Fish and Cans

Cranberry Bran Banana Muffins

2012-01-28T15:57:00.002-05:00

These are REALLY good. :)

Preheat oven to 400

1 egg
1 cup mashed banana
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Mix these five ingredients.
Add 1 1/2 cup 100% bran cereal - NOTE: I used bran flakes as that is what we had on hand

let it set for a while to soften the bran.

Mix the following together in a separate bowl
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Plus OPTIONAL ingredient: 1/2 cup walnuts (I did not add the walnuts as I don't much like them in food, and we don't need the extra calories). :)

Mix both bowls together until just moistened.

Set to one side 3/4 cup whole berry cranberry sauce (we used homemade)

NOW; grease your 12 cup muffin tray. Note: greasing is important for this recipe (or use paper muffin thingeys).

Spoon mix into muffin spots until half full.

Then put one tbsp of whole berry cranberry sauce on it.

Then cover that cranberry sauce with another scoop of muffin mix.

Cook for about 25 minutes. In our oven it took 27 minutes.

Then eat them. NOTE: we found them best eaten warm, though cold was fine...warm was better. :)

Day by Day - Hebrews 5:12-14

2012-01-25T07:13:00.002-05:00

Using as a base for devotions, Day by Day by Charles Swindoll.

Hebrews 5:12-14 ESV

¹² For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, ¹³ for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. ¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

And here it is in the NIV

¹² In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! ¹³ Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

I have to admit, I am so used to looking at things in context that I find myself wondering...what comes before this for him to say "for though ..."

Ah... here is verse 11 which shows why this is an issue:

¹¹ We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand.

The people the author is writing to are no longer trying to grow in their faith. They are old enough as believers to being taking in the meat of the word but all they want to do is take in the easy stuff. They are being encouraged to eat more meat!

This is the struggle isn't it?
To work out our salvation as God tells us to. We mustn't be satisfied with what we have, we must continue to hunger after the truth of God's word.

What Charles has to say: He talks about how spiritual growth needs work "it's a painstaking process that God takes us through, and it includes such things as waiting, failing, losing, and being misunderstood --each one calling for extra doses of perseverance." We need to apply what we learn into our lives.

Windows of Wisdom : Proverbs 4:20-27

2012-01-24T07:52:00.001-05:00

Today's Scripture is Proverbs 4: 20-27 ESV

²⁰ My son, be attentive to my words;
   incline your ear to my sayings.
²¹ Let them not escape from your sight;
   keep them within your heart.
²² For they are life to those who find them,
   and healing to all their flesh.
²³ Keep your heart with all vigilance,
   for from it flow the springs of life.
²⁴ Put away from you crooked speech,
   and put devious talk far from you.
²⁵ Let your eyes look directly forward,
   and your gaze be straight before you.
²⁶ Ponder the path of your feet;
   then all your ways will be sure.
²⁷ Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
   turn your foot away from evil.

I find it fascinating sometimes to read the same passage in different translations.
here is the same passage in the easy to read version

²⁰ My son, pay attention to what I say. Listen closely to my words. ²¹ Don’t let them out of your sight. Never stop thinking about them. ²² These words are the secret of life and health to all who discover them. ²³ Above all, be careful what you think because your thoughts control your life.
²⁴ Don’t bend the truth or say things that you know are not right. ²⁵ Keep your eyes on the path, and look straight ahead. ²⁶ Make sure you are going the right way, and nothing will make you fall. ²⁷ Don’t go to the right or to the left, and you will stay away from evil.

Isn't it interesting to see how different folks translate or paraphrase the same words? I do find though that one needs to be alert when reading out of different translations. Sometimes it can change the meaning of a passage and then more checking and reading is needed to discern the truth.

Enough of that though...
Listen to what this passage tells us about God's word.
1. we need to PAY ATTENTION..

that means to listen closely
to keep them in sight/in mind
to never stop thinking about them

2. be aware they are life to all who find them

and this I know is a difficult one to understand....how can words to be life? How can God's word make our lives more of a life? I know for me they give definition and purpose to what I do.

3. keep your heart with all diligence.

Hmmm.. What does that mean? Does that imply that we can control our hearts? Can we control our emotions?

4. Watch what you say.

well that one makes sense. And there is a passage, I think in the new testament that talks about what is in our hearts comes out on our lips which links these two verses doesn't it? What is in our heart comes out in our speech. I just wrote a piece on my rabbit information blog about the need to be careful how we think about animal rights people as it affects how we write and communicate with them. That would be an example of this in real life. Guard your hearts, watch your tongue.

5. Watch where you are going

in other words...don't walk looking backwards or to the side. You know the adage of where you look is where you drive...guess what.. same thing goes for life. If you want to move forward you need to look to where you want to go. Just as in rabbit breeding one develops a picture in one's head about what they want their rabbits to look like so you breed to that end. If you want to raise a child to be a certain way.. you train them to that end. If you want to be a person called after God's own heart...then look to God and his word and train yourself to that end. Walk toward what you want to be.

6. not only look to where you are going...but THINK about it. Ponder it in your heart.

If you think about where you are going you'll have a better picture in your brain about what you need to do to get there.

7. Don't wander off the path.

If you set your mind on the things of God you aught not to be going off it after things that aren't of God.
OR.. in bunny language.. if you want to breed a polish rabbit with a nice big head with eyes that pop.. well you don't go keeping the one with squinty eyes.
Keep focused on the goal and don't let other things get in your way. :)

This is at least a brief look at what I think on this passage...
And in keeping with what God has laid on my heart lately.. on how I am to trust him with my whole heart. If THAT is my end goal.. to really totally trust God.. then I need to keep my eyes on HIM. Not on the world around me with it's worries and cares...but ON HIM. Not letting myself get freaked out about the events of life and what not. My goal needs to on God.

what does Olford have to say about this passage?
"for this chapter the dominating theme is that of Discipline"
"if our lives are going to please our Father, then we must accept discipline over our hearts (v. 23), our lips (v.24),our eyes (v.25) and our feet (v.26).

2012-01-22T07:12:00.002-05:00

this made me laugh.what do you think? :)

Cod with Lemon and Dill

2012-01-21T16:36:00.000-05:00

Going to make this recipe for supper

Baked Cod with Lemon and Dill.

I'm going to play a bit since I have fresh dill not dried, and dried lemon Zest not fresh.. so we'll see how it turns out. :)

Hopefully good.

I'm going to have pasta on the side with it, and probably a salad.

The lad is going to try some of the fish, but will mostly have bacon instead of fish.

Christian Carnival - January 18, 2012

2012-01-18T15:49:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the January 18, 2012 edition of christian carnival ii.

Charles Chua C K presents All About Living With Life: 5 Ways to Live With an Attitude of Gratitude posted at All About Living with Life.

An attitude of gratitude is good for your health and happiness. How do you develop a habit of thankfulness and appreciation?

Shannon Christman (blog editor) on behalf of author Ridge Burns presents Letting Love Lead posted at Mission Blog.

I’m asking God to help me have a heart of love for people this year. I want to love them not with a “because I should do it” attitude, or an “it’s the Christian thing to do” attitude, or a “because they love me first (or well)” attitude, but with a love that is purely from God, a love that will reflect Christ in the things that I am doing and the way that I am being as I work with others, serve others, and meet them along the way.

Jason Hess presents It Is Religion That Makes Us. posted at eckSermonator.

Religion when viewed and participated in correctly is the manifestation of the unseen belief we call faith.

Joseph Lule presents Day of the Lord: Sin and Salvation posted at Day of the Lord.

What is sin?
Rom 14:23 “…..whatever is not of faith is sin.”

What is faith? It is described in Heb 11:1 that “Now faith is the essence of things being hoped, the evidence of things not having been seen”.

Chelsea Prescotti presents Mortgage Lenders Hunt Home Owners Even After Foreclosure posted at CreditScore.net, saying, "No one ever buys a home with the intention of one day losing it to foreclosure or being forced by circumstance into a short sale. Unfortunately, that is exactly the situation in which many homeowners find themselves. Financial struggles push thousands of homeowners into short sale or foreclosure every year. When the housing market collapsed in 2008-09, many found themselves upside-down in their mortgage and opted to simply walk away, leaving the bank to foreclose on the property and sell it for whatever a buyer would pay."

Chris Brooks presents Why was Jesus Rejected? posted at Homeward Bound, saying, "Examining what the Jews of Jesus' day were looking for in a Messiah."

People didn't know what to do with Jesus. Some people accepted Him for a while, then turned against Him. Some rejected Him from the beginning, Even those that followed Him to the end didn't respond well to his execution and didn't expect His resurrection - despite the fact that they'd been warned.

Isabel Anders presents The Faces of Friendship | BlogHer posted at BlogHer, saying, "That there is something about earthly friendship which, like an icon, invites us to see through it into sacred dimensions."

I chose the book’s title, The Faces of Friendship, and the publisher kept it, which is not always the case. I intended it to function in two ways, the first of which is the literal sense, which these wonderful faces on the cover of the new edition show—how friendship is mediated from person to person.
But the first edition of the book, with its icon of St. Ann and St. Joachim embracing, provided a sense of the second meaning: That there is something about earthly friendship which, like an icon, invites us to see through it into sacred dimensions—into the many faces or facets of friendship as sacrament.

Chris Price presents Catholics, Evangelical Protestants, and a Shift in Presidential Politics posted at American Church History.

The evangelical voters considered Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Perry. The very fact that they chose Santorum shows a significant shift in American Protestant politics over the past few decades.

Dan Lower presents To Men Who Style Themselves Chivalrous posted at keyboard theologians, saying, "In which I speculate that the first place a truly chivalrous man ought to make his stand is his own mind."

Chesterton said that fairy tales describe what sane men do in mad worlds, and modern psychological novels describe what mad men do in sane worlds. We are the heroes of modern psychological novels, we are trapped in the setting of fairy tales, and there is no hope for us but in Christ.

Annette at Fish and Cans presents Day by Day - Psalm 139.

The lad and I talked a bit about this the other day. How God ALWAYS knows us. That God knew we would get upset even before we were born, He knew that I would like bunnies and that The lad would like angry birds and lego and telling stories. That he knew that RIGHT NOW we would be eating breakfast. God knows us full well.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of christian carnival ii using our carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Day by Day - Psalm 139

2012-01-17T07:28:00.003-05:00

Using as a base for devotions, Day by Day by Charles Swindoll.

Psalm 139. You can find the whole psalm here.

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

¹ You have searched me, LORD,
and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
you, LORD, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
^.......
¹³ For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
......

The lad and I talked a bit about this the other day. How God ALWAYS knows us. That God knew we would get upset even before we were born, He knew that I would like bunnies and that The lad would like angry birds and lego and telling stories. That he knew that RIGHT NOW we would be eating breakfast. God knows us full well.

When I think of this in the light of how God is impressing upon my heart that depth of what it means to trust him... I feel VERY secure. Perhaps for the first solid thinking as an adult time in my life I am starting to feel VERY secure in God's love. Knowing how bad I can be within myself. Knowing the God knows that and for some strange reason loves me none the less. It kinda blows my mind.

It's like my hubby loves me even when I'm a jerk at times.
It's like my son loves me even though I fail him at times.
God loves me MORE....but he uses my family to show that to me at times.

God is SO infinitely more. And he calls loudly...trust me, know that I have your long term best interests at heart. Even if you have hard days, even if you aren't perfect, even if you fail, even if you make me smile.... I will love you, I will watch over you, I am always, and forever THERE.

I don't have to impress God. I don't have to make myself someone different for him. God won't reach out and surprise me, telling what I've done wrong. HE KNOWS what I've done wrong, he tells when I've done it if I'm willing to listen. ALL I need to do is live for him. To do my best for him and that's ALL he wants. I think perhaps this knowledge is too simple, and yet too big for me. :) One of those conundrums that is God.

To trust him with my everything....he knows it anyways...

What does Chuck have to say about this passage?
Chuck talks about the importance of upholding Human Dignity. How in today's clime it is so easy to lose that personal touch.
And he calls us to trust him completely.

Windows of Wisdom - Proverbs 3:1-6

2012-01-13T07:38:00.003-05:00

Today's Scripture Proverbs 3:1-6

¹My child, remember
my teachings and instructions
and obey them completely.
²They will help you live
a long and prosperous life.
³Let love and loyalty
always show like a necklace,
and write them in your mind.
⁴God and people will like you
and consider you a success.
⁵With all your heart
you must trust the LORD
and not your own judgment.
⁶Always let him lead you,
and he will clear the road
for you to follow.

When I read this verse: "Let love and loyalty always show like a necklace, and write them in your mind". I smiled. I don't know why, but it just painted a picture in my head of goodness.

Jesus died for me.
He did this out of obedience to his father who is God above. God LOVED me that he sent his son to do this for me. To bring me back to him while I was still a sinner...he did this even before I was born because he knew how much I would need him. That shows the most love and loyalty I've ever known. So for me to return that... by showing love and loyalty to others is not such a hard thing to ask is it?

Particularly if I do what the rest of these verses ask me to do.

I must remember the things God teaches me
I am to obey the teaching and instruction
I am to know that these teachings and instructions help me to live my life
I should know that my life will be long and prosperous if I remember them
I am to write these instructions on my mind.... memorize bible verses perhaps?
With all my heart I have to trust God (the Lord)
I must trust God and not my own judgement
I must always let him lead me
If I do so, he will make the road before me clear so that I can follow him.

These things I need to do. Remember, obey, commit, and trust. This is what God asks of me. All he did was all the above for me when I didn't deserve any of it. Why should it be such a difficult thing for me to do in return? All it takes is a bit of time and commitment and a whole lot of remembered focus.

This I can do, it's ALL I can do in response.

What did Olford have to say?
Olford focuses on these verses

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.

And makes these three main points

The decision to trust must be foremost in our lives - God asks for ALL our trust
The devotion to trust must be fostered in our lives - We must live the scriptures
The direction of trust must be followed in our lives - God will guide us.

Day by Day - James 4:13-17

2012-01-12T07:16:00.002-05:00

Using as a base for devotions, Day by Day by Charles Swindoll.

In james 4:13-17 (CEB) we read

¹³ Pay attention, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such-and-such a town. We will stay there a year, buying and selling, and making a profit.” ¹⁴ You don’t really know about tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for only a short while before it vanishes. ¹⁵ Here’s what you ought to say: “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ But now you boast and brag, and all such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ It is a sin when someone knows the right thing to do and doesn’t do it.

I normally read from the RSV or the ESV but I sometimes switch to the CEB - common English Bible. I find it helpful to read familiar words in a different way. Anyways, my thoughts on these verses?

my first thought is Oh! So when I say I am going to do something, if I say it without the caveat that I will do so if the Lord allows it, I am boasting? huh... never would have thought that.

God doesn't like us boasting.
God likes us to acknowledge that all that we have or are or do is all because of him.

Seems to me then that it is a good idea to remember that. To remember that my transitory life is all that God allows it to be. My goodness though.. it is so easy to forget that isn't it? So easy to make plans and forget that God is actively and intimately involved in our lives.

Kinda puts a different spin doesn't it.

For instance.. I didn't sleep particularly good last night. But God allowed that. Ergo...should I complain about it? Not really, since God knows ALL about my life. Everything. He always has my best interests at heart.

Even if I don't understand what is good about not having a lot of sleep, perhaps God is trying to tell me something about my life that I need to change and not sleeping well might just be the wake up call or perhaps the nudge I need to get myself going in a different direction?

Point to ponder eh?

Now.. what does Chuck have to say about this passage?

okay, I had to read over this devotional a few times to get what he was trying to say. He used a negative approach to make a positive suggestion and that always throws my brain for a loop. He basically suggested that we do five things which were (from a Christian perspective less than stellar)....and then asked...how much time are we wasting doing these types of things already? And after I let that sink in, it was like okay, good point. :)

Stumbling Into Grace - a book review

2012-01-11T07:39:00.003-05:00

Stumbling into Grace: confessions of a Sometimes Spiritually Clumsy Woman is a really good book. I thoroughly enjoyed readying. I read it as a devotional but could easily see it being used in a women's bible study. Real life examples, scripture, good examples of what it means, and questions to ask yourself at the end. Chapters are easily readable.

Lisa Harper will make you laugh, she'll make you think. This book is written in a conversational style so you don't feel like you are being lectured. You feel like you are just learning. Personal stories draw you in, scripture is shared, and learning occurs. Just what you want from a devotional. :)
http://www2.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Could the materials be more indepth? probably...but that's not the point of this book. The point is to make you think about how scriptures relate to your life. How you can better live for the God you serve. This is a book written by a woman, for women...though men could learn from it to. The intended audience is women.

Heartily recommend you read it yourself.

You can pick it up for yourself here.

as per booksneeze policy I put my review up on a commercial site.

For more reviews go here.

Just so you know, I received a copy of this book for free from Booksneeze.com so I could read it and review it. Cost me nothing. Did not influence my review.

Today was a day in my life

2012-01-10T20:59:00.004-05:00

So today...I once again slept in. I really have to stop doing that. Sets the whole day back too far. and leaves me no time for devotions and at night I tend to be way too distractable to have them.

But that said, it was a productive day.

Did the bunnies. All are doing well. Nicky's chocolates are growing, Bella's kits are showing their colours...looks like three chestnut, one chin/blue?, and one magpie or dilute harlequin of some sort. Biscuits girls need to move out of the cage as Biscuit is wanting to be rebred...and so she's getting techy with her kits...but I've nowhere to put them except outside and I really would rather not do that...so I'm trying to have them wait until I move out some piggies. Don't think I'll manage it though....if they were all three pounds I could just cull them out in a permanent sort of way and send them to the snake guy... he takes them starting at three pounds.... here's hoping they grow quickly.

Had breakfast. The lad did cereal, I did an egg/cheese sandwich. Learned the lad does NOT like goat cheese which of course means MORE FOR ME! :)

Did some homeschooling with the boy...you can read about that here.

Then I got all the Christmas stuff cleaned up, put away even! Took a while to do this as I couldn't locate three boxes for putting my village away. Finally had the brainstorm to look under the village for what made my 'mountain'.. voila! The missing boxes.

Got the dishes done.

Therefore the house is feeling more liveable again. Hubby dear feels better internally when the house is cleaner so I am trying hard to make more of an effort. He does often pinch in with helping with the dishes so that's a good and helpful thing.

Got the lad outside for some exercise. I'll need to put the pics of what he did. He ran around the house twice. This lad of mine makes me laugh. ONE time I chose to punish him for being not so nice in the car. Made him run around the car five times. He thought it was a hoot and excellent exercise... and therefore when I tell him he needs to get out of the house and exercise he will often run around the house until he is tired. he also tried to make snow sculptures.

Fed the lad supper...we really had a horrible lunch just had liquids and some piroulines. yeah, I know NOT a good mommy today for feeding the lad..BUT supper was good! We had tortellini, cheese, and crescent rolls. Not great, but good. He was happy and full.

After supper I got three baskets of laundry folded and put away, and took out the spring/summer wear from my closet. Hopefully tomorrow I'll see about getting my winter wear upstairs. Would be about time eh? :)

And now I'm updating the blogs, and then will hopefully watch more Serenity (Firefly) on netflix with hubby and it will all be good.

OH>.. I do need to sit down and plan tomorrow's activities with the lad. but looks like my day is running down...which is a good thing...I'm getting tired of being busy. :)

Heart of Wisdom - Proverbs Two

2012-01-06T07:03:00.003-05:00

I will be varying which book I use for devotional times. Today it's this one by Stephen Olford, called Windows of Wisdom: Devotional Studies in Proverbs.

Today, we look at Proverbs Two.

¹ My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
² making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
³ yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
⁴ if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
⁶ For the LORD gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
⁷ he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
⁸ guarding the paths of justice
and watching over the way of his saints.
⁹ Then you will understand righteousness and justice
and equity, every good path;
¹⁰ for wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
¹¹ discretion will watch over you,
understanding will guard you,
¹² delivering you from the way of evil,
from men of perverted speech,
¹³ who forsake the paths of uprightness
to walk in the ways of darkness,
¹⁴ who rejoice in doing evil
and delight in the perverseness of evil,
¹⁵ men whose paths are crooked,
and who are devious in their ways.

¹⁶ So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman,
from the adulteress with her smooth words,
¹⁷ who forsakes the companion of her youth
and forgets the covenant of her God;
¹⁸ for her house sinks down to death,
and her paths to the departed;
¹⁹ none who go to her come back,
nor do they regain the paths of life.

²⁰ So you will walk in the way of the good
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
²¹ For the upright will inhabit the land,
and those with integrity will remain in it,
²² but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.

Ah the promises in this Proverb. Oh it makes me long to follow God and his word more closely. I have SO far yet to go. God is gracious though and continues to teach me and show me his way.

But consider what one gets if one follows God and treasures up his word.

will understand the fear of the LORD
find the knowledge of God.
will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path;
for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul
discretion will watch over you
understanding will guard you
delivering you from the way of evil,

From The Lord God himself we will see that he

stores up sound wisdom for the upright
gives wisdom
gives knowledge and understanding
is a shield to those who walk in integrity
guards the paths of justice
watches over the way of his saints.

And just what is evil?

it is a way of being
men of perverted speech
forsake the paths of uprightness
walk in the ways of darkness,
rejoice in doing evil
delight in the perverseness of evil
men whose paths are crooked
devious in their ways

Those who follow after God will be delivered from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words. In other words... Evil is sneaky, it's forbidden, it seems different than what it is. These words make me think of con-men who come to us with their plans and ideas and fool us into listening to them and giving them our resources.

AND to think... if we turn to God, he'll protect us.

Does that mean that no evil will befall us? No... but it does mean that we have someone watching out for us IF we take the time to learn from him. It is active you know... learning from God. One can just say Yes! I believe in God and then think that it will all come by osmosis. It doesn't... yes we can learn much of God by seeing the world that he gave us, but really knowing God means taking the time to KNOW him. To read his word, to listen to good teachers, to meditate on it. If we do this, The Lord God himself will surely guide us.

and so God leaves us with this promise

What does Olford say?
"the Lord gives wisdom...to possess this wisdom we must fulfill certain conditions. ... we must receive God's wisdom...We must request God's wisdom...we must research God's wisdom".

The rest in this Series
Proverbs One.

Day by Day - Psalm 119:1-16

2012-01-04T06:37:00.003-05:00

Using as a base for devotions, Day by Day by Charles Swindoll.

Psalm 119:1-16(ESV)
Aleph

¹ Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD!
² Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with their whole heart,
³ who also do no wrong,
but walk in his ways!
⁴ You have commanded your precepts
to be kept diligently.
⁵ Oh that my ways may be steadfast
in keeping your statutes!
⁶ Then I shall not be put to shame,
having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
⁷ I will praise you with an upright heart,
when I learn your righteous rules.
⁸ I will keep your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me!

Beth

⁹ How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
¹⁰ With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
¹¹ I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
¹² Blessed are you, O LORD;
teach me your statutes!
¹³ With my lips I declare
all the rules of your mouth.
¹⁴ In the way of your testimonies I delight
as much as in all riches.
¹⁵ I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
¹⁶ I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.

What jumps out at me in this bible reading section?

First the build up of what a person is if they obey the Lord: blessed, blameless, steadfast, not put to shame, one who is not forsaken, taught, and delighted.

And second - how does a person do this? By guarding what they do according to the Word of God.

I was talking with a fellow homeschooler the other day about TV commercials. She mentioned she doesn't allow her children to watch them since there is too much, I'm going to use the word, garbage (though I know that's not the exact word she used) out there. I mentioned that my approach is to let him watch them but to comment on them on occasion. And generally I am purposeful about that. I'm raising a boy child.. and boys/men are very visual generally speaking and we live in a day and age where we are bombarded with all sorts of images. Some of these images glorify God and others draw us away from him. I want him to start learning discernment about what he sees and what he dwells on. By commenting on things I am hopeful that he will start to think about what he is seeing, and thereby learn to guard his path.

I find that as my boy matures I am more often pointing out scriptural things to him. I want to help develop his love for God and his desire to walk in accordance to it.

I do so want my boy to be blameless, blessed, not put to shame, and so forth when the time comes for him to stand before God. I know how weak and frail I am...and how frequently I fail. I know that God loves me dearly...but I also know how frequently I fail him. So if I can better teach my boy child how to be discerning in what he does and what he dwells on, I think I'll have done well by him in his relationship with God. He needs to learn to guard his path.

Anyways, What does Chuck have to say about this passage?

In point form Charles Swindoll's main points.
the first eight verses point out three absolutes
1. the reality of God's blessing
2. the authority of God's word
3. the necessity of God's presence

And how can we keep our life pure?
1. Seek the Lord on a regular basis
2. Treasure the truth in your heart
3. Openly tell others of Him
4. Rejoice and delight in God's working
5. Spend more of your free moment meditating on his principles
6. Give God your full respect.

Windows of Wisdom - Proverbs One

2012-01-03T06:59:00.005-05:00

I will be varying which book I use for devotional times. Today it's this one by Stephen Olford, called Windows of Wisdom: Devotional Studies in Proverbs.

This devotional goes through the Proverbs. It goes through one proverb each day. This may prove to be longer than I want to do, but there generally is value in looking at things as a cohesive unit as well. So I may look at entire proverb one day and then break it down the next time I look at it. My devotional time... my decisions right? :)

Anyways, using the ESV translation today from Bible Gateway, here is Proverbs One. It's a rather long passage, so I'll only put into my blog the verses that jump out at me. I don't know about you, but I tend not to read blogs that appear too long. :) And the link to Proverbs One so it can be read in it's entirety is right here. :)

¹ The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

² To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
³ to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
⁴ to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
⁵ Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
⁶ to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸ Hear, my son, your father's instruction,

and forsake not your mother's teaching,
⁹ for they are a graceful garland for your head
and pendants for your neck.

²⁰ Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
in the markets she raises her voice;
²¹ at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
²² “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate knowledge?
²³ If you turn at my reproof,
behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;
I will make my words known to you.

This passage calls us to want to be wise...and true wisdom comes from God. It warns us what will happen if we ignore the call to wisdom. I am hopeful that by choosing to homeschool our lad that we will help him choose the path of wisdom, to follow that call God has on his life. I am hopeful that over the course of this year that I will seek wisdom more often. Being wise... hmm... now that is a goal to seek after is it not? :)

What does Olford have to say?
he points to verse 7: ⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

what does the fear of the Lord mean? It means that you are aware of how wrong you have been. That you see how holy God is. It's not a "I'm running all afeered, scared type of thing" It's a "wow God, you are so good and I'm so not there". This fear is a GOOD thing. It brings a person to a place where they can begin to learn and grow and change and become more than what they merely are.

But there are those who don't want learn and grow and change. Who merely want to be what they are. These folks the bible calls foolish. And it is indeed foolish to not want to look beyond yourself. To not see there is something more infinite out there.

The author calls us to face this fact....do you want to be wise OR... do you want to be a fool?

I'll choose the path of wisdom....won't you join me?

Psalm 108

2012-01-02T07:52:00.003-05:00

Using as a base for devotions, Day by Day by Charles Swindoll.

I often don't like using devotionals as frequently what someone else gets out of a text I don't...and frequently the text has nothing to do with what the person is talking about except in a generic sense. That I just find annoying. So I'll see how this one goes. :)

Psalm 108 (CEV)
¹Our God, I am faithful to you

with all my heart,

and you can trust me.

I will sing

and play music for you

with all that I am.

²I will start playing my harps

before the sun rises.

³I will praise you, LORD,

for everyone to hear;

I will sing hymns to you

in every nation.

⁴Your love reaches higher

than the heavens,

and your loyalty extends

beyond the clouds.

⁵Our God, may you be honored

above the heavens;

may your glory be seen

everywhere on earth.

⁶Answer my prayers

and use your powerful arm

to give us victory.

Then the people you love

will be safe.

⁷Our God, from your holy place

you made this promise:

"I will gladly divide up

the city of Shechem

and give away Succoth Valley

piece by piece.

⁸The lands of Gilead

and Manasseh are mine.

Ephraim is my war helmet,

and Judah is my symbol

of royal power.

⁹Moab is merely my washbasin,

and Edom belongs to me.

I shout with victory

over the Philistines."

¹⁰Our God, who will bring me

to the fortress

or lead me to Edom?

¹¹Have you rejected us?

You don't lead our armies.

¹²Help us defeat our enemies!

No one else can rescue us.

¹³You are the one

who gives us victory

and crushes our enemies.

Wow....this is an interesting Psalm to read isn't it?

The promise that David gives to God.

The plea for help...for God to act in the best interests of his people.

I kind of feel like David right now, promising God that I will rise early and "start playing my harps". Granted, if I did that literally in my household it would engender a fair amount of annoyance! :) Even if my harp was the keyboard. But I do want to start having a regular, accountable devotion time. j

I do want to more deliberately have to take time to say God...this is who I am, and yes, I know that God already knows who I am but it different if you take the time to say it. To take that time to deliberately say to God that I KNOW WHO YOU ARE! Meaning to take that deliberate time to praise him and to thank him for what he does in my life. And with that to also deliberately take the time to say God, this is where I need your action in my life. To be able to say GOD.. I love you and I praise you and I want my boy child to grow up to love and praise you. I want my hubby to have a knee what works well for him. I need you to guide my days.

David promises much to God in this Psalm and he expects at lot from God as well. He wants to see God in action on behalf of his people.

I want to see God do much on behalf of my people as well. My church... To shake it up, to make it want to do more. My family... to see them all grow in the knowledge and Love of God, to see my hubby healed of his bum knee. I want my Dad to have a decrease in the pain he suffers daily. I want to see this community changed by the Love of God. I want much. But I have to admit....I'm a bit afeared by what the wanting much would me for me.

Charles Swindoll says "you will have to change...and that won't come easily". I don't always welcome change. Change can be alarming. Change can also be life-affirming. So I wonder what change God might have in store for me.

Christ-centered Christmas

2011-12-22T19:23:00.005-05:00

I was supposed to review this last week or the week before but my back went out on me and made everything a great deal more difficult. Melanie graciously gave me more time to get to it. Thank you by the way. :)

Anyways, it's called "Christ-centered Christmas". I'll have to get Mel to tell me where folks can purchase it. ah no need for that.. amazing what a simple search on Google will net a body.. You can purchase it here for $6. :) A good deal by the way, the sheer amount of information packed into this ebook makes the $6 well spent.

now.. What is this "Christ-centered Christmas" e-book all about?

It is a guide to celebrating Christmas from a Christ based perspective. :)

This guide talks about decorating, food, advent, Christmas, and more. It has songs in it that are good for caroling. I have to admit, I thought it was a nice touch to include links to where you can here the carol played...helpful for those who might not know a given carol. Christmas baking WITH an ingredient list (makes it easier to do that shopping). :) She talks about her families' delight in a big dinner on Christmas Eve, complete with menu and recipes. She VERY briefly talks about Santa Claus and her reasons why her family has chosen what they do in regards to Santa. Have to admit, her reasoning resonates with me and is similar to my approach.

This whole ebook is a sharing on one families Christmas experience with others. It is well-written, it talks about more than just this particular family does things, but the focus is on what they do, and how they work hard at making the Christmas season a meaningful one focused on the real reason for the season.

If you want tons of good recipes, like caroling, and want to see how another person has worked through the Christmas season from a godly perspective, get this book. It will indeed be an aid to you.

Open House Preparations

2011-12-15T22:41:00.007-05:00

in Preparation for our Annual Open House on Saturday, December 17, the lad and I did some baking.

we had a good time, and the transformers joined us in the baking. Sometimes they needed to be reminded that flour and sugar weren't so good for transformer joints, but for the most part they kept us well entertained with their antics. We frequently had cat supervisors who would rapidly disappear when the transformers noticed those aliens!

I wanted to make these, but well.. that didn't work so I ended up making logs instead.
see our logs?
the lad had a lot of fun making them.
We also made papernouten (not sure on the proper dutch spelling).

Here's how to make them.

Beat three eggs until frothy
add 1 cup white sugar and 1 cup brown sugar (packed) Beat until very light and fluffy about 5-6 minutes. Set aside.

Mix together the following: (if you don't want them as strong tasting, cut the spice ingredient amounts in half)
2 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp pepper
1.5 tsp grated lemon rind ...or add some lemon juice to the eggs and sugar mix
1/2 cup ground almonds

Mix together the wet and dry ingredients. It is a VERY dry mix.

What I find works best is to ball different amounts together until it kinda sticks together. Then take 1/4 of each ball, dip it in a wee bit of water and play with it until it becomes really pliable. Then form it into a thin rope about 1/2 inch in diameter. Cut into bite-sized chunks (about 1/2 inch) and then cook in preheated 325 degree oven for 15 minutes (until lightly browned)
we made chocolate chip cookies...mommy... I like them!
and last but definitely not least we made gingerbread men!
well okay... let me be accurate here... the only gingerbread men we made are the ones I insisted on..the rest was cats, bunnies and hogs.

in progress,

all cooked

christian carnival is posted

2011-12-15T08:43:00.000-05:00

over at beyond belief.

it's not a particularly big one.

Christmas Fun

2011-12-14T19:46:00.000-05:00

unscramble if you can...

1. srtee
2. okigncts
3. ldiyaoh
4. kioeosc
5. hrstiasmc
6. sghtil
7. tha
8. wnoanms
9. etsnper
10. fitg
11. lalsbnwos
12. sracd
13. eivg
14.osnw
15. oalrp erab

Love insists not on its own way

2011-10-26T06:30:00.003-04:00

From 1 Corinthians 13 we read: 4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;6it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8Love never ends.

Love does not insist on its own way.

This is something that we are working on as a family. Learning that love is not selfish.
Love doesn't yell when it doesn't get its own way.
Love doesn't say "I want what I want regardless of what you think about it".
Love doesn't say "I can interrupt you even if you are talking".
Love listens.
Love finds a way to communicate clearly.
Love cares enough to help the wounded.
Love cares enough to do the dishes, wash the floor, mow the lawn without arguing or complaining about it.
Love cares enough to teach one's child at home, this despite the insecurities it brings.
Love cares enough to do laundry at 1000 p.m. at night even if one is tired.
Love cares enough to be the main bread winner in a household.
Love holds, hugs, dies to self, wipes tears, cuddles close, disciplines, and so much more.

Love DEMANDS something of us. If it didn't, would it truly be love?

Love is so much more than we do on a regular basis and needs to be more.

God sent his son to DIE for ME. Me.. a sinner, separated from his holiness. And yet he chose to do this for me.
Jesus willingly died for me. It was NOT an easy decision, not an easy thing for him to do, and yet, he chose to take my place on that cross because I as a sinner, am guilty of all the wrong things that happen. And yet, he DIED for me.

Can I not, extend a bit more of myself for those around me? Is that too much to ask?

Previous in this series
These words keep running through my head..
Love is patient.
Love is kind.
Love does not envy.
Love does not boast.
Love is not arrogant.
Love is not rude.

Christian Carnival ii - October 12, 2011

2011-10-12T05:48:00.004-04:00

quite a long list of submissions today. There were two that I didn't include as they didn't seem to fit the profile of "Christian" blogger. I don't see Christ ever mentioned on your site, it's not particularly Christian then.

Annette presents Love is not rude posted at Fish and Cans.

when I think of rudeness I think of someone who says or does something without regard for the other person. For instance: a person the butts into line.

Chelsea Childress presents A Security, A Surrender posted at An Arrow in the Making.W

hat was so hard for her was that the car was out of her control. Something that she typically had full reign over was now in the hands of someone else, someone inexperienced. And that made her fearful.

Ridge Burns presents Preaching posted at Ridge's Blog at InFaith.

Preaching – it is a big deal and a heavy responsibility, but it provides great joy.

David R Wells presents Half-Calorie Christianity posted at Revelation 3:10 - Blog.

It seems to me that these half calorie Christian leaders are treating the Bible like the old saying of “take the good and leave the bad.” That is very dangerous. The Bible is full of instructions and they are all meant to be followed.

Rick Smith presents No Quick Fix posted at InFaith's Mission Blog.

Though these very practical matters may be of help in some cases, I think I’ve been missing the mark.

Sarah presents The Lovebook posted at This is what Sed said.

It's strange that something so small as writing an encouraging post about someone on Facebook has turned into such a spiritual battle for me.

Michael Cooke presents The "Big Business" of Church posted at Michael Cooke.

Living in today's society, we are constantly bombarded by marketing ploys from every business everywhere. It is inevitable. Everything from shoes to jeans to toys to literally everything has advertisement and marketing ploys to try and get you to buy their product. But since when did the House of God become the House of Big Business?

Chris Price presents Perry, Romney, and Mormonism posted at American Church History.

However, this brings up another question. Is there any reason that Mormonism should disqualify Romney from being president?

Rebecca LuElla Miller presents What Are We Saying posted at A Christian Worldview of Fiction.

But someone may well point out that some things, some people don’t deserve to be blessed. Actually that isn’t true.

True Stillwater presents Unanswered Prayers posted at Letters, Messages, and Prayers.

When life is shaky and everything is falling apart, the answers to my prayers always tell me to keep the faith…keep believing… know that I’m not alone

Kaleb presents The Most Important Relationship of All posted at W2W Soul.

In the midst of all our significant relationships, which require a lot of time, love and attention, what is the most important relationship of all? And, how do we nurture that relationship?

Brandon Peters presents Points of Authority posted at INSPIKS.

Prophets and even he whom Jesus was closest to (John), those who had lives probably far holier than any of ours, cowered when they saw God.

Carl presents Do Your Economic Duty: Get Married, Stay Married, and Have Kids! posted at Theological Pursuit.

The report, entitled "The Sustainable Demographic Dividend, What Do Marriage and Fertility Have to Do with the Economy?", give four conclusions from the analysis:

Zowada presents Christians are too desperate for growth. posted at Zowada Blog.

No matter how bad it hurts me, I must be open and honest with where I am at spiritually, even if it means disappointing the leadership over me, because guess what, my desire should be to truly change, not impress.

Dave Taylor presents One thing we lack. OK, there's three or four other things ... posted at Letters from another life.

But it's also working because it works. Being faithful to obey the Lord produces real change, not just a new set of beliefs.

Jennifer in OR presents For by the grace given me posted at Diary of 1.

I’ve always hastened over this verse that begins the introduction to the gifts, but I’d like to take a closer look.

Jeff presents Yom Kippur: A Reason for Christians to Celebrate posted at ReturningKing.Com.

Yes, you read the title correctly. To many, Yom Kippur is merely a foreign word that appears on our Outlook calendar each year. It seems that most believers do not even know what it, where it came from or most certainly what it represents. Yom Kippur is a good reminder of just how much rich heritage of the faith gets lost for modern Gentile believers. Because we do not serve the Mosaic requirements for Holy Days each year, we miss the richness of the Old Testament Feasts; each of which point to and are fulfilled by our Messiah, Jesus, in some way.

Stephen Bagasao presents The Death of Steve Jobs: The Real Story posted at Stephen Bautista Music.

The death of Steve Jobs has spawned numerous stories about his life and legacy, but there's a much deeper, pressing story to tell.

Maryann Spikes presents Questions Jesus Asked posted at Ichthus77.

I love how Jesus used questions to get people to think for themselves.

Michael S. Pearl presents About 'Militant Modern Atheism' and Religion posted at The Kindly Ones.

The submitted blog starts from Philip Kitcher's paper, "Militant Modern Atheism", in a discourse through the vacuousness of militant atheism to the nature of the religious sense. Although dismissed by Kitcher, this religious sense or awareness should not be ignored by secular humanist projects such as Kitcher's where the goal is to make religion redundant.

Melanie Grant presents Is that screen taking over his life? posted at Mel's Mouthful on Mothering.

Boys are getting a really bad rap at the moment - not without cause. Many parents seem to be cultivating a screen-based lifestyle whether it is their intention or not.

Josh presents Words of Encouragement: 30 Short Uplifting Quotes posted at What Christians Want To Know.

Here is a collection of quotes that I hope will encourage you.

Love is not rude

2011-10-10T06:47:00.003-04:00

rude (rd)
adj. rud·er, rud·est
1. Relatively undeveloped; primitive: a rude and savage land; a rude agricultural implement.
2.
a. Being in a crude, rough, unfinished condition: a rude thatched hut.
b. Exhibiting a marked lack of skill or precision in work: rude crafts.
c. In a natural, raw state: bales of rude cotton.
3.
a. Lacking the graces and refinement of civilized life; uncouth.
b. Lacking education or knowledge; unlearned.
c. Ill-mannered; discourteous: rude behavior.
4. Vigorous, robust, and sturdy.
5. Abruptly and unpleasantly forceful: received a rude shock.

Focusing of course on the interpersonal aspect of being rude

a. Lacking the graces and refinement of civilized life; uncouth.

b. Lacking education or knowledge; unlearned.

c. Ill-mannered; discourteous: rude behavior.

So if Love is not rude, what is it, especially in regard to interpersonal relationships.

Love is refined, not uncivilized. So not like the conan the barbarian thing! Sorry folks that's what comes to mind for me. Love wants MORE from us. We need to think more and act less. To truly check ourselves.

This is something that we are working on with our son.
THINK. Now.. are you acting in a way that shows love?
is hitting mommy because you are angry showing mommy that you love her?
Is throwing the kitten because he was bad teaching him that you love him?

Love learns. In the context of the definition this would be educational learning, but think about it, can you truly show love to someone if you haven't learned abit about them? So learn who your fellows about you are. Learn so that you can love them.

This to is something I am trying to teach our boy.
Son.. I KNOW that you like it when I read to you in a fun voice.
Because mommy knows this she does her best to do it.
Mommy LIKES making you smile because she loves you.

Love is not discourteous, thinking only of itself. Love considers the needs of others.

This is a bit harder to teach a lad.
he is STILL so very self-centered.
It is indeed a continuing work in progress.
But then again, it's a continuing work of progress in myself.

So knowing that love is kind, love is patient, love is content with what they have, Love simply acts without calling attention to itself, and love is humble, what does it mean to say that love is courteous?

is it just a continuation of the theme that Love does not put itself before others?
the love is indeed following the path of Christ? The way to God himself?

Consider this: Jesus showed ALL this love for us when he died for us.
God showed ALL this love for us when he sent his son to die.

God could have been impatient, angry, selfish and what not. But he chose to remain true to his promise to us.

This tells me that as I learn more and more how to be a more loving person, the more and more I am becoming who God wants me to be. A person who follows after his own heart.

I KNOW I have a long way to go to be what he truly wants me to be. But when I see the list of what love truly is... isn't that a better thing?

Previous in this series
These words keep running through my head..
Love is patient.
Love is kind.
Love does not envy.
Love does not boast.
Love is not arrogant.

A pic for a sick church member

2011-10-07T14:06:00.000-04:00

the lad drew this for a sick church member.

Yesterday Productive

2011-10-05T07:51:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was one of the better days I've had in a spell. As some of you know I've been battling fatigue and feeling frantic in my head all the time. That feeling is still there but it's not as intense currently. It's doing a VERY good job of making me "not feel comfortable in my own skin".

On Tuesdays The lad and I do art and science. We also read. Makes for a relaxing day. We fill in the gaps with other things as well, but for the most part we make it a fairly relaxing day. This is important as Mondays are normally a rather busy, rather long day.

Yesterday we invited Renee and her children over to join us. The plan initially was to do some art science and then go for a nature walk. The children REALLY wanted to play with the bunnies so I had some out on the lawn and told them to go to it. :) We had an excellent time together.

Before they arrived I cut up the apples and got them to stewing for making applesauce. This caused us to become inundated with yellow jackets.

ERGO>>> I built some yellow jacket traps with the lad, hubby and I sprayed my bedroom which was loaded with yellow jackets, and we had a bit of a "ACK!!! THERE ARE YELLOW JACKETS IN THE HOUSE" freak out for a moment. It did give Renee's oldest child the opportunity to practice killing them though. :)

One such trap: here the lad is checking that it is working. it is. there are six of them floating in it.

We have another set up close to where one of the nests is as well... and it has a bunch floating in it as well. I HATE yellow jackets they are dangerous around the bunnies as well.

After we were done school for the day I went out and picked grass for the rabbits and had a visit with our neighbour. They are filling their days with painting right now. The lad came over to bug us and then started stealing my grass! He certainly likes to tease a body.

I got pictures of ALL the bunnies taken...now I need to get them onto my websites. I'm in process of building a new one. Here's the old one and here's the new one. If you have a moment can you tell me what you think? I want to make the new site highly informative and yet keep it as friendly as my old site is. What I like in the weebly one is that I can make drop down menus. What I dislike in weebly is I haven't figured out how I can put multiple pictures into one on "box". So far I can only put one in which I find bothersome. It is SO easy to do with the webs site. Does anyone know how to do that with weebly? put multiple pictures in one 'box"? thanks for helping if you do. :)

I also managed yesterday to get most of the laundry finished and put away. On Sunday I had opened the linen closet and said "oh, something stinks". (and yes I know, not the best way to rest on the Lord's day). Tracked it down to the comforters and what not in the bottom (I had started at the top because that's where it seemed to originate from). None the less the linen closet is now well organized and the smelly linens are washed! Certainly made of a pile of laundry to get through....

Believe God's Promises

2011-10-05T07:49:00.001-04:00

This is a poster that is free to download. You can find it here.

HT: to Practical Pages.

Love is not arrogant

2011-09-27T06:02:00.002-04:00

(ăr'ə-gənt)
adj.
Having or displaying a sense of overbearing self-worth or self-importance.
Marked by or arising from a feeling or assumption of one's superiority toward others: an arrogant contempt for the weak. See synonyms at proud.

So I'm right...it's a "I'm better than you are attitude."

Now I find that arrogance can come off in a snobbish sort of way, but it that all that arrogance is?

Romans 12: 3 tells us

³For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

We are not to be arrogant, doesn't say we can't take pride in what we do, but taking pride in what we do is NOT the same as arrogance unless you think ONLY YOU can do it that well. OR that since you did that so well YOU ARE THE BOMB! You aren't. No one is.

God wants us to be a thinking, caring people. He doesn't want us to be so full of ourselves that there isn't room for others.

This is something we are attempting to teach our son. Why are you screaming? Oh... you want us to do something. Hmm... why? Are you being selfish right now? Only wanting what you want? Why? Have you thought about what mommy and daddy want too?

It is hard you know, to take that time, to work at being a thinking, caring person. To be sober in our judgements. It means that we are stopping to think through our actions. It means that we aren't just running through life but carefully considering it.

But it is important to not just run through life, to realize that we aren't "where it's at". GOD is actually where it is at and our actions need to reflect on him.

Previous in this series
These words keep running through my head..
Love is patient.
Love is kind.
Love does not envy.
Love does not boast.

Mostly a lovely day

2011-09-24T18:24:00.003-04:00

If I take away a dead kit, and a doe who had trouble kindling this morning I had a good day.

Out to trivett memorial church's harvest party. The lad went on bouncy air things, rode electric vehicles, built a high building out of blocks with another lad. I got a fair bit of gardening done and killed a whack of yellow jackets. Went back to the harvest party to watch Dufflebag theatre (they did beauty and the beast).

So I spent time with family and was productive as well. That spells for me a good day. :)

will add pics once the lad is in bed. :)

Mac and Cheese

2011-09-23T17:26:00.001-04:00

Trying a new recipe tonight.

Homemade Mac and Cheese

Rated:

Submitted By: Judy

Photo By: Linda

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Cook Time: 30 Minutes

Ready In: 50 Minutes

Servings: 4

"For rich, warm comfort food start with a simple roux of butter and flour. Add milk and sharply flavored Cheddar and Parmesan cheeses to make a velvety sauce, then bake with macaroni. Buttered breadcrumbs and a dash of paprika make an attractive crust."

INGREDIENTS:

8 ounces uncooked elbow macaroni

2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 cups milk

1/4 cup butter

2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 pinch paprika

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Cook macaroni according to the package directions. Drain.
2.	In a saucepan, melt butter or margarine over medium heat. Stir in enough flour to make a roux. Add milk to roux slowly, stirring constantly. Stir in cheeses, and cook over low heat until cheese is melted and the sauce is a little thick. Put macaroni in large casserole dish, and pour sauce over macaroni. Stir well.
3.	Melt butter or margarine in a skillet over medium heat. Add breadcrumbs and brown. Spread over the macaroni and cheese to cover. Sprinkle with a little paprika.
4.	Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Serve.

Printed from Allrecipes.com 9/23/2011

baking soda and vinegar?

2011-09-23T06:39:00.002-04:00

My cousin over at Jazzy Mamma mentioned cleaning her hair with baking soda and vinegar.

Quotes:

The very first time that I used baking soda (about a tablespoon dissolved in 8oz of water) I was totally amazed at how soft and shiny my hair was. And I was able to comb it while wet without any tugging on tangles! I was really impressed.

and

Specifically, apple cider vinegar. Two tablespoons in 8oz of water.

I used it 3 days in a row and now my hair is shiny and clean. And my scalp feels refreshed the way cucumbers make your tired eyes feel refreshed. Awesome.

Go to her post to read the fill between the lines... but inspires me to give it a shot. :) Got to be better than having an itchy scalp occasionally and needing to switch shampoos because my scalp says "nuts to this". Though what I'm using currently works...but I'm starting to occasionally get an itchy scalp again.

Busy busy day

2011-09-22T21:13:00.008-04:00

Started off with caring for three sick bunnies. I'm all out of probiotics now so we'll have to see how they deal with life. It will be a spell before I can find new probiotics in a form easily administered to bunnies so we'll have to see how they do. I don't want to lose them but I have learned that fighting with young kits is pretty much a losing battle. So I'll offer all sorts of supportive care and let their systems sort things out.

Had the joy of holding Mr. Snuggle Butt.
This young fellow is the sweetest most in your face little bit of loving that you'll ever meet. In another week or so he'll be ready to start looking for someone to snuggle up with. :)

Did homeschooling with the lad this morning. It went well for the most part though he does like to whine about doing copywork. :) Instead of getting upset about it I went up stairs and chuckled about it.

Then the lad practiced being an archaelogist. I joined him for a while, and daddy joined him for a while. It was all good. I thought it was cute at one point. "Mommy, when I play digging, am I learning anything? Is it like being in school when I'm playing?" I said "yes, buddy, it is like being in school. You are learning to look carefully through the dirt to find the red clay (red brick bits). You are learning not to stab mommy in the hand (so you are paying attention to your surrounding). You are learning to work with mommy at something. AND you are being an archaelogist because you are finding things that got buried!" He was quite happy and content by that. :)that implement... a pick axe!

he is managing to find his red clay treasures.

I got the front lawn mowed. Spent time with the lad. Got the back yard mowed. Dug with the lad. Removed a variety of things from the garden. Dug with the boy. Did more garden clean up. Then discovered we had a HUGE ant problem. So put ant drops on two nests. Hubby was home from visiting so he raided all the visible ants to death. AND THEN I discovered where the yellow jackets were coming from and that killing them required a different sort of weapon than what we had. So off to Canadian Tire to pick up some more insecticide. WOOT WOOT! No more yellow jackets. No more ants coming in the house. I am one HAPPY woman!

Carrots, peppers, squash and tomatoes.
I brought the ripe tomatoes in the house.
The greens will sit out for a bit.

Cleaning the House

2011-09-21T06:42:00.004-04:00

A while back I decided I was tired of letting the house get away from me.

NOT being a person who is naturally clean and tidy, and NOT being a person who loves to clean, I decided that perhaps making a list of what needs doing would be a good idea. Flylady proved of some assistance. She has detailed cleaning lists. :) Mind, you need to modify them for your own use though.

Did you know that sometimes making a list is a good idea? Go figure! it is!

I have some daily goals which are always getting met because sometimes life gets in the way.

My daily goals

Dishes
Kitchen table
All toys tidied in living room/dining room
NOTHING in kitchen that doesn't belong there
Sweep floors

Dishes and the cat box are almost always done.
Now that the kitchen has been well cleaned doing the floors daily should be more possible, the making sure there's nothing in the kitchen that doesn't belong there well...that will take some continued effort. :) Good thing there's three of us in this household so perhaps we can manage it one of these days. :)

I also made household cleaning tasks up.
thus far I've managed to clean...the front porch, the kitchen (mostly), the upstairs bathroom, the guest bedroom (mostly), the garage was given a once over as well as the basement. I got the hall way done but it needs doing again.

I've the living rooms to do, the main bedroom, the bookroom AGAIN, the linen closet and the lad's room. I hope to do the lad's room biweekly but time will tell. :)

AND THEN>>>>
I even made up a list of things to do before winter.

Plant lettuces for the fall DONE
Finish bookroom
Patio stones – put in place
Dig up the front garden
Dig up the side garden – remove as many perennials as possible.
Dig up the corner perennial garden - put in the perennials from the side garden
Build a shelf/rack for the rabbitry
Winterize the trailer
Dig up potatoes DONE
Freeze beets DONE
Do up some more applesauce and apple butter
Make some pie filling
Remove TV from basement DONE
Clean garage DONE mostly tools and bench need cleaning but that's where hubby dear needs to assist to prevent complaints of "WHERE DID YOU PUT THIS". :)
Clean basement DONE
Put lawnmower in rabbitry for the winter
Get snowblower ready for winter - Hubby's job

So I am making progress. Thought I'd put it here so I can keep updating it. Looks good to see that I am indeed making progress. Life is good. Hubby is patient and kind and sometimes helpful in the process. Once I give the house a good going over I'm going to start making a chore chart so that together we can hopefully maintain it. :)

Loves Does Not Boast

2011-09-21T06:38:00.003-04:00

To glorify oneself in speech; talk in a self-admiring way.

VERB:
tr.

To speak of with excessive pride.
To possess or own (a desirable feature): "[the] capital of a region in the southeast that boasts bountiful coal fields" (US Air).
To contain; have.

NOUN:

The act or an instance of bragging.
A source of pride.

okay... that puts a spin on what boasting is. When I am proud of my hubby or son, that doesn't necessarily mean that I'm bragging on them in an incorrect way. Like with everything there are fine lines to cross, but normal "I'm proud of what they do" type of things isn't a bad boasting type of thing. :)

Love does not boast.

Ergo loves doesn't say "LOOK WHAT I DID? AREN"T I GREAT?" Doesn't do that. What love does is put honour and glory where it needs to be.

Into Thy Word says this:

When God tells us that love does not boast, He means we are not to go around bragging about our accomplishments and abilities.

and

This word in the Greek is used to describe elections won by deceit and manipulations. It is like an elected official winning an election dishonestly and then bragging about it.

Love doesn't require our showing off. It doesn't. People can see what we do, even if they don't mention it. We don't have to say "See what "I" did". It just needs us to act and not call attention to ourselves.

So what does all this mean to me?
It means that when I do something I don't have to say "I DID IT". All I should do is go about living my life quietly and letting others see what they see. It means that I should not expect others to brag on what I am doing either as that's just a delayed type of boasting (I think). It is nice to have people say 'well done". Indeed it is. :) But it is far better for other people to say it rather than to crow about it myself, and that is indeed what I should be doing.

Love does not boast. It merely gets on with doing what needs doing.

What say you?

Previous in this series
These words keep running through my head..
Love is patient.
Love is kind.
Love does not envy.

HOPE and the Western Fair

2011-09-17T07:23:00.003-04:00

Yesterday HOPE days started again.

It was fun. The lad learned about dinosaurs, had gym time (played a game called lemonade that made a big impression on him) and did some science. I enjoyed teaching the children science. NOW.. I have learned that even with two helpers that 14 children ages 6-8 in one classroom is a HUGE number of children to try to teach science to so I need to try to arrange that a bit better. smaller groups doing different things.

Then afterwards we went to the Western Fair. We had an enjoyable day. Hubby's knee has been bugging him a bit so that slowed us down a bit. If you could please, pray for healing in that leg. He'll having surgery on it in about a year.

It was rather cool... they have this free children's play area. Tractors to drive, straw to jump into, a duck race, sunflower seed planting, tractor pull and a variety of other events. So the lad had a great deal of fun. We partially watched a cow calving, petted some pigs, ate cotton candy and caramel corn and corn dogs. Typical fair food. :)

We did miss the horse show, and the extreme canine show this year. We watched reptile ray. Man NOT a good show if you don't believe in evolution, but the information just about the reptiles he showed was quite interesting. I would rather he just talk about the reptiles and leave the evolutionary stuff at home.. cause what's the point? Is it to give a history (in his eyes) lesson or to talk about creatures he really enjoys being around?

At the very tail end of the day we caught a bit of the monster truck show. Very exciting for a six year old lad. :)

Love Does Not Envy

2011-09-14T06:41:00.003-04:00

⁴ Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant ⁵or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;⁶it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.⁸Love never ends.

Love does not Envy.

Merriam-Webster defines Envy this way:
: painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage

So in other words... envy is wanting what someone else has in a less than positive way.

Just what does that mean in practical living? And what does that mean for me?

I have to admit, I have a hard time seeing this is me... envy. I tend to let others have what they have and not worry about it. Are there things I see that other people have and go...yeah, I'd like to have that. But is that in a nasty way? No. It's just that I have goals, I'd like to have them met, but I'm not going to resent that someone else has what I want. Is wishing you had something the same thing as envy? Without the negative emotions attached I don't think so. Now...when it turns into resentment that God hasn't let you have what you wish for, or anger that it's not yours, then I think it's envy...and therefore not what God wants from us.

And maybe I'm deluding myself, but this is generally not an area that I struggle with.

So where does envy crop up in the bible?
Cain killed Abel over resentment and envy.
Saul killed David over resentment and envy.
Joseph sold into slavery over resentment and envy.

But we are NOT to be envious, the bible has plenty of exhortations about it.

Do not envy a violent man or choose any of his ways, for the Lord detests a perverse man but takes the upright into his confidence.
< - Proverbs 3:31-32

A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
- Proverbs 14:30 -

It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do it in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the Gospel.
- Philipians 1:15-16 -

But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.
- James 3:14 -

For where you have envy or selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
- James 3:16 -

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocracy, envy, and slander of every kind.
- 1 Peter 2:1 -

Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
- Galatians 5:26 -

Envy can turn us into someone that we don't want to be.
Let us guard our hearts and minds so that we are protected from this dangerous thought pattern.

Previous in this series
These words keep running through my head..
Love is patient.
Love is kind.

Love is Kind

2011-09-13T06:34:00.002-04:00

adj. kind·er, kind·est

1. Of a friendly, generous, or warm-hearted nature.

2. Showing sympathy or understanding; charitable: a kind word.

3. Humane; considerate: kind to animals.

4. Forbearing; tolerant: Our neighbor was very kind about the window we broke.

5. Generous; liberal: kind words of praise.

6. Agreeable; beneficial: a dry climate kind to asthmatics.

Love is kind. What does that truly mean?

I have to admit, when I think of a kind person I think of someone who quietly does nice things for other folks. That's not always an accurate image, but it's the one that often comes in my head.

Now... I am NOT a quiet person. I'm noisy and busy and I can't sit still for long periods of time unless I'm reading a book or sitting at the computer. I do "stuff" all the time. Does that imply that I don't fit my idea of being a kind person? well...yeah basically.

BUT do I see myself in an incorrect manner? Am I kind?

Well...I think that overall I am but I have a long way to go to be the type of person I believe God wants me to be in this regard.

I am friendly - I'll sit next to you and chat with you. Did that yesterday with a guy looking all alone and kept him company for a spell. But would I have done this if he had grumped at me? no, but he didn't. I was friendly, he was friendly back.

I am willing to help folks out if I am able to. I'll give you whatever I can as long as you ASK and don't demand. Not quite fitting with Luke 6:32 which says "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil." I personally find that people who are demanding are ungrateful for what they've already received...but God calls me to be kind to them regardless.

I'm kind to my critters...but I'm also demanding of them. Act the way I want you to! Don't be a snit...I'm in charge remember? BUT when the pigs all escaped the other night the lad and I didn't leave them to their folly but we went out and caught them up. And I do take the time to train my animals to respond in the manner I prefer. BUT I am NOT patient with the kitten when all he wants to do is suck on something. That sound just irritates me...but I could be nicer to him about it. after all "he's just being who he is mommy".

Am I tolerant? well..... yes and no. My neighbours to the right like to run their ATV around and around and around their house. I don't complain to them about the noise, but I do sometimes mutter under my breath at them. Does that negate my kindness? I don't know as what's in my heart is what comes out....and my heart isn't being kind to them though my actions are. And I do have to ask, when is tolerance not being kind? For instance, if I tolerate your bad behaviour am I being kind to you in the LONG run? Does toleration mean being politically correct OR does it mean just tolerating the foibles that make you you? (I tend to think the later not the former).

Generous: am I generous with my words to others? I'm am not sure. seems odd to say that. But seriously I am not sure. I like to think that I am? And I do know that if I focus on it I say thank you to folks for the things that they do. I think it's polite to do so, and acting in a manner that respects their efforts on my behalf.

Agreeable? hmm... how does that fit with being kind? ah.. when I look at this I see that it is talking about how a place can be beneficial. Such as Hubby dear likes biking a lot lately and the warm (not hot) weather is kind to him as he bikes. But it makes me think...do I help create an environment around me that is agreeable to those I meet in life? that puts a different spin on it. and I have to honestly admit...sometimes yes, sometimes no. :) The better I sleep the better I am in this regard. :)

Kindness seems to be an active way of showing love to those around us. It's a doing, whereas patience seems to be more of an attitude. I may be wrong but that's how this is striking me.

Love is patient (as it takes a longer term view of things) but love is kind in how it plays that out. (as in let me lend you a hand because in the long view I want you to know God as I do).

I may not have worded my thinking out processes all the way correctly...but what do you all think? How do you show love in a kind manner?

Previous in this series
These words keep running through my head..
Love is patient.

Love is Patient

2011-09-08T07:03:00.003-04:00

waiting calmly for however long is needed
to bear pains or trials calmly or without complaint
manifesting forbearance under provocation or strain
not hasty or impetuous
steadfast despite opposition, difficulty or adversity
able or willing to bear
bearing provocation, annoyance, misfortune, delay, hardship, pain, etc., with fortitude and calm and without complaint, anger, or the like
characterized by or expressing such a quality: a patient smile
quietly and steadily persevering or diligent, especially in detail or exactness: a patient worker

To have patience is

the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.
an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay: to have patience with a slow learner.
quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence: to work with patience.

When I read all these definitions what pops out to me is a quality of time. Patient folks are willing to take their time.... whether that means bearing a load, or helping someone, or dealing with something on their own. Patient people don't fear time. They simply take something and work with it regardless of how long it takes.

People often say that I am patient ... when I have a hard time seeing it in myself. I always feel inside like I'm rushed, wanting things done now, but when it comes to other people... there I'm willing to take my time for the most part I think. Start small....work your way up. I wonder why I am more patient with others than I am with myself?

So what does the bible say about patience?

Gal 5:22 tells us that patience is a fruit of the spirit

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

In Thessalonians we learn that we are to be patient with each other

¹⁴And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. (5:14)

In Hebrews 12:1 we see that patience is an active choice, it is something that we work with

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,

Psalm 37 encourages us to be patient and not to fret.

Patience is often linked to steadfastness, and this is a learned trait. We learn it from going through trials, we learn it through seeing it in others and how they respond, the prophets in the Old Testament had to be patient, Abraham had to be patient... we can learn from these folks.

If one takes a good look at what it means to be patient then you can see how it is of benefit. If you are patient you are less inclined to get bent out of shape over things. It keeps you at a more even keel because you see how things are OVER TIME.

The more I think about this the more I see the greatness of God. God is so everlastingly patient with us. He is HOLY. We are a sinful people. Holiness can't stand being around sin, and yet what does God do? He bears with us, he waits with us, he teaches and trains us, he works with us, and he LET HIS SON DIE for us so that we can be brought back to him.

See this folks, take a good hard look at it. God did this for us! He really takes the long view. He knows what we can be for him.

And then let us learn to be more like him.

I need to learn to be more like him. To take the long view and just relax into the knowing that in time....things will all be better. Jesus will return and all things will be made right. So the little "achs" of the day are not worth being stressed over. :)

These words keep running through my mind....

2011-09-06T06:19:00.003-04:00

These words keep running through my head ever since I posted a pictorial list of them a while back. It's like a constant litany of conviction over and over and over in my head.

⁴ Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant ⁵or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;⁶it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

These verses are part of the larger Chapter of 1 Corinthians 13.

1 Corinthians 13 English Standard Version

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ²And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
⁴ Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant ⁵or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;⁶it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
⁸Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. ¹¹When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. ¹²For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
¹³So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

And love:

is patient and kind
does not envy or boast
is not arrogant or rude.
does not insist on its own way
is not irritable or resentful
does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth
bears all things
believes all things
hopes all things
endures all things
never ends

I'm reading a book lately about a fellow who struggles with porn, and how he and his wife deal with that, and how remembering what love is helps them. It's a fiction book...sometimes rather preachy which is why I often don't like Christian fiction, but I'm finding this particular book at this particular time in my life is forcing me to think. How do I show my love for my family, for my Lord and Saviour, and for the world around me? How DO I honestly do that?

And I find, if I really look at myself, that I am so very often a failure at doing so. Can't say I much care for that but if I'm honest I can't really say that I can change myself or make myself different. I HAVE to pray more and ask God to help me and I'm not so sure that will be an easy road.

I do know that it means some changes in my life.
Going to bed on time.
Getting up a bit earlier.
Changing some of what I do during the day.
It means choosing to make deliberate time.

But I need to do something..having a litany of words running through my head doesn't help one maintain a focus on just about anything. :) So let's see what God has in store for me, for my family and the community in which I am part of shall we?

My boy not feeling well

2011-09-05T07:24:00.003-04:00

And I get frustrated with the medical system.

he has a ENT specialist. I call to book an appointment for his tonsils. But no.. I can't get in there because we've only be referred to him for his ears. So now we need to waste time and go to our family doctor so she can make a referral to him for his tonsils.

So yesterday afternoon I got to spend two hours in the emergency room so that we can get a prescription filled for his ear infection. On a positive note: his ear infection hasn't trickled down to a tonsil infection but the two play a role together. I'm seriously starting to think the tonsils need to go.

The upshot is... ear infection (a bad one). Biaxicin to give twice a day. Tonsils very much swollen but not currently infected.

On another more positive note: I met a lady who wants to start homeschooling her six wee ones. :) she lives right here in town, has two sets of twins, and two singletons. She apparently goes to church. I've mentioned HOPE and KICK to her so hopefully she'll email me and I'll get her all connected with that. Also encouraged her to come along down to the picnic in London on Tuesday with us. She seems like a nice lady.

So if I actually get off the poor me I had to do this routine I can actually see the hand of God at work here. A lady who needed the encouragement and some advise was able to chat with me abit about homeschooling. My boy got the help he needed and got to meet a nice doctor. So it's all turned out well despite the inconvenience of it. (and my boy got to spend one on one time with his mommy learning and playing)... what.. you think we went to the emerg unprepared? NO WAY.. one brings along ladybug puzzles and logic game books to keep oneself entertained. :) We also finished our Jason book - which meant we were able to entertain the other hospital patrons listening to me read to him. :) So it's all good. :)

Recipes I want to try

2011-09-02T23:01:00.002-04:00

Sunday’s Chicken

This chicken can be baked in a traditional oven or in a large crock pot. Whatever is most convenient for you. It is convenient for me to do this in a crock pot – Sunday’s meal is nearly ready after church services.

Menu Ingredients

First, pan fry 8 strips of bacon and drain, save drippings and crumble up crispy bacon strips.

Place in crock pot or oven-proof large baking dish:
4 Tablespoons of the bacon drippings – spread around bottom of baking dish.
4 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast – cut into large portion size pieces.
Sprinkle liberally with black pepper and dried parsley flakes and crumbled bacon.

Mix together and put on top of chicken pieces:
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (remember you can make this from scratch)
1 cup sour cream

Menu Directions

Cook on high in the crock pot for about 3 hours. Chicken should be cooked thru thoroughly and then I take the chicken out and place in a serving dish.

If the creamy white (and very tasty!!) sauce is too thin, I thicken it slightly with 4 Tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with some water.
If the sauce is bubbly in the in the crock pot, just add in the cornstarch mixture and stir and it will thicken quickly. If the sauce is not very bubbly and hot then you can put it on the stovetop in a saucepan and thicken it there if desired. Pour thickened sauce over the chicken.

Serve the chicken and sauce over cooked wide egg noodles.

Cake Box Cookies

Great recipe for small children to make. I used it when teaching my child the concept of the number 3, since the recipe has three main ingredients.

Menu Ingredients

Cake Mix (You can use any flavor you wish.)
1 Egg
1/2 Cup oil
You may add in chips or nuts.

Menu Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mix ingredients together until well combined.
Add in chips or nuts if desired.
Scoop onto a cookie sheet, 2 inches apart.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Crock pot Apple Butter
Makes 3 pints.

Menu Ingredients

5 pounds apples, peeled and finely sliced (approx. 4 apples to 1 pound)
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Menu Directions

Place apples in slow cooker in thirds, layering sugar between each layer.

Add rest of ingredients on top and pack them down as well as you can.
Cover and cook on high for 1 hour.

Cheesy Potato Sausage

2011-08-30T20:20:00.003-04:00

1 smoked sausage ring
1 can cheddar cheese soup
3 pounds potatoes cubed
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons oil

Heat oil in a frying pan, add potatoes. Meanwhile, slice sausage lengthwise, and then into 1/4 in wedges. Combine soup and milk. Add sausage and soup mixture during last 5 min of the cooking time of potatoes. Enjoy! This is loved by the pickiest eaters in our family!!!

What I did.

1. cooked the potatoes after cubing them

2. put a little oil in the big fry pan that I cooked the tater's in, and fried those up a bit with the chopped up sausage.

3. dumped in the soup and milk and mixed it thoroughly. brought it to a boil so it was all nicely liquid. THEN I let it simmer with the lid on while my corn on the cob cooked.

4. when the corn was almost done I removed the lid and let it cook at a medium heat simmer/rolling boil for a bit. That removed excess moisture so it was a bit dryer.

It makes a LARGE amount. I'll be eating this for the next 3 days I think.

For those wondering where this recipe came from, it came from the Old Schoolhouse (this is a homeschool magazine that I subscribe too), teachers toolbox section where there is is a menu for the month. Some things I won't do... like catfish sandwiches which have a lot of jalepeno in them...but this seemed to meet my requirements of simple and not too spicy, though I could easily see people throwing in some chili peppers and what not. i almost threw in some tomatoes and might do that with one or two meals as I heat up the remainders.

Pinery Pics

2011-08-29T23:24:00.013-04:00

Out at the Pinery Provincial Park on Sunday afternoon. Lunch and a walk.

Here is a boy hard at work looking for toads. And for more toad pictures you have to

this link. :) They are a fascination at the moment.

We walked the Carolinian Trail.
Did you know that the Carolinian forest was named after the forest of North and South Carolina?Horrid pic I know, "let's rest of a minute mommy" and then
he was OFF again, scarcely before I could get the camera out.

Hubby here was a bit more patient.

Mommy, how did they get the post into the water?
Why did they want to put this post here?

Can you see them? There are three, took the lad a while too.

one butterfly

Pretty Yellow flower. I liked how it peeked out over the steps.
a moth. Just sat there until i tried to get too close, then off it went.

there are brief moments in life when I wish I had more than a
simple point and shoot. Pics of water lilies are one of those moments.

Love is

2011-08-17T22:29:00.004-04:00

i liked this post by Justin Taylor

What Love Is and Isn’t

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

“4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends.”

Woot Woot! he was independent!

2011-08-17T19:53:00.001-04:00

My six year was DYING to do an experiment.http://www2.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

I had no protracted time to help him.

I found the site the experiment was on and said here it is. Supercharged Science by the by. :) Even if you don't homeschool...doing the summer program is worth your while.

He did it!

He was VERY happy to have learned how to turn a motor on. And then he went on to learn how to make a dimmer switch. :)

Pretty cool huh? :)

The Rescue

2011-08-17T07:11:00.000-04:00

The Rescue

On the morning of May 18, 2011, my wife noticed a deer in our yard that
appeared to be frantically looking for something in the rocks that form a
wall on our property line in Brush Prairie, WA.

When we first went out with our neighbors, we didn't see anything, but the
deer wouldn't leave
our yard. We went back to our house and watched; after a few minutes the
deer came back.

We went out to the area the deer was concentrating on and could hear a baby
fawn crying in the rocks. We moved some of the rocks and smaller boulders
and saw a baby fawn's face in the rocks. He had apparently fallen in one of
the gaps and was now trapped. The larger boulders were too heavy to move,
and we didn't want the rocks cave in on the baby deer.

We called our Clark County Fire District 3.
The B Shift team came out; they were able to move the larger rocks out of
the way with the Jaws of Life enough to be able to reach in a pull the baby
fawn out and reunite it with its mama. The fawn, maybe stuck in their most
of the night, quickly went to nurse its momma.

One of our neighbors took some video clips of the fire department's rescue.
I edited the clips into this short clip. After sharing it with some friends
they thought that it was just too cute not to share with more people;
my neighbor agreed to let me upload it.

http://www.wimp.com/fawnrescued/

Jacob was .....

2011-08-16T19:15:00.001-04:00

Jacob was a cheater,
Peter had a temper,
David had an affair,
Noah got drunk,
Jonah ran from God,
Paul was a murderer,
Gideon was insecure,
Miriam was a gossiper,
Martha was a worrier,
Thomas was a doubter,
Sara was impatient,
Elijah was moody,
Moses stuttered,
Zaccheus was short,
Abraham was old,
and Lazarus was dead....

Now, what's YOUR excuse? Can God use you or not? God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the CALLED!!!

The haircut

2011-08-15T10:51:00.001-04:00

I thought this email was cute so thought I'd share it with you all. :)

Subject: The Haircut

A teenage boy had just passed his driving test and inquired of his father as to when they could discuss his use of the car.

His father said he'd make a deal with his son, "You bring your grades up
from a C to a B average, study your Bible a little, and get your hair cut.
Then we'll talk about the car."

The boy thought about that for a moment, decided he'd settle for the offer,
and they agreed on it.

After about six weeks his father said, "Son, you've brought your grades up
and I've observed that you have been studying your Bible, but I'm
disappointed you haven't had your hair cut."

The boy said, "You know, Dad, I've been thinking about that, and I've
noticed in my studies of the Bible that Samson had long hair, John the
Baptist had long hair, Moses had long hair, and there's even strong evidence that Jesus had long hair."

(You're going to love the Dad's reply!)

"Did you also notice that they walked everywhere they went?"

Thinking out loud

2011-08-14T15:46:00.002-04:00

A cousin of mine wrote this blog post. 6 reasons I never wanted to be a mother to a boy.
I find that Patti is well written in what she writes and I do wish I could write as clearly as she does. She's very open in what she thinks and feels which is helpful overall.

Anyways, her six points are as follows. Please do go read her blog as it lays out her thinking quite nicely.
1. I mostly don't like any of the little boys I know.
2. I can't stand all the stereotypes about boys.
3. I hate the way that everyone wanted me to have a boy
4. I don't trust men so I don't know how to raise a boy into a man.
5. Mothers are always blamed for whatever their sons do that deviates from what is considered 'normal'.
6. I think it's harder to be a man in modern culture than it is to be a woman.

I cannot and will not deal with each of her points. But I thought I'd list them out for you. :)

I have to admit.. little boys can be a handful. They can be. They different, but then again, so are little girls and there is SUCH a huge range out there in behaviours for all children, and every parent has a different style of parenting. All the things she said about little boys and behaviours the doesn't like can be said for little girls. I for one was scared out of my mind when I was confident that my lad would end up being born and not be a miscarriage. What was I scared about? that he would end up being a girlie girl. Petrified I was. What in the world would I do with a girlie girl? that is SO far from what I am that I couldn't conceive of what I would do with one. Just couldn't. When I learned I had a boy I was SO very relieved. I thought I'll have this little high wire of a lad, I know what to do with high wires. A boy I can raise. Good.

What I have NOT a little high wire. What I have is a cautious, intelligent lad. He is stubborn (but putting a good spin on .. he's persistent, VERY persistent). he doesn't like to get hurt, he's careful about what he wants to do, likes to be VERY clean ALL the time, and is not like me in many ways. he is like me in some ways, but he's much like his father and I find that intriguing to raise. I've learned in the past six years that you raise what you have and that as a parent you adjust to what God has given you to raise.

A statement that Patti made caused me to feel VERY sad. "There is no man in my life who I would consider to be an ideal role model for my son." No man in her life that would be a good role model for her son? NO ONE? That feels so empty and hopeless to me. and yes I know that it isn't. But doesn't she at least want her boy to be like his dad? Isn't his dad a good man in his own way? That will be her son's first role model so shouldn't he be a good one? I can't understand that mind set. So it just makes me feel sad.

I read a blog post or an article a while back on raising boys to be men. It made an impact on me. I find that see myself supporting maleness in my lad. Males tend to be the supporters and workers in families with high protective instincts and the ability to be focused on the task at hand. So I find myself encouraging the lad when he wants to help mommy or he wants to fix something and when he gets so focused on something. And yes... is some of that a stereotype? well yeah... but stereotypes exist for a reason... males are typically stronger, more task oriented, and so forth. is that a bad thing? uh...no. But are people equally capable of crossing those male/female boundaries??? Yah! And that's just fine. I have zero issues with women being strong and protective and men wanting to raise their families. No problems. But where a lad is being a leader and protective I will encourage that. I will strive to help him do so in a godly manner.

Just as if I had a girl child who was a strong leader... I would encourage her to use those leadership skills in a godly manner... which would be a challenge to do. be a leader, yet be submissive to the male leadership in a church... Harder to do in this day and age.

I will Very very much agree with Patti when she says it's harder for guys to be guys in today's world. It is. Men are expected to be so much more and yet so much less now a days. Encouraging/training the lad to be a good strong male leader in his own way, despite what the world around us wants... that may be a challenge. But God is with us all the way so we'll hopefully get 'er done. :)

Vacation run through

2011-07-26T06:50:00.003-04:00

No pictures in this post as I don't have them downloaded at this time. :)

Okay.. got back yesterday from being on Vacation.
We camped at fanshawe park conservation area in London. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and were not in any huge rush to come home.

We took Milo (the cat) with us since we lost Sparks on the day we left. Milo LOVES being with his people and made an excellent camping cat. I enjoyed having him with us except for.. CAT LITTER EVERYWHERE! we MUST find a way to get rid of the cat litter everywhere before we let him be a camp cat again.

What else?

We took in Storybrook Gardens, saw a movie "mr. popper's penguins", took in the hometown folk festival, and the Ontario science centre.

We swam alot. Had friends over twice. Justin played with several other camp children and had a hoot. Walked trails, biked, and just relaxed. we played, looked for bugs (brought some home), and had water gun fights. It was all in all a lovely time.

We did have a couple of blips.
1. Having to put Sparks down before we left
2. campfire ban the last week
3. discovering the van has issues... problems with ground wire spots rusting out, but gives Jim a task to figure out and caused some stress times.
4. worry about rabbit care since the weather was VERY hot

All that aside though, and life worked out pretty good for us over the past two weeks.
Ate too much (including junk food), gained some weight but that can be shed again, but spent good time as family. Today comes the clean up from that.

OH... we did get a new cat. He's just a baby kitten yet. He's a spunky lad who was found in the middle of the street (Wellington and Exeter in London) when he was just a tiny baby cat. He'll have to learn that we are safe good people to be with, but he'll add a different personality to our household. :)

christian carnival ii - July 6, 2011

2011-07-06T09:54:00.001-04:00

Due to time constraints, I used the insta-carnival maker this week. As I have time I'll go through and tweak things. :)

Welcome to the July 6, 2011 edition of christian carnival ii.

Moyo presents Fight the good fight of faith posted at Eden Life Magazine.

Rajat K presents The One World Religion. posted at lambsaved ministries.

Joe Plemon presents Should Christians Participate in Boycotts? posted at Personal Finance By The Book, saying, "Boycotting may not be the best way to get others to change objectionable behavior, but it may nevertheless be something Christians should consider."

Tim Fraticelli presents What's Your Mustard Seed Doing? posted at Faith and Finance, saying, "A fresh look at the mustard seed parables. We all have mustard seeds to use - this article is a challenge for you to plant them and make the most with what you have."

Josh presents 7 Spiritual Growth Tips posted at What Christians Want To Know, saying, "Check out these great tips for spiritual growth."

Teila Tankersley presents Her Life was Anything but a Sitcom - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com posted at Associated Content, saying, "Teila Tankersley - freelance writer and author highlights stories that are upbeat and positive; sometimes even controversial. Her specialty is in writing human interest stories."

Jason Price presents The Compass Map from Compass – Finances God’s Way posted at One Money Design, saying, "Compass Ministries recently introduced their Compass financial map, a simple step by step guide to help people put their finances in order."

Chris Price presents North Dakota Revivalism--Billy Sunday's Coming to Town posted at American Church History, saying, "In 1930, the great revivalist Billy Sunday scheduled a visit to Grand Forks, North Dakota. Not everyone was excited, however."

Rajat K presents Is Yoga Demonic. posted at lambsaved ministries, saying, "The articles delves into Yoga Sutras for history and analyzes how yoga is practiced today to ascertain whether it leads to demon trafficking!"

Margaret91 presents Top 20 Web Forums: Creationism vs. Evolution posted at Theology Degrees, saying, "Debating Creationism vs. Evolution is a tale as old as time. These 20 web forums offer arguments for both sides, and they do a fantastic job of explaining their beliefs and how they back them up."

loswl presents Evolutionary Tales Exposed: Part 4 – Scientific Basis posted at INSPIKS, saying, "I want you to know that the theory of evolution looks pretty good if you look at it from a distance. When you get right down to the `nuts and bolts` of evolution, it is in deep trouble. One of the leading scientists of this age has called evolution `incredible`."

Russ White presents Is Christian Exclusiveness Moral? posted at Thinking in Christ.

Kaleb presents Star Sprangled Banner-Too Violent? posted at W2W Soul: Windows to The Woman's Soul, saying, "“And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air; gave proof through the night that our flag was still there!” The Star Spangled Banner is our national anthem but more importantly it is a historically accurate account of how America fought for and won its independence."

Christian Carnival presents WLC's case for the resurrection posted at Ichthus77, saying, "This is an attempt to give a brief case for the evidence of Jesus’ resurrection, gleaned from Dr. William Lane Craig’s “Reasonable Faith” and “On Guard”."

Ridge Burns presents The Awfulness of Our Own Sinfulness posted at Ridge’s Blog.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
christian carnival ii
using our
carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our

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Overdone things a bit

2011-07-02T14:00:00.002-04:00

so we've had a fairly busy, followed by a busy Saturday biking and playing and doing things in the sun. Followed by a late night watching fireworks.

So I had a sulky sounding boy to put to bed last night, and a sulky sounding one this morning.... to be followed by a boy who tossed his breakfast up.

FORTUNATELY...my boy is a helpful lad in that he holds it in, and uses a cup and tells us when we need to stop the car (we went out to Clinton this morning to deliver a couple of rabbits and to do a spot of yard-saling). Sold the bunnies, found Jim a hand held auger (for putting holes in the ground for his workout thingey), and bought a change of clothes for the lad at the Rack and Room thrift store.

Then home with a sleeping boy, and a good time relaxing on the couch.

At 115 p.m. he asked for some crackers/cheese and a drink. by 2 p.m. he was sounding a bit better. Still not quite himself yet, we'll encourage him to continue to just sit and relax and not be busy, and he'll have crackers/cheese/banana for supper and then to bed early. Hopefully that will completely get him back up on his feet.

Yard Sale Weekend

2011-06-19T23:36:00.001-04:00

So for the past month or so I've been busy pulling together my various yard sale items.

Finally yard sale day came.
A friend Sarah joined me with some of her stuff. :)

It was fun, hot, tiring, money making, good day.

I am STILL exhausted.

My feet were tired sore by the end of the day.

Made over $600 which was nice. Some of that money goes to Jim for items that were his, some goes to Justin to play with (his toys) and the rest goes to me. :) I did the work after all. :)

AND I made hubby happy by deciding that 96% of the remaining stuff could go to the various thrift stores around. Some of it is pretty decent stuff, others well..not quite so, but it will all find a purpose doing something for someone. :)

Justin had gone to gramma's for the weekend which just made things easier overall.

A nice day

2011-05-24T06:52:00.006-04:00

Yesterday was Victoria Day here in Canada. A day of fireworks and stores being closed. Does anyone really celebrate that it's a reminder of the our ties with Britain? I dunno, I know I don't. :)

Our day started with me doing a bit of gardening while the boy woke up. And then I mowed the front lawn while he designed a game to go to gramma's house. Stopped at Dollerama here in town so that he could pick up another toy foam shooting gun. :)

Had two rabbits to sell so I brought them along with me to London, and had a nice chat with their new owner. Like me, he's going to get out of Mini Rex...for similar reasons of really really liking the polish temperament.

Gramma, the lad and I had fun playing and talking together. We took some toys to the school grounds and flew them. It was fun.

Went home played and talked some more and then out McD's for a late lunch. I left gramma and the lad to play and headed out to pick something up from Freecycle (some files and wrenches) and then stopped at the civic gardens for a walk. AH... it was so lovely and quiet. I took tons of pics (posted them on facebook). Just a lovely day.

Headed home for 6 pm were we relaxed for a bit (I checked emails, J watched Gilligan's Island) and then out to do the bunnies. While I did them J played in our mud pile. I'm actually quite impressed with the moat he has made and how much fun he has playing with water and figuring out physics and engineering. If I put a hole here..AH!!!! the bunnies of bunny town have to fix the hole!! AH!!!! the baby bunnies are going to drown!!!

here he built a boat and is checking out how it floats.

Rescue the baby rabbits! Fix that hole!!!

see the hole! and then he got it fixed and then the BAD CATS broke it again!!
The game of discovery would have continued except the lad got bombarded by those bugs that like to fly around your face and just drive you batty.
My batty son went into the house to recover himself.

We then had supper and he went to bed. :) I had a nice chat with hubby over the computer. His knee is sore, but they are enjoying themselves.

Birthday party and more :)

2011-05-15T07:36:00.004-04:00

Yesterday the lad went to his first ever birthday Party. I took lots of pictures but I don't post pics on-line of other children because it's makes some mom's nervous. But I did take a couple of the lad. :)

After the party we went to Costco to see if we could find something for Jim's knee which is bunged up right now. (No)

then off to home health if they had crutch covers, (no) so off to Wal-mart to see what they had (ice packs meant for knees) YES! The lad had fun riding around on a bicycle. He knows which one he likes... but the one we like is just a bit bigger and will last longer... so we're thinking about it. :)

Then off to The toy Store which is having a 50% off sale since they've been bought out. We got some stuff. The lad had to do some math and problem-solving so we wouldn't take home too much as I can't afford it. :)

Then home, Gramma came to pick up the lad since we're off to Chatham today. So that's a brief update for you all. :)

Getting a bit more serious

2011-05-10T00:01:00.001-04:00

About losing some weight.

Tired of having the boy be able to outrun me...he's only five! What happens when he's 14 and wants to play basketball? :)

So time to start figuring things out a bit better now I think. :)

To that end I joined Jim over at my fitness pal. Will monitor my food intake/exercise and see if that makes a difference in my overall eating patterns, and hence my waist line. :)

Tante Willy

2011-04-20T23:12:00.001-04:00

Willy van Leeuwen ~ Gone Home to be with her Lord and Saviour, at Listowel Memorial Hospital on Tuesday, April 19, 2011, Mrs. Willempje 'Willy' van Leeuwen of Listowel, and formerly of Conestogo and Atwood, in her 80th year.

Beloved wife of the late Dirk van Leeuwen. Mother of Marj and Albert Versteeg of Elmira, Anna and Jack Hovius of Listowel, Neil and Patricia van Leeuwen of Wainfleet, and Jo-Anne van Leeuwen of Elmira.

Also remembered by 10 grandchildren, and by her siblings Corry van Oostveen, Pons Tinholt, Bill and Wilma Tinholt, all of Listowel, John and Jeanne Tinholt of Winnipeg, Walter and Henny Tinholt of Moorefield, Arthur John and Josie Tinholt of Waterloo, and Adriana and Gordon Klaassen of Harriston.

Predeceased by her parents Johannes and Adriana (Hoogendoorn) Tinholt, her infant son, and her granddaughter Keri, and by her brother-in-law Kees van Oostveen.

Visitation will be held at the Eaton Funeral Home, Listowel on Wednesday from 2:00 to 4:00 and 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The funeral service will be held at Bethel Christian Reformed Church, Listowel, on Thursday, April 21st at 1:30 p.m. Pastor Ralph Wigboldus officiating.

Interment in Elma Centre Cemetery, Atwood.

My man and his weight loss

2011-04-16T22:32:00.004-04:00

This is my Jim the Christmas before he got ill. So that would be 2009,

This is my Jim 2011 (about about 1 1/4 years later)
Isn't it impressive?

He's Mr. skinny now.
he'll deny it and say he's got some more to go.
But to me he's Mr. skinny, and I'm quite proud of him. :)

Home School Book Sales

2011-04-16T11:07:00.004-04:00

So last night I went to a baptist church in London that was having a homeschool book sale.

I bought some books that were NOT school book related. Just general Christian fiction that I figured was a good price for the book box and that I could resell at more than what I bought it for at our annual yard sale. :) that way I have MORE money to buy more books right? :) and worst comes to worst...I'll have enjoyed doing some reading.

Anyways, picked up a pack of manipulatives. They kinda look like this but in lots of different colours. $4.00 I figured why not. :)

This morning the lad was quite intrigued by them and wanted to be able to add them to his play city and was sadly disappointed when I said NO... these are for homeschooling ONLY. We do math with them.

Being the lad that he is... he still managed to make a game out them. Only to occasionally be called off his play with them in order to do some math. It was interesting to see a light dawn in his eyes when he realized that.. 10 black bomb birds were still 10 black bomb birds even if they were divided into two groups of 1 + 9, or 5 + 5 and so forth. This is why I got them even though I KNOW that I can use all sorts of stuff around the house as manipulatives for math.

I got a bunch of other books as well. A couple of readings, a three book set of bible dictionary, a small reading program, a science book, a music theory book, some learning type books and a few fiction books. All for less than $50. I was overall pleased with what I got.

The Go Fish Guys

2011-04-13T09:43:00.002-04:00

While doing the mom's day study from DNG today, we came achhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifross the Go Fish Guys.

While the lad was quite adamant that he didn't like the mom's song, he did like this one on the bible bop.

here's a link to the rest of their videos and to their website.

Went for a walk came home with.....

2011-04-10T16:41:00.003-04:00

A pet!

Two caterpillars to be precise.

One is a Hyphantria cunea caterpillar(fall web worm) and the other is a Pyrrharctia Isabella caterpillar (isabella tiger moth, woolly bear, banded woolly bear). The Fall web worm that we found is differently coloured than many as it's the orange/yellow version instead of the more normal yellow with Long Spikey Dense fur.

They are now safely ensconced in mouse box (aka...a bug house from the dollar store). We are going to give them lots of grass and lettuce. We will have to see how they do. We're not sure how well the web worm will do as they prefer to eat tree leaves, but we have no tree leaves for it to munch on so it will have to cope with what we have available.

Boy's away so mom must....

2011-03-17T22:26:00.007-04:00

Play... well... okay not really.

I worked!

I got all the dishes done...lifes been busy so we're talking more than one days worth. BUT they are ALL done!

I got the laundry finished.... okay.. well...I think I did that last night I could be wrong, but I think so.....

So I tackled the basement today. AND... drumroll please... I GOT IT DONE! well okay...let me qualify that.

I got it done as far as I can without my hubby's help. An old tv has to come upstairs to the garage. The fish tank needs to go into the workout room, he needs to vaccuum (that's his thing), and I have to do the garage sale corner. It's just a nasty mess back there and needs to be tackled but not today. :) I"ll send the lad off to someone's house for another day or two in May and get that done then. I'll work on it before then but the big push will be then I think.

i got the freezers moved over together. To do that I had to move the box pile, the candle making supplies, pick up the mat pieces, move chairs and what not. I cleaned out the one freezer since I was moving it anyways (required me emptying it first).

didn't do a whole lot in this corner other than organize all the fish stuff that's hidden under the train table. oh...and put the rest of the Christmas stuff with well....the rest of the Christmas stuff. :) oh.. and I moved a couple of boxes out.

Jim's workout area didn't need a whole lot of anything. It did while I was cleaning as I had to put things somewhere, but now all it needs is a vaccuum.

Believe it or not...HUGE improvement in this room. Moved an aquarium. Bagged the gravel from the empty tanks, moved paint cans and tool stuff. There's a fair bit of work to do yet, but I can't do it all in one day all by myself. :)

as I said earlier...the garage sale pile needs some MAJOR work. But not today.
now it's 11pm and I want to go to bed.

Acquiring Bravery

2011-03-16T08:36:00.003-04:00

Yesterday we had a dental appointment, the lad and I. Now one thing you gotta know...I strongly dislike going to the dentist. As a youth I had a dentist who was NOT very nice at all, and it engendered within me a strong dislike of dentists.

I don't want to pass that along to my son so I try very hard to "be brave". To encourage him to not mind going to the dentist, to learn what he can and so forth. I've learned myself to ask questions....I do it for his sake because the more he knows, the more he understands, and therefore has nothing to be concerned about.

And its interesting, the more I help him with new experiences like this...the better I am. I still get the willies about contemplating getting a crown on a tooth that needs it. I know I will dislike it and be uncomfortable and have pain...but at least I'm not running scared of it, and ergo I worry less. And in the end of it...I'm braver. This is not a bad thing. :)

As I was doing bunny chores this morning I was struck by the fact that God doesn't want us running scared of him either. He wants us to know him, to understand him (in the limited way we as people can understand God), he wants us to seek after him. The more we understand God the less worrisome it is knowing him.

Christian Carnival Post

2011-03-11T23:22:00.013-05:00

Sheepkinz presents Wait Upon the Lord and He Will Carry You! posted at INSPIKS.

The Eagle can see from great heights and depths below. So too can we, when the Lord reveals the spiritual things to His people.

William Hambleton Bishop, MA gives us A subjective interpretation of Jesus’ message about the forgiveness of sin… | Thoughts from a Therapist posted at Thoughts from a Therapist.

Instead of a debate or a search for fact I am offering a subjective interpretation of the teachings of Jesus (whether you believe he existed or not or whether you believe he was who Christians say he was or not) that I find helpful in understanding the idea of forgiveness and the possibility of peace.

FMF shows up with Retirement and Building Wealth: The Wealth Snowball Vs. Ocean Tide posted at Free Money Finance.

Wealth is much more than a bundle of money. To be truly wealthy is to live in the presence and the blessings of God.

Jason Price presents Getting Financially Involved In Your Church [Christian Financial Alliance] posted at One Money Design.

What is one piece of advice you would offer to someone wanting to get involved in the financial arena of their church?

Scottyi writes Why do People Suffer (pt 2) over at Sacred Raisin Cakes.

The second part of this exploration on why people have to suffer will deal exclusively with the most powerful objection there is to a God who allows suffering in the world.

How Do You Know if the Decisions You Are Making Are God's Will? is brought to us by Ridge's Blog.

As some of you know, we’ve been working through some interesting decisions at our mission, trying to figure out the best way to identify ourselves, as well as working through some difficult theological issues. One of our missionaries asked an important question: “How do you know if the decisions you are making are God’s will?”
We emailed back and forth, and this was my answer:

Russ White presents Staring Down the Chasm « Thinking in Christ posted at Thinking in Christ.

How long will it take us to realize that the end of the sexual revolution is simply total submission to our animal natures? If you don’t believe me, then take a look at the article around this quote.

Barry Wallace gives us This, by bitter experience, Thou hast taught me posted at who am i?.

We have a dangerous tendency to think too highly of ourselves. That tendency is confirmed by the fact that the Bible warns us, in various places and ways, to guard against it. Romans 12:3 is just one example:

Weekend Fisher presents "But the LORD was not in the earthquake" (I Kings 19:11) posted at Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength.

Earlier today I chanced across the writing of someone commenting on the earthquake in Japan who said that natural disasters are caused by God. That was said without any qualification at all. I'd like to offer a different perspective.

ChrisB presents A Tale of Two Neighbors posted at Homeward Bound.

I'm probably going to get in trouble over this. My neighbors on either side of me have something in common: they recently lost their homes. Both houses burned to the ground — a pretty much total loss.

But the neighbors, and their situations, are not that much alike.

Crystal Rodli presents Reform/Revival: Do we have a Pope Leo IX approach? posted at Treasure Contained.

When Bruno, bishop of Toul was elected pope (Leo IX) on February 12, 1049, he was already on fire with a zeal for the reformation of the church.

And my entry is this Acquiring Bravery.

I don't want to pass that along to my son so I try very hard to "be brave".

William Klein on D.A. Carson's compatibilism is brought to us by Parableman.

I've had occasion to complain before about a problematic discussion of Calvinism in a book review by William Klein (in that case in discussing David Peterson's commentary on Acts). His more recent review of David Allen and Steve Lemke's Whosoever Will: A Biblical-Theological Critique of Five-Point Calvinism critiques D.A. Carson in a way that I also think is a bit unfair, and he doesn't represent the terms of debate accurately, even apart from the fairness issue.

Kevin Swartzendruber presents How Ready Are You? posted at Kevin Swartzendruber.

A number of years ago something occurred that will forever leave a sober realization.

On Retreat

2011-03-06T07:45:00.003-05:00

So this weekend I'm on a retreat held by the women of our denomation.

We're are trying and hoping to revilalize women's ministry on a denominational level within the body.

In the past, that's meant two conferences a year with a social time and a speaker.
In the past two years they've changed the conference so that in the fall there is a social time with a speaker and then in the spring they have a work day with a speaker. People go and do community projects and basically learn new ways of doing things in reaching out the community and in the afternoon they have a speaker and a time of sharing what all happened. They pick a community to go to. This year it's in Welland.

ANYWAYS.. enough of the history. There's about 6 of spending the weekend, a bunch more came during the day yesterday. We're having a decent time talking and laughing. We're getting ideas...many of them centering around the idea of mentoring, and using the classis as a resource tool for being able to connect with other churches and denominations who may be tackling the same issues. Perhaps we can work together to bring about situations where God can work in the lives of those around us. :)

Came to an epiphany this morning. I've struggled with the fact that I have only one child. Was talking with a lady this morning who notices that I'm never right in the middle of the crowd...that I'm often on the edges. I replied that it's because I'm not real fond of being right in the middle of a crowd...I'd rather be on the periphery. I like listening to people talking, but I find too much talking confusing at times and I don't know who to focus on. And that sometimes I struggle with that at home when both son and hubby are talking and I don't know who to listen to first. I told her that I REALLY like one on one conversations. Then I left for my walk. On my walk I realized that it was indeed a blessing from God that I have but one child. Means less stress overall in my life. Means that I can focus on him. And means that I can focus on my hubby at times as well. Hmm....guess that God really did know what he was doing eh? Despite the heartache of miscarriages he does know me best of all and really does care for me in the big picture. Kinda cool huh? :)

Anyways, today we have a worship service and some more conversation I think and then time to head home. It's been a good weekend overall. I'm rather tired because I didn't sleep well last night, but overall....it's been good. :) The leader threatens to put pics of me up on Facebook...not sure what I think of that. :)

Sunday's Sermon - Feb 27

2011-02-26T07:29:00.004-05:00

Scripture: John 3:1-21

Sermon: This Is How God Loved

Last week Jim talked about Nicodemus and his meeting with Jesus. How Nicodemus was an important leader and teacher within the Jewish community. And how he just couldn't wrap his head around the idea of spiritual birth, and the need for God to work a new thing within us in order to be truly saved.

That covers the first half of this passage. I suspect that he'll be focusing on the last half of this passage this week.

¹⁶"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. ²¹But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God."

The other day Justin and I were reading the story of Adam and Eve and how they listened to Satan instead of God. I asked Justin...what do you think you would have done?

His response: "I would have listened to God mommy. Why didn't they want to listen to God mommy?"

me : "It's sin buddy, no ever really wants to listen to God unless he helps them listen to him."

Him "oh" (but you could see little wheels turning)

me:" you know how I turn you to look at me sometimes when I tell you something? ... that's me helping you listen to me. God helps us just like that...but inside of us."

Him : "oh"

I don't mind the "oh's"...means he's listening and means that sometime he'll come back with a question. he's a thinking boy which I like. Though at times he surprises me how long he'll think about something and I'm left scrambling with ... where did that come from?!?! :)

Anyways, this passage just brings me back to that conversation because it says "people loved the darkness rather than the light". It's so true isn't it? It is often so much easier to do something bad than it is to do something good. Easier to gossip than to point out that people handle things differently. Easier to let something slide than to do something that goes against the crowd. It's something I have to be on guard against when I go to Subway.

I look forward to seeing what Jim has to say about this passage on Sunday.

Irish Meal Day

2011-02-17T22:27:00.004-05:00

I freely admit that this is a duplicate post to my post over at the homeschool blog. But this also seemed very family oriented so I thought I'd share it here as well. :) Cheers!

Boy, the lad and I had fun today. Yesterday we did days 2 & 3 of Expedition Ireland put out by Amanda Bennett Unit Studies. We learned prata is potato, that Ireland has beautiful scenery and interesting stories. We had fun colouring their flag and learning about Burren and Crystal.

Instead of doing more studying of Ireland we decided to have a cooking Irish food day.

We started the day off with pancakes of course.

Here is an easy way to make thin pancakes:

4 oz/ 125g/ 1 cup plain flour
pinch of salt
2 eggs
1/2 pt/ 250ml/ 1 cup milk
1 tbsp melted butter
Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend for about 30 seconds. The batter should then be allowed to stand for 30 minutes in a cool place. Heat a small pan over a medium heat. Grease with a little butter and wipe out with kitchen paper. Fry about 2 tbsp of batter at a time, swirling to cover the base of the pan. Keep them thin and there will be no need to turn. Serve rolled up with sugar.

We did two things with them. MOST we put cinnamon sugar on and rolled them up.
A few we added some gooseberry jam and rolled.
We learned we like the cinnamon sugar best and NOT to be shy with it either. :)

here the lad is learning to apply the cinnamon sugar.
Here I teach him how to roll it. He was a bit hestitant to do it himself as they were quite warm yet.
And the finished product...the cinnamon sugar ones in front, the jam ones behind.
We had thought about dusting them with icing sugar but "Mommy, I think plain is better."

Then off to go grocery shopping for the rest of the days meals....The lad looked hard for the buttermilk, and thought it funny that evaporated milk has a cow picture on the front of the can.

For lunch, due to hunger issues, we decided that the Irish part of our lunch would be GREEN salad. :) The rest we just ate as we wanted to. (sandwiches).

This afternoon we made

Irish Soda Bread

mix together:

4 cups bread flour

1 tbsp double action baking powder

¾ tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Add 2 c. buttermilk

Mix well

Knead 1 minute

Cut in half and form into two balls

Place on greased cookie sheet

cut an 'x' in the top of each ½ inch deep

cook 350 oven for 45-55 minutes.

We learned that if you subsitute whole wheat flour for white, adding more fluid a good idea.
That it is fun to alternate kneading bread.
That is it HARD for a five year to cut an "x" in the top of a ball of bread with a big knife.

the boy working hard at kneading
I neglected to take a picture of the finished product. Turned out a bit dry, but the inside was yummy. We'll do this again sometime.

I was HIGHLY intimidated by the thought of making candy and was VERY nervous that I would mess it up. BUT it worked!!!! I was delighted.
Grandmom's Irish Potatoes Candy

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Directions

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, butter, evaporated milk, cream of tartar and salt. Mix well and bring to a boil. Cook to the soft ball stage at 234 degrees F (115 degrees C). A few drops will form a soft ball when dropped into cold water. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Add vanilla and beat until creamy and stiff. Roll into balls and shape like little potatoes. Roll each ball in cinnamon to coat, then press in pieces of chopped nuts to look like eyes. You can also dust with cocoa to simulate dirt.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 62 | Total Fat: 0.9g | Cholesterol: 3mg

They are pretty good. Hubby says they are kinda like fudge, but different. We were supposed to put nuts on them to look like potato eyes, but the lad nixed that idea and I didn't mind since I'm not a huge nuts in candy person anyways. :)

Oh... we also made cookies!

Irish Ginger Snaps

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shortening
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Cream sugar, egg, salt and shortening together. Add flour, baking soda and spices. Mix well. Roll teaspoonfuls of dough into balls and roll the balls in sugar.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 5 to 6 minutes.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 87 | Total Fat: 4.5g | Cholesterol: 6mg

NOTE: in our oven... 15 minutes.

And yes, I neglected to take a pic of the finished product and I doubt they'll last long enough for a picture to be taken.

We spontaneously decided to invite gramma up to share our Irish meal. Apparently all the ladies at the bank wanted to come and share it as well. Gramma turned them down. :) Our Irish meal was ham, potatoes, and bread.
The brown furry guy in the forefront is "super Jeff". He's an all powerful rabbit who helps make all types of things. This time he helped make cookies! He was a VERY curious rabbit and got flour on his nose in the process. :) He isn't the lad's favourite stuffy, but he is a good comrade in arms. :)

For more irish meal ideas.. go here. :)

5 fingered prayer

2011-02-15T06:57:00.001-05:00

5 fingered prayer, good for everyday!

This is beautiful - and surely worth making the 5 finger prayer a part of our lives.

1. Your thumb is nearest you. So begin your prayers by praying for those closest to you. They are the easiest to remember. To pray for our loved ones is, as C. S. Lewis once said, a 'sweet duty.'

2. The next finger is the pointing finger. Pray for those who teach, instruct and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, and ministers. They need support and wisdom in pointing others in the right direction. Keep them in your prayers.

3. The next finger is the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the president, prime minister, leaders in business and industry, and administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public opinion. They need God's guidance.

4. The fourth finger is our ring finger. Surprising to many is the fact that this is our weakest finger, as any piano teacher will testify. It should remind us to pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain. They need your prayers day and night. You cannot pray too much for them.

5. And lastly comes our little finger - the smallest finger of all, which is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. As the Bible says, 'The least shall be the greatest among you.' Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself. By the time you have prayed for the other four groups, your own needs will be put into proper perspective and you will be able to pray for yourself more effectively.

Bifocals....okay....

2011-02-10T07:39:00.002-05:00

Went to the eye doctor yesterday as I've been having some problems with my eyes. There are times when I simply cannot see, everything goes blurry on me.

Discovered that my eyes have deteriorated a lot over the past year... more so than my original family doctor anticipated.

So I'm going to be needing new glasses and a new prescription. Looking into getting digital progressive bifocals made. Just in the process now of getting quotes and what not.

Praise God, He is our helper!

2011-02-10T07:08:00.003-05:00

I'm following This plan takes you through the bible in two years. Todays' reading is: Exodus 17.8-18.27 Psalm 41.

Exod 17.8-18.27
Every time I read this story I am amazed.

⁸ Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. ⁹So Moses said to Joshua, "Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand." ¹⁰So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. ¹²But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. ¹³And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

Like seriously....who would think of this? To raise your hands with staff in hand to God and win a battle? That's not a normal idea, and yet that is what worked. And the Lord promised to blot out Amalek.

¹⁴Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven." ¹⁵And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The LORD Is My Banner, ¹⁶saying, "A hand upon the throne of the LORD! The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation."

After this event, Jethro (Moses father-in-law) came for a visit and he praised God for how God had protected Moses and the people, rescuing them from Egypt and bringing them through the desert and everything. Then Moses went about his daily business and Jethro was stunned. Why do you sit around all day with these people coming to you? Learning the reason he came up with a simple solution for Moses. Choose some good people to help you with this task.

²³If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace."

The task was too much for Moses, he needed outside eyes to help him find resolution to it.

Isn't it neat how God orchestrated it all?

Ps 41
This is a song of David, to the choirmaster.
My reading of this Psalm nets me two basic thoughts: living a life of integrity and compassion is a very good thing, and second that praising God and asking him to forgive your sins is also a very good thing. :)

Living a life of integrity and compassion

¹ Blessed is the one who considers the poor!
In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him;
12But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
and set me in your presence forever.

Praising God and asking for forgiveness

⁴As for me, I said, "O LORD, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against you!"
......
¹⁰But you, O LORD, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them!
11By this I know that you delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.

Praise the Lord, be humble before him, acknowledge your wrong doings, and live a life protected by the Lord God.

Christian Carnival

2011-02-09T21:44:00.004-05:00

Not in any particular order, very simple submission method this week as it's been a crazy busy week for me.

A Small Church Pastor's Family from Ridge’s Blog.

Hats off to the small church pastors and their families! They are making a difference where no one else will go.

Philip Carlson presents Studying the New Testament Koine Greek Biblical Language posted at Science and Theology in Apposition.

This is the first in a series of posts discussing Greek and Greek resources available online.

Jennifer in OR presents One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp: A Review posted at Diary of 1.

One Thousand Gifts is the beginning, a game of sorts, to list one thousand things in life for which to be grateful.

Russ White presents Humility verses Humanity posted at Thinking in Christ.

We need to have the humility to accept our humanity, although it wounds our pride, and stops us from dreaming of the truly grand things.

Barry Wallace presents I Hate Conflict posted at who am i?.

I'm not young, but it seems as if I still haven't learned to deal well with conflict.

FMF presents Not Enjoying Your Wealth posted at Free Money Finance.

What the Bible has to say about enjoying your wealth.

Joe Plemon presents How Moe Broke Out of His Rut posted at Personal Finance By The Book.

Although Moe had lots of riches, or because Moe had lots of riches, he was in a rut. Read how he breaks out.

Steps to spiritual formation: Taking every thought captive by Disciple's Journal.

Is it possible that we can be so 'spiritual' in the way we evaluate our own spiritual condition that we set aside the commands of God? I think so, based on a recent discussion of 'transformation'

Be Happy given to us by Fish and Cans.

I'm following This plan takes you through the bible in two years. Todays' reading is: Exodus 3-4, Psalm 33.

LeJon presents Behold, I Make All Things Anew! posted at ..::A.Bloody.River::...

Behold, I Make All Things Anew!

Inspired by SONICFLOOd & a rare song titled "Precious Jesus" by The Choir & Leigh Nash...

loswl presents More than Conquers in Jesus | INSPIKS posted at INSPIKS.

I had some experiences that led me to believe that I had demon activity in our house. I would be troubled in my sleep almost every night and sometimes when I was taking a nap in the afternoon.

Timothy Payne presents Psalm 99- An Awesome (Awe Inspiring) God posted at realityinred.

A devotional post taken from Psalm 99. Our God should inspire awe... He is an awesome God, but He is also a righteous, powerful, almighty God. Too often modern Christianity perverts His love into a Worldly love, makes that His overruling attribute (the perverted love), and excludes His Holiness and terrible awesome power. The Fear of the Lord becomes the chummy respect, and... the terror of sin's retribution becomes the "Oops, I did it again" mentality...

Dana shows up with More than words can say posted at Roscommon Acres.

Sitting, nursing, listening to my daughter recite her verses for AWANAs I turn the page. There at the top, a question:

“What is something going on in your life you can pray about?”

Be Happy!

2011-02-02T07:44:00.004-05:00

I'm following This plan takes you through the bible in two years. Todays' reading is: Exodus 3-4, Psalm 33.

Exodus 3-4
As I doing my devotions this morning my son came downstairs all bright-eyed and asking questions. He wakes up talking...just like I do. :) Anyways, he wanted to know what I was doing so we talked about this passage together.

We talked about God told Moses that he was going to use Moses to get his people out of Egypt. Moses gave God all kinds of excuses but God met everyone of those objections. And then God told Moses..the job will be hard. You will say "Pharoah, God says let my people go". and you know what Moses ... Pharoah will say "NO". So Moses took this assignment knowing that even though the job would be hard, that God would help him all the way.

When I asked Justin how he thinks that made Moses feel.. he said "happy".

And I have to say, I agree with him. If I know that something will be hard, but that I'll be helped through it all, it would make me happy as well.

Be happy all you who believe in the Lord...he will HELP you. :)

Ps 33
these verses sum up this Psalm for me.

⁸Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
⁹For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

So when the psalmist says

22Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.

he has good reason to say it.

God made the world. He simply spoke and things came into being, not by chance, not by accident,it was deliberate design. Scarred by sin.. indeed, but that doesn't change who the original creator, designer, master is. For the people that God calls his own, he will help them and protect them as any true and real father would his children. This is a psalm of praise to our creator, the one who cares for his own. Let us all praise the Lord.

Water to Wine

2011-01-30T22:01:00.003-05:00

Jim's sermon this morning was on Jn 2:1-11 where Jesus turned the water into wine.
Justin and I did the video, the lad is learning how to control the sound. Soon enough I think he'll be running it himself! :) Anyways, I appreciated how Jim pointed out that all the stories about things that Jesus did in John are told so that we can see the eventual glory of Christ.

So how Jesus shows himself in this story as the future bridegroom who will provide everything a bridegroom is supposed to provide when the future glory comes. It was also interesting to see how the context fits into all this and explains why it was important. Middle Eastern hospitality is very important, and to not be able to be a effectual host is NOT a good thing. For Jesus to help out the bridegroom in this Miracle story was an important thing. But more importantly, it shows us more about who Christ is, so that we can more fully believe in him.

What else?
This afternoon we went tobogganing at the Pinery. We even went down the "BIG HILL" three times. I would NOT let Justin go down using his Zipfy as he's too young to control it going down such a big hill, but we had fun going down on my toboggan. But we mostly had fun on the smaller hill.

The London Home Show

2011-01-29T22:06:00.003-05:00

The London home and lifestyle show was on today at the Western Fair. We had a good time. This was a GOOD show to attend. Lots of booths to wonder, lots of black pens and candies for a lad to collect, people to talk with, and interesting things to see.

Our original plans for the day had been to go the Central Library first for an event they had on from 10-2, but that just didn't happen. We had a lad get up late, and he was quite tired acting, so we gave him time to eat breakfast and wake up a bit first. I'm glad we took that time though it did make our day a bit later than planned. Oh, the other reason for the delay was my desparate search for a library book that I wanted to return if we made it there. Took a good bit to find it but... I did! (so that was a pleasing thing).

It was a good day, I had four does kindle (have their babies). All good sized litters for their breeds/sizes. I did foster one kit over from a doe (Slip) who had seven to a doe (Gayle) who had three. This will help Gayle's kits stay warm better and will make it easier on my older girl Slip.

Got the newsletter for church done today and distributed as well AND I'm not my normal one week late. Folks may be surprised tomorrow in Church. :)

Anyways, that's all I got, I'm tired and will be going to bed on time tonight. :)

For Sale

2011-01-28T14:00:00.002-05:00

Kids Stuff: Book of Reading and Language Arts for the Primary Grades (Kids' Stuff)

I have two of these, don't need both.

Make me a reasonable offer.

Shipping would be extra, who knows we might be able to arrange to meet. :)

A trick played and A call to be vindicated

2011-01-26T07:06:00.002-05:00

I'm following This plan takes you through the bible in two years. Todays' reading is: Gn 43-44 and Ps 26.

Genesis 43-44
Joseph plays a trick on his brothers. Not a bad trick, but a scary one. Threatening to take away their youngest brother...and Joseph sees how the brothers leap to the defense of him and their father. That must have made his heart smile after how they had treated him. And even though I've read the story,... I want to just keep reading to see how the trick plays out. :)

Psalm 26
I read these first few lines of Psalm 26 and my immediate thought was .. I've never prayed to God like this.

¹ Vindicate me, O LORD,
for I have walked in my integrity,
and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.
² Prove me, O LORD, and try me;
test my heart and my mind.
³For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
and I walk in your faithfulness.

I just don't know that I could. It's like David is giving God a list of his virtues and saying, see God, I do want you want me to, So bless me! Are we supposed to do things like this? I just don't know. It just somehow .... I don't know...

He is a man who loves God, and knows how much that God loves him. Perhaps that gives him to surety to say, God... Help me, bless me. You know how I live my life how I do this, and that. You know that I tell everyone I can about you, so help me, bless me. Hmmm... something to think on more I think....

Nice day with Hubby

2011-01-25T00:27:00.003-05:00

Did you ever have just a nice day with your hubby bumming around?

Well I did.

We didn't do anything special, just bummed around this afternoon. Ran errands and what not. Talked, laughed, frowned and moved on, mostly just talked and spent time just being together.

Had one hard time with a rabbit situation, but Jim is a solid guy who let me talk out my angst at the situation.

Then had fun watching our son do his gymnastics in the evening.

God can use us regardless and God be Praised!

2011-01-24T07:18:00.003-05:00

I'm following This plan takes you through the bible in two years. Todays' reading is: Genesis 39-40 and Psalm 24.

Genesis 39-40
So here we have Joseph in Egypt. He's had the dishonour of being sold by his brothers. It would seem that trouble was just a brewing for Joseph. Yet we read this:

² The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master.

So here he is, a slave, subject to the whims of another, and God is using him. It would seem that circumstances in our life doesn't dictate whether God can use us or not. But troubled plagued Joseph in the shape of his master's wife. She wanted to "lie with him" but Joseph's response was such

How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?"

He wasn't concerned about disobeying his master so much as he was concerned about sinning against God. Yet he got into trouble none-the-less. She lied, he was sent to jail, where he languished... well...not really languished because

²¹But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. ²²And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. ²³The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed.

So where-ever Joseph went, God made it abundantly clear that he was there. He would help Joseph and so people would find themselves appreciating him. He even helped two people (through the Lord God he helped them) to interpret their dreams. Both interpretations proved true, one died, one was restored, but one failed to remember his promise to Joseph, and so Joseph remains in jail.

Psalm 24.

This is such a nice Psalm. Such a song of praise to the Lord our God! Let's just read it. :)

A Psalm of David.

¹ The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
²for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.

³ Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
⁵He will receive blessing from the LORD
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
⁶Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.
Selah

⁷ Lift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
⁸Who is this King of glory?
The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle!
⁹Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
¹⁰Who is this King of glory?
The LORD of hosts,
he is the King of glory!
Selah

News from our family

2011-01-23T07:03:00.004-05:00

Yesterday we packed up Justin and our lunches and went to the Western Fairgrounds. We went to the Health and Fitness show. Last year this show was interesting, this year...BORING. Full of garbagy health stuff...Jim calls them "snake oil salesmen". Hardly any fitness centres, and only two of the centres there, possibly three seemed fully legit and grounded. I won't attend a flaky type women's gym if you paid me...well..okay perhaps if you paid me and it didn't cost me anything and I wasn't to be influenced by "garbage"... then maybe.

I also sold a bunny and an old cage I had kicking around here.

We lunched at the Western Fair farmers market and had a good look around. They sell some interesting things there. Stopped at Costco as the lad had to use the facilities (after drinking three juice boxes I think I would have needed to as well!). Did a bit of shopping and abit of nibbling there as well. Then over to the wrong mall to see about dropping my kitchen shears off to be sharpened...but as I said..WRONG mall so we'll do that Monday.

Found out Saturday that a dear saint of the Lord passed away after a LONG battle with Leukemia. God used his leukemia for good in the life of this man, yet his loss to us is a sad thing (yet good because he has no more pain). His funeral will be on Tuesday. He is not from our church but has preached there often. Henk DenHollander's obituary can be found here. Prayer for the family would be appreciated.

Today's Sermon: Come and See

2011-01-23T06:47:00.004-05:00

Right now Pastor Jim is preaching through the book of John. It's been quite interesting.

John 1:35-51

Well. I was going to link you to biblegateway but the computer seems to have trouble loading some pages this morning, others it has no issue with. Go figure.

So hold on, I need to find a bible with a big enough font to read in low light. I'll put the link up later.

Anyways, this passage has two sections in it and I imagine that Jim will probably preach on the first section about Jesus choosing the first disciples of Jesus, though he might do both as they are well connected. :) Verses 35-42 are on "the first disciples of Jesus" when John the Baptist (I think) was there with two of his disciples. Verses 43-50 was the following day when Jesus got a couple more disciples.

John called Jesus "the Lamb of God". This led to a conversation between his disciples and Jesus that lasted all day. Andrew was one of those disciples and his first action was to bring his brother Simon (Peter) to meet Jesus. Andrew told Simon "We have found the Messiah!" I find it fascinating that Jesus renamed Simon - Peter as soon as he met him. It's like who does that? Only God of course. I don't find instances in the bible of people renaming people, and when God renames people, it has significance.

The next day when Jesus went to Galilee he met Philip. "Come follow Me" Jesus says and first thing Philip does is introduce Nathanael to Jesus. And that led to an interesting discussion as well, where Jesus tells Nathanael that he saw him under the fig tree...and that information is enough to convince Nathanael that Jesus is God's son and the King of Israel.

So Jesus now has his first four disciples: Andrew, Simon (that is Peter), Philip and Nathanael.

I shall endeavor this afternoon to put up my notes from the sermon. No guarantees though, I try to stay off "the beast" on Sundays.

Esau's family and Psalm 22

2011-01-22T07:20:00.002-05:00

I'm following This plan takes you through the bible in two years. Todays' reading is: Gn 36.1-37.1 Ps 22

Gn 36.1-37.1
Genealogies.... this one of Esau. Esau was Jacob's (Israel's) brother. His family became the Edomites. I don't know if all the sons and daughters are listed, my guess is the "important" ones are. Esau moved to Seir because

He went into a land away from his brother Jacob. ⁷ For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together. The land of their sojournings could not support them because of their livestock. ⁸So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir. ( Esau is Edom.)

Ps 22
I read this Psalm and I think to myself...this should be the attitude of a person suffering from depression or who is just going through a difficult time. David was ICK, down the the depths of nothingness...and yet he realized even in the midst of his despair that

³Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
⁴In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
⁵To you they cried and were rescued;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
⁶But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
⁷All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
⁸ "He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!"
⁹Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
¹⁰On you was I cast from my birth,
and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
¹¹Be not far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is none to help.

He knows who God is despite his very own and real frailty. And that is the attitude that will bring us up and out. Remembering who God is and that we can trust him to help us in our weakness, remembering that HE is our very own help in trouble...even if it is difficult.

From God comes my help

2011-01-21T06:48:00.003-05:00

I'm following This plan takes you through the bible in two years. Todays' reading is: Gn 34-35 Ps 21.

Gn 34-35
You know... I never quite know what to think with passages like the one in Genesis 34. Hamor did wrong in raping Dinah, Jacob's sons did wrong in lying to Hamor about what they would do, Hamor's father and all the men were killed (persuaded as they were by the promise of gold and livestock) which well...isn't right either, and Jacob was concerned about the trouble they would get into now that all those men were killed. What do I do with a passage that has some much WRONG in it? Where do I find Christ in this passage?

in Genesis 35 we learn God's response.
He called Jacob out to come and worship him. Jacob did that, building an altar to God, and he called the place El-bethel. There God changed Jacob's name to Israel and there God reminded Israel of his plans for him.

"I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. ¹² The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you."

He eased the concern of retribution from the mind of Israel.

It did not mean that sadness didn't come to Israel because soon thereafter Rebecca went into labour, and in giving birth to Benjamin she died.

Ps 21
A Psalm of David to the choirmaster. David is King and he praising God for all that he has done for him. But primarily he is praising God for God's strength and the salvation that comes through him.

¹O LORD, in your strength the king rejoices,
and in your salvation how greatly he exults!

But oh how he is delighted with all God has done for him. God has given him rich blessings, a crown of gold, life, long days, he is blessed, he is joyful to sit in God's presence and he is able to just trust God.

Wow...think about that for a minute here.

⁶For you make him most blessed forever;
you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
⁷For the king trusts in the LORD,
and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.

It is GOD from whom our salvation comes. It is God who makes us glad to be with him. It is God who enables us to trust him by virtue of his steadfast love. Think about that for a minute. It's not all my doing...it's all GOD'S doing, God's enabling, God's strength, God's faithfulness, God's steadfastness. It's that a comfort? It is to me...it's like oh...it's not all up to me...all that is up to me is my living in response to what God gives me and he gives me all that I need, he really does. Neat. :)

With David I can say:

¹³Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength!
We will sing and praise your power.

God is indeed our help

2011-01-20T06:42:00.003-05:00

I'm following This plan takes you through the bible in two years. Todays' reading is :Gn 32-33 Ps 20.

Gn 32-33
You know, sometimes I read this OT stories of God meeting with man and stuff happens and I wish sometimes that I could meet with God like that and have stuff happen...and then I think...oh foolish one... wanting to meet with God face to face like that ... yeah, stuff would happen but you would also be changed forever and nothing would be the same. Do you really want that? Moses face shone like the sun, Jacob limped, and life was different for them. They had this surety of faith in God, they KNEW that God was God, and still life changed for them when they met God. Who am I to want to meet with God face to face? I'd rather, when it comes right down to it, just talk with him in my head, or pray to out-loud. But wow...some of those OT stories are rather neat aren't?

in this passage Jacob is coming home, He's been away for years and has gotten married and has children and huge flocks/herds of animals, and now he's going to meet his brother. His brother who should be very angry with him. Jacob is scared. IN that fear he trusts God. He prays to God and figures out a plan. That same night that he prayed to God, he wrestled with him..in a literal sense. he literally wrestled with God and came away with a limp, a name change, and a blessing.

And when Jacob finally meet Esau it was a meeting of joy and all was as it should be. Family with family without lots of fighting between them. God answered Jacob's cry to him.

Ps 20
I find this Psalm intriguing I think would be the right word. Throughout the whole Psalm it seems like a declaration of how much God will help his people, yet the last line makes me query if that is the sole intent of the Psalm. The last lines read

⁹O LORD, save the king!
May he answer us when we call.

I have to wonder, why are is the Psalmist beseeching the Lord to save the king? It's a Psalm written by David as well. Would this be before he was made King or is he praying like many Pastors will pray... for himself to lead the people well? I suspect that it's more the later but I"m not sure as I don't know when it was written .... though I think all the Psalms that David wrote he wrote after he was king, but that's just a thought.

As King he is the leader of God's people, and as he goes, so go the people. So for him to pray that God help him is a fitting prayer. As God helps him (the king), so the people of God are helped. I have to admit, I really like this line

⁷Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

Reminds me of who I should really trust in, and it seems like such a bold statement. You believe in thus and such, but WE believe in God! He helps us stand even you can no longer. A good psalm for me to read today. :)

Trying things in a new way

2011-01-19T14:04:00.001-05:00

Trying to Do things a new way.

Being more organized with homeschooling the lad. Working on it, not there yet, but feeling overall better about things.

Adding some exercise everyday. Usually mom and son, but sometimes Dad joins in. Will do 1/2 daily if not longer, regardless of the weather. Will sometimes mean exercising in the basement, or sometimes running the stairs at church, but mostly will be outside...playing in the snow, skiing, snowshoeing, walking around the block or whatever we happen to find.

Eating better and hopefully more regularly. :) right now that seems to be 1000, 130, 5/530 and then snack. I know...odd timing, but so far that's what is suiting us. Eating less and hopefully healthier overall. Added lots of fruit to my diet which is better than munching on this that and whatever. :)

Going to bed ON TIME. No more late nights. Means I can get up in the morning and have time for devotions AND to set up Justin's computer games for him.

Trying to realize I don't have to do it all. Doing what I can and just stopping is not a bad thing. (yeah, right)... still working on this one. :)

Snow shoeing and skiing

2011-01-16T18:45:00.006-05:00

This afternoon we headed out to the field behind the church. I wanted... no....I NEEDED to get out of the house.. so I decided to test out my new snowshoes.

I like 'em. :)

Jim broke trail for Justin, and I kept Justin company by snowshoeing beside him. MUCH easier to help a boy get up again if you aren't on skis yourself. :)

Justin skied way better this week than last week. I was quite impressed. he actually skied really well without using the poles. I carried those. It gave him less to have to think about I think.

The pics are from last week skiing. I didn't want to bring my camera in case I tripped over two much bigger feet. :)