Author Archives: Ellen

The Patch 2019

As we finished up at the Maze and Patch the rain started to gently fall. We patted ourselves on the back for coming early and leaving before the crowds arrived and the rain came down. We headed home for sandwiches and it didn’t take long for the guys to come home from hunting because of the rain. Naps were in order for the grands and some of the guys, too.

I’ll leave you a verse from God’s Word, The Bible, and a prayer from Spurgeon inspired from this verse:

Thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed forever. (2 Samuel 7:29)

…Lord, we cannot doubt thee: we are persuaded that every word of thine is a sure foundation for the boldest expectation. We come to thee and say, ‘Do as thou has said,’ Bless thy servants’ house. Heal our sick; save our hesitating ones; restore those who wander; confirm those who live in thy fear. Lord, give us food and raiment according to thy word. Prosper our undertakings; especially succeed our endeavours to make known thy gospel in our neighborhood. Make our children thy children. Let thy blessing flow out to future generations, and as long as any of our race remains on earth may they remain true to thee. O Lord God ‘let the house of thy servant be blessed.’

Corn Maze and Pumpkins

So much has happened in 7 days and I’ll start a little catch-up by going back to last Sunday and our time at the local Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch. While the guys were hunting the gals and JJ made a visit to the Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch. Lots of photos and few words. Did I mention…lots of photos?! I’ll start with the Corn Maze and then add another post about the Pumpkin Patch.

Katie is the best maze navigator and Addy was interested in hearing her instructions as to where we should go.

We stopped at each marker we found and put up the appropriate number of fingers.

 

Along the way in the maze they gave you easy ways to exit if you needed an easy out.

We made it to station #8 and at this point Addy wanted to be carried which made it a little more difficult to soldier on so we took the next Easy Out we spotted and headed to the Pumpkin Patch.

JJ was content and contemplative about the whole experience.

We are making a slow transition back to life as normal after our trip to California for the amazing conference we attended. I hope to catch up with all your blogs early this new week. As happens frequently when traveling, we are experiencing an attack on our health from being confined in airplanes and rooms with many people who are spreading their germs and illnesses with the rest of humanity.

Hope the tornado warnings in the Dallas area were without injury to anyone. We were happy to hear our family members were okay and got the all clear. Praying October ends well for y’all.

My Soul, Now, Praise Thy Maker ~ Hymn

My Soul, Now Praise Thy Maker

My soul, now praise thy maker!
Let all within me bless His name
Who maketh thee partaker
Of mercies more than thou dar’st claim.
Forget Him not whose meekness
Still bears with all thy sin,
Who healeth all thy weakness,
Renews thy life within.
Whose grace and care are endless
And saved thee thro’ the past;
Who leaves no sufferer friendless,
But rights the wronged at last.

He shows to man His treasure
Of judgment, truth, and righteousness,
His love beyond all measure,
His yearning pity o’er distress,
Nor treats us as we merit,
But lays His anger by.
The humble, contrite spirit
Finds His compassion nigh;
And high as Heav’n above us,
As break from close of day,
So far, since He doth love us,
He puts our sins away.

For as a tender father
Hath pity on his children here,
He in His arms will gather
All who are His in childlike fear.
He knows how frail our powers
Who but from dust are made;
We flourish like the flowers,
And even so we fade;
The wind but o’er them passes,
And all their bloom is o’er—
We wither like the grasses,
Our place knows us no more.

God’s grace alone endureth,
And children’s children yet shall prove
How He with strength assureth
The hearts of all that seek His love.
In Heav’n is fixed His dwelling,
His rule is over all;
Angels, in might excelling,
Bright hosts, before Him fall.
Praise Him who ever reigneth,
All ye who hear His Word,
Nor our poor hymns disdaineth—
My soul, O praise the Lord!

Words: Johann Graumann, 1525

Snapshot…

I’m holding a MacArthur Study Bible in the Russian language. We are enjoying so many great interactions with people from all over the world at this conference. Our heads are ready to explode from what we are learning.

Besides a packed program with so many great speakers we have been treated to some beautiful music from a men’s choir and the chorale from Master’s College. Jubilant Sykes sang Blessed Assurance…amazing! Violin and piano arrangement of Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus was exceptional, too.

The campus of Grace Community Church in Panorama City has many food stations, water stations, coffee stations, ice cream stations, kettle corn stations. We get breakfast and lunch as part of the program and then they bring in 12 different food trucks for dinner options that we pay for. Yesterday’s lunch was brought in by a local restaurant/caterer and they served burrito bowls with all the fixins. Today I believe we get a choice of Chick-fil-A or Deluxe Hot Dogs. Several people have commented that the food offerings make them feel like they are on a cruise.

There is an amazing book tent with prices 40% below cost on many books. One group in the book tent is offering leather Bible restoration.

So much to digest brain wise and food wise!

Right Back Where We Started From…

We are in California catching up with as many family members as we can while attending the Truth Matters Conference at Grace Community Church in Panorama City. Late this afternoon we enjoyed In-N-Out with this beautiful family. The conference begins tomorrow and I’ll share more as I have opportunity. Oh and I suppose I should mention we arrived to temps in the 90’s. Quite a contrast from northeastern Washington.

Jesus, Priceless Treasure ~ Hymn

Jesus, Priceless Treasure

Jesus, priceless treasure,
Source of purest pleasure,
Truest friend to me.
Ah, how long in anguish
Shall my spirit languish,
Yearning, Lord, for Thee?
Thou art mine, O Lamb divine!
I will suffer naught to hide Thee,
Naught I ask beside Thee.

In Thine arms I rest me;
Foes who would molest me
Cannot reach me here.
Though the earth be shaking,
Every heart be quaking,
Jesus calms my fear.
Lightnings flash and thunders crash;
Yet, though sin and hell assail me,
Jesus will not fail me.

Satan, I defy thee;
Death, I now decry thee;
Fear, I bid thee cease.
World, thou shalt not harm me
Nor thy threats alarm me
While I sing of peace.
God’s great power guards every hour;
Earth and all its depths adore Him,
Silent bow before Him.

Evil world, I leave thee;
Thou canst not deceive me,
Thine appeal is vain.
Sin that once did bind me,
Get thee far behind me,
Come not forth again.
Past thy hour, O pride and power;
Sinful life, thy bonds I sever,
Leave thee now forever.

Hence, all thought of sadness!
For the Lord of gladness,
Jesus, enters in.
Those who love the Father,
Though the storms may gather,
Still have peace within;
Yea, whatever we here must bear,
Still in Thee lies purest pleasure,
Jesus, priceless treasure!

Words: Johann Franck, 1653

Smiles and Stunts!

It’s not hard to get our little JJ smiling.

I popped over to the gymnastics gym to watch Addy in her class and was able to get some closeups of JJ.

Jaymison Joshua will be 6 months old on October 16th.

Parents and Grandparents can’t go beyond a certain point so I had to make use of some of the mirrors behind the warm up area to get photos of Addy on equipment that was out of sight.

She doesn’t hold back and seems fearless with exercise.

I have to admit that it made me nervous watching her climb up the ladder. When they get to the top they ring a bell.

We have a busy weekend ahead and we are so looking forward to having all of our people on this side of the mountains. A large pork shoulder is smoking on the Traeger for dinner tonight. It’s been smoking since 5 AM.

Our Canadian neighbors are moving into their Thanksgiving weekend. Happy Thanksgiving friends!

Speaking of Thanksgiving, here are some stanzas from some hymns that turn my eyes to what I’m so thankful for and hope for…

From Fairest Lord Jesus;

All fairest beauty, heavenly and earthly,
Wondrously, Jesus, is found in Thee;
None can be nearer, fairer or dearer,
Than Thou, my Savior, art to me.

From Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts;

O Jesus, ever with us stay,
Make all our moments calm and bright;
Chase the dark night of sin away,
Shed over the world Thy holy light.

From What is the World to Me?;

The World is like a cloud
And like a vapor fleeting,
A shadow that declines,
Swift to its end retreating
My Jesus doth abide,
Though all things fade and flee;
My everlasting Rock-
What is the world to me?

Trusses Part 1

We got the revised plans to make the trusses right from the Pole Barn Company and it was full steam ahead to get the trusses to their spots on the shop pad. Cousin Jim helped Dear maneuver the very heavy trusses.

They learned a lot with the first truss and the next ones took a quarter of the time to get them to their spots.

So thankful for our son’s tractor.

While the guys worked on the trusses I mowed the lawns. This might be the last mow until Spring. Jim snapped these photos of me at work.

After the trusses were in their temporary spots Jim and Dear used hammers, nails, drills and screws to prep the trusses for the cross beams. Lots of hand, wrist and arm work. They were sore. We had a very nice steak dinner the evening after they had accomplished so much.

My cousin really wanted to see those trusses lifted to their final position to the top of the shop building but we have to wait for the extensions to arrive and Jim had to move on to his next destination on his way back home to California.

Thursday is catch up day here at our Country Bungalow to get things ready for our next overnight guests arriving on Friday and Saturday. We’re excited to see our kids all together again here in the northeastern corner of our state. Thursday is also wood gathering day for our son’s winter supply. Trucks, Chainsaws and chainsaw safety chaps are headed to the permitted areas of forest for wood gathering. Our son and Dear will put in a hard day of work in the forest.

Tuesdays With Moisi ~

From Russia to Iran to Los Angeles to Colville.

Next to our grandfather (Dzedushka) to the right in the center of the photo is Michael Ivan Voloshin. He was the son of Moisi’s sister who died after the birth of her 4th child in Iran. The child also died. Our Pop’s sister’s name was Akcenya. Michael’s brother Bill Voloshin is standing in the back row on the far left. Next to him is his brother Alex who our grandparents adopted and raised after Akcenya died. Sometime after this photo was taken in the Los Angeles area Michael Ivan Voloshin was married and had children.

Now fast forward many years from when this photo was taken in 1955 or 1956. Michael’s daughter Akcenya (named after her grandmother, my aunt) married a Russian fella named Steve Filipoff in 1994 in the Los Angeles area. They eventually moved out of California to Oregon. After being in Oregon for a while they decided to re-locate to Colville, Washington. They have lived in Colville now for 7 years. I had no idea that I had a cousin once removed who lived in Colville. Akcenya who goes by the American name Cindy was contacted by her sister Manya letting her know that she thought from my facebook posts that I was living in Colville. Cindy and her husband Steve have a painting business and they were contracted to paint our church addition. Cindy asked our pastor if I attended his church and he told her that Dear and I did. Our pastor informed me that he had met my cousin and I was a bit skeptical. I went to church on the day they were painting and we put two and two together and connected the dots to exactly how we are related.

Akcenya, our pop’s sister is the one in the top row with the dark scarf on her head. Her husband must be the one on her left. (Leonard, if I’m wrong with any of my info please correct me)

While my cousin Jim was visiting the last several days we decided it would be a good time to have Steve and Cindy over since Jim had never met Cindy who is his cousin once removed, too. Jim’s father Alex, our pop Moisi and Cindy’s grandmother Akcenya were brothers and sister.

One of Steve and Cindy’s three sons, Nicholas, was able to have dinner with us, too. Me, Nicholas, Steve, Cindy and Jim.

It’s a small world for sure. We marveled that after all these years we could meet and get to know one another in Colville.