Category Archives: Quotes

Truth for Today #41

Thursday February 2nd

On Thursdays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during the 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!

Resuming Truth for Today for 2023 starting today.

Job 28:28

And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’

Psalm 111:10

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!

Proverbs 1:7

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 9:10

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

I’ve been reading The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan and I’m going to share the following quote from the book.

“Hopeful: How will you describe right fear?

Christian: True or right fear is discovered by three things: 1. By its rise: it is caused by saving convictions for sin. 2. It driveth the soul to lay fast hold of Christ for salvation. 3. It begetteth and continueth in the soul a great reverance of God, his Word, and ways; keeping it tender, and making it afraid to turn from them, to the right or to the left, to any thing that may dishonor God, break its peace, grieve the Spirit, or cause the enemy to speak reproachfully.”

From Cathy:

Isaiah 41:10

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

From Vera:

“But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.”
‭‭Micah‬ ‭7‬:‭7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭32‬:‭27‬ ‭ESV‬‬

From Cheryl:

“This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Psalm 118:24

Doorways

After my gargoyle post yesterday, that was a little disturbing to some, I decided to post a few doorways today in between more of my very full Oxford posts coming soon. These doorways are from Magdalen College. (Pronounced Maudlin)

I’m working on a full post from Magdalen College with some history of C.S. Lewis’ connections there.

I’ll keep it simple today and leave you with a quote from C.S. Lewis.

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” From The Weight of Glory.

Back to School Hodgepodge

We are back on track for Wednesday Hodgepodge thanks to Jo From This Side of the Pond.

1. August is National Back To School Month…how does that make you feel? 

I’m pretty stuck in the tradition of school starting after Labor Day so I’m always surprised when we get the photos of our nieces and nephews starting school in August. Above is a photo of me in front of my high school that always started back to school after Labor Day.

Share a back-to-school memory. 

Our sons on the first day of school in 1986 or 1987, ready to walk to school. Our daughter waiting for the bus in 1991ish.

This memory of our daughter always sticks in my mind because she chose to wear that t-shirt on the first day of school a few years in a row. I was and am impressed with her boldness and resolve. This photo is from the first day of her senior year, 2003.

2. Something you’ve learned in ‘the school of life’? 

That God is in control and I am not.

Contentment is worth more than riches.

Here’s a quote from our sermon on Sunday. “If we displease God does it matter whom we please? If we please Him does it matter whom we displease? ~Leonard Ravenhill

3. Three words to describe your current mood.

Under the weather…

4. A summer food you’ve eaten too much of/are tired of?

Nada, Zip, nothing.

A summer food you haven’t had enough of? 

Nectarines and watermelon.

5. What small stuff do you sweat that you know you shouldn’t?

When planning a meal or event I always wonder if I ordered or made enough of this or that. It seems to always work out so I’m trying not to sweat over those things.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Speaking of Leonard Ravenhill here is another gem I’ll quote from him.

“A man who is intimate with God is not intimidated by men.”

All My Times Are in Thy Hands

~
Even though the day be laden,
And my path dreary,
And my strength small,
A song keeps singing in my heart:
For I know that I am Thine;
I am part of Thee;
Thou art kin to me,
And all my times, all my times are in Thy hands.
~
~Inscribed on an altar in the Hebrides
~
And here are some photos of the current state of our plants after all our Spring rain, then being basked by some summer sunshine. We had to water for the first time this year on Saturday.
Peonies have such a delightful but short season. I’m always in awe of their beauty.
~
These two are celebrating their 7th Anniversary. They spent Sunday without their little ones in tow and had a nice time in Spokane which included bowling. They met each other at the bowling alley in Colville and that’s where it all began. Happy Anniversary Dan and Jamie! We love the two of you together! God bless you with many many more anniversaries!
~
Hope you all have a beautiful week which brings us into July.

Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut…

…sometimes you don’t! I usually choose Almond Joy over Mounds!

It’s time for a nutty Hodgepodge. Thank you to Joyce From This Side of the Pond for the questions!

1. February 16th is National Almond day…are you a fan? If so what’s your favorite food item or recipe that contains almonds? 

I am a fan of almonds and love the crunch and interest they add to a dish.

Favorite savory dish would be rice pilaf with butter sauteed raisins and slivered almonds.

On the sweet side of things Haagen Daz Vanilla Swiss Almond ice cream.

2. Something you are currently ‘nuts’ about? 

I think I’ll always be ‘nuts’ about these two…

3. Something currently driving you ‘nuts’? 

Okay…you asked and I’ll be truthful. It drives me nuts to see children in masks. Unmask our children! Stop the madness!

4. Something you recently bought for ‘peanuts’? 

Greeting cards at the Dollar store, which by the way is not the dollar store anymore but the $1.25 store! They still do sell some of their cards at two for a dollar. It’s hard for me to purchase a $4.95 card that will probably get thrown in the trash after opened and read.

5. Share a favorite quote uttered by any U.S. President ( if you’re not an American, a quote made by the leader of your own country). 

Since we used to celebrate Lincoln’s (12th of February) and Washington’s (22nd of February) with a day off for each of these birthdays way back when I was in school I found a quote I can stand behind from each of these Presidents.

If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter. 

~George Washington

So my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.

~Abraham Lincoln

The photo at the top of my post is a collage from the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. The statue of George Washington gets such great light reflection from the stained glass window during certain times of the day. I was happy to be able to capture it when we were there in May of 2011.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

On Valentine’s Day we received about 3 more inches of snow. The forecasters underestimated the amount by 2-1/2 inches, so it was a surprise to see the large fluffy flakes keep falling, and falling until we accumulated three or more inches.

Happy Day to all of you!

September

September
“The breezes taste
Of apple peel.
The air is full
Of smells to feel-
Ripe fruit, old footballs,
Burning brush,
New books, erasers,
Chalk, and such.
The bee, his hive,
Well-honeyed hum,
And Mother cuts
Chrysanthemums.
Like plates washed clean
With suds, the days
Are polished with
A morning haze.”
– John Updike, September
“The foliage has been losing its freshness through the month of August, and here and there a yellow leaf shows itself like the first gray hair amidst the locks of a beauty who has seen one season too many.” -Oliver Wendell Holmes
Isaiah 40:8
The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.
Ecclesiastes 3:1,2
There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—

A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.

Genesis 8:22

“While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
And cold and heat,
And summer and winter,
And day and night
Shall not cease.”

Looking forward to all that September brings…

Christmas 2020 Hodgepodge

Yesterday was a beautiful day in the neighborhood. It was very windy which made it icy cold! The big news from yesterday is that the siding on our new shop is complete! Still lots to be done but what a relief to have all the steel panels on the shop and off our garage floor. I can now park my car in the shop/garage that was already on our property when we bought this country home.

Time for Wednesday Hodgepodge #400! That’s a lot of hodging or podging or hodgepodging. Thank you to Jo From This Side of the Pond for asking the questions, all 2000 of them!

1. I feel like episode 400 cannot go without comment. That’s a whole lot of Hodgepodging folks. 2000 questions if my math is right. So, what’s something you feel like you do 400 times a week?

Good thing you added the feel part. At this stage of life, nearing 70, I feel like I double check a lot. Did I turn out that light? Why did I walk into this room? Did I put deodorant on? Are the doors locked?

2. Tell us where you were and something about what your life looked like in the year 2000?

Yikes, that was before blogging so I pulled out the photo album that had photos from 10/23/99 thru 5/27/01 to get my bearings for the year 2000. We had been living in Kenmore, Washington since October of 1998 in the same home we sold in 2018 to move to Colville. Our oldest turned 21 in January of 2000. We had two family weddings that we traveled to Southern California for in May and July. On December 20th our oldest, Josh, asked his high school sweetheart, Laura, to marry him and she said yes. We are forever blessed by their union.  Dear was working for Immunex in downtown Seattle. I was enjoying my last year in my 40’s.

3. Do you like cinnamon? What’s something you make and enjoy that calls for cinnamon? Of the cinnamon ‘foods’ listed which is your favorite-red hot cinnamon candies, cinnamon toast, cinnamon rolls, cinnamon toast crunch cereal, apple cinnamon oatmeal, churros, an Indian curry?

I do enjoy cinnamon. The Applesauce Spice Cake is a family favorite requested for birthdays and it has cinnamon in it.

Click here for the recipe for the cake.

In that list I’ll choose cinnamon toast as my favorite.

4. Does Christmas 2020 (or Hanukkah) look much like it has in years past, or is this year vastly different for you and your family? How so? How are you feeling about it all?

We are gathering with our children and grandchildren this Christmas as we have in other years so that isn’t changing. Other gatherings aren’t happening like our annual Mennonite Girls Can Cook Christmas dinner which was sad. Since that is something we travel to Canada for it couldn’t happen because of the border being closed and because of the lockdowns in our countries. I know many are not gathering as usual and I’m sorry about that and for many who are compromised and need to be extra careful. May God bring joy to your gatherings no matter how small.

5. What’s one thing you need or want to do before this year ends?

Plan our daughter’s birthday dinner which will be at our home while they are here for the Christmas celebrations. Her birthday is on December 27th.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Along with my morning Bible reading I’m slowly going through a work by Spurgeon called, Christ’s Glorious Achievements ~ What Jesus Has Done For You. Yesterday I wrote down this quote:

“Man’s books have usually far less in them than we expect, but the book of the Lord is full of surprises, it is a mass of light, a mountain of priceless revelations. We little know what yet lies hidden within the Scriptures.”

I’m hoping that more is uncovered in 2021!

Reminder: We won’t be having our Truth from A to Z Bible Verse Challenge tomorrow or next Thursday. We’ll resume the first Thursday in the New Year!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Whatever Dims Thy Sense of Truth ~ Hymn

Whatever Dims Thy Sense of Truth

Whatever dims thy sense of truth
Or stains thy purity,
Though light as breath of summer air,
Count it as sin to thee.

Let not the world thy God dethrone
Or from His smile divide;
And count compared with heavenly wealth,
As dross all things beside.

Dim not the crystal of thy soul
By sin’s destroying breath:
There lurks beneath the siren smile
Dark treachery and death.

Preserve the tablet of thy thoughts
From every blemish free,
For our Redeemer’s lowly faith
Its temple makes with thee.

And pray of God, that grace be given
To tread time’s narrow way:
How dark soever it may seem,
It leads to cloudless day.

Words: Mary W. Hale, 1840.

Whatever weak­ens your rea­son, im­pairs the ten­der­ness of your con­science, ob­scures your sense of God, takes off your rel­ish for spir­it­u­al things, what­ev­er in­creas­es the au­thor­ity of the bo­dy ov­er the mind, that thing is sin to you, how­ev­er in­no­cent it may seem in itself.

Susanna Wes­ley, mo­ther of John & Charles Wes­ley

Looking Back…

… to a time and place where we were able to head out at the last minute to a nearby “Happy Hour” with lots of good choices (2012 at the Beach House). Sigh.

Also looking back at early morning walks at Emma Wood State Beach in Ventura (2009).

We are wondering what we can substitute for our cancelled trip to Great Britain. Time will tell. Maybe a new recliner. Haha!

We are getting summer heat this week getting hotter everyday with the highest temps expected on Thursday and Friday, 101 degrees. We’ll head south to do our Spokane shopping on thursday since it doesn’t make sense to work outside on the shop or in the yard in that heat.

Cooling off just looking at these beach scenes.

Looking back, living today and looking forward to the future I will rejoice.

Came across this quote from R.C. Sproul:

“Our calling isn’t to follow our hearts. Our calling is to have our hearts informed and directed by the clear and plain teaching of the Word of God.”