Three young bucks came to visit our back acres last week. One of them had an odd black growth on it’s neck. They are free to eat of the garden except for the Clematis. When they head for the Clematis we banish them!
Have No Fear
Said the wildflower to the sparrow:
“I should really like to know
Why these anxious human beings
Rush about and worry so.”
Said the sparrow to the wildflower:
“Friend, I think that it must be
That they have no heavenly Father,
Such as cares for you and me.”
“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 10:26-32
Holy Spirit, Truth Divine ~ Hymn
Holy Spirit, Truth Divine
Holy Spirit, truth divine,
Dawn upon this soul of mine;
Word of God and inward light
Wake my spirit, clear my sight.
Holy Spirit, love divine,
Glow within this heart of mine;
Kindle every high desire;
Perish self in Thy pure fire.
Holy Spirit, power divine
Fill and nerve this will of mine;
Grant that I may strongly live,
Bravely bear, and nobly strive.
Holy Spirit, right divine,
King within my conscience reign;
Be my Lord, and I shall be
Firmly bound, forever free.
Holy Spirit, peace divine,
Still this restless heart of mine;
Speak to calm this tossing sea,
Stayed in Thy tranquility.
Holy Spirit, joy divine,
Gladden Thou this heart of mine;
In the desert ways I sing,
Spring, O well, forever spring.
Now incline me to repent,
Let me now my sins lament,
Now my foul revolt deplore,
Weep, believe, and sin no more.
Words: Samuel Longfellow
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
John 4:24 (KJV)
End of May and Beginning of June
Things were so full and busy for the end of May and beginning of June that I wasn’t able to keep up with posting about all the good times happening. I’m re-capping here.
My sister and hubby arrived on Memorial Day and left for Montana on Wednesday morning. We enjoyed meals together with them and our Colville kids. Brother-in-law Steve was curious about a riding lawn mower and ended up mowing the front and back lawns while my sister and I worked on this puzzle.
These two went boating with their mom and dad and Addy caught her first fish on June 1st.
I’m guessing this was the icky baiting the hook part.
It’s always fun to be on the water.
Addy’s Mommy created this collage to document that first fish experience.
Our tree was felled on Saturday the 3rd of June. In the late afternoon our friends Bob and Jan arrived for an overnight. We met up at one of the Mexican restaurants in town and then came back to our home and enjoyed conversation until our eyes wouldn’t stay open anymore. After coffee on Sunday morning Bob and Jan left for Idaho and we took off to church. We forgot to take a selfie!!
On Monday and Tuesday the 5th and 6th the clean-up and cutting of the rounds began.
Our son came over on Tuesday morning with our Grands and while Baba kept the Grands entertained Dan cut the rounds with his chainsaw and then he and Gramps loaded the first of many trailer loads (it took 4 loads) to go back to Dan and Jamie’s. They have a wood burning fireplace and once this wood is seasoned they will have enough wood for a few years. The tree was 92 feet and the cuts are 16 inches. I think they had at least 65 rounds!
These two ran me ragged while we stayed far from the saw and noise. I didn’t get soaked like they did.
A fun day playing with the water guns and the sprinklers. Good thing their mom packed a spare set of clothes for them. She’s smart that way!
On this Thursday we had more tree branch clean up and moved the larger branches to the burn pile. I mowed the front and back and when we were done we got cleaned up and enjoyed another Mexican meal out.
The mosquitoes are so abundant this year. We had to spray ourselves with repellent. Ugh! This is the worst we’ve experienced since we’ve moved here.
I’ll share photos of friendlier flying things tomorrow or Monday! 🙂
As I type this we are having a thunder and lightning storm with some high wind gusts. Glad we got the lawns done early this morning. I think I’ll schedule this now just in case the power goes out!
Truth for Today #58
Thursday June 8th
On Thursdays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during the week. One, two, three or maybe more. If you have a verse/verses that you read during the week and would like to share, leave it/them in the comments and I will add it/them to the post. Let’s dig deep in God’s Truth again this year!
Ephesians 1:3-4
Blessed be the God and Father of our 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.
From Vera:
Colossians 1:9-14 ESV
“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
From Lana:
Titus 2:11-14
“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
From Cindy:
The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow…’ Hebrews 4:12
This has captured my heart lately. The word can separate bone marrow from the bone?? That’s a powerful word!!
Double that Plus Two Hodgepodge
At the age of thirty-five in Ventura with our three kids. Double that thirty-five and add two years and that is where I am today but not in Ventura!
I missed the Hodgepodge last week but am on track for this week. Thank you Joyce From This Side of the Pond!
1. Tell me something you remember (or if you’re not there yet, something you look forward to) about being 35.
In my 35th year, which was 1986, I was nursing our third and last child who was our first daughter. We were living in Ventura, California. Greg was working in a quarry running a front end loader close to our home. He was taking night classes at Ventura College to see if a change of career path was right for him. Our boys were five and seven finishing up Preschool and 1st grade. We were in the busy time of parenting which would last for several years!
2. Last time you ‘burned the candle at both ends’?
Last week was a burn the candle at both ends kind of week. Getting ready for a garage sale is hard work. A good distraction was our bookend overnight company at the beginning of the week and end of the week. It was wonderful to see them and get caught up. Thankfully those guests are the kind that take care of themselves and don’t need fussing. The kind you are ‘real’ with. My brother in law even mowed the lawns for me because he enjoys that. Saturday our 92 foot tree was felled while I was finishing up at the garage sale. Then on Sunday was a tearful send-off of our beloved Pastor Dennis and Miss Lori which made for some emotional tiredness. On Monday Greg started the demolition of our master shower! I’m fine, we’re fine, everyone is fine. LOL!
BTW: We made a significant amount of money at the garage sale which made the hard work acceptable. 🙂
Here is our granddaughter giving a going away picture she drew for Pastor Dennis and her beloved Cubby teacher, Miss Lori during their Going Away Open House. Old and young will miss these two.
3. Are you someone with the ‘gift of gab’? Elaborate (which shouldn’t be a problem if you answered yes teehee).
I have the gift of gab on paper (which you might have noticed when I answer questions here) but not so much in verbal communication.
4. Do you request a special meal on your birthday, and if so tell us what that meal is?
I enjoy going out on my birthday and having a special meal. That special meal depends on the menu offerings. If there is Osso Bucco on the menu I will probably order it.
Do you want the same kind of cake year after year or will any flavor work? Do you want cake at all?
Cake is optional. We might order some dessert off the menu and have bites around the table.
Growing up were birthdays a big deal in your house?
Birthdays were not elaborate at all but they were celebrated. It was hit and miss on how they were celebrated. My older sisters and I got birthstone rings on our 16th birthday from our parents. I honestly don’t remember many of my birthdays growing up.
Are they a big deal now?
Our kids have made our birthdays of late a time to celebrate with a meal out which we have enjoyed. I don’t need a big deal and the best thing is being together enjoying a meal together. Our kids made a very big deal of my 60th birthday and my 70th birthday which was very special.
My 60th birthday with a limousine ride to the restaurant. Our daughter was busy getting married at the Justice of the Peace in Jacksonville, N. C. before Andrew’s first deployment to Afghanistan.
My 70th birthday celebrated in Spokane and Colville. The decade between my 60th and 70th grew our family with a son-in-law and another daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.
5. ‘Age is just a number.’..agree or disagree? Tell us why.
There are some significant numbers when it comes to age all through our lives. Turning one is a big deal and then turning 5 which signified the beginning of public education. Becoming a teenager at 13 is another landmark. Sweet 16 was special in our family and then there is 18, when some of my friends left home and some went to college, the age of independence. Twenty One was a popular age and the legal drinking age here in most of the states. After that the decades were noted, like 30-40-50-60-70! The age of retirement was 65 and now that is more fluid. And then there is that dreaded age when the car keys should be taken away and all ladders removed from our homes!
I’m surprised at how different sixty or seventy looks on different folks. Those who have had a very hard life and made many poor choices in life look older.
I enjoy being around older people who are ‘young at heart’ and who are content and at peace with their age.
Not sure I answered the question but I did prove I have the gift of gab on ‘paper’!
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Photos from when I was thirty five years old and busy with these three gifts from God.
Thanks for reading my ‘gab’.
The Robber
I looked out our dining room window in time to see a lot of bird activity in a nearby tree. I was wondering if a nest was being robbed. I went outside and closer to the tree to get a look when I spotted this hawk.
You can see part of a robin (above the hawk’s head) who is trying to make the hawk get away from the nest.
The hawk wasn’t fazed.
The hawk took off with the Robin chasing it.
The hawk flew back to the its nest in the larger trees on the slope behind our home.
The circle of life right before our eyes.
Today the main tree trunk is being cut into 16inch sections and our grands will be here while that is happening so my internet time is at a premium again. The beginning of June has proved to be very busy at our country bungalow.
Hope all is well in your corner.
Busy Saturday
During the last day of our group garage sale the tree guy stopped by to see about our dead tree. Instead of making a second trip out he was ready to drop it right then and we were happy to get it done.
The tree came down in under 10 minutes free and clear except for a couple branches on the other trees in it’s path. I wasn’t home to yell ‘timber’ since I was at the garage sale.
We think the dead tree was beetle infested. Yuck!
Now the work of trimming the branches and cutting the rounds will begin.
Besides that project our master shower project is beginning, too. Demolition starts today.
The garage sale was a huge success. We had 8 or 9 families participating. The first day was the busiest with $3000 worth of sales. We made a good amount in the 3 days and it was worth the extra work we put in. We are happy to clear out things we aren’t using anymore.
Hopefully I’ll be able to get around to see what I’ve missed the last week. Hope all is well.
The Lord Hath Need of Me ~ Hymn
The Lord Hath Need of Me
The Lord has need of me,
His soldier I will be;
He gave Himself my life to win,
And so I mean to follow Him,
And serve Him faithfully.
So although the fight be fierce and long,
I’ll carry on—He makes me strong;
And then one day His face I’ll see,
And oh! the joy when He says to me,
“Well done! My brave crusader!”
Words: Cecil John Allen
A Call to Persevere
This was one of my posts on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Blog for our Bread for the Journey from November of 2017. It still rings true. I’m reposting it here on my blog. It is a good reminder for me.
More and more it seems the world around me is choosing to come against the truth of God’s Word. Some of these voices, strong and bold, can confuse and mislead. Should I be silent. What should I do?
I need to go back each day to the one who is the Truth. I need to open the Word of God and with the help of the Holy Spirit read it and hide it in my heart. I need to test the very words that are coming from pulpits and be like the Bereans who searched the scriptures to make sure they were being taught what was true. I need to listen to teaching that is Biblically sound. I need to know that there are popular false teachers in my circles.
I need to be a disciple of Jesus, following him closely.
I need to meditate on passages like Psalm 19: 7-14,
The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.
10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;
In keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
13 Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins;
Let them not rule over me;
Then I will be blameless,
And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.
I’ll leave you with these verses from the book of Jude.
A Call to Persevere
17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.
Doxology24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 