Category Archives: Spring

The Snowball Effect Hodgepodge

A new month of Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thank you to Jo From This Side of the Pond for coming up with the questions for us to answer.
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1. Feb 2nd is Groundhog Day in the US of A. Tell us about one day you wouldn’t mind living over again, and why you chose that day. 
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 I’ll pick July 9th, 2014.  This was a day Dear and I spent in Oxford, England. I chose this day because it’s impossible for us to visit Oxford at this time in virus history and it is something we dream to be able to do again. Here’s a link to part of our day in Oxford in 2014.
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 2. Something you know beyond a ‘shadow of a doubt’?
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God created me a woman and he created my husband (Dear) a man. Those are the only two genders that God has created. 
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3. Give us an example of history repeating itself in some way, in your own life or the lives of your children.
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It’s fun to see our little grandson doing some of the things our son did when he was little. 
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4. Snowed under, snow job, not a snowball’s chance, snowbird, on thin ice, snug as a bug in a rug, tip of the iceberg, snowball effect, run hot and cold….choose a wintry idiom and tell us how it best applies to your life right now. 
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I’ll choose snowball effect. Building a shop on our property has had it’s own snowball effect. Once I think the hard part is over and done with another hard part presents itself. One thing leads to another. I think I should plan a huge completion party to celebrate once it is all done and all our stuff from our son’s shop finds it’s way into Dear’s shop. 
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5. Your favorite sign of spring? 
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It’s hard to choose just one. 
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There is Easter and all that it means. Easter is my favorite holiday to celebrate. So much promise, so much hope because of Jesus’ resurrection. He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed! 
Our very first grandchild was born on the first day of Spring four years ago. We get to celebrate her at the beginning of Spring every year!
Our grandson was born in Spring, too, in April of 2019. We have so much to celebrate in Spring! 
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6. Insert your own random thought here.
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All this talk of Spring makes me want to go out and find a bunch of daffodils to bring in for cheer and the good promise that Spring is on it’s way!

Spring Views on Highway 2

All of these scenes from the road were in Lincoln County. Right after the little town of Almira we moved into Grant County for a few miles.

Any Father’s Day weekend plans? We still haven’t nailed it down here. We are having some warm weather with humidity, just in time for the official start of summer. Still thankful for our air conditioning. Summer Solstice is at 5:44 PM EDT.

Irises

We have one Iris bush and it’s always a treat when it blooms. When the plant is spent this year we will try our hand at digging it up and putting it in another spot where it will be enjoyed more. Right now it’s position is between our garage and new shop. We also have 4 Peonies to move.

Wednesday I finished up JJ’s 1st year Memory book and then went out to mow the front and back. When we were done with our outdoor work we decided on enjoying a meal out at Backyard Barbecue in Kettle Falls. They opened up to indoor seating today and wanted to support them during this hard time. The food was delicious.

Thank you dear blogging friends and others who check in and wonder how we are all doing during this time. You remain a good normal constant in our lives right now when the world seems to be turning upside down. Keep shining God’s light in these dark times. God is still in control and that’s not to say things will be easy on us but we will make it through.

June Spring Walkabout…

Our red Peonies are the first to burst forth in all their splendor. We have 5 bushes.

These sweet violas? seeded themselves in this planter. They pop up all over our property and I’m happy to see them.

This is a dwarf lilac that is deer resistant. I was weeding around it and it gives off those wonderful lilac scents!

You can see the shop in the background and we’re happy to say it is ready for it’s metal roof.

Our red peonies are fading. Our pink and white peonies are still ready to bloom. These were all the photos I was able to upload.

Some kind of wild rose?

What a wonderful time we had meeting as a church body again in our building instead of online. We are still having online services for those who are in risky health categories and who are still uncomfortable with meeting together. The singing was so robust and our pastor was on fire! It was good to be together again.

Our views on the way to church in the photo above and the views after church below.

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We had some good periods of rain which means I will not need to water for a couple days. I welcome that.

Quotes of the day from the sermon today:

The only cure for sin is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

You cannot educate sin out of people. 

We need to be reconciled to God in order to be reconciled to man.

Additional notes from gracechurch.org

Jesus is Lord and Savior. Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.” Even though God’s justice demands death for sin, His love has provided a Savior who paid the penalty and died for sinners (1 Peter3:18). Christ’s death satisfied the demands of God’s justice, and Christ’s perfect life satisfied the demands of God’s holiness(2 Corinthians 5:21), thereby enabling Him to forgive and save those who place their faith in Him (Romans 3:26). 

1 Peter 3:18 ~ 18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;

2 Corinthians 5:21 ~ 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Romans 3:23-26 ~ 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Is God calling you? Confess your sins and accept His forgiveness and new life in Him.

I hope your faith is in the One who can save you and give you a future with Him in Heaven.

His Eye is on the Sparrow

A Yellow Headed Blackbird.

Northern Flicker

Tree Swallow

Sparrow in flight?

His Eye is On the Sparrow

Why should I feel discouraged,
Why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely,
And long for Heav’n and home,
When Jesus is my portion?
My constant friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

Refrain

I sing because I’m happy,
I sing because I’m free,
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

Let not your heart be troubled,
His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness,
I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth,
But one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

Refrain

Whenever I am tempted,
Whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing,
When hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him,
From care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

Refrain

Words: Civilla D. Martin, 1905.

Early in the spring of 1905, my hus­band and I were so­journ­ing in El­mi­ra, New York. We con­tract­ed a deep friend­ship for a cou­ple by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Doo­lit­tle—true saints of God.

Mrs. Doo­lit­tle had been bed­rid­den for nigh twen­ty years. Her hus­band was an in­cur­a­ble crip­ple who had to pro­pel him­self to and from his bus­i­ness in a wheel chair.

Despite their af­flic­tions, they lived hap­py Chris­tian lives, bring­ing ins­pir­a­tion and com­fort to all who knew them.

One day while we were visit­ing with the Doo­lit­tles, my hus­band com­ment­ed on their bright hope­ful­ness and asked them for the sec­ret of it.

Mrs. Doo­lit­tle’s reply was sim­ple: His eye is on the spar­row, and I know He watch­es me.

The beau­ty of this sim­ple ex­pres­sion of bound­less faith gripped the hearts and fired the im­ag­in­a­tion of Dr. Mart­in and me. The hymn His Eye Is on the Spar­row was the out­come of that ex­per­i­ence.

Civilla Mar­tin

The next day Mar­tin mailed the po­em to Ga­bri­el, who wrote the mu­sic.

Singer Eth­el Wa­ters (1893–1977) so loved this song that she used its name as the ti­tle for her au­to­bi­o­gra­phy, and it ap­pears on her tomb­stone.

Matthew 6:25-27 (ESV)

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

 

New Favorite

Last year (2019) I was bugged beyond comfort while working in the yard either mowing or pulling weeds or watering. I ordered this bug net in the fall and finally was able to test it out this Spring. I am so happy with it. Those pesky bugs can’t get to my face and eyes and I don’t have to constantly try to swat bugs away from my face. Such an easy solution to my buggy problem!

There are more bugs at our country bungalow then we had on the “Coast”.

The net fits over this hat and it works with a baseball hat, too. Since I have to wear headphones while I mow to protect my ears and to be able to listen to sermons while I mow I can’t wear that wide brimmed hat and my baseball cap fits the bill.

Last October before my bug net and probably the last mowing of the year.

Last May and probably the first mowing of the season before we got our grass catcher unit.

Mowing happened twice this past week. I’m glad we have most of the Fall and all of Winter off from mowing. It takes a little while into Spring to have to mow for the first time, too. Loved wearing my net over my baseball cap and headphones.

Had online church again this morning. Our church we’ll be meeting in our building next Sunday. We are looking forward to being together as a family again. Online church is not the way it was meant to be…

Adieu to May. Hope you all have a great first week of June.

May Yard

Quail in the yard and danger in the skies.

We are wrapping up May this weekend. Lots of good hope for June!

Our little 3 year old grand Addy is mastering her braking skills and can now ride her bike down the driveway. Our little 1 year old Jaymison has mastered the indoor Little Tykes slide. He climbs up and slides down without assistance, laughing with joy with this new skill. I’ll get a photo soon.

Have a great Friday y’all. We are planning on heading to our favorite Mexican Restaurant today! Do you have any plans for the last weekend in May?

Quotes of the week:

“No Christ in your sermon, sir? Then go home, and never preach again until you have something worth preaching.” C. H. Spurgeon

“God does not need us. We need Him. And any man who is preaching a gospel that says that God needs us is preaching a different gospel.” Justin Peters

“People may love a God of their own imaginations, when they are far from loving such a God as reigns in heaven.” Jonathon Edwards

“We are being transformed into the image of Christ, not a better me.” Dennis Wilkening

Mother’s Day Rewind…

On Mother’s Day in the evening we gathered for a potluck dinner outside at Dan and Jamie’s. Captured some photos of our grands with their dear mommy.

It’s not easy to get two little ones to look at the camera at the same time.

I captured a couple photos of Addy with her Granny but missed taking photos of the other participants because my hands were occupied with the grands…

Our views on the way to Mother’s Day dinner.

Lots of catching up to do before we head into June!

I’m so happy to announce I have an appointment with a new hairdresser on Tuesday morning at 8:15 am. My mop will be so happy. I’ll be driving down the highway a ways but it’s worth it.

We are having a Spring heat wave here in our corner. We had the air on for the first time yesterday. Today and tomorrow will be hotter so our air will continue to cool us and the house off.

What’s new in your corner of the world?

Bath Time!

It’s been fun to watch the robins enjoying the bird bath.

Lately when I go out into the world I come home and need a good bath (shower) and change of clothes to make sure I’ve left all those ugly germs we are warned against. There are other dangers to be aware of…

“If we don’t know the Bible, if we don’t know Doctrine, if we don’t know theology, it is virtually impossible for us to identify false prophets.” Voddie Baucham

“Discernment is not a mystical process where you ask God for discernment and He magically drops ideas into your mind. We receive discernment from studying the Bible and understanding what it says, by the guidance that the Holy Spirit provides.”

“Never trust a faith healer who has to wear glasses.” Justin Peters

“Settle out of court with God because when you stand before Him it will be too late. You have a mediator who will settle your debt, the Lord Jesus Christ”~ Riccardi

Hope you all have a meaningful Memorial Day Weekend. I’ll save my Memorial Day post for Monday.

A Song of Spring Once More We Sing ~ Hymn

A Song of Spring Once More We Sing

A song of spring once more we sing
As winter flies away,
And changeful hours bring sun and showers
To weave a crown for May;
With heart and voice we all rejoice,
On this returning day.

For once again the promise-strain
Floats down from days of yore,
That fruits of earth shall wake to birth,
To bless the toiler’s store;
Each annual round with bounties crowned,
Till time shall be no more.

Thee, Lord, we praise for springtide days,
And life’s yet fairer spring;
These golden hours, these opening powers,
We in glad service bring,
Thine own to be, from sin set free,
Our Father, Savior, King.

Words: William H. Grosser, 1905.