All little girls love to play dress up! Some just have better style than others :). Faith was the model and Hope the photographer.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
The Enemy Within by Kris Lundgaard
I LOVE illustrations. The Lord seems to bring the pictures to my mind almost daily for which I am thankful.
Illustration #1 "John Henry was a man [who] outdug the steam drill [by hand] through the mountain, fifteen to nine." "We stand before the flesh like John Henry before the virgin mountain. We have a Himalayan job before us, and our lives are on the line." Romans 8:13
Illustration #2 "Suppose your Biology 101 professor handed you a live wolverine and asked you to dissect it." "Your flesh won't sit still for prayer and meditation any more than a wolverine would submit to your surgery."
What does this mean? Flesh, this means war! And, as Lundgaard admonishes, "If you snooze, you lose."
To help in the spirtual battle, I like to remember a quote that I read on a friend's friend's friend's blog (I love blogs and friends :). Anyway this quote says, "I am a creature of Heaven." Wow, to think of the grace of our saviour, to make me "a creature of heaven." C. W. Smith . . . And this is where I should spend my time and thoughts. . .
Isaiah 30:22 is good, too.
Illustration #1 "John Henry was a man [who] outdug the steam drill [by hand] through the mountain, fifteen to nine." "We stand before the flesh like John Henry before the virgin mountain. We have a Himalayan job before us, and our lives are on the line." Romans 8:13
Illustration #2 "Suppose your Biology 101 professor handed you a live wolverine and asked you to dissect it." "Your flesh won't sit still for prayer and meditation any more than a wolverine would submit to your surgery."
What does this mean? Flesh, this means war! And, as Lundgaard admonishes, "If you snooze, you lose."
To help in the spirtual battle, I like to remember a quote that I read on a friend's friend's friend's blog (I love blogs and friends :). Anyway this quote says, "I am a creature of Heaven." Wow, to think of the grace of our saviour, to make me "a creature of heaven." C. W. Smith . . . And this is where I should spend my time and thoughts. . .
Isaiah 30:22 is good, too.
Sunday's Points to Ponder
TEXT- JOHN 3
1. We cannot keep our eyes too exclusively or too intently fixed on Jesus. All salvation is in him. All salvation proceeds from Him. All salvation leads to Him." -Octavius Winslow
2. "Be assured that the name of a Christian is not the nature of a Christian; and that being born in a Christian land, and being recognized as professing the Christian religion is of no avail whatever, unless there be something more added to it- the being 'born again.'"
3. We must always be "an instrument of grace."
4. The question: Can we say that upon our conversion we have never been the same? Or must be sweep through the dust of our souls until we see the beauty of Christ and remember that in Christ there is a difference "as distinct as darkness is from day. Has conversion wrought such a distinct change in our life?"
5. HEAVEN: Give you work, recreation, family, eating, and ease- is this your heaven? Is going to God's house tedious? Is singing God's hymns dull? Can a swine deliver a lecture? Can a snail build a city? Can an unconverted man enjoy heaven?
6. Are we obedient to the point of inconvenience?
7. Rejoice! Christ has taken that which has crushed us and destroyed it. He gives a peace that passes all understanding.
A Nicodemus encounter: Perhaps Nicodemus met with Jesus in the night so that there might no interruptions. . . do I long to understand/know Christ so much so that I am driven to meet with uninterrupted. . .
1. We cannot keep our eyes too exclusively or too intently fixed on Jesus. All salvation is in him. All salvation proceeds from Him. All salvation leads to Him." -Octavius Winslow
2. "Be assured that the name of a Christian is not the nature of a Christian; and that being born in a Christian land, and being recognized as professing the Christian religion is of no avail whatever, unless there be something more added to it- the being 'born again.'"
3. We must always be "an instrument of grace."
4. The question: Can we say that upon our conversion we have never been the same? Or must be sweep through the dust of our souls until we see the beauty of Christ and remember that in Christ there is a difference "as distinct as darkness is from day. Has conversion wrought such a distinct change in our life?"
5. HEAVEN: Give you work, recreation, family, eating, and ease- is this your heaven? Is going to God's house tedious? Is singing God's hymns dull? Can a swine deliver a lecture? Can a snail build a city? Can an unconverted man enjoy heaven?
6. Are we obedient to the point of inconvenience?
7. Rejoice! Christ has taken that which has crushed us and destroyed it. He gives a peace that passes all understanding.
A Nicodemus encounter: Perhaps Nicodemus met with Jesus in the night so that there might no interruptions. . . do I long to understand/know Christ so much so that I am driven to meet with uninterrupted. . .
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Sunday's Points to Ponder
Sunday's Points to Ponder
1. Many love sin more than God. "They are haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful." Romans 1:30 Sin is a disease. "The whole head is sick." Isaiah 1:5 And will you love sin? Will any man hug a disease? Will he love his plague sores? Surely it is better to love God than sin. But love to God will never let sin thrive in the heart. Thomas Watson, A Divine Cordial
2. "Let us love and sing and wonder, let us praise the Saviour's name! He has hushed the law's loud thunder, He has quenched Mt. Sinai's flame; He has washed us with His blood, He has brought us near to God. Let us praise, and join the chorus of the saints enthroned on high; here they trused him before us, now their praises fill the sky: Thou has washed with your blood! You are worthy Lamb of God." John Newton
3. Read As With Gladness Men of Old. Great hymn!
4. Hebrews 1:3 "He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the the universe by the word of his power."
1. Many love sin more than God. "They are haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful." Romans 1:30 Sin is a disease. "The whole head is sick." Isaiah 1:5 And will you love sin? Will any man hug a disease? Will he love his plague sores? Surely it is better to love God than sin. But love to God will never let sin thrive in the heart. Thomas Watson, A Divine Cordial
2. "Let us love and sing and wonder, let us praise the Saviour's name! He has hushed the law's loud thunder, He has quenched Mt. Sinai's flame; He has washed us with His blood, He has brought us near to God. Let us praise, and join the chorus of the saints enthroned on high; here they trused him before us, now their praises fill the sky: Thou has washed with your blood! You are worthy Lamb of God." John Newton
3. Read As With Gladness Men of Old. Great hymn!
4. Hebrews 1:3 "He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the the universe by the word of his power."
Christmas Reading
This was in our church bulletin and I thought I would read it to my kids on Christmas morning.
"How poor and unsatisfying are all things here below; even the best and loveliest! Oh, to walk more intimately with Him, to live above the world, and hold the creature with a looser hand, taking God's Word as our guiding light; our unfailing spring of comfort. Let us keep our eye and our hearts upon our blessed home. Earth is but a stage erected as our passage to the place Jesus has gone to prepare for us. What a place must that be which infinte power and love has engaged to provide. . . " written by Mary Winslow
"How poor and unsatisfying are all things here below; even the best and loveliest! Oh, to walk more intimately with Him, to live above the world, and hold the creature with a looser hand, taking God's Word as our guiding light; our unfailing spring of comfort. Let us keep our eye and our hearts upon our blessed home. Earth is but a stage erected as our passage to the place Jesus has gone to prepare for us. What a place must that be which infinte power and love has engaged to provide. . . " written by Mary Winslow
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Flag Football
BEWARE: Turn down the volume. I am a cheering mom. Also, the comment I made about Hope is that is was a COLD day and she was only wearing her jersey
Here's a shout out to my Aunt Irene who always encourages the kids to be active and healthy. I've always wanted to send her clips- so here you go, Aunt Irene!!!!!
CRASHED!
I just learned how to rotate a picture and wanted to make a post with a picture right-side-up. I chose this picture that goes with this funny story-
It had been one of those wild days. To make matters worse, Faith would NOT take a nap. So, by the end of the day, I had HAD it and escaped to the computer to read blogs. I knew that Faith was going from room to room playing and stopping in the living room periodically to watch a movie, but as long as she was quiet and entertained, I was basically in my own world. (Also, I knew that Will would be home soon.) Sure enough, Will did come home and this is what he saw when he opened the door. I had no idea what Will meant when he asked, "What happened to Faith? I turned around and took a few steps and there she was crashed on the living room floor- fast asleep. He decided to drag her to bed and she slept through the entire thing.
Time with the Girls
Ok- I was just playing around with this "blogging" thing and I tried to download a video- Hey! It worked. This video is silly but here it is. Yes, I am taking my little eyebrow razor to Faith- her eyebrows are full BUT really I am not that vain- she asked me to do it and I thought it would be funny.
SO- every now and then, I get the little razor out and spend some time with the girls. (Hope lets me use it on her too.) hee-hee
The Believer's Pocket Companion
After reading The Believer's Pocket Companion, I thought that I had to reread it and WRITE down some of the golden nuggets. So here it goes. . .
"We do not enough dwell upon the infinite love. . . in effectually calling us poor sinners from sin, death, and hell to righteousness. . . in Jesus."
William Mason tells us "to imitate the miser. Let your mind dwell on your store. Does the miser love to count and inspect his beloved gold? O ever be inspecting your beloved Christ in his wonderful person, in his amazing love for laying down his life for you, his enemy."
Mason tells the story of Aggripina the mother of Nero. It is said that she was told that Nero would kill her once he became emperor. And "such as her thirst for her son's honor" she said, "Let it be." Mason Says "let Him but reign in my soul and slay my thirst after all the honor but what comes from Him."
This beautiful little book admonishes us to humbly discipline our minds to think of Christ ALWAYS.
1 Thess. 5:16-18
May it be. . .
"We do not enough dwell upon the infinite love. . . in effectually calling us poor sinners from sin, death, and hell to righteousness. . . in Jesus."
William Mason tells us "to imitate the miser. Let your mind dwell on your store. Does the miser love to count and inspect his beloved gold? O ever be inspecting your beloved Christ in his wonderful person, in his amazing love for laying down his life for you, his enemy."
Mason tells the story of Aggripina the mother of Nero. It is said that she was told that Nero would kill her once he became emperor. And "such as her thirst for her son's honor" she said, "Let it be." Mason Says "let Him but reign in my soul and slay my thirst after all the honor but what comes from Him."
This beautiful little book admonishes us to humbly discipline our minds to think of Christ ALWAYS.
1 Thess. 5:16-18
May it be. . .
Friday, December 7, 2007
If. . .
I say that homeschooling is not only about teaching my children, but it's about God exposing my sinfulness in my actions and responses throughout the day. Actually, parenting in general is good for this. . .
Anyway, yesterday morning I was driving down the road with my children frustrated that everything was not going smoothly (i.e. everything was not perfect such as my messy home, all of my incompleted chores, my lack of reading, my grumpy children who were a reflection of me, etc.) and the Lord brought to my mind something I had read from a missionary to India named Amy Carmicheal. At one point she burned the "mutton chops" but said something like- What does it matter?? Christ died for the ungodly! What did my frustrations matter? Where was my joy in Christ? The fruits of the Spirit? Where is my "peace that passes understanding"?I then turned to her little book IF in which she writes:
"If ininterruptions annoy me and private cares make me impatient. . . then I know nothing of Calvary love."
"If a sudden jar can cause me to speak an impatient or unloving word, then I know nothing of Calvary love. For a cup brimful of sweet water cannot spill even one drop of bitter water, however suddenly jolted."
As I think upon Calvary's love, I leave with the quote at the end of Amy Carmichael's book:
"That which I know not, teach thou me, O Lord, My God". . . and He will.
Anyway, yesterday morning I was driving down the road with my children frustrated that everything was not going smoothly (i.e. everything was not perfect such as my messy home, all of my incompleted chores, my lack of reading, my grumpy children who were a reflection of me, etc.) and the Lord brought to my mind something I had read from a missionary to India named Amy Carmicheal. At one point she burned the "mutton chops" but said something like- What does it matter?? Christ died for the ungodly! What did my frustrations matter? Where was my joy in Christ? The fruits of the Spirit? Where is my "peace that passes understanding"?I then turned to her little book IF in which she writes:
"If ininterruptions annoy me and private cares make me impatient. . . then I know nothing of Calvary love."
"If a sudden jar can cause me to speak an impatient or unloving word, then I know nothing of Calvary love. For a cup brimful of sweet water cannot spill even one drop of bitter water, however suddenly jolted."
As I think upon Calvary's love, I leave with the quote at the end of Amy Carmichael's book:
"That which I know not, teach thou me, O Lord, My God". . . and He will.
Thanksgiving Day
We had a Thanksgiving skit this year. Cousin Libby was an Indian. Hope was William Bradford and Faith was just one of the Puritans. What a rich heritage we have! Men such as Bradford endured great suffering and sacrifice to honor God and to provide their families with a pure religion. William Bradford Plymouth's Faithful Pilgrim by Gary Schmidt is a great book.
The skit was fun- hope it becomes a tradition.
Halloween Fun
Once again, I don't know how to turn the picture.
Anyway, Hope is a mad scientist. We had some dry ice we were going to mix with water and put in a test tube so that she would SMOKE- but our dry ice evaporated before the Halloween festivities.
Faith was Tow White (this is how she says it). She likes princesses.
Faith was also a giraffe because her dad likes animal costumes.
EASY!
Great! That was easy! I think I'll even try to post a picture of my beautiful girls. Then, when I finish my to do list, I might even write about them.
OK- so here is the picture- but how do I turn it around? Anyway, those are my babies. OK- back to work, but I'm so excited that I finally have a blog!
TIME
I LOVE blogs, so NOW I want one. However, I'm not good with computers. Frankly, I have no idea what I'm doing. . . my two year old is asleep and I need to mop the kitchen floor, scrub the tub, fold and put up about four loads of laundry, teach my eight year old, write Christmas cards. . . I want to read, scrapbook, make ornaments. . . finish Christmas shopping, wrap presents. . . Well, I don't know if this will become a post or not, but at least it's a to do list!
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