Still Whiter Than Snow ~ Hymn

Still Whiter Than Snow

What can be whiter than beautiful snow,
Coming from Heaven to earth below,
Pure and so white as it falleth light
Over this broad world of sin and of woe?

Refrain

Yes, there is something still whiter;
Hearken ye weary, and know!
Tho’ your sins be as scarlet red,
They shall be whiter than snow.

Jesus has died, and now all men may know
That His rich blood for the world did flow;
Saved we may be, and from sin set free,
Washed and made whiter than beautiful snow.

Refrain

Beautiful souls of His saints here below,
What but His blood could have made them so?
All who believe shall His grace receive,
And be made purer than Heaven-born snow.

Refrain

Come to this Savior! He surely doth know
All of your sorrow and sin and woe,
And when you sigh He will hear your cry,
Wash you more white than the beautiful snow.

Refrain

Words: Miriam Stabler.

Boxing Day in the Snow

On Boxing Day we all gathered at Dan and Jamie’s after breakfast for some fun in the snow and dinner. When Addy woke up from her nap we headed down the driveway for some sledding on the steeper section of the 1 mile driveway.

The sled picked up some nice speed going down and the climb back up was manageable.

Couples decided to give it a try, too.

Laura even managed a selfie zooming downhill with the snow flying in her face.

 

Addy didn’t think it was time to go inside and half way to the garage she noticed Auntie Katie still on the sled and high tailed it to her.

One last ride into the house.

 

 

Another great family memory in the books!

The Western kids left Friday morning for their drive to Spokane Airport for their flight home. It was a quiet afternoon here at our Country Bungalow. Dear made a trip to the dump. Two months of trash disposal cost us $10. Today we woke up to a fresh snowfall. It looks like we have about six inches.

I’ll be staying put today enjoying some down time. How about you?

Quotes of the Week 10

A prayer of George Whitefield:

“Yeah that we shall see the great Head of the Church once more . . . raise up unto Himself certain young men whom He may use in this glorious employ. And what manner of men will they be? Men mighty in the Scriptures, their lives dominated by a sense of the greatness, the majesty and holiness of God, and their minds and hearts aglow with the great truths of the doctrines of grace. They will be men who have learned what it is to die to self, to human aims and personal ambitions; men who are willing to be ‘fools for Christ’s sake’, who will bear reproach and falsehood, who will labor and suffer, and whose supreme desire will be, not to gain earth’s accolades, but to win the Master’s approbation when they appear before His awesome judgment seat. They will be men who will preach with broken hearts and tear-filled eyes, and upon whose ministries God will grant an extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit, and who will witness ‘signs and wonders following’ in the transformation of multitudes of human lives.”

Since we are just a few days away from 2019 I’m posting these questions that Georg Whitefield used to evaluate himself. Who is George Whitefield?

George Whitefield was probably the most famous religious figure of the eighteenth century. Newspapers called him the “marvel of the age.” Whitefield was a preacher capable of commanding thousands on two continents through the sheer power of his oratory. In his lifetime, he preached at least 18,000 times to perhaps 10 million hearers. You can read more about him here.

George Whitefield’s Diary:
Questions used to evaluate himself every day (assigning a rating from 1 to 9)
Have I –

1. Been fervent [had warmth of feeling] in private prayer?…
2. Used stated hours of prayer [morning, noon, and evening]?
3. Used [spontaneous prayer to God] every hour?
4. After or before every deliberate conversation or action, considered how it might tend to God’s glory?
5. After any pleasure, immediately given thanks [to God]?
6. Planned business for the day?
7. Been simple [avoided luxury and ostentation] and recollected [stayed aware of God’s presence] in everything?
8. Been zealous in undertaking and active in doing what good I could?
9. Been [humble], cheerful, affable in everything I said or did?
10. Been proud, vain, unchaste or enviable of others [in my thoughts]?
11. Recollected in eating and drinking? Thankful? Temperate [disciplined] in sleep?
12. Taken time for giving thanks according to [William] Law’s rules?
13. Been diligent in studies?
14. Thought or spoken unkindly of anyone?
15. Confessed all sins?

HT: Timothy Keller

Four Decades Plus!

Christmas 1977

Christmas 2017

Christmas in 1977 was before we had any children and Christmas 2017 was our first Christmas with a granddaughter. Forty years of Christmases. Some merrier than others but all enjoying the benefits of God’s saving grace in our lives.

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you who faithfully check in to see what’s up in my corner of the world. I thank God for you and am grateful for the chance to get to know you via your blogs. I’ll be back after Christmas when…

The Christmas stockings are emptied.

The boxes and gift wrap are all recycled.

The Breakfast Swedish Pancakes are devoured.

The Christmas Music plays on my new 6cd changer.

The Christmas Prime Rib Roast is prepared and eaten with all the trimmings.

The Christmas Crackers are popped.

The Christmas photos are taken.

The Christmas dishes are washed and put away until next Christmas.

The Christmas gifts are enjoyed.

And we continue to worship and adore our Savior, the Savior of the world all year long. God with us, Emmanuel. “Blessed art thou, O Lord.”

All This Night Bright Angels Sing

(Song of the Angels – William Bouguereau, 1881)

All This Night Bright Angels Sing

All this night bright angels sing,
Never was such caroling,
Hark! a voice which loudly cries,
Mortals, mortals, wake and rise.
Lo! to gladness turns your sadness:
From the earth is ris’n a Son,
Shines all night tho’ day be done.

Wake, O earth, wake every thing,
Wake and hear the joy I bring:
Wake and joy; for all this night,
Heav’n and every twinkling light,
All amazing, still stand gazing,
Angels, pow’rs and all that be,
Wake, and joy this Son to see.

Hail! O Son, O blessèd Light,
Sent into this world by night;
Let Thy rays and heav’nly pow’rs,
Shine in these dark souls of ours.
For most duly, Thou art truly
God and Man, we do confess:
Hail, O Sun of Righteousness!

Words: William Austin, (?- 1633.)

Vareniki, Christmas Tradition

These are photos from over 5 years ago on two separate cooking days before Christmas. I got the photos from my nieces.

This photo above is from 2012, the last Vareniki day with our mom.

It’s been 5 years now since my sisters and nieces have been able to have Vareniki cooking day with our mom. This event usually happens the weekend before Christmas. Our mom left this earth in September of 2013. I’m proud of my sisters and nieces for keeping this tradition alive without our mom’s guidance. It’s our family tradition to have these filled cheese dumplings for dessert on Christmas Eve. The cheese filling is a lightly sweetened Russian style farmer’s cheese. These filled creations are enjoyed after dinner on Christmas Eve. After making the dough, filling them with cheese, pinching them just right like our mom taught us, they are simmered until they float, cooled, and stored for Christmas Eve. To serve they are placed evenly in a glass casserole dish and baked with butter and half and half until bubbly. They are served hot topped with sour cream and syrup.  I’m going to have to have a breakthrough and try making these with my girls. We also enjoy them for breakfast.

Today my two older sisters, one of my brothers and sister in laws and 3 of my nieces are getting together to continue the Vareniki tradtion.

I received this next photos from my nieces at their Vareniki making today at my oldest sister’s home. I loved the hashtags my nieces used like #webelongtomoisiandnadia #newkitchenhelpers #makingbabaproud

My sister Kathy with her grandson, Jackson.

My sister Vera, niece Debbee, sister Kathy, grandniece Avery, niece Melissa, niece Michelle, and sister in law Letty.

My niece Michelle teaching her daughter, Avery, the pinching skills.

My grandnephew, Jackson. Two new helpers this year from the next generation!

Quotes of the Week 9

“A child in a foul stable,
Where the beasts feed and foam;
Only where he was homeless
Are you and I at home:
We have hands that fashion and heads that know,…
But our hearts we lost—how long ago!
In a place no chart nor ship can show
Under the sky’s dome.

To an open house in the evening
Home shall men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome.
To the end of the way of the wandering star,
To the things that cannot be and that are,
To the place where God was homeless
And all men are at home.” –G.K. Chesterton, “The House of Christmas,”

No priest, no theologian stood at the manger of Bethlehem. And yet all Christian theology has its origin in the wonder of all wonders: that God became human. Holy theology arises from knees bent before the mystery of the divine child in the stable. ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

John Piper: “You never, never, never outgrow your need for this gospel. You don’t begin the Christian life with this and then leave it behind. God strengthens us with the gospel till the day we die.”

Christmas in the 60’s

Christmases at 305 Los Angeles Avenue in Montebello, California.

The eight surviving Bagdanov kids. I’m the one in yellow, youngest of the first 5 (our oldest sister died in Iran when she was 2). My parents had four more children after me. The two youngest amongst us are twins.

Me with my two older sisters.

Our brother Fred is missing from this photo. Can’t remember why. Oops…just realized this one is probably Easter, not Christmas.

Christmas morning at our little babushka’s apartment a few doors down from the Russian Baptist Church in Los Angeles.

Nadia and Moisi, our dear parents. This will be our first Christmas without both our parents.

Hope all is merry and bright in your corner of the world.