh and Seth....

 Eating at Subway! Big Josh (in the camo), Seth, Leif and Joshmo.

Last week me and my brothers had the amazing opportunity of volunteering at Trail Ridge Bible Camp in Hillsboro, Wisconsin (in the Tomah area, South of Eau Clair....).

Seth and Leif were on the grounds crew, while I was a counselor for the week. What a wonderful experience!

I had 8 girls in my cabin, with the help of one other counselor, Miss Esther. Our girls (ages 7-9) Nichole, Kyra, Aleksa, Annie, Ethne, Hailey, Carisma and Emily were all amazing girls in their own way! Throughout the week, I learned to love each of these girls so much. Of course, we did have struggles with a couple of them, but thankfully the Lord gave my patience to deal with the problems that arose in the week.

Throughout the week we went swimming at the pool, played games with Mr. Keith a couple times a day, attended Chapel, sang fun songs, ate Chef Bob's food, played at the snack and game shop, and even went canoeing at the lake on Wednesday. Cabin devotionals was a really good experience as well. Most of the girls in my cabin had never heard, or done devotionals before..... there were good questions and fun discussions.We also had Talent Night on Wednesday, and Skit Night on Thursday. Both were lots of fun, and I even played a duet with Mr. Vick on the piano, and him on the organ (it was SO much fun!!!!). On Friday night we had the most powerful chapel service; explaining about how Christ died on the cross and rose again to pay the price for our sins. Afterward, us counselors went into the auditorium, and campers that wanted prayer, or had questions could come and talk with us.... Carisma, who was my most difficult camper through the week, came in wanting to know more, and at the end of the night, asked Christ into her heart. Immediately, she went to all the other girls in our cabin and asked for forgiveness for the things she did to them throughout the week. There was a change in her; I didn't have to ask twice to get up, and she did things willingly. Since she is so young, I am just praying that the Lord will continue to teach her, and have her grow closer to Him. That very same night, the whole camp had a bonfire at the bottom of the hill, and kids were able to tell what they loved about camp, or favorite things that happened during the week. My girls almost had me in tears because of all the sweet things they said. It's one of those things, where I would strive to be a good example to all the campers around, and pray that they notice a difference, and even when I think nobody sees it, they really do notice it. The kids feedback just encouraged me to keep striving forward, walking in the Lord's path, and being a good witness of His son Jesus Christ.

To sum up the whole week: It was AMAZING. Seeing how God worked through each and everyone of the staffers, the joy in the kid's face, and all the lessons learned and memories made.

Most of the staffers spent the weekend together, and went out to Subway on Saturday night. Later that evening, we had a bonfire, and went down to the old farm house to explore. It was a nice time to relax, and just be together. On Sunday morning, we packed up our things, went to church with the whole staff, and Seth, Leif and I made our way back home to little Oulu Wisconsin. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I got in the vehicle, and slept the whole 5 hours home.....

I would like to thank everyone for your love and prayers throughout last week, all of us staffers at camp needed, and appreciated it. I am going to go to Bluewater Covenant Bible Camp in August to be  a Lifeguard for a week, so I would appreciate if you would pray for me in advance to that....

Thank you. Much Love, Hannah Jo

Just live!

After being cooped up in my bed for quite a few days this week with a head cold, today was my first day that I could enjoy being outside! After doing my evening chores, I decided to go for a walk to our back field with Tassy (our dog). As I strolled along, with awe of all the beautiful pine trees, snow, and sunshine I was so overwhelmed at how blessed I am to live in such a wonderful place, and for all of God's creation!
Tassy and I were on our way home, and just before walking down the large hill, I saw a HUGE snowdrift, and couldn't help but run and jump into it!!!! I laughed as Tassy and I just sat there for a moment.... For a second I felt like a little kid again; carefree, enjoying the moment, and just living! It was such a pleasant time for me. I know this isn't really any big news or a super interesting story, but it was an amazing way to end my evening, and I thought I would share it.
Take some time to not worry about anything (just rest it in the Lord's hands!), think of life when you were a child, and just live.

H.H