Great is Thy Faithfulness ~ Hymn

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Refrain

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Refrain

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Refrain

Words: Thomas O. Chisholm, 1923.

Photo Credit: Jeremy Leffel Photography

Random Updates

I pulled up this collage from 2008 because I just wanted to have something cheerful on my blog.

Things are pretty much the same for my mom in California. I’m able to talk to her everyday. She reminisces and lets us all know that she loves us and appreciates our uniqueness. I have 7 brothers and sisters and we are all pretty different in many ways and similar in other ways, too. My father is restless and needs to have things to do so my sisters try to keep him occupied. My sister Lana gave the apartment a thorough cleaning from top to bottom and got rid of some things that were taking up too much room.

To make room for my mom’s hospital bed the family moved out my parents queen bed and brought in a twin bed for my dad. One of my sisters or brothers spends each night at the apartment with my mom and dad and they sleep in the living room. The apartment is small with just a kitchen, living area, bathroom and bedroom.

Back here at this old house our remodeling continues with Dear putting in the baseboard and trim around doors and furniture is slowly getting put back into place. We are also busy emptying out the bedrooms and living room where our new carpeting will be installed on August 7th.

Thanks again for all your kind comments and prayers for my family that are highly appreciated. May God return the blessing to you!

Renovations…

…are a great excuse for eating out. Thankfully we can take advantage of the lower priced Happy Hours around town since Dear starts work early and gets home earlier than most. Remember if you don’t drink alcohol you can still enjoy Happy Hours. Usually they just require you to order some type of drink including soft drinks or iced tea, etc.

We have found a new place to us in town that we have enjoyed a few times now.

Main Street Ale House in Bothell. I didn’t take a photo of the jalapeno poppers we had last Wednesday night. They were delicious stuffed with cheese and wrapped in thick bacon. They came with a dipping sauce that was sweet (maple syrup and brown sugary). A great sweet and savory combo.

We actually had a meal in from items I purchased at Costco last Thursday. They had their rotisserie chicken packaged in leg quarters in the fresh refrigerated section 8 quarters for $4.99. I bought those a container of Coconut Curry Sauce, some Naan bread, rice and a Caesar salad. I simmered 4 of the chicken quarters in the sauce to serve with the rest of the sides that I bought. Easy peasy in a kitchen that is not totally back to normal.

What is your go to restaurant or bring in meal when things are topsy turvy at home?

My mom continues to be cared for at home and she has her major ups and downs. My family is continuing to make adjustments to make her as comfortable as we can. Thank you so much for all your prayers and kind encouragement during this time. My family is blessed by it all.

Here’s my mom from Monday night having some ice cream and coloring with my niece Melissa. She really enjoyed this and I love seeing these photos.

It Is Well with My Soul

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Refrain

My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought—
My sin—not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Refrain

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

Refrain

But, Lord, ‘tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh trump of the angel! Oh voice of the Lord!
Blessèd hope, blessèd rest of my soul!

Refrain

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so—it is well with my soul.

This was one of the songs my family sang in my mom’s hospital room the last couple days. We sang Great Is Thy Faithfulness, Trust and Obey, Bless Thou the Lord, He Lives and a couple songs in Russian, too. My mom had many ups and downs over the course of her time. The following photos show some of those ups and downs. Tonight she is home in her and my pop’s apartment on Hospice Care.

These photos were taken while singing It is Well with My Soul and praying over my mom.

The next day my nephew Tim brought this cut up watermelon for us all to share in the hospital room and my mother really brightened up when she saw it.

My father is always at my mom’s side. This was another down episode my mom had. She could go from alert and cheery to very difficult periods.

She rallied again and was so intent on my father praying a blessing on Caleb and Marie who will be getting married on August 10th. She wanted my Pop to bless them in Russian and then she spent quite a good chunk of time giving Caleb and Marie some advice and counsel. She told them that they have to forgive each other among other things.

After I left for the airport and my family was waiting for my mom to be discharged my sister shared the following:

Yesterday as we were waiting for mom’s release process we were singing hymns and people were stopping by to listen. We then received a request to sing for a patient. After we sang and prayed with one patient, a nurse asked if we could sing for yet another patient! It was such a wonderful experience to be able to minister to others in their time of need!

I am home again and thankful that I could make a quick trip to Southern California to see my mom and pop and be with them through these hard days. My siblings and I were able to talk through some decisions we have to make soon and talk with my parents about their wishes and resolving to honor those wishes. We had wonderful times of fellowship in my mom’s hospital room praying, singing, reading, laughing, sharing with family and friends. At one point we had 19 of us crammed into her small hospital room. After that the staff moved my mom to a much larger room so we could have more space. The staff at St. Jude Hospital in Fullerton were wonderful and they offered us some great hospitality even when we were clogging their halls!

Now we wait on God’s timing for my mom’s life.

Thank you for your prayers. I appreciate you all…

Hard News…

My father had to call 911 for my mom on Thursday evening. She is in the hospital and her heart is very weak. I’m flying down to California very early Friday morning. If God puts us on your hearts please pray for my dad especially. We all know that our mom’s future is in God’s hands and we wait on Him to reveal whether it’s her time to meet her Savior face to face…

My sister sent me this photo.

I’ll be away from the computer indefinitely.

Preview…

I will dedicate a full post of our floor projects when they are completely done but here is a small preview of some differences already.

The hard floors are 90% complete with just the stairs and a landing to be installed. We had a few glitches but that’s normal for major projects. The trim and baseboards still need to be replaced. On August 1st our new carpeting will be installed and hopefully we can breathe a big sigh of relief come August 4th after we move everything back into it’s proper place.

We are very pleased with the character of Hickory. I have to admit that this project has really taken a lot out of me and it’s not done yet. I’m looking forward to recovering in August.

What’s happening in your hood?

Father & Daughter Notecards

It’s almost time for Vee’s Notecard Party and I picked a theme so my choices would be easier. All of these photos are from North Carolina on Emerald Isle in early December of 2011.

This trip came about because Katie was moving into Base housing a month before Andrew would be returning from Afghanistan on his first deployment there.

Katie and I traveled together with 11 suitcases right after Thanksgiving of that year and Dear joined us the Saturday after and stayed a week. We got the house all moved in and organized and then had time for some little adventures. Andrew arrived home that year on Christmas Day. A wonderful Christmas gift for Katie and Andrew.

We will have Katie and Andrew visiting most likely the end of August or early September and then Katie will stay on with us as Andrew is deployed again sometime in the Fall. They are moving out of their Base housing before his deployment.

Oops! After visiting many of the Notecard participants I noticed I blew it and posted 5 instead of 4. I’m blaming it on hormonies…

Escaping the Chaos…

All is good at this old house in the midst of the chaos. Dear had a minor injury during the work over the weekend so he’s taking the next couple days off to recuperate which means happily for me he’ll be here to supervise the work as the new floors go in on Tuesday. Josh and Laura rescued us and especially Dear bringing food and helping put the new patio door in. I washed all the window inside and out in the family room and washed the mini blinds. Now I really understand people having them professionally cleaned. What a job!

On Saturday I had another escape to a fun tea sponsored by a Girl Scout friend’s troop to raise money. She and her troop did a wonderful job of serving all of us and also making conversation as we sipped our tea. The 3 girls who were on the Tea Committee earned their Social Butterfly badges. How cute is that!

Here’s my DIL Laura with our little friend Sarah. Sarah was on the Tea Committee so she earned her badge. Sarah’s older sister Anna is in the top right photo. This last photo is of the views from the home where the tea was held. Such a beautiful day in the Puget Sound area of Washington.

I zoomed in on the Ferry doing the Edmonds/Kingston voyage.

Hope you all had a nice weekend.

‘Twixt Gleams of Joy and Clouds of Doubt ~ Hymn

‘Twixt Gleams of Joy and Clouds of Doubt

‘Twixt gleams of joy and clouds of doubt our feelings come and go;
Our daily state is tossed about in ceaseless ebb and flow.
No mood of feeling, form of thought, is constant for a day;
But Thou, O Lord, Thou changest not, the same Thou art alway.

Out of the weak, unquiet drift that comes but to depart,
To that pure heaven my spirit lift where Thou unchanging art.
Lay hold of me with Thy strong grasp, let Thine almighty arm
In its embrace my weakness clasp, and I shall fear no harm.

Thy purpose of eternal good let me but surely know,
On this I’ll lean—let changing mood and feeling come or go
Glad when Thy sunshine fills my soul, nor sad when clouds overcast,
Since Thou within Thy sure control of love dost hold me fast.

Words: John C. Shairp, 1871.

A Trail Walk…

Almost a month ago Dear and I drove to the river trail close to us to have a very early Saturday morning walk.

The mist was lying low.

It was so peaceful.

Finally it was late enough in the morning to see other humans. This was the first time I’ve seen policemen on bicycles on the trail. I was happy to see them. I hesitate to walk this trail by myself because there are so many secluded parts of the trail. When we walk this trail we do a quick one hour walk which ends up being about 3 miles or so. A good start to our Saturday morning. Hope we didn’t spoil the good of the walk with this next stop we made on the way home…

Someone did say that it’s good to have a goal for your walk to motivate you. I don’t think this is what they had in mind, though.

When our floors are done I hope to drag Dear out to the trail again on a Saturday morning. He is a willing victim when we start very early. During the week it would only work for us to walk in the evening since Dear is out the door by 4:30 A.M. on weekdays. Do you prefer to walk in the morning or the evening?

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Author Archives: Ellen

Great is Thy Faithfulness ~ Hymn