Our week

This week we have really enjoyed having the start of summer. We moved J back home from college on Monday, worked in the garden and did yard work while being serenaded by a couple of mockingbirds and a score of killdeer, cleaned one closet (major task!!) and the dust and last of the pollen off of the porches, cleaned out the wood stove ready for next winter, went to the pool, had friends over to visit, and been amazed by nature. First, I saw lady bugs being born on the leaf of one of my tomato plants. Now I've seen lady bugs all my life, and even "battled" them in the upstairs of a house we used to live in when they "invaded" the window sills each spring but I had never imagined being able to see them right as they were born (hatching from pupa and getting their spots within hours). Amazing. Then on Wednesday we saw movement in the purple martin nest. Tiny downy feathers peeping over the edge of the nest. New birds born! Thursday I forgot and went out the front door where a finch had built a tiny nest in my silk flower wreath. I peeped in the nest and saw the perfectly formed eggs that looked exactly like they had the week before and was worried that they had been abandoned. Later in the day I came back around the house and through the door and something moving caught my eye. Inside the nest was the teeniest tiniest homeliest creature I had ever seen! No bigger than my thumb nail was a newly hatched bird. By this morning his/her siblings had cracked through and I just pray the mama bird hasn't forsaken them (I haven't seen her in several days). Tonight as I sat and swung on the back porch in rhythm to the cool breeze after a rather warm day, I heard the whippoorwills off in the woods. My mother's favorite. I think of her every time I hear one and can't help but smile. God is so good to give us so many wonders to watch and hear. So much beauty to see. So much love to share. Great week.

What does News mean to you?

I am very thankful for the internet. Not just catching up with old friends through email and blogs, which is so much easier than old methods (although I DO enjoy a good long chat over a cup of cocoa more than an email, I can read emails much more often!). Also, I like the fact that I have a much greater choice of from whom and where I get news. When I was young I just could not understand my Dad's fascination with the news each evening. It was soooooo boring to me. I am sorry to say that I really didn't understand his interest in news of a war half-way around the world. I didn't realize that he had once been that soldier on a battlefield fighting for our country. I didn't understand that he was interested in what laws were passed or not because I did not comprehend that they affected how much pay he brought home or whether our dilapidated school bus was replaced or when my brother would have to sign up for the draft.

Today a friend sent me an email about the tornadoes in Iowa. Sounds remote and boring, right? But those people are her friends and relatives and former classmates. Since they are her friends they are in some respects my concern, too. People killed, injured, a large chunk of the town completely destroyed and other parts badly damaged. So today I sat my children down and explained how a "boring" news story about another part of the country is a call to prayer for people who could be our friends or relatives or even us. Yesterday we took a few minutes to talk about and pray for young men serving our country, and families who have lost sons and husbands. No, I don't want them to be worried or fret or "scarred" but I do want them to be sensitive, realistic and understanding. And to grasp one of the best reasons for news - the ability to pray for and often help others whenever we can.

Memorial Day

Just gotta take a minute to say a prayer of THANKS to each and every veteran, and especially to the families who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. WE REMEMBER AND APPRECIATE each and every veteran who has served or is serving. May GOD truly reward you, uphold you, comfort you, heal you, and give you a sense of understanding that many, many of us still honor and appreciate you.

Quote

"No man's life, liberty, or property
is safe while the legislature is in session."
- Mark Twain (1866)

(Sorry, couldn't resist passing this quote along!!)

Awanas Awards

Last Sunday my children received their ribbons and awards and applause (and ice cream afterward!) for the many verses they had learned this year. It is much easier for one of my children to memorize than the other and sometimes it seems a little unfair how much harder it comes but I am so thrilled and pleased that they are learning the verses and more importantly, we are trying to get them to apply them to their hearts. We have really enjoyed our participation in this program for the past 2.5 years and I am praying that we can continue to participate (there is discussion about moving it to Sunday afternoons which would make it difficult or impossible for us to continue). Anyway, as my Granny used to say "Don't borrow trouble up ahead, honey" so we will wait and see the outcome of discussions. For now, we will continue to review and even learn a few new things in preparation for next year. My 6 yo knows his New Testament books so we will spend the summer learning the Old Testament and the 23rd Psalm. My 9yo will work on learning two long passages and we will all as a family work on trying to get better at living out the Word! We're not doing the "summer" mid-week program as it is mostly play and with gas prices (we drive about 25 minutes each way) and the rigors of gardening and summer schedules, we opted not to do it this summer. Later in June we will participate in VBS but that will be all of the non-Sunday activities until fall.

Oh the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

I had not heard this song in years until the day of my niece's funeral. Since then I haven't been able to get it out of my head (or wanted to!). If you don't know this old song, it is a very comforting one.

Oh, the deep, deep love.
The love of Jesus;
The deep, deep love.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean,
In its fullness over me;
Underneath me, all around me,
Is the current of Thy love;
Leading onward, leading homeward,
To my glorious rest above.

Oh the deep, deep love.
The love of Jesus;
The deep, deep love.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Love of ev'ry love the best!
Tis an ocean vast of blessing,
Tis a haven sweet of rest.
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Tis a heav'n of heav'ns to me;
And it lifts me up to glory,
For it lifts me up to Thee.

Oh the deep, deep love.
The love of Jesus;
The deep, deep love.


(This song is one of my favorites, especially sung by The Haven Quartet - to listen, go HERE and click on the song title.)

Happy Wedding Day

Where does time go?! See if you can guess who these two (very!) young people are.

If you think the wedding day was joyful, you have missed many, many days since then when the joy has been even greater. You think you love each other all you can when you marry. And maybe that's true. But God shows you how to love even more after you share moments and days and years of joys and sorrows, new life carried in your womb created by that love, loss of loved ones, quiet times, angry times, tender moments, lots and lots of laughter - all these are the sunshine and rain that makes that love grow even greater than it was when you were young and wide-eyed at the world and each other. Today we celebrate 10,592 days of married life. I cannot imagine sharing it with anyone else. God is so good to have brought us together and He has been the One to teach us how to love more. Happy Anniversary to my Sweetie!

Done unto the least of these...

Isn't it amazing how wonderful a simple card or email or phone call can be? Any of these shown to those in grief are wonderful moments of looking beyond the immediate pain, letting us somehow release a little of the burden knowing that it is shared by others.

So many have been so wonderful to all of us after Brittany's death and only in heaven will we know how very wonderful and uplifting and awesome is the gift of prayers. Thank you!
-F

Sad Loss

Last Thursday night my niece was killed in a motorcycle accident. She was 18, full of life, outspoken, and knew that it is a waste of time to try to be someone else. Most importantly, she loved Jesus and is now with Him. May her life and memories cause many others to know that they do not need to wait to embrace the truth of the amazing love and eternal life given freely to us by God.



Thank you so much to all of you who have been praying for the whole family. Your thoughts and prayers are so precious to us!





We will miss you dearly, sweet Britt.

Zoo!!

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo,
How about you, you, you?
(Know that old song?)
On Monday we went to the NC Zoo in Asheboro, NC with several other homeschool families. I have to say that if we could have special ordered the day it could not have been any better! One other family rode with us and we had so much fun traveling, and then we joined 3 other families to picnic before we started on our trek through the zoo. We had a blast not only with seeing the animals but more importantly with spending time with great friends. I have over 100 pictures and had a hard time chosing, but here are a few of them -
"Polar Bears"






























"Monkeys"
















"Flamingos"






"Rhino Riders"

Missionary Monday

This week I would like to ask you to pray for Montana. The picture here shows how we usually think of that wonderful state. But this week can you think and pray about another side of Montana, a side that exists in every town (and across our country)? It's the side where children are born poor, make poorer decisions and are treated poorest by everyone else. The "down and outers" some call them. They have a beaten down expression in their eyes and a worn out look even when they are very young. You know the look. There is a sweet family in one town near Yellowstone who have uprooted their lives to live many miles away from friends and family to help these people. They teach adults to read, help children with homework after school, provide hot meals for the homeless adults and poverty-stricken children, and try to help or find help of all kinds for those in need. Pray for this family's strength, health, wisdom in what and when to teach, growing love for the "down and outers" and opportunities to share the richness of God's forgiveness, grace and mercy with every one of every background as they go about being "His Hands and Feet". God bless you, Paul, Christine and children!

" And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Matt. 25:40

More reading

I am still not finished reading "The St. Andrews Seven" but also have two other books "going". Typically I read two or three books simultaneously, usually of different styles and content. I know, sounds weird, but it works for this weird reader! Right now since "St. Andrews" is historically based, I'm also reading "The Four Loves" by CS Lewis to challenge me spiritually, and "Next Door Savior" by Max Lucado as a lighter break from the other reading. Lucado's books are great to pick up (in the bathroom usually!), read a quick chapter, and then lay aside until another time. I have taken days or even weeks between chapters in his books and enjoyed them just as well as if I had read them in one sitting. And of course the CS Lewis book is a classic that I am "chewing on", reading and rereading to absorb all of the ideas and trying to do some heart application with them. Right now for Bible I am getting ready to read John through, using my Matthew Henry Commentary as I do so. My 9yo is reading it separately but on the same schedule so we can discuss it daily or at least several times a week. This is the first time I'm doing this with her and I look forward to it. My hubby is still in a very intensive study of Genesis but frankly I was ready to get back into the New Testament so we will continue to gain his insight in Genesis as he continues that.
What are you reading right now or plan to read over the summer?

Quote

“If you want to go fast, go alone.
If you want to go far, go together.”
- Old African proverb

How wonderfully this speaks to me of the adoption of 3 precious African children by my friends Eileen and Jerry (and two from the US and now planning on another from Ethiopia!). If you don't know their amazing miracle story, go read it at Eileen's blog HERE - but start at the beginning and read to the current dates, you'll be glad you did! And if you want a book with more amazing stories, get out the tissues and go read A Treasury of Adoption Miracles by Karen Kingsbury. It only takes about as long as watching a movie and is much better than most!

Busy, busy...

Getting harder to blog with the weather so nice! Today I finished planting the seeds in my flower beds; I had planted most of the garden last weekend before we got some great rains. I also transplanted a few more tomato plants and weeded a corner area that needs something? planted but it gets so much sun and is on a slope but beside a walk so I don't want "prickleys" or anything tall, would like perenniel so I don't have to replant, if it stays green in the winter would be great but preferably something with color (who says I'm not picky!!) Any suggestions out there? Pansies are beautiful there in the spring but get scorched by June.
I planted my hanging baskets from seed this year so we will see how well they do (I kept seeds from my favorites last year).
Oh, in addition to the martins returning to the porch this morning I saw something "weird" looking inside the wreath on the front door and when I investigated closer, saw that a small bird (sparrow?) had built a little nest in the wreath and there were 2 babies peeping out at me! I guess they like silk flowers as well as real ones!
I'll try to get a pic of it when my son returns my camera.
Have a beautiful spring day and remember as you see the new growth everywhere that the most amazing spring growth is the new heart Jesus can make bloom!