Amidst Us Our Beloved Stands ~ Hymn

Amidst Us Our Beloved Stands

Amidst us our Belovèd stands,
And bids us view His piercèd hands;
Points to the wounded feet and side,
Blest emblems of the Crucified.

What food luxurious loads the board,
When at His table sits the Lord!
The wine how rich, the bread how sweet,
When Jesus deigns the guests to meet!

If now, with eyes defiled and dim,
We see the signs, but see not Him;
O may His love the scales displace,
And bid us see Him face to face!

Our former transports we recount,
When with Him in the holy mount,
These cause our souls to thirst anew,
His marred but lovely face to view.

Thou glorious Bridegroom of our hearts,
Thy present smile a heav’n imparts!
Oh lift the veil, if veil there be,
Let every saint Thy beauties see!

Words: Charles H. Spurgeon, 1866.

Crown Creek Fire

Update on the Crown Creek Fire north of us.

This is a map of the Crown Creek Fire that is 0% contained in our area. Green means be ready, yellow means get set, red means GO!

Our home’s approximate location is the blue dot. We are not in eminent danger at this time.

For those of you who pray, please do add our firefighters and community to your prayer list. The work is exhausting, the air is unhealthy and the anxiety is high. Families from our church have been evacuated. Thank you for your prayers!

This isn’t the only fire burning in our state. The Katy Fire is another active fire across the Columbia river from us, in our neighboring county. The evacuation map for that fire has gotten larger this week, too.

I’m adding this map above to give you perspective of where Colville is located in the state of Washington. Canada is above the state. We are in the Northeast corner of the state.

Thank you friends for your prayers and concern. Hope all is well in your corner of the world.

From Spurgeon on Isaiah 43:2

Isaiah 43:2

I will be with you.

Fear not I am with you, O be not dismayed,

For I am your God, I will still give you aid:

I’ll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand,

Upheld by My gracious, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call you to go,

The rivers of sorrow will not overflow,

for I will be with you, your trials to bless,

And sanctify to you your deepest distress.

When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie,

My grace all-sufficient shall be your supply

The flames shall not hurt you, I only design

Your dross to consume and your gold to refine.

Black Friday

JJ took our group selfie with a little help from his mom.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal together with most of our family and Jamie’s family.

Andrew and Katie drove over the mountains and through the woods on Thanksgiving day and Josh and Laura are doing the same today.

I’m adding some great Thanksgiving quotes from Spurgeon’s Thanksgiving Gems.

“Our thanksgiving is measured by the depth of our awareness of what we’ve been delivered from, and of the glorious blessings which we shall soon partake of.”

“We are debtors to God’s saving grace, and the very least we can do is to give Him endless thanks.”

“He who has been forgiven much–loves much and thanks much. True gratitude springs from a deep sense of what God has done for us in Christ.”

So grateful for God’s love, mercy and saving grace. Thankful for all of our loved ones!

Are any of you shopping today? I’m waiting till tomorrow to shop small local businesses. Have a great weekend!

Communion Hymn

Amidst us our Beloved stands,
And bid us view His pierced hands;
Points to His wounded feet and side,
Blest emblems of the Crucified.

What food luxurious loads the board,
When at His table sits the Lord!
The wine how rich, the bread how sweet,
When Jesus deigns the guests to meet!

If now with eyes defiled and dim,
We see the signs but see not Him,
Oh, may His love the scales displace,
And bid us see Him face to face!

Our former transports we recount,
When with Him in the holy mount,
These cause our souls to thirst anew,
His marr’d but lovely face to view.

Thou glorious Bridegroom of our hearts,
Thy present smile a heaven imparts
Oh, lift the veil, if veil there be,
Let every saint Thy beauties see!

Words: C.H. Spurgeon

Best-Laid-Plans Hodgepodge

Dear and me at a courtyard on the campus of Magdalen College (pronounced Maudlin) in Oxford England. (July of 2014)

The phrase the best-laid plans is a translation of a Scottish proverb that was first published in 1786.

The best-laid plans refers to something that has gone awry, something that has not turned out as well as one had hoped. The expression the best-laid plans carries the connotation that one should not expect for things to always turn out to plan. Like many proverbs, the best-laid plans is usually quoted by itself, though it is not the full proverb. The full proverb is, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. This is a passage from the poem To a Mouse, written by the Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1786. The verse was translated into English, the original Scottish quotation is: The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft a-gley, / An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, / For promised joy. Note that best-laid plans is spelled with a hyphen, as best-laid functions as an adjective before a noun. Laid is sometimes misspelled as layed, though layed is not a word. Laid is is the past tense and past participle tense of lay.

And now here are the Hodgepodge Questions on this first day of July!

1. Are you currently making plans of any kind? What kind?

Currently I am making plans for getting things ready for some summer visitors arriving next week.

What emotions are associated with the planning process?

Excitement to be able to share our new environs with some loved ones who haven’t visited with us in our Country Bungalow before.

Tell us about one plan you had to cancel due to the current situation which shall remain nameless. Ha!

We had to cancel our trip to England scheduled for the middle of September. We are very pleased with the cancellation policy of Airbnb. They refunded us our money within an hour. We still need to call British Airways and try to get our money back for our flights. That was a big chunk of change and we hope to have good dealings with the airlines. As you can imagine they are swamped with phone calls. We were going to stay in Oxford. We are disappointed for sure.

2. Last time you saw stars, either literally or figuratively?

Our country bungalow is in a part of town where there are no street lights and very few lights shine from neighboring properties so star gazing is something we can do most nights when we don’t have cloud cover. It really is amazing to see so many stars and to be able to pick out constellations.

3. Blueberries yay or nay? Blueberry pie, blueberry muffins, blueberry yogurt, blueberries by the handful…what’s your pleasure?

Yes to blueberries. I like them fresh picked by the handful. I also enjoy them thrown into a bowl of cereal/granola.

4. swim against the tide, swimming upstream, in the swim, sink or swim, makes your head swim…choose one of the ‘swim’ idioms listed and tell us how/why you relate?

In the current climate of our country I’m definitely swimming against the loudest tide. I know there is a quiet tide that I’d fit in with but it is being drowned out by all the angry noise.

5. Sum up your June in a single sentence.

A glorious time in June for family to be all together again.

Be happy in your mask!

Start them young!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

One of my favorites to quote in good times and bad times, C. H. Spurgeon:

“Visit good books but live in the Bible”

“Let us not fear the enemy until he actually comes, and then let us trust in the Lord.”

“Lord, help us in such a way that we may see that thou thyself art working. May we magnify thee in our inmost souls. Make all around us to see how good and great a God thou art.”

Thank you to Joyce for coming up with the Hodgepodge questions!

On the Road Home

On Monday June 15th we chose to drive home from Bothell on Highway 2 to Wenatchee then switching to a smaller Highway 28 for the central part of Washington state. This route was more desolate than taking 2. We had more rain driving home but not a driving rain so that was nice. Going over Steven’s Pass we enjoyed views of the Wenatchee River. We left our kids’ home early, just after six a.m.

Such power in that water.

We stopped in Leavenworth at the Starbucks to get a cup of coffee and because of COVID-19 their bathrooms were closed. We got our snack and a cup of coffee and continued on to the little town of Cashmere (home of Aplets and Cotlets Liberty Orchards). We stopped at the city’s 9-11 Memorial and I’ll share those photos come September.

One more post will be coming full of photos of time on Highway 28 before we reconnected to highway 2 in Davenport, Washington.

The state of Washington as of today (Friday June 26th) is imposing mandatory face mask wearing in public spaces for the whole state. Sigh…

But…be encouraged!

Remain Unshaken

. . . In order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.

Hebrews 12:27

We have many things in our possession at the present moment that can be shaken, and it is not good for a Christian to rely upon them, for there is nothing stable beneath these rolling skies; change is written upon all things. Yet we have certain “things that cannot be shaken,” and I invite you this evening to think of them—that if the things that can be shaken should all be taken away, you may derive real comfort from the things that cannot be shaken and that will remain. Whatever your losses have been, or may be, you enjoy present salvation.

You are standing at the foot of Christ’s cross, trusting alone in the merit of His precious blood, and no rise or fall of the markets can interfere with your salvation in Him; no breaking of banks, no failures and bankruptcies can touch that. Then you are a child of God this evening. God is your Father. No change of circumstances can ever rob you of that. Even if by loss you are brought to poverty and stripped bare, you can still say, “He is still my Father. In my Father’s house are many rooms; therefore I will not be troubled.” You have another permanent blessing, namely, the love of Jesus Christ. He who is God and man loves you with all the strength of His affectionate nature—nothing can affect that. The fig tree may not blossom, and the flocks may dwindle and wander from the field, but it does not matter to the man who can sing, “My Beloved is mine, and I am His.” Our best portion and richest heritage we cannot lose.

Whatever troubles come, let us play the man; let us show that we are not like little children cast down by what happens to us in this poor fleeting state of time. Our country is Immanuel’s land, our hope is fixed in heaven, and therefore, calm as the summer’s ocean, we will see the wreck of everything earthborn and yet rejoice in the God of our salvation.

C.H. Spurgeon

May Yard

Quail in the yard and danger in the skies.

We are wrapping up May this weekend. Lots of good hope for June!

Our little 3 year old grand Addy is mastering her braking skills and can now ride her bike down the driveway. Our little 1 year old Jaymison has mastered the indoor Little Tykes slide. He climbs up and slides down without assistance, laughing with joy with this new skill. I’ll get a photo soon.

Have a great Friday y’all. We are planning on heading to our favorite Mexican Restaurant today! Do you have any plans for the last weekend in May?

Quotes of the week:

“No Christ in your sermon, sir? Then go home, and never preach again until you have something worth preaching.” C. H. Spurgeon

“God does not need us. We need Him. And any man who is preaching a gospel that says that God needs us is preaching a different gospel.” Justin Peters

“People may love a God of their own imaginations, when they are far from loving such a God as reigns in heaven.” Jonathon Edwards

“We are being transformed into the image of Christ, not a better me.” Dennis Wilkening

29th of February

Since this day comes but once every four years I’m adding C.H. Spurgeon’s thoughts on this day from my Chequebook of the Bank of Faith, daily readings by Spurgeon.

February 29

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Psalm 23:6

A devout poet sings~

Lord, when thou
Puttest in my time a day, as thou dost now,
Unknown in other years, grant, I entreat,
Such grace illume it, that whate’er its phase
It add to holiness, and lengthen praise!

This day comes but once in four years. Oh, that we could win a fourfold blessing upon it! Up till now goodness and mercy, like two guards, have followed us from day to day, bringing up the rear, even as grace leads the van; and as this out-of-the-way day is one of the days of our life, the two guardian angels will be with us today also. Goodness to supply our needs, and mercy to blot out our sins – these twain shall attend our every step this day, and every day till days shall be no more. Wherefore, let us serve the Lord on this peculiar day with special consecration of heart, and sing his praises with more zest and sweetness than ever. Could we not today make an unusual offering to the cause of God, or to the poor? By inventiveness of love let us make this twenty-ninth of February a day to be remembered for ever.

My California family will make this day special as we celebrate our sister Vera with a breakfast out and then a dinner party this evening.

I finally made it to Orange County at 10:15 last night after flight delays that caused flight changes because of heavy fog at Seatac airport in Seattle. Happy to finally land at my destination. Onward and upward! It’s a new day that only comes once every four years.

Happy Birthday dear Vera! Goodness and mercy have followed you in your life and God will continue to take care of you!

Braving Air Travel

The last big birthday party our sister Vera had was for her 16th birthday eight years ago. Vera is a leap year baby so her true birthdays only come along every four years. Her kids threw her a wonderful Sweet Sixteen party back then. Now they are having an 18th birthday party bash on Saturday. I’ll let you do the math to get to her actual age.

I’m hoping to remember to get all the sisters together for a more current photo. We all will be there, Lord willing.

In searching my archives for Vera’s Sweet Sixteen party I found this wonderful photo of Moisi (our pop) with great grandson Jack.

I’m leaving for Southern California on Friday and I bought a packet of disinfectant wipes for the plane. Don’t know if I’ll have time to check in with my bloggy friends during my travels.

Some quotes from readings of late;

“Wonders of grace to God belong” It is not a small gospel message for small sinners that he has sent us to preach, but ours is a great gospel message for great sinners.” ~Spurgeon

“God’s Word is the authority over religious tradition. Consequently, tradition must yield to Scripture, not the other way around.” ~Nathan Busenitz (We Must Obey God Rather Than Men: Scripture, Authority, and the Reformation)

Also, from the same source above:

“Post Tenebras Lux.” “After Darkness Light” The dark grip of religious tradition gave way to penetrating brilliance of biblical authority. (Mark 7:1-3) “We must obey God rather than man.”

Presidents Day Weekend

Addy was so excited to show everyone her “Big Girl” bed.

For my record of what went on this past President’s Weekend or the rest of the story.

Addy and Gramps enjoying cartilage. She likes the crunch!

Jaymison helping me clap. He loves to clap.

Walk on the kids’ driveway. I stayed in because I didn’t have mud shoes on.

Always thankful for Auntie Lolo’s photos she shares with all of us.

Back up the driveway.

Josh and Laura’s goodbye shot before heading back to the airport.

Lots of good times together in two and a half days.

This has been a busy busy week and we have one more event before the weekend. Last night we had friends over for Raclette and cards (Hand and Foot). It was a great late afternoon and evening. We’ve been eating in for several days now so Dear is taking me out for Mexican today. Yippee.

The walls in the laundry room are almost all painted. It will be such a nice change.

I’ll leave you with this sentence from a prayer by Spurgeon:

“Give peace to those whose consciences are like the troubled sea that cannot rest”

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Tag Archives: C.H. Spurgeon