Shepherds Hill Homestead

           I have been doing a lot of thinking about human nature lately. It seems that no matter who we are we all have common shortcomings and weaknesses. Isaiah wrote that we all, just like sheep, have gone astray and followed our own ways (Is 53:6). I am just like you in that I don’t like to admit weaknesses. Some days I’d prefer to hide behind a mask and pretend that everything is better than it really is. Maybe we have even been taught by society to keep a smile and at least act nice when things are really bad. I conclude, after reading God’s Word that He wants us to live truthfully and honestly in this world.           If you and I are surrounded by people … Read entire article »

           I want to tell you about some incidents that occurred this week. Well, these past two weeks, actually, I had all sorts of technologies that failed me. I have a company Blackberry that went absolutely bizerk. It began by losing all my contacts in my address book (500 of them). I reset it and reloaded. Then a few days later it happened again. I reset it and only half of them came up. I began to try other type re-settings and called our Help Desk. They restarted my account in the server and when it was put back not only did it not have my contacts but I could no longer get email. The eventual solution was to completely wipe it clean of all software … Read entire article »

          This week, while listening to a conversation between two people I heard something remarkable. There was an issue between the two and as he had always done, one of them apologized to the other. It was a scene that didn’t particularly strike me as unusual in any way. I have often had to apologize to someone for something I had done wrong. But the response from the other person absolutely astounded me. They told the first person that if the issue was small enough to be fixed with an apology it would have been too small to even bring up.           It was as if the planet came to a screeching halt! I jumped to find something to write on before the thought escaped me. No one even … Read entire article »

          I spent the day working outside. The weather has been marvelously warm for winter and I had some new fruit and nut trees to plant. For many years now we have been constantly planting things that bear. At one time I followed the crowd and put out ornamental and landscape plants. I really didn’t think beyond what I wanted things to look like. When we began our life changes we realized that a person can grow food right in their own yard in the same space that ornamental things grow. Why would we plant a Bradford Pear that is beautiful for about 10 days a year? Why not put out a Bartlett Pear that still has beautiful blooms but also produces fruit?           So today, I planted a … Read entire article »

 Many years ago when I taught Sunday School I had a group of young people that I wanted to explain something to. I began by telling them that at this moment there were voices in the room speaking all at the same time. I asked them to listen. We sat in silence for a moment while they cocked their ears around trying to hear what I meant. They all looked around and then gazed at me as if I were crazy. It was exactly the point I wanted to make. I then told them that they couldn’t hear these voices without some help. At that point I pulled out a radio and turned it on. As I tuned up and down they all laughed and thought I was trying to be funny. … Read entire article »

          Please turn with me to the Book of Psalms first chapter. This book has some very poetic writings and it is known as the song book of God’s people. Often you will see small Bibles that have the New Testament and Psalms. This is a significant book. We had a discussion one time within our family. The  question was “if you were limited to having just one book of the Bible for the rest of your life which one would you choose?” More than one member of my family chose the Book of Psalms. I can agree with that. It has one hundred and fifty distinct poems that express great emotion of praise toward God.           I gave this brief synopsis of the Book of Psalms … Read entire article »