Author Archives: Ellen

What is Prayer ~ Hymn

James Montgomery, What is Prayer?

(1771-1854) Hymnwriter from Scotland. Montgomery wrote four hundred hymns, many which, like the following classic, are still sung today.

Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire,
Unuttered or expressed,
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.

Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear,
The upward glancing of the eye,
When none but God is near.

Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath,
The Christian’s native air,
His watchword at the gates of death;
He enters heaven with prayer.

Prayer is the contrite sinner’s voice,
Returning from his ways,
While angels in their songs rejoice
And cry, “Behold, he prays!”

O Thou by whom we come to God,
The life, the truth, the way,
The path of prayer Thyself hast trod:
Lord, teach us how to pray.

Barns and Critters…

Summer view from son’s mile long driveway.

We want to start a pool on when this barn is going to collapse.

A different view from our son’s driveway and part of the driveway, too, headed down to the main road.

All these photos were taken from places that have a Colville address in late June 2017.  Colville is in Northeastern Washington in Steven’s County. The next time we visit our Colville kids will probably be in August. They are coming here next weekend, woohoo! Addy’s first visit to Baba and Gramp’s house. During that same time a grand nephew will be making his first visit to Great Uncle and Great Auntie’s with his big sister who was here once before for Katie and Andrew’s wedding in 2012.

It is definitely summer here with sunshine and warm temperatures. I’ll need to get out and water again soon. I’ve started to pick blueberries off our large bush. It’s a race between me and the birds on who gets to the ripe ones first.

I’ll be Linking up to Saturday’s Critters with Eileen and The Barn Collective with Tom the Backroads Traveller.

Prayer

As many of my regular blogging friends know I’ve been giving some time to the tedious task of cleaning up the mess Photobucket has inflicted on my blog by blacking out all my photos I stored with them starting in 2006. I’ve come across some quotes and gems along the way (so far I’m only up to July of 2007). The quote on prayer at the end of this post is one I don’t want to forget.

I’ve made so many dear friends by blogging. Some I’ve met, many I haven’t met face to face. bj is one of those bloggers who is a delight to visit. On her blog she calls her dear husband Mr. Sweet.

bj from Sweet Nothings is standing by the bedside of her dear husband, Mr. Sweet (Bill), as she and her family wait for God’s perfect timing in ushering him from this earth. She’s asking for prayer for her children as they stand by their father and bj. I’m praying for this dear family and when God brings to mind bj and her family please pray for them, too.

Update: Mr. Sweet, Bill, went to his heavenly home early on July 11th…

From Between Heaven and Earth (Prayers and Reflections that Celebrate an Intimate God, by Ken Gire

[Prayer], It Brings Down the Power of Heaven

Ray Stedman, Jesus Teaches on Prayer (1917 -1992) Gifted Bible expositor, pastor, and counselor.

“Prayer has already divided seas and rolled up flowing rivers, it has made flinty rocks gush into fountains, it has quenched flames of fire, it has muzzled lions, disarmed vipers and poisons, it has marshaled the stars against the wicked, it has stopped the course of the moon and arrested the sun in its race, it has burst open iron gates and recalled souls from eternity, it has conquered the strongest devils and commanded legions of angels down from heaven. Prayer has bridled and chained the raging passions of men and destroyed vast armies of proud, daring, blustering atheists. Prayer has brought one man from the bottom of the sea and carried another in a chariot of fire to heaven.” That is not mere hyberbole, that is historical fact. Prayer has done a great many other things as well. It is an awesome, mighty force in the world of men.”

I don’t want to neglect this awesome mighty force in the world of men. Help me Father…

 

She Can Move…

All of these photos are from our last couple days with our kids, June 26th and 27th. I’m catching up with my photos from our time in Eastern Washington. After we got home we got a video showing Addy roll over from her back to her tummy. She is a strong little one.

This week has really thrown me for a loop with a Tuesday holiday. I’m checking each day to see what day of the week it really is. I’m slowly going through my 4626 posts and cleaning up the blacked out photos that are the curse of Photobucket. In the process I am deleting some posts that I find aren’t a great loss to me. Hope your summer is going well.

Free to be Me Hodgepodge

1. When and where were the best fireworks you’ve ever seen? Speaking of fireworks…do you know your hot buttons? The things people can say and/do to set you off? When was the last time someone pushed one of your hot buttons?

The collage above is taken at Disneyland with Josh and Dan in the early 80’s before Katie was born.

Disneyland puts on a great fireworks show every night.

My hot buttons are pushed when someone who is outspoken speaks out including me in their opinion and then because it’s so against my principles I have to speak out. Those kinds of scenarios make me sweat uncomfortably. I could keep quiet generally and not make a scene but I can’t stay silent when someone includes me in their convictions that are totally against my own.

2. Have you hosted any outdoor summer parties this year? Attended any? What makes for a great outdoor party?

Just hosted our first summer party on the 4th of July with 14 people we love. Some family and some dear friends. The weather was right and the food was satisfying. For me an outdoor party is perfect when the weather, food and people align well. I like an outdoor party with a close home base where the food can be set out inside and people can gather outside with access to the food and facilities close by. Another key to a great party is when everyone who comes contributes to the food table.

3. What does freedom mean to you?

I am so grateful to have been raised in the Home of the brave and land of the free. I love the U.S.A. I am even more grateful for the freedom that I have in Christ.

Galatians 5:1  “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.”

2 Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

Galatians 2:4 “…our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus…”

John 8:36 “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Romans 8:2 “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”

4. July is National Cell Phone Courtesy month…what annoys you most about people’s cell phone habits?

I don’t appreciate how loud people are when talking on the phone in public places. The worst thing is looking in your rear view mirror riding down the freeway at very high speeds and realizing the person behind you is texting! Yikes, if the traffic stops will they notice in time before crashing into me? I have changed lanes to get away from these scenarios.

5. What’s your current summer anthem?

God Bless America

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Can’t get enough of this little smiley face! She has rolled over from her tummy to her back and now she just rolled over from her back to her tummy! She will be 4 months on July 20th!

Thank you Jo From This Side of the Pond for coming up with the questions and prompts for us to react to on Hodgepodge Wednesday. Click over to read more responses.

Barn Collective

All these barns were situated along Highway 395 between Spokane and Colville.

Linking up with Tom for The Barn Collective. Thanks Tom.

Every chance I’ve gotten since Friday I’ve been working on restoring posts and replacing photos on posts dating back to 2007 because Photobucket has blacked out all my photos and it makes for a very ugly sight on my posts. I’ve also had to clean up my posts on Mennonite Girls Can Cook.  I’ll keep plugging away and determine which posts are worthy to save and which ones I should just delete and not spend extra time on. Hope you all are having a good weekend.

 

O Father, Hear My Morning Prayer ~ Hymn

yosemite to Cody 139O Father, Hear My Morning Prayer

O Father, hear my morning prayer,
Thine aid impart to me,
That I may make my life today
Acceptable to Thee.

May this desire my spirit rule,
And, as the moments fly,
Something of good be born in me,
Something of evil die.

Some grace that seeks my heart to win,
With shining victory meet;
Some sin that strives for mastery
Find overthrow complete.

That so throughout the coming day
The hours shall carry me
A little farther from the world,
A little nearer Thee.

Words: Frances A. Percy

Happy 150th Birthday Canada!

Click over to Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog to see a wonderful tribute posted by Judy.

May the friendship between our two countries last forever.

The plaque says: “What an object lesson of peace is shown today by our two countries to all the world.  No grim-faced fortifications mark our frontiers, no huge battleships patrol our dividing waters, no stealthy spies lurk in our tranquil border hamlets.  Only a scrap of paper, recording hardly more than a simple understanding, safe-guarding lives and properties on the Great Lakes, and only humble mile posts mark the inviolable boundary line for thousands of miles through farm and forest.”

“Our protection is in our fraternity.  Our armour is our faith. The tie that binds more firmly year by year is..

…ever increasing acquaintance and comradeship through interchange of citizens and the compact is not of perishable parchment, but of fair and honorable dealing, which, god grant, shall continue for all time.”

Erected by Kiwanis, international in memory of a great occasion in the life of two sister nations here on July 26, 1923.  Warren Gamaliel Harding twenty-ninth president of the United States of America, and first president to visit Canada.  Charter member of the Kiwanis Club of Marion, Ohio, spoke words that are worthy of record in lasting granite dedicated September 16, 1925.

I’m headed out for a walk this morning with the Wonder Walkers. It will be a fine distraction from the tedious work to restore many of my posts. Hope you all have a good first day of July.

Down With Photobucket!

Photobucket is holding all my photos hostage from me that I added to their site from 2007 and beyond. When I got to 99% full of my free photo storage space they wanted me to pay for more space. I stopped adding photos to the site. I chose not to pay for more storage and now they have deleted all my photos from my blog posts. I am more than miffed because to free my photos from their grasp they want me to pay $$ a year.  What a bother. I worked all day on Friday trying to fix some of my many many posts. I’ve also had to restore many posts on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook. I’ve got miles to go before my posts are restored.

Addy is a bit concerned, too. I’m so glad that not one of Addy’s photos is stored at Photobucket!