28Oct 09
In days gone by, when a farmer had a need for a new barn, friends and family from all around would rally together for an old fashion barn raising. The amount of work accomplished in so little time was remarkable as time was willingly sacrificed out of a desire to serve.
So..in the spirit of the good old barn raising days, our church family, last Thursday, had a wonderful opportunity to practice working as a body. We came together for a work day at the Thrash family’s house.It started around 10:30 in the morning and went all day. 
We were able to chop fire wood, landscape gardens, work on a shed, and clean the house. The sticktuitivness I saw in each person as we worked was very much a blessing. Over the loud poundings of hammers and both electric and gas machines you could hear laughing, singing, and joyful voices everywhere. To name a few of the projects: the house cleaners cleaned 28 windows inside and out,
the wood choppers chopped 3 cords of wood, and all the footers for the Thrashes’ shed were dug out.
We all learned that we can work together very well even admist all the different giftings, abilities, and opinions 
.
I know I could say this for each person that we are looking forward to many more days of working together.
7 Comments » | posted in Family News, Ministry Reports
5Dec 08
Do you know what one of our family’s favorite sounds is? The cries, the coos, and the giggles of a baby.
Over these past ten days we had a dear, dear family from Texas 
come up to the Northern Virginia area. We hadn’t seen this family for over two years. How fun it was to have Team Southerland come to visit. We enjoyed our time so much with all 1/2 a dozen of them, especially those babies . One thing that really encourages our family is their joy in serving Jesus. Its hard not to smile when they are around.
We enjoyed talking about what the Lord is doing in our families, playing army men wars, having entrepreneurial conversations, and of course holding little Joshua and baby Ezra.
The Bible says, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity (Ps 133:1)!" This definantly was the case for our time with Team Southerland. Thank you Team Southerland for being an inspiration for joy!
10 Comments » | posted in Family News
3Mar 08
I have been learning in science about fungus. It has so fascinated me that I would like to write about my experience.
Sometime fungus may seem pretty gross but instead of focusing on the bad part lets look at the way it is formed and how it stays alive. God has made some species of fungi that 
produce up to five different kinds of spores. Spores are involved in reproduction and survival through unfavorable growth conditions.
I started studying about the Mushroom, since it is a fungus. The main parts of a mushroom plant are, the cap, the stalk, and the gills which hold the spores. I really enjoyed finding fungus and showing it to the family. One day this past month I was playing outside with my younger siblings and found a mushroom plant. It was living during the middle of winter. I was so excited and brought it to the house. The mushroom was pretty large. It was fun to find all the different parts that I had learned about, and then show everyone where the parts were located.
I am glad God created and formed even the ugly mushroom. An encouraging thought about the mushroom is how it endures through hard growing conditions and continues to send out spores to produce new life. When we, as Christians, endure hardness, God gives us testimonies that will encourage other believers to persevere.
8 Comments » | posted in Book Reports, Outdoor Adventures
21Feb 08
Earlier this winter, Mom and I found a home made hot cocoa recipe. We tried it out on the family and there were oohs and ahhs over the delicious taste. After a snowy adventure or game of soccer in the cold 
outdoors, this recipe is one every one will definitely enjoy!
Homemade Hot Cocoa
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1 cup of sugar
2/3 cup of cocoa
1/4 teaspoon of salt
8 cups of milk
2/3 cups of water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Combine the sugar, cocoa and salt in a large pan. Stir in milk and water. Cook and stir over medium heat until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat and stir in extract. Serve in your favorite mugs with a few little marshmallows on top to finish it off. Yields: 10 servings (some of you may have to double it )
10 Comments » | posted in Recipes
22Dec 07
Over the past weeks we have been VERY busy in the kitchen cooking up cookies, fudge, lemon cream loaves, snicker doodles, chocolate crinkle cookies, candy cane bark, and more! A favorite family tradition of ours is giving out Christmas goodies to family, friends, and 
neighbors. We all enjoy making the special treats. This year I was able to make fudge for my very first time. It can be very tedious work and requires that you dont give up!
When everything was finally ready we piled into the car and spent yesterday afternoon making the special deliveries. There was not enough time to make it to 
every house we wanted to so we may do a New Years Delivery too. I was encouraged by all the effort that was put into baking and shopping for needed supplies. Thank you Wilkes Team for the joy that you put into this special tradition. I cant wait till next year.
NEVER FAIL FUDGE
5 cups of sugar
1 can of evaporated milk (12 oz.)
1/4LB. butter of margarine
12oz. Marshmallow puff
1 teaspoon salt
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1 teaspoon Vanilla
2 large packages (12 oz.) of Semi-sweet Chocolate chips
Combine first five ingredients in large sauce pan. Stir over low heat until blended.
Bring to boil over moderate heat being careful not to mistake escaping air bubbles for boiling, THEN BOIL SLOWLY , STIRRING CONSTANTLY FOR 5 MINUTES.(use soft ball test)
Remove from heat, stir in chocolate and vanilla until chocolate is melted. Pour into 2 buttered 9 by 9 inch pans and cool.
Tips: I usually put the fudge in a 15 by 9 inch pan instead of two 9 by 9 inch pans. This will yield approximately 5 pounds.
2 Comments » | posted in Family News, Recipes
