Intentions

  

Hello friends,

Have you ever had wonderful intentions, but never got around to actually doing what you had in mind? Well, I do. All of the time. In fact, not so long ago, I had this great idea to write a thought-provoking blog post...maybe even write them once a week! Yeah, that was several months ago. So why haven't I done it yet? I could waste both of our time listing all kinds of excuses, but none of them are a good excuses, so instead let me share a short thought that came from an A. W. Tozer book I'm reading right now called The Knowledge of the Holy: 

God doesn't need us, but in His goodness He chooses us;

we desperately need God... yet, in many cases, we do not choose Him. 

God is our greatest good. When we choose Him and His ways, we are not doing Him a favor... He doesn't need our favors... we are doing ourselves a favor! 

While you're thinking on that, how about listening to a banjo tune! 

Take care,

 ~Abby :)

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A Quick Glance

For those of you who do not follow us on Facebook, I thought I'd post some recent pictures of us pickin' and grinning'.  We've had a great summer so far, and are looking forward to more good times!

We've got a busy summer coming up, so be sure to check out our schedule to see if we're playing in your area. We'd love to see you! 

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Faithful Heart

At the end of this day, will I hear God say that my heart has stayed faithful to Him?

 Were my thoughts pure? Were my words honorable/edifying? Did I make good use of the time I've been entrusted with today? Did my actions glorify God? Throughout all, did my eyes stay on Jesus? Did I choose to die to my will and my self-centered desires? Did I love God and love people? 

 How does my faith affect my life each day?

 These are important questions to ask yourself daily. Because God is so faithful, and He deserves our faithfulness. And that's what this song my mom wrote last year is all about! 

"When the storms rage and battles surround me

When my thoughts whip up tempests within

May my mind stay on Thee throughout all that may be

May You find my heart faithful to You

May You find my heart faithful to You

May my actions and thoughts remain true

At the end of the day, will I hear Your voice say

That my heart has stayed faithful to You

When temptation and sin are so near me

When my flesh seems to scream with desire

May my choice be to die and myself crucify

May You find my heart faithful to You

You alone are the Lord of the heavens

You alone deserve honor and praise

All alone I would fall, Lord, I give you my all

May You find my heart faithful to You."

I finally uploaded this video that my cousin took of us playing the song Faithful Heart at the Lake Itasca Family Festival last summer.

 To watch it, click this link, right here: http://youtu.be/wpfIFVx4PoU

Hope you enjoy it!

~Abby

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Christmastime

Merry Christmas!
Dear Friends,

Well, here it is at the close of 2014 already and what a wonderful year it has been. We have been blessed with more performing opportunities than ever and have fellowshipped with many truly wonderful folks along the way.

After returning from our summer trips to Minnesota and New York, we had to spend some time reclaiming our place and getting our gardens growing again.

As we close out this year we want to thank God for allowing our family to do the thing we love to do together, and to thank all the people who include us in their lives and events and make it possible for us to share our music and lives with them. We love you very much and look forward to seeing many of you in 2015.

One more blessing to share with everyone. Our oldest son, Aaron and his wife Lydia, are the proud parents of a healthy baby boy, Luke Wayne. Yes, Deb and I are now Grandparents!! I  know we don’t look old enough to be grandparents, but it’s true!

For more information and pictures from the places we have played visit our Hartley Family Facebook page or our Hartley Family Blog site. If you become a fan of us on Facebookyou will receive regular updates and there are samples of our music on both sites.

Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

Love,

The Hartley Family 

(Tom)

The family is growing!

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