Fair Schedule

Monday, July 9	8:00 a.m.	Swine Judging
	6:00 p.m.	Arts Hall Judging (Floriculture)
	7:00 p.m.	Truck and N.A. Tractor Pulls
Tuesday, July 10	8:30 a.m.	Sheep Judging
	9:00 a.m.	Arts Hall Judging
	1:00 p.m.	Harness Racing
	7:00 p.m.	C-Bar Rodeo (Bull Riding, Barrel Races, and Bareback Riding)
Wednesday, July 11	10:30 a.m.	Dairy Judging
	1:00 p.m.	Harness Racing
	7:00 p.m.	Flat Track Drag Racing & Lawn Mower Demo
Thursday, July 12	1:00 p.m.	Harness Racing – Great Midwest Trot & Pace
	7:00 p.m.	Barnyard Scramble – Entries Close at 4:00 p.m.
		$5 Gate Admission 2 and over – Free Grandstand
		Entries close at 4:00 p.m. in the Secretary’s office.
Friday, July 13	8:30 a.m.	Beef Judging
	1:00 p.m.	Thoroughbred Racing
	7:00 p.m.	Moto-Cross Racing
Saturday, July 14	8:00 a.m.	Run/Walk
	8:30 a.m.	Junior & Open Horse Shows
	9:00 a.m.	Antique Tractor Pull
	12:30 p.m.	Garden Tractor Pull
	7:00 p.m.	Demo Derby
		Fireworks immediately following the

Monday, July 9	8:00 a.m.	Swine Judging
	6:00 p.m.	Arts Hall Judging (Floriculture)
	7:00 p.m.	Truck and N.A. Tractor Pulls
Tuesday, July 10	8:30 a.m.	Sheep Judging
	9:00 a.m.	Arts Hall Judging
	1:00 p.m.	Harness Racing
	7:00 p.m.	C-Bar Rodeo (Bull Riding, Barrel Races, and Bareback Riding)
Wednesday, July 11	10:30 a.m.	Dairy Judging
	1:00 p.m.	Harness Racing
	7:00 p.m.	Flat Track Drag Racing & Lawn Mower Demo
Thursday, July 12	1:00 p.m.	Harness Racing – Great Midwest Trot & Pace
	7:00 p.m.	Barnyard Scramble – Entries Close at 4:00 p.m.
		$5 Gate Admission 2 and over – Free Grandstand
		Entries close at 4:00 p.m. in the Secretary’s office.
Friday, July 13	8:30 a.m.	Beef Judging
	1:00 p.m.	Thoroughbred Racing
	7:00 p.m.	Moto-Cross Racing
Saturday, July 14	8:00 a.m.	Run/Walk
	8:30 a.m.	Junior & Open Horse Shows
	9:00 a.m.	Antique Tractor Pull
	12:30 p.m.	Garden Tractor Pull
	7:00 p.m.	Demo Derby
		Fireworks immediately following the

Well, the rides are up, the vendors have their food stands ready and the horses are ready to hit the track at 1:00 today (maybe that starts tomorrow).  I am working Monday through Wednesday of this week...it will be hard to sit at work every day knowing all the excitement is going on!

First of all, each evening at 6:00 p.m. in the church tent, churches in the community will take a turn providing some sort of entertainment.  I think the Bible Church children will put on a play, or at least they usually do, and I think they perform on Tuesday.  Wednesday night is our church praise band...and they are awesome.  Other than that, I am not sure what each church is doing.  Later in the evenings in that same tent around 8:00 p.m. (if I have this right) will be some sort of free entertainment.  Maybe a local band or talent.  Tuesday and Wednesday evenings there will be a magician giving a couple free performances down along the midway.  He will also do some balloon art.

This morning at 8:00 is the Swine Judging.  We walked through the pig barn last night and saw some nice looking pigs.  I have learned (after last night) that if I had to like the looks of a pig, it would be a Duroc.  They are reddish-brown.  So, of course, this means that Jay is on the hunt for a Duroc gilt.  Yeah me.  Entries will be accepted into the Arts hall until noon today.  Of course, last night my kids worked on what they were taking.  We like to work right up to the last minute! 

At 7:00 p.m. tonight, the tractor and truck pulls will be in front of the grandstands.  I usually enjoy watching a little of the truck and tractor pulls.  It is loud, but entertaining.  The rides start tonight too, which means my kids could care less about what is going on in front of the grandstands.

Tomorrow morning (Tuesday) is the Sheep judging beginning at 8:30, harness racing at 1:00 and then the C-Bar rodeo at 7:00 p.m. in front of the grandstands.  Wednesday morning beginning at 10:30 is the Dairy judging with harness racing again at 1:00 p.m.  Wednesday evening's entertainment is the flat track drags and lawnmower derby beginning at 7:00 p.m.

Thursday is one of the biggest days for the fair.  At 1:00 p.m. the harness races begin with the Great Midwest Trot & Pace as the highlight.  Entries for the Scramble are accepted until 4:00 p.m. SHARP.  The grandstands are free and the Scramble begins at 7:00 p.m.  The Scramble draws an enormous crowd.  A couple years ago they started with the free grandstands, which allows families to come to the fair for a fun evening for $5 a person.  You cannot find a deal like that anywhere.  And the older kids have the chance to catch a pig or goat and earn money!!  (Thanks to our Scramble donors.)

Friday at 8:30 a.m. is the Beef judging and at 1:00 the Thoroughbreds get to race.  (Now those are my kind of races!)   At 7:00 p.m. in front of the grandstands is MotoCross Racing.  Saturday, bright and early, the day begins with some exercise and the 5k down at the Arts Hall.  This is something that I work with and causes me a great deal of stress.  Ha.  I know it sounds so petty, right?  I am not a runner and get all freaked out by those who take it seriously...because I hate to screw up their times, you know. 

Beginning at 8:30 over at the horse arena is the Junior and Open Horse Show.  We have a new horse arena thanks to a grant written by a couple people and it is very nice.  We are trying to put it to good use!  The antique tractor pull begins at 9:00 a.m. in front of the grandstands.  The Garden tractor pull is at 12:30.  The greatest spectacle of all begins at 7:00 p.m....the Demolition Derby.  Oh my, the grandstands will be absolutely packed and it is hilarious.  Following the derby will be the fireworks (as long as it is safe) which is an awesome way to end the week.

Come out and join the folks at the Martinsville Ag Fair this week.  The weather is looking awesome, minus our desperate need for rain.

It's almost fair time!

My favorite week of the year is almost here.  The Martinsville Agricultural Fair begins on Sunday.  As a child, the fair was sort of like our vacation and we soaked up every last minute of it.  Many on my dad's side of the family have always had ties to the fair and it's operation.  Currently my dad is serving as fair board president, but he has a very strong group of board members that pull this shindig together each year.

The board members and volunteers devote countless hours in preparation for this one week.  They began immediately after the conclusion of the fair to plan for the next year.  It never stops.  Obviously, the month or two before the fair is the busiest, but these folks are working all year long for this event. 

I have such wonderful memories of the fair...the midway and the carnival, the scramble, the taffy, the shake-ups, the porkburgers, french fries, nutty bars, the art's hall, horse races, the demo derby, the dirt and dust.  I could go on and on.  As I am discovering through parenthood and adulthood, all those wonderful things I got to do as a child like going to the fair, going camping, going to church camp, VBS, etc, are exhausting for the adults!  As I look forward with anticipation for next week, I am also already worrying about the exhaustion, not only for myself, but for my kids, family members and other friends and family.  It almost wipes a person out!!

The one thing that has stood the test of time, although a few things have changed, is that fair week begins on Sunday with the Lord's blessing.  In years past, all the churches cancelled their Sunday evening worship services and came to the fairgrounds for a community service.  In more recent times, there is a gospel sing, free-will donation.  There isn't a message per se, but we still begin the week giving praise and asking for a blanket of safety and blessing on the fairgrounds.  Many believe this is the key to the fair's success.  I tend to think it has a great deal to do with it.

When the Elevate concert came to town in 2010, the Elevate committee began, about a month before the concert and fair week, having a prayer meeting every Thursday evening at 7 at the fairgrounds.  I cannot begin to tell you what that weekly prayer means to me...yes, it takes about an hour out of my Thursday evening during the summer, but it brings such peace.  I love it that people gather right there on the grounds to pray for the concert, the fair, the fair board members (which include many of my family and church family) and everyone in attendance.  Most will never know how many prayers are sent up for them as they walk through those fair gates next week.  Countless prayers have been prayed for their safety. 

I may have posted about this before, but this one particular memory is such a testament to me about the blanket of safety and blessing that cover that fairgrounds.  I was sitting in the top row of the grandstands and a rain storm was on its way.  (There were a couple years there where our fair could not afford to have much rain, as many things would be cancelled and the crowds would stay away.)  And I remember sitting there just whispering prayers for that rain to stay away, please, just keep it away from us (hard to believe I could've said such a thing when we are in such need right now, huh?).  I looked over the railing of the grandstands to the south and just across the road it was raining.  It rained all around the fairgrounds that day.  I am serious as can be.  It was absolutely unbelievable.  Nothing was rained out, nothing cancelled, the crowds came.

As I watch many scramble around to get things done before Sunday, I worry about their health and well being especially with record-setting temperatures.  (Many people that I know do not know when to quit!)  The forecast predicts a major break in the heat on Monday.  I thank God in advance for such a blessing.  We are desperate for rain, and normally I would pray that the rain would stay away for fair week, but instead, I say bring on the rain, even if it is during fair week.  We will get through it. 

If you are in the area, come out and spend at least one afternoon or evening at the Martinsville Agricultural Fair.  There is a $5 gate admission, but hey, you can ride all the rides you want all evening long!  You can't beat that.  If time permits, I will post more about the schedule of events, but just in case time gets away from me (as it often does), you can view the schedule of events by visiting http://www.martinsvilleagfair.com/.

Elevate 2012

I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.  Psalm 63:4 (NIV)
In 2010, a small committee formed and pressed forward to fulfill what God had called them to do:  Put together a family-friendly, affordable, safe, Christian concert with awesome bands, all in the hopes of elevating our community and bringing folks closer to God.  The first year was a huge success.  NeedtoBreathe and Jars of Clay were the two main Christian bands.  It was unbelievable that those bands had agreed to come to little ole Martinsville, Illinois, yet they came.  And so did the people. 

In 2011, I was asked to join the committee and accepted the invitation.  I absolutely love Christian music and will travel many miles to hear a band I love.  I love our community and love Jesus.  So I was all about encouraging our community to love Jesus.  Last year Sanctus Real, Gungor & JJ Heller took the stage.  The weather threw a wrench in Sanctus Real's performance, but those that attended enjoyed the bands.  And thankfully, there were no injuries or incidents because of the storm that rolled through.  The right decisions were made and the timing was nearly perfect when the show was cut short.

So here we are in 2012, Elevate is tomorrow at the Martinsville, Illinois fairgrounds, beginning at 5:00 p.m.  Terrace Lake Worship will open the show, followed by For King and Country, Josh Wilson and Kutless.  It is another terrific line-up.  Last year we brought in bounce houses for the kids to enjoy while their parents watch the concert and it was a huge success...the bounce houses will be back again for the kids' pleasure.  We will have a prayer tent for those feeling the need to ask for special prayer or to be lead to the Lord.  Water tents will be situated near the crowd with the merchandise tent nearby.

Tickets for this concert are $15 per person, $5 for kids 3-10.  They will be available at the door.  We also have Elevate 2012 t-shirts that will be for sale in the merchandise tent.  Often, it is easy to forget about the behind-the-scenes work that has to be done to prepare for something like this.  Although I am part of the committee, I only participate in a fraction of the preparations compared to the others.  I thank them for their hard work and dedication.  I know how much time and effort they have put into the day.

There are many willing volunteers that will be helping out tomorrow with parking, working the gates, security on the track, merchandise tents, water tents, bounce houses, setting up the stage and tents, etc.  We are so thankful to all of them for giving up their time to help.  We are gracious to the fair board for allowing us to use the facility and attach it to the fair so that the grounds are in tip-top shape and the vendors are around to sell food and treats.

The purpose of this concert is to glorify God, not ourselves, not our fairgrounds or even the community.  It is simply to give him praise and hopefully share his goodness and salvation with others.  It may not be your thing, or at least you may think it isn't, but give it a try.  Come join us tomorrow afternoon and evening.  It may be a tad hot, but I was thinking the other day when I was sure that I was as hot as I have ever been...Hell will be worse, much worse.  Far beyond our wildest imagination.  We can do this.  Let many come, even in the scorching hot temperatures and praise the Lord...showing the Devil he is no match.   

July...aaaaahhhhh

That will be me when July is over.  I know that everyone is busy, busy, busy and it's always crazy in the summer.  This year, it seems, other than our vacation to Colorado, everything is crammed into the 31 days of July. 

Elevate, the Christian concert that kicks off our fair, is this Saturday...then a full week of all-you-can-take  Carnival, junk food, visiting, grandstand events, horse racing.  The annual Martinsville af"Fair 5k walk/run is on Saturday and I help organize that. 

Church camp, which is always the first full week of June, was moved to mid July...beginning the week after our fair, which has been the last full week of June for the past several years.   We come home on Friday from church camp and the 4-H fair begins on Saturday and runs through the next Wednesday.  The Friday and Saturday after that, Jay is an usher in his cousin's wedding.  Sunday, July 29, we are having a mini Vacation Bible School after church.

Madolyn has volleyball camp to squeeze in during the 4-H fair.  We should be done with baseball after this Friday night.  The 4th of July is tomorrow, which thankfully I have off.  Jay has worked every day or night since we came home from Colorado and should be off this Friday for two weeks, so that he can rest enjoy all the fun stuff too.

I am thankful to be alive.  Thankful that my kids and husband (and I) are healthy and able to enjoy summer.  I am thankful for jobs that allow for vacation time.  I am thankful for my parents and in-laws who help with the kids' stuff in the summer.  I am thankful for a small community that can be so much fun.  I am thankful that everyday I am reminded of how blessed I am.  (Note to self, read the last paragraph again on August 1.)  Happy Fourth of July!!!

Noah

Noah did everything just as God commanded him.   Genesis 6:22 (NIV)

Noah, one of my favorite characters of the Bible.  Not only does he give us reason to sing the BEST VBS song EVER, "The Lord said to Noah there's gonna be a floody, floody..." he is such a great example of total trust and faith in God.

The story of Noah and the Ark comes from Genesis, chapters 6, 7 & 8.  If you have time, go ahead and read it right now for a refresher.  I know it's one of the bible stories we think we know all about, but everytime I read it, I pick up on something I hadn't realized or paid attention to.  (It's like that most of the time I read the bible!)

Earlier in Genesis 2:5-6, it says, "Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground."  Cool.  God provided what the earth and plants needed, didn't he?

Yesterday as I came back from my morning walk, I heard a steady 'ping, ping, ping' coming from our shed.  There is no door on it right now (thanks to a storm LAST YEAR) and there is no power to it, so that steady noise really caught my attention.  I kind of glanced over at the shed, didn't see anything and went in the house to get ready for work.  This morning, the same thing.  I came back and heard that pinging sound again.  I studied the shed a little closer and realized it was the dew dripping off the shed roof onto some metal sitting on the ground.  Dew. 

The other thing I had been noticing on my walk was that the corn next to us looks pretty curled in the afternoon (just like flowers and plants and such) but early in the morning, it doesn't look so stressed...Again, dew.  It brought me back to Noah...and the verse about the streams coming from the earth to water the surface.  I realize that right now our earth is so dry, there is very little coming from below, but God is providing us some moisture in the form of dew.

So back to Noah and his terrific faith.  Here is a man who is told by God to build this grand ark and gather all these animals and his family and get in it because he was going to destroy the earth.  Can't you just imagine what the neighbors were thinking?  I can hear it now..."Oh, no, Noah must have lost his mind."  "His poor wife."  "Do you think he's having a mid-life crisis?"  "Someone should get him some help."  What would we say right now if we heard about a man who said God told him to build an ark?!  We would have very similar thoughts, wouldn't we?  God did promise, "Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done."  (Gen 8:21)

And right after that in verse 22 is one of those verses I have never really paid attention to before but I love, “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” 

Noah trusted in God and did as he was commanded, which is mentioned a couple times in the story, and a point well taken.  Right now we are in desparate need of water.  Our crops are suffering.  The beautiful things we enjoy like flowers, bushes, trees, grass, they are suffering.  I am sure that right about now farmers are struggling, trying to remain faithful and trust in the Lord to provide the rain, but still in the back of their minds, wondering what His plan is.

Our pond has fallen to a level that I don't believe I've ever seen it at before.  Our outside water spigots are connected to a pump in the pond...the water has dropped below the pump; therefore, our outside water spigots won't work.  It's more of an inconvenience than anything else (the spigots), but the pond level is a concern because the cows, deer, birds, fish, frogs, turtles, even those stupid snakes, rely upon that water for hydration. 

I know that for me, since my livelihood doesn't depend upon the crops and a harvest, it's somewhat easy for me to sit back and have faith that God will provide.  There are many who are dependent upon it though and they need our prayers.  We must continue to try to have faith like Noah and believe that God will provide for us, one way or another...and pray for rain. 

Like a thief in the...white Beretta

We were talking about this story while on vacation and I thought, oh, something to write about!!  A few years ago we owned a Jeep.  At that time Jay's work car was a white, 1993 Chevrolet Beretta with a black bra.  You have to mention the black bra because it just made the car.   The kids and I had went to bible school in the Jeep.  Jay had worked that day and came home after we had already left for VBS.

VBS was over, the kids and I hopped in the jeep, no windows, no doors, and we headed home on that warm summer night.  I think my 'other daughter' was with us too.  We are coming down the road, almost to our driveway when we see a county sheriff's car near our drive.  I panic because Lane isn't in a car seat/booster, the girls are hanging every body part they can out the sides of the jeep, and because I'm just that type of person, regardless of whether I am abiding by the laws of the state or not, I instantly panic when I see a police car of any type.

I decide we are going to go on past our driveway and go to my parent's house.  I pull in their driveway and wait a few minutes, making up some bogus story to the kids about why we are hiding sitting in their grandparent's driveway and not getting out and going inside.  I wait a few minutes and head to our house.  As I am coming down our driveway, which is kinda long and has a small hill and a curve, guess who I meet?  You got it, the deputy!  And he has been to MY HOUSE.  Because our house is down a long drive, it is pretty hard to just accidentally end up there, you know.  My mind is in overdrive, the kids think this is the most exciting thing ever and all I want to do is find Jay and see what in the world is going on!

Turns out that Jay had filled up with gas before he left the town he works in, went inside, paid cash, drove off...and the cashier reported him as a drive-off.  She had written down the make and model and the license plate number and that county had contacted our county.  The deputy came to our house to investigate Jay driving off from the gas station without paying.  Jay had paid, of course, but with cash.  He had no receipt, but gave a very detailed account of using a fifty-dollar bill, had descriptions of who waited on him, who was in front of him, etc.

At the time, I worked part-time (as a secretary) at the police department in the city where this occurred so I immediately called down and asked for the officer we had been told was investigating it.  I relayed all of Jay's details and he went to the station to find out what was going on.  When all was said and done and the surveillance video had been watched, it was clear Jay had handed the cashier something and she had accepted it.  Jay would not be arrested!  (haha)  We truly believe she was pulling a fast one and probably had that fifty bucks in her pocket.

This was during our hardcore Dave Ramsey days and we were all cash all the time...after that we were all cash with a receipt all the time:)

Colorado - The end

Day #7 of our Colorado adventure arrived.  By this time, we were ready to get home and sleep in our own beds and see Hank the Tank II because (say it with me now) he is so precious.  After stuffing our suitcases as tight as possible, we were still left with two blankets we had purchased on Pike's Peak, a container of Folger's coffee, Lipton tea bags and some protein shake stuff Jay has to have.  Being the tight-wad I am, there was NO WAY I was tossing that stuff in the trash can.  No way.  We would figure something out.

We returned the car to the rental place and hopped on the shuttle back to the airport.  The baggage check-in went fine and we found our gate.  There was a luggage/bag shop right by it.  Perfect...only their sign said they would be back soon.  Soon never came so we just decided to try to carry on all of that stuff.  We had the groceries in a gift bag and were carrying the two blankets.  Looking at others go through security, I didn't feel so bad.  People had all kinds of stuff that they were just carrying through.  Funny thing, we had no trouble with the blankets, the humongous container of protein powder or the coffee.  My small bottle of Oil of Olay and some hand lotion jerked me right out of line.  Seriously?  (I know they are just doing their jobs.)  We did finally make it through with plenty of time to spare.

The plane ride home was uneventful.  We found seats next to a couple from Colorado coming to Illinois for a wedding.  Lane & Jay sat next to the gentleman and Madolyn & I sat with the woman.  They were very pleasant and we had good conversation.  They shared with us about the big forest fire because they lived in that area.  We landed, took the shuttle back to the hotel where we had parked our car for the week, found our car, loaded it up and headed home on Interstate 70.

All in all, it was a very good trip.  It wasn't a relaxing type of vacation, but we knew that going in.  We wanted to see as much as we could because you just never know when/if you will get to go back.  Our kids were very good, especially considering all the driving around we did.  We did hear the word "Sissy" about fifty times too much, but someone can't keep her hands off her little brother and eventually we fined her a quarter every time she touched him. 

One of those cute things that I will probably never remember unless I look back on this blog was Lane listening to Jerry Clower on his iPod with his headphones in and hearing him recite the words and do the sound effects with it.  If you have ever listened to Jerry Clower, I know you can just hear him making his sound effects.  It was adorable and I had to take a picture.  (How many eight-year-olds listen to Jerry Clower anyway?!)

We were thankful to have been given a Toyota Camry at the rental car place.  They offered us a van for the same price, but we went with the MPG, and it was a good decision.  It seemed like we could drive forever (and we did) on very little gas!  It was a nice little car...my back wasn't a fan of the seat, but it was tolerable.  We kept a Styrofoam cooler in the trunk with water and drink boxes and also some peanut butter and jelly and bread.  It was handy to have our own drinks and a snack if we needed one.

I took gobs of pictures, actually 266 to be precise...and aren't you glad I haven't decided to put all of those on here?!  I did include this one on the right because I told Jay to make a face like the water was flaming hot (which it was pretty warm) and he did.  I thought it was cute.  This spring monument, I guess you would call it, was located near that Mexican restaurant along the river in Pagosa Springs.  I suppose this is a way to enjoy a spring without paying to actually sit in it!  How about his new red shoes?  Aren't those alarming?  He's going to love that I had to mention them!!

The picture on the left is the view from the deck we had where we stayed at in Pagosa Springs.  It was a huge place.  We took some nice walks around on the golf cart paths (which was a no-no), but didn't spend a whole lot of time there on the resort.  We were situated on the second floor; there was another unit above us and one below us.  I'm sure the folks below us loved the fact that Jay did his exercise videos every afternoon. 

One morning when Jay, Lane & I were on a walk, there were two hot air balloons flying over.  We saw one touch down and tried to get over to it, but it took off too quick.  Then as we walked, we watched where they were going and they landed near our place.  I called Madolyn and told her to go outside and take a picture.  Thankfully, she listened to her mother for once and clicked a decent photo.

We hope to go back some day and see the northern part of Colorado.  I have been told that if I like Colorado, I really need to see Wyoming & Montana.  Sounds good to me.  We were pleased to arrive home to well-cared for animals (thanks to my parents and my nieces) and a very-much alive Hank the Tank II.  The neighbors to the west of us did hear him bark a lot, but he lived through the cruel punishment of a dog pen.  Too bad for him, now that we know he can do it, we may not need a dogsitter anymore!