On This Sunday Morning...

Do You Bleed Bibline?

Charles Spurgeon:

Oh, that you and I might get into the very heart of the Word of God, and get that Word into ourselves! As I have seen the silkworm eat into the leaf, and consume it, so ought we to do with the Word of the Lord—not crawl over its surface, but eat right into it till we have taken it into our inmost parts. It is idle merely to let the eye glance over the words, or to recollect the poetical expressions, or the historic facts; but it is blessed to eat into the very soul of the Bible until, at last, you come to talk in Scriptural language, and your very style is fashioned upon Scripture models, and, what is better still, your spirit is flavored with the words of the Lord.
I would quote John Bunyan as an instance of what I mean. Read anything of his, and you will see that it is almost like the reading the Bible itself. He had read it till his very soul was saturated with Scripture; and, though his writings are charmingly full of poetry, yet he cannot give us his Pilgrim’s Progress—that sweetest of all prose poems — without continually making us feel and say, “Why, this man is a living Bible!” Prick him anywhere—his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him. He cannot speak without quoting a text, for his very soul is full of the Word of God. I commend his example to you, beloved.

On this Sunday morning, I found this in my perusing of devotional blogs. Potent don't you think? Christianity IS all about the Bible. All the coffee times, and beautiful music and fellowship is needed and great but the Bible is still the main focus.  It is God's letter to us and His guide book for our lives. If we stray from it, it is like sending our child out to do yardwork without a rake, shovel, or lawnmower. He can't do it with his bare hands. Neither can we do the work of God without the Guidebook. We are saved by His Grace alone, but He has given us His Word to help us along our journey.

Have a blessed Sunday. Focus on Christ a little harder, pick up that Bible and refresh yourself with the real thing. Take some time for prayer.

Rain and the Cozy....

Yesterday it was bright and sunny. I spent the morning wandering the neighborhood looking at leaves and blue sky....but I forgot my camera. In the afternoon we headed to my brother-in-law and his wife's cottage to close up for the winter. This time I put my camera in my purse and smiled at the thought of all the pictures I would get for my blog, but the rain came...first dull grey sky, then light rain and cold. And it has rained since. My back yard 'forest' is almost bare. The lovely golds and oranges have given way to different shades of gray and ...well, just blah. I can see the houses in the back subdivision again through the naked branches.

I do, however, want to make the best of it. I have candles burning, lovely music by Sara Groves on the CD player, good food cooking. It is cozy here. The rain is good in that it nudges me to stay in where it is warm and do things that make the house comforting and appealing for all the people that live here or pop in.

When we did our Sunday Bible time this morning, I thought about how our Christian lives are sometimes like the weather. We go through sunshine and light but God also allows us to experience times when things seem very dull and grey, when troubles come like rain, and our spiritual sky is not blue. We could wallow in the self pity of despondency, or we can seek the 'cozy'. Read the Bible more, spend extended times in prayer, listen to encouraging music. I know there are times when none of this seems enough and we need to allow a time of grief and sorrow but I mean more, the times that we can give into sin or seek the higher ground.

Next time you have a bit of a blue day spiritually, ask yourself if you can enter into the 'cozy' and become stronger because of it.

And what is a blog without pictures? So here are a few for you!

Our front porch sign

Asters. Yes these grow in my flower bed. They are my birth flower and absolutely beautiful!

....all the sumacs on the hill, have changed their green to red!

Tea anyone? I love the sun shining on my cups in the morning. Makes me want tea.

Nice smelly stuff on my coffee table.

..and a last visit to the cottage.

The gate to woods that seem endless.

Ahh, Fall

The shoes of summer soon to be replaced by socks and sneakers..

 And so it is fall! The long summer drifts away and I count it as long by the things that filled it, by the joys and hardships and busyness that stretched out every moment, but short by the time reflected back now that it has come to an end. I didn't run enough in the glorious sunshine of early morning, I didn't sit back and listen to the sounds of two growing boys riding bikes and bouncing basketballs in the driveway enough, I didn't dig enough in the earth and make my garden flourish, but there is so much I did do. Life is fleeting, life is fast, but there are memories and living that I recorded in my journal and friends were made, and fun was shared and moments are framed in time.Time has transitioned to Fall, and I am ready.

Patrick and his 48 pound pumpkin.

The stew. Officially fall!

I saw a version of this on line and made my own.

A yearly fall decoration that has several real leaves in it.

I discovered how to modge podge fall leaves here. http://gingerbreadsnowflakes.com/node/96 I know, it says snowflakes, but there is a tutorial on how to preserve fall leaves and they are beautiful and they last.

On a final note, here is one of my favorite children's hymns. Seems Fall is the most glorious time to focus on God's magnificent handiwork. Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

 All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,
each little bird that sings,
God made their glowing colors,
and made their tiny wings.

The purple-headed mountains,
the river running by,
the sunset and the morning
that brightens up the sky.

The cold wind in the winter,
the pleasant summer sun,
the ripe fruits in the garden:
God made them every one.

God gave us eyes to see them,
and lips that we might tell
how great is God Almighty,
who has made all things well.

Give Me The Summer....

Give me the summer....
Give me time to plunge deep into the river with my boys,
Give me hours to lay in the sunshine on a sandy beach.

Give me the summer....
Give me long hot car rides on days when the pavement glitters like glass,
Give me tall buildings overhead and museums.

Give me the summer....
Give me picnics and barbecues and reunions with old friends,
Give me family and solitudes.

Give me the summer.....
Give me devotional times out on the front step in the early morning,
Give me delicious grand babies and firefly evenings.

Give me the summer...
Give me long conversations and even longer books to read,
Give me tents and campfires.

Look for me in the fall. When the days grow shorter and the nights are colder,
When the school books come down off the shelf,
And the kitchen smells like stew,
I will blog again.

Summer Sounds

I woke up this morning to silence. The busy mating rituals and territorial calls of thousands of birds has stilled somewhat, and the quiet lazy mornings of summer are settling in. It has rained during the night and every thing is gray and moist. There are cars passing by on the highway but even they are muffled by the wet pavement. I love these mornings. I was out early and hoed the garden, trimmed the grapevines, and tended the flower beds. Now I sit at the computer with a cup of Cafe Lib (the coffee addiction was cured almost two years ago) and wait for the boys to wake up. The skies are ominously gray so it will be a good day for cleaning closets, washing floors and curling up with a good book.

I need to choose a good devotional book to read through too. Summer is less scheduled and I tend to let my devotional life slide a little. I read a few chapters here and there from my Bible, play some good Christian music in the morning and try to convince myself it is enough. After all, family time is important, right? But I need to seek God's face at every step of my life. I need to diligently guard my heart, nourish it, strengthen it. The boys and I are going to study Daniel over the summer. We will haul out the commentaries, listen to some sermons by John Piper (http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/by-scripture/daniel) and just plain read the book through several times. I like to take on a summer project like that. It helps keep us focused and stresses the importance of daily time in God's Word.

No pictures today. Just this.

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 

 

A Love Letter To My Children

My beautiful family

Ahh, my family. You are lovely. Each one of you a special unique gift from God. You are my first thoughts when I wake each morning. Even before the sun comes up, I lay in bed and count you like pearls on a string, and hold each of you up to God. In the evening, it is the same. I fall asleep breathing your names, one by one.

And I see you. I watch your precious faces as you live out the lives God has given you. There is so much happening just now. You are buying new homes, raising children, marrying, reaching out to others, going to school, growing up. There is so much going on.

I knew when I had seven children, that life would be busy, exciting, full, for me and for all of you...because life is like that.

So you bought the houses, and there are repairs to be made. There are walls to paint and windows to fix, plumbing to update and rooves to shingle. There are missing eavestroughs and old doors, yards to cut and sheds to repair.

There are children to tend to. Noses to wipe, meals to make, lives to shape and mold and fret over...love to bestow at all times, when they stamp their feet and when they smile up at you with their glorious shiny eyes and strawberry red lips. There are tired pregnant days to go through and morning sickness.

There are jobs to train for and work at. There are clients to loose and gain. There are long hard hours in hot weather. There are new plans to make and new experiences to try. There are new neighbors to meet and old ones to leave.

There are new churches and comfortable old churches and new and old friends. There are lives to plan and decisions to make and choices...lots of choices.

There are bikes to ride and places to go and stretching and changing to do.

There is life with all its ups and downs and turns and corners, sorrows and joys.

And it is busy...so busy.

In the midst of it all, we have an anchor. A strong solid friend who loves us at all times. In Deuteronomy 31:6 God says, "Be strong and courageous. Do not fear for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave or forsake you." Psalm 136:1 tells us, "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His steadfast love endures forever."

I know, because I have been there, that sometimes the busyness consumes you. Though you love God and long to serve Him, life gets in the way. You say a quick prayer in the morning as you run down the hall to start your day, either soothing a child, trying to get to an appointment on time, or trying to catch up where you left off the day before. You read the Word, but you don't really have time to let it sink in. You hurry to solve your own problems because you just can't wait on God.

I lost so many battles, struggled with so many tears, came up empty so often when I didn't rely on Him.

If I can give you a bit of my wisdom I've learned from my own life, I want to urge you (In the words of A.W. Tozer) to follow HARD after God. Long for Him, weave Him in and out of every corner of your lives. Let Him be the breath that sustains you, the first place you turn, the focal point of every minute of every hour of every day. Dance with Him when the days are glorious and you can't contain your joy. Cry with Him when sorrow overwhelms you. Share Him with everyone you meet, Let your lives speak His name before you even share the words. Let Him love you and comfort you and carry you.

I am so proud of all of you and who you are becoming. Your love for God is evident in all your lives.

As you pass through this journey of your own, know that I am praying for you daily. God has blessed me greatly with such special children and children-in-law, and grandchildren.

                                                                                   Love, Mom

2 Moves and a Wedding

Spring has flown by. The busyness of life has made it go that much quicker! Our children have been on the move. Two of them have changed locations. Our son and his wife and girls have relocated to the country, and our Ottawa child has moved with her husband back to our hometown. Both families are expecting a child. And last weekend, there was a wedding. One more child leaving the nest. Long grown and a big part of our daily routine, he has left a space that will seem empty for a while. But he has married a great gal.

I could post pictures. I could fill this blog with house pix and wedding snapshots and adorable photos of the grandchildren. However, each of our grown children have their own story they are writing, and although I watch and often actively participate, it is their story, not mine anymore. A new chapter, so to speak. I will keep my story more about the activities and daily living of those of us here at home.

Baltimore oriole in the woods beside our house (Photo by Patrick)

Apple blossoms (photo by Patrick)

Dandelion (photo by Patrick)

Stix, our nearly 3 year old tree frog

Our pumpkin plants

We have mysterious frogs around here that are missing yellow pigment, and look blue

Iris in my 'Wild' garden (photo by Patrick)

Buttercups (photo by Patrick)

Rob and Patrick swimming in the river (57 degrees)

My peony..first bloom in six years! (photo by Patrick)

That said, here are some pictures of spring out near our village that I have personally enjoyed.