Book report!

I just finished reading "In Search of a Help Meet" by Michael Pearl. Thanks to my sister Cora for giving it to me for my birthday! ;-)

As I had recently listened to a sermon by Mr. Pearl, and had disagreed strongly with a few of the things he had to say, I was a little skeptical of this book from the get-go... However, my fears were unfounded, as I found the teaching to be biblically based, easy to understand, and although very hard hitting at times, I think that is likely what a lot of young men need at that phase of their lives. I am sure I did... :-)

 The first two chapters are introduction, and setting the premise that who you marry is YOUR choice alone, and not a choice to be taken lightly. The need for Wisdom and counsel is emphasized, but the final choice is yours, and you will live with the consequences of that decision for the rest of your life.

 The next several chapters are based on stories from some godly young men who have found their Help Meets, and who share some good advice they learned from their own journeys...  Some good advice, and a lot of things NOT to do...

 Chapters 7-11 explore the three main God-images, and how all of us tend to depict one of the images more than the others, and how/why understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your own image can help you relate to people around you, and especially to a prospective mate.  While I was already fairly familiar with the different character types, I did find this section useful as a more Christian explanation of character.

 The last several chapters dig deeper into what the Scriptures say about godly manhood, how God deals with family roles, and lastly, what to look for in a godly wife. Incidentally chapter 16, "Universal Wonder-Wife" is probably the best description of Proverbs 31 I have ever read!

 So, for all you young men out there, if you are looking for a Help Meet, I would highly recommend this book as a good resource to add to your arsenal of counsel and good advice. Is Michael Pearl right on everything? Probably not, but I found this book to be very scripturally based. Is this book going to be the key to finding "The One"? Probably not, but it may keep you from making a mistake along the way. :-)
 
  Until next time, Happy reading!
      Andrew B.

  "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."  Matt. 6:33
 

Wow... Where does time go?

As I have been absent from the blogging world for quite some time, I am sure many of my faithful readers have long since quit checking my blog for any updates... But, if you are reading this, I guess there are a few left!
 It has been about 10 months since I posted on here last, and although they have been busy months, still I have no excuse for not posting on here somewhat more often... This morning as the first snow rests heavily on the ground, I am more inclined than usual to sit down in the nice warm house and write a little note to you all. :-)
 My past months were filled with a lot of activities beyond the usual duties of everyday life. January found us at the Cabin Fever Family Camp hosted by our friends the S. family at Crystal Springs Bible camp:

It was a cold winter, although there was not much snow... Even our feathered friends stayed in the trees, where there was shelter from the wind.

February came and went, with the bright moon giving us hope of a warmer season to come...

Our calf sale went well, prices were good. The Lord blessed our efforts once again!

March found the return of the annual NDHSA (North Dakota Home School Association) convention, and our family hosted an Appleseed table at the used book sale.

A friend of ours who happens to be a pilot was willing to take Jacob and me up for a ride in his airplane, and we even got to take some aerial photos of our farm!

April found a lot of snow on the ground, (still), and another Appleseed event in Minot!

Well, I guess I will have to finish this later... Bye for now!

Nearly two months!

Yes, my dear readers, I am still alive! Though you may have been wondering from my long absence here...
  The past two months have been busy ones, but I guess that is rather normal... :-) My time has been occupied with my daily chores, ie. milking Sally;

 Various shop projects, like this '07 Honda Rancher:

Playing a lot of Ping Pong on our new (used) table:

And we celebrated my brother, Jacob's and my birthdays!

 My Mother has also been expanding her alternative therapy business, so I have spent a good bit of time helping her rearrange her office space to make room for the new BETAR table...

So now hopefully you'll forgive my lack of posting here, as it might be quite some time before I do so again... :-) I do keep up with my Facebook page a little better than here, so you're welcome to check out my page over there if you want...
  Bye for now,
   Andrew B.

Name-a-calf!

I need some help finding a name for my cute little bull calf! Please leave me a comment with your suggestions, and we'll see if I like them... BTW, the calfs mother is my milk cow, Sally... Thanks!

The once a month blogger...

Wow, I guess that would be me! Sorry for not taking time to update this...

  The past month has been a very busy one for me, and a very productive one too!  Quite a bit of my time was taken up working for a neighbor, helping with the corn harvest. Last year I helped out too, driving the grain cart. This year I got upgraded to driving the (brand new) combine! Here is a picture I took of the combine early one morning:

I will be helping out with the Sunflower harvest at the same place here in the next week or two, depending on if they are dry enough to harvest yet...

 We also hosted another Appleseed shoot here at our farm on October 6th and 7th! We had a record 16 shooters on the line here on Saturday, with three participants scoring at the highest level, Riflemen! It was a great weekend of fun, with Volleyball, Pool, Foosball, and music in the evenings after the shoot ended... Had alot of fun with some good friends, and met some new ones too! Here are a couple of pictures of our weekend:

Cora posted a bunch more over on her blog, and I posted a lot on the FB event page I created: http://www.facebook.com/events/411081702273364/


 I have also been busy with shop projects, whenever I get a little "Spare time"... :-)  Pictures of a couple of my projects: 

This quad needed new valves and cam chains, due to a stretched out chain slipping over and wrecking everything...

My pickup needed something done to the transmission, as it was slipping badly... I found a used transmission locally for an excellent price, so I picked that up and put it in... Now it is working great!

I also picked up a couple more quads in the last couple of days, all in various states of usability... :-)

 This one basically just needed a wire fixed, and a fuse replaced... Although it still is missing the front bumper and rack... 

Both of these have transmission problems, although they can be driven, just not in third or forth gear!

 So you can see I have been busy! Now it's time to go for lunch, and I wouldn't want to miss that! ;-)
   Andrew B.

A long overdue update, part 2

 Last weekend found me over in Braddock helping out with the annual Threshing Bee once again. I really enjoy all of the old equipment, although I am glad I don't have to use it every day! :-)

 

 This year I got to drive the old Rumley Oil Pull through the parade! That was a new experience... :-)



  Starting the old "B" John Deere before the parade:

  ... and then driving it through the parade...

 One of the annual highlights for the youngsters, the miniature steam railway!

I was also helping out with the Corn husker demonstration once again:

  Some of the many antique tractors on display:

 

That brings you pretty much up to date with all of our recent "Activities", the rest of our time has been spent in the usual fall work... Moving bales home, planting some cover crops, working in the shop, etc... It sure seems like we never get bored around here!

  Andrew B.

A long-overdue update!

Hello readers!
  No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. (Although I have done some falling onto the face of it...)  I am afraid I have been neglecting my blog a lot lately, partially because I recently got back on Facebook, but also just because I have been awefully busy.

 Ok, so to bring you all up to date, I will try to cover the main events of the past month.  First off would be our Appleseed shoot:

It was a great time, we had about ten shooters on the line, two of which shot Rifleman scores, which is the highest classification on our targets!   The rest also showed a lot of improvement as well! I passed my test to move up a level in my Instructor training, now I just need to learn all of the history so I can teach that too... :-)  
  We are planning on hosting another Appleseed here at our farm on October 6-7, so if anybody is interested, you can check out the Appleseed website, or go to the event page directly. I also set up a Facebook event page you can check out if you would like...

  Random picture from a foggy morning... You can also see our new volleyball net!

 
 A stormy evening:

We celebrated my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary!

 Cora and I were both a little bit bored while waiting for the guests to arrive, so I took pictures while she sat and listened to the conversation:

Labor Day weekend we went to a family camp at the Crystol Springs camp! This was a private camp hosted by some friends of ours, and attended by lots of friends! We had a great time playing games;

 And getting wet!

I really have to go now, but will try to finish this update soon~
  Andrew B.