Category Archives: Bible

Choo Choo Train Hodgepodge

Our second born, Dan, enjoying his Choo Choo Train engine at his 3rd birthday celebration.

It’s time my friend for another Hodgepodge thanks to Joyce From this Side of the Pond.

1. What do birthdays look like in your house? How are they celebrated? Any special traditions?

We always tried to have a special celebration for each of our children on their birthdays. Their first birthday was an extended family and friend event with lots of adults and kids. As the years progressed birthdays morphed. After having the inspiration to have a Choo Choo train cake for Dan’s 3rd birthday, it became a special tradition for him.

The photo above is from his 5th birthday celebration.

From Dan’s 19th birthday celebration.

When Dan met Jamie and before they were married, she made him a Choo Choo Train cake for one of his birthdays. This next cake was her idea, too, at his 40th birthday celebration in Arizona.

Dan’s 40th birthday Pokeman choo choo train cake.

What about birthdays growing up? 

Birthdays were celebrated growing up but they were not the over the top brand of today. Simple cake and ice cream. Sometimes there was a gift and sometimes there was not a gift. One unique thing my parents did for my older sisters and me was to buy us a special birthstone ring for our 16th birthday.

2. Someone is sending you a dozen roses…what color are you hoping for?

I enjoy roses with subtle color, not the bold reds or yellows. You don’t have to send me roses but do bring a bouquet from your garden, please.

 Are you someone who gets accused of seeing the world through rose colored glasses? Is your accuser correct? Elaborate. 

I would say that I lean toward black and white, not rose colored. I’m more of a realist and less of a poet. Saying that, I do choose joy and am filled with hope for a future in heaven that far exceeds anything on this earth. I will be upbeat and have a smile on my face in many circumstances of life.

3. June 4th is National Cheese Day…will you celebrate? What’s something (besides a burger) you make in the summer months that calls for cheese? 

There is nothing specific that calls for cheese but we’ll add cheese to egg scrambles, burritos, tacos, and some salads.

Summer reminds me of Bible Camp and Bible Camp reminds me of the classic grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup!

4. ’tis the season…any weddings on your June calendar?

No June weddings on our calendar.

What’s the first word that comes to mind when I say marriage? 

It was a jumble of words because of our current climate where the marriage covenant has been so mistreated and undermined and attacked. It’s not a surprise since marriage was ordained by God and the model is His model. The original is the standard, a man and a woman, leaving mother and father, becoming one in marriage. I believe in the Word of God, the Bible, and what it has to say about marriage.

Mark 10:6-9

But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.

This is a great month to celebrate and affirm marriage as God intended. Marriage reflects Christ and His Bride, the church.

Ephesians 5:31-33 ~Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is profound, and I am saying it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

5. What are you most looking forward to this June? 

Having our epic garage sale behind us. The dates for this sale keep shifting but we hope to get it accomplished by July!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

The above photo is from a Happy Birthday meal on the Westside for Greg in 2024 just before we flew to Scotland for more celebrations.

From September of 2024 through April of 2025, we celebrated all 10 of our ‘family’ birthdays.

We sing, we blow out candles, we eat cake or pie, we gift, and most of all we love and affirm one another on birthdays and other days, too.

“The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.”

Truth for Today #146

Thursday May 29th

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! 

Job 9:2-10

Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be in the right before God? If one wished to contend with him, one could not answer him once in a thousand times. He is wise in heart and mighty in strength –who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?–he who removes mountains, and they know it not, when he overturns them in his anger, who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble; who commands the sun, and it does not rise; who seals up the stars; who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea; who made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the chambers of the south; who does great things beyond searching out, and marvelous things beyond number.

From Dianna:

“Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 37:3-4

From Vera:

“Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭61‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

From Leonard:

Isaiah 55:8

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.

From Karen:

John 11:26

And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

Truth for Today # 145

Thursday May 22nd

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 119:116-117

Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope! Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually!

From Vera:

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭41‬:‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

From Leonard:

Job 19:25-27

“I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”

From Barbara:

“If a ruler’s anger rises against you, do not leave your post; calmness can lay great errors to rest.” Ecclesiastes 10:4

From Dianna:

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,
and give thanks to his holy name.
5 For his anger is but for a moment,
and his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.

Psalm 30:4-5

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A Proverb a Day…

Here comes Memorial Day Weekend!

Time for Wednesday Hodgepodge with fresh questions from Joyce this week.

1. May 20th is World Bee Day…what’s something that’s kept you ‘busy as a bee’ lately? 

I see weeds everywhere. I should be busy weeding.

2. Do you like honey? What’s something you make or enjoy that calls for honey? 

My favorite honey treat is Peanut Butter and Honey and I like that combo on toast.

3. “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.” Proverbs 16:24

What’s a proverb you love, or one that speaks to you or has helped you in some way? 

There were seasons of my life where I read through Proverbs in the Bible each day. There are 31 chapters of Proverbs and I’d read a chapter that corresponded with the day. There are those months without 31 days but that was okay. I think I’ll add that extra reading along with my scheduled reading through the Bible for the rest of this year. There are so many underlined verses from Proverbs in my Bibles.

How shall I narrow down my choices? Hodgepodge falls on the 21st of May. I will choose a verse from chapter 21 in the Book of Proverbs.

Proverbs 21:23 (NIV)

“He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.”

Same verse in the ESV,

“Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.”

Another one from Chapter 21…

Proverbs 21:30

“There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD.”

The Bible is full of Proverbs, a whole book in fact, if that helps with your answer. The word proverb is defined as ‘a short pithy saying in general use, stating a general truth or piece of advice’. 

4. Tell us about a ‘sweet’ moment in your life recently that filled you with joy, gratitude, or peace. 

So many moments of feeling grateful for the peace of God in our relationship with our kids.

I’m also grateful to God that I can have the joy of sitting with our grandchildren each Sunday at church worshipping our great God together.

5. When you were a child, what did you want to ‘be’ when you grew up? How close did you come to that? 

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When I was a child I played school and wanted to be a teacher. I did get a teaching credential and I taught elementary school for a few years until we had our first child. I homeschooled our daughter for her 4th-6th grade years. Later when our kids were in junior high and high school I did some substitute teaching.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

 

Proverbs 8:34-36

“Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD, but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death.”

Truth for Today #144

Thursday May 15th

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! 

1 Timothy 2:1-6

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

From Vera:

“fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭41‬:‭10‬ ‭

From Willow:

Galatians 6:9. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest of we do not give up.”

From Karen:

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Truth for Today #143

Thursday May 7th

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! 

1 Chronicles 16:8-13

Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;
    make known his deeds among the peoples!
Sing to him, sing praises to him;
    tell of all his wondrous works!
Glory in his holy name;
    let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!
Seek the Lord and his strength;
    seek his presence continually!
Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
    his miracles and the judgments he uttered,
O offspring of Israel his servant,
    children of Jacob, his chosen ones!

He is the Lord our God;
    his judgments are in all the earth.
Remember his covenant forever,
    the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,

 the covenant that he made with Abraham,
    his sworn promise to Isaac,
which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
    to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan,
    as your portion for an inheritance.”

From Vera:

‭‭Lamentations‬ ‭3‬:‭22‬-‭27‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.”

From Karen:

John 1: 6 – 7

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

From Willow:

Revelation 15:3-4

Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations. Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.

Local News

Last Wednesday evening Awana wrapped up with an award night. Our Grands both completed all their books and then some. Awana will start up again in September.

JJ will have another year of Sparks but Addy moves up to TNT.

Great job, Addy and JJ, store those verses from God’s Word in your hearts!

On Sunday morning we had such a beautiful start to the day and then on our drive home from church we had some beautiful views I couldn’t resist capturing.

 

 

 

Heading northwest on highway 395.

Heading north on our road home.

So thankful to God for his creation and the beautiful views we get to enjoy everyday.

The next ten days are busy ones for us with appointments, a ladies tea, Addy’s Dance Recital, Tae Kwon do promotion, a pastoral candidate coming to preach with meet and greets, a trip across the mountains, a Master’s University Chorale Concert in Marysville (our Grand Nephew sings with this group), a visit with our niece and grandniece, visits with our westside kids, and travel back home over the mountains. I’m a wee bit tired just typing all of that.

Our May is starting at breakneck speed but should end quietly, Lord willing.

Happy May to all of you!

My Hope is Built ~ Hymn

This song is titled My Hope is Built and sometimes The Solid Rock

My Hope is Built

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ name.

Refrain

On Christ the solid rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

Refrain

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

Refrain

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

Refrain

Words: Edward Mote, cir­ca 1834; first ap­peared in Mote’s Hymns of Praise, 1836.

Truth for Today #142

Thursday May 1st

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! 

Matthew 7:21-23:

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to the, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Romans 10:1-4:

Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Galatians 3:23-26:

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

From Vera:

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭34‬:‭1‬-‭7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.”

From Karen:

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
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Truth for Today #141

Thursday April 24th

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! 

1 Corinthians 15:1-5

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

From Vera:

‭‭1 Chronicles‬ ‭29‬:‭10‬-‭13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.”

From Leonard:

2 Chronicles 14:11

“Then Asa cried out to the Lord his God, “O Lord, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in you alone. It is in your name that we have come against this vast horde. O Lord, you are our God; do not let mere men prevail against you!”

From Nikkipolani:

Psalm 19:1-4

The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world.

‭‭From Susanne:

Philippians 1:6 AMP

“And I am convinced, and sure of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return, developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you”