Breath of Fresh Air

Blog colors

2012-01-22T14:08:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the ugly colors on my blog. My template supplier had something go wrong and I am looking to update it.

Alone with God

2011-12-10T07:57:00.000-05:00

I am alone with God this morning. When I woke up I didn't expect such a drawing from God to Him.

I have lots of time today to do anything I want. And I certainly planned to spend some time in the Word and in prayer. But I wasn't quite sure how this day would pan out. I don't have to be anywhere at all.

With my cup of tea in hand I retreated to my double rocking love seat to sprawl out with three different Bibles. The first thing that came to mind was an old hymn "Alone with God":

"When storms of life are round me beating, when rough the path that I have trod,
Within my closet door retreating, I love to be alone with God.

Chorus:
Alone with God the world forbidden,
Alone with God oh blest retreat!
Alone with God and in him hidden
To hold with Him communion sweet.

What tho the clouds have gathered o'er me? What tho I've passed beneath the rod?
God's perfect will there lies before me, When I am thus alone with God

Tis there I find new strength for duty, as o'er the sands of time I plod
I see the King in all His beauty, while resting there alone with God."

God: Our Masada fortress

2011-11-04T11:25:00.000-04:00

I am so thankful for God, who never changes, never forsakes us. As it says in I Peter chapter 1, I have an inheritance that is not corruptible that I rejoice in even though I may be in heaviness through mulitiple problems.

We have been doing a Bible study on Thursday evenings about the Jewish culture with a video of teachings done directly in Israel. Believers faced many persecutions with a determination to be steadfast for God in spite of it.

It doesn't matter what scary things we are facing or experiencing: treatments for life threatening sickness, fighting in another country, going through the day to day stress of work, crushed by family break ups and the list goes on and on. God has grace and wisdom for everyone of them. God is our "Masada", the fortress rock in Israel by the Dead Sea.

Wild Plum Tea Room

2011-08-29T21:48:00.002-04:00

Our daughters sent us to TN for a two night stay for our 38th anniversary. We leisurely spent our time. One of the places we visited was a lovely tea room: "The Wild Plum Tea Room" in Gatlinburg.

The welcoming sign.

Here is me on a bench outside the entrance.

A part of the lovely garden at the side.

Another view of the garden.

The menu for the day.

A view of the outdoor seating.

A charming table inside.

Another outside decor, a large vendor cart.

My husband was so sweet to visit here with me. Here he is with our menus.

He ordered the salad of the day. It was a scrumptious pea salad with a taste of horse radish. Of course, I helped him eat it. I will need to search for the recipe as I did not purchase a cookbook.

My plum tea was so refreshing and relaxing. I had several cups! His was served cold.

I chose the cheddar chablis soup. So good.

We gave in and tried a dessert. This was peaches with a sauce. pound cake on the bottom, ice cream in the middle and whipped topping. Mmmmmm.

Mine was an amaretto bread pudding. You can also see husbands glass of iced plum tea.

A part of the serving area across the aisle from us.

Dishes for sale. I resisted a purchase.

One of the hostesses said it was an Austrian tea room and invited me to go upstairs where there was more seating. They were hosting a bridal shower up there the next day.

I hope you have enjoyed visiting The Wild Plum Tea Room with me today. If you are ever in the area look it up.

I am sharing with Lady Katherine today @ Lady Katherine Tea Time Tuesday.

Dew of Heaven

2011-06-21T07:26:00.000-04:00

How do I begin this. Words escape me to describe the blessings of waking up and in prayer having the dew of heaven soak into my soul from God. It is wonderful to be led by still waters in a green pasture as Psalm 23 states. It continues on, He restores my soul, anoints my head with oil, prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies. That lets me know that even when things are not always right in our world we can still be blessed by God, pampered, fed spiritually and listen to the rippling brook of His presence and be calmed and assured.

"You are my hiding place,

You always fill my heart with songs of deliverance;

Whenever I am afraid,

I will trust in You.

Let the weak say,

"I am strong in the strength of the Lord!"

Words by Michael Ledner

What a wonderful way to start the day.

First Time Ever Surprise

2011-06-02T08:24:00.000-04:00

This morning I woke up to a First Time Ever Surprise! I walked into the bathroom and to the left is my bathtub. This is what I saw:

He was on my bathmat and had left a trail. I have never known of a place that a mouse could not escape. But evidently a tub with slanted sides is one of them too slippery to climb.

My mat is not that old, a pretty one with positive sayings. But when I looked again, behold he had nibbled on the side. That mean little creature. Evidently he read some of the sayings but this one did not help him get out so he started chewing trying to remove it.

Tea Time with a New Tea Pot

2011-05-28T10:05:00.001-04:00

I am finally getting to share my new teapot that is a Mother's Day gift from Lori, Julie and Clay.

First a clearing and rearranging of the kitchen. Then a hunt for a good tea menu. The cupboards are far from bare but it is the end of the month...before payday......mnnnnn.

Well I always have some kind of tea bags on hand. So I chose a regular decaf tea and selected a "chocolate mint" tea leaf to float on the top of my tea . These are growing in a planter outside. I purchased a plant in early spring and nearly killed it waiting to plant it outside. But alas it did come back to life and is starting to spread.

Next, a slice of whole grain bread with butter and strawberry jam. Then a poached egg and some corn meal mush like my dad used to make us for breakfast.

Now for the setting with my new tea pot.

This setting includes my teapot which is a pottery piece from a lady's fair that included entrepreneurs of various trades. I have also included a Thomas Kinkade tea mug that "lights up" when filled with hot water.

I used my country cannisters and some small mingtree ironstone bowls given to me by my sister in law

several years ago. The place mat is a pretty tea setting picture that came from K-mart.

I enhanced the color a bit here to catch the pretty blue of the teapot.

What a fun start to a Saturday morning. Tuesday I hope to link to Lady Katherine's Tea.

Second Post of the Day

2011-05-27T18:24:00.001-04:00

I am full of rejoicing to be home from work. Traveled down the road home to praise songs playing loudly on a CD. At work the guys pushed to get one final semi truck unloaded with me tagging each piece at our newly leased warehouse. Whoooo! am I glad to be home!

Played with the dogs, Fatz and Charlie. Lori had them in the house for a few minutes. Oh and I need to share a funny note: when I left home after lunch today, I walked out to my car, Charlie started barking at me like I was a stranger walking into the yard. Then I noticed Fatz in the smaller dog house (that is not his regular) and then Charlie walks in with him. It is raining. Fatz proceeds to leave and go to his own dog house. Charlie follows him. Poor Fatz. I feel for him. I know what it feels like to just want to be by yourself. Charlie just can't seem to leave Fatz's side. ;o)

May Post

2011-05-27T12:05:00.000-04:00

I miss blogging and I thought I should get in a post for May before it ends. I have had a checkup today at the Dr. So left work to go and lunch sounded good since I missed breakfast, so afterwards home (5 minutes away) sounded good. Had a few minutes to talk with dear husband before he left with our pastor. Heated a bowl of chili made by dear husband. And sat down to do a bit of reading on the computer.

It is raining quite extensively outside just now. We have had many severe thunderstorms this spring. More than I can ever remember since living in NC the past 14 years. Thankfully, nothing serious has happened at our house but it has to others in our county and in other states.

We had a great women's conference. And we are proceeding with a "steering committee" at our newly formed worship group. There are around 30 to 40 of us meeting in what we jokingly call our "underground" church. Some fellow believers have graciously and excitedly offered their finished basement for our worship gatherings.

Mothers Day gifts included a beautiful new teapot that I must photograph and join in on a Tuesday Tea Time post very soon. My roses are blooming nicely and I have several herbs growing again this year.

Well time tells me I must return to work.

Lady's Conference

2011-04-05T01:22:00.000-04:00

I am awake due to a severe thunderstorm that has finally simmered down. Have you ever had a storm turn on a touch lamp? Sometimes that happens to the one on my bed. I woke up to lightning and strong winds and the light was on.Thankfully, it is quiet now.

A lady's conference is being held May 7 hosted by our pastor's wife at their home on Lake James. We just took Ross and Mary there for lunch today before they headed back home. Pastor Don and his wife Barbara are such great encouragers! Hosting and making people feel right at home is their specialty. The conversation turned to people that have visited. Don said one time a friend of his got together the group of mothers and children from the battered shelter and brought them over to the house for a picnic and playing in the water. There's always someone they're reaching out to and I am so glad God brought our paths together.

Anyway, back to the conference. We are going to have local speakers and Barbara asked me to get some worship songs together. God has already been plugging ideas in my mind. It will be an all day event. There is comfortable seating all over their home that has an over view of the lake along with decks and chairs outside. I know we are going to have a great worship time and I am so excited! What I need to do is share pictures on here.

Well I had better try to get some more sleep. I get to get a tooth crown at 8:00 am and then I need a clear mind to finish some inventory reports.

Truly Blessed

2011-04-02T05:21:00.001-04:00

What a busy time at work! So much so that I had to be away from home while some of my wonderful family from Ohio was visiting. But so thankful for the wonderful supper that I came home to last night, fixed by my great husband and daughters. Ross and Mary had us all laughing in no time and it was heartwarming to receive their hugs.

Needed at work again today. :( A Saturday of inventory reports, auditors and questions.I was exhausted last night, in bed at 10 but awake at 3. Finally got up for some hot tea, eggs and toast, facebook and blog. Now it is 5 o'clock.

Rick has an appointment for a check up with a "disability doctor" this morning. Keep him in your prayers. It is supposedly a routine thing that happens every several years. Kind of like being picked for an audit! Don't we feel special! I guess the bagful of medicine, high rx bills and doctors reports on low lung capacity like an 85 year old just aren't enough.

But "God's sweet grace has strengthened us time after time. So don't be afraid of the mountain cause friend you were born to climb." "Oh the mountain is high and the road up the side is much steeper than you thought it would be. You're out of breath you're scared half to death that you won't have the faith to believe. But grace, sweet grace, has strengthened you time after time." "God has not given you a spirit of fear or a burden that's too hard to bear. Right when you think that all hope may be fading, BEHOLD THE LORD'S STANDING RIGHT THERE!"

"Another pretty day!!!!!"

2011-03-17T07:01:00.000-04:00

Childhood Memories

2011-03-08T04:04:00.000-05:00

Today I went into the Dollar store. That brings a memory in itself. My favorite store used to be the five and dime store in downtown Urbana. Today the store was full of Easter candy that made me feel like a longing kid.

My mother used to make me and my siblings each our own individual Easter basket. It usually had a variety of hand picked treats. I still love those hollow chocolate rabbits that have a name on the box like "Binky" with candy eyes.

Sugar Egg

Have you ever seen one of these sugar eggs with a cardboard scene inside? We would have one of those, too.

And speaking of the five and dime store, they would have baby chicks and ducks for sale right on the counter in the middle of the store.

What favorite memories do you have? Please share them in your comments. I would love to hear from you.

Saturday with the Fam, I think it was for Julie's birthday!

2011-03-06T00:55:00.000-05:00

Ok, I was thinking of the tune "Saturday, at the park, I think it was the 4th of July....I've been waiting such a long time, for today!" Great day, starting with Lori fixing breakfast for Julie and me. It was an extension of Julie's birthday that Lori had planned. Then off to our first time of a manicure/pedicure. It was a nice one time thing for us to do. Smooth feet, cuticles removed from hands. I've never been one to take time to make anything special of my nails except clean of course.

Then across town to an antique store for a look/see. Then back into town to meet Rick for a special lunch and on to a small garden/landscape show in town, eyeing those garden and flower plants to get ready for spring.

Next stop, home and song practice and some fun together with the instruments. And on to be some with some friends at their church to hear about their missionary trip to Jamaica. It was an encouragement and a continuing of what God has been quietly speaking to me about.

The stories of the Jamaican Christians being hungry for the Word of God, and tracts about Jesus. Excited about reading them and happy though their means of living is very meager or severely handicapped. How many people in America are that hungry for God, even in churches? We have so much in America compared to them, yet what we have can become idols because of the time spent with all we do have and leaving God for last.

For any who read this, having a personal experience with Jesus in your heart is more important than anything else we can do. It is not enough to say we believe in Him, but to believe in Him enough to ask forgiveness for sins and follow Him with all our heart and do what He asks of us.

Work and Tea Time

2011-02-22T22:01:00.000-05:00

Monday I was chosen to be one to get up bright and early and go to our showroom in High Point to count inventory. Two of us went and two of the ladies at the showroom worked with us. In speaking with the one who manages the showroom, I have suggested that we have a ladies tea at the showroom. Things are always either too busy at the plant or a market going on at the showroom and the tea has only been dreamed about. The 60ish, proper, very strong Southern drawl manager is a delight. So when I learned I was to be there on Monday I thought I should prepare a tea time treat even if we didn't get to have a full tea.

So I baked some blueberry pecan bread, placed it in a basket along with some tea bags. I didn't tell her I was bringing it. To my surprise when I got there and presented it to her she said she had brought in one of her special tea cups for me to use that day.

We didn't get to use it till later in the afternoon. She had been experiencing throat problems, so while the other girls were busy at another building counting, we sneaked and had our tea.She really wanted me to use her cup so I did. It was a beautiful blue cup that sat on a teapot. Her daughter, who lives in Belgium had bought it for her in Poland. I wish I had taken a picture of it, at least with my cell phone camera.

The tea and bread were enjoyed and then we continued on clearing up inventory problems. It wasn't long until the other girls came back. We tried to fool them into thinking we had been busy working the whole time they were gone. But they suspected that we had had our tea and we confessed we had.

The surprise tea was a nice addition to a hard working day. And we all get to enjoy lunch together at the Grateful Bread with scrumptious home made soup, and a 3 cheese grilled sandwich on their famous "bird seed bread".

I am thankful for the blessings God gave me on a day that I was very tempted to dread and for keeping us safe on the long drive home.

Tales of Another Generation, Part I

2011-02-11T22:35:00.002-05:00

My mother wrote some family history when she was alive. I thought I would share a little of the tales of another generation.

"It all started when my niece was born in 1931 in a small town in Ohio. I went to stay to help with the baby. There were a few houses on one side of the gravel road. Other children lived around, including a boy staying with his siblings and parents in his grandmother's house.

In the evening the kids would be out playing hide and seek, kick the bucket, etc. One evening we were playing hide and seek and I put ice down that boys neck. He said that was the start of us getting together.

I wasn't helping with the baby very long but we would come back to visit and the kids in the neighborhood would all play together. When Daddy and Mother moved to a different house, that boy would visit me there.

He worked in a different town and would have to catch the trolley on a Friday night and catch it again to go back on Sunday night.One Sunday night he was leaving our house, ran down the alley, turned the corner and ran into a lady and knocked her down. He said he didn't even stop and help her. He would have missed the trolley if he had.

School was out and I was helping someone with some house cleaning. Well, D (that boy I used to play with) asked my brother if he could borrow his car. D wanted us to go the next state and get married. We talked to some friends and they told us where to go and where the minister lived who married them. My brother let him have the car, a little red convertible with donut tires. He came to where I was cleaning and got me and we were on our way. Nobody knew we were going but my brother.

We found the ministers house. His wife and some one else were the witnesses. We drove back to Ohio. I don't remember stopping to eat anywhere. He was 22 and I was 16.

When we got back we didn't get the best welcome. Mother and Daddy didn't think much of some of his family, so that didn't go so well with me marrying into it.

My sister fixed a nice meal and gave me some dishes from her cupboard. D's dad told him not to bring me to his house to keep. Some of Mother and Daddy's friends gave us a shower.

D's aunt said he could bring me down there. We fixed a kitchen on her enclosed back porch. We bought a table, 4 chairs, a utility cupboard and a cabinet for a 2 burner hot plate. We used the bedroom D had slept in there. We lived there till October. The back porch wasn't heated so we had to move. We walked and walked but didn't find anything suitable for the money we could afford. So my brother let us move in his 2 rooms upstairs. There was no water and no bathroom upstairs. They didn't have a bathroom downstairs either. It was a path out the back door."

February Morning

2011-02-11T06:47:00.000-05:00

Rick is hosting a Bibles study this morning with breakfast. He had asked me the other day if I would fix my sausage gravy before I went to work. I gladly accepted. So I have been up early this morning, actually before the alarm went off. The gravy making went off well. Two skillets of Bob Evans sausage gravy. Home made of course! I love using Bob Evans sausage and don't like to substitute any other. It contains no grease.

Well, the gravy is now in the crock pot and I am ready to eat a biscuit myself, the cook's privilege. I took a picture of the gravy but it did not turn out. Rick teased me and said "Oh no, now she's taking a picture of gravy." He said he loved my mom's gravy but never wanted to take a picture of it (He loves mine, too.) But I said my family will look at this picture of gravy after I'm gone and wish they had some! :)

Snowy North Carolina

2011-01-10T19:41:00.000-05:00

When we first moved to NC 13 years ago, I would never have guessed we would be having snow days ; ) I loved the one today. It actually caught us in time for them to cancel work! I was so glad I didn't have to spend the day in the office. Mentally I felt like a new person.

I did some work on my closet, then paused to place a few pieces into my puzzle. Dusted a bit while talking on the phone.

Later this afternoon, Lori and I took a walk. Well, actually I waked and she, yes she rode her bicycle!

I then tried my hand once again at making a recipe of biscuits. The dough tasted great. It had cheese in it. But they didn't look to great coming out of the oven. So I did not bother to take a picture for anyone to see. Edible. But I have never been able to make fluffy biscuits unless I open a can from the store! But I also made a chicken pot pie. It was a nice supper for a snowy day.

Gingerbread Cream and Sugar Set

2010-12-20T20:56:00.000-05:00

I am thankful for the great group of ladies that I work with. Today we exchanged some small gifts.

Look at what I got! A gingerbread cream and sugar set. I set in front of them the most blessed name I know!

And here is a towel to match.

God With Us

2010-12-19T14:31:00.000-05:00

I am thankful for the reminder this time of year that "God is with us" : Emanuel.
Grateful that when He came he brought redemption that "though our sins be as scarlet, He washes whiter than snow." And the reminder from Him that since He can give us such a fresh, new, clean slate start in life, His same power is available for whatever problems mount up in our life.

December Seventh Thoughts

2010-12-07T22:52:00.000-05:00

1. Happy Birthday to Lorah Ann Ropp Zeigler and Phoebe Elizabeth Goff Rice. Two mothers, birthdays on the same day, different years. Phoebe has been gone for about 48 years and Lorah gone for about 1 1/2 years.

2. North Carolina is very cold this December. I don't think it was this cold in the winter when we first moved here. Our dog is in the shed, shielded from the wind. Our bunnys' cage is covered with plastic. I unfroze Sophie's (the bunny) water bottle and she drank from it while I held it.

3. We visited with some friends down the road this evening. I am beginning to enjoy this stage of my life, getting together with people my own age.

Wow! I haven't posted since August

2010-11-13T11:04:00.000-05:00

Wow! I haven't posted since August. Just haven't had the time. But I still love the pictures of our tea in Ohio with Lori and Ericca! I have looked at others blogs briefly from time to time.

I am excited/prayerful about our concert tonight. We're starting out with "I Need Thee". An old hymn but with an always needed message. Julie will be singing "I Get on My Knees", Lori will be playing a piano solo, we all will be singing 3 favorite Collingsworth Family songs among others. "I Could Never Thank Him Enough" is a good one since the whole world seems to turn their thoughts to thankfulness this month.

I wonder how many people will actually incorporate some thankful activities into their Thanksgiving Day celebrations. Most families don't see much of each other except on this holiday. It is great to catch up on family news and enjoy each others recipes.

Does anybody have any comments on what you do to make a difference in other peoples lives on Thanksgiving. I would like to reach out to other people this year. I won't be going home for Thanksgiving so I would like to invest at least some of my day in someone else that could use it.

May everyone take some time to lift your hearts to God, even if it is for the first time. He is Wonderful!

Tea Parties

2010-08-17T20:38:00.001-04:00

Last week we had the privilege of spending the week in Ohio vacationing with family. We had lots of fun activities and here are some to share for Tea Time Tuesday with Lady Katherine. I'm sure you'll enjoy going to her blog to see the lovely teas that are being shared there.

I had made reservations for a tea room I found on line: Edith Mae's Tea Room in Xenia, Ohio. My grandaughter (one of my sons' daughter), my daughter and I had a wonderful time. It is a lovely Victorian house as you can see below.

Edith Mae's Tea Room, Xenia, Ohio 2010

The front entrance

The gazebo in the side yard

The girls tried on different hats as there were many antique ones from which to choose.

I kept the same one, a beautiful cream colored, velvety material with a long lacy train. Lori's hat here was beaded all over and the owner said it too was very old. The other ladies chose pink lemonade served in a goblet and I chose hot tea. We were served lemon poppy seed bread and cinamon rolls with it.

We had beautiful china plates.

Then we were served a scrumptious lunch of chicken salad on croissants, open cumcumer sandwiches, ham and cheese bisquits, lots of wonderful fresh fruit. There were 3 kinds of desserts on top, an orange cake with whipped cream icing, deep chocolate brownies and mini cherry pastry. We had to have a to go box.

The day before, my baby sister invited us to have dinner at her house. I checked with everybody and we had that night free so I told her we could come. Little did I know it was a surprise birthday dinner for me!! And look at the cake she made me.

A Tea Birthday Cake

I will show you different sides of it so you can read the words.

Isn't the little tea set cute and the icing table cloth? There are little icing napkins. Isn't she talented?

Don't forget to leave me a comment and let me know you were here to visit.

Teapot Arrangement

2010-07-12T23:09:00.001-04:00

I'm a little teapot short and stout

Here is my handle, Here is my spout

When I get all steamed up here me shout

Just tip me over and pour me out

Did you ever sing that little song and perform the motions?

*********************************************************************

Today I am sharing my teapots with garden arrangements. Would it win a prize at the county fair? Probably not. But I like the looks of it on my table.

This teapot has rosemary. I don't think I have ever smelled a more fragrant herb. There is also some English thyme in the spout and a marigold in with the rosemary.

More thyme in this teapot.

Some friends invited us to pick blueberries last Thursday evening. We picked 2 gallons at the end of the evening after the sun was not so hot.

Join Lady Katherine for Tea Time Tuesday and take a look at what her guests are sharing today.

Now if I can just get everyone in the house out of the habit of piling things on my table and keep it looking like this! It is a full time job!

Something else to share: we had a good time singing at the cowboy church tonight! God blessed us with a slightly cooler evening for it was in a horse arena that was under cover but open air. The crowd was certainly encouraging, a good gospel message and we were able to share the gospel in song. Looking forward to more blessings this week. Have a great week everyone.

I Am Blessed

2010-06-15T22:46:00.000-04:00

I so enjoyed my weekend. I have been much overwhelmed and experiencing burn out. But God is always faithful to teach me how to be restored.
The Lord truly is my Shepherd and I shall not want. He leads me through green pastures beside still waters. He restores me and reminds me how to live holy. Even though there are deep, lonely valleys and hard trials, He takes my fears away. His Word is such a strength to me and His Spirit is so soothing. I can just feel His help even though there are enemies in these valleys. As I seek Him with my whole heart to be attached to His Vine every day, His goodness and mercy will follow me even unto the end. Some paraphrasing of my own there while looking at the 23rd Psalm so I did not put it in quotations.

This is the view Rick and I saw after driving up Mt. Mitchell on Saturday. It is not far from where we live and is the highest point this side of the Mississippi but we had never been there in the 13 years we have lived here. This is just a cell phone camera picture but I think it turned out pretty good.

As I woke Sunday morning I went to the Greenway early while it was still cool. I rode my bike and meditated with the Lord. We very rarely go on vacations so our trips are usually just day trips. We ended up meeting our daughters and son in law at Todd for an impromtu lunch at the park and a bike ride down by the river. It was a perfect day, threatened to rain, but held off. The road to ride is 10 miles long but we stopped at 3 miles and headed back. It was good timing. By the time we put our bikes in the truck and made it into the general store, the rain just poured for several minutes. It was a good day and I was glad that it worked out for everyone to come along.

Then last evening Rick and I checked out the cowboy church in a town nearby. It was such a blessing. The Lord provided several different needs to be met for us through the spoken word, singing and much to share. We will be singing there next month and desire to share Christ with others.

These pictures are blurry but give you an idea of what it was like.

I was impressed with how the gospel was presented to a pretty good crowd. And there are some who have let God turn there lives around who before would never have stepped inside a church.

The group that sang, Brothers Redeemed are just that. Redeemed brothers, 2 of the 4 men, were brought together after a long time of not ever speaking to each other. God got a hold of the unsaved brothers heart and they are together all the time now. We found that out talking with one of them after it was over. God still moves! Thank you Lord!

Cowboy Tea

2010-06-07T22:35:00.001-04:00

I couldn't resist having a cowboy tea just so I could share a couple of items with you. It is not an elegant tea. But what kind of tea would a cowboy have on the trail? And it just so happened that my husband had fixed the perfect items for supper to put with it. OK so it's not your normal tea but it is fun. I have so enjoyed old items that belonged to my mother. Here is one of her vintage aprons. It has Cowboy couples having a doesy doe.

Here is a close up of one of the couples at the barn dance.

I chose the apron to set up a cowboy tea. A cowboy couple always has beans and cornbread by the campfire with their mug of tea.

The boots are ones that were mine as a child. I think they have weathered many a pretend roundups and probably a few county fairs hanging around the horse barns just to see what was going on.

For more tea parties, head on down the trail to Lady Katherine's for the Southern Belles tea party and Teatime Tuesday.. You may need to dress up a bit though. Rough old boots may need to be traded for proper Teatime Tuesday outfits.

Garden Tea Time

2010-05-25T21:41:00.008-04:00

Lady Katherine has been sharing her lovely rose garden teas on Teatime Tuesday. I am sharing my, I should say our, gardens. Rick started the first rows of broccoli, cabbage and lettuce. Then Lori made a beautiful patch of squash with a few cucumbers.

Then Rick planted beans and tomatoes. The tomatoes are slower but we hope to have a good crop. We have planted basil between the tomatoes again this year. It helps keep bugs away and basil is my favorite herb.

Then, I was so excited when a neighbor, Jeff, got us some free wooden boxes from his work. Jeff and Rick double stacked them, put a lid on the bottom level and filled the second level with good dirt. They set up 3 like this side by side. Now I have an herb garden that is almost waist high.I can keep it weeded very easily. Since it is close to the house I can clip some off any time I want to use some in a recipe. I have learned how wonderfully fragrant the rosemary is. I also planted some purple basil which isn't very tall yet. And some thyme and chives. One of the beds grows only asparagus. It will not be picked this year to allow for better growth.

Here is some mint and cilantro.

Out by the herb beds we have 2 wooden work tables that we got free. Rick painted them and we can use them for working with plants or serving food when we have a barbecue. It was getting late tonight but I hurried and set up a tea to share.

The tablecloth was one my mother made with farm scenes. I have shared some of my veggies from the garden (except the Tommy toes were from the store).The veggies are on a farm scene plate. I have decaf green mint tea in the carafe. I discovered the carafe is great for keeping tea hot for many hours if it starts out very hot. The flowers are violas I purchased from Cottage Gardens down the road from us.

Here is my country bowl with packages of seeds.

I was pleased to get in the mail a Mother's Day gift from my son in Ohio. It is a tapestry that was just right for this time of the year.

This pretty flowery cup is one I picked up from Mom's house a few months ago.

This sun bonnet is one my daughter got for me in Amish country. I haven't worn it, yet, but I may in the garden this summer. Maybe I'll get my picture taken with it and a pitchfork in my hand just for fun.

Blog Under Construction

2010-05-18T22:04:00.001-04:00

I will take suggestions for setting up. Trying some new things but not much time to work on it and my computer is acting slow. I would like for my new, free background to be condensed some so the borders would show more but not sure how to do it.

One Lost Sheep

2010-05-16T09:55:00.000-04:00

I was reading this scripture yesterday in the car: Matthew 18:12-14. "If a man have a hundred sheep and one of the is gone astray, doesn't he leave the ninety nine and go to the mountains to look for the one? And if he finds it, he rejoices more with that sheep than of the the ninety nine. Even so it is not the will of your Father in heaven that even one should perish."

Right to the point of the thought that came to my mind: Pastors can be satisfied with a group of followers and not care about those who are lost. It actually pumps a pastor and makes him feel good and content if he has a group that stands by him. It makes him feel important in the kingdom of God. Meanwhile one soul is lost but so easily forgotten.

Likewise, we lay members can be so satisfied to be with a group of people that accepts us. As humans we feel so good in group that pats us on the back. Sometimes people will do anything to please others just to stay a part of that group. We definitely need to be God pleasers and not people pleasers. Nor do we need to be glory seekers.

Instead we need to seek God's leading for the person out there by themselves that need God. They need our attention, our witness.

Are you willing to lay aside your comfortable position as pastor to seek out one lost person and humble yourself so that they might be saved? Are we willing to leave a group of people that makes us feel good to spend some time with someone who needs us and needs God?

Busy, Busy

2010-05-13T22:21:00.000-04:00

I have been keeping some long hours at work. There are so many changes and so much to do. I was so overwhelmed a couple mornings ago and hadn't slept well. When I got up I thought I need something light and encouraging from the Word and that is when I turned to Psalm 44.

"We have heard with our ears, O God,.....what work you have done in the past. How you set aside unbelievers. Your people did not get the land by their own sword nor did their own efforts deliver them, but it was You, Your Hand and just the mere light of your face because you favored Your people.You are my King, O God. Speak the word for me. By You we will push down our enemies and put them beneath us. I will not trust in my bow nor my sword."

The thought that came to me was: God will help me get done what I need to. I will not trust in my calculator or my computer or my own efforts. Kind of funny but true.

And even though there are other events all around us trying our faith. We may not be delivered from it but God is with us in the midst of it all and we can keep on for Him.

In verse 17: "All this is come upon us, yet have we not forgotten You." Psalm 34:19 comes to mind now."Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivers him out of them all." II Cor 4:8-9 "We are troubled on every side, perplexed and persecuted, cast down, yet not distressed, or in despair, not forsaken, not destroyed."

Dream Tea

2010-04-27T21:16:00.002-04:00

If I had my choice of a beautiful sofa on which to invite you to share

tea it would be this one. It is the Savannah Sofa in the Carol Bolton line made by E. J. Victor.

And I would place this Elizabeth Cocktail Table right in front of the sofa with a tray of tea..

And I would add this Flip Top End Table and this Stairstep Table.

And I would serve you stuffed cucumbers and tea on my very best china.

All furniture is made by E. J. Victor and can be found at ejvictor.com. You may take a tour of teas at Tea Time Tuesday hosted by Lady Katherine.

Tea Party Birthday Cake

2010-04-20T22:31:00.001-04:00

I had to share a picture of the tea party birthday cake my sister made for her grandaughters 3rd birthday.

If you enjoy tea parties take a peak at Lady Katherine Tea Parlor. There are many tea sippers linked up there with beautiful china on the table or in the garden.

Appearances Versus Intent, Part Two or Whitewashing

2010-04-19T18:34:00.004-04:00

Continuing in the study of making sure my intent is pure and not just for appearance sake....

I was thinking today of whitewash. Here are some definitions I looked up about whitewash:

It is a cheaper way of cleaning something up. It can rub off easily. It is just a coating.Whitewash aids in sanitation by coating and smoothing over the rough surfaces. Successive applications of whitewash build up layers of scale which flake off and in the process remove surface debris with it. It is used on farms and in barns and typically the application is an annual process.Lime wash is pure slaked lime in water and produces a unique surface glow.

So to sum it up, it can clean or disinfect some but not permanently or deeply, it flakes off and can produce a temporary "glow", it's cheap. So you may guess where I'm going with this: spiritual application :)

Whitewash reminds me of the old testament sacrifices for sin. They weren't sufficient. Those sacrifices had to be performed daily and yearly. Hebrews 7 states why Christ's sacrifice was so much better than those sacrifices. His sacrifice went clear to the depth of my and your heart.

Whitewash reminds me of humans trying to find a cheaper way to be spiritually clean. Habits can be changed, physically we can "fix up" the outside, work on good manners, etc. but unless there is a heart change from God those deeds just remove surface debris. They only produce a surface "glow". They're flaky.

Whitewash reminds me of how a church can have a nice building, well mannered people, fun programs, a great website and good singing. But if there is a suppressing and hiding of sin it is worth nothing to God.

Jesus puts it this way in Matthew 23:27-28 "you are like a whitewashed burial place which appears beautiful on the outside but inside is full of dead bones and uncleanness. you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."

At revival last night it was said how we don't see conviction and crying out to God like we used to. It is because men are content with a little cheap whitewash, willing to play the game of church. It is so much harder to keep an appearance than to have the real thing in our heart from Jesus. Jesus said His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

I keep asking God to search my heart and see if there is any sin there and keep me ready and genuine every day. The recent unexpected loss of 2 saved friends, one 18 and the other 70 brings it closer to home. I don't want to be whitewashed.

Appearances Versus Intent, Part One

2010-04-06T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." 13 "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with who we have to do."

Selah or stop and think it over. As I do, it lets me know that I must allow this scripture to check my appearances and intents. My actions, my words must be monitored by this scripture. If I speak love and I perform acts of love, is it for appearance or is the intent real? If I must speak correction and rebuke, is the intent love or revenge?

If we look at the words and recorded actions of Jesus and the Christians in the Bible, we see both love and rebuke. Yet I do not doubt that their intent was anything but a pure love and rebuke because of that love.
They loved, not fake actions for appearance sake and they rebuked to let people know of the danger to their souls, not for revenge.

Matthew 23:34-39 These are words in red, words of Jesus. He loved that rebellious generation enough to tell them, "I've sent Bible teachers, those with wisdom, messengers to you and you either killed them or thrashed them in your churches and troubled them from city to city." And He cried out "Oh, oh I sure wish I could have just gathered you and loved on you and hugged you. But instead I'm leaving you alone. And you won't see me anymore until you can bless those that come to you in my name, the name of the Lord."

His actions and words would appear harsh but he did it not for revenge. His intent is love.

Celebration of a Homecoming

2010-03-26T11:34:00.000-04:00

Anna's homecoming memorial service was truly a celebration. Her family was full of the grace of God, not without sorrow but sorrowing with hope. Everyone connected with Anna, whether family, friends, coworkers was deeply affected by her life and thus also her death. To see her precious parents graciously greeting hundreds of people and even giving comfort to others was amazing. The greatly participated in the service with reflections and songs. Displays of Anna's saddle and pictures and drawings in frames, some from Anna's bedroom, notes to her fiance, her Bibles and study books.

I think just now of the song "Oh may all who come behind me find me faithful" There is a verse that talks about after I am gone and all I've left behind is sifted through, may the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover lead them to a life of Christ. That was certainly true in Anna's case.

I believe God placed the thought in my mind to get, not a sympathy card, but a congratulations card on your new home. Since Anna's obituary was written in the first person as though she had written it herself, I addressed our card to Anna to give to her parents. I wrote: "Anna, Most parents have a hard time when their child moves out on their own. But since you have moved in with Someone they trust it makes it a little easier on them." With a PS "See you at the family reunion."

Please continue to pray for Anna's family. She has 3 precious brothers and 1 sister who shared a room with her. They will have a sink hole in their lives for many months to come. God bless you Coons family.

Tea Time Tuesday & Prayer for Friends

2010-03-22T22:35:00.001-04:00

I put the draft for my post together on Saturday. But I can't keep from adding a prayer request for our dear friends. Their 18 yr old, Christian, sweet Anna got thrown from her horse on Friday. Her injuries were so severe that she died in the hospital on Sunday morning. She was well loved by family, fiancée, friends, coworkers and those who didn't even know her personally. It is such a shock to all. See my previous post.

With that said here is my Tea Time Tuesday. For sharing tea and conversation with others go see Katherine at Tea Time Tuesday

The weather is warming up enough for me to enjoy my favorite spot. This is what I call my prayer bench.

I don't usually dress it up this much when I come out here. But I thought since I was inviting guests to my private garden I would pretty it up a small bit. I usually just grab a hot mug of tea and my Bible and say

"I'm goin' to my bench."

Saturday when I went down the road to a country store to get earthworms for the garden I found this jar of "Wild Maine Blueberry Preserves". I thought that looked like a great tea time treat. A lot better than worms!

My hyacinths are starting to bloom at the ends of the bench.

Good thoughts, memories and meditations are always blooming out there.

This is my view looking out over the neighboring field.

...and thanks for visiting with me!

Anna Has Gone Home To Jesus

2010-03-21T20:42:00.001-04:00

Our dear friends are trying to cope with letting go of their sweet daughter Anna. Anna went to be with Jesus in heaven around 8:30 this morning. This is such a shocking, sudden loss in their lives. As her daddy just said "If God would have asked Annie to do anything that would make a difference in somebody's life she would have gladly done it."

I know God has a perfect plan for all things and doesn't make mistakes. When He asks some sacrifice of us that alters our life completely it gives us "A New Kind of Normal" as author Carol Kent wrote in her book of that title. She dedicates her book to others who are living in their own "new kind of normal". She has reached out to many where the end of the story did not turn out the way they would have chosen. No happily ever after, except for the hope and help we have in God. Subtitles of the chapters of the book:

1. When Despair Tries to Take Me Under.. I Choose Life
2. When I Wonder What God Could Possibly be Thinking...I Choose Trust
3. When I Desperately Want Relief from Unrelenting Reality....I Choose Perseverance
4. When I Feel Oppressed by My Disappointment and Sorrow..I Choose Gratitude
5. When I Want to Keep My Feelings to Myself.. I Choose Vulnerability
6. When Nothing Goes According to My Plan.. I Choose Relinquishment
7. When I Want to Point the Finger.. I Choose Forgiveness
8. When I Want to Give Up.. I Choose Purposeful Action

Anna, any life you ever touched is going to feel a missing part of that life. May we who are left here to continue on, find the purpose and lesson that God has for us. May He exceedingly and abundantly bless your family a hundred fold for making the sacrifice that He has required of them. We love you Anna. Thank God "There is a "Hello" after "Goodbye". "We WILL be with you far longer than we are without you"
Hello After Goodbye-Legacy Five (click to hear)

Saturday of prayer for a friend and gardening.

2010-03-20T19:59:00.002-04:00

Today I would like for everyone to join me in prayer for a dear friend. Anna, 18, and a sweet Christian girl, had an accident with her horse on Saturday. A vehicle honked and spooked her horse. She was thrown into a culvert. My understanding is she got herself to her grandmother's house and collapsed. She has split her liver and detached the main arteries to her liver. She is in critical condition in an Ohio hospital. Her precious parents and 4 younger siblings are camping out at the hospital with emotional ups and downs as Anna has the physical ups and downs of such a serious condition. Her life is on the line and she is so loved. Julie had taken her senior pictures not long ago and she is engaged to a Christian young man who also waits with the family.

This weekend Rick and I got a start on the garden. He has been working hard planting seeds in trays for a week or more. He also has spent some time using the tiller. That is hard work bless his heart! Lori pitched in and dug some holes for plants last night. We planted some purchased plants that are ok to set out in cooler weather, broccoli and cabbage. Then he and I worked the soil for the next two rows with hoes and rakes and mixing in a stack of fine leaves that have been sitting over the winter. The ground here has so much clay in it and over the past years Rick has worked in some other soil and lime. He had also started a compost pile a few months ago and we have been adding our egg shells, banana peels, etc. Today I made a trip down the road to a country store to buy some earth worms that we added to the compost pile and the garden. I hope those worms know their home address now as we need their help for the soil! This is our first time trying that.Anyway, the next two rows will be lettuce. My hubby said I looked pretty good with a pitchfork in my hand and I said I always did want to be a farm girl!

Seeking More of the Pearl of Great Price

2010-03-14T22:16:00.000-04:00

Rick and I were talking about this on the way to church services this morning: How we want to be Pearl seekers. The Bible talks about how that a man sold everything he had to buy the Pearl of great price. That Pearl is Jesus.

The Sunday School lesson was great with much participation, studying on II John. Verse six says "this is love, that we walk after his commandments." It was good to study with others who understand that love is not a syruppy, mushy type that overlooks sin but obeying and living God's commandments. We don't really love someone unless we live God's truth and proclaim it. Verse seven says many deceivers are in the world proclaiming and confessing Christ but not living it, these are deceivers. We need to be students of the Bible personally. We can't just sit back and expect someone to tell us what we should do or we could be taught by a false teacher. We need to know the Bible and God for ourselves. We need to train our children to discern both good and evil. Next week will be a continuation of this book.I am looking forward to it.

Tonight's sermon was in Mark 10:17-31 The lesson of the rich man tested by being asked to sell his abundance and give to the poor. Verses 30 and 31 talks about how we will have to set every relationship we have be it family or friends in line behind Christ and the gospel.. It says there will be persecution and there is when we stand for the truth of God's Word and holiness. It will not please many because they are not interested in truth, only in what makes them feel good.

A Low Tea To Share on Teatime Tuesday

2010-03-08T21:56:00.000-05:00

I have learned from Lady Katherine, the host of Teatime Tuesday, that a tea on a coffee table is called a low tea. That is what mine is today. I serve you on my imported rock coffee table. I have used my mini cake plates that I recently made from Dollar Tree items.

The dainty spring teapot sits on top of a cup.

Napkins are embroidered doilies from my mothers collection.

This basket was used at Easter when I was growing up to hold our colored eggs.

The tea offered is one of my favorite teas: Kalahari Red Tea, Highlands Honey flavor. It is a mild flavored, non caffeine herb tea. And our simple snack is chocolate hazlenut spread on crackers.

I am delighted that you chose to join me for my evening low tea and thank you for the return invite at Lady Katherine Tea Parlor.

Get A Breath of Fresh Air from God Today!

2010-03-06T08:28:00.001-05:00

The word revival is used so commonly. Some people are scared of it and to others it just indicates a boring few days of extra church services that they must endure. But think of words like restoring, curing, resuscitating, bringing new life." That is what revival truly is. It is a gift of God to a person and that new life can be "breathed" into your heart right in your own home! And you can get that new strength and vitality on a daily basis.

How we need revival! That is my thoughts this morning as I lay awake in bed. I shouldn't say "my thoughts" because I am nothing in myself, the meditations had to come from God. As I feel the burden of many situations I long for God to deliver me out of. He reminded me that even though there is much going on around me that concerns me greatly, that even in the midst of that I can't let Satan sidetrack me from the concern for souls that so greatly need Him. As the scripture below says, don't be overtaken by all that is going on in my world or the world around me.

"34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."
Luke 21:34-36

Paraphrased that verse is saying: "And watch, that you aren't soaked and saturated with the abundance of things in this life that you miss out on God" Don't be overtaken with all the good things and don't be overtaken with all the problems either.
Hebrews 12:1 says "...lay aside every weight"

Reading also in Psalms 34:19 "Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all." Have confidence in God. There is nothing happening that He and I can't handle together.

I am looking for God to do great things today. He is a great, big God and none of the things that concern me are to big for Him.

J C Ryle "Beware of the Mere Love of Sermons"

2010-02-27T22:46:00.000-05:00

The following quote was used by another blogger friend today. I did a web search of J C Ryle as I had never heard of him before. This led me to a site that greatly sparked my interest and I have now added it as one to visit. You may find out more if you click on it. We will explore it together if you like. As with all information that you may get from any of the blogs that I share, I may not agree with everything that is stated. But I am so excited when I learn of others around the world who are seeking God with all their heart and not satisfied with the lukewarmness of religion that is so familiar in our churches today.

The Quote:

BEWARE OF THE MERE LOVE OF SERMONS

We may listen to a sermon with pleasure, while the impression produced on us is only temporary and short-lived. Our hearts, like the “stony ground,” may yield a plentiful crop of warm feelings and good resolutions. But all this time there may be no deeply-rooted work in our souls, and the first cold blast of opposition or temptation may cause our seeming religion to wither away. Alas! There are many such hearers! The mere love of sermons is no sign of grace.

J.C. Ryle

Spiritual Perception

2010-02-26T06:21:00.000-05:00

Perception-act or process of becoming aware of or understanding, insight (Webster Dictionary)

The Bible talks of perception as a good thing. Hebrews 5:14 "...those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." Having our spiritual senses in tune with God and His word is what gives us the "lamp unto our feet, and a light to our path" Psalms 119:105.

Back in Hebrews 5:11-14 the writer was talking to a people dull of hearing, needing to be taught the first principles of the Word of God, not able to discern or perceive right from wrong.

You see if I don't study God's Word and spend time with Him in meditation and prayer I can have Him tuned out. I would not be able to see clearly. Psalms 82:2 & 5 "How long will he judge unjustly and accept the person of the wicked?"..."They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course." Vision is cloudy when we are not in tune with God, everything is out of place. Proverbs 29:18 "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keeps the Word, happy is he."

Perception or discernment is important. If I choose to be dull of hearing God, tuning Him out, I hear only what I want to hear and sinful or unwise actions don't trouble me or convict me at all.

As I read in the Old Testament and the New Testament, the people that practiced "seek and you will find" sought God and His will and were able to perceive if someone was a holy man or not sent of God. As Jesus walked among men and women, those that wanted truth and holiness and searched for it with their whole heart were the ones that recognized Jesus for Who He is. Others who had a form of religion fought against Him.

Are you "vaccinated" with a "touch" of "religion"? If so, that keeps you from getting the "real" thing. In this case vaccination is not a good thing.

Breath of the Spirit

2010-02-24T10:46:00.001-05:00

John 6:63

"It is the spirit that gives life,

the flesh profits nothing."

Spiritual Pricks

2010-02-21T14:36:00.002-05:00

In the Word this morning studying. I began looking up scriptures I found in an article. I think I found this article on Barnabas Ministries some months ago.

Quoting "the idea of forgiveness is frequently defined incorrectly in an unhealthy church. in that environment, forgiveness often means a denial that any damage or hurt took place, and a denial that wrong was done. As might be expected, such definitions of forgiveness don't validate the offenses done to members of the body of Christ but rather serve to perpetuate the unhealthy environment. Thankfully, such definitions of forgivenss are not consistent with the Scriptures."

In Luke 23:34 I find one of the readings of the account of Jesus on the cross. "Father forgive them; for they know not what they do." Yet after Jesus resurrection the account in John 20:22-23 He says to His disciples "Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit (paid for) they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain (keep in mind or remember), they are retained."

So the disciples did confront sin. They called it sin.That is the only way repentance, forgiveness and restoration will work. Call sin what it is: Sin.

When I look at the accounts in Acts when Peter first spoke to the crowd on the day of Pentecost he said (Acts 2:23) " Jesus...ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucifed and slain" When Peter was finished with his "plain" speech in verse 37 "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart".

I began to study different instances in the Bible where people were pricked and how they handled it.

Now the word prick means to pierce slightly, affect with sharp mental pain, to urge or goad, to cause a stinging sensation. When we are pricked spiritually it hurts. When I have a paper cut or a splinter it is not big but it hurts. If I clean that cut and put salve on it, in a few days it is cleared up. But if I ignore it, a serious germ could get in my body and make me very sick. Some pricks with a larger item may need a surgeon to take something out or stitch up a wound.

Now God uses His Holy Spirit to prick us spiritually when sin is involved. Here are some more examples of spiritual pricks, how they were accepted, and what took place:

1. Acts 2:37 Peter's sermon caused his listeners to be pricked in their heart. Many of the listeners said "Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said..Repent" Peters' word was gladly received and revival broke out! This is where these new believers continued, grew, and met the needs of each other.

2. Acts3 After Peter and John through God healed the lame man at the gate of the temple, Peter preached again. He said "You delivered up Jesus to be crucified, you killed the Prince of life but God raised Him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. Repent." The priests, captain of the temple and the Sadducees were grieved or pricked. These religious leaders took hold of these disciples until the next day. Still a revival broke out and people believed. Yet these sinful religious leaders, hearing again Peters' words, recognized the disciples were of God and marvelled. Still they would not admit it. It left these hypocrites between a rock and a hard place because even though their heart had been pricked they did not want to admit it. Instead they threatened the disciples.

3. Acts 5 When Ananias and Sapphira lied about their money, their hearts were so hard they couldn't even feel the spiritual prick. No one cared if they gave their money or not. But lying about what they were doing was what got them into trouble.Their hearts we so hard they couldn't even feel God's Spirit dealing with them about their willful sin.

4. Acts 6 and 7 Stephen spoke real plainly here to a crowd whose heart was pricked but that crowd chose not to listen and stoned Stephen.

5. Acts 8 Simon the sorcerer believed but wanted to buy the gift, giving the Holy Ghost by laying hands on people. Simon's heart was pricked, he was told to repent. Simon's response was "Pray for me that the evil things you have spoken don't happen to me"

6. Acts 9 Saul/Paul was approached by God on the road to Damascus. God said "it is hard for you to kick against the pricks" We know Paul's response was "what do you want me to do?" And his life story tells us how he accepted willingly those pricks, repented and was used mightily of God.

7. There are many times through the writings of Paul where in his letter to a congregation he pricked them because he loved them and wanted them to make heaven. So he was showing them where they needed to repent.

8. Paul specifically confronted Peter, recorded in Galations 2:11. This was a prick to Peter spiritually. In verse 14 Paul said this to Peter before them all. In reading the rest of the account you don't hear of Peter resisting Paul's words. The writer of the article I referred to earlier said of this Biblical incident "The gospels record the sins of the apostles and others at various times...It is doubtful that Peter would ever say,"Can we quit talking about that Gentile incident in Antioch now?" or can you imagine Peter wanting to remove stories of his sins during the earthly ministry of Jesus from the gospels? The church's ability to clearly identify right and wrong is a higher priority than protecting any church system or leader." Amen to that!!!

So when God through his Spirit or through a godly brother or sister sends pricks to our soul, how will we respond? a. heart too hard to feel the prick/ b. bitterness, deceitfulness, revengeful/ c.confession of sin, humbleness, willing to do anything it takes to make it right, even confess to others if necessary.

Scrapbooking A Spiritual Journey

2010-02-20T07:17:00.000-05:00

One of the ladies I work with showed me her scrapbook yesterday. I have never seen one like this. It started out with a picture of the little church where she got saved. One that her dad first pastored. Pages shared her favorite scriptures. Then one of she and her sisters that sang together when they were young. On the opposite page from this was a sheet of music of her favorite hymn. She is still working on it as she gathers with scrapbooking friends once a month. I am curious to see what she adds on additional pages. And inspired to pull out my own pictures of my spiritual journey.

I have been doing more journaling lately, here and in my private word file.I hope that sharing my thoughts here or leaving a journal behind for my children and grandchildren will let them and my friends know the real me. I certainly learned many good things about my mother last year as we sorted through notes, lists and pictures that she kept. She was not real open in conversations about sharing her heart. But friends and family and God were very important as was seen on paper. Maybe that is where I get my desire for sharing better in writing than I can in the spoken word. But I am slowly learning to share out loud.

My mind just now brought a connection of this sharing to what I have been reading in the Bible this morning.
Psalm 119:108 "...accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord..." Hosea 14:2 "...we render the calves of our lips" This in Hosea was written when God's people were being admonished for their sins. And they were asked to turn back to the Lord, asking for their iniquity to be taken away so that they could give the calves of their lips. Looking up calve in the dictionary, to calve means to give birth or new life. My feeling is that turning to the Lord in repentance from sin gives birth to a new kind of conversation from our lips. The Bible talks about offering sacrifices of praise, singing a new song. Psalms 19:14 "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer."

Mini Cake Plates Craft

2010-02-19T07:26:00.003-05:00

I wanted to share my Mini Cake Plates

I looked at several blogs to get this idea. I first saw the idea on Faith's blog and she listed other blogs for ideas. My knobs on the top are not glued on yet. I used Gorilla glue for gluing Dollar Tree items together and I didn't like the yellow color showing through, although it glues very well, so I am going to purchase the Dollar Tree items again and try another glue. The glass knobs are used on furniture and are very pretty. I will show again when I have the completed product and try to get the detail of the knobs.

To see other show and tell items this week, go to: http://myromantichome/

Morning Thoughts: II Timothy

2010-02-18T07:03:00.000-05:00

I awoke this morning with the thoughts of the scripture "seducers growing worse and worse in the last times". So I looked it up and found it in Second Timothy 3:13. But of course I wanted to know what Paul was talking about in the the whole book. So I read. Even though I have read this before so many scriptures jumped out at me.

1:5 unfeigned faith: nothing fake, not a form or a profession, but unfeigned

1:7 God does not give a spirit of fear, but power

This whole book speaks of bolding proclaiming God, being real, suffering for it but not holding back because of fear of what others might think.

1:8 partaker of afflictions

In this one book Paul names 7 or 8 people by name that oppose the gospel.

1:15 Paul states all which are in Asia are turned away from me and then names 2 people right out.

2:3 endure hardness

2:9 Paul said I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, but the word of God is not bound

2:15 Study to show yourself approved unto God, a worker that doesn't have to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth

We don't have to face opposition with an unsure, confused state. God wants us to be assured of what His word says and what we want to present to others. Those who use a leadership position to lord it over others actually hope that those under them are weak and confused and can be easily controlled. God wants us to know the word of God for ourselves and teach and live it clearly and boldly.

3:1 perilous times shall come and reading through verse 4 we see a list of negative traits. In verse 5 it tells us who Paul and God are speaking to: people claiming a form of godliness but not having any real possession of God in their lives. And then he tells Timothy, from such turn away. In this day and time it is pushed that if we stay away from somebody it is just not "Christian". But God teaches us the opposite. He wants us to know the Word, stay focused, and stay away from people who really don't want the Word of God but only their own form of godliness.

And I say here that the Word of God ALWAYS takes precedence over any religions' or denominations' creeds and doctrines or rules.

3:11 Paul had persecutions and afflictions in many different towns as he spread the gospel. It seems trouble followed him wherever he went. Yet he didn't count them as defeats but VICTORIES from which the Lord delivered him from all.

3:2,3 Use the word to reprove, rebuke, exhort. Tell it boldly because there will be people who want to have a watered down version, something that just makes them "feel good".

I confess I also had to move on into the book of Titus that brought confirmation of the same things as in Timothy.

Being strengthened by the Word of God, I prayerfully face the day. Nothing will come to me today that God and I can't handle, because when I am weak He is strong.

Article "Why I'm a "Revolutionary"

2010-02-16T06:59:00.000-05:00

I found some papers recently that I had printed out a few months ago and forgot I had. They were from a website www.barnabasministry.com

I haven't read everything on the website but as for the one here that I am sharing I say a loud AMEN AMEN!!

Here is an article on that website "Why I'm a Revolutionary"

Why I'm a "Revolutionary"

After reading the book "Revolution" by George Barna, I realized that I did not agree with Barna's definition of a "revolutionary" and there was a need for someone to speak up about why some Christians have chosen that path. Nobody else appointed me to speak on behalf of "revolutionaries," and I only use the name here because Barna coined it, and it seems like a lot of people will know what I'm talking about if I use it here. In this article I hope to shed some light on the reasons and the passions behind revolutionaries that I think might not be very well understood When I use the word "we" it's referring to myself and other "revolutionaries" I know.

I guess we are revolutionaries if we are part of an "alternative faith community."

We didn't start out our faith journeys as revolutionaries. We loved God, we were involved in a local church and were zealous for it. We sacrificed greatly for it. After seeing the rise and fall of several churches and movements, we still love and trust God, but we've learned a few things from our experiences and we just can't ignore them.

Why do churches rise and fall? Answering this question is beyond the scope of this article, and I'm not sure I know exactly why anyway. But I don't need to know the answer to know that revolutionaries are sick of riding that roller-coaster. Revolutionaries also think the institutional church of our day is missing something significant and profound that leads to this roller-coaster.

Somehow, someway, our church culture has turned "the church" into something it wasn't intended to be. When a church culture focuses on a subset of values, practices and teachings from the Scriptures and ignores the rest long enough, it ends up with distorted version of Christianity. It's like eating an unbalanced diet. Doing that for a few days won't be all that bad for you, but if done over the course of weeks it will have a bad impact. Do it for a few years and you will die.

But ironically, institutional churches seldom view themselves as intrinsically deficient. They seem to view themselves as the peak, the best thing out there. They seem to think that what they do, they do better than anybody else. And they seem to think that what they don't do doesn't matter. I'm not trying to criticize or condemn anybody, I'm just saying what it seems like to me.

Young Christians or new attendees believe the vision or image and invest themselves in the church system. They are happy and grow for awhile. Some people fit quite nicely into the system and everything looks fine for a while. Of course, others don't fit into the system very well, though they also crave the growth and acceptance it offers. So they shoe-horn themselves into the system and make a desperate effort to "fit in."

Regardless of how they end up in the system, eventually something happens to just about everybody in the system. The program or system that got them up to a certain point can't take them any further. What once seemed so hopeful and promising now is so dead-end. But nothing "else" exists in the institutional church. They are stuck. That's it. And there is nothing more.

But revolutionaries don't think "that's it."

We don't reject the institutional church in its entirety, nor do we consider it inherently bad or useless. On the contrary, it can do some wonderful things and it has its place. It's just not all that there is, and it's not for us anymore. And we know and understand that it's not for a lot of other people anymore either. So when we see people on the upslope, we know a downslope is coming. And when we meet people who are going through a downslope, well-- we understand.

Revolutionaries are not going to slink away from the institutional church, shrivel up and die spiritually, assuming they just don't fit God's plan. They know God is bigger than all of this. They are going to venture into the unknown and seek to build a spiritual environment where they can be faithful to God without the negatives and limitations they've seen along the way.

At the risk of over-generalizing, here are some of the other values driving them:

They are tired of having their faith measured by how many arbitrary hoops they jump through, how well they fit into somebody else's system or program, or how much they suck up to the leaders in these churches.
They want to be what God made them to be, not clones of somebody else or feathers in somebody's cap.
They are not a "cog in a machine" or a peg to be stuffed into a pegboard with a bunch of other pegs. The church is a body, not a pegboard!
They are tired of the politics, favoritism and fighting over institutional-church stuff instead of just being Christians.
They are tired of the denominational "tribe" mentality and turf wars among groups claiming to honor Christ.
They are tired of church leaders who lead by controlling, treating people like children, playing favorites, and assassinating the character of anyone who won't bow down to them. They are also tired of leaders with an entitlement mentality.
They are tired of institutional churches that leave them milked dry. They are genuinely pained at seeing the life sucked out of people in institutional churches-- seeing zeal for God get hijacked into zeal for a program and then when the program fizzles so does the zeal for God.
They are tired of the "disposable Christian" mentality-- seeing 9 people walk out the back door for every 10 who walk in the front door-- and nobody cares!
Some might say, "Why don't you revolutionaries stay and try to change the institutional church?" Great question! Revolutionaries have been trying to change churches from this subset mentality for years. Rather than being valued in attempts to help churches be healthier and more balanced, we have been treated coldly, deceitfully marginalized, regarded as bad dogs and rebels, had our integrity and love for God questioned, been spoken against from pulpits, in church writings and even in front of our children. We've seen the whitewashing of real problems and the "if you don't like it, leave" mentality. Bottom line-- we've beaten our heads against the wall trying to bring about changes until our heads are mush. We've come to realize that you just can't change the DNA of a church, especially if it doesn't want to change.

People should not underestimate the frustration revolutionaries have towards the institutional church because of their experiences with these issues. In many cases we've left home and families for the faith, planted new churches, served on the staff of the church or held positions of leadership and service. It takes a lot of despair for hard-working, dedicated people who have invested many years, thousands of dollars, their names and their faith in a congregation or movement to finally throw up their hands in frustration and say "enough." They leave a huge piece of their lives behind. They write off the losses of time and heart invested, they leave behind relationships, familiarity, security, the approval of others and a lot of other things that most people don't have the courage to leave behind. Leaving is a life-shattering experience. They often walk out the door alone-- bearing a curse instead of a blessing-- all because they believe God is bigger than these roller-coaster church systems and that there has to be a better way.

We are not a revolutionaries because we are self-centered, malcontented, misfit Christians who are impatient with the institutional churches; we're revolutionaries because it's where faithfulness has led us. When we became Christians, we intended to follow God and his plans. Conforming to some institution's limited vision of Christianity-- as though conformity was the cardinal virtue of Christianity and as though all of the negative effects didn't exist-- just isn't good enough.

People may think revolutionaries are "quitters." Those who do what they believe is right even when it's unpopular or difficult-- that's a quitter? No, that's a picture of faithfulness. They would only be quitters if they accepted a subset of the faith and the praises of men for their "faithfulness" in spite of knowing the dead-end to which it leads.

But this isn't to say that revolutionaries are better than anybody else. Let's put that idea to rest right now. They are not "super-Christians." They are just Christians. It's not about being better than everybody else, or anybody else. It's just about being faithful.

Revolutionaries don't need to do anything to justify their existence. Revolutionaries deserve to be treated as brothers and sisters in the Lord, because that's what they are. They don't hate Christians in institutional churches. They just want to be what God made them to be.

Matthew 7

2010-02-10T20:41:00.000-05:00

This morning I was reading Matthew 7.

It starts out "Judge not, that ye be not judged." Many take this scripture as saying we can never say sin is sin. Yes, we need to check ourselves and let God search our heart. But that doesn't mean God wants us to put blinders on and pretend someone is not for example, lying or having an affair or being revengful or hateful or committing adultery, etc. When you read the whole 7th chapter Jesus is teaching us how to discern evil from good.

1. Verse 6 says don't give what is holy to dogs, don't cast your pearl before swine. He's not speaking about animals here. He's speaking about a group of people. And if we are not to be able to judge anything at all, how would we know who are the ones we should avoid trying to pass the Word of God to?

2. Verse 14 states that the way is narrow and few are going to find it. Not because they can't but because they won't.

3. Verse 15 states "Beware of false prophets that come in sheep's clothing but are really ravening wolves. Now He didn't tell us to beware of false prophets if we couldn't judge who they were.

4. Verses 16 through 20 explains how we will know people by their fruits.

5. Verses 21 through 23 states how many are going to say they know the Lord and have done some good works but they are insincere and God doesn't and won't profess to know them. Their work is iniquity to Him.

6. Verses 24 through 27 gives the lesson of building our house on rock and not sand, being wise and not foolish.

So we see we must fit verse one in with the whole chapter and rightly divide the word of truth. The Bible states we do not have to be ignorant of Satan's devices.

Hymn: The Solid Rock

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus name

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand

2010-02-09T21:09:00.000-05:00

So to continue my thoughts from this morning. Reading about John the Baptist this morning led me to look at Isaiah 53. John was despised for his bold speaking against sin. So much so that he was put in prison and lost his head. So I wanted to look up the prophecy of Christ being despised. I never cease to be amazed how passages of scripture that I have read time and again, come to LIFE and speak to me loud and fresh. That was how it was with Isaiah 53 today.

"Who has believed our report?" Who will believe when God sends a message against sin? If I don't want the light of God shining on me I can turn away and choose to stay in darkness. Verse 3,"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:....he was despised and we didn't esteem (recognize or respect) Him. Verse 4, "He has carried our griefs, sorrows. Yet we claimed He was stricken, smitten and afflicted by God".

Verse 5 "But he was wounded for OUR (say it with the emphasis on our) transgressions" It makes me feel like saying, "You think He was punished and afflicted by God? Wake up, it was our sins that put Him there." He was bruised for our sins, he was chastised so we could have peace. He took stripes on His back so we could get our broken, sinful heart healed.

So looking at John the Baptist and then at Jesus, the Christian life is certainly not for the weak. It takes some backbone. And Jesus said we must take up our cross or we are not worthy to follow him.

Many professing Christians want to cover their wishy washiness with a blanket of "Jesus just loves, loves, loves and that's what I'm going to do". That way they can change their stands depending on who they're with. If we rightly divide the Word, all of it and not just pull out our favorite scripture out of context, we will see that love tells the truth. In Ezekiel 3:18 it puts forth that if we refuse to express some warnings to someone about their sin, that person may die in his sin, but his blood will be on our hands.

An old hymn came to me this morning as I was studying this: DO YOU LOVE THE WORLD? The first verse is:

Do you love the world, in its pomp and show?
In its course of sin will you onward go?
Is the pride of life more that heaven above?
Will you lose your soul for the sins you love?

Will I be a John the Baptist? Will I take up my cross?

2010-02-09T07:44:00.000-05:00

Awoke this morning thinking of John the Baptist. He had a calling: to prepare the way for Christ. And in that preparing he rebuked some religious leaders, Pharisees. When these leaders came to John to be baptized, John refused and rebuked telling them they needed to show some repentance. To the publicans he said Don't require more money than you're supposed to. To the soldiers "Do no violence, nor accuse falsely and be satisfied with your wages." The point that came to me this morning was, John didn't try to make a reputation for himself. He was there to "clear the table" so to speak for Christ. So he didn't mince any words or waste any time. He got to the point with people.

How did his words affect the friends of his parents? His father was a priest. His parents were aged and had worshiped in the temple many, many years. In the gospels, I know specifically in Matthew, Jesus said he that loves Mother or Father or son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me. We cannot put ourself or others ahead of God. John could not worry about what would his parents friends think or his own friends or those religious leaders of the temple where John had grown up. He had a job to do: clear the way for Jesus. Jesus was bringing salvation and people had to know right up front that there would be no "playing church", repentance and sincerity are required here.

To be continued.

The Special Mug and The Fragrance of Flowers

2010-02-04T13:01:00.000-05:00

Day before yesterday, daughter #2 presented me with a special mug. It was a large one with a Thomas Kindade scene. She knows I like TK and I enjoy using special mugs and tea cups. Thank you daughter #2. You are special. And this moring she is helping me learn more about HSA's. She was right and I was wrong :>).

Today, daughter #1 brought me a Pumkpkin spice coffee and a fragrant bouquet of flowers. I also got a sample of her supper recipe. Mmmm it was out of this world!

Last night my husband had some supper ready for me after I came home from my 2nd job. He is something special!

Reread some of Revelation today and looked up a reference in Daniel the 7th chapter. Spiritual food for thought. Dan 7:9-10 "..."the Ancient of days did sit (isn't that a wonderful name for God?), whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the firery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened." What an awesome and respectful fear that view brings to me.

Deut 4:24 "For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God."
A reference to this scripture takes me full circle back to what I read the other day in Hebrews 12:29 "For our God is a consuming fire." In verse 26 He says He shakes not only the earth but heaven also. He shakes not only sinners (Gentiles) but also spiritual Jews. He sends trials to perfect me, to remove (verse 27) things that can be shaken out of my life. Only those things that cannot be shaken will remain, the kingdom which cannot be moved (verse 28). He admonishes me to serve Him in an acceptable way with reverence and Godly fear. This all lets me know that God's plan for us is not just a playful walk in the park so to speak. I need to take Him seriously, love Him truly, give Him full control of my life.

I read a something the other day. Story goes: Fellow 1 asked Fellow 2 why there was such a difference in their lives. Fellow 1 thought he was missing something. Fellow 2 explained: "If I invite you to my home, you are a guest. I treat you very nicely but I don't give you a key to the door, you are still only a guest. But if I give you the key and the house, I am your servant and you are no longer just a guest. That is how we need to treat Christ, not as our guest but as one we serve and give complete control to all of me."

God Whispers in the Night

2010-02-01T06:59:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post for me to journal what God is doing for me. I woke at 2;30 with Him placing Hebrews 11 on my mind. It is the faith chapter and lists believers gone on before us. Gotta read it again this morning before work. Also song Rick and I sing "Whispers in the Night" written by Roger Bennett and sung by Legacy Five. Just as God says good morning He also whispers in the night. Those kinds of sleep interuptions are hard to resist!
Phrases of the old hymn "Weighed in the Balance" by B. E. Warren also came to my mind. God is full of love and mercy and I want to be like Him. He is also a God of order, truth and judgement. I must not take His words lightly. I cannot float to Heaven on a bed of ease after pledging my life to Him. I must let Him constantly mold and make my clay into His shape. Just now another song by Steve Green comes to my mind "We can be as full as we want to be" and I don't want to be half empty if there is such a thing. God wants my whole heart and nothing else.

If We Cry God Speak to Me, Give Me Peace, Are We Willing To Listen?

2010-01-30T06:32:00.000-05:00

I know many like to study the book of Revelation for prophecy. Personally, I don't get much into prophecy for the future. I know Christ will come again and take us to heaven and this world will come to an end. The detail I don't try to figure out. I just know in my heart and life I need and long to be ready and in tune with God at all times. God will carry me through no matter what His plans and details are.

I do, however like to read passages from Revelation. Ones like: don't take away or add to the Word of God. And I especially like and am many times reminded of the the 7 churches in the 2nd and 3rd chapters.

This morning was one of those times. I went to bed at 9:15, slowly fell asleep and woke up some time around 3:30 to look at the snow which is piling up outside and still coming down. Unusual for NC. Still awake, I decided to email Carol Kent (the author of a book I am reading called "A New Kind of Normal). And also to read about the Laodicean church in the 3rd chapter of Revelation. Here are some facts listed there:

God comments that He is a faithful and true witness to us.

Also note that His word was relevant not only to the Laodiceans but to all of mankind through all ages including us today.

He called them lukewarm.
He said they professed to need nothing
He said they were wretched, miserable, poor, blind, naked.

By the way this was people in a church. (Being in a church doesn't mean you are going to heaven)

He warned he would spit them out.
He told them to get white rainment.
He told them to anoint their eyes with eyesalve so they could see properly.

He said I rebuke and chasten you because I love you.

He admonished them to: Repent

He told them If you listen to me I will come into your heart and fellowship you.

He told them If you overcome you will sit on My throne with Me

He said if you are willing to open your ear, hear and listen and realize what I am saying to you.

Your Way or God's Way?

2010-01-27T06:29:00.000-05:00

Song on my mind this morning: Chorus of Yield Not To Temptation: Ask the Saviour to help you, strengthen, comfort and aid you, He is willing to help you, He will carry your through.

Also, it is amazing that people who profess to be Christians when it comes down to the wire, when the pressure is on to stand up for what is right they would rather have lukewarm, watered down experiences and say “let me alone, I don’t want to change, we’re alright the way we are, leave us alone.”

You know the song Frank Sinatra used to sing? Just for the record I don’t like it. It says “The record shows I took the blows and did it my way.” All throughout the song it states “I did it my way.” Sounds proud, arrogant and unGodly doesn't it?

The scriptures below came to my mind also this morning and I looked them up.

The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?
Jer 5:31 (KJV)

What will you do?

The unclean demonics listed in Mark and Luke said “Let us alone” I wrote this in my personal journal this week, Jesus said that things would wax worse and worse. And the unclean spirits have stayed around in this world lurking in corners like a mold growing and growing. And they don’t just lurk they come out boldly. They’re here around us today and we must constantly stay “Under His (Gods’) Wings.”

Here in God's word He lets us know how Jesus dealt with unclean spirits:

Mk 1:24 This man was in the synagogue and Jesus spied the unclean spirit. And the unclean spirit said:
"Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God."

The same account is in Lk 4:34 only it called it an unclean devil.
34 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.

Jesus cast the unclean spirit out. He came to deliver us from our sins, not to comfort us while we enjoy wallowing in them.

If you like to study Revelation or want to know how seriously God deals with unclean spirits and wrong attitudes read about the 7 churches in Rev 2 -- Rev 3. Analyze and see how God saw them. He still removes His candlestick from people and places that love to have it "their" way.

When God Says Good Morning

2010-01-24T08:08:00.000-05:00

I love the way God says "Good Morning". I really like to lay in in the morning and think. Not every morning is the same. And God doesn't always say "Good Morning" in the same way.

Sometimes I wake up feeling fearful and trying to let the problems of the world run through my head and wonder what I can do to solve them. With God's help of course. That is when I finally get up and begin preparing for the day, asking God to drive out my fears, help me to trust Him to handle it all and show me what to do. He begins the process of clearing out the rubble of my mind and filling it with His thoughts. I become energized and ready to face the day because there is nothing that He and I can't face together.

Other times when I wake up and lay there, He says "Good Morning" and floods my mind with scriptures and songs that fit the very battle I'm in.

Like this morning: "He Will Roll You Over the Tide". Names of real people in the Bible that took risks for Him: Esther, Stephen, Daniel, Mary the mother of Jesus, Abraham, John the Baptist and of course Jesus himself.

Esther stood up for her people, God showed her a plan of action and she put her life on the line for God's people.

Stephen repeated the story of Jesus to a group of people, religious people, that were so mad they stoned him.

And of course Daniel, thrown to the lions for praying to God.

Mary, confessing and believing that an angel from God had told her she was carrying the SON OF GOD. Now who in that day wanted to put her in a crazy house for the insane?

Abraham, put to the test by God to check in his heart whether family met more to him than God. God reminds me now that "Thou shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart" He is a jealous God, the Bible says so, and will not allow us fellowship with Him if we place any thing or any one even one step ahead of him. That causes me even now to check myself because God is definitely still workin' on me.

John the Baptist, his whole life's job was to prepare the way for Jesus. And he sure had to take a sweeping arm to start clearing a path for the truth that there had to be some repenting done or we wouldn't be accepted into the Kingdom. He made some people angry enough to take his head for proclaiming those truths.

And Jesus Himself. It makes me want to weep on how He put HIS LIFE on the line for me and all mankind. So that if I would repent and believe on Him I wouldn't perish for my sins, but have EVERLASTING LIFE.

GOOD MORNING TO YOU LORD. I love you and I need your help today to do the right thing at all times. I am looking for you to "Roll me over the tide" today, keep my heart clean, do a work in me and through me. Prepare me for Heaven, let me be a light to those around me, break out a revival. "Touch your people once again":

TOUCH YOUR PEOPLE ONCE AGAIN (Song sung by Steve Green)
We need wisdom we need power
And true love for each other
We have had so many big but empty words
So we come before Your face
Asking for Your grace
Bring Your people to a state of kingdom life
Restore Your church again

Chorus:
Touch Your people once again
With Your precious holy hand, we pray
Let Your kingdom shine upon this earth
Through a living glorious church
Not for temporary deeds
But to restore authority and power

Let a mighty rushing wind blow in
Touch your people once again

Lord You see Your tired servants
And the broken wounded soldiers
Oh how much we need Your precious healing hand
We need the power of the cross
As the only source for us
When we stand up facing final battle cry
Restore your church again

Hidden Rainbow

2010-01-21T23:03:00.000-05:00

I have an old paperback book that is one of my favorites. It always comes back to mind when I have to stand for an unpopular truth. "Hidden Rainbow" by Christmas Carol Kauffman. It is a true story about a forbidden New Testament that shattered the calm of a village. God revealed to them about salvation amidst the village tradition of no Bibles in the home. It was a scary thing as at first they had to hide that they had one. Then they decided to put it away for one year. But they were so pulled by it, became saved and was open about it. Their whole family and village was against them. The annual traditional house blessing was denied them. People were afraid to associate with them and scorned them.

Here is part of the preface: "John and Anna were led to truth, light, and true happiness through the ministry of a Protestant missionary. Their courage, faith, and suffering for the sake of soul peace will put many of us to shame for ever thinking our way was difficult." On the back: "The intimate family life of John and Anna Olesh is portrayed as they struggle for economic stability in their poverty and for peace of mind and heart amid the heavy tradition that envelops and almost destroys them."

They wanted God not tradition. They hungered to live right. You know, I don't want to be a lemming. I don't want to follow anyone off a cliff. I don't want to roll over and fall asleep at the wheel for Jesus. I don't want to ignore God and just be a yes person. Thanks for the example John and Anna.

Carol Kent "When I Lay My Isaac Down"/Conference

2010-01-15T22:41:00.000-05:00

Tonight started a wonderful women's conference in a nearby town. The speakers were great, some local very inspiring and a well know writer/speaker Carol Kent. We had done a Bible study on her book "When I Lay My Isaac Down". I would recommend it highly. It continues tomorrow and I am looking forward to it. She and her husband have experienced some very very tough turns in their road of life that God has been able to use in spite of the heartache.

One of her sentences tonight was "Pain, is pain, is pain." It doesn't matter what kind of circumstances is giving us pain, we all suffer from either health, financial, abuse, death of a loved one, relationship heartaches. But God is there for us all and we can commit it to Him and continually lay it down. I say continually because we will catch ourselves picking it up again.

One local girl spoke of how God had helped she and her husband after losing their daughter just last October. The baby had health problems in the womb and they chose to continue the pregnancy. She lived for only 63 minutes but had a great impact.

The theme is the song "Their is a Fountain filled with blood" which we sang a verse of. God has a fountain and it is there to fulfill all our needs. I am so thankful for Him.

From One Train to Another

2010-01-14T07:08:00.000-05:00

Unbeknowns to each other, my daughter J and I were on our computers this morning and chatted a good morning to each other. She has a sweet blog today about her Train of Thoughts in the wee hours of the morning. Go read it. Her link is on the right Directed Paths. Her train led my train to this song,

I Love you Lord and I lift my voice
To worship you
Oh my soul rejoice :)
Take joy my king
In what you hear
Make me a sweet sweet sound in your ear.

There are other verses like...I need you Lord as I walk today.... but I should really be getting ready for work.

Also, I have been reading some good devotion books lately. My secret pal last year at church contributed 2 of them which I have really found helpful. Thank you, Mary. And one I got from the barn gift shop "Tea Time with God" I am enjoying. I'll have to share it later. Bye Bye.

Stay at home Sunday musings

2010-01-10T15:20:00.001-05:00

Since Lori and Rick have eye infections we stayed in today from church so no one would catch anything. There are too many people at church that are susceptible. I did think strongly about doing some work at EJV while no one was there but decided between day job, tax evening work and a conference Fri night and Saturday that my husband also needed to see me.

We three had breakfast together of a light omelet and flaxseed/apple muffins made with stevia instead of sugar. Lori got a new expresso maker for Christmas so we made our own lattes.

I ran to get some Lysol cleaner to wipe of door knobs etc. to clear out some germs. Driving back home and turning into our street the mountains are very pretty on this clear day with plenty of snow to be seen on them.When I came back Lori and Rick were going over a song. I joined in and Lori and I then practiced a couple more. We're excited about an arrangement we are working on ourselves. Can't wait to get Julie and Clay in on it and see what it sounds like.

Later for lunch I used my new WW cookbook Rick got me for Christmas. Lori and I made a Greek pizza. We used Julie's dough recipe Julie shared on her blog. It is really a "pizza pie" as it had pizza crust on bottom and top. The filling was onions, spinach, ricotta and feta cheese. We decided it needed to be baked a little less and add some oregano and possible other seasonings for the next time. But it was very good with a salad.

On another note I found a school friend through her siblings on facebook this week. We talked for about an hour on Friday night. It has been about 39 yrs since high school graduation. That makes me sound old but I don't feel that old. I am so excited to get connected again.

New Blog Friend

2010-01-07T20:57:00.002-05:00

Today I have met a new blog friend who left me a kind comment. I have added a link to her blog on the side: Joyful Chaos

She is a great writer about her life growing up Amish. She also has posts that answer questions about the Amish. There are stories to come of salvation and the separation from the Amish church. I will be checking out her posts from time to time and have left her several comments.

I find her comments most interesting as we too have left a group that was very strict and got sidetracked by so much preaching on rules and obeying the pastor. As I told my new blog friend, God has lead us very slowly so as not to "throw the baby out with the bathwater". But being away from the group has allowed God to lead us and work out our own salvation. It is amazing that the very truth that we believe about salvation being a personal relationship with God and how He has power and grace for us individually, can be buried by manrule causing us to feel we can't survive without that structure. Oh Thank God for His goodness to me. He has done so much. It has cost us dearly but I wouldn't trade, I wouldn't trade.

Random Thoughts

2010-01-05T20:00:00.002-05:00

I don't believe I have felt such a long stretch of wind and cold air since we moved here. It must be global warming! Ha! Ha! Expecting a bit of snow tomorrow.

The button labeled overload is still on at work. I don't think it is going to change for a while.

God once again has supplied the grace for a day that seemed overwhelming upon awakening. The situations that seemed to be as big as the boogyman have melted down to size since they faced a big God.

Thank God for my husband.

I have enjoyed looking at other bloggers tonight, reading their Christian thoughts along with sharing their tea inspirations. A cup of tea and a scripture/devotion is a good vacation for the soul. I also placed some of their beautiful music on my own playlist.

Baked a cookie pizza with lots of goodies on it for work tomorrow. There is a farewell lunch for one of our plant managers who has been with the company since its' start. I have had to tell hubby and daughter no they can't have any cookie. I guess I'll have to plan one for them in the near future.

Time for bed. Must stop the enjoyable blogging.

New Blog Link to Check Out

2009-12-22T23:03:00.003-05:00

I have added a new link on my side bar: The Rebelution by Alex and Brett Harris, brothers of Josh Harris who wrote "I Kissed Dating Goodbye". I heard them today on Focus on the Family and there is to be a 2nd broadcast with them tomorrow. This is my first time hearing of them and I am checking out their blog and links. Sound very interesting, teaching young people to do hard things and make a difference for Jesus Christ. Check it out with me and let me know what you think.

Change of subject: Lori went Christmas caroling with some co-workers tonight. They came here in the middle of their stops and had a bite to eat: "Cum on in an git yerself a bite to eat!" Well anyway, I was invited to go with them to their next stops and it was great fun.

Now I am waiting on my Amish Friendship bread to bake that Julie passed on to me. I wouldn't be up this late but I am overdue on getting it baked. It smells good, but my eyes are dragging. But meanwhile I was able to check out the new link some.

We have our annual Christmas drawing at work tomorrow. I would like to win a piece of furniture. We are so busy and I am thankful for a good job, but dreading end of year/beginning of new year work after Christmas. But for the days I have off I will forget it all and enjoy the blessings of Christmas.

I was so glad to hear from Lady Katherine today through Facebook. Please pray for her as she is recovering from a serious operation.

Middle of the Night Thoughts

2009-12-20T02:33:00.003-05:00

I am thankful for the friendship of God. He is truly an anchor that can definitely be counted on when nothing else can. In the quiet times and all down through my life He is there. He shares with me and I share with Him. Wow! That makes a person feel special.

His plan of sending us a Brother and Defender is perfect and really makes you feel super loved when you think about it. Jesus came to us through a Special Birth. Like the song that I have playing here on my blog by Chris Rice "Welcome Holy Child" He came to us to breath our air and walk our sod.

Dear Jesus,

Make yourself at home in my heart. Welcome to our world perfect Son of God.

As I read over the words of my post the joy of the truth of the words are stronger than I can relate through typing. He is my reason for living and my hope in dying.

December 18, 2009 Snowwwwww!!!!!!

2009-12-18T20:48:00.003-05:00

Well, we had a forcast for snow today. This time the weatherman was right. It has snowed all day. Our office closed at 1 o'clock. It is 9 pm and my son-in-law is still trying to get home from work. I hear there are wrecks all over the place. The traffic is stopped but thank the Lord he walked close by to a good Christian sister. She gave him hot soup.

I have just been enjoying the snow. I am safe at home and built a lame snowman and ventured outside as it has contintued all day. This is definitely unusual for our area.

Earlier Lori measured 8 inches in an untouched spot. It is still snowing at 9:17. Our weather warning is to last throught tomorrow evening.

Thanksgiving Holiday Pictures

2009-12-07T21:01:00.013-05:00

I know I didn't catch everyone in a picture. Love you all just the same.

Me and my big brother

Brother, sister, aunt and uncle

Sister, daughters, brother-in-law

Family

Friends

And a lot more family

Happy Birthday Mom and Dad

2009-12-07T12:58:00.002-05:00

Today is Moms' birthday. Saturday was Dads'. Sandy said we should all wear purple today but I haven't been on Facebook and didn't get the message from Julie until I was at work. I dressed Christmasy today.

Happy Birthday!I should have cloaked myself in the dressy, long purple coat I brought home from your closet. It would have been fun. I will get it out and maybe wear it tomorrow. :) But I do have some of your Christmas decorations and I know you loved the holidays. And don't worry, we left a lot for Roger but don't know if he will have the heart do decorate without you. He misses you, too. But we are doing good and appreciating all the things you saved (well maybe not our childhood teeth).

And Happy Birthday to Rick's mom today. Funny that our mothers were born on the same day just a different year. You would be proud of your family, Phoebe. God helped all your children through the experiences of losing their mother in their childhood.

May this Christmas season be Christ filled for everyone and continue throughout the year.

RICH MEMORIES

2009-11-30T17:20:00.004-05:00

Well I am anxious to post even though I haven't downloaded any of my pictures from last week, Thanksgiving week. Today I am having withdrawl pains from being with family all last week and "soaking up" Mom again as we sorted through many rooms. Things don't have to be worth a lot of money to stir up RICH MEMORIES. Four of my vacation days were spent with sisters and brothers doing "show and tell" with each other as we discovered what was in a box or drawer. "Do you remember this?" or "Did you know Mom had saved these?"

Waking up this morning with a headache and that washed out feeling, there was also some contemplation time. Still going through some stages of grief, I wished I had spent more time with my mother. May this be a lesson to me and others for the future. I wish we hadn't been in such a hurry when we would travel back home. We always had so many places to go. If I could have sat with Mom longer and learned to sew and crochet and make drapes as good as her. If I could have stayed longer like she wished I would have. If we could have talked more.

You know the thought of trying to do so many things that you're not good at anything? We should try to focus on slowing down, taking time with less projects and spend more time with people like our mothers and fathers. Anyway, I shared with Rick and we had a long prayer for all the members of our families. May God bless those who open up their homes and let us stay for free and made us so comfortable. And those who put up with me, letting me just "dig in" to do some sorting. And each one who has burdens and needs and health problems and situations going on in their life that they need help with.

Well, anyway, we had a good time with so many. The Lord blessed us to spend some time with several we don't usually get to see on our trips north. And our stop in WV to spend a night with friends on our way through and again for lunch on the way home. Meeting unexpectedly with the daughter of someone we went to church with years ago and calling that friend on the phone on the way home. God had lead us through the same path of SPIRITUAL DETOXIFICATION and kept us both in a relationship with Him. I know Rick and I sure have been through a lot in the last twelve years. But as always, the trials worked to make us strong and be able to reach out to others we never knew would be going through the same thing.

The Excitement Builds and God Encourages!

2009-11-19T19:23:00.003-05:00

I am excited about being with family next week. We plan on having some of Mom's recipes though she will be greatly missed. Love you Mom! Do you know your grandaughters have been making home made noodles?

The devil has tried to steal my Joy this week but Jesus put up the defence. God knows how to raise a standard when the enemy comes in like a flood with accusations. He likes to appear as an angel of light but God's light is sooo much brighter, it overtakes.

You see, when I was younger, I went through a period of doubts till God taught me how to rise above them. That victory came back to mind today.

And besides that God gave me the BEST husband. He knew we could work hand in hand together. I am so THANKFUL for Rick. That makes me want to shout "Glory". God has always taken care of me and always will.

That reminds me of my favorite Psalm, 27. "The Lord is my Light and my Salvation, whom shall I fear. The Lord is the Strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? When my enemies and my foes came upon me to eat my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though a host should encamp against me I will not fear. Though war should rise up against me in this will I be confident. One thing I have desired, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavillion. In the secret of His tabernacle shall he hide me. ....."

I better go back and read that, my memory is failing me. I do know this, He takes care of me when others forsake me.

I'm Under His Wings

2009-11-19T09:56:00.002-05:00

I wrapped myself in the blanket this morning that the Rice family gave me at Mom's funeral. It has a pretty picture and "Under His Wings" printed on it. It was a symbol for me to do so. That is where I reside. Though the tempest has been wild lately, no person can cut my ties from God. Though no healing is offered there is a balm from heaven.

Verse 1

Under His wings I am safely abiding,
Though the night deepens and tempests are wild,
Still I can trust Him; I know He will keep me,
He has redeemed me, and I am His child.

Chorus

Under His wings, under His wings,
Who from His love can sever?
Under His wings my soul shall abide,
Safely abide forever.

Verse 2

Under His wings, what a refuge in sorrow!
How the heart yearningly turns to His rest!
Often when earth has no balm for my healing,
There I find comfort, and there I am blessed.

Verse 3

Under His wings, oh, what precious enjoyment!
There will I hide till life’s trials are o’er;
Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me,
Resting in Jesus, I’m safe evermore.

Words: William O. Cushing, 1896.

Music: Ira D. Sankey

2009-11-11T13:01:00.002-05:00

It has been a long time since I posted but I have been busy and not as involved in blogging. The last 2 weeks I have been taking tax classes 3 nights a week to prepare for the new information for the tax season. Don't forget that during the year the tax tables were changed and took less tax out so your paycheck would be more. If you're looking for a big refund it might not be as much.

The Psalm I read this morning was 18. David started out telling God how much he loved Him and listed all the things God was to him. I'm glad I can make that personal in my life.

Thank you today to all the veterans past and present who stand up for us here in America. God bless the families of those who have been taken from them.

Also, I thank God today for a Godly husband and for the victories we have gotten through God. Hallelujah!

I am looking forward to seeing our families for Thanksgiving. Catch you all later.

Saturday Date in the Mountains

2009-10-11T20:34:00.004-04:00

Rick and I had a spur of the moment date Saturday. After I came in from my quiet time at the bench in the morning I asked him if he would take me up for a ride in the mountains. He agreed, wasn't that sweet?

One of my coworkers had went last week and shared some beautiful pictures of her hike. The trees up there were starting to turn so it was beautiful. We went up 181 into the Pisgah Forest. Up past Jonas Ridge we went to an old country store, then on to an outdoor vegetable market and up the road for some fresh nuts. We then stopped for lunch at the Italian Pizza restaurant. Never been there before but boy was it good! Headed back down we found the hiking trail at Upper Creek. We hiked for a little while with a promise to go back when we had more time to stay longer. The trail was challenging in the way of finding footing with nothing to hold on to with lots of rocks and tree roots.

These next 2 pictures is a stop by the side of the road at the entrance to a housing development.

This is a part of the old country store. They were making apple butter in a copper pot and I got to take a turn stirring. Also, a taste. Mmmmmm.

Adopted

2009-10-02T09:51:00.002-04:00

Recently I heard a radio program where someone talked about adopting 2 toddlers. The toddlers had never been outside their living area. When they were in route to their nice, new, loving home they only cried reaching back to where they came from.Because that is what they were used to. They didn't realize how wonderful their new home was going to be. It was stated how like this we Christians are. We are adopted, just strangers and pilgrims here. But we still have such strong attachments to this earth and our relationships here and have never experienced heaven so it is hard to imagine what that nice, new, loving and beautiful home will be like. We won't be missing anything we have here when we get there.

It reminds me of the residents in the nursing home. They are so accustomed to having their 1 little room and constantly being inside. One time when an outside festival was arranged especially for them just outside their building it didn't please them like we thought it would. Many of them as they were wheeled outside felt uncomfortable to be outside their normal surroundings. Even though there were treats and prizes and games they requested to go back inside.

May I set my affections on things above, not on things of this earth. On my journey to heaven I will take nothing and no one else with me.

Autumn 2009 Show and Tell

2009-09-25T21:25:00.017-04:00

Thank you friends for sharing your autumn decor today. It is certainly nice to "window shop" and save gasoline. You just invite me into your homes through Kelli's Show and Tell straight from Texas.Thank you Kelli for being such a wonderful hostess.

In this household the autumn decorations were brought out and the closet cleaned at the same time. :>)

Above is a beautiful piece of pottery made by my friend Maria with leaves and pumpkin along with metal candle tins.

Coffee table arrangement.

Arrangement from Julie's wedding with pumpkin

Mantel arrangement with 2 closeups below. "Give Thanks"

I like this big mum. It reminds me of the beautiful mums sold in high school for homecoming football games.

Basket arranged with various fall foliage in front of the fireplace

Little magnet on fireplace frame

A new gift: white Thanksgiving platter with leaf cookie cutters and ceramic pumpkin

This new little fella is dressed for the cool weather and viewing the fall deco. I couldn't resist sharing him. The doll I brought home from Mom's sewing room. The outfit that Mom made for my toddler son I have saved for a doll such as this. Of course, he is rooting for the Cincinnati Reds like my dad used to.

A couple other things I wanted to share. The embroidery piece I showed a few weeks ago with a new frame.

A little metal bird cage on the shelf above my dresser. Found it at an antique shop last Saturday. I will be keeping my eye out for something I have to add a decorative touch.

I praise God the Creator of all for the beauty of autumn.

Thank you for stopping by.

Friday Show and Tell Apron

2009-09-18T20:59:00.005-04:00

Some of you may know, my mother passed away on May 2 of this year. She was 88 and did not recover from a massive stroke. The family stayed with her the last 2 1/2 weeks in a wonderful care center. We siblings bonded and told stories we had never shared with each other during that time.

With only an 8th grade education, through experience I believe my mother had a master's degree in sewing and baking and giving.

My 3 sisters and I recently decided to tackle the fabric assortment she had left behind. We had a wonderful time together. It took the 4 of us around 8 hrs of going through every piece and deciding which stack to put it in. There were also a few projects and china doll parts. Now mind you it was not that she did not finish things, she just loved fabric and still used her sewing machine. She made so many things through the years and her income helped the household budget. We learned to cook under her direction while she sewed. Her business was professional draperies but she could transform store bought clothes to make them fit. Or make it from scratch without a pattern. Her stitches were straight. I know, she was one of my 4-H leaders and she taught me how.

Today I am sharing something I brought home with me: an apron Mom made and wore. You may not be able to see the details of the handiwork on this but come see me in person and I will show it to you.

Below is a view from the back.

Here you see the shoulder pieces from the back.

And here is one of the ties that buttons to the back straps. Also see the detail of the strap: 2 pieces with tiny gathers where they meet together.

See what else is going on at Kelli's today. Thanks for stopping by.

Living Beyond Yourself

2009-09-17T05:57:00.004-04:00

This is the title of a Beth Moore Bible Study. The women at church used it 3 or 4 years ago. The introductory foundation statement:

Christ in us not only guarantees life in Heaven but also Christ in us grants the astounding invitation to live beyond ourselves on earth.

Philippians 3:12-14 "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. I don't count myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

I have thought lately of the serenity prayer. "God help me to accept the things I cannot change, to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."

There are things I cannot change, prayers that have not been answered as yet. But I have to learn to set aside fretting about them. God has blessed me to make some progress there but I have a need to keep working at it. The need is to labor and find out what is the mission God has for today.

Dear God, This is a new day, fresh with no mistakes in it. Guide me to what is my mission for today. May I go in your strength to accomplish what I cannot do in mine.

It was truly a Labor Day

2009-09-07T16:14:00.002-04:00

It was labor day for me at the office for real. I worked today to save one of my vacation days taken last week. Since almost everything piles up when one is gone on vacation, it is nice to dig into it when nobody is here. That gives one a head start before joining in with the crowd on Tuesday and being interrupted by other projects and questions. One more day of this would be good but it is not to be. :>) Now it is home with hubby who is sick and to see what wonderful things I can accomplish there.

Back From Beautiful Ohio and Stirring Message on Sunday

2009-09-04T19:26:00.006-04:00

For any of you who don't know, "Beautiful Ohio" is actually a song. The Urbana High School Band played it for football games. I have just returned from a great visit there. We stayed at the Yocom Farm for 3 nights in the sooo quiet country. They just let us take over their kitchen and bake cookies for the grandkids and Rice family picnic on Saturday. It was great seeing so many of the family that day. We sang at the Brown Reservoir Sunday morning for worship with friends. Boy was it cold We sang with coats on. Then it was on to the Bostic Bed and Breakfast in Troy for 4 nights. At least it felt like we were at a bed and breakfast. Glenn and Dru warmed our hearts. We enjoyed great fellowship with them. It gave us a home base and opportunity to visit other family and friends while there. We had great fellowship with some old friends, the Newells with a brunch on Tuesday. I had two great escorts for supper at the Urbana airport one evening: Roger and Eric. That was sure a treat. Dru and Glenn even let me pull a few weeds at their house and we enjoyed their hot tub. We had a great supper with Mark and Cindy. While Rick visited with Dru, Sis and family, I was able to get with all my sisters and we a hard work day but wonderful time together as we sorted through all Mom's fabric and projects. It felt so good to "soak up" Mom for a while. While there we had a nice drop in visit from Uncle George, Aunt Eloise, Uncle Phillip and Aunt Donna.

We are excited for Eric, Seth and Ericca getting a new house. The girls and Clay worked a little on it and me and Rick got the grand tour.

God watched over us on the way home as we had a drawn out, scary car problem. It just took us a lot longer with a lot of prayer.

We had very good worship services at church today. Everyone was glad to see us back. Tonight another brother brought the message. He spoke of being ready for Christs' coming. Part of the message after the scripture reading was incidents that happened during a tsunami and how some took the warning signals and many did not. A saying brought by our pastor today is posted on my facebook: "Forecast: Cloudy with the SON coming." Are you ready?

Good messages in songs also. Thank you God!

Poems found in "The Disciplines of Life" by V. Raymond Edman

2009-08-24T21:51:00.003-04:00

When God wants to drill a man,
And thrill a man,
And skill a man,
When God wants to mold a man
To play the noblest part;
When He yearns with all His heart
To create so great and bold a man
That all the world shall be amazed,
Watch His methods, watch His ways!
How He ruthlessly perfects
Whom He royally elects!
How He hammers him and hurts him,
And with mighty blows converts him
Into trial shapes of clay which
Only God understands;
While his tortured heart is crying
And he lifts beseeching hands!
How He bends but never breaks
When his good He undertakes;
How He uses who He chooses,
And with every purpose fuses him;
By every act induces him
To try His splendor out
God knows what He's about. (author unknown)

From the chapter The Discipline of Defamation
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Say not my soul, "from whence
Can God relieve my care?"
Remember that Omnipotence
Hath servants everywhere

His help is always sure,
His methods seldom guessed;
Delay will make our pleasure pure;
Surprise will give it zest.

His wisdom is sublime,
His heart profoundly kind;
God never is before His time,
And never is behind.

Hast thou assumed a load
Which none will bear with thee?
And art thou bearing it for God,
And shall He fail to see? J. J. Lynch

From the chapter "The Discipline of Delay"

Happy Anniversary to Us

2009-08-15T08:26:00.001-04:00

Actually the anniversary is Monday, August 17. Rick and I will be married 36 years.

Keeper at Home with tomatoes

2009-08-10T21:45:00.005-04:00

I have enjoyed being a "keeper at home" this evening. I would like to be there permanently, but since God has placed me in different circumstances I will try to be content. After working with numbers all day it is nice to be picking, eating and canning tomatoes from the garden. Rick and I did our first batch of canned tomatoes. Half were Roma tomatoes and half Better Boy. I was hoping to be in bed by now but the pressure cooker is trying to work its way up to 6 lbs. Then it will be another 40 minutes cooking. It has been a few years since I have canned anything. Those tomatoes will be yummy this winter. We are certainly blessed with lots of them this year.

We also tried another healthy recipe: Stuffed Tomatoes.

The corn is Ruby Red. Julie had given us some seed but we were not successful at getting very many ears. But 3 were ready tonight. It was really good raw. That's how we ate it.

The tomato was a raw recipe also. We had never tried this recipe before and it is shared below. It was different and good. A small slice of cheese was included.

From Hallelujah Acres, From God's Garden by Rhonda Malkmus

"Stuffed Tomatoes"

4 large ripe tomatoes
3 cups sunflower seeds, soaked overnight and drained
1/4 cup chopped cucumber
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 chopped red, yellow or orange bell pepper (we had green)
1/2 cup fresh basil, minced (We had that from the garden, smells great)
1 clove minced garlic
1/4 tsp paprika

Slice tops off tomatoes, scoop out pulp and seeds leaving 1/4 inch around the outside edge and bottom. Blend sunflower seeds with 1/2 of the tomato pulp and paprika until smooth. Mix remaining pulp and and all other ingredients into the blended mixture. Stuff tomatoes.
Options: May add fresh corn kernels, shredded carrots, chopped celery or chopped nuts if not using sunflower seeds.

Not something I would crave once a week but tasty.

Twenty more minutes on the pressure cooker and my head will hit the pillow.

Fresh Basil

2009-08-04T21:31:00.005-04:00

Growing fresh herbs has always been so inticing to me. My thumbs are not green so it takes some extra effort. But I am so excited. It doesn't take much does it? To excite me I mean.

This year we planted basil, I should say Rick did, between some of our tomato plants because it is supposed to be good for keeping bugs away. And more important than that it is my favorite herb to use in cooking. Well here are the results of my first batch.

Here is some hanging in the kitchen that I picked this evening. My first batch that I previously picked was good and dry. And I was wondering what kitchen tool I already had on hand that would chop it fine enough. I chose my Pampered Chef chopper. It did a great job for the basil.

Here it is placed on some waxed paper ready to drop into my basil spice container. It smells wonderful. Sorry I can't pass on the fragrance.

Here is the rest of one plant that I cut from this evening.
Now to find something to cook this week to try it out. Maybe I will experiment with something I fix for Kathleen and Elwood for supper on Saturday.

Embroidery and My Love For My Children

2009-07-31T06:11:00.006-04:00

Inspired by others at Kelli's Show and Tell Friday I am sharing a piece of embroidery I did many years ago and also a piece of my life. This is the only piece I have done and long to do another one. Just haven't found the right piece or the time. I enjoyed doing the different stitches like the ones that make the curls in "Mama's" hair.

I loved spending time with my children when they were young. I have wonderful memories of playing games, getting snuggles, baking cookies, reading books, playing hide and seek and having them share their hearts at bedtime.

Breath of Heaven

2009-07-28T09:01:00.003-04:00

Feeling some heavenly breezes blowing. Below a good scripture from my TGIF email today.

When the Lord Tarries
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Tuesday, July 28 2009

"For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay." Habakkuk 2:3

Lunch at the Blue Onion Cafe

2009-07-25T14:04:00.004-04:00

Rick and I had lunch today at the Blue Onion Cafe. We have had a nice and relaxing day so far enjoying the garden outside the cafe. The birds were singing and the leaves on the trees were gently blowing. The ingredients for our lunch were picked right out of the cafe garden.

Oh, guess what? The cafe is right in the corner of my kitchen and the garden in the back yard!

I tried a new recipe for cucumber boats and they were very good served along with flat bread given to me by a friend from work. Here is the recipe from "Recipes for Life" by Rhonda Malkmus.

Cucumber Delight

6 cucumbers 4 green onions
4 cups of carrots 4 cups of celery
1 cup of fresh peas 1/4 cup fresh dill weed
1 tsp Celtic Sea salt 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Leaf lettuce

Peel cucumbers, cut them in half lengthwise and hollow out the centers. Chop the cucumber hearts, thinly slice the onions, shred the carrots, mince the dill weed, and dice the celery and place in bowl with peas. Mix in olive oil and salt and stir. Stuff the cucumbers and place on a bed of lettuce.

Now I am always modifying and using what I have on hand. Plus I only fixed 2 cucumbers so everything was only 1/3 of the quantity. My peas were frozen and thawed, I had no celery but I am not a fan of it anyway. I had dried dill weed. I also was out of olive oil but had olive oil spray.

It was quite good. We did use a small bit of ranch dressing and bacon french dressing on a few bites and on the remaining lettuce.

The cucumbers were from our garden and the lettuce was too, black seeded simpson leaf lettuce and romaine leaf lettuce. Coming fresh from our own garden made it all the better.

Friday Show & Tell

2009-07-25T08:51:00.003-04:00

I enjoyed reading Dose of Joy on Kelli's Show and Tell Friday. She showed her beautiful violin and left a selection for us to hear. Music is one of my favorite things. I am so glad God blessed us with it. Many, many times He has woke me up with a song for encouragement. Rick and I sang a song together in church before we had a date. Of course, that was more than 36 years ago next month.

Well, I had thought of sharing something musical and maybe I will share a little each week. Today I am sharing my organ that sits in the living room. My dream is to have a music room someday.

The story behind this is it belonged to my brother-in-laws' mother. When he and his wife came to NC for a visit, I came in after a day at work to greet them. I hadn't even noticed that on one side of my living room was something covered up with a sheet. He surprised me with the organ bringing it all the way from Ohio in the back of his vehicle. It just barely fit. I was so pleased that he thought of me to give it to me. He also brought several pieces of music, some very old sheet music. Here are some samples:

When I was young, we had a small organ at home that Mom and Dad purchased new. I am not proficient by a long shot, but I learned basic chords and loved to play. Does anyone remember when they used to have merchants set up in a building at a county fair? Always there was a music store that had a booth of organs like this one and someone would be playing. It was really popular to have one in your home.
This is the box of 100 sheets of music that came with our organ at home. I learned to play from these. Each selection taught something new.

Thanks for sharing a piece of my life this week.

Good, Good News!

2009-07-21T12:05:00.002-04:00

Rick's CT scan today showed the "mass" getting smaller, 1/3 the size it was previously. They called it "round pneumonia". They said sometimes infection balls up and is harder for the antibiotic to get to it. Anyway, NO BIOPSY! He was prepped for it but once they saw the picture that was it. Thank you God for answered prayer.

Withdrawl Stages and Recovery from Mind Control

2009-07-16T07:27:00.005-04:00

I found this article a great help. I have shared it here, condensing some of it and adding my own notes in italics. It states several stages I have been through and the stages I see others going through. It's kind of amazing to live it, led by the Spirit of God, and then see someone write about it. May it be a help to others.

Stage One: After conversion the mind and will may be completely taken over by the logic presented by a "group". However, the gut feeling, emotions, or conscience often indicates that something is not quite right. The Spirit of God will be faithful to keep telling you something is not right.

Stage Two: This doubt causes a feeling of guilt which the person attempts to stuff and deny. The guilt drives him or her to deeper resolve to "do right" or submit and to ignore any information that conflicts with the groups' message. However, the conscience the Spirit of God continues to exert itself causing the person to question things. Most people don't know what to question. They may question the "standards" or even the existence of God or the truth of the scripture. They rarely have enough wisdom to question the history or the doctrine of the group.

Stage Three: The person will give lip service to the group but in reality often behaves or does things that are against the rules. This causes even more guilt and more resolve to "get right."

Stage Four: If the person is observant and alert, he or she may notice some discrepancies between what the scripture says and what is done within the group. Or he may hear of a scandal or problem that bothers him. This may worry some people but many others just think, "Oh well, the people aren't perfect but the organization or church is perfect." Or "Oh well, what can I do?" or "Oh well, God will take care of it."
A person can be so passive willing to sit back and not do anything.

Stage Five: The person may hear of the history of the group and begin to wonder why he was lied to regarding the founder of the group. An inquisitive person may begin an investigation. At this point, the person usually becomes very quiet and fearful about letting others know of his questions. By this time he has found out that it is socially unacceptable to voice any doubts.

Stage Six: The denial stage in which the person decides to ignore all the warning signs. They are actually afraid of or angry at anyone who has information that exposes the deceit of the group. Some people NEVER get past this stage. They are hostile towards any information that spotlights the deceit and errors of the group.

Stage Seven: The "Don't know what to think" stage. MANY people get stuck here. They will try to figure things out on their own. They are suspicious of everyone. They don't trust their friends or family and they don't trust themselves. They don't trust traditional Christianity. They don't trust the information that exposes the group. They may not trust the scripture and might try to find reasons to believe the Bible wasn't translated correctly. This stage is very critical. The stress of it can cause illness, anxiety, nightmares, emotional problems, marital problems, divorce, etc. Usually the longer a person or his family has been in the group, the more painful it is.

At this stage, some people try to reason with the leaders. They will either arrange for visits or write long letters. Some hope that they can change the system or get some to agree with them. They are AMAZED at the total inability of leaders to hear what they are saying. However, some will agree with their arguments, pat them on the head and try to smooth their ruffled feelings.

Stage Eight: The state in which a decision is made to leave the group. The person may go in several directions. They may become angry with God or become an agnostic, atheist, hook into another cult, leave their spiritual part of their life hang in mid-air for awhile. Some get stuck in a yo-yo syndrome leaving the group and going back. Or (AND I LIKE THIS) may do some intense praying, in depth study and reaching out to normal Christain information. This stage is extremely crucial. If a married couple doesn't agree or reach this stage together it can destroy their marriage.

Almost total rejection from the group and professing family occurs if the person announces his new allegiance to Christ instead of to the group system.

Stage Nine: The state in which the old personality disintegrates and a new one is formed. The person will get rid of "old things". Some people experience a lot of anxiety in adjusting to a new identity because their whole self concept was so closely tied to the group. New interests, charitable activities and hobbies are found. Bible study and Bible classes become the new excitement.

Stage Ten: The person is in constant amazement at the difference between the old life and the new life. The person is able to pity those who are still in the old group and will eventually be able to laugh about his old experiences. The person will often want to reach out to others who he has know while in the group. He feels a strong need to talk about the experience in order to understand the strong emotions and confusion he felt while inside the group. Talking to other ex-professing people seems to be the best therapy for those going through this process. Writing down what one has heard, experience and believes also helps clarify one's thoughts.

Bernideens Tea Time Give Away

2009-07-12T23:33:00.000-04:00

http://bernideensteatimeblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/new-summertime-tea-party-give-away.html#comment-form

Go here, leave a comment to be included in a drawing for a giveaway.

Mini Day Trip and songs

2009-07-12T18:23:00.007-04:00

Rick and I took a mini day trip. I started out with a Bible study and a bike ride at the greenway. Then I came back and we took a trip together to get away for awhile.

Here are some phone pictures from one of my favorite stores "The Last Straw". Some of my pictures are a little blurry. I think employees of stores are disappointed when I come in because I go to look and not buy.

The first picture was a blessing when I walked in the door. It is a quote by Abraham Lincoln. "I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go."

Here's a couple of nice "have a cup of tea and relax" seats that would be nice to have in a home.

Here's a couple of nice sections in the store. Although you need a close up the left picture has a lot of birds and birds nests. The one on the right were old doors attached to shelves. I like older worn looking things. Although I have a lot of worn things in my home that need fixing, it's not quite the same. :>)

Although this is a bit blurry I loved this saying: "I wasn't born in the mountains, but I got here as soon as I could."

But even though I enjoy letting my eyes roam over beautiful things I know the real joy is in heaven. I have been listening a lot to a CD of Lori's by Chris Rice (no relation even though I have a newphew Chris.) The first song is Deep Enough to Dream. He's singing about dreaming about heaven deep enough to reach out and touch the face of the One who made me, Do I ever have to wake up?

"Deep Enough to Dream".

Lazy summer afternoon
Screened in porch and nothin' to do
I just kicked off my tennis shoes
Slouchin' in a plastic chair
Rakin' my fingers through my hair
I close my eyes and I leave them there
And I yawn, and sigh, and slowly fade away

Deep enough to dream in brilliant colors
I have never seen
Deep enough to join a billion people
For a wedding feast
Deep enough to reach out and touch
The face of the One who made me
And oh, the love I feel, and oh the peace
Do I ever have to wake up?

Awakened by a familiar sound
A clumsy fly is buzzin' around
He bumps the screen and he tumbles down
He gathers about his wits and pride
And tries again for the hundredth time
'Cause freedom calls from the other side
And I smile and nod, and slowly drift away

Deep enough to dream in brilliant colors
I have never seen
Deep enough to join a billion people
For a wedding feast
Deep enough to reach out and touch
The face of the One who made me
And oh, the love I feel, and oh the peace
Do I ever have to wake up?

'Cause peace is pouring over my soul
See the lambs and the lions playin'
I join in and I drink the music
Holiness is the air I'm breathin'
My faithful heroes break the bread
And answer all of my questions
Not to mention what the streets are made of
My heart's held hostage by this love

And these brilliant colors I have never seen
I join a billion people for a wedding feast
And I reach out and touch the face of the One who made me
And oh, the love I feel, and oh the peace
Do I ever have to wake up?

Do I ever have to wake up?
Do I ever have to wake up?
Do I really have to wake up now?

Aprons and Baby Clothes for Show and Tell Friday

2009-07-10T21:52:00.014-04:00

Go see Kelli today at Show and Tell Friday. She got me started on aprons after seeing her show and tell blog today. I came home from work and dug out my plastic box under my bed and found 2 of my aprons and then went to my closet to find some more. While looking I found a couple of outfits that were homemade by my mother and sister when my children were small. After washing them and having an appointment to go to this evening I am finally getting to share my items.
This was one of my first 4-H sewing projects over 40 years ago. It is a draw string apron and I remember working to get the pocket on straight. See how the plaids match where I sewed the pocket? I may as well tell here that my first simple dress I made in 4-H got a purple rosette and I won a pair of Wiss scissors and they are still my sewing scissors now. OK sorry for bragging. Back to the aprons.

This apron was hand sewn by a blind lady who was the pastors wife at the country church I attended when I was young.

This is an apron that was made several years ago and is the one I pull out to use when I am cooking a big meal and need to protect my clothes. I really didn't want my picture but I thought you could see the apron better. :>)

There are several old aprons here given to me by a friend at work. She helped clean a house out and didn't want to throw them away.

This little skirt was made by my younger sister when my girls were little. She probably doesn't know that I have kept it. I have always wanted some of those life size toddler dolls to dress in these clothes and set in my living room. Isn't the little duck cute?

This is an outfit my mother made for my first son. The jacket and bibbed pants go together and are made of double knit. I included a close up of the lining that says "I love you." That lining is also the facing on the bibs.

Have a great weekend. I am going to go enjoy some more posts. Keep my husband in your prayers.

Love to hear from God in the Morning & Rick Update

2009-07-09T06:12:00.004-04:00

I love hearing from God in the morning. Early and in the quiet. He is soooo faithful to draw me to Him. He woke me early and caused me to hunger and thirst after Him. I am nothing without Him. In Him I live and move and have my being.

Phil 4:6-7 Don't worry about anything but pray and be thankful, talk to God and the peace of God which is so great shall guard and bless your hearts and minds in an overwhelming way.

Update on Rick: He had his xray and was at the specialist on Tuesday. The xray still shows something there but cannot be compared to the CT scan. An appointment will be scheduled in 2 weeks for another CT scan and comparison done with the previous one. If the "mass" is smaller there will be no biopsy but if it is the same a biopsy will be done right then. He is no longer coughing up blood but still a little achy on his right side and a bit tired. Keep him in your prayers. Lori, Rick and I were on a bike ride in the mountains on the 4th. Beautiful ride. My blog title picture is one from the ride. Ten miles of flat road by the New River. We went 5 and turned around. That made 10 total. Soon I want to go to the end and back.

Fri Day Off From Work

2009-07-03T11:27:00.012-04:00

I am enjoying my day off today. Rick has worked on my prayer/quiet time bench today. He is putting new boards on it and he pressure washed it. I have washed my rugs and mopped my kitchen floor on my hands and knees. Aren't you all proud of me? It was long over due. Here is a picture of my bench with the new wood. The old wood was well weathered and cracked. Doesn't it look pretty? I had a Calla Lilly planted in my front flower bed but it wasn't doing well and I found out it didn't need very much water so I replanted it today in a pot and set it out by my bench. I hope it recovers. It was such a pretty lavender. Here are some pictures of our garden: tomatoes, peppers, a new 2nd row of green beans, lettuce, stevia plants and squash. Enjoy your weekend and thanks for sharing on Friday with Kelli.

Saturday, July 4 add on: We have been eating lighter and healthier. But today I have picked 2 green peppers from the garden and I am fixing an omelet. I also found some fresh side in the freezer that my brother from Ohio gave me. For those of you not familiar with it: It is like bacon, sliced, only no additives or preservatives, just the pork. I have it in the skillet now and must get back to it. Also, chopped potatoes in another skillet. Have a good 4th.

Show and Tell Friday and Prayer Request

2009-06-26T20:10:00.012-04:00

I know this is Show and Tell Friday but after you look at my yard please read my previous post "Dalmation Hotline Prayer Request" for our prayer request for my husband Rick. I would love for everyone around the world to share conversations with me and enjoy each other's favorite things at Kelli's.

These are a type of violet I planted in my front flower bed this year.

These are on the same plant. My son got them for me for Mother's Day. The first roses were the orange ones. Then about a week ago, to my surprise, I saw beautiful red ones coming out on the other section of the bush.

These are our trees in the front yard. I like the fullness of the ivy around the base. Also, the Japanese Maple was a gift to my husband a few years ago. I just cut back some of the ivy around it to let it "breathe" some.

I have two hanging baskets on the front porch like this.

This is the ground cover underneath the porch.

And this is one of my lavendar plants that are starting to take off. Rick and I started them from seed. He bought them for me. Can't wait to seem them blooming.

Dalmation Hotline Prayer Request

2009-06-25T09:41:00.005-04:00

Does anyone remember on "101 Dalmations" how the dogs passed the word along all over England to help find the stolen puppies? That humorous thought just entered my mind concerning a very NON humorous situation. I may seem weird but I think it is just that in a time like this the GRACE OF GOD is SO AMAZING!

We have a very serious prayer request. Rick, my husband, has a mass in his upper right lung. As of right now, he has an appointment with a pulmonary specialist who will do a biopsy. We are seeing if there is a Dr. in a larger city on our insurance who could get him in sooner. So pass the word along for PRAYER.

Rick and I know that God does all things for His purpose. We have been doing some serious praying for some serious situations to be moved on and know that God can use this to move mountains and turn people's hearts. We talked last night and Rick is ready to go to heaven if that is God's plan.

God is, will be and has been good in my life.

Friday Show & Tell Basket

2009-06-18T19:46:00.007-04:00

Are you ready for a summer picnic or potluck? Do you need one of these?

My friend, Nancy, who is my daughter's mother-in-law, has one of these that I admired. Come to find out, a gentleman in our church makes these and other baskets. My daughter surprised me with this a couple of weeks ago when dropping by my office. It still needed to have a protecting finish on it. I work for a furniture manufacturer doing costing. I ask the finishing dept. supervisor how much it would cost me to have the finish put on. He said I never ask for anything so he would do it for free on his lunch hour. It turned out really nice.

It can be used to carry casseroles and picnic items. It is very good quality and very sturdy.

Can you believe it only cost $12?

Leave me a comment and see more at

Show and Tell Friday

2009-06-12T12:37:00.006-04:00

Comment, stop in & share

Today I am sharing a dish I bought for $2 at an antique shop. When my daughter and I were spending time with Mom the last 2 weeks before she passed, we took a day and went to West Liberty, Ohio. It was a nice drive and we found a thrift shop my sister had told me about and visited other shops in this small town. One was an antique shop. Since I have good china with the "blue onion" design, other blue items catch my eye.
I couldn't resist the picture of the basket on this one. I display it on my kitchen table for now. The bottom says Charlotte Engraved from original drawings by J. Cuffs Designers. Reproduced in Royal Staffordshire Dinnerware, Burslem, England. Signed by Clarice Cliff. I don't know that any of that means anything. The dish is acutally much prettier than the picture shows. There are 3 small chips in it but that adds to its character.

We also visited my favorite candy shop, Marie's Candy. Mmmmmmmm.We made a few delicious purchases there. It has been in business for years in West Liberty. You can google it and make purchases on line and read about if you wish or stop in and take a tour in person, make some purchases and enjoy the atmosphere.

While you're here, check out my story on Monday, June 1. I think you'll like it. It has a new recipe there.

It's Still the Blood

2009-06-11T07:09:00.002-04:00

We were able to fellowship with others in the Word and Prayer together last night. The lesson was on Leviticus 17. The main verse of the chapter is verse 11. "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul."

(I still love the sound of the King James version although I am not opposed to reading other reliable revised ones.)

It was brought out how important the blood of Jesus is. We use the cross as a symbol of the death of Christ, but it was and is the blood that brings the atonement. From other comments and scriptures last night and looking up some more this morning, my spirit is renewed within me. Romans 5:9 says it for me this morning. "...being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him."

It is His blood that cleanses our sin, gives us strength each day to live right. When we take it for granted, we begin to live carelessly. I want to serve Him with my whole heart. I am thankful for the breath of fresh air that comes from His Word and His Spirit this morning. As Psalm 23 says "May His goodness and mercy follow me all the days of my life" and all the day long.

Knowing God's Name

2009-06-03T09:16:00.003-04:00

I read a quick devotion before coming to work. It brought out how important the names of God are because of what they mean. When Moses came to the Israelites with God's commandments, they asked Moses "What is God's name?" The meanings of names were very important to them. Names represented the character of a person.

In Psalm 9:10 "And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee." If we really "know His name", know who He is, what He stands for, know His character, what He can do, what His promises are to us. Then we will trust Him, because we know Him, His past help and future promises.

Psalm 91:14 "Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name." God will set us on high because we know "Who" He is. We haven't just heard His name spoken or read it in our Bible, but we understand his character and have experienced it.

But oh how soon we can forget. I feel like I needed a jolt today. If I think about who God is, what He has done for me in the past, what He has promised to do for me in the future, then my "Trust Level" will rise.