Sabbath Keeping

"He is like a [good] father to us,

tender and sympathetic to those who reverence Him.

For He knows we are but dust and that our days are few and brief,

like grass, like flowers, blown by the wind and gone forever.

But the loving-kindness of the Lord is from everlasting to

everlasting to those who reverence him."

~ Psalm 103:13-18 ~

"Pray

and let God worry."

~ Martin Luther ~ 

"The antidote for covetousness is contentment. the two are in opposition. Whereas the covetous, greedy person worships himself, the contented person worships God. Contentment comes from trusting God." ~ John Macarthur ~

"The more you go with the flow of life and surrender the outcome to God, and the less you seek constant clarity, the more you will find that fabulous things start to show up in your life."  ~ Mandy Hale ~

"I had no real communication with anyone at the time, so I was totally dependent on God. And He never failed me." ~ Diet Eman ~ 

"Faith isn't the ability to believe long and far into the misty future. It's simply taking God at His Word and taking the next step." ~ Joni Erickson Tada ~ 

"Faith is believing that God is going to take you places before you even get there."
~ Matthew Barnett ~ 

"Trust in God alone, and lean not on the needs of human help. Be not surprised when friends fail you; it is a failing world. Never reckon upon immutability in man; inconstancy you may reckon upon without fear of disappointment." ~ Charles Spurgeon ~ 

"We have very little faith in the Lord, very little trust. If we trusted the Lord as much as we trust a friend when we ask him to do something for us, neither we as individuals nor our whole country would suffer so much." ~ Thaddeus of Vitovnica ~ 

"Faith talks in the language of God.

Doubt talks in the language of man."

~ E. W. Kenyon ~ 

"I am optimistic about the future. Brethren, for our part, we must remain steadfast in hope, work with all our strength, and trust in God." ~ Dieter F. Uchtdorf ~

"We are not saved by making promises to God. 

We are saved by believing God's promises to us."

~ Warren Wiersbe ~

"...it is presumptuous in me to wish to choose my path, because I cannot tell which path is best for me. I must leave it to the Lord, Who knows me, to lead me by the path which is best for me, so that in all things His will may be done." ~ Teresa of Avila ~ 

"Dedication is writing your name

 on the bottom of a blank sheet of paper

 and handing it to the Lord for Him to fill in."

~ Rick Renner ~ 

"Let your life reflect the faith you have in God. 

Fear nothing and pray about everything.

Be strong, trust God's word, and trust the process."

~ Germany Kent ~ 

"But the more you make the choice to live above your feelings, 

to trust God instead of what you may feel like doing, 

the stronger your faith becomes.

It's not about being perfect.

We will always bee on a journey of growing closer to God."

~ Tim Tebow ~ 

"I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,

 may have power, together with all the saints, 

to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,

and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may 

be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

~ Ephesians 3:17-19 ~ 

Please pray for - Rose ~ Jim ~ Katie ~ President Trump and all government leaders ~ pastors ~ 

Sabbath Keeping

"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you,

and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness,

and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

A new heart also will I give you, 

and a new spirit will I put within you:

and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh,

and I will give you a heart of flesh."

~ Ezekiel 36:25-26 ~

"The Bible will keep you away from sin

or sin will keep you away from the Bible."

~ Dwight L. Moody ~

"Sin will take you farther than you want to go

keep you longer than you want to stay,

and cost you more than you want to pay."

"Sin has a diminishing factor to it. It always gives its best in the beginning. It never gets better after that..it only gets worse." ~ Mark Aulson ~

"Salvation consists in passing from this dark, restless and tormented Existence in which the worldly man lives, to live in truth, to that in which it is really worth living." ~ Catherine of Siena ~

"The chains of sin are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken."      ~ Tom Drout ~

"No sin which we are capable of committing has ever taken God by surprise for He knew we were just like that." ~ Alan Redpath ~

"Sin, which brings death to the soul, is yet sweet to the taste. The more we sin the more perverted becomes our taste, the more clamorous for further indulgence. But these stolen waters of sinful pleasure are not always sweet. Pleasant though they may be at the first, they will become bitter indeed. The power of sin lies in its pleasure." ~ unknown ~

"You do not really care for God's mercy or His comfort either, so long as you live in any sin. And it is well that you do not; for you can have neither. Your peace will be like a river, when you put away your sin; but not one word of true peace, not one drop of true comfort, can you have till then." ~ Alexander Whyte ~

"If I cast up a confessed, repented, and forsaken sin against another, and allow my remembrance of that sin to colour my thinking and feed my suspicions, then I know nothing of Calvary love." ~ Amy Carmichael ~

"As the salt flavors every drop in the Atlantic, so does sin affect every atom of our nature. It is so sadly there, so abundantly there, that if you cannot detect it, you are deceived." ~ Charles H. Spurgeon ~

"We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin. But mere time does nothing either to the fact or to the guilt of a sin." ~ C. S. Lewis ~

"Sin has the devil for its father,

shame for its companion,

and death for its wages."

~ Thomas Watson ~ 

"I'm against sin. I'll kick it as long as I've got a foot, and I'll fight it as long as I've got a fist. I'll butt it as long as I've got a head. I'll bite it as long as I've got a tooth. And when I'm old and fistless and footless and toothless I'll gum it til I go home to Glory and it goes home to Perdition." ~ Billy Sunday ~

"Embrace in one act the two truths--thine own sin,

and God's infinite mercy in Jesus Christ."

~ Alexander MacLaren ~ 

"When Jesus had lifted up himself

 and saw none but the woman,

He said unto her, "Woman, where are those thine accusers? 

hath no man condemned thee?"

She said, "No man, Lord."

And Jesus said unto her, "Neither do I condemn thee:

go, and sin no more."

~ John 8:11 ~ 

Please pray for ~ Alicia ~ MacKenzie ~ Robbin and her Mom ~ Connie and husband Jay ~ Jill ~ Tesha ~ Jettie ~ 

One Hot Mama...er...I mean to say...One Warm Granny

The Epic Mess of January 8 is nearly over. At least, the rooms are almost put back together and my bedroom has had HEAT for ten days...just in time for Spring, doncha know. Hallelujah and Thank the Good Lord above along with Gillespie Construction! It's been a mess, in more ways than one and I'm happy to say good-bye to bedrooms temps of 46 degrees F above zero. Even though I purchased a couple of electric heaters, they were hard pressed to get the temps to the mid 50's. Temps might have said it was a three dog night but I had to make due with two dogs and wool blankets and am glad to have cold behind me. While I'm not quite one hot mama I am now, most assuredly, one warm granny!

BAM! Bedroom floors refinished, walls painted and new heat registers with PEX pipe in place of copper pipe. PEX comes in white, blue, red with blue, generally, being for cold water, red for hot water and white for all else. PEX is less expensive than copper, easier to install and won't corrode; if you have a plumbing job, I strongly suggest you look into using PEX.

I'm still happy I added this little bit of history to the inside clapboard of the dining room.

The dining room furniture still has to be restored...actually, it has to be taken to the gent who is doing the work and I'm hopeful it can be restored. You may recall Eddie was helping but he did a runner, leaving me high and dry, and it's been quite a scramble. Fortunately, Joe, of Cabins and More, was available to help finish the job and last night he and some Mennonite youth blessed me by coming to the farm and doing a lot of jobs that will make my life so much easier and better.

Mom and Daddy have always preached there are two types of people in this ole world...givers and takers. Takers don't know (nor do they want) how to give and givers, generally, have a difficult time taking. All that to say, it blessed me to have pizza and donuts last night (a surprise for them) and it also blessed me having two women to help, then sit and chat; I can't remember the last time that happened.

Shortly after the flood and while I wasn't home, other men moved things out of the bedroom and into the rest of the upstairs. To say it was helter skelter is putting it mildly; I'm still trying to find stuff. In the move, the bed was broken and Joe of Cabins and More, was the one to fix it thus enabling me to actually be able to sleep in the bed. YAY Joe! Last night, curtains were hung, bed was fix, moved, set up and other furniture moved as well. Today, I moved smaller pieces of furniture, rugs, lamps and made the room ready for tonight when the dogs and I sleep in the bed.

The paint is Valspar Hopsack from Lowe's and I almost guarantee it to lower blood pressure by twenty points. The curtains are some I've had for a while but the sheers are new. Generally, I go to the bedroom early, sit in my comfy leather recliner and read before lights out and going to sleep. I'm training myself to read either the Bible (Psalm 4 being a favorite) or use my Bible journal to pray for folks (and myself) as the last thing I do at night.

There's nothing on the brick fireplace, obviously, but I'm thinking of hanging a textile I purchased in Budapest. It's large enough to effective use the real estate but light enough should it fall down, wouldn't do damage.

The small light is used for a night light and other quilts stand ready should temps be disagreeable.

The king size quilt is Ralph Lauren (thrift store) but covers the bed nicely. By the way, last night two girls came to me and asked, "Would you mind if we made your bed?"  Didn't they do a great job?! Chloe, 10, and Graceanne, 7, did a wonderful job, especially considering how far this bed is off the floor. The stairs, middle of this photo, were made so the dogs could have ease of access while I just lumber up any ole way.

I'm still doing laundry because everything in my two bedroom closets need to be washed and dried. Although they closets were taped shut, sawdust from floor refinishing and sheet rock dust managed to get everywhere. When I remove a piece of clothing the dust is clearly visible so I'm carefully putting clothes in a basket and taking them outside to shake them prior to washing them. It's just more work on top of all the other work and is a royal pain in the neck. The insurance man said, "I've allowed for the cost of water in doing laundry." Well, ballyhooo! That ain't going to get it as it also takes electricity and a lot of it to run the well pump, the washer, the dryer. I keep electric bills for several years (farm expense for tax purposes) and my electric bill is doubled for the same months in 2016. Not to mention ServePro machines that ran 24/7 with the noise enough to drive a person insane. Thanks to my Beloved Sistah's suggestion, I took videos and capture all that racket.

Tonight is the Big Sleep-In...right after an Epsom Salts bath to, hopefully, help the bruises and swelling received when a fourteen foot metal farm gate fell on me. Yes, it did, and does, hurt but I'm happy no bones were broken. I believe it was Bette David who said, "Growing old ain't for sissies", to which I add, farming ain't for sissies either.

At some point, I'll give the low-down on the dining room...which is being used as a sewing room because he dining room furniture is in pieces and parts. For now, I'm over the moon HaPpY to be this far along and may God bless all hands who've had a part.  My body grows more black, blue, painful and stiff so it's time to crawl into that tub of hot water and Epsom salts. Bless you for caring.

Ponder this ~ Don't stumble on something behind you ~

Sabbath Keeping

"Honor your father and your mother 

that your days may be long in the land 

that the Lord your God is giving you."

~ Exodus 20:12 ~

"Parents are the bone on which children sharpen their teeth."

~ Peter Ustinov ~

"A child who is allowed to be disrespectful to his parents will not have true respect for anyone." ~ Billy Graham ~

"Love your parents. We are so busy growing up, we often forget they are growing old." ~ unknown ~

"Don't anger your parents in order to please other people. Those other people did not spend their lives building yours." ~ unknown ~

"Step parents are not around to replace a biological parent, rather to augment a child's life experience." ~ Azriel Johnson ~

"Live so when your children think of fairness, 

caring and integrity, 

they think of you." ~ unknown ~

"Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths,
but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands."
~ Anne Frank ~

"Beyond every young child who believes in himself, 

is a parent who believed first." 

~ Matthew Jacobson ~

"A father's goodness is higher than the mountain, a mother's goodness deeper than the sea." ~ proverb ~

"Never complain about what your parents couldn't give you.
It was probably all they had." ~ unknown ~

"By the time I realized my parents were right,

I had kids who didn't believe me." 

~ Hussein Nishah ~

"Do not teach your children to be rich. 

Teach them to be happy.

So when they grow up,

they will know the value of things,

not the price."

~ unknown ~

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.

Honour thy father and mother, 

which is the first commandment with promise.

That it may be well with thee,

and thou mayest live long on the earth."

~ Ephesians 6:1-3 ~

Please pray for ~ Anita ~ Laura ~ Hazel ~ Jim ~ Sandra ~