Truth for Today #28

Thursday July 28th

On Thursdays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during the week. One, two, three or maybe more. If you have a verse/verses that you read during the week and would like to share, leave it/them in the comments and I will add it/them to the post. Let’s dig deep in God’s Truth this year!

Acts 17:22-31 (Legacy Standard Bible):

So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to inhabit all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are his offspring.’ Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to suppose that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the craft and thought of man. Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now commanding men that everyone everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He determined, having furnished proof to all by raising Him from the dead.”

From Vera:

‭‭Titus‬ ‭2:11-14‬

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

From Diana:

Psalm 84:12 (NASB)

“O LORD of hosts, How blessed is the man who trusts in you”.

From Karen:

Isaiah 40:8

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

Goodbye July Hodgepodge

Another Summer Wednesday Hodgepodge today with thanks to Jo From This Side of the Pond.

1. According to author Gary Chapman there are five love languages-words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch, acts of service, and receiving gifts. Which one is yours?

If you mean which one do I receive as love, I’d have to say acts of service with true words of affirmation coming in close. On the other side, the giving not receiving, I like to give gifts.

2. What are five foods you eat every day?

As it stands, I’m in a period of trying to drop some pounds so according to that regiment here are five foods I’m eating at present:

High Fiber Cereal from Trader Joe’s with 9 grams of fiber per serving, a good handful of blueberries, low fat string cheese, eggs and an assortment of veggies.

3. Five places you’d love to visit?

Prince Edward Island, Ireland, New England States, More National Parks, More of Great Britain

4. Something you’ve done recently that deserved a ‘high five‘?

I’ve lost a good solid 12 pounds.

5. Give us five 5-letter words that describe your July.

Water: with the summer heat I’ve been watering, a lot.

Shade: If I’m outside I try to find shade. We have also put up our shade cloth.

Walks: Early morning walks have started in July.

Grands: July has lots of opportunities for fun in the sun with our Grands!

Focus: Working on a more God-Centered focus. Something I read yesterday in a devotional by Alistair Begg: “Jesus made it clear that in order for us to embrace a God-centered focus, we must first understand who we are without Him. In fact, Jesus explained to His disciples that apart from Him they could do nothing; after all, “in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17) Our need for Jesus is not partial; it is total. None of us can even breathe without God’s enabling. How can we think of taking credit for any work that He’s done through us? We are absolutely impoverished without divine help.”

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Speaking of our grands and July, on Monday we went into the Colville National Forest to a very remote area to help our kids get stocked up with fire wood for the winter. I’ll do a whole post on our time there. Here are the grands who persevered a whole 4 hours!

Our Country Bungalow ~ Before and After

I’ll start with some good old photos of our home past seasons…

Such a sweet memory of Addy bringing me a bouquet of flowers on my birthday. Old door color, new door color.

Before and after…

We put our summer shade cloth up on Thursday.

Front and Back in the new colors.

Dear also removed the outdoor light fixtures and painted them white. They were a gold finish that was not in great shape.

There is still a little touch-up on the white trim that needs to be done. Dear also had to take out the decking closest to the house to put in flashing so the rain water wouldn’t soak the siding and destroy it. That set him back a few days.

We are happy with the new look. The paint is Teton Blue by Behr.

The new view for all the south bound traffic that drives by with the clearest view of our home.

It took almost 6 gallons of paint. We have enough paint left over to redo the south side of the house in a few years. That’s the side that gets the most sun and other weather beating.

We have moved into the last week of July. Time is ticking away. Predictions this week are for temps to get upwards to 100 degrees and above. We’ll be working very early in the morning and staying inside in the heat of the day.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a good week.

The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, is Ended ~ Hymn

The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, is Ended

The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended,
The darkness falls at Thy behest;
To Thee our morning hymns ascended,
Thy praise shall sanctify our rest.

We thank Thee that Thy church, unsleeping,
While earth rolls onward into light,
Through all the world her watch is keeping,
And rests not now by day or night.

As o’er each continent and island
The dawn leads on another day,
The voice of prayer is never silent,
Nor dies the strain of praise away.

The sun that bids us rest is waking
Our brethren ’neath the western sky,
And hour by hour fresh lips are making
Thy wondrous doings heard on high.

So be it, Lord; Thy throne shall never,
Like earth’s proud empires, pass away:
Thy kingdom stands, and grows forever,
Till all Thy creatures own Thy sway.

Words: John Ellerton, 1870.

Trinity College ~ Oxford (Archives)

This is a post from my archives from July of 2014. We traveled by train to Oxford from the Cotswolds leaving our rental car behind which is a very good idea when visiting Oxford.
You can read about the history of Trinity College by clicking here. After our walking tour of Oxford on our 6th day in England Dear and I enjoyed some lunch and then walked about on our own. We visited two more of the University of Oxford Colleges, Trinity and Magdalen. We had to pay a small entrance fee to walk about these colleges.

The Chapel was consecrated in 1694 and was hailed by contemporaries as the most magnificent Chapel in the University. Its dynamic integration of architecture, sculpture and painting is unrivalled amongst surviving ecclesiastical interiors in England.

Deposition of Christ ~ (copy after Andrea del Sarto) by Gaetano Cannicci, 1870.

We were in Oxford the summer of 1974 briefly on our way to Blenheim Palace with our Singing group before we were married. If my memory serves me correctly it was in Oxford that I purchased the tea set for the Teapot I bought in Canterbury in 1973 on our singing group tour (Royal Albert, Moss Rose). In 2004 on a Literary trip to celebrate our daughter’s graduation from high school we visited Oxford for a day. We parked in a park and ride outside of town and took a bus to the city center and set out to find all the places that C.S. Lewis and Tolkien were known for. We had lunch at the Eagle and Child. We spent some time at Magdalene College and walked the path where Lewis and Tolkien walked. After getting back to our car we ventured off to Wolvercote to try and find the cemetery where Tolkien is buried. With our daughter’s determination we finally did find it and found his gravesite.

Back to July 2022 here in the States. We hope on our journey this September to attend Evensong at Trinity and at Magdalene colleges. Since our time in Oxford will be extended from just several hours to many days we hope to enjoy more leisurely visits to much of Oxford that we didn’t have time to see in 2014. We’ve also been researching churches in the area to attend on the Sunday we are there.

Summer Boating

It was a perfect day for a family outing on the boat. The littles looked excited.

The 5 year old told me about going under bridges in the boat.

This was the 3 year olds first outing on the boat.

Before long they were pros and ready to drive.

The 3 year old told me about driving the boat and other things when they came for dinner.

More fun times ahead on the water for this little family.

Thank you to our daughter-in-law for the great photos!

Truth for Today #27

Thursday July 21st

Colossians 2:8-10

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

From Vera:

‭‭1 John‬ ‭2:15-17‬

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

From Cheryl:

Psalm 36:5-8

Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the great mountains;
Your judgments are a great deep;
O Lord, You preserve man and beast.
How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,
And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.

From Diana:

Job 19:25

“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.”

From Karen:

Psalm 27:14

Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Driving Like Nuts Hodgepodge

Time for Wednesday Hodgepodge where Jo From This Side of the Pond comes up with the questions and we accept the challenge to answer them.

1. Last time you drove more than 100 miles from your home? Where did you go?

In May, we drove to Western Washington for a long weekend with our westside kids, 325 miles each way.

The photo at the top of my post is me on our lawnmower that I drive around our property every week from about May to October. I’ve logged 160 hours on it in the last 4 years.

2. Something that drives you batty?

All the twisted reasoning given to justify evil.

3. Do you feel like you’re ‘on track‘? For what?

We, the royal we, Dear and me, are on track with finishing the exterior painting on our country bungalow. Dear is doing the painting and I supply beverages when he needs them. Sometimes I hold the ladder. On Tuesday we made a trip to Spokane for the usual shopping and picking up one more gallon of paint. Soon I’ll be able to show the before and after shots on all sides of the house.

4. Your favorite car snack(s)?

If I was going to snack in a car I would probably have nuts, or M&M’s. When we travel we don’t usually need a snack in the car. We just time our stops for a good meal when we drive a long way or all day. Bottled Water is something we like to have in the car all the time.

5. Something you’ve done recently ‘on the fly‘?

We left our home at 5:45am on Sunday and walked the Rotary Trail (2.9 miles) and then came home for breakfast and showers with plenty of time to attend Sunday School and our Main Worship Service at Church.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I’m loving our July yard with all the green and other blooms that are thriving because of our early Summer rain this year.

Thank you for stopping by…

Daylilies

I did a lot of weeding on Monday and I was surprised at the many varieties of daylilies that are in our yard.

I don’t remember seeing all these varieties in years past.

This pretty butterfly sat long enough for me to capture a photo.

Here’s a closeup of the butterfly.

We have had a nice variety of butterflies in our yard but they flit about and I’m not close enough to get photos when they land somewhere. I might have to sit outside with my camera for a while to try to catch the other varieties.

My fingers and arms are complaining from all the pulling and tugging of the weeds in our beds. It looks better but the job is far from done.

Hope you all have a good day.

Early Morning Walk

On Sunday we left our country bungalow at 5:45am to drive to the Rotary Trail for an early morning walk. It takes us 10 minutes to get to the parking lot for the trail.

Our path was pleasant and the early morning coolness was good for a walk.

We were treated with an eagle sighting.

We are resolved to get many walking miles in to get conditioned for our trip in September.

It was wonderful to be serenaded by many birds.

This trail borders the golf course but no golfers were out yet. We only met 3 other humans walking this morning.

The Canadian Geese were honking as they got booted from one of the greens.

This walk, 2.9 miles, takes just under an hour to complete so we were home in time to breakfast, shower and head to Sunday School and Church. A wonderful morning!

On the schedule this week is completing the painting of the exterior of the house, have our kids over for a meal, prayer meeting, watering, harvesting our garlic, our weekly mowing/weeding and a trip to Spokane to restock some essentials. What are you up to?

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Author Archives: Ellen