Best Food: Christmas Eve’s dinner of Shrimp Linguini… mmmmm. YUM.Best Musical Moment: Playing Christmas carols at the piano with a little “help” from the girlies. The 3-year-old sang with all her heart. The 1-year-old liked to play random keys. Strangely enough, the songs still sounded good! :)Most Hilarious Moment: Playing Apples to Apples with the family. I gave a running commentary on which...
We're talking about longing for romantic relationships and how we can live in undistracted devotion. Many times in my life, as I've struggled to surrender a desire to the Lord (especially regarding feelings towards a specific guy), I am drawn back to the altar of repentance. The light of God's Word has shone that my life was one of idolatry--exalting myself and my...
Throughout my walk with Christ, surrendering my longing for a guy/relationship/marriage has been one of the greatest struggles of my life. This is undoubtedly why I am so passionate about Biblical "undistracted devotion" as stated in 1 Corinthians 7. Because I know what it feels like to struggle and surrender and then cling again to my soulish desires. Throughout the years, I have...
Snow changes everything. It changed my plans on Friday night. Snow/freezing rain/ice falling from the sky... so I went grocery shopping on the way home. Then I'm chillin' on my living room couch--working on Christmas presents. My phone rings and it's The Little Bro. He's wondering if I wanna brave the cold and snowy weather to go to the mountaintop. Umm, YEAH!! Before...
Something caught my interest on Fox News this morning. A woman in an immoral relationship is in the process of church discipline. Obviously, she's not repentant because she decided to take it to the media.Read about it here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,469928,00.htmlThe church's letter: http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/Church_Extortion.pdfI was so impressed by the church's response to her that I wrote them a letter of encouragement. This world may be...
There seems to be a song, many songs, on continuous loop in my head throughout the days. Sometimes it’s a little annoying, especially when I’m in a place where singing and humming and whistling are not socially acceptable. Like the office! Or Walmart. And sometimes, I subconsciously revert to the same song 20 times throughout one day—which makes me wanna smack my head...
Maybe I’ve been watching too many Christmas movies… Okay, I retract. I definitely have been watching too many Christmas movies. It’s like an addiction! The weird movie moments are starting to get in my brain.Some movie moments from the weekend: Darkness had already fallen. Christmas lights were twinkling in the streets. Snowflakes began to fall as we walked up Main Street. And then,...
It seems that everywhere I go, I hear something about the Twilight book series and subsequent film adaptation. I love books. And you might assume that I would be as entranced by this young adult fiction series as the rest of the world is. But the fact is—I am a Christian. Even (or especially) my book choices are determined by my devotion to...
Mary's Heart Breathing---Another look at Mary & Martha:At Your feetBowed on a dusty floorSimply hereListening to Your wordsMy sister scoldsI really should go workYet my heart is touchedAnd I just want more...O Christ, my Bread of LifeOther things are quickly fadingO Christ, You are mineLet me continue waiting...On You.My Master, speak the wordsThat shine forth the light.My Teacher, I won't leaveI have found...
I spent last night wrapped in four blankets, huddled shivering on the living room couch with a mug of steaming hot cocoa gripped in my almost-frozen fingers. All because I ran out of heating oil. Long story. It is yet another drama in home-ownership.*Sigh* I believe my thermostat read 49 degrees. SO COLD!!!! And cold is misery. And there were some tears of...
Christmas season initiates the season of mystery. Because we're all Christmas shopping in preparation for giving gifts, there's alot of whispering, secrets and silent-yet-meaningful smirks. Or, if you are The Sparkly Girl, "AAAAAH, I bought your Christmas present today!!! I'm SO EXCITED! Now I just have to see if you have it already... YAY!!!" Haha. Her eyes fairly exploded with glittery excitement! Hilarious...
At risk of seeming self-absorbed, I’m gonna do my version of the Internet tagging phenomenon, “Four Things.”Four things I did (yesterday)…1- Had a surprise visit from The Sparkly Girl at my workplace. She laughed, showed me her Christmas presents, looked at the cool fish and sometimes runaway crab and then I took her home.2- Danced in the kitchen with one adorable niece while...
"O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show...
I'm gonna try not to be long-winded. This might be the longest weekend-in-review ever because it is Thanksgiving Weekend In Review. Enough introductions though: Let's get this party started!!Wednesday night: It seemed like everybody and their brother was travelling for Thanksgiving, so we had a really small youth group meeting. Eh--no meeting, I just took 'em out for pizza and we talked about...
These burdens are too heavyFor the weakness of myself.I cry unto the LordFrom whence cometh my help!Lift up these eyesFrom the hopelessness From the helplessnessFrom the circumstanceLift up these eyes to seeChrist-my help! my King!Many times there are circumstances beyond my control and they are like colossal weights bearing down on me. I feel overcome and weary. And truth is--all I need is...
Lowlights: A puppy accident, people situations and an oil leak. The details just make me sad, so I'm choosing not to dwell on them. Onward to happier things…Highlights:Dinner with the youth girls, with real china and glasses and talking and laughing (very hard) about who-knows-what. I think there may have even been a candle in the mix… I love cooking for people! Home-cooked...
John Wesley said, "Before I preach love, mercy and grace, I must preach sin, Law and judgment." Wesley later advised a friend, "Preach 90% Law and 10% grace.”Charles Spurgeon said, “They must be slain by the Law before they can be made alive by the gospel!"Preaching the Law in accurate proportion to grace gives us a true perception of the Gospel. It makes...
Penny candy from the corner storeBaseball games with the neighborhood kidsCatching (and smashing) lightning bugsPlaying in the clubhouseOur custom two room-with-a-hallway sandboxEating honeysuckle & swingin' on the porchStrawberry picking!Long hikes and bike rides… with DaddyThe tire swing!The one time we built a massive football helmet out of snow. :)Playing piano with the doors and windows flung open and summer breezes…The Buttercream Gang song...
I don't remember my weekend. Now that I have sufficiently freaked you out... Just kidding!! After every weekend, I have to make a conscious effort to remember everything that happened. Maybe I have a poor memory. Or maybe I'm just running 'round like crazy and need to chill a little bit. Hmmm. Food for thought.Friday was ice skating with the youth group. I'll...
Got any rivers you think are uncrossable?Got any mountains you can't tunnel through?God specializes in things thought impossibleAnd He will do what no other power can do...This is an old chorus that I learned on Sunday morning. And there were tears in my eyes. Because this past week has been such a lesson in faith. Faith to move mountains that seemed impossible. It...
Here Follow Several Occasional Meditations by Anne BradstreetBy night when others soundly slept,And had at once both case and rest,My waking eyes were open keptAnd so to lie I found it best. I sought Him whom my soul did love,With tears I sought Him earnestly;He bowed His ear down from above.In vain I did not seek or cry.My hungry soul He filled with...
Yesterday afternoon, I was out and about, stopping at a store for a few things. As I walked through the parking lot, I happened to look up! The sky was clouded over and dark, but to my left—glorious light was streaming through!“Will Jesus come in clouds like these?” With that thought, I stood motionless—transfixed at the sight of shining glory clouds. Lost in...
I like to do the weekend in review a little different. Gotta break up the monotony, ya know."Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittensBright copper kettles and warm woolen mittensBrown paper packages tied up with stringsThese are a few of my favorite things..."Some of my favorite things were wrapped up in my weekend with a nice bow! :) Laughing time with The Little...
Many of you know that it was my birthday recently. Birthdays are grand!!!! The infamous question is, "Sooooo... whadya get?" :) Yeah, I did receive some presents. But my favorite-est gifts are the actions of love.It’s love when somebody remembers that my favorite cake is carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. It’s love when somebody sees an unused garden bench resting on curb...
"For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers."1 Timothy 4:10There were many emotions running through my heart last night. Anger, disappointment, sadness, frustration, and more hopelessness... But the Word always brings balance. While the election may be over, our fight of faith...
The media claims this election is historic... for racial reasons. I believe this election is historic... for moral reasons. And though I strongly encourage you to vote, and to vote based on morality, I want to insert a little bit of balance of the passionate discussion of politics.It is tempting to view this election in black-and-white (and no, that is not a racial...
I need to be Superwoman... Give me a cape and the ability to fly, and life would be so much simpler. Or maybe just super-human powers. I think that's what grace is supposed to be like. As God works in our lives, He gives us power to do things that we couldn't do by ourselves. Lately my thoughts have tended towards "too much...
I love the poems of Amy Carmichael. Sometimes the words are beyond my understanding, and sometimes I wish that I had written the words myself. Not only love but also loneliness-Yea, even so.What though the nearest may not ever knowAll that in this must be,That being a secret between Thee and me,Thou knowest. And it cannot work me ill,Being Thy will;And by and...
A.k.a. Weekend in ReviewI tried to rest. Really! I was trying to get rid of the stupid cold that has taken over my head and throat for the last few days. But life goes on... whether I am sick or not. Friday. Photography of The Sparkly Girl in the coooold. What a trooper she was. Making hot beef stew and biscuits to take...
What a week. What a long, arduous, difficult week. Internal and external turmoil. Slight affliction. Sickness in body. Struggle of soul. Financial woes. Decisions and hardship. And in the midst of it all, the Word gave several reminders to me."May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ."2 Thessalonians 3:5The Lord may not direct me...
“… For man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”1 Samuel 16:7If I could only count the number of times that someone has used this verse to justify their actions. People like to focus on the last part of this verse. “The Lord sees my heart! He knows what my intention is! I have a good heart! I...
Modesty begins with our attitude towards God.As we said yesterday, humility is one of the motives for modesty. Humility recognizes the greatness of God and the smallness of me. In the context of modesty, humility seeks that others be attracted to God, rather than attracted to me. It takes humility to purposely avoid clothing that screams “LOOK AT ME!” I know! I go...
If you ever have studied fashion—even in the most cursory way—you might notice the outrageousness that characterizes the runway shows. I have read articles about how to bring runway fashions into your normal life without looking like a freak. It made me wonder, why didn’t they just design beautiful normal clothes to begin with? Seems like a bit too much effort to me.My...
If there was a theme to my weekend, it would be a blurred sense of exhileration and frenzied activity. And I know the readers are intrigued by that thought... so here we go!Friday. Out to the mountaintop for supper with the family (steaks on the grill!!), transplanting my herbs into containers for transport, petting and talking to The Dog, packing up musical instruments,...
Here I am, offering excuses on why I didn't write the next Modesty post.On Thursday night, I stop at Walmart for a few groceries, get home and put muffins in the oven, scrub floor, hold wood while Mom uses power tools, talk to the cable salesman, carry very large bookcase from shed to the roomie's bedroom, fence the compost pile, rake my entire...
I said that the Modesty Series would return... And here it is! I've been more than a little distracted by the whole house ownership thing, with all my free time going to construction or housework or the various other ministry responsibilities of my life. And since blogging Biblically actually takes serious study, a.k.a. time., this series had to go on a little sabbatical....
Empty, We Comeby Amy Carmichael (missionary to India)O Love of loves, we have no good to bring Thee,No single good of all our hands have wrought.No worthy music have we found to sing Thee,No jeweled word, no quick up-soaring thought.And yet we come; and when our faith would falterShow us, O Lord, the quiet place of prayer,The golden censer and the golden altar,And...
Friday. High school football game with the youth group and various campus group people (including The Little Bro, who turned 19 and bought furniture for his apartment all in one day). Walking and picture-taking and joking around and saying "No, you can't play in the parking garage" to the middle school guys. Does anyone else get mental images of youth guys as roadkill...
I thought maybe my readers of this blog (whoever they are) might be interested in my new blog. I'm an aspiring photographer - or at least I try to be. Here is the link for my new blog:http://surrealityphotography.blogspot.com/Enjoy! :) ...
Sometimes I just gotta share the youth group craziness...It all started during our youth cell group meeting yesterday. The Sparkly Girl randomly tells me that she will never take me with her to a funeral. I guess she had just remembered that I deal with pain by making jokes. Somehow, jokes and dead people didn't seem like a good combination to her. Sooooo,...
All the senses of home ownership…*Sniff* Ahhh, yes, methinks there is an acrid odor. Something burning??? Oh yes, it is the plastic lampshade melting onto a hot lightbulb.Mmmmm. *Licks a spoon* Tasty!! And I couldn’t even say which recipe I loved making most… hearty Spinach Quiche, or bubbling Old-Fashioned Corn Chowder and hot biscuits, or homemade yet quick Tomato Sauce over Fettucini. I’m...
The last ten days are a blur. When I wasn't at the house, I was at work or at church or at Lowe's. Or some other building center.There was SO much that needed to be done in a short period of time. Praise God for the family of believers that helped me out whenever possible. It seemed like there were at least 10...
... or, "Things I Love about My New House"The sound of quiet waters from the nearby creek Two-story farmhouse style (good memories!)Super-nice little old ladies for neighborsA lilac bushThe cozy new paint colorsThe afternoon sunlight in my bedroomIn-town-but-not-on-a-hillside... You would have to see the town to fully appreciate this one.In-town-but-not-surrounded-by-too-many-people. After living on a mountain, towns can be quite a shock. My street...
