Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 
I will fear no evil; 
For you are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil; 
My cup runs over. 
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me 
All the days of my life; 
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD
Forever.

Good Afternoon Moms! I pray that you're having a beautiful day. I wanted to give you something to think about. I have been reading the 23rd Psalm today. My focus on this is in verse 5 "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over." Did you see the part that I have written in red? This is where I would like to focus with our sheep up above the 23rd Psalm. As you see the shepherd is holding the head of the sheep and pouring oil over the sheep's head. There is a good reason for this. 

Sheep can get their heads caught in briers and die trying to get untangled. There are flies that torment sheep by laying their eggs in their nostrils which turn into worms. These worms can cause the sheep to hit their heads against the ground, against rocks to try and free them from the worms. Sometimes by the sheep doing this causes their own deaths. The sheep's eyes and ears are also susceptible to insects bothering them. The shepherd as you see in the picture will anoint their whole head with oil. There is now peace for the sheep. The oil creates a barrier of protection against the evil that tries to destroy the sheep. Do you worry about a lot of things in your life? Do you overthink things? Do you get so overwhelmed that you feel that the only option left is to beat your head against the wall? Have you ever asked God, your Shepherd to anoint your head with oil? He has an endless supply! He is there waiting for you to ask Him. Please don't wait! His oil protects and makes it possible for you to fix your heart, your mind, keep your eyes on Him today and always!! 

Have a great day Moms!!

Good Afternoon, Moms! I hope you're enjoying your weekend. This weekend is beautiful, but challenging for this Mom. I have a heavy heart this morning. I don't mean as in the loss of a loved one. I mean that I will be taking our son for surgery on Monday that will be longer than four hours. Last year we were at our camp, our son was trying his best to get a photo of a large snapping turtle. He ran down from our site and he got his shot. He was excited that he captured the turtle the way he wanted to in this photo. He was rushing to get to me back at the campsite. As he was climbing the rocks he slipped and fell straight onto his elbow breaking it in three places and separating it from the growth plate in places as well. We had to go to a hospital facility that we were unfamiliar with they did the diagnosis to let us know of the fractures and separations. They wanted to send us further on to another facility that we were not familiar with. We were told by one that was caring for our son that he didn't recommend that we go up there. He told us to tell them "ok", but then to get home as quickly as we can to the hospital that we are familiar and comfortable with the care of our son.  We did just that which was almost a two-hour ride from where we were. We did that and they told us that he'd be facing an over four-hour surgery to place hardware and tension wire in his elbow. Now the time has passed, we are now a year out from injury. We are now returning to the hospital with our son to have surgery to remove the hardware and tension wire from the elbow. This surgery also will be over four hours. I am having a heavy heart because the part of the surgery that makes me cry is when they put him under. This I feel is one of the most difficult things that we have to do with our children as parents. Not every parent will experience their child going in for surgery. Those of us that have I have heard from every one of them that, them taking their child back to put them under for surgery has been the most difficult for them. It's the fear of the unknown. Every surgery is a risk, but when we have God in our lives and trust HIM, giving our children over to HIM - He's in control. They're in His care. I also think of one of my favorite verses found in II Timothy 1:7.  God does not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love and a sound mind. I know several of my Mom friends and other Parents have told me the feelings I am having are all natural. I have a dear, a dear friend of mine coming with me and my husband to the Children's Hospital to pray and support us while our son is in surgery. 

Have a great day Moms!!