The Dean’s Watch ~ by Elizabeth Goudge

I’m not finished with this book yet but I wanted to share this quote from Chapter 7 ~ Miss Montague…

How much more friendly it is when you cannot see, thought Miss Montague, and how much closer we are to Him. Why should we always want a light? He chose darkness for us, darkness of the womb and of the stable, darkness in the garden, darkness on the cross and in the grave. Why do I demand certainty? That is not faith. Why do I want to understand? How can I understand this great web of sin and ugliness and love and suffering and joy and life and death when I don’t understand the little tangle of good and evil that is myself? I’ve enough to understand. I understand that He gave me light that I might turn to Him, for without light I could not have seen to turn. I have seen creation in His light. He shared His light with me that I, turned, might share with Him the darkness of His redemption. Why did I despair? What do I want? If it is Him I want He is here, not only love in light illuming all that He has made but love in darkness dying for it…And she said, I will learn to pray.”

I am so thankful for the bloggy world where I’ve been introduced to two new authors that I am enjoying so much and hadn’t been aware of before, Elizabeth Goudge and Dorothy Sayers. Yippee!!

Have a wonderful Monday walking in the Light…

Heavenly Sunlight ~ Hymn

The hymns I have been choosing to share are ones with reference to the specific themes in the book of the Bible that I am reading. The Book of James was the book I just finished and now I am moving onto I John. I was happy to see this old upbeat hymn that I loved singing at Bethany Russian Baptist Church in Los Angeles. The first chapter of I John is about Light and darkness and living in the Light.

 

Heavenly Sunlight

Words: Henry J. Zelley (1859-1942) Music: George H. Cook

Walking in sunlight all of my journey;
Over the mountains, through the deep vale;
Jesus has said, “I’ll never forsake thee,”
Promise divine that never can fail.

Refrain

Heavenly sunlight, heavenly sunlight,
Flooding my soul with glory divine:
Hallelujah, I am rejoicing,
Singing His praises, Jesus is mine.

Shadows around me, shadows above me,
Never conceal my Savior and Guide;
He is the Light, in Him is no darkness;
Ever I’m walking close to His side.

Refrain

In the bright sunlight, ever rejoicing,
Pressing my way to mansions above;
Singing His praises gladly I’m walking,
Walking in sunlight, sunlight of love.

Refrain

Alternate Name Game ~ Meme

 Another Light Hearted Saturday Post for your enjoyment!

 I saw this over at Lux Venit a while back and decided to play along…

1. MY ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car),
Green Neck Camry
 2.MY GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie),
Jamocha Oatmeal

3. MY “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name),
E-Bay

4.MY DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal),
Blue Hedgehog

5. MY SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born),
Moiseyevna  Los Angeles

6. MY STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first),
Bay-El

7. MY SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink),
The Green G & T

8. MY NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers),
Fedot Timofey

9. MY WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ),
Feoderovna Timofey

10. MY TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter),
Helms Havana

11. MY SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower).
Easter Tulip

12. MY CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”)
Nectarine Jammie

13. MY HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree),
High Fiber Dogwood

14. MY YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”),
The Reading Sunset Tour

Feel free to copy and do your own.

What Season Are You? ~ A Meme

Saw this fun little quiz at Lisa Writes and Hiraeth and needed something light hearted to do…

Play along too and let me know if you do.

You Belong in Fall

Intelligent, introspective, and quite expressive at times…
You appreciate the changes in color, climate, and mood that fall brings
Whether you’re carving wacky pumpkins or taking long drives, autumn is a favorite time of year for you

What Season Are You?

Overwhelmed and Thankful

I’m overwhelmed and thankful to family, face to face friends, and friends I’ve never seen, who have poured out their support, love, and prayers for my son and our family. He’s doing well and is having follow-up tests. God created us to glorify Him in community and it’s in times like these that we see how beautiful community is. Blessings on each and every one of you. I’m praying that God would return the blessing I have received back to you. Have a wonderful weekend.  Ellen b.

2 Thessalonians 3:16 ~ “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.”

Thankful Thursday ~ Prayer Request

Update: Josh was released from the hospital late last night after a CAT Scan and being monitored for a few hours. They believe he had a TIA. He will be having a follow-up and two more tests in the near future. THANK YOU so much for all your prayers. It is so GOOD to be covered. We have no idea what is wrought by our prayers. Things we might not see here or understand. Never believe the lie that your prayers are unimportant! Blessings on all of you.

While I’m writing this post our firstborn Josh is at the ER in Tacoma, Washington because of an episode of aphasia. His wife Laura is there with him. We’re waiting to hear about his examination and if anything serious presents itself. He and Laura were in Tacoma today attending the funeral of Laura’s new sister-in-law’s mother.  It’s times like these that it makes it so hard being 1200 miles away. So what do I thank God for today.

I thank Him that He loves Josh and Laura and has redeemed them for His own.

I thank Him that He is surrounding them with His love and comfort right now.

I thank Him that our other son Dan and daughter Katie are driving to Tacoma to keep Laura and Josh company at the hospital.

I thank Him that Josh and Laura have been at the side of Laura’s brother and his new wife as they grieve over the sudden death of this new wife’s mother and they were at the funeral today lending support.  (Tacoma is approximately an hour’s drive from their and our homes in Washington).

I thank Him that as soon as I told one member of my family everyone was called and asked to pray! That’s a lot of prayer warriors!

I thank Him that now my bloggy friends will be praying, too.

Pray that this mommy’s heart would be still and trust in Her loving God and Savior. (Pray for the dad, too…)

There are more Thankful Thursday posts here.

Show and Tell Friday ~ Antique Cabinet

 

This was the first piece of furniture Dear and I bought after we were married. We bought it at the Antique Guild on Venice Blvd. in the old Helm’s Bakery Building in Culver City, California. The doors have leaded glass in them.

 The two middle compartments open with cool old keys. One of the compartments opens down to make a little desk. The bottom opens out. We paid $135.00 for it. I think now that I see all the clutter in it I might be doing a little reorganizing.

If you’d like to see more Show and Tell head on over to Kelli’s at There’s No Place Like Home…

Friday’s Feast # 3

 

Appetizer
How are you today?

Tired and full of heavy sighs as I recover from staying up late last night waiting to hear about my son’s status after going to the ER for a first time ever episode with Aphasia.

(Son was released that night, is doing well, and is having follow-up appointment with specialist and a couple more tests in the next week or so to try to determine what caused it)

Soup
Name 3 television shows you watch on a regular basis.

Survivor, CSI, Top Chef

Salad
What’s the scariest weather situation you’ve experienced?

Heavy rains that caused our area to be declared a National disastor area because of flooding which caused a huge landslide behind our 1st home in Washington. We heard a huge crash and watched a huge fir tree go dancing down the hill like something from Fantasia!

Main Course
If you could wake up tomorrow morning in another country, where would you want to be?

Oh this one is easy. Great Britain for sure….

Dessert
What do you usually wear (oops I didn’t copy the last two words) to sleep.

Jeans and a t-shirt. (my first answer) I really don’t wear jeans and a t-shirt to sleep 🙂

I wear one of those cotton t-shirt nighties…one size fits all sort of thing. Very romantic….

To see more feasts go here.

Paul Tripp ~ Losing Heart (Psalm 27)

 This is a quote from part of a post on Psalm 27 by Paul Tripp called “Losing Heart”

“There’s only one place where stable and reliable hope can be found. There’s only one place of rest for your heart and surety for your soul. There’s only one reliable place to find your reason to get up in the morning and continue. There’s only one source of motivation that’s sturdy enough to weather the storms of life in a fallen world. “Wait for the Lord” really does say it all.”

To read his whole post click here…you’ll be glad you did.

In Other Words Tuesday ~

 

 

“If we could understand everything God does, then He’d have to be a small god–small enough to fit in our little minds.”~ Randy Alcorn ~

This quote kept sending my mind back to Job. So I decided the best response and “other words” would be to quote from this book that confirms over and again that we do not understand and comprehend our God with our limitations on this earth.

Excerpts from Job:

Job 38: 1-2, 4-5

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

Job 40: 1-5

And the Lord said to Job:

Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.

Then Job answered the Lord and said: Behold I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed not further.

Job 42: 1-6

Then Job answered the Lord and said:

I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me. I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

The upside to this is that God teaches us how He wants us to behave even if we don’t understand Him fully or even partially, we do have His instructions to us about the way He wants us to behave. We need to respond in obedience to what He says and intructs us to do on this earth. We trust and hope in our future with Him where we will see Him as He is…

Romans 11: 33-36 ~

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”


 For more In Other Words head over to Finding Joy in the Morning…