"Oh look everyone!!......

The sumac is turning red!!"

I love the first splash of color.....

It's exciting to see the beginnings of a new season!!

And I love fall....:) (Shh...don't say anything, but I say that about every season!)

Summer isn't over, but the color in all the dry and brown is refreshing. Isn't God wonderful like that?

Children's Books for Grownups

You know, there is a lot grown up people can learn from children's books. Me, I love books. I especially love to re-read books. Even children's books. There are a few I go back to over and over again- they are favorites, plus they have a huge message.

All of these have very important life lessons. (Ok, the one about the strawberry is just fun, and I love it and I'm going to use it to teach my little ones adjectives!) But the other four have more of a message that can influence our way of thinking as adults. The main focus is perspective- how we look at life.

Have you ever read this book? It's by Marjorie Priceman.

It's really cute....it's about a little girl who is going to bake an apple pie, but the market is closed! Well, she certainly could just wait till the little market man get's back from fishing, but she has another option....she could just get her wheat from Italy, eggs from France, Cinnamon from Sri Lanka, milk from England, sugar from Jamaica, and apples from Vermont. So, she does!! And she's haunted me ever since....

The art work is very lovely- I'm not really very savvy on art stuff but, I like it! It's so neat and interesting to study! And the flow of the story is easy, and the whole thought behind it brilliant. But that's not the point.

The point that always gets me is that we can see the world everywhere we go. We don't have to go far away; it's neat, it's nice, it's an adventure when we do, but the real adventure is whatever we make it to be. It's about seizing those moments, make them teachable, whether it be to yourself or your children! Don't make life for yourself ho hum, be smart, be clever and see the beauty and sense of humor wherever you go.

So this book makes me think about how I'm seeing the world, if I'm actually seeing it or if I'm just kinda going along. You know, wishing I could see more, or complaining of my view when all I have to do is just live my life and SEE the world.

A brief thought...

This evening during our ladies class one of our elders wives was saying the closing prayer and in it she said something that really caught my attention.

Paraphrased it was: "God takes imperfect people and uses them to do His will. God takes imperfect people and provides the chance for them to grasp on to the way of seeking perfection in Him."

Think of the example of Alexander the Great. He was the last and ultimate conquerer and destroyer of Tyre and Sidon. Alexander falls under the first- God takes imperfect people to carry out his will.

Then there is the example of Rahab, she was an imperfect woman who chose to change and believe in God. There is a beautiful end to the story of Rahab; she chose to follow God, she married an Israelite and was part of the linage of our saviour, Jesus Christ.

We are all imperfect people. (Romans 3:23- For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.) Are we choosing to grasp the opportunity of seeking perfection in Christ? How strongly are we committed to that? What are we willing to do?

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a merchant seeking goodly pearls: and having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it." Matt. 13:45-46

23 July, 2010

Sonnet 116

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:

O no! it is an ever-fixéd mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose Worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle's compass come;

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom:

If this be error and upon me proved,

I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

~William Shakespeare~

"Wedded love is founded on esteem."
- Elijah Fenton

"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." Genesis 2:24

My dear friend Julia was married to a truly wonderful man last Friday evening. It was a beautiful wedding....I'm so thankful I know her...and Lee....They're the kind of people that make the world go 'round for me. Their example of true love, commitment and dedication to God encourages me every day. I love them both so much. :)

Hello it's me, may I come over....

You know how time does that funny thing of running away on you? Well, since it's been almost a month since I last posted I think I'll just sit down and write one!

Priorities are so important- It's why we do what we do. When we're busy and working on so many things, it's easy to be caught up and fail to do the important things. Like studying God's word. Praying. Spending quality time with family. Never be to busy for God.

A couple weeks ago we had a huge garage sale. It was really quite fun! I enjoyed seeing all the people go through and look at stuff, and talk among themselves....People are so interesting...why do we do the things we do? What are we telling the world every day by the way we talk, act, dress and places we go? It's incredible to me to think of how many people see us in public just going shopping, or to the grocery store, or even a garage sale!! It's thoughts to think, aright!

I know this is short and random.....I'm hoping to post more later! I hope you have a great weekend! Be safe and have fun! :)

Proverbs 31:18

"She perceiveth that her merchandise is profitable: Her lamp goeth not out by night."

It's a tiny bit ironical that the principle I want to touch on this week for this verse is time management and it's Sunday, 6 days late I'm posting!! *blush*

"Her lamp goeth not out by night"- You know that old adage about our mothers, "First up, last to bed." That's a long the same lines as this and how did our mothers manage this? How did the virtuous women pull this off? Time management.

We all have the same hours in the day, but how we manage them makes a huge difference! We need to take the time to analyze how we use our time and make the adjustments necessary.

Now I don't profess to know everything about this, in fact I'm not even equipped to write a long 'how to' in regards to children, but there are some principles that I think we all agree can be helpful.

I. Prioritize your time. Make sure you know how you're using your time. (added benefits-becoming aware of how you spend your time and catching bad habits)

II. Plan personal Bible study time. Even if that means teaching your very young to sit still on the couch by your side looking at a Bible book etc, while you study and pray. (added benefits- teaching your children dedication and self-discipline)

III. Plan your meals ahead of time. It saves money and headaches. (added benefits are ease in hospitality, emergencies etc.)

IV. Do a little house work each day. There are some good helps and planners like Fly Lady and Organized Home. (added benefits are ease of working within your home, hospitality, comfortableness.)

V. Don't plan too much. The object of using your time well is not to get more things done, but to get the things you need done, completed in a timely manner. (added benefits are spontaneous picnics, outings, time to care for other people and time with your children.)

These are just a few ways to work on better managing our time. I know sometimes it seems impossible to keep ahead of what seems like chaos, but we can have these anchors that will helps us keep our heads, and be able to be gracious moms, and daughters as we work toward these goals of virtue. :)

I would love to hear thoughts and comments on any of this!

A lonely table...

It started out with my little sister Naomi visiting friends in MO. and spending the weekend with them. She comes home tomorrow.

That puts us down to 8 people at our kitchen table

Than this morning my sisters Emily and Anna traveled to Jamaica for a two week mission trip.

Do you realize that puts us down to only 6 little people at our big happy table?!

(Go ahead and laugh...I know I'm pathetic!)

Our family, all 9 of us, have such a wonderful time together. Especially at meals when we talk and smile and laugh...and eat...:) Some of our best discussions have been around the table. We've share so much there! And I'm thankful. :)

So! Here's a little about my day, with half of my siblings gone. (For those who are counting and don't know, I have an older brother who is married and lives in China.) Dad was at work during the day; he's good like that. :) That leaves Mom, Nathan, Miles, Silas and myself all here at the house....the boys worked outside a lot and Mom and I cleaned house. We had such a lovely time, Mom and I, working together, talking together...sneezing together!

And then lunch time came, in trooped the boys all three of them. Just for the record, I love my brothers. They mean the absolute world to me. :) And since I tend to be a bit of a sucker, I made them deer stewy stuff and rice. And green beans to be healthy. :) They helped me do the lunch dishes- that was a blast too! Nathan's meticulous drying, Silas scraping for me and watching Miles wrestle the plastic wrap were all priceless!

(Miles being a goof!)

Then I'll have you know, all three of those boys came in and stood on the other side of the counter as I was dishing up supper looking at me like I hadn't fed them in 5 days, not 5 hours!! Hehe...based on the way the ate the lasagna, they must have been hungry! Afterwards we went down and played baseball/cricket! Oh yeah, me and my super athleticism! ;) It was fun, we laughed and had a big time! I think that ball could just jump up and hit me randomly!

It's been a good day! I miss my three sisters. I love my brothers. And I'm incredibly blessed by my whole family. And even though 6 is a pretty big number, when you're used to 9 it seems small.