Author Archives: Ellen

How Oft Have Sin and Satan Strove ~ Hymn

 

751 (L.M.) Isaac Watts

How oft have sin and Satan strove
To rend my soul from Thee, my God!
But everlasting is Thy love,
And Jesus seals it with His blood.

The oath and promise of the Lord
Join to confirm the wondrous grace;
Eternal pow’r performs the word,
And fills all heav’n with endless praise.

Amidst temptations sharp and long,
My soul to this dear refuge flies;
Hope is my anchor, firm and strong,
While tempests blow and billows rise.

The gospel bears my spirit up;
A faithful and unchanging God
Lays the foundation for my hope
In oaths, and promises, and blood

9 Months!

Yesterday our little Jaymison Joshua reached his 9 month mark! These photos were put together by JJ’s mommy. Tonight I hope to capture some shots of him with my camera. That isn’t an easy proposition when we are hosting the birthday dinner party for Dan and Jamie. I’ll keep my camera out in the open so I remember!

Here’s what the landscape looks like this week from our country bungalow.

I’m so thankful for our window views and our trees!

The cake is out of the oven. The table is set. (The theme of my table is frosty with the hope of Spring) The marinade is on the chicken. The dishwasher is emptied so we can fill it again. I’ll prep the veggies that will be roasted on a sheet pan with the chicken on the Traeger later this afternoon and toss the salad just before we eat. Now I’m off to wrap the presents!

Happy Birthday Party Friday everyone.

Thursday Thoughts

This is the view from our desk where I read, study and blog on most days. I really appreciate the view. One of the books I am reading right now in my morning devotions besides the ever constant Bible is One Foundation (Essays on the Sufficiency of Scripture) compiled by Grace to You. This post is for me so I don’t forget what I’ve read and want to remember.

This is a quote from Spurgeon that Steven J. Lawson shared in his essay on The Standard of Sound Words: A Mandate for the Pulpit:

Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. (2 Tim. 1:13)

Spurgeon maintained,

Theology hath nothing new in it except that which is false. The preaching of Paul must be the preaching of the minister today. There is no advancement here. We may advance in our knowledge of it; but it stands the same, for this good reason, that it is perfect, and perfection cannot be any better. The old truth that Calvin preached, that Chrysostom preached, that Paul preached, is the truth that I must preach to-day, or else be a liar to my conscience and my God. I can not shape the truth. I know of no such thing as paring off the rough edges of a doctrine. John Knox’s gospel is my gospel. That which thundered through Scotland must thunder through England again…For wherever there is not the old gospel we shall find “Ichabod” written upon the church walls ere long. The truth of the Covenanters, the old truth of the Puritans, the old truth of the Apostles, is the only truth that will stand the test of time, and never need to be altered to suit a wicked and ungodly generation. Christ Jesus preaches to-day the same as when he preached upon the mount; he hath not changed his doctrines; men may ridicule and laugh, but still they stand the same–semper idem* written upon every one of them. They shall not be removed or altered.

Spurgeon rightly understood the necessity of this theological continuity from one generation to the next. Cultures change. Seasons change. Fashions change. But the truth never changes.

From our house to yours, some views of our Country Bungalow yesterday when the sun was shining and the skies were blue.

And…

…so thankful for these boots that I bought at Goodwill before we moved to Colville. They were a bit pricey for Goodwill at $14.99 but I knew they were quality boots. Keen Dry boots which sell new at $100 or more. They are perfect for snow and temps below freezing. Great for snowshoeing, too.

We had a couple more inches of snow overnight.

Today is our son Dan’s birthday. We are happy and thankful to live in the same zipcode as him and his family. Happy Birthday to you dear son of ours!

We’ll be celebrating both Jamie and Dan’s birthdays tomorrow evening with a dinner here at our country bungalow.

Happy Thursday everyone!

*semper idem: always the same

Signs

We live about 70 miles north of Spokane. Spokane is the city we drive to for shopping at stores like The Home Depot, Costco, Trader Joe’s, Fred Meyer, HomeGoods, TJMaxx, Target, Lowes and Hobby Lobby.

Here in Colville we have a Super Walmart, Super One grocery store, Safeway, Grocery Outlet, Builders Supply, Do It Center, Sears Hometown, North 40 and then several independent one of a kinds.

Spokane is on the eastern edge of Washington State close to the middle of the state. We are in the Northeast corner of the state. Washington State borders Idaho to the East, Oregon to the South, British Columbia Canada to our North and the Pacific Ocean to the West. Many Canadian visitors come down Highway 395 and our road from Canada. On any given day you will see a lot of B.C. license plates on cars in the Walmart parking lot.

We’re due a trip to Spokane for our monthly Costco run but we’ll have to wait out the snow storms that we are experiencing. A two lane highway in the snow with a 60 mph is not the safest way to travel. It would be okay except for other travelers who don’t seem to sense the danger enough to slow down.

Speaking of travelers…

We have a highway in our back acres for Quail.

There is talk for more snow in our neighborhood. Before that happens we are preparing to venture out soon to the grocery store. The sun is shining on the snow and it makes for beautiful vistas. We’ll be bundling up for sure. So thankful for the right clothing to wear when the temps are in the teens.

Happy Wednesday to y’all.

I’ll give it a try to link up to Tom’s Signs2 for this post.

 

Fun in the Snow

Addy loves the outdoors in every season!

More snow on the ground since these photos were taken by our DIL.

Happy to report their power came back on, finally, last evening.

On Monday I shoveled a path to our satellite devices to clear them off of snow. Not sure I would make it into a snow fashion magazine especially with my choice of summer hat!

Snowy days project. The priming and painting of our master bath cabinets and ceiling. We still need to pick the grey shade for the walls and buy the paint.

On Tuesday we woke up to a couple more inches of snow on top of the 14 inches we have on the ground already!

Bible Study Fellowship was cancelled this morning due to the snow and driving conditions. Some of the ladies drive from miles away from small country towns around Colville. Our studies in the book of Hebrews continues. We were in Hebrews 8, 9 and 10. I’ll miss that discussion. Next week we move on to 11, 12, and 13.

The Full Assurance of Faith-

Hebrews 10: 19-25:

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Have a good day dear visitors!

 

The Calm

…before the storm.

This was our view on the way to church yesterday. We traveled on compact snow and ice but. Sunday is a good day to travel in the snow since the roads aren’t as heavy with vehicles. Overnight we added to our snow levels and our temperatures plummeted. Dear woke up to a power outage, I slept through it. The power came back on about 5:35 am. We measured our levels and it looks like we have 14 inches. We have some casualties from the weight of the snow. Branches have fallen and one of our bird houses is tilting. When I woke up we were at 10 degrees and we are suppose to have a high of 18 degrees. Brrr.

Our kids who live 8 miles from us on the other side of town are without power. Remember that when us country folk are without power it means we have no water, either. Our water sources are wells and they need electricity to pump the water to our homes. Our kids on the coast got 5-6 inches overnight, too. That will cause more havoc then our side of the mountains. The skies are bright right now and it is beautiful.

These are photos off my phone that I could upload from Facebook. My big camera photos aren’t uploading this morning.

Great day for snow shoeing and freezing our faces off.

Happy Monday everyone!

Not All the Blood of Beasts ~ Hymn

Not All the Blood of Beasts

Not all the blood of beasts
On Jewish altars slain,
Could give the guilty conscience peace
Or wash away the stain.

But Christ the heav’nly Lamb,
Takes all our sins away;
A sacrifice of nobler name,
And richer blood than they.

My faith would lay her hand
On that dear head of Thine;
While like a penitent I stand,
And there confess my sin.

My soul looks back to see
The burdens Thou didst bear,
When hanging on the cursèd tree,
And hopes her guilt was there.

Believing, we rejoice
To see the curse remove;
We bless the Lamb with cheerful voice,
And sing His bleeding love.

Words: Isaac Watts, 1709.