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Showing posts from December, 2012

What is Known

  As the sun sets on this year 2012 and fear can sometimes  threaten to overwhelm with the unknown lets look into and start with  what is known, dear ones.   Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God 1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord , “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” 3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler [ a ] And from the perilous pestilence. 4 He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. 5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, 6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. 8 Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward

FridayFavs on Saturday :)

Late again...late again...for no particular reason. Just enjoying some rest and time "off" from school and the running and the going. It's sweet and good. We are blessed. Here is to finding joy in the big and small, and all those good gifts given. This boy. With the imagination as wide and far as the east is from the west. Love, love, love him.     Not-so little boy blue.      Bought this boy Adventures in Odyssey Imagination Station Books 1-3 He LOVES them. It's the same idea as the Magic Tree House books (which he's read most of)  but with a Biblical Worldview. He says these are better. What a history buff.     This is Koen's "special gift" so he says. Thank you Grandmommy!     Pasting sugary products on top of gingerbread shaped like a choo-choo train. Doesn't get much better than this. Well, other than eating sugary products on top of gingerbread.

Gifts hard to Receive: Merry Christmas!

When asked, "If ever was there a gift given or received that meant much to you" a friend e-mails back and says: "I must have been in kindergarten when this occurred.,,,,,,my family lived way out in the country, and I went to a country school, so to speak. There was a little girl from a very poor family who had little of everything which included not having her very own doll. I remember thinking, that I wanted to give her my doll that I had and loved. I must have asked my parents and they gave me the okay, because I do remember giving it to her, and she quietly accepted it. I think, she was very surprised and did not really know how to react, but deep down in my little heart, I knew she was pleased and thankful." Another shares this:   "I wanted a horse for as long as I could remember. My grandparents gave her to me for my 13th birthday. She was 1 1/2 years old and for the most part, we kept her and then a family friend kept her until her

Weighty Gifts

I've done it. Taken the plunge. And it's even before the New Year. :) You see, every year I say I'm going to read through the Bible. And then I don't. Every. Single. Year. Well, for the last few years anyway. Maybe you can relate. Maybe with you though, it's working out your physical body. No, I don't usually have a problem with that. It's my spiritual body that lacks. Every. Year. And what good is a physical body if the spiritual body is a wreck? Not any, really, as I've learned....and relearned. And as important as I say the Word is to our lives here, just about every time I sit down to plink on my keyboard, I have been convicted that the things that I say here.....they are words to live by, not just nice things to say. Pointing people to Christ and living as Christ live together well just as do grace and truth. And so, a friend of mine texts me from far away. She says she's been thinking about me. And me? I've been convicted because ever s

The Gift that Breeds Freedom

Keeping our kids at home to school them was a decision that came with much prayer and was not made in haste. It was and is not a negative pronouncement on the public school system, it's teachers or the parents that choose to send their most precious possessions there. We started for only a couple of reasons and really, it has become a way of life for us and those reasons continue to change as the seasons in our life change and it is a way of life that we have come to love. It's that simple. A way of life. It's not better or worse, just different. Really, it IS that simple. :) It's one of those "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12) kind of things for a family of believers. I think that many people, myself included (before I started schooling my kids at home), assume that those crazy people just want to shelter their children from the world and keep them "safe"!! Nope. Well, nope for many of us anyway. It's kind of a

Christmas Photo Cards: FridayFavs

A little early to be posting this, perhaps, but for once I might be on top of something, well kind of anyway. I do, I do, I do love receiving and giving Christmas photo cards in the mail and I'm pretty sure we've done it once or twice, but I'm also certain that was before baby #3. I must also admit, I do try to save a buck or two hundred, and hate to think of all those Christmas card photos I ordered in someones photo box (or in the trash....yeah, you don't have me fooled ;) )  'til next year when you place new one on the fridge, hang them around the door way or on some other wall that isn't already cluttered with photos and then that photo will too... then replace the other one in a box (or, like I said in the trash...ha!) I did see once that someone had made place mats out of all of her photos and Christmas cards to use the next Christmas. I always think I'll do this and then....I forget. I know you're super surprised! So call me cheap if ya want, but

Take a Moment

In this season of hurry, hurry, hurry and hustle and bustle would you just take a moment to worship with me Who it is that we are celebrating? Because really, this is the season of waiting isn't it? And waiting, as we've discovered, is hard, but SO worth it ! Waiting for the One who was promised so long ago to us. This gift of a babe in a manger who would one day go on to conquer sin and death! Yes, this...sit with me, it takes a few but moments.... Find this song on Casting Crowns' Christmas CD Peace on Earth  

The Hardest Part

Maybe, just maybe the hardest part about giving is not so much in the giving. It's not buying or making this thing we call a gift. It's not the money or time spent. Though a sacrifice, I usually believe it's somehow worth it. I mean, really I love to give and I think that is true of most people. Here's the hang up though (at least for me anyway): I especially like to give to those who I think deserve it AND I (if I'm being really honest with you) want something in return....even if it's just a nice thank you e-mail. Micheal Flaherty, president of Walden Media , while speaking to Marvin Olasky of World Magazine about some of the scarier scenes in the film, The Dawn Treader , explains it this way . Flaherty tells Olasky, "So we’re talking with the screenwriter and director and someone says, “Before Eustace gets un-dragoned, let’s have him fight another dragon, and as a reward for him fighting that other dragon and beating him, Aslan will un-dragon him.” I

Signs of the Season: FridayFavs

Just a quiet note here up, up in the U.P. amidst flurries, Christmas carols sung loudly and off tune, good Advent Stories , special time spent together though it is later at night than usual, thoughts about giving and what it means and looks like to give as a believer, a sick daughter (yes, again), and readying to go out of town...this Friday favourite is the quiet times in the early morning and chats (via cell phone...yes, I love and hate them with a passion) with that man I call Love....and these....    Just this wreath, made with love and the hands of of a dear friend.   Sweet signs of the season on our front table     Brown bags filled with bits of happiness and Words of Truth for the soul.      

Good Gifts Worth Waiting For

Many times as a little girl a magazine from the American Girl Doll Company would come in the mail. I remember it usually being around Christmas, but it could have been any time during the year. Oh, this magizine, it was wonderful! And I don't remember wanting a whole lot as a little girl, but yes, oh yes! I wanted an American Girl Doll. Samantha, to be exact. I would spend many a minute with that coveted magazine, circling little items, imagining, wondering what it would be like to have her...just her. The bed, the clothes, all the accessories, those were, I knew, just pie in the sky dreams, but the doll....that was possible....though she was ever so expensive, it was possible. Christmas' came and they went. I did get the doll that had the hair that would grow when you touched her hand to a plastic butterfly in her hair. Santa even left me a note that said I would have to wait for the rest of the accessories. One day poof! everything was there on my bed.  And that bike I