Beatrix Potter ~ Miss Potter

Katie and I just returned from seeing Miss Potter with our dear friends tonight.

Jan, Katie, Jody, Lucy, and Bridget at the Crest Theater in Seattle. We were all pleased with the film and delighted to have experienced it together. I’m easily enchanted with all things Beatrix Potter and this movie took me back to the land of enchantment for me, Great Britain. This was a fun event to share on Lucy’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Lu

 I started my love of  Beatrix Potter books and figurines when I toured England in a Christian Rock Band (rock band story in future post) in 1973. I bought little figurines as my souvenirs from Britain. I bought the full set of her Peter Rabbit and Friends books. Our first baby room was all about Peter Rabbit and friends.

Some of these figurines were purchased in England. Others were gifts over the years. There are some that might have your name given to them because they remind me of you. Something to ponder. Remember I did say I love these figurines…

I’ve picked up some framed pieces of Beatrix Potter illustrations from Goodwill.

We visited the area around Derwentwater where Beatrix Potter spent time and was inspired for some of her illustrations and stories.

When our kids were young we read to them every night. It did not take Josh long to figure out that The Tale of Pig Robinson was the longest book in this set of 24 books by Beatrix Potter. This was the book he requested many nights in a row for us to read. It’s pretty worn.

The DVD will soon be released (June 19th). It’s already released in Great Britain.  I will be buying it and am looking forward to watching it again with “Dear” in California.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-miss_potter-lake-350.jpg

Day By Day ~ Sunday Hymn

  Karolina W. Sandell-berg ws born in Sweden. She wrote 650 hymns and was known as the Fanny Crosby of Sweden.

Day by Day ~ Karolina W. Sandell-berg (1832 – 1903)

Day by day and with each passing moment
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best –
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure.
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Ev’ry day the Lord Himself is near me,
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,
He whose name is Counsellor and Pow’r.
The protection of His child and treasure,
Is a charge that on Himself He laid,
“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then, in ev’ry tribulation
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation,
Offered me within Thy holy word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E’er to take, as from a Father’s hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.

HT: Cyberhymnal

Of Weddings and Manicures

If I had any male readers I’ll be losing them today. This weekend is a busy one at our house. My daughter Katie is the Maid of Honor in her best friend’s wedding today. We are all a buzz with nails, hair, dresses, toast speeches, schedules, pictures, etc. One thing I’ve found out about myself is that manicures are not for me! I went with Katie for her manicure and she offered to buy me one. OOPS!

Oh sure, my hands and nails look nicer than they usually do, but I don’t know how to behave with a manicure. This is maybe my third ever manicure. I have a tendency to be rough on hands and things. I knicked one of the tips as soon as we walked out of the salon. Now I feel as though I need to sit around like a princess till after the wedding. I’m being held prisoner by my manicured nails. No mowing the lawn, no washing dishes, no scrubbing anything! I guess I’ll just have to wait till Sunday to do the things I normally do. “Dear” is in California so he’s missing all this fun. I wanted him to see my nails before I wipe them out!

Here’s a photo of Katie’s preparation for her part in the wedding. More photos of the beautiful outcome coming soon…(I hope she doesn’t mind that I know I posted this…)  🙂

Katie (the maid of honor) and Heidi (the bride) on their way to the Wedding Rehearsal last night.

Best friends through the ups and downs of their teen years! So different from each other but God brought them together for fellowship with Him and one another.

Praying for a beautiful blessed event today and that the Bride and Groom and Maid of Honor can relax enough to enjoy the celebration!

As of July 2017 Photobucket has blacked out all my photos and is holding them hostage on their site.

Future Grace ~ John Piper

There are certain books that I keep on my nightstand that I only read a chapter at a time. Future Grace by John Piper is one of these. This is a quote from Chapter Thirteen.

In God’s Place, At God’s Pace, By Future Grace

Impatience is a form of unbelief. It’s what we begin to feel when we start to doubt the wisdom of God’s timing or the goodness of God’s guidance. It springs up in our hearts when our plan is interrupted or shattered. It may be prompted by a long wait in a checkout line or a sudden blow that knocks out half our dreams. The opposite of impatience is not a glib denial of loss. It’s a deepening, ripening, peaceful willingness to wait for God in the unplanned place of obedience, and to walk with God at the unplanned pace of obedience – to wait in his place, and go at his pace. And the key is faith in future grace.

…God is ruling the world. He is ruling history. And it is all for the good of his people and the glory of his name. ‘From of old they have not heard nor perceived by ear, neither has the eye seen a God besides Thee, who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him’ (Isaiah 64:4) The power of patience flows through faith in the future, sovereign grace of God.”

The Lord is good to those who wait for Him. (Lamentations 3:25)

Blessings on your day as you live in faith for our future grace!

My Human Transporter

I’ve been blogging just long enough now and I’m just relational enough that I wish I could transport myself in 10 seconds flat to:

Prince Edward Island, to take a walk with Kathie and Rinda…

Colorado, to sit on Rosemary’s wrap around porch and have pie and coffee…

Illinois, to see Kim create a bookmark from start to finish…

Pennsylvania, to take a stroll with Pam around her garden and maybe take a motorcycle ride…

Canada, to taste some of Lovella’s homemade bread right out of the oven…

Canada, to have a cup of coffee with Susanne…

Australia, to experience a season opposite my own with Missmellifluous…

England, to check out Bronte country with Sarah…

Small town USA, to Lisa’s to see her 4 boys and go to a Bible Study together…

Midwest, to watch Abigail’s hummingbird’s at her feeders…

Huntington Beach, California, to watch the season finale of American Idol with Lana…

Now wouldn’t that be cool…

Bothell’s Blake Lewis in Final Two!

Update May 24, 2007: Even though Blake did not win the title I think he deserves an award for being a genuine, unique, and unselfish entertainer! Way to shine Blake! You make Bothell, Kenmore and Seattle proud.

So our hometown boy has made it to the Final Two on American Idol. Bothell and Kenmore couldn’t be happier. I think Jordan has an amazing voice and personality but I’m rooting for Blake to win. I think he’s fresh and now, if you know what I mean.

 

 

Here’s one of my daughter’s favorite pins, Bothell For A Day Or A Lifetime.  The sign at the city entrance used to say, “Welcome to Bothell For a Day or a Lifetime”

As you stroll down Main Street Bothell…

 

…You’ll get to Main Street Hair Designers…

 

…Who are ready to give you a “Blake” Haircut! This made Katie laugh out loud and she called me immediately to tell me that this hair salon had this sign in their window!

We’re going to enjoy the fun while it lasts! Please bear with us.

As of July 2017 Photobucket has blacked out all my photos and is holding them hostage on their site.

Living The Life of God’s Chosen Ones

 

Colossians 3:12-17 (ESV)

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Here it is in one passage, Christianity 101, 201, 301 and 401! Now to go and do and be what we were chosen to be, holy and beloved ones. Grace and blessings on you today!

Just For Fun

Sarah in Lancashire started me on this funny google search.  You type your First name with the word “needs” after it and see what comes up. My name is Ellen so I typed into the google search, Ellen needs. Here’s what came up. I hope you all get family friendly stuff but there are no guarantees so beware. I’m going to just share 7 with you.

Ellen needs you

Ellen needs a job

Ellen needs a term

Ellen needs glasses

Ellen needs wit

Ellen needs your help to get elected….. and my personal favorite

Ellen needs to continue her dive south!

You can come back and share what comes up for you in comments if you’d like. Hope you get a good laugh out of this exercise!

 

The Four Loves ~ C.S. Lewis ~ Quote

 

 This quote is from The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis. My friend Jan sent it to Jody and I as it describes what happens in close friendships between 3 or more people. I love this quote and I hope it will augment your idea of friendship. I chose this book to illustrate this quote because the 3 friends Lewis speaks of are pictured on the cover.

Lamb says somewhere that if, of three friends (A, B, and C), A should die, then B loses not only A but “A’s part in C,” while C loses not only A but “A’s part in B.” In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets. Now that Charles is dead, I shall never again see Ronald’s reaction to a specifically Caroline joke. Far from having more of Ronald, having him “to myself” now that Charles is away, I have less of Ronald. Hence true Friendship is the least jealous of loves. Two friends delight to be joined by a third, and three by a fourth, if only the newcomer is qualified to become a real friend. They can then say, as the blessed souls say in Dante, “Here comes one who will augment our loves.” For in this love “to divide is not to take away.” Of course the scarcity of kindred souls – not to mention practical considerations about the size of rooms and the audibility of voices – set limits to the enlargement of the circle; but within those limits we possess each friend not less but more as the number of those with whom we share him increases. In this, Friendship exhibits a glorious “nearness by resemblance” to Heaven itself where the very multitude of the blessed (which no man can number) increases the fruition which each has of God. For every soul, seeing Him in her own way, doubtless communicates that unique vision to all the rest. That, says an old author, is why the Seraphim in Isaiah’s vision are crying “Holy, Holy, Holy” to one another (Isaiah VI, 3) The more we thus share the Heavenly Bread between us, the more we shall all have.”

http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/reviews/images/Inklings2.jpg

Preaching The Cross

My husband and I have decided it’s time to stop dancing between our church in Seattle and our church in Southern California. We are going to settle into reality. Although I’ve been traveling back and forth we live in Southern California because that’s where “Dear” is working full-time. To make our departure official we gave our two pastors whom we love dearly a copy of  Preaching the Cross by Mark Dever, J. Ligon Duncan III, R.Albert Mohler Jr., C. J. Mahaney with contributions by John MacArthur, John Piper, R.C. Sproul. It was hard to “join” another church after 18 years of being faithful to our church in Seattle.

We love this body of believers and we have grown significantly through our experiences here. Our very closest friends and children have gone to this church. “Dear” was an elder at this church, I was a deaconness. But…God is calling us to something new, a change, something different. We choose to be obedient and though it’s hard we look forward to what new thing God will do with us for His Kingdom and we hope we can be faithful servants in this new thing. There is a quote by A.W. Tozer in the introduction to Preaching the Cross that I thought was very good reminder to all of us in the Body of Christ.

“Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become ‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.” -A.W. Tozer

Thank you Lord for Sunrise, where we learned to love you more, love your people, we learned through experience what true forgiveness and reconciliation look like, and learned that suffering makes us more like you.

My prayer is that we all bow the knee to Jesus and keep our eyes on Christ, our Standard, so we can truly become nearer to each other as the Body of Christ.