Learning Can Be Messy

Galatians 6:9, "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

Confession: I have a problem with giving up too soon on my learning ventures when they don't turn out so good from the beginning. I could learn a lesson from this baby. He is very persistent in feeding his self. And, I'm pretty sure we won't have to be washing him from head to toe after every meal for the rest of his life.

Lesson to self: Don't be afraid to learn something new. And keep trying, and trying and trying!

From Flop to Frugal

A few nights ago I tried out a new biscuit recipe. Well, I made a couple of substitutions, using what I had on hand and it didn't work out so well. They were edible, but just barely. No one asked for seconds, and I had lots left over. Being the frugal homemaker that I am, I can't bear to throw anything away if I can help it. It called for a lot of butter and butter is expensive. I also had some green apples that were awfully sour and were not getting eaten very quickly, so I decided to experiment. I first sliced the apples up in a pan. Then I crumbled the biscuits up in the food processor with some brown sugar and a little cinnamon and nutmeg. Next, I sprinkled the crumbs on top of the apples and baked it in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. It was wonderful! The perfect warm, fall, apple crisp! I love the creativity that being frugal brings out in us.

Reflections

I know! I keep saying that I'm going to get back to blogging consistently, but I've still been having computer issues. Last night my husband spent a really long time on the phone with the Internet tech and hopefully we have things fixed for sure now.

Since my blogging has been so sporadic this summer, I thought I'd post some pictures of a few of the things that have kept us busy.

pic 1 - Hubby and I on cruise (anniversary gift from kids).

pic 2 - We went to Ft. Riley, KS to welcome son, Ryan home from a year in Iraq.

pic 3 - Nolan, our grandson, turned 1 yr old already! Here he is with his mom and day, Kara & Adrian.

pic 4 - My house has been getting baby proofed.

pic 5 - My husband with our son, Jonathan, in the mountains around Albuquerque, on our trip out to see him.

The Secret Place

Last Saturday morning, as our prayer meeting at church was ending, I heard the leader announce that I would be leading the prayer meeting the next morning. Panic! He had forgot that I had left the service early the week before and so he had not notified me that he wanted me to lead this Sunday mornings prayer. Okay, that was the first reason to panic, but the real reason was because, I had not been spending very much time in prayer and in the Word lately, and so what did I have to offer anyone? I had been allowing so many distractions into my days that they were crowding out my daily quiet time. I also wasn't feeling very good, I was feeling week, and had a slight headache, and it just got worse as the day progressed. I really felt like I was under an attack spiritually and physically. The last thing I felt like doing was reading and studying to prepare for the next days devotional. As I feebly called out a prayer to God for what to give, Psalms 91 came to me. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." I felt like this was for me, but also for me to give them. In the middle of all my distractions, I needed to be dwelling in the secret place of the Most High. But how? So many of the distractions in our lives are unavoidable obligations. The Holy Spirit also brought these verses to my mind:

Psalms 34:1 "I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth."

Joshua 1:8 "This book of the law shall not depart from thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night."

Ephesians 5:18-19 "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess: but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

In the middle of our busy lives we need to make time with God a priority. We also need to remember that in the middle of our obligations, we can still stay in His presence, by keeping praise to Him, and His Words on our lips. We think of meditating as quietly thinking on something. But actually, in the Old Testament the word meditate actually refers to a low murmur. it seems likely then, that during the biblical process of meditation, memorized scriptures were actually spoken aloud to help the heart and mind engage with Gods truth.* So, no matter what we're doing with our hands, we can encourage ourselves in the Lord and stay in the secret place, by singing songs of praise to our Lord, blessing Him with our mouth, and meditating aloud on His words.

*taken from The Power of Crying Out, by Bill Gothard

Sorry!

I know I haven't blogged much lately, but I've had some pretty good excuses. Besides things just being pretty busy with a baby in the house now(how does one mother do it all?), we also had a death in the family last week (my aunt), and besides that, we've been having computer issues. I was without a computer for a little while and then once we bought a new (used) one, we've been working the bugs out and I've been trying to figure out how to use it. Now I'm back online and hopefully life will be a little more normal for a little while.

We're Back!

Actually, we returned home from our cruise on Saturday, but I've been busy playing catch up on chores and rest. The cruise was great! Just having 5 days away with no responsibilities, no cooking, and having someone pick up after you, made it worth the trip(it was actually very hard to get used to at first). The ocean is beautiful and very relaxing. My husband and I both fell asleep one evening on the deck of the ship, laying in lounge chairs, just enjoying the breeze and ocean movement and sounds. We enjoyed sitting around talking to complete strangers, especially the staff on the ship, who are almost all from other countries. It was interesting to find out that the staff on the ship work 7 days a week for 6-8 months at a time, get to go home to visit for a couple of months, then return back to the ship for 6-8 more months. It is sad that these people have to be away from their families so much just to make a decent life for them. Our waiter, who was from the Philippines said that because he was a christian, God gave him the strength to do this. What a mission field, people from every country and religion are represented aboard (anyone feeling called to the cruise mission field?:) .

Now it's back to real life, but there's no place like home. My daughter and her husband and baby have moved in with us while he goes to Bible college, so it's been a little busy around here, but we're enjoying it. This has been a very busy summer. Most of what has happened has not been things that I planned myself, or even thought were going to happen. As I looked over some pictures this morning, I thought, only God really does hold tomorrow, I just live from day to day, trying to be faithful in the little things He has for me to do.

Humility vs. Pride

1 Peter 5:5, "...God resists the proud and giveth grace to the humble."

I'll never forget the way that I saw this verse illustrated at one time. One person was walking toward, trying to get up close, to someone, and that person had their hand up, holding them back, so that they couldn't get near them. They were resisting their attempts to draw near to them. Pride is a horrible thing that everyone struggles with. But, I sure don't want the pride in my life to be keeping God away from me. It is a serious thing to distance ourselves from God and His grace. I used to have a real problem with people who I thought were proud or arrogant. I had a hard time liking them and listening to leaders who appeared this way. But then I heard someone teach that if we knew someone who was proud, we better pray hard for them, because their pride is causing God to resist them. They are placing themselves outside of the protection or grace of God that comes from being humble. It's a very scary place to be in.
Pride can express itself in a lot of ways that we don't even recognize. Often, we use the excuse that we are just shy (my excuse), But really, this just means that we are worried about what people are going to think about us, which is pride. This so much of the time, keeps us from being obedient to what God is telling us to do. We are often so self conscious, that we worry more about what others think of us than of what God thinks of us. We fail to obey and truly worship God our Saviour, because we are are afraid of how we will appear to others. Can you imagine? After all He's done for us and the humility He suffered for us.
My Bibles definition for humility is, "an attitude of mind that realizes that one is without any reason for distinction in Gods sight." I like this definition. We (I) need to remember that in Gods eyes, I am no better than anyone else, or any lower. Who cares what people think of me as long as I am doing what is pleasing to God. I need His nearness and His grace.