I love old sayings like the one in the title of today’s blog. They can be an encouragement to work hard and not give up. I found this old saying in The Long Winter, a book by Laura Ingalls Wilder. As a child, and as an adult, these says flit through my mind frequently since I have read the Little House books over and over. You can see how the saying was used by Pa Ingalls on page 196 in the chapter entitled “Where There’s A Will” (p. 188).

This saying has flitted through my mind a lot since Saturday, when I decided that I, by myself, would take on the task of digging out the sod where we had wanted to put a gravel patio beside our pool last year. We want to make a play area for a bigger swing set since we have a few grandchildren sizing out of the one we have now.

We started this project last year, but didn’t get very far. Sometimes with projects like these—you just have to jump in.

This is how far I’d gotten on Saturday after working about 5 hours on the project. It is a very slow process, and I have to stop to cook meals, do laundry, and various other chores. Another chore I had to stop for was to clip one rogue chicken’s wing.

We clipped our chicken’s wings last year to keep them from flying over the fence into the yard and garden. If you’re needing to do that with chickens, you only clip one side. If you clip both, it balances them, and they can still fly out. Clip one wing, and they go wonky and can’t fly. Anyways, they grow back each year and you have to do it again. Only one has been flying out so far, and my husband and I were able to corner it. He held the chicken, I clipped the wing. I think the other chickens forgot they could fly, or they’re too old now. Thankfully they’ve never heard the saying, “Where there’s a will there’s a way.” 😉

This little rogue chicken loved scratching in the new mulch I recently added to the flower bed. She’s not able to get out now.

I worked on the sod again today for around 5 hours, in between more cooking, more laundry, feeding cats, and cleaning and filling up the hummingbird feeder.

My husband is in the background changing the oil and filters in his riding lawnmower and push mower to gear up for cutting grass tomorrow. I plan to move more sod. My goal is to have the area cleaned off, leveled, and ready for the landscape fabric by Wednesday evening.

This is how much sod I’ve moved so far.

Our back yard used to be terraced farmland. I’m using the sod to smooth out some of this area. Later I will till, rake, and plant some grass seed here.

The amazing thing about all of this is that my knees are in pretty bad shape. I have osteoarthritis in both. I broke my left foot about two years ago when I stood up, my knee gave out and my foot twisted into what they call a ballerina break or fracture.

But— I decided that I would strengthen my knees with the work. They hurt terribly the first day. Especially when moving down hill with a heavy load of sod. I felt every single step, but I refused to stop because—

Where There’s A Will There’s A Way

There’s also God. God made our bodies with an amazing ability to recover. He put Synovial fluid in the joints to reduce friction between cartilage and more Synovial fluid is produced when your joints are stressed. I haven’t taken any pain medicine so far. A good nights sleep helps restore cells and produce healing and relief of pain. I did rub some castor oil into my knees to which I had added the essential oils of Rosemary, Cedar wood, and Frankincense. I’m eating lots of fruits and veggies and drinking lots of water. It all helps, but the saying I like the best in these circumstances is actually from the Bible.

I bought this cup on Friday, before I began all this work. I’ve been drinking my morning coffee from it as a sweet reminder.

With God all things are possible!

Is there any hard thing you are doing where you can repeat these words to help you through?

**I would like to thank my sweet friend, Elaine Brown, for sending me Michael Reeves teaching on “Take up Your Cross”. Click on this link to hear this very uplifting teaching on why we suffer, the benefits, and how it shows God’s love for us. I listened while I moved sod today and it took my mind off my knee pain. I have also been listening to the Duck Dynasty podcast, “I’m Unashamed” while I work. They share so many deep spiritual truths. I also spend a lot of time laughing at some of the discussions they have. They help the time pass quickly.