Want a diamond engagement ring? You may change your mind...

Okay, so for all you girls out there that think getting a diamond engagement ring is the greatest thing.. You may just want to reconsider. After reading this I changed my mind, if I do get a ring I want it to be something that represents rarity and purity, instead of a status quo item that isn't even that rare anymore and represents an ideal that has been manufactured by the jewelry companies.

Please read this link:
http://americanvision.org/8966/advice-marriage/

God bless,

Abigail Prudence 

Am I Pressing On?

This is something that I wrote back in the beginning of the year, after coming back to it and revising and adding to it I would like to actually turn it into a post, so here ya go :)


Do you ever have that feeling? Of complete conviction of your faults to the point where your in tears over how much you must have grieved God with past sins? I was almost to the point where I had forgotten my savior entirely because of being dragged into sinful life. I started to disdain God, I went through a lot of old diary entries and even though I was doing all this stuff that sounded so fun and exciting I was not happy. Not at all, almost suicidal really. Somehow in that time... I forgot everything that I ever learned about God and reality and put it all aside so I could do what I wanted to do, not thinking of the consequences of my actions at all. It's true that sometimes I was happy and had a good time, you can still be happy but stuck in your sin, for a little while, but it was always followed by deep depression, guilt or anger. I am so happy that God has had his mercy and me and is helping me change. Something happens when you go back to your roots, and remember God as your Savior and Redeemer, it still makes me cry when I think of all the time that I've wasted, when we are in sin it completely consumes us.

 You can try to pray, or have fellowship with God, but you can't feel His awesome presence until you're knees hit the floor and your heart cries out for repentance for the sins you've committed against him. We are either with Him or against Him, there is no middle ground.
   I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.16  So then because   thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.(Revelations 3:15-16)

When God spues you out of his mouth that means separation from Him and his blessings and presence. God had left me, I would lie to myself and say that everything I was doing was somehow justifiable. But my faulty logic as to why it's okay for me to continue in my sin doesn't fly in his book, the Bible, which should be everyone's standard for living. I had become so passive and drenched in my thoughts and opinions that I had made up in my own mind that I had forgotten about Christ. You, me, everyone, goes through this, on a daily basis for some even. It is a war

we fight that is VERY real. And I encourage you to pick up your sword and fight, our enemy is not playing around with this game called Your Life and he will fight to the death to kill you and let you die in your sins. I encourage you to stay strong, read your Bibles, get together with the saints and fellowship. Get on your knees and pray to the Lord, no matter what you've done he's always there listening and will NEVER turn his back on you, if you are a His. He loves you and will take care and comfort you when you are in need if you just come to Him.


John 10:27-30  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.

The question we need to be daily asking ourselves is the following... Am I pressing on??

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. (Philippians 3:14-15)

I hope you take a moment with me and think about this, and how it specifically effects YOU. Not your parents, or your friends or neighbors, but just you and your relationship with The Lord, Jesus Christ. Even if it's something minor that's been ticking at your conscience lately, like being lazy in school, or not being as bold of a witness as you should be, or maybe something major that you've been trying to avoid facing... Go to Him with it, He already knows and is waiting for you to call on Him.

Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast ALL my sins behind thy back. (Isiah 38:17)

May God bless and keep you, and make his face shine upon you and give you peace in Jesus Name,

God bless,
Abigail Prudence

Spring garden planning!

I'm finally all better, praise God! Cedar season has finally left and my family is better. Here in Texas the weather has gotten better very quickly! I find myself outside pondering and prepping the garden for new plants, spring is my favorite time of year and I always find myself unable to wait for it to get here, I've already planted a fresh planter full of different varieties of strawberry plants, also some German chamomile and an array of different kinds of flowers. I'll post pictures for you once I've taken them. It's wonderful to already see the birds and the butterflies coming back in the garden and watching the things we planted sprout up. I can't wait to have garden fresh tomatoes back! Hopefully we'll have as many as we did last year, we didn't have to buy tomatoes for the rest of the season we had so many! But what I love more than planting the flowers or watching the butterflies flutter around the flowers is just being outside and enjoy the beauty of it all and thinking of how caring and thoughtful our awesome God must have been when he created everything. It's all been done with such intricate functioning beauty that it leaves one speechlessly praising his Name! He created the plants, fruits, seeds and herbs to be our food!

He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; (Psalms104:14)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to YOU it shall be for meat.

Genesis 1:29  

To me this is an amazing design. He thought everything through so perfectly and beautifully. A well tended garden is a wonderful place to sit or walk and talk with Him, meditate on and read his Words. I am so thankful God has given me a beautiful garden and a beautiful home. May God bless you all and I hope to write more soon!

God bless,
Abigail Prudence

Healing

Hello blog followers! I know it's been quite a while since I've made a post, with the holidays and all and people getting sick left and right it's been easy to forget about this blog. I ask that you would please pray for healing because myself and the rest of my family has suffering from awful cases of Texas Cedar Fever. If you've ever experienced it you know that it's a awful thing to have to go through. I'm keeping my chin up and praying that it will pass soon. I'm writing another article that I will later post for you guys but it is not yet finished.

So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you. (Exodus 23:25)

You Are More ~Song~

Hey everyone, I'm sorry it's been five months since I've made a post, I hope that now that this busy summer is coming to a close that I'll be able to keep up with my blog posts more :) I was listening to K-love this morning and this song spoke to my heart so much and I wanted to share it with you. I hope it speaks to you too!

May God bless you all,
Abigail Prudence

The beauty of a garden

Hello everyone! So, I know I haven't been posting very often lately, but I've had so many wood working projects, gardening and school projects with my family and work at the local health club on top of that, it's been hard to find the time to sit down and write an article. Over the past month I have been working with my father in the garden building fences, garden boxes and a swing for our back yard. My mother has been teaching me how to grow a garden and I have been learning so much about how to grow healthy organic food for my family. We started most of the plants in our garden from seeds, but some of our tomatoes, peppers and broccoli we bought from H-E-B. We also built and started a flower garden in our front yard, it's been so wonderful to come out in the morning and see dozens of different colored butterflies flutter around the flowers. It reminds me of the butterfly center that dad and I went to when we got to the Father Daughter retreat in Georgia last month. Love you dad ;)
This is the first time that I've ever had experience with a garden and growing my own food. I'm so glad I have a very knowledgeable mother that can teach me how to do it the right way <3 I'm looking forward to making dinner with the food that we've grown from the garden, may God bless this project and let our little plants grow :) We are also trying to grow potatoes in barrels that you'll see in some of the pictures. The white swing dad and I repaired and I had a couple of friends come over and help me paint it white. We are going to put rocks around the fire pit and get more chairs so we can have friends over. I am so grateful for the beautiful place that God has put me in! I look around at the wild flowers, the old blue pick-up truck in the field behind out house. Here are some pictures of the area, its not done yet and I'll post pictures after it's finished too. Hope you like them and thanks for reading my blog :)

                                                           A beautiful book about gardens

                                                                             Hibiscus

                                                                 Before planting

                                                                   Little yellow flowers

                                                         The finished fence from the front

                                                                          Color!!!

                                                        A bible verse that I wrote on the gate

                                                         Before we planted our sprouts

                                                 The beautiful landscape that's behind our yard

                                                                   Me, Mama and Dixie

                                                              Our beautiful yard!

                                                         So,whats in the barrels? Potatoes :)

                                                                     Our little lemon tree

                                                            Flower garden in the front

                                                              Dixie being adorable

                                                             The fence from the back

                                                 Our seeds that have sprouted and are growing!

                                                     A curious deer in the back woods

                                                                Dad working on the gate

                                                       Our beautiful piano in the living room

                                            The fire pit and the white swing in the background

                                                          Squash flowers are coming up! :D

                                                                   More pretty flowers

                                                          Another view of the garden

A note from a friend,

I am extremely excited for when all of Abigail's plants grow up! She does an amazing job and is an excellent gardner when she puts her mind to it. At first she had to do some research for her seeds and garden. I am very proud of her perseverance and how hard she tries to give her plants the love and patience they need.  This kind of action goes to show that even if someone is a beginner with something a few things people must remember- be patient with yourself, others, and your project.

From Amber :)
~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks Amber for your kind words and help you've given me in a lot of the projects! It's been fun to have you around <3

God Bless,
Abigail Prudence
~~~~~~~~~~~

Father Daughter Retreat Pictures

Hello everyone! This year I was blessed enough to be able to make it to the father daughter retreat at Callaway Gardens in Georgia with my dad. I got to see my amazing friend Hannah ;) and met a new awesome friend, Miriam! :D :D It was such a blessing to be able to fellowship with friends and my daddy <3 There were a lot of excellent messages, but the one that spoke to me the most was the sermon on the relationship between brothers and sisters. The Botkin girls were the ones to give the speech and they did an excellent job! I didn't realize that I had such a big role in my brothers life, may God give me grace to help and encourage him in his walk with the Lord. :)
Here are just a few of the awesome pictures I was able to take over the weekend.

                                             Hannah!! My wonderful and whimsical friend <3

me and daddy at the lake

                                      Hannah and Mirriam under the Japanese cherry blossoms <3

                                               Mr. Tucker and Mr. Sitter analyzing the ceiling

                                                     Looks like Narnia to me :)

                                         Me + glasses, something you don't see too often, lol :)

                      The whole gang, going left to right, Mirriam, Hannah, me, Miriha <3

                                                                      Pretty Blue Butterfly

                                                                     us girls being silly <3

                                                 Miriam, the expert lizard catcher ;) lol

                                       Me and daddy, I had such a great time with him on this trip <3

                                                 Mariha and myself before she had to go home

                                                                      Me and Han

                                            The beautiful hotel we stayed at for the first night

                                                               puurty flowers

                                                  Best Friends Forever!!!! Love you girls <3

                                        Dad, with a smile so big it just might fall off :) lol love ya dad

                                                  the beautiful panorama of the lake and gardens

                                                                Hannah and her beautiful smile <3

And thus concludes my giant collection of pictures, I won't share all 250 of them with you, but these are most of the highlights <3 I had an amazing time, it's hard to believe that it's been 4, saying 4 years since I've seen this girl!! We've talked so much on the phone and over e-mail that I feel like I know her inside and out, and she probably feels the same way about me. At first I thought it would be weird cause it'd been so long since we've seen each other, but we were quickly able to chill and had an amazing time together. I was able to convince her to fix my hair and make up for the high tea, thank you Hannah <3 Also thank you for shipping my army coat back to me! I got it in the mail a few days ago.
Words can't describe how great it was to see you Hannah, to talk with you, to pray with you, and just be with you was amazing, love you girl <3

God Bless,
Abigail Prudence

My New Hope Chest

Hello everyone, I don't have a article for you today, but I did want to tell you about my recent acquisition of a beautiful Hope Chest from my father this last weekend. He surprised me so much! The two of us took a trip down to Grene, Texas this last Saturday and he wanted to stop in an old antique store that we usually visit when we are in the area. I remembered that cedar chest that I always looked at when I was there and wanted to see if it was still for sale, so I went and looked. And to my great dismay there was a sold tag on it, darn it! It was exactly the kind of hope chest I'd always wanted, and now someone else had bought it. Oh well I thought, they'll be other chests out there. But then I looked a little closer at the tag, in little writing there was a note that said,

So I figured I might as well see who ended up with it and opened the chest, here's what I found:

I was so surprised!! My dad is amazing :D I love you dad! I got excited and huged him and everyone was watching us but I didn't care I was so happy :) I've already started thinking about how wonderful it will be to carry it into my new home after I get married and open it up and see all kinds of treasures that I've accumulated over the years. Does any one have any good ideas of what I should fill my new treasure chest with?

And here's a picture of it with the lid down.



God Bless ya all,
Abigail
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Waking Dream

This is something that I wrote after a pretty vivid dream and thought it was worth taking the time to write down, I hope you enjoy reading this short story.

                                                           

  Squeak, squeak was the sound my rubber sandals made as the sand on my feet mixed with the cold salty water of the coming tide of the sea. Here I stand on the shore, my weight slowly shifting as my feet are moved under when the sand starts to melt when the water makes contact with it. I stare over the horizon and through my darkly shaded sun glasses I somehow can’t see the beauty in front of me, the perfect simplicity of the path I was on. But as I continued to walk down the beach I began to feel less and less satisfied with my walk with God. My friends walked with me down the hot sandy beach, and they seem happy, laughing and enjoying each other’s company as they talked and debated religion and scripture. But I can’t feel the happiness they do, they seem so content on this road we were taking, but I had become board with it and longed for something new and different. I take off my sunglasses and I see the beautiful ocean and long to go swimming and see all the new and different things that the waters had to offer. But we had long ago been forbidden to tread these waters of sin and death and we were warned of the consequences if we disobeyed. But to me I didn’t see sin and death, I saw beauty, a sparkling allure that called out to me whispering my name, beckoning me to swim towards it. As I continued to look over the water I saw a far ways out, what looked to be a beautiful cave. How exciting it would be to discover its wonders and secrets. It wouldn’t hurt if I took a quick look and came back, would it? I looked back down the shore, my companions were now far down the beach from me, I could probably make it back before they even noticed I had left.

  Step by step I walked into the sea, the water cooling my body as I submerged deeper and deeper. Now I’ve gone so far I’m barely able to walk on ocean floor beneath me. I hear panicked screams from the shore, it’s my friends, and they’d noticed my absence and located me. None of them jumped in after me to bring me back, they were all too scared of the consequences for disobeying God’s law. I heard their yells to me, they plead with me to come back saying, “It’s not worth it! Come back to your Lord and Savior and ask for forgiveness for straying from the path!” But somehow the words didn’t register in my mind and my conscience seemed broken or something. The desire for the pleasure that came with sin was all I could think of, and I started to swim faster towards the cave. In my mind I saw a pretty sparkling cove of wonder, but I was blinded, in reality it was a place of death. The once beautiful day quickly turned bleak. Dark grey storm clouds formed over the ocean and thunder started to roll, it looked like any minute it would start to rain. So I swam harder to get to my paradise destination I thought I was sure to find. Almost to the entrance of the cave, I look behind me and could no longer see the shore for the fog had gotten very thick. Excited to finally reach my destination I swam inside, the light was dimmer than I thought it would be. I swam deeper and deeper into the darkness of the cave. As I wade through the wet cave I marvel at the sights I saw, sparkling gems and gold embedded into the rocks around me, but in reality it is one of the scariest places a person can lay eyes on. The cave was filled with sharp rocks, skeletons and the smell of death; it is no wonder why we were warned to stay away from this place. But somehow I find a strong appeal to my hiding place and I have no desire to leave the alluring beauty that I perceived. But not long after I went into the large entrance the tide began to come up and the water started to rise around me, and yet here I float in peace, about to drown in sin and death with a strange sense of no fear of my coming fate. But there is a small whisper in my ear telling me to get up and swim to safety as fast as I can, but the darkness around me keeps me anchored here in danger of the coming flood that would bring about my death. I can feel the water coming up to my shoulders and slowly more and more water laps into the cave, I look back at the once large welcoming entrance, where there is now only a small flicker of light left at the opening of the cave, the dark waters have almost completely engulfed all around me. The cave lights up when the lightning strikes outside, but I don't seem to notice. So here I am, having yet to decide if I drown in pain and regret, or struggle out of the darkness for another chance at life. I remember my friends on the shore that warned me not to go into cave of fleshly desires, but I ignored their wise advice and did as I wished. If I listened I could still hear their faint cries from the safety of the shore, they are crying, begging and pleading with me to come back to the safety and comfort of solid ground that comes with the forgiveness and trust in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So what am I waiting for? Why do I wait here for someone to rescue me from the troubles I’ve made for myself? Am I expecting a courageous hero to swoop me off to safety? Truly I don’t know why I stay here waiting to drown to death. Now I’ve almost lost the strength and will power to do anything to stop my fate. But then, as the dark waters continue to rise up to my nose and eyes and water starts fills my lungs. I struggle for air and as I start to feel closer and closer to death, I feel a ghostly presence and hear the Devil’s evil echoing laugh as he sneers saying, “I’ve won! I’ve trapped your soul and corned you into this cave of sin and death you will never escape from! See you in hell sucker!” Chills run up my spine as the whole cave shook from the thunder and lightening and I realize that this was my fate, my punishment for letting myself be lured into the cave of fleshly desires. The thought of my soul being so close to torment in the flames of hell for all eternity scared me so greatly that I start to scream and cry out to God for some kind of rescue from what seemed like certain death. I cried out with the little strength I had left and said, “Oh God! Forgive me of my sin! Please save me from death and hell!!” As I plead out to God, I struggle to swim back to the entrance of the cave. It was much harder trying to get out of the cave than it was getting in. By now the water had completely filled the cove and there was only a little air left in my lungs. I continue to swim with all of my might fighting for another breath of air, but I open my eyes look at my goal ahead of me and realize just how far into the cave I had waded. I swim up in hope of one last breath of air to help me push forward. My head bangs against the rock ceiling and I press my wet lips to the surface of the water and take my last deep breath. The current pushes me back under the tide but I still try to swim towards the entrance, I push with all my might and swim as hard as I can, but my little strength is not enough to get me to my goal. My life flashes before my eyes as I feel the water entering my lungs once again. I guess the Devil was right; I would not be able to save myself from this peril. Just then, as I started to feel light headed and I could feel my soul start to leave my body, a strong hand took hold of mine and pulled me out of the dark cave and to the light on the surface of the ocean. I gasp for air and look for my savior, but I am alone.

  I look towards the shore, the fog had cleared and I could see my friends and family crying for joy that I had made it out alive! They jumped around on shore as they waited for me to swim back to them, they cheered as I made it back on land. They dark clouds had rolled away and the sun was shining again. My friends chastise me for leaving in the first place, but are still overjoyed that I am alive. I told them about the hand that saved me when there was no hope and I was doomed, but they looked puzzled and assured me that no one had left the beach and they only person they saw out at sea was myself. From the shore I look back at the once deceptive alluring cove that nearly took my life. Now I could see it for what it really was, a shortcut to hell. I knew that God had spared my life that day and sent an angel to save me. I questioned why I ever left in the first place and promised myself to never be so easily led away from the path ever again.


Abigail Prudence

Fathers & Daughters etc.

One of the most precious things on this earth is the relationships that a father and daughter can have. If you have a father that loves you and spends time with you, then you are a very lucky girl. The average working father in America spends 19 minutes with his children, and most of that is spent eating dinner with the family. Most of the girls in our country don't know what it means to have a good relationship with there father. A whole lot of teenage girls say they hate their father, maybe this is partially because they are ungrateful and selfish, but maybe the other part of it is that they never had special moments with there father, their dad never took them on little trips or did projects with them. He was so busy trying to provide food, shelter and nice things for his family that he never stopped to think about his little ones growing up into adults. If you are a parent reading this, then you know how fast children grow up. You have to take every opportunity to shape your children into Godly examples for the world. How else do you do this then spending time talking and being with them? You can give them assignments and projects to work on that will help mold their character, but it's not the same as holding there hand and doing it with them. Even little things make a huge impact in a daughter's mind. Like going to the grocery store with just her, or going Christmas shopping for the rest of the family with her and listening to her opinions on what her family will like. There are so many things that a father can do with his daughter. I have been blessed with a father that loves me so much that he would die for me without thinking twice. I know this because he tells me he loves me every single day, we can talk about anything together. He has done so many different things with me to show me he cares, and also because we have a blast together! Here is a little list of some of things he has done with me: Taken me to a coffee shop and we just talk. Taken me to go kayaking together. He has taken me to an endless number of lunches. Bike rides almost every night. Making trails with him through the woods. Taken me bowling. Taken me to museums. One time he took me to a cave in our area and we walked through it together. Also he has taken me to every single tennis tournament I have ever played, we have made so many memories doing that. Also he has taught me tennis, we have spent a lot of time training together. Also on road trips I will usually travel with him and navigate for him. There is no possible way that I could tell you every special thing I have done with my father, the list is almost endless. He means the world to me, I can't imagine a world without him in it. Not only has he done lots of things with me, he has taught me a lot. If God blesses me with a husband half as good as my father I will be a very lucky girl. The reason my father has taken so much time to be with me is because he cares about what is going on in my heart, he listens very carefully and it makes me feel like I can tell him anything in the world. But he doesn't have to take me somewhere and make it out to be a whole day with me. Most of the moments we both cherish the most are the ones where I am just talking with him. Maybe it's driving with him to the grocery store, or doing a chore with him, maybe it's just being around while he works outside in the yard. Little things like getting him a glass of water or lemonade, means a lot to him. Your father loves you so much, he doesn't need to do a special activity to enjoy your presence, just being with him will bring joy to his heart if you are cheerful and happy. But if you have an attitude of hate or despite against your father, he will not want to be around you. When you are bitter or sour about something, it makes it harder for him to like being around you. Our father's will always love us, but when we are mean in spirit it makes everyone else's spirit mean too. The woman has a great role in the household of creating what kind of atmosphere is in the home. We are the mood setters, if we have a spirit of peace and love, it will make it much easier for everyone to get along in peace. Even if your still a younger girl you can still do little things to make the mood pleasant. Doing a chore without being asked or just smiling and being happy can make a huge impact on the people around us. In the world we live in today we are surrounded by darkness, for so many people all they can see is emptiness, let your light shine bright so all will see it, and maybe, if we all do our part, we can change the world for the better.

I hope you all enjoyed this article, may God bless all of you <3

Abigail Prudence

Winter is here :)

Hello everyone! Well it's been a while since I've made a post here. Sorry it's been so long, I've been busy, but i know that's not an excuse :) This last month I entered and won the NaNoWriMo writing contest that comes around every November. A lot of you homeschooler's probably know what I am referring too. http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/ Today I have been editing it and making it even better, maybe some day I'll get it published, I'll see someday I guess.
Here in Texas there hasn't been any snow, but it has been getting down in the low 40's! I know for most of you that's not that cold, but for us it's very cold. Besides writing I have been doing a lot of school work and cook two days of the week for my family's dinner, which has been fun! They even let me go shopping for what I need to make, I have been having fun with it. I am excited that Christmas is only 24 days away! I already have my tree put up and the lights on the house outside are on. Well, I should say good bye for now, I'll be back later this month with an article for you all, thank you so much for your patience <3

God Bless,
Abigail