Do You Still remember me?

It's been a while, hasn't it?  My only excuse is that I have no words at this time to pen.  For a year the Lord prompted me time and again to write, to share, to engage, and then....nothing.  And I mean nothing.  

Some time soon I will share with you what's been happening in our lives, the tremendous obstacles and hurdles our family has encountered in the last eleven months as our hearts have been inextricably knit together as a family by the Lord.  

And for now I will share a few pictures, but how to decide?  I haven't posted pics since Cassie's birthday, so it will be hard to choose.  So here I go!

These are some pics of the girls helping out at a horse farm called Dare to Dream.  Here, in order to have an opportunity to ride the horses, the children need to shovel manure, clean out horse stalls, brush the horses and clean their hooves.  Cassie and Sonya got right to it without one iota of a complaint.  They really are hard little workers!  I am proud of their industrious spirits.  

 Sonya's pick -Thunder - the biggest horse on the ranch.

Thunder!

Cassie's choice - Blue

She picked a horse with the same temperament as herself - very spirited with a mind of his own!

First time on a horse -very scared!  But BRAVE!

CASSIE VICTORIOUS!

SONYA TALL AND PROUD!

A picture of the two the day of Cassie's Dedication on September 16, 2012

Cassie's first experience in a leaf pile!

Sonya took this.  Bibi is to the back and Lacy to the front. 

Lacy is Cassie's birthday gift from us.  

Sonya, Cassie and Sonya's best friend Lucy the morning after a sleep over

A rare moment that I'm not behind the camera

We took the girls to see the Nutcracker, a first for all four of us!

 

Please Pray for Hobby Lobby!

Hobby Lobby may be forced to abandon founding principles or go out of business--

Letter from Hobby Lobby Stores CEO

By David Green, the founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.



When my family and I started our company 40 years ago, we were working out of a garage on a $600 bank loan, assembling miniature picture frames. Our first retail store wasn't much bigger than most people's living rooms, but we had faith that we would succeed if we lived and worked according to God's word. From there, Hobby Lobby has become one of the nation's largest arts and crafts retailers, with more than 500 locations in 41 states. Our children grew up into fine business leaders, and today we run Hobby Lobby together, as a family.

We're Christians, and we run our business on Christian principles. I've always said that the first two goals of our business are (1) to run our business in harmony with God's laws, and (2) to focus on people more than money. And that's what we've tried to do. We close early so our employees can see their families at night. We keep our stores closed on Sundays, one of the week's biggest shopping days, so that our workers and their families can enjoy a day of rest. We believe that it is by God's grace that Hobby Lobby has endured, and he has blessed us and our employees. We've not only added jobs in a weak economy, we've raised wages for the past four years in a row. Our full-time employees start at 80% above minimum wage.

But now, our government threatens to change all of that. A new government healthcare mandate says that our family business MUST provide what I believe are abortion-causing drugs as part of our health insurance. Being Christians, we don't pay for drugs that might cause abortions, which means that we don't cover emergency contraception, the morning-after pill or the week-after pill. We believe doing so might end a life after the moment of conception, something that is contrary to our most important beliefs.  It goes against the Biblical principles on which we have run this company since day one. If we refuse to comply, we could face $1.3 million PER DAY in
government fines.

Our government threatens to fine job creators in a bad economy. Our government threatens to fine a company that's raised wages four years running. Our government threatens to fine a family for running its business according to its beliefs. It's not right. I know people will say we ought to follow the rules; that it's the same for everybody. But that's not true. The government has exempted thousands of companies from this mandate, for reasons of convenience or cost. But it won't exempt them for reasons of religious belief.

So, Hobby Lobby and my family are forced to make a choice. With great reluctance, we filed a lawsuit today, represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, asking a federal court to stop this mandate before it hurts our business. We don't like to go running into court, but we no longer have a choice. We believe people are
more important than the bottom line and that honoring God is more important than turning a profit.

My family has lived the American dream. We want to continue growing our company and providing great jobs for thousands of employees, but the government is going to make that much more difficult. The government is forcing us to choose between following our faith and following the law. I say that's a choice no American and no American business should have to make.

The government cannot force you to follow laws that go against your fundamental religious belief. They have exempted thousands of companies but will not except Christian organizations including the Catholic church.

Since you will not see this covered in any of the liberal media,
pass this on to all your contacts.
Sincerely,
David Green, CEO and Founder of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.