A Beautiful Reminder

Here's a beautiful song that our pastor sang some time ago in our church...and it has become one of my favorites.  This is just a simple reminder to think about how good God has been.  Have a blessed day!

A Gentle Reminder to Myself :)

This is a song that I heard a while back from Abigail Miller. It's a beautiful reminder of God's faithfulness to me!

It's Just Like the Lord

Sometimes I weary upon the path I tread,
Sometimes my heart faints, I fear what lies ahead.
But when upon my knees I seek the Father face to face,
He may not give the answers, but He always gives His grace.

And it's just like the Lord to lead our feet in ways we cannot see,
Yes, it's just like the Lord to take us where the darkness seems to be.
But one day when we gather in that great and grand forever,
We will see His hand has failed us never--no, never.
Trust the Lord.

Just when the darkness is closing 'round my head,
Just when my strength fails--I lean on Him instead.
Oh, the Son just comes shining through, I see Him face to face.
I do not need the answers, I only need His grace.

For it's just like the Lord to open wide the eyes that could not see,
Yes, it's just like the Lord to flood His light where darkness used to be.
Oh, some day when we gather in that great and grand forever
We will see His hand has failed us never--no, never.
Trust the Lord.

Oh, one day we will gather in that great and grand forever.
Then we'll see His hand has failed us never--no, never.
Trust the Lord.

A Simple Reminder~to me!

Do you ever receive emails that contain images of catchy church signs? Some are, in my opinion, not worth sharing, but others are down right convicting! Like this one:

Attitudes are contagious...is yours worth catching?

Or this one:



A parent's life is a child's guidebook.

Just a few thoughts for this Wednesday. Have a great day!

The Secret

I ran across this beautiful poem just this morning...and thought I would share it. Have a wonderful Thursday!

The Secret

by Ralph Cushman

I met God in the morning

When my day was at its best,

And His Presence came like sunrise

Like a glory in my breast.

All day long the Presence lingered,

All day long He stayed with me,

And we sailed in perfect calmness

O'er a very troubled sea.

Other ships were blown and battered,

Other ships were sore distressed,

But the winds that seemed to drive them

Brought to us a peace and rest.

Then I thought of other mornings,

With a keen remorse of mind,

When I, too, had loosed the moorings

With the Presence left behind.

So I think I know the secret,

Learned from many a troubled way;

You must seek Him in the morning

If you want Him through the day.

Details...

Aren't you glad that God cares about the little details?

With a conflict of schedules for our upcoming dentist appointments, I called the office yesterday to see if I could change the appointment. The receptionist said, "I know I'm not crazy, Donna, but I cannot find you and your kids in my book for April 14th." Someone evidently had failed to write us in...but God knew we would not be able to make that appointment anyway!

We were rescheduled for two weeks later, but I love how God knows and cares about even the little details of my life!

One of my favorite verses is Jeremiah 29:11~

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."

In sync

On Valentine's Day, Hubbie and I had the privilege to spend some time together...just the two of us. We drove to a nearby harbor. It was a very pretty area and is still under a lot of construction. After we finished there, we drove through the city to a nearby Cheesecake Factory. After our yummy meal, we strolled through The Container Store. (Have you ever been in one of those?!?!) We didn't purchase one item, but had lots of fun talking to each other and looking at all the gadgets for organization.

On our way back to the parking garage, we were holding hands, just walking along, but I felt out of sync. And that felt odd! I looked down and realized that my feet were travelling at a different pace than Hubbie's. Upon this realization, I quickly changed my pace, my left foot moved when his did, and my right foot moved forward when his did. Oh~so much better!

Then, you know the Lord brought to my mind the fact that so often, I'm travelling through this life and I know He is right beside me. But how many times do I feel "out of sync" or unbalanced? It's not because Jesus has gotten "out of sync" with me, but it is me who is letting the cares of this world distract me.

I'm memorizing this verse today to help me remember to keep my focus on Him!

I Corinthians 15:58~Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the word of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Some Thoughts

Here are a few quotes that I enjoyed reading...Hope you have a wonderful Thursday!

I got these quotes here.

America has never been an empire. We may be the only great power in history that had the chance, and refused – preferring greatness to power and justice to glory.

George W. Bush

 

 

It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.

George Washington

 

 

All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.

James Madison

 

 

Democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable

form of government ever devised by man.

Ronald Reagan

 

 

It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.

James Madison

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.

Ronald Reagan

Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.

Ronald Reagan

Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.

John F. Kennedy

~From the Past~

Upon doing some clean-up and organization around the house, I found some old reading books. In one of the books is the following:

JEFFERSON'S TEN RULES

President Thomas Jefferson

Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.

Never spend your money before you have earned it.

Never buy what you don't want because it is cheap.

Pride costs more than hunger, thirst, and cold.

We seldom repent of having eaten too little.

Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.

How much pain the evils have cost us that have never happened.

Take things always by the smooth handle.

When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry, count a hundred.

Here are a few pictures from President Jefferson's home, Monticello.

~Welcome!~

~Beautiful view of the home~

~Pretty cool~

~The kitchen~

~A working garden, similar to what

President Jefferson had when he lived at Monticello~

Thanks for stopping by today! :)

Childhood Poems

As a child, I loved just about every subject in school and really enjoyed my teachers. My favorite subject was probably Spelling. During Spelling class, we not only learned our words, but we also got to learn poems. There's something about children and poems that just "go together!" It's like a breath of fresh air. ;)

One of my favorite poets is Robert Louis Stevenson. He was not a strong child and spent many hours laying in his bed. He did have an active imagination. Here are a few poems from A Child's Garden of Verses. This book has about 65 of his poems, including The Lamplighter and My Shadow.

Singing

Robert Louis Stevenson

Of speckled eggs the birdie sings

And nests among the trees;

The sailor sings of ropes and things

In ships upon the seas.

The children sing in far Japan,

The children sing in Spain;

The organ with the organ man

Is singing in the rain.

The Swing

Robert Louis Stevenson

How do you like to go up in a swing,

Up in the air so blue?

Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing

Ever a child can do!

Up in the air  and over the wall,

Till I can see so wide,

Rivers and trees and cattle and all

Over the countryside-

Till I look down on the garden green,

Down on the roof so brown-

Up in the air I go flying again.

Up in the air and down.

Rain

Robert Louis Stevenson

The rain is raining all around,

It falls on field and tree,

It rains on the umbrellas here,

And on the ships at sea.

Happy Thought

Robert Louis Stevenson

The world is so full of a number of things,

I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings.

I hope you've enjoyed this small collection of poems. Our weather today is supposed to be rainy and below 60 degrees. I think we're going to stay inside~dry and warm.   :) Have a great day, and thank you for stopping by!

Underneath

I don't know about you, but sometimes I forget to look underneath things...then the dust bunnies pile up, or the dirt gets thick, etc. Ever do that?

Recently, I found a nice bag of navel oranges at the grocery store. They smelled and looked so delicious... So, I purchased them, brought them home and put them in my pretty iron bowl. And promptly forgot about eating them! Shame on me for wasting money like that! (Sorry, Hubbie!)

There they were, sitting so pretty on the counter, but I kept thinking, "I'll eat an orange tomorrow" or "I'll make sure the kids share an orange at lunch". However, none of those things ever happened. The oranges still looked good, though.

But yesterday morning, they started to look old and yucky, so I thought I should check them out. Sure enough, they were soft and in a word~gross! When I picked up one of them, my fingers touched~




MOLD!




Oh, I was disgusted! Now I had that nasty green junk all over my fingers...

As I was washing my hands, I started thinking. How many things are underneath (in my spirit) that people can't see, but God can?

• What about those feelings of jealousy, pride, envy, doubt? Ouch!
• What about those thoughts of "If only..."? Ouch!
• What about those thoughts I had about another person? Ouch!
• "But God, that person did......to me!" Ouch!

God doesn't just want me to look good on the outside. He wants a clean vessel on the inside, too! I'm so thankful HE brought those moldy oranges to my attention, because He also brought some things to mind that needed some serious spiritual attention. Things that needed to be confessed...that needed to be forgiven...I must say that this Christian walk is sometimes hard, sometimes victorious, and sometimes challenging~but always worth the effort!

My verse for today is Ephesians 6:6 (emphasis mine)

"Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;"

I hope you have a great day! And watch out for those oranges!    ;)

Learning

The Christian walk is a journey...and I am always learning something. I ran across this poem in one of the second grade readers that are on my shelf. It blessed my heart and reminded me that "it's not all about me." I hope you have a great day...

The Bird's Lesson

by George Macdonald

A little bird, with feathers brown,

Sat singing on a tree;

That song was very soft and low,

But sweet as it could be.

And all the people passing by,

Looked up to see the bird,

Whose singing was the sweetest

That ever they had heard.

But all the bright eyes looked in vain,

For birdie was so small;

And with a modest dark brown coat,

He made no show at all.

"Papa, dear," little Gracie said,

"Where can this birdie be?

If I could only sing like that

I'd sit where folks could see."

"I hope my little girl will learn

A lesson from that bird,

And try to do what good she can~

Not to be seen or heard.

"This birdie is content to sit

Unnoticed by the way;

And sweetly sing his Maker's praise,

From dawn to close of day.

"So live, my child, to do some good,

Let life be short or long:

Though others may forget your looks

They'll not forget your song."

Giving Thanks Week

Good morning! I hope you had a wonderful Monday, and are looking forward to Thanksgiving! Check out this blog for some great Thanksgiving ideas!

On Sunday, our pastor reminded us that we could take just about forever thanking God for His physical blessings to us...however, how often do we remember to thank God for Who He is?

So, today, I am thankful that God is my protection. These verses from Psalm 91 are a blessing to me.

v. 1~He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

v. 2~I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

v. 4~He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

v. 11~For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

Aren't you thankful for God's Word?

Blessings to you today!

Pumpkin Week~Part 3

Today, I am thankful for good Christian music. The following song has been in my head ever since I woke up, and now that you read it, it will probably be in yours, too! ;)

This is the Day

This is the day (This is the day)

That the Lord hath made (that the Lord hath made)!

I will rejoice (I will rejoice)

And be glad in it (and be glad in it).

This is the day

That the Lord hath made!

I will rejoice

And be glad in it.

This is the day (This is the day)

That the Lord hath made!

I think music can be:
a balm to a hurting heart
an encouragement to a sad heart
healing for a broken heart
an outlet for a rejoicing heart

What a blessing that we can sing to our Savior! I am so glad that during church services, we still sing out of the hymn book. Some of my favorite hymns are How Great Thou Art, Make Me A Blessing, Grace That is Greater, To God Be the Glory, Amazing Grace, and It is Well. What is your favorite hymn?

Now, on to a recipe! But wait! Just a quick update~yesterday, I made the pumpkin roll with Splenda...it turned out okay. The roll did not rise as much as it does with sugar. It tasted pretty good, though. The filling was delicious! I think I could have eaten just that! :) Hubbie found an easy recipe for sugar substitute powdered sugar. (1 cup of Splenda + 1 tsp. cornstarch + a food processor = powdered sugar) I used that in the recipe as well.

Today's recipe is another one that sounds really yummy, but I have not tried it yet...I guess I better get moving on these recipes, huh? :) This is from my Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Pie Pudding

15 ounces solid pack pumpkin
12 ounces evaporated milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk baking mix
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons vanilla
whipped topping

Directions:

• Mix together all ingredients except the whipped topping. Pour into a greased slow cooker.
• Cover and cook on Low for 6-7 hours, or until thermometer reads 160 degrees.
• Serve in bowls with whipped topping.

Have a wonderful day today!

Blessings from Church

My church is in the middle of Bible Conference. I love being around other believers and we had some really great preaching yesterday morning! (I was at home last night with one of our children). The speaker was Evangelist Wil Rice, from the Bill Rice Ranch, and his sermon was on prayer.

Many times our prayers are very generic...and we don't get prayers answered. Then we get frustrated, bored, lazy...Here's what he read:

Philippians 4:5-7
Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Brother Rice encouraged us to:

1. Ask who? Ask God
2. Ask how? Specifically
3. Ask for what? For every thing

Now, read the answers all as one sentence...ask God specifically for every thing.

After God answers a prayer, we should give Him thanks! I have some specific prayer requests that I'll be taking to the throne today...how about you?

"Thanksgiving is the ultimate proof of my dependance upon God." --Wil Rice

We've Moved!

Happy Monday to you all! After some careful consideration about my previous blog, Hubbie and I thought that the title needed to be changed. So, I am changing the blog to Blessings at Our House. I think it's important to count our blessings...we have been given much!

I hope that you had a great weekend. I am glad we got some much needed rain, but the sunshine sure is a welcome sight this morning. :)

Here is a yummy recipe from my Mom's extensive collection. It's fairly easy and it's tasty, too!


Noodles--Pizza Style

8 ounces noodles (egg, elbow, spirals, etc.)
1 pound hamburger
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 -2 cups pizza sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt
1/2 cup pizza sauce
6 ounces grated mozzarella
2 to 4 ounces pepperoni

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Spray a 9"x 13" baking dish with cooking spray.
• Cook and drain the noodles according to package directions.
• Brown the hamburger and onion. Drain. Add the pizza sauce, Italian seasoning, and garlic salt. Then mix with the noodles.
• Pour into prepared baking dish.
• Top with the extra pizza sauce.
• Top with mozzarella and pepperoni.
• Bake for 20 minutes.

Enjoy with bread sticks and a salad!

Have a wonderful day!