Faithful One ~ Brian Doerksen

Faithful One 

Faithful One, so unchanging

Ageless One Your’re my rock of peace

Lord of All I depend on You

I call out to You again and again, I call out to you again and again

You are my Rock in times of trouble

You lift me up when I fall down

All through the storm

Your love is the anchor

My hope is in You alone

written by Brian Doerksen, copyright 1989 Vineyard Songs, Vineyard Music USA

Psalm 92: 1-8, 12-15: (ESV)

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy. How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep! The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this: that though the wicked sprout like grass and evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever; but you, O Lord are on high forever.

…The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.”

Friday’s Feast #8

Appetizer
How much money do you plan to spend this upcoming holiday season?

Sorry to say I don’t budget well and I’ll just have to make calculated guesses. For Thanksgiving I’ll probably spend a couple hundred dollars feeding people really well. For Christmas I have to take a wild guess. For decorating (tree, etc.) about $100 (I already have a ton of stuff I’ve collected over the years). For gifts this year probably $1000. For our Christmas meal probably $150.

Soup
What was the last television show you watched, and was it good?

Survivor China. Good? No, entertaining somewhat. I’m really not getting into shows that much this season. I’m looking forward to the Amazing Race starting on Sunday!

Salad
If you had to paint the walls of your living room tomorrow, what color would you choose?

We love color and are not afraid to experiment. My walls are a light chocolate brown in my living room right now and that’s the color that I’d keep them.

Main Course
Name something clever or practical you have thought of that should be invented, but hasn’t yet.

I think restaurants should have a special hook or holder or something clever like that at the table or next to the chair so a woman can keep her purse safe and off the floor.

Dessert
List 3 things you would like to receive as gifts this upcoming holiday season.

1. A trip to Ireland and Great Britain.

2. A one hour massage.

3. A trip to Montreal.

For more feasts click here.

Show & Tell Friday ~ Seattle Art

This is a piece of art that I bought for our home away from home in California. It’s no secret that Dear and I regard our sojourn in California as temporary and the home we want to return to is in Seattle. We are trusting God in our sojourn and we have no idea how long it will be but we hope we will be able to return to Seattle again before too long. God has already taught us a lot and we will have to choose to continue to be content in what his plan and purpose is for us being here in California. In the meantime this work of art on our condo livingroom wall reminds us of our family and friends in Seattle. Dear and I will be in Seattle for Thanksgiving and then I will stay in Seattle till New Year’s Day. We are looking forward to our time there.

For more Show & Tell head on over to Kelli’s at There’s No Place Like Home.

Thankful Thursday~ Spiritual Blessings in Christ

This is an amazing passage of how much we are blessed in Christ Jesus. What amazing blessings to be thankful for. Hopefully as the years go on I’ll understand it more and more and be more thankful.

Ephesians 1: 3-10 (ESV)

Blessed be the God and Father of or Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

For more Thankful Thursday click here.

Today is Reformation Day!

WHAT IS REFORMATION DAY?

Reformation Day is an important liturgical festival that is celebrated by Lutherans and Christians of many Protestant denominations.  It commemorates Dr. Martin Luther’s posting of his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31st, 1517.  This act triggered the movement in world history known as the Reformation.  While the historical date for the observance of Reformation is October 31st, most churches celebrate it on the last Sunday in October.

WHAT WAS THE REFORMATION? While it had profound and lasting impacts on the political, economic, social, literary, and artistic aspects of modern society, the Reformation was at its heart a religious movement.  The Reformation was the great rediscovery of the good news of salvation by grace through faith for Christ’s sake.

By grace God’s Son, our only Savior,
Came down to earth to bear our sin.
Was it because of your own merit
That Jesus died your soul to win?
No, it was grace, and grace alone,
That brought Him from His heav’nly throne.

 If you’d like to know more about this click here.

 

Thursday Thirteen #7 ~ Sites in Great Britain

Thirteen Places you should visit in Great Britain…

1. London    2. Oxford    3. Cambridge 

4. Cotswolds    5. Bath    6. York

7. The Lake District   8. Oban  9. Isle of Iona

10. Edinburgh  11. Castle Doune 12. Conwy, Wales

Our favorites in blue are places we’d go back to again. Castle Doune (N.W. of Edinburgh) is of Monty Python and the Holy Grail fame. They even give you coconut shells to clip clop as you tour the castle. Fun times…

13. And last but not least are Bed and Breakfasts. We’ve enjoyed most all that we’ve stayed in.

For more Thursday Thirteens click here.

In Other Words Tuesday ~ Oct. 30

“The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection.  And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.” ~ A.W. Towzer ~

I really don’t have anything profound to share as I consider this quote. It was suggested to me that the very shortest route to spiritual perfection for a believer saved by grace would be death, but I digress….

A suggestion that I do have that is helping me in a profound way this year is my Bible reading strategy. I’ve read the Bible through a couple of times and this year it was suggested to me to take a different approach to my Bible reading. This year I started with the shortest books of the Bible progressing up to the longer books and I read each book 20 times before I move on. First I just read it straight through. Then further into my 20 times I begin to dissect and break down each paragraph or chapter to get a deeper understanding of what is being revealed. I have found that with this approach I can remember themes in a book better. It helps me get the big picture. We can rely on the Holy Spirit to teach us and to guide us into all truth. For me spiritual growth has not been short or quick. It has taken years of plugging along for me to get to where I am today, which is no where near perfection. I thank God that He is the one that brings me along by His grace to spiritual growth in Him. I want to be ready and willing to receive His grace and his teaching and respond in obedience and perseverance. This reading the Bible approach I’ve started in 2007 will probably not be completed till I die 🙂

Be encouraged to keep moving forward in your walk with the Lord. Ask Him to teach you and lead you in your Bible reading and studying. Each day is a new day with the Lord. Open his word and enjoy it and Him.

To see more In Other Words click here.

 

Fall Y’all! Bloggy Giveaway ~ October 29th – November 2nd

Update: Besides the U.S. and Canada I’m also opening up this drawing to anyone in Great Britain or Ireland just because I’m so drawn to these countries…

Ellen B. at the Happy Wonderer is giving away an Apron for the Fall Giveaway sponsored at Shannon’s BloggyGiveaways.com

The apron I’m offering is an April Cornell Classic Floral ~ “Bring nature into your home with classic colorful floral prints.”

Hope you enjoy my Classy Ironing Board Model!

Just leave a comment with a good email address and I will randomly draw the winner when the contest is over. Blessings on you all and may the best Homemaker win 🙂  My giveaway is open to anyone in the United States or Canada! Giveaway will close at noon on Friday. I will announce the winner by 6:00 PM on Friday!

To see many more giveaways go to bloggygiveaways.com.