Author Archives: Ellen

Thankful Thursday ~ God’s Response to Repentance

Today I am reminded of God’s response to our repentance and for this I am so thankful…

Lamentations 3: 22-23 ~ “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Micah 7: 18-19 ~ “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry long but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.”

2 Corinthians 12:9 ~ “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

I John 1:9 ~ “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

I am also thankful to be in my home in Washington for a month to spend some extended time with my children and to get things ready for our Christmas celebrations. I love this time of year. Blessings on all of you.

For more Thankful Thursday Posts head on over to Laurel’s.

Thursday Thirteen #11 ~ Moisiisms

Moisi and Nadia (my parents)

My parents aren’t fluent in English. They immigrated to the U.S. in the late 40’s from Iran where they escaped to from Russia. Here are some of the things they say that we get a kick out of…

1. Cellkular Phone~ for Cellular Phone

2. Razorblades ~ for Rollerblades “Lana had bad accident with razorblades”

3. Fire Hydrogen ~ for Fire Hydrant “The fireman is outside checking hydrogens”

4. Pie Alamo ~ for Pie A la Mode

5. Crackpots ~ for Crockpots  “Michelle got 3 Crackpots for wedding”

6. Mackadonian Macaronis ~ for Macadamia Nut Macaroons

7. They lived till they died.

8. He cussing us out!

9. Ah you ben drinkin? ~ for Have you been drinking?

10. Prayzz da Lowrd! ~ for Praise the Lord!

11. Whoorey! ~ for hurry.

12. Grills ~ for girls.

13. Shoezy ~ for shoes.

For more Thursday Thirteen click here.

WFMW ~ A Great Easy Meal

This is what works for me after Turkey and Thanksgiving…

To get over the Turkey doldrums and to kick up the B vitamins and iron here’s a great meal idea for you.

Buy a flank steak. Marinate it with any marinade that sounds good to you at the store and is on sale. I used a sesame ginger with mandarin orange juice Kroger brand. I put the meat in a ziploc bag and pour the marinade in the bag over the meat and give it a good massage. After a few hours or overnight hand it to whoever BBQ’s in your house and let it cook about 5 minutes on each side. (Dear cooks it for 2 minutes on each side on High. Then he turns off two of the burners and leaves the third burner on high and moves the meat off the flame and lets it cook for 5 more minutes. Perfect! Slice the meat very thin on the bias, against the grain.

This steak is great with Mustard Roasted potatoes using the recipe I posted here.

This is one of my families favorite salads. Tomato, Hot house cucumber and sliced onions salted and peppered to your taste. Simple and good.

Enjoy and don’t be afraid to barbecue in the winter. If you can’t bbq, this steak is great broiled, too. You can sear it on both sides first then stick it in the broiler…

For more WFMW head over to Rocks In My Dryer…

Tuesdays, In Other Words ~

 

“One reason we are so harried and hurried is that we make yesterday and tomorrow our business, when all that legitimately concerns us is today. If we really have too much to do, there are some items on the agenda which God did not put there.  Let us submit the list to Him and ask Him to indicate which items we must delete.  There is always time to do the will of God.  If we are too busy to do that, we are too busy.”~ Elisabeth Elliott ~

We have been studying I Thessalonians during Sunday worship and some lessons from these studies will fit with this quote. As believers the will of God for our lives will be found in His Word. Some of the key thoughts for us as believers found in I Thessalonians are to live in love, live a quiet life that reflects Christ to people who don’t know him, do our part to strengthen the body by encouraging our leaders, use wisdom as we serve our brothers and sisters in Christ, and take responsibility for each other. In order to live this way we need the courage to say no to other things in our lives that just don’t matter for eternity. We need to say no to schedules that make us run all day without accomplishing anything and without having anything to do with building Christ’s kingdom.

This quote is so timely for this Christmas season that is upon us! What a great reminder that the God who created us has time for us and He will give us the strength to do everything we truly need to do. I think the key thought here is that we are taking our daily needs and lists to God. When we truly are centered in this way our strength and reliance will come from Him and the things that do not get accomplished will not beat us down.

I Thessalonians 4: 11 ~ “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you,”

Mathew 6:34 ~ “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

To read more thoughts on this quote go to Motherhood and Beyond.

Life in the Northwest ~

Life for me in the Northwest is very different from Southern California. In Southern California it is a lot simpler. I have myself and Dear to take care of and a very compact one bedroom condo. No yard, no plants, no children. I will be in the Northwest with my children and my house and yard until New Year’s Day! I will miss Dear and our companionship for 25 days! Yikes. I will be quite busy here though. Already this Monday morning I have a second load of wash in. The dishwasher is running. I have my list of last minute items to buy for Dear to take back to California before his 6 PM flight today. All of this happened before dawn. I was able to step outside and take the picture of this glorious sky that God created for us to enjoy this morning.

Before Dear returns to Washington on December 21st I hope to have finally memorized the following verses that have given my brain such a workout! Good ole Apostle Paul and his run on sentences. This section that I was suppose to memorize for my Bible Study in Southern California has been the most difficult for me, but I am determined to get my brain to remember it. I dare you to memorize it too….

II Peter 1:2-4 (ESV)

“May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”

 Have a wonderful Monday, I’m off and running….

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus ~ Hymn

 

 Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

(words by Charles Wesley)

Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s Strength and Consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear Desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

ht: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/c/o/m/comtlong.htm

Thanksgiving 2007

Some images from our Thanksgiving Day in Washington…

Laura, Katie and Dear

Our son Josh and Laura

 

Our lovely daughter in law Laura

My sister Lana G. (who took some great photos of our day here)  and Steve

 

Our daughter Katie

Jamie, Ben, and Katie

Our son Dan

The lovely Bridget

Finn who belongs to Bridget and Beau

Dear carving the turkey!

 

Our beautiful Thanksgiving setting overlooking the Puget Sound in Washington. 2nd row Jeremy L., The Mighty Finn, Josh and Beau (Finn’s daddy)

As of June 2017 Photobucket has blacked out all my photos that I had stored there and are holding them hostage. Hopefully I can update my photos on all the posts they have ruined, over 4000 of them.

Over the River and Through the Woods!

Over the River and
Through the Woods

 

Over the river and thru the wood,
To grandfather’s house we go;
The horse knows the way
To carry the sleigh,
Thru the white and drifted snow, oh!
Over the river and thru the wood,
Oh, how the wind does blow!
It stings the toes,
And bites the nose,
As over the ground we go.

 

Over the river and thru the wood,
To have a first-rate play;
Oh, hear the bell ring,
“Ting-a-ling-ling!”
Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day-ay!
Over the river and thru the wood,
Trot fast my dapple gray!
Spring over the ground,
Like a hunting hound!
For this is Thanksgiving Day.

 

To all my blogging friends in the U.S.A. a very Happy Thanksgiving Day to you. For those of you outside the U.S. blessings on the rest of your week! We are headed over the freeways and through the streeted woods to our dear friends for a large gathering of family, food, fun, and fellowship. We’ll be rolling home stuffed to the gills later this evening.

 

Ryle on “Victory”

Well I just finished Faithfulness and Holiness  ~ The witness of J.C. Ryle by J.I. Packer. The quote I’d like to share is in the section where Packer is writing a survey of Ryle. This quote is from the chapter titled “A Great Legacy”. In this quote Ryle is dealing with Christ’s promises in Revelation 2 and 3 to those who overcome.  This is his treatment of Victory in a believers life.

“If you would prove you are born again and going to heaven, you must be a victorious soldier of Christ. If you would make it clear that you have any title to Christ’s precious promises, you must fight the good fight in Christ’s cause, and in that fight you must conquer.

Victory is the only satisfactory evidence that you have a saving religion. You like good sermons perhaps. You respect the Bible, and read it occasionally. You say your prayers night and morning. You have family prayers, and give to religious societies. I thank God for this. It is all very good. But how goes the battle?… Are you overcoming the passions, tempers and lusts of your own heart? Are you resisting the devil and making him flee from you? How is it in this matter? You must either rule or serve sin and the devil and the world. There is no middle course. You must either conquer or be lost.

I know well it is a hard battle that you have to fight, and I want you to know it , too… You must make up your mind to a daily struggle if you would reach heaven…Sin, the world and the devil must be actually mortified, resisted and overcome.

This is the road that the saints of old have trodden…Moses…overcame the love of pleasure…Micaiah…overcame the love of ease…Daniel…overcame the fear of death…Matthew…overcame the love of money…Peter and John…overcame the fear of man…When Saul the Pharisee gave up all his prospects of preferment among the Jews, and preached that very Jesus whom he had once persecuted, this was overcoming: he overcame the love of man’s praise.

The same kind of thing which these men did you must also do if you would be saved. They were men of like passions with yourself, and yet they overcame. They had as many trials as you can possibly have, and yet they overcame. They fought. They wrestled. They struggled. You must do the same.

What was the secret of their victory? Their faith. They believed on Jesus and, believing, were made strong…and….were held up. In all thier battle, they kept their eyes on Jesus, and he never left them nor forsook them. “They overcame by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony” and so may you (Rev. 12:11).”