And…three cheers for our kids who share their photos with us! From Colville, Bothell and Lynnwood everyone had their version of celebrating Independence Day. God bless America.
My heart is heavy because of the tragedy from the Guadalupe River surge in Texas. I can’t imagine the pain and grief so many are going through. I’m sure many of you are feeling the same way. Prayers continue…
Come, My Soul, Thy Suit Prepare
Come, my soul, thy suit prepare,
Jesus loves to answer prayer;
He Himself has bid thee pray,
Therefore will not say thee nay.
Thou art coming to a king,
Large petitions with thee bring;
For His grace and power are such,
None can ever ask too much.
With my burden I begin,
Lord, remove this load of sin!
Let Thy blood, for sinners spilt,
Set my conscience free from guilt.
Lord! I come to Thee for rest,
Take possession of my breast;
There Thy blood bought right maintain,
And without a rival reign.
As the image in the glass
Answers the beholder’s face;
Thus unto my heart appear,
Print Thine own resemblance there.
While I am a pilgrim here,
Let Thy love my spirit cheer;
As my guide, my guard, my friend,
Lead me to my journey’s end.
Show me what I have to do,
Every hour my strength renew;
Let me live a life of faith,
Let me die Thy people’s death.
Words: John Newton, 1779.
We had a nice Independence Day and we enjoyed texts with photos from our loved ones here in Washington, in California and in Texas. I’ll share some of those on Monday.
The rest of these photos are catch ups from the past couple of weeks.
These little Pansies (Johnny Jump Ups) pop up all over our acreage. I suppose you could call them wild.
We had a de-constructed Chicken Pot Pie for a meal. It is a simpler way to enjoy a nice crisp crust and the filling. When we buy a Costco chicken I take the meat off the bones immediately and freeze portions in quart size freezer bags for quick meals later.
This buck caught me looking at him.
A couple Wednesdays ago, Greg helped Dan butcher the last two of the three sheep Dan bought for meat. It was an all day project!
Josh and Laura were proud to represent the colors they stand behind at a soccer game.
Didn’t want to forget the traditional photo for our Colville kids’ anniversary that they take each year and added two more from their getaway at the end of June. They enjoyed a meal at Baba’s (no relation to this Baba 🙂 ).
Our daughter attended a Medieval Castle wedding and shared some photos. The wedding was during work hours so Katie and her friend attended without their husbands (they were able to get time off from their jobs). They enjoyed their time and all the medieval touches.
Our beautiful daughter.
Speaking of castles, this is one of the latest puzzles I completed and it is going straight to the garage sale pile. I love the result but the pieces were all cut into shapes that were too varied and too brain teasing. I bought it for $3.99 at Goodwill and was happy that there were no missing pieces. Hooray.
The lavender plants are in their glory and the fragrance can’t be beat.
Happy Saturday everyone. The weird thing is that every day this week felt like a Saturday to me.
A prayer from President George Washington’s Prayer Journal:
“O eternal and everlasting God, I presume to present myself this morning before thy Divine majesty, beseeching thee to accept of my humble and hearty thanks, that it hath pleased thy great goodness to keep and preserve me the night past from all the dangers poor mortals are subject to, and has given me sweet and pleasant sleep, whereby I find my body refreshed and comforted for performing the duties of this day, in which I beseech thee to defend me from all perils of body and soul.
Direct my thoughts, words and work. Wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the lamb, and purge my heart by thy Holy Spirit, from the dross of my natural corruption, that I may with more freedom of mind and liberty of will serve thee, the ever lasting God, in righteousness and holiness this day, and all the days of my life.
Increase my faith in the sweet promises of the Gospel. Give me repentance from dead works. Pardon my wanderings, & direct my thoughts unto thyself, the God of my salvation. Teach me how to live in thy fear, labor in thy service, and ever to run in the ways of thy commandments. Make me always watchful over my heart, that neither the terrors of conscience, the loathing of holy duties, the love of sin, nor an unwillingness to depart this life, may cast me into a spiritual slumber. But daily frame me more and more into the likeness of thy son Jesus Christ, that living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I may in thy appointed time attain the resurrection of the just unto eternal life. Bless my family, friends & kindred unite us all in praising & glorifying thee in all our works begun, continued, and ended, when we shall come to make our last account before thee blessed Saviour, who hath taught us thus to pray, our Father.”
I’m humbled by this prayer from the first president of the United States. I pray along with it as I ready this post.
The stained glass window with the sun streaming through casting it’s light and color onto the statue of George Washington was taken at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. in May of 2011. Dear had a conference in D.C. and I was able to tag along. The National Cathedral is a must see if you ever travel to D.C.
Here are some wise words from our first ‘first lady’;
“The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances. We carry the seeds of the one or the other about us in our minds wherever we go.” ~ Martha Washington
It is folly to say our nation was not founded on Christian principles. Some would like to blot out this part of our history and remove all evidence of our Founding Father’s faith in the one true God.
Have you ever seen or read the third verse of “The Star Spangled Banner”, our National Anthem?
O thus be it ever when free men shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto, “In God is our trust.”
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Praising God this morning for preserving our nation to this point in history.
Give me this day almighty God the Spirit filled mind to serve thee in the righteousness of your dear Son, Jesus my Lord, Christ’s sacrifice covers my sin repented of and gives me the strength to live in your holiness. God bless America and keep our land free to worship you in righteousness and truth.
Have a safe and sane 4th of July everyone! We are celebrating with gratefulness and joy!
Thursday July 3rd
On Thursdays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during 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 again this year!
The verses that you share are appreciated and so encouraging, I’m thankful for them and for each of you!
Psalm 119:89-96 (ESV)
Forever, O Lord, your word
is firmly fixed in the heavens.
Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
you have established the earth, and it stands fast.
By your appointment they stand this day,
for all things are your servants.
If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
I will never forget your precepts,
for by them you have given me life.
I am yours; save me,
for I have sought your precepts.
The wicked lie in wait to destroy me,
but I consider your testimonies.
I have seen a limit to all perfection,
but your commandment is exceedingly broad.
From Maristella:
” But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. “
1 Timothy 6:11.
From Vera:
“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, like gentle rain upon the tender grass, and like showers upon the herb. For I will proclaim the name of the Lord; ascribe greatness to our God! “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.”
Deuteronomy 32:1-4 ESV
From Jan:
1 Thess. 4:11-12
Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.
From Karen:
Philippians 1:6. Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
Sizzling into Hodgepodge Wednesday this week. Thank you, Joyce!
Today is forecast to be hot, hot, hot. If I do anything outside it will be in the early hours. But now on to the questions.
1. What does freedom mean to you?
Freedom means I can choose. I can choose what I believe, where I live, where I get an education, where I go to church, what I wear, what I eat, where I work, what I do for fun, where I travel, and all of that without fear of being thrown into prison because of those choices.
I can also choose to give up a freedom for a greater cause like parenting, being a wife, being a friend, being a citizen, being a member of the Body of Christ. As a mother I chose to give up many freedoms so that I could help my children. As a wife I can give up some of my freedom to be a better helpmate. In serving others sometimes you give up personal freedoms, too.
There are national freedoms and personal freedoms.
I don’t want to abuse my relationships by demanding my freedoms to the extreme.
The more I think on this the more there is to say about freedom. There are times that God will take my freedoms away to teach me something I need to learn. Maybe through an illness or a loss. I’ll save those thoughts for another time.
2. How will you celebrate Independence Day this year? If you live outside the USA answer this question as it relates to your own country’s patriotic holiday, wherever that may land on the calendar.
We will go to an annual party in Colville with many of our church family. We bring our own meat to cook and a side or dessert to share. There are several grills for cooking the meat. There are games to play including an annual corn hole tournament. Fireworks are set off later in the evening.
3. This or that…red, white, or blue? Blue
Stars or stripes? Stars
Watermelon, home made ice cream, or blueberry pie? Watermelon
How do you feel about fireworks? I enjoy watching them. I’m always reminded of our dear Pop who never bought fireworks that I’m aware of. If we asked, he would say, “Here’s a dollar, just burn it.” His sentiment was that spending money on fireworks was just burning up money that was better spent for something necessary. 🙂
That said, here in Colville we don’t set off fireworks just anywhere because we are in a high fire danger season. Many families shoot off fireworks on New Year’s Eve instead when there is snow on the ground. People in town can set them off without the greater danger of starting a wild fire.
4. What have you purchased recently that made you excited?
I talked about my new riding lawnmower last week. This week I was excited to have the window washers come. Clean windows are exciting and when someone else cleans them that is even more exciting!
5. I’m thankful to live in America (or fill in whatever country you call home) because____________.
…it’s the land of the free and home of the brave.
I’m so thankful God led my parents to make the choice to immigrate legally to the United States from Persia. They made the hard journey to settle in the Los Angeles area with our oldest sister Kathy and while our mom was pregnant with our sister, Vera. God led them on that journey and was with them all their 90 and 95 years. They enjoyed their freedom in the U.S. and their abundant life in Jesus Christ. That freedom and abundance is available to all of their children, children’s spouses, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
I love decorating and celebrating the 4th of July, Independence Day in the U.S.A.
Bell Flowers
Purple Campanula
July is coming in hot! Today is predicted to be the hottest day this week, 97F. How are things in your corner of the world?
Happy Canada Day to our neighbors in the North!
Reminders from our Sunday sermon: Fight the good fight, the good spiritual fight. Don’t fight the wrong fight. Salvation is by grace alone, by faith alone, through Christ alone. Stay faithful to the Gospel. Rest on the Gospel not your good works. We are not saved by our good behavior or good works. Bad doctrine and bad behavior go together. Don’t violate your conscience. Your faith and your conscience are not separable.
I was saved when God called me and I asked forgiveness for my sins and put my faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God, who died on the cross for my sins, rose from the dead, and is my Lord and Savior. He paid the penalty I could not pay and I am eternally grateful.
Last week I showed a photo of the leaning barn taken from our kids’ driveway. The photo above is another shot I took last Friday. The next photo was from 7 years ago.
From July, 2018.
I’m adding more photos with closeups and different sides of the barn that I took last Friday.
We’ve enjoyed seeing this barn through the years and are sad that it won’t be in the landscape for many years to come unless it just decides to stay leaning and not collapsing. Judging from the photos it doesn’t seem likely that it will last for too much longer.
How will you spend the last day of June?
Jesu, Our Hope, Our Heart’s Desire
Jesu, our Hope, our heart’s Desire,
Thy work of grace we sing;
Redeemer of the world art Thou,
Its Maker and its King.
How vast the mercy and the love,
Which laid our sins on Thee,
And led Thee to a cruel death,
To set Thy people free!
But now the bonds of death are burst;
The ransom has been paid;
And Thou art on Thy Father’s throne,
In glorious robes arrayed.
O may Thy mighty love prevail
Our sinful souls to spare!
O may we stand around Thy throne,
And see Thy glory there!
Jesu, our only Joy be Thou,
As Thou our Prize wilt be;
In Thee be all our glory now
And through eternity.
All praise to Thee Who art gone up
Triumphantly to Heav’n;
All praise to God the Father’s Name
And Holy Ghost be given.
Words: Unknown author, 7th or 8th Century (Jesu nostra redemptio, Amor et desiderium); translated from Latin to English by John Chandler (Hymns of the Primitive Church, 1837) and the compilers of Hymns Ancient and Modern, 1861.
Welcome to Tea Time 2025. These posts will be about Tea Rooms we’ve been to, Teas we’ve given for friends and family, Church Tea events, and High Tea in restaurants from 2008 to the present. Tea in the U.S.A., Tea in England and Tea in Canada. Many of the Tea Rooms are no longer in business, which is sad.
This Baby Shower Tea for Michelle was posted on August 26th 2009.
For Tablescape Thursday this week I’m sharing my photos from a shower we had for my niece Michelle this past Sunday. Her and Ryan’s baby girl is due in September. We worked around a pink and brown tea theme.
Our Guest of Honor Michelle. This will be Ryan and Michelle’s 2nd. They have a boy already who is looking forward to meeting his little sister…
The Shower Organizers, Flower Arrangers, Sandwich Makers, and Decorators.
3 generations, my niece Michelle, my mom, and my sister Kathy.
My mom with all her daughters. She has 4 sons, too!
The granddaughters with my mom. 4 granddaughters are missing in this photo including my daughter and DIL.
My niece Michelle flanked by all her Aunties on her mom’s side of the family.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 