Hodge Podge

This was my pansies from last year.  We couldn't find any plants that looked good this year.  We have mostly the ornamental kale that is pretty.  Still plants from the summer.  Our winter has not been bad enough to freeze much.  Some of the farmers are getting their spring garden ready.  I am anxiously waiting for my strawberries to make.  I see plenty of blooms and a  little fruit on them.  We did them the old fashion way ~ with straw.  Next year we are going to put down the black plastic. 

We finally have one rooster crowing, 2 hens laying and 6 or 7 more hens to start.  We had more roosters than we thought, so Silas gave all but one away.  We still have plenty hens for us. when they all start laying.
The rooster we chose to keep is black with iridescent  feathers.  We are trying to find a suitable name for him.  Since we got the extra roosters out we have peace in the hen house.  Too many bosses tend to create chaos.

I am trying to get to my sewing room to work on quilt tops but seems my back won't let me sit for long.
I did a couple pot holders and dish clothes.  I had several tops that were a heavier jersey.  I had put them in the  trash pile.  I  looked at them and decided to see what i could do with them.  I cut the front and back
bottom and doubled the material and serge the outside.  It made two nice size dish clothes.  Then I cut the trim off.  Thought I would save it maybe to go on a tote bag.  I had stretchy pieces left so I cut them in strips and put them in my husbands bag he uses to tie stuff with.  Bow, how is that for recycling? 

So ~ instead of throwing everything away when you are cleaning out~ see if you can use it for something so simple as dish cloths or pot holders or dish clothes. 

Have a blessed day.                               

GIVING PRAISE

"Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness." Psalm 30:4

"Sing O heavens; and be joyful, O earth;  and break forth into singing, O mountains; for the Lord hath comforted his people; and will have mercy upon the afflicted."  Isaiah 49:13

I was reminded of this scripture yesterday as we were going down the interstate.  The traffic had come to almost a stand still.  I started noticing the dead brush and naked trees on the side.  (Stuff we just take for granted.)  Trees that have shed all their leaves looked dead.  But we know they will bud forth in the spring.  

The thing that caught my interest were the few things that were still green.  I noticed the wild holly with the red berries shining on the limbs.  I noticed the wild palmetto plants.  I saw several green bushes that I did not know the names of.  Seem these stood out amongst all the dead debris and fallen trees that were rotting.
I would say that 98 % of the surroundings were dead or waiting to revive in the spring.  This reminded me of the Christian shining in the midst of this dark and dreary world, letting their light shine.

I then looked up, way above the bushes and smaller trees and saw the pine tree.  They had reached to the sun and were slightly waving  their green tops in the breeze as if to give praise to the Son. 
"What matter that all the surroundings lower down are dead or brown - we will stay above the shadows, in the light and lift our needles to the Lord." I could just about hear them say. 

What about us? Are we looking up to the Son, today, and giving Him praise.  Forget all the physical pain and the hurts and whatever trials might have come our way this week.  Look to the Son of Righteous.

"Every day will I praise thee; and I will bless the; and I will praise thy name forever and forever."  Psalm 145:2
 
 

CHOICES

"I beseech ye therefore, brethern, by the mercies  of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."  Romans 12:2

 Sometimes we have the misconception when we start out on our  Christian journey  that all is going to be
 easy and rosy. But as we go  along, day by day, following the Lord we find there are a lot of rocks in the road.  A lot of hard places ~ a lot of things  we don't understand.  What do we do in the heat of the battle ~ When things are not so easy anymore?

I have found in my Christian journey that  God's way is the best way no matter what may come.
Just think of some of the Bible characters.  They had hard choices to make.  I think of the "Three Hebrew Children. The heat was on, literally!  But they were determined to follow in God's path even if it meant  being thrown into the heat.  They would not bend their knee to a false idol.  They did not bow - but, praise God, they didn't burn.  The Lord was right there with them and delivered them. 

Moses chose to folllow the Lord.  For forty long years all he heard was grumbling and complaining.  He was envied,  he was criticised,  No one really appreciated what he was doing, except   Joshua and Aaron and maybe a few more.
What do we do when we aren't appreciated or  we are criticised?  What is our attitude then?  Do we give up and say "What's the use.  No one notices me anyway?"  Or do we surrender it to the Lord and let Him handle the situation?  It is easier to try and work things out  within ourselves.  I'll have to admit  that I have done this more than once.  I wonder why it is that we think we are capable of handling life's problems?  The Lord is right here for us and wants us to let Him handle everything.  I am always amazed at how the Lord works when we let Him. 

I thought of Stephen, the first Christian martyr.  He was completely surrendered to the Lord.  As they were stoning Him to death - he looked up and said, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."   Oh, that we may have a right attitude  toward those that do us wrong.  May we forgive!  The Lord forgave us!  Why is it so hard for us to forgive others?   Not too long ago I found that I had an attitude of unforgiveness toward something that happened years ago.  I thought I had forgiven, but in the recesses of my heart,  the Lord showed me I  still had a wrong spirit about it.  I am so thankful for the workings of the Holy Spirit.

The greatest of all was the choice our Savior made to come down from heaven and all it's riches -
 into this ugly, smutty world that has nothing to offer to really make man happy.  So many are searching
for happiness but are looking for it in the wrong places.  Jesus paid the Supreme sacrifice on Calvary that
we could be happy in what He has to offer.  Salvation!   The greatest part is- it is free to anyone that will
make the choice to follow Him.  It if cost money a lot of us would not be Christians today.  It does not cost
money but there is a cost in following Him.  Are we willing to pay the  price to follow Him.?  Are we willing to  follow where He leads?   Our paths may not always be easy, but nowhere do I find in His Word where He told us life would always be easy.  He doesn't  promise us an easy path but He does promise that He will never leave us or forsake us! 

There are so many examples in God's Word of  choices Bible characters made.  Some good and some not so good.  I only chose a few. 

 I do not ask a place of ease
with nothing hard to do.
I only ask that in the test
that God would keep me true.

Dumb Ramblings

Today I thought about the old home places.  All the fun of being a child, growing into the teen age years,
my first day of high school.  That was scary at first.  So many different classes and three stories to climb.
Sometimes I still dream about not being able to find my class.  I thought of the little town where everyone gathered  on Saturdays.  Mom and Dad to buy groceries and anything the family might need was their purpose.
We children and teenagers visited with our friends and had a coke and donut at the bakery in town.  The thing that sticks in my mind is sitting in the car and just watching people.  I don't know why that was amusing to me.

I can still see all the little shops and stores.  The 5 and 10!  I don't know why it was called that because  very few items were 5 or 10 cents.  I do remember  the paper dolls.  We could buy a book of dolls and clothes for twenty five cents.  That was really a big thing with little girls back in the 50's.  Did you ever check on paper dolls in our day now?  I can't believe they are so expensive.  Unless you grew up with paper dolls you  really don't know what you missed.  All the girls had them.

Better yet, you will be surprised what we did with Sears Roebuck Catalog.  No, we did not use it for toilet paper.  We cut out the models and the clothes and dressed them like paper dolls. Marbles?  Yep!  The boys played a lot of marbles.  I use to play with  my two brothers.  Remember the big ole buckeye?  We would draw a line in the dirt and who ever got nearest the line was first.

Do any of you remember hopscotch?  What about jumping ropes?  That was a recess game.  We would stand in line for our turn, then we would have to name a movie star before we could jump in.  Now, we were not allowed to go to the movies, and did not have a T.V. so what did I know about movie stars?  Nothing!  I just listened  to the others and before long I could name as many movie stars as the next one.  I had no idea who they were or what they looked like.  I still don't know too many today.  Oh, what about double jump rope?  I loved it the most.  My feet moved faster and I  really enjoyed it.  I think I heard someone call it Dutch rope.  But it was just two jump ropes going  ~ one and then the other right behind.  Such fun.

Did you ever build your own play house with pine straw?  That is the best kind because you can have as many rooms as you want.  Just use the straw to divide the rooms. Leave a door opening into each one.
Find a log and a board and I had my table.  Dishes?  Whatever my imagination could find!  Beds!  Pile of straw and a rag over it for a sheet.  No telling where my imagination took me.  I was about eight years old and played by myself.  The boys were out doing something else.  

Oh, I did not mention the home made stilts.  Did  you ever walk on stilts?  I remember walking down the street on stilts that a friend had.  Seem I was five feet off the ground when in reality  it was probably only
about two feet.  Do kids know what they are today?   I doubt it!

Did any of you ever do back bends?   That was a hard one!  I would practice and practice.  Finally I came upon the idea that if I got in the ditch (dry) ~ my legs would be lower and I could touch the ground backwards.  Yipee!  I did it!  Guess I was too tall for this.  I never really conquered it ~ but it was fun trying.

Did you ever try to catch a bird with salt?  I guess Mama wanted us outside, so she told us to get some salt and sit on the hood of the car and see if we could catch a bird. When we saw the bird we were suppose to throw the salt on his tail.  Naturally, we finally threw it on the ground.  I have often wondered what we would have done with that poor little bird if we had caught one. 

Makes me wonder about the things kids do today for entertainment.  Stay inside on computer or games or listening to music they ought not to listen too.  I wish they knew what they are missing!  

Just some dumb rambling!  Don't know whether to post it or not ~~ but here goes!  Dumb reading!

OTHER WORDS

Since  yesterday my husband has been finding the Greek meaning of words for his Sunday School Class.
I thought I would look at JOY  in the Greek.  I know, just a simple word!!  But with lots of meaning.
Words that we need to keep before us.

1. To experience gladness.   That which is pleasing
2. To be delighted.  Enthusiastic
3. Cheerful ~ That which promotes good spirit.
4. Pleased ~Happy
5. Gratified ~  Opposed to sorry, or unhappy
6. Satisfied ~ Full to overflowing
7.Courage ~

To infuse life, courage, hope,solace and comfort. 

We need to copy words like this and put them on our refrigerators, on our mirrors
or anywhere that they may be seen.  A constant reminder to rejoice.

Have you rejoiced today?  I know, I know~ I am stuck on Rejoice ~ but that is a good place to be.

Have a happy, joyous, cheerful day.  Delight in the Lord and you will be satisfied.

REJOICE

"Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say , Rejoice.  Philippians 4:4

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory."  Philippians 4:19

I have been made to realize this past year that the God of the valleys  is also the God of the mountains.
When adversities come, when sickness comes, when our world is turned upside down  ~ He is still God.
Who am I to question why certain things come to disturb my peace?   I will have to admit I have questioned "Why Lord,"  in certain situations this past year.  I have also had to ask the Lord's forgiveness for not trusting Him more. 
Did you notice the first verse states that we are to rejoice always.  Did you notice, also, that it was repeated?   "Again I say rejoice!"  

The devil does not want us to joy in the God of our salvation.   I call the book of Philippians the "JOY"
book.  Way before I had a Bible with foot notes this book was one of my favorites.  I went through and counted the times joy, rejoice or some other form of  this word was found.  I thought I had all the words counted, when I came upon another form of rejoice.  Finally I came up with 18. 

It is important in our Christian life to rejoice.  We have so many things to rejoice about.  Seems we sometimes take things for granted.  But the more we rejoice ~  the less room the devil has to get us down and discouraged.
We might have to learn to look at life from a happier angle.  Get off the negative track and get on the rejoicing track.  Get on the B-I-B-L-E  track that leads to H-E-A-V-E-N.    Start this year off right.  Get in God's Word, bathe yourself  in it.  Then Rejoice in the Lord regardless of what He sends. 

Philippians 4:19, a favorite to so many, has been proven over and over.  God has supplied our every need.  And the good thing is He will keep supplying our every need.  How many "wants" has He given, also.  I don't feel worthy  and sometimes wonder why He is so good to me.  Isn't there a song that says He treats me like I was His only child?  He delights in blessing His children. 


  The beginning of 2012 is a good time to thank Him  and rejoice in His Love and keep doing it everyday.

A NEW YEAR

"Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before."  (Philippians 3:13)

The year is like a journal.  The page is white to begin with.  At times I will write and then have to mark something out.  It is then that I start over.  But not so with each day.  When the day is gone we can't go back. 

Get a journal and let's begin!!

There are a few things I want to write in my journal this year.  First, I want the will of God done each day.

Sometimes it isn't easy to know His will so that means I will have to spend more time in the Word and Prayer to get the will of God.  This I want to do.

Next, I want to be more compassionate and thoughtful of others.  I want to make a difference in someone's life.  Do you know that just a "Thinking of you" card might make a difference in someone's life?    It is not a great big difference so that others will notice.  It is all the little differences that will add up at the end of the year.  

I want to write encouraging words down.  As I have grown older I realize that young people need to be encouraged.  Pastors need encouragement.  The Saints need encouragement from each other. A blogger friend might need encouraged.  Let's be an encourager!

I want to write pleasant thoughts.  Positive thoughts!  I don't want to dwell on negativity.  I don't want to dwell on self.  "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight."
If we would pray that prayer each day we might  find ourselves saying less.  I want to watch my heart and my mouth.

I want to be a peace maker.  Sometimes being a peace maker is not easy.  Especially when it comes to family.  But if giving up something to keep peace in the family, then keep peace!  It is worth all the effort.  The lord will make up the difference.   This is just a few things that I want to do in 2012.

            I have always like this poem.  It has such a good meaning.

THE BRIDGE BUILDER

"An old man going a lone highway,

Came at the evening, cold and gray.

To the chasm vast and deep and wide,

Through which was flowing a raging tide.

The old man crossed in the twilight dim:

The sullen stream had no fears for him;

But he turned when safe on the other side,

 And built a bridge to span the tide.

'Old man' said a fellow-pilgrim near;

'You are wasting your strength building here;

Your journey will end with the closing day;

You never again will pass this way.

You've crossed the chasm deep and wide,

Why build this bridge at eventide?'

The builder lifted his old gray head.

'Good friend, in the path I have come,' he said,

There followeth after me today;

A youth whose feet must pass this way.

This chasm which has been as naught to me,

To the fair-haired youth may a pitfall  be;

He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;

Good friend, I am building this bridge for him."

Now that I am older and have crossed many bridges that someone built for me ~ I realize how important it is to be a bridge builder for the younger generation.  This I want to do.   I may not accomplish everything I set out to do in 2012 ~ but we need a journal to write some plans.  At the end of the year I want my journal to be pleasing to God. What will  you put in your journal?  At the end of each day, let's look back over our journal and take inventory.  Whether our journals are written on the fly leaf of your mind, or written down on paper ~ let's just take a peek at it.  Tomorrow is another day!

Adoring Him

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  The most wonderful part about mine was going to church.
I did not know how many would be there on Christmas Day, but the church was full..  Our Pastor preached a message on  Come and adore Him.    He then ask if anyone wanted to say "I adore the Lord because"... and
you fill in the blank.   Many testimonies of why we adore Him.  Of course we only said one.  But we have many
reasons to adore Him.  Not just at Christmas but throughout every day. 

Just began to think of the reasons why we need to adore Him!   I am going to try at least once a week to write about something He has done and adore Him for it.  If you want to join in let me know and we will have a  time of praise at least one day a week.  Or we can sent others to your blog.  Let's adore Him this coming year. 

 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty god, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6
 
To try and write something new about Christmas is beyond my ability. But there is something about the Christmas Story that never grows old. I'm so thankful for The Christmas Story.


We think of the circumstances of Jesus' birth. They are very important because His incarnation is the foundation of the Christian Faith . Had He been born an ordinary man, even though a good man, He could never had become our Savior. Sinful man can be saved only by the Sinless Man, and this Sinless Man could not have been born in the usual way. God intervened supernaturally to provide a lost and dying race with One who is able to redeem us from all our transgressions.

God sent an angel to Mary with a very special message. She was to bring the Savior of mankind into the world. It was Gabriel that brought the message to her. It is interesting to me that God did not choose someone from the nation's capital, Jerusalem, to be the mother of the Messiah. He went outside the religious establishment and chose one who lived in a place far removed from that part of the nation.

Mary did not understand a lot of things. She was already betrothed to Joseph. Bethrotal was as binding as marriage. Mary's reaction to this announcement by Gabriel reflects her godly, humble nature.
She was to have a son and she was to call His name Jesus. (Mary was not even free to name her own child.) But Gabriel began to tell her that Jesus meant Joshua, meaning "Jehovah saves." Mary learned that she was to bear a special Child and His greatness could not be compared with that of any others who had ever lived. His Name would be exalted above any other name in heaven and earth.
"He shall be Great, He shall be called the Son of the Highest and God will give Him the throne of David."

Jesus' virgin birth, through the agency of the Holy Ghost, is something beyond our ability to fully comprehend. Yet, His coming to earth as a babe is something with which we can identify.  We, who have children know the process of growth and development that took place through the years. But perhaps we have not stop to consider the significance of Jesus coming as an infant. By doing so, Jesus fully identified even with the earliest of human experiences. Jesus knows what it is to be human. He understands the struggles we face. And because He understands, He is able to help us in our times of difficulty.

I'm so glad for a young maiden, Mary, that was willing to go through whatever came. She put her reputation on the line. She went through the years with Jesus - knowing she had a responsibility in raising Him. She suffered heartache and sorrow and felt pain just like we do. I have often wondered what Mary's thoughts must have been as Jesus grew up. She knew He came to earth with a purpose in view. I know she has been lifted up as a saint. 

I'm not trying to minimize the part she played as the Mother of our Savior, but she surely is not the one to pray to. Roman Catholic theology teaches that Mary, herself, was full of grace and is now the giver of grace to others. Wrong! Mary was the recipient of grace, not the giver. She was "highly favored " as the one that God used. Highly favored in Ephesians 1:6 literally means "made us acceptable" or "graced us".
Her high favor and praise are the result of God's grace being extended to her.
In dealing with Mary - God was saying that He would go to them that sought Him. Those who fear Him enjoy His mercy

It is still the same today. He comes to where we are and lifts us to where He is.

Thank God for His faithfulness especially during this Christmas season when we celebrate His birth. Keep you focus on the real meaning of Christmas. Like the song writer, 
Merry Christmas All Year Long. Wrap the gift of me and place it under the tree. 

THE DARKER THENIGHT ~ THE BRIGHTER THE LIGHT

Christmas, to me is about Love.  The more I seem to go through ~ the more He shows me that He lets some things happen because He loves me.   I somehow have changed my focus of a Babe in a manger.  I think more now on that Babe becoming our Great High Priest who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities.  Our weaknesses, our failures,  our helplessness.  He knows how frail we are, yet we are His child and, He, like a earthly father should, takes our hand and leads and guides us.  I am so thankful for that Leadership. 

I love Him because He first loved me! I cannot comprehend His Love but I am so glad He Loves Me!  Jeremiah 31:3 "I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee."  

This scripture means so much to me. Several years ago I was going through a trial and had no idea what to do. It seem mighty dark to  me. It seemed that I was weighed down and this trial was consuming me. I prayed and prayed and could get no peace. I read the Word but just could not latch on to anything. One morning, in my devotion, I was all alone. I took my Bible and went before the Lord. I remember praying outloud and saying "Lord, this is your Word and I know there is an answer for every situation found here. Please help me~give me an answer~I can't bear this without your help."

You know those dark days that come in a Christians life? We are all alone not knowing which way to go or what to do! Not wanting to do the wrong thing~we do nothing but carry on. That particular morning after praying for awhile I opened the Bible and was reading in Jeremiah. 

 I read down to about the 15th verse when suddenly I felt impressed to stop and go back. I realized that I did not know a word I read. I started Chapter 31 over and verse 3 stood out like it was outlined. "Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with tender mercies have I drawn thee."    

He loves me and there's more! His love is everlasting. I started dwelling on His Love and before I knew it I was weeping and thanking and praising Him for His love. I don't know how long I was in His presense~I just know His Sweet Presense was there. Suddenly I realized I had forgotten all about the heavy load~I was just bathing in His Presense. Did I get an answer to my problem? No~ but He loves me~Did I know what to do? No~but He loves me! I knew that He was all I needed. The load that I was carrying suddenly became lighter and I knew I could trust His Love. His Everlasting Love! 

Just to think that He loves even me. A nothing, a nobody~ I am reminded of a song that a couple sing  in church."Nothing but a speck of dirt, but He loves me."  I had never heard that song before but it touched me. 

I want to remember  some things this Christmas and not just take them for granted. 

His Love, His Tender Mercies that are new every day, His way of answering prayer.  I am amazed at how the Lord answers prayer. Sometimes we come to Him with a problem and go our way just knowing how He will have to work to solve this particular problem!  In our egotistical pride we think we know the answer. May I say, He never works like I thought He would. He works in His time and in His way and I am always amazed. I want to remember that I can't even walk without Him holding my Hand.

I have no idea what 2012 may bring. It may bring heart ache, it may bring sorrow, it may bring sickness ~ But it may be this very year the Lord will come. Until then we must carry on and not give up the battle. Just remember He Loves you and me with an Everlasting Love, a Love that will not let go. Go in His Love and be a blessing to someone. If the night gets dark, remember the  darker the night, the brighter the light, when we walk with Him.