Sunday Quote ~ Contentment

I copied this from my email inbox from Grace Gems and am sharing it in place of my Sunday Hymn this week.

A diligent pupil in the College of Contentment

(Charles Spurgeon)

“I have learned in whatever state I am, therewith to be content.” Philippians 4:11

These words show us that contentment is not a natural propensity of man. Grumbling, discontent, and murmuring are as natural to man–as weeds are to the soil. We need not sow thistles and weeds; they come up naturally enough, because they are indigenous to earth. Just so, we need not teach men to complain; they complain fast enough without any education.

“Ill weeds grow quickly.” But the precious things of the earth must be cultivated. If we would have wheat, we must plough and sow; if we want flowers, there must be the garden, and all the gardener’s care.

Now, contentment is one of the flowers of Heaven, and if we would have it–then it must be cultivated, as it will not grow in us by nature. It is the new nature alone which can produce contentment–and even then we must be especially careful and watchful, that we maintain and cultivate the grace which God has sown in us.

Paul says, “I have learned… to be content;” as much as to say, that he did not know how at one time. It cost him some pains to attain to the mastery of that great truth. No doubt he sometimes thought he had learned, and then broke down. And when at last he had attained unto it, and could say, “I have learned in whatever state I am, therewith to be content,” he was an old, grey-headed man, upon the borders of the grave–a poor prisoner shut up in Nero’s dungeon at Rome.

We might well be willing to endure Paul’s infirmities, and share the cold dungeon with him–if we too might by any means attain unto his high degree of contentment. Do not indulge the notion that you can learn contentment without discipline. It is not an ability that may be exercised naturally–but a grace to be acquired gradually. We know this from experience. Brother, hush that murmur, natural though it be–and continue a diligent pupil in the College of Contentment.

The Presents

She wanted to put on these camo shoes as soon as she pulled them out of the bag.

It was fun to witness her delight when she pulled out the gifts.

And that’s a wrap! I’m out of here.

High fives!

There were presents for BBB (Baby Boy Bayles) to open, too. He’ll make his appearance soon and we’re looking forward to holding him and to hear what name is picked for him.

Another fun thing our Daughter in law planned for the party was handing out bubble wrap for people to pop!

The baby and baby stroller were a huge hit!

We traveled and arrived safely to the western side of the Cascade Mountain Range. Thank you to everyone who prayed for a safe journey. We have some catch up time planned with friends and family. Hope all is well with all of you and hope the last weekend of March is like a lamb instead of a lion!

So Much Love

My second post from Addy’s Bubble Birthday Party sharing all the love this little one is blessed with.

Psalm 86:15 (ESV)~

But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

John 13:34 (ESV)~

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 

1 Peter 4:8 (ESV)~

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Happy Day to all of you! I will be slow in getting around as we are traveling to spend time on the “Coast” with our Western Washington kids and friends.

Tuesdays With Moisi

This is a photo taken of the paternal side of our family in 1957 or 1958 by my best guess since our younger brother Tim is not in the photo. The quality of the copy of this photo is not good. This is the Molokan side of our family. Our Babushka and Dzedushka are seated flanked by 5 of their grandchildren and holding their youngest grandchild at this time. Our sister Kathy is the only one who is still alive from this row. Two of the children seated in front of our grandparents were our Uncle Jim’s/James’ step-children from his first marriage. We have no idea where they are or if they are still alive. That marriage did not last. Seven of the grandchildren seated are still alive. I’m the third one in from the right just below and to the right of my grandfather. Our sister Vera is just below and to the left of our grandmother. In front of Vera is our brother Fred. Our sister Kathy is on the far left seated on the bench with our grandparents. Moisi’s brother Mike did not immigrate from Russia with the rest of the family. After the family escaped into Persia/Iran and were there for some time rumors were spread about things being better in Russia and our uncle Mike decided to go back to Russia. He was arrested and sent to Siberia for many years and miraculously survived the harsh conditions there. Our Aunt Anna is the last surviving daughter of Babushka and Dzedushka. She will be 94 this April. She’s the one with the flower on. Moisi is the third one in from the right standing in the back row. Nadia is the third one in from the right below Moisi.

This is the Molokan church we all attended before we and a couple of our uncles’ families moved to Kern Avenue Molokan church. I do not have any photos of the Kern Avenue building.

We shopped at Russian Kosher Markets like this one for our required Kosher meat. This market is Shubin’s market. I remember shopping at Klubniken’s market but I don’t have a photo from Klubniken’s. Molokans kept some of the dietary laws that Orthodox Jews would keep and they also observe some of the Jewish holy days.

This photo above is from the 2nd Convention of the Russian Baptists in Los Angeles in 1939 years before the maternal side of our family immigrated to the U.S. and years before we joined the Russian Baptist church. In the late 50’s and early 60’s Bethany Baptist added a Russian Grammar School at it’s building that we and other Molokan children attended. I did not like going to Russian School on Saturdays!

These are photos taken from the 75th Anniversary of the Baptist church that our family became a part of in the early 70’s. Bethany Baptist Church, 2960 East Eighth Street in Los Angeles, California.

In 1985 Bethany Baptist celebrated their 75th anniversary.  Moisi and Nadia are in the second row on the left side. After Dear and I were married we were members of other churches and did not attend the Russian Baptist church except for special services or funerals.

These Tuesday With Moisi posts will remain fluid as I add or correct information and find more photos.

I Sing the Mighty Power of God

I Sing the Mighty Power of God

I sing the mighty pow’r of God, that made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at His command, and all the stars obey

I sing the goodness of the Lord, who filled the earth with food,
Who formed the creatures through the Word, and then pronounced them good.
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed, where’er I turn my eye,
If I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the sky.

There’s not a plant or flow’r below, but makes Thy glories known,
And clouds arise, and tempests blow, by order from Thy throne;
While all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care;
And everywhere that we can be, Thou, God, art present there.

Words: Isaac Watts, 1715.

1st of Spring Favorites

The first of my early Spring favorites is our granddaughter Addy who turned 2 years old on the first day of Spring. We enjoyed a meal out this week with her and the people who love her most in Colville and Kettle Falls. Her birthday bash is on Sunday after the one’s who love her most and live on the other side of the Cascades fly in to celebrate.

Extra space that I’m enjoying with our new counter depth refrigerator is another favorite this week.

On Wednesday after working outside for several hours with Dear, breaking up ice, I came inside to wash some dishes . I heard Dear doing something on the deck and then he came inside and said, “would you like to join me on the terrace for drinks?”. He had brought a couple lawn chairs and side table out of winter hibernation and set them on the deck. It was so nice and refreshing to be in the fresh air enjoying our view. You can see the snow covered landscape in the reflection off the slider.

When we drove into Spokane last Friday we stopped at Sonnenberg’s Market and Deli, “the oldest meat market in town, since 1891”. We picked up some deli items, some house made sausages and one porterhouse steak. Dear and I cooked and split that steak on the first day of Spring and oh my goodness it was the best hunk of meat we’ve enjoyed in a long time. We used a new to us cooking method for it, too, which we’ll continue using when we are only making one steak for the two of us to enjoy. I lightly oiled the steak, seasoned it with Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and Pepper then put it in the oven at 220 degrees  with a meat thermometer probe in it until the meat reached 120 degrees. Took it out of the oven and out of the pan onto a plate and let it rest for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes I put a little oil in the pan and heated it to smoking and seared the steak on each side and then we enjoyed it. Delicious, melt in your mouth meat!

Even though it hasn’t happened yet another favorite is the fact that we will be driving to the Spokane airport this evening to pick up 3 of our kids flying in for the weekend. It’s been a while since we’ve been able to see them face to face and we are looking forward to lots of time with them this weekend. We have two birthday parties and a baby shower this weekend. One party for a 60 year old and one party for our 2 year old granddaughter and a baby shower for our grandson who will arrive in April.

I am thankful to God for His kindness and generosity to us because of what Jesus Christ sacrificed for us.  I’ve already pulled out my Easter décor anticipating my favorite holiday of the year.

The son of a friend of ours made a drawing about Easter and she shared it on Facebook. It had a cross on a hill and these words written on the bottom of the drawing, “Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins. 😦 It was a sad three days without him.” then on the bottom right corner of this drawing it says, flip the page. On the other side of the paper he drew the stone rolled away from the tomb and wrote these words,  “It’s the greatest day in history… Death has been beaten and Jesus rose from the grave.”

Out of the mouth of babes! Love this little one sharing the Good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Linking up with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for Friday’s Fave Five.

Seven Inches!

Our son helped us out on Saturday by picking up our new refrigerator from the hometown Sears in Colville.

This refrigerator came with our country bungalow. It’s relatively new and in good condition but it’s just too big for our space. I knew during the first walk through of this property that this refrigerator was too big for the space.

We decided to order a counter depth refrigerator to give us much appreciated space between the refrigerator and the island.

If you needed to move in this space you’d appreciate the extra space as much as we do.

We found a good space for the big refrigerator where we can open it’s doors with lots of room to spare. To get the monster refrigerator out of our kitchen Dear and our son Dan had to take the doors and handles off and it was still a very tight squeeze through the doorways. We even had to take the door stop moldings in the door frame to the laundry room off to get the refrigerator through the doorway!

I’m a happy homemaker.