Nuggets of gold from Donna Kauffman

I'm finally getting a chance to post. Actually, I'm taking the time. I have a list of other things that need to get done, but I honestly need a break from these things more than getting them done at the moment!

A couple weekends ago, I attended the Borderland Ladies Retreat in International Falls, MN. This is the 4th year that I have been there, and it is wonderful. The ladies that put this retreat together go all out to make us feel special and pampered in the midst of putting together excellent speakers who inspire and encourage us in our walk as wives, mothers, and children of God.

This year was no exception. I'm going to focus on Donna Kauffman's first session in this post which mainly addressed "Decluttering our Hearts". By the way, Donna has a set of excellent books that can be found at Treasures Books. I would also highly recommend seeing if she can speak at your women's retreat or similar setting.

Our hearts are full of clutter. Each room of our heart is full of stuff: needing to be tended, cared for and cleaned...and cleaned out. There is a room for our husband, one for our children, the cleanliness of our homes, a room for fears, one full of clutter of worry and angry thoughts, another for errands we need to remember, yet another for special activities we're involved in...the list goes on and on. Imagine a room for each relationship, set of emotions and practical life. There is so much going on in these rooms and we think that we need to keep everything organized and clean in order to feel in control.

**It is terrifying for us to truly trust the Father.** Instead of trusting Him, we feel compelled to take control of every part of our lives...including our husbands and our children.

With all of this clutter, it is very difficult to quiet ourselves, allowing us to hear our Father and rest in His arms. We feel suffocated, trying to do good and yearning to be holy and perfect, and feeling like we need to work harder to get there.

When the room of fear and worry (or anger, or jealously, or, or, or...) is not all neat and tidy, those emotions come to the surface, maybe for the umteenth time and we can think, "Am I even saved?", "Will I ever get over this?", "Will God reject me because I can't get over this?" We become weary of the battle of our hearts.

We need to clean house, so that we can rest and trust in the One Who created us and loves us. We need to trust that God's grace WILL cover us when we fail over and over and over again as we run to His lap. We are accepted by Him and He desires to hold and affirm us.

Cry out to Him!

Ps 141:1

LORD, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee.

KJV

Know that He will never leave you and will walk with you through the battle. Allow unredeemed memories and past hurts to come to the surface in order to deal with them with the Father. Truth alone doesn't necessarily bring resolution. We need to bring it to the Father's lap and walk through it with Him.

In order to keep ourselves feeling "safe", we often put these strongholds ahead of God:

1. Stronghold of control- "If I can have everything nice and in order, with everyone doing things my way, I'll be OK."
2. Stronghold of contempt- "I'm worthless. I'm one big sin."
3. Stronghold of criticism- "I'll look better if I criticize others."

We need to replace the stronghold of control with trust in God, the stronghold of contempt with the Father's love and the stronghold of criticism with the Father's comforting presence.

**Delight in the peace and rest of leaving everything in the Father's capable hands.**

Our job as wives and mothers is to love our husbands, teach our children to know God (not to please others) and to know Him ourselves. We need to get rid of the rest of the clutter in our hearts. (I will interject my personal thoughts here: Some may argue that we are to love and serve our brothers and sisters in Christ and be witnesses of Christ to the unsaved around us in addition to the above. I agree. BUT, I believe that these things will come about in our lives as we focus on our families and draw closer to His heart. Then those actions of love and evangelism will flow out of our love for Him and our close relationship to Him rather than a "works" mentality, which clutters up another room in our hearts. I hope I'm making sense.)

Receive the Father's heart that delights in us just as we are, quiets us with His love and rejoices over us with singing.

Zeph 3:17
The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
KJV

May you be blessed as you mediate on His love and acceptance of you today.

I'm coming back...really

Things have been a bit crazy around here the last week or so. I was at a wonderful women's retreat this last weekend and I plan to sit down and process some of the things that were spoken of there here on this blog. Hopefully you will be blessed by it as well.

I hope to get back into blogging the end of this week or the beginning of next week. Until then, thank you for stopping by and God bless...

ABC's for life

This was on the wall of a friend's house and they graciously wrote it out for me to have in my home. It's on the side of my refrigerator facing the kitchen sink, so I can easily look over and read one as I'm rinsing dishes. I thought you might enjoy it as well.

Accept life's circumstances you find yourself in. God knows the details of your life and His grace is sufficient to meet your need.

Begin the day with God. As soon as you get out of bed, turn your thoughts heavenward. Thank God for a new day and the strength to arise.

Count your blessings. They are innumerable. Praise God that you have work to do, even if it may seem to overwhelm you. It would be worse to not be able to work at all.

Do your best and leave the rest. Whether God has given you one, two, or five talents. He only asks that we do our best with what He has given us.

Eat healthful foods, including lots of raw (and cooked) fruits and vegetables. We all know that too much sugar and too many fats are not good for our bodies.

Flee temptation. Whether you struggle with wrong eating habits, wrong thinking patterns, or harmful reading material, go to God for strength to overcome that which would drag you down.

Get medical or nutritional help if your condition merits it. Physical problems make hard to maintain emotional stability.

Heart-to-heart talks with a spouse or friend can be a source of strength and encouragement. Although the situation may not change, sharing with another can change our outlook toward the situation.

Invite friends, happy thoughts, and God's Spirit into your life. Discourage negative thoughts and self-pity.

Just be yourself. Your strengths and weaknesses can make a beautiful pattern if given to the Master Weaver.

Keep your focus on Jesus. "Look to self, you'll be depressed. Look to others, you'll be distressed. Look to Christ and you'll be blessed."

Lean hard on the Lord. When everything you try fails to lift your spirits, just keep walking by faith. Trust that the Lord is walking beside you in the vale, and will lead you into the sunshine again.

Memorize Scripture. Saturate your mind with God's Word and His precious promises.

Notice and appreciate small blessings- a letter in the mail, a bird singing, a flower blooming, a smile from a family member.

Overcoming depression is not something that happens overnight. Each victory will help you another to win.

Pray without ceasing. Have a prayerful attitude as you go about your work and converse with the Lord.

Quietly and earnestly fall on you knees in prayer. Be honest with God and tell Him exactly how you are struggling and that you desire to overcome.

Reach out to others. It helps to get our minds off ourselves, and be interested in the feelings and experiences of others.

Sing a song, not only with your voice, but with your mind and heart also. Singing, like praying, helps even though we do not feel like doing it.

Take a walk. Walk briskly and breathe deeply. Tilt your face to the sky and drink in the sunshine and the beauty of the heavens.

Use time wisely. Tackle a job even if you don't feel like it. We don't always need to be accomplishing great tasks, but to just keep moving forward and getting something done.

Value friendship with family members and little children. Invest time in worthwhile projects or hobbies with them and you will be greatly rewarded.

Watch out for attitudes and thought patterns that feed depression. Refuse to let those thoughts govern your life.

Xamine your life before God. Pride and hidden rebellion can be hard to detect, but are sins that easily beset us.

Yield and surrender every part of your life to God- your will, mind, body, soul, thoughts, desires and circumstances. The more we surrender, the greater our peace.

Zealously follow after God and His ways, not allowing your heart to become languid and cold.

Homemade Bread

Yes, I make my own bread...sometimes. Now, just because I make bread doesn't mean that you have to make your own bread. In fact, it has NOTHING to do with whether you are a good mother or not, as I'm finding out via the blogging world that some insinuate. You may actually be a better mother for not making your own bread and giving your children store-bought bread and canned soup...especially if that means that you are spending that extra time with your children.

I just like to make food from scratch, but life sometimes doesn't allow for that. Therefore, there are times that I buy bread. In fact, the other weekend, our family was going to get together with another family and roast brats over the fire. My husband was talking on the phone to the other Mr. and said that we could bring some of our store-bought bread over as we didn't have buns. He proceeded to jokingly start giving my husband a hard time that we were "slipping" in buying store bread. Just then my husband heard his wife telling him that they only had store bread to contribute too! Got 'im!

But today, I was able to get a batch of bread made. I'm finally pleased with the product after years of frustration over crumbly bread. It's such a great feeling. I used dough enhancer and follow all the recipe's tips for "better consistency", but to no avail. I would make the loaves, yet inside I was wishing I had the stuff from the store that you can see through.

Now, I followed the advice of a friend and I have a secret ingredient to share with those of you that want to take the plunge of making your own bread, or have been frustrated with your bread-making results. I have tried this ingredient now with probably 10 batches of bread and they have all consistently worked beautifully.

Here it is...

Are you ready??




Potato flakes.

There. The secret is out.

For once, I can cut thin slices of whole wheat bread without it crumbling to bits. No more sandwiches that have to have 1" slices of bread so it doesn't fall apart with each bite...but when you have such a large sandwich, you can't fit it in your mouth anyway. It's like a dream come true, I tell you!

Just add 3/4-1 cup of potato flakes in with your flour for a 5-6 loaf batch and it works like a charm.

Happy baking!

Always wanting more

I know that I'm kind of late getting into this discussion, but there is quit a hubbub about this article. Two articles were written, one by a man and the other by a woman, regarding career women. There are quite a few people talking about it with a wide variety of opinions. If you are interested in reading what other bloggers and their commenters are saying, I know of three: here, here, and here.

As I have been pondering this, various things have come to mind. A verse came to remembrance today that I think relates to this whole issue.

Gen 3:6
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it
was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of
the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he
did eat.
KJV

I have a notation in my Bible above this verse, "We as women are always wanting more- more wisdom, more knowledge, more things." Eve desired more and it cost her...deeply. So wanting more is nothing new. It was around with the first lady on earth.

I painfully know that this is true for me. I am always wanting more and frustrated with myself over my discontentment. One commenter mentioned how they know of many housewives that are pushing and pushing for their husbands to the brink of exhaustion to bring home more money so that they can have more of what they want. Ouch.

On the other hand, there are others out there commenting that women want it all. They want the perfect family, with a homemade meal on the table, to have their children involved in every activity under the sun, every gadget and gizmo, and have a very "fulfilling" career outside the home. The argument is that women can't have it all and something needs to give. Of course there are others that say that women should be able to have it all.

I appreciated what Spunky had to say about her heart, focus and goals being towards home both before, during and after her children have left home. Some say they can do this while having a full-time career, but I know that I can't.

In Molly's post, and in subsequent comments, it is clear that it isn't popular in conservative Christian circles to mention that you aren't feeling 100% fulfilled as a SAHM (Stay at home mother). There was a sense of relief by some commenters that it's OK to even say such a thing. Being a SAHM IS hard and doesn't always feel fulfilling. If you allow your thoughts to go down that hole, you can feel down-right trapped. But if you acknowledge that your role is a God-given one and challenge yourself in developing the "art" of homemaking (and homeschooling, if you have decided to do that), it is very fulfilling and takes much creativity and effort.

One other point that was brought up that caught my eye was that we shouldn't try to fit into a man-made idea of what a woman's role is. We need to follow what God calls each of us to do. OK. It sounds good and there is definitely an element of truth there. My first red-flag is that God would never call us to do something that goes against His Word. God does call women to be keepers at home. Granted there is a wide spectrum of opinions regarding what that entails, but caution is needed, that is for sure. It would be quite easy for someone to have an unGodly desire and twist it to say, "God called me to this."

When I was working in my favorite position at an occupational therapist, was I 100% fulfilled? No. Even then I wanted more. I loved that job and it still holds warm, fuzzy feelings for me, but was it my all-in-all? Absolutely not. I still wanted to be married, to have a family, live out in the boondocks and be self-sufficient.

There are sacrifices for goals. Just a few months ago, my husband and I seriously discussed my taking a part-time therapist position. It was good money and we reasoned that it would be good for me to maintain my therapy skills and help us in some other goals we have. But the many details for it to work, just didn't and in our hearts, we realized that it was not God's plan, at least for the time-being with situations as they are. It was after this realization, that I was talking to a well-meaning, professional lady who works in public education. She encouraged me to consider a part-time job so that it was easier for me to homeschool as I would get "out" a bit. I thought of this much during my wrestling over the job option and could tell her with confidence that having a job outside the home would NOT make it easier for me. I would just be heaping on more responsibility on myself and my husband that we didn't need. All of a sudden there would be babysitter scheduling, what to do if the children were sick, planning meals when I'm gone, trying to have a meal on the table for supper after working all day, trying to schedule homeschooling into a shorter week... No, it wouldn't make things easier. It would make things harder. There are sacrifices to make and seasons of life to realize and embrace.

It seems that this notion of women always wanting more is not a totally bad thing...if it is desiring more of God and what He wants. It is the wanting of more of God, a deeper relationship with Him, a more consistent Christian walk, a deeper understanding of Scripture, a more intimate worship of Him throughout my day, wanting to love Him more by practically loving my family more...it is in not being satisfied with my walk with the Lord that keeps me yearning and growing in Him.

There is a dichotomy of contentment and discontent in this life. We are never going to "have it all" or "do it all" in this life. If we try, we will either do justice to nothing that we do, or worse, we will fail miserably. Learning to be content with things of this world is a very valuable skill...and one that I have much to learn. Holy discontentment is what keeps us longing for heaven. To learn to be content regarding things of this world and discontent with our walk with Christ is a life-long process, but well worth the efforts.

I feel like these thoughts are not well organized and are quite disjointed, but I hope that you are able to grasp a bit of what I'm trying to convey. Your thoughts and opinions are welcome.

It's a love/hate thing

My husband and I were blissfully married in November of 1999. We were settling in to married life and for my birthday in January, I mentioned that I would like to go to the animal shelter and look at puppies. Of course we found the cutest black furball which they had determined was half German Shepherd and half Samoyed (you know, the sled dog breed). They warned of of how much exercise this dog would need and invited us back for the puppy social. We never went, by the way.

We affectionately called her, Grizzly. She just looked like a grizzly bear. She would crawl under the couch and you couldn't find her because she is totally coal black. The only thing going for us was that her eyes would reflect light. If she was curled up with her head down, forget finding her under there.

She stayed in a very comfy "kennel" in the garage and we got our first tastes of being rudely awakened by a very lonely dog. Thankfully for her, we ended up moving to a 160 acre farm a few months later and eventually she learned to stay on our property and therefore could be off the dreaded cable line.

She really does look like a grizzly bear, which is helpful if a stranger sees her from a distance. The watchdog in her is basically useless the closer the stranger comes. She just sees another person that she can cheerfully greet onto our property.

With her black, thick fur, she relishes 40 below temperatures. It is a rare instance in which you will find her in her dog house...maybe during a sleet storm. She can usually be found in the dead of winter sleeping on top of the snow and it doesn't melt under her.

When we got our first set of kittens, she loved them uncontrollably. They hissed and swung at her nose with sharp claws. Grizzly wouldn't give up. Then we saw it one day... the cat sleeping on Grizzly out on the grass. Of course the cat wouldn't have stayed there if he would have known that anyone was watching, but alas, Grizzly's affection won out and they were friends.

This happens every time we get kittens. Grizzly is just a bit overbearing and they want to show her who is boss. Oh reeeeaaaaly.

So today, this is what I found...




Yep, they are licking each other in complete dog/cat affection. Grizzly won out again.

God's Face

This afternoon my children were begging to walk down the gravel road to pick rosehips. I finally conceeded. When we arrived at the spot where the rosehips were ripe, I told them to stay there and I would walk up around the bend and get our mail. When I returned, my 5 year old daughter started in on her usual chatter.

"God was watching over us while you were gone and keeping us safe, wasn't He Mommy?" (I was only moments away mind you, but I have often told them about safety regarding strangers.)

"Yes."

"God was watching over you while you were getting the mail, wasn't He Mommy?"

"Yes."

"God is watching over everybody all over the place at the same time, isn't He Mommy?"

"Yes."

"God has a BIIIIIIG face, doesn't He Mommy?"

"Uhhhh...........yes."

Busy Days

Days have been filled to overflowing here lately. Hence, my poorly updated blog.

I have zucchini coming out my ears, so I have been canning and freezing it. I have shredded, sliced and cubed zucchini in the freezer and canned squash as well as another experiment: pineapple zucchini. I got these recipes in the comments section of this post. The zucchini crisp listed below is pretty good I think. We've had it twice now. I just canned pineapple zucchini. The person who gave the recipe said that you can't tell the difference between this and regular crushed pineapple in recipes. We'll see, but my daughter licked the pot after it simmered and she said it tasted like pineapple. (Mom, can you email me your pineapple bar recipe??)

Zucchini Crisp My Way
Topping:
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
5 oz. (5/8 cup) butter or margarine

Filling:6 to 8 cups zucchini, peeled and cubed
2/3 cup lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan. Prepare the pastry topping by combining the flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Cut in the butter or margarine until crumbly. Set aside.

In a medium-sized pot, cook the zucchini in lemon juice until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the sugar, nutmeg and the teaspoon of cinnamon. Simmer for about a minute then add a half cup of the saved pastry topping. Simmer until this thickens stirring constantly. Let cool a bit. Pour the zucchini mixture into the baking dish. Sprinkle the topping over the zucchini. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Zucchini Pineapple
1 gallon ground zucchini, green or yellow
1 1/2 cups lemon juice
2 1/2 cups sugar
46 ounce can unsweetened pineapple juice
2 tsp. pineapple extract

Mix together all ingredients except extract; simmer 20 minutes. Add extract and stir well. Fill hot jars according to manufacturer's directions. Process in hot water bath 20 minutes. Makes 9 pints.

My husband graciously helped me can 38 quarts of peaches and I have canned and froze green beans and broccoli. The tomatoes have started ripening. I can hardly wait to dehydrate some of the roma's for sun-dried tomatoes. I have some scrumptious recipes that call for them.

I'm getting revved up to have a regular school schedule. We've been trying to establish a routine, so within a couple weeks we'll be ready for how the next year will go. My struggle at this time is figuring out how to do school with a 20 month old wanting to destroy the house. I'm toying with alternative schedules, and trying to have multiple containers with activities to occupy his time. I've gotten some good ideas here, here and here.

In addition to a school schedule, we've been desperately trying to get into a chore schedule. My older two have their list of chores and are expected to know their chores and do them fairly independently. My "house destroyer" helps me with my chore list. He adores filling the washer and dryer and helping carry folded clothes to various rooms with me. Now that we've been doing it for a month or so, it's finally becoming more tolerable. Less-thandesirablee attitudes have surfaced more than once in the children and adults in this house. It's amazing how "work" brings it up from the depths of the Adamic nature. I appreciated what a friend told me that she tells her children, "Work is a major part of life. It would be better if you decided that you were going to like it. Otherwise life is going to be quite miserable for you."

Also, our farmette has started. We added on a lean-to on our shop for a "barn" this spring. We are now proud owners of 6 rabbits and 4 kittens. We got two male and two female kittens, so hopefully we can get some to stick around. We were proud to see that one of the females got a mouse already today. That's their job. They have to earn their keep. Talk is that we may get a pig next spring. I'm not sure what to think about that yet, but the bacon sounds good.

Off to pick more zucchini...

Heaven

I can hardly wait to be in Heaven. What a glorious place to be; worshipping Jesus with the saints that have gone before and the throngs of angels; bowing to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords saying "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!!" over and over again. Can you see it?

I had someone tell me once that she can't dwell on thoughts of heaven too much because there was a time in her life when she did and it just made her discontent with where God had her now and what God had her doing in this life. That did give me pause to think. Is there something to the saying that "one can be too heavenly minded to be any earthly good"? I just don't think so. To long to be Home with Jesus keeps my focus on Him. It helps to keep my perspective right. There is a precious balance between being content with where God has us for the time-being and a discontentment because we are not at home with Jesus. This world ISN'T my home. I AM just passing through. I am part of the Kingdom of God and I am currently living in a foreign land.

How Beautiful Heaven Must Be

We read of a place that's called Heaven,

It's made for the pure and the free;

These truths in God's Word He hath given,

How beautiful Heaven must be.

Chorus:

How beautiful Heaven must be,

Sweet home of the happy and free;

Fair haven of rest for the weary,

How beautiful Heaven must be.

In Heaven no drooping nor pining,

No wishing for elsewhere to be;

God's light is forever there shining,

How beautiful Heaven must be.

Chorus

Pure waters of life there are flowing,

And all who will drink may be free;

Rare jewels of splendor are glowing,

How beautiful Heaven must be.

Chorus.

The angels so sweetly are singing,

Up there by the beautiful sea;

Sweet chords from their gold harps are ringing,

How beautiful Heaven must be.

Chorus.

by A.S. Bridgewater

Public Domain

And then there is this hymn that is so precious as well.

My Saviour First of All

When my life work is ended, and I cross the swelling tide,

When the bright and glorious morning I shall see;

I shall know my Redeemer when I reach the other side,

And His smile will be the first to welcome me.

Chorus:

I shall know Him, I shall know Him,

As redeemed by His side I shall stand;

I shall know Him, I shall know Him,

by the print of the nails in His hand.

Oh, the soul thrilling rapture when I view His blessed face,

And the luster of His kindly beaming eye;

How my full heart will praise him for the mercy, love, and grace,

That prepares for me a mansion in the sky.

Chorus

Oh, the dear ones in glory, how they beckon me to come,

And Our parting at the river I recall;

To the sweet vales of Eden they will sing my welcome home,

But I long to meet my Saviour first of all.

Chorus

Thro' the gates to the city in a robe of spotless white,

He will lead me where no tears shall ever fall;

In the glad song of ages I shall mingle with delight;

But I long to meet my Saviour first of all.

Chorus

Fanny Crosby

Public Domain

My favorite part about this hymn is the fact that even though heaven will be wonderful to see, along with reuniting with loved ones, the main joy and longing will be to see Jesus, our precious Saviour.

Hmmm..."How beautiful heaven must be..."

God's peace versus the world's peace

A few days ago I came across this verse in my quiet time with the Lord, as I'm going through the book of John.

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the
world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be
afraid.
KJV

So, there's true peace from the Lord and false peace from the world. I had heard this before and even acknowledged it, but a light bulb went off in my head. It spurred my curiosity.

So how do we know when we are feeling true peace versus false peace? Gotta love the PC Study Bible. Here's a couple commentaries on this verse.

John 14:25-27
The world's gifts concern only the body and time; Christ's
gifts enrich the soul for eternity: the world gives lying vanities, and that
which will cheat us; Christ gives substantial blessings, which will never fail
us: the world gives and takes; Christ gives a good part that shall never be
taken away.
The peace which Christ gives is infinitely more valuable than
that which the world gives. The world's peace begins in ignorance, consists with
sin, and ends in endless troubles; Christ's peace begins in grace, consists with
no allowed sin, and ends at length in everlasting peace. As is the difference
between a killing lethargy and a reviving refreshing sleep, such is the
difference between Christ's peace and the world's.(from Matthew Henry's
Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database.
Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

"A killing lethargy" reminded me of when some say that those in overt sin eventually seer their conscience, accepting the world's peace as a substitute for the real thing.

John 14:27
1. Not as the objects which men commonly pursue-pleasure, fame,
wealth. They leave care, anxiety, remorse. They do not meet the desires of the
immortal mind, and they are incapable of affording that peace which the soul
needs.

2. Not as the men of the world give. They salute you with empty
and flattering words, but their professed friendship is often reigned and has no
sincerity. You cannot be sure that they are sincere, but I am.

3. Not as systems of philosophy and false religion give. They profess to give peace, but it is not real. It does not still the voice of conscience; it does not take away sin; it does not reconcile the soul to God.

4. My peace is such as meets all the wants of the soul, silences the alarms of conscience, is fixed and sure amid all external changes, and will abide in the hour of death and forever. How desirable, in a world of anxiety and care, to possess this peace! and how should all who have it not, seek that which the world can neither give nor take away! (from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft)

To have such peace with the Lord, that you are ready to die, without fear or thinking "Am I truly in right standing with God?"

Many questions arise for me.

How do we relate to one that is not walking with the Lord (they may be of another religion all together) and says that they are at peace?

How do we explain to someone that has never experienced the peace of Christ, what it is like?

What about the one that apparently did walk with the Lord and is now walking in overt, Biblically-stated sin and claims that they are "at peace"?

I suppose the analysis of deception is relevant here. A person that is deceived doesn't know they are deceived because they are deceived.

Phil 4:7
And the peace of God, which passeth all
understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

KJV

In some ways, this verse makes it even more "sticky". It passes all understanding. We can't put words around it and package it with a bow. It is much deeper than that.

So when we are to "let the peace of God rule in [our] hearts" (Col 3:15a), how do we know if we are experiencing true, Godly peace? It passes all understanding. It's like trying to explain to someone how you knew when you had met your spouse and you were going to spend the rest of your life with them.

"I just knew." (with a huge smile)

The singles that you are talking to give you blank stares or say, "Yea, right. Now tell us really how you knew!"

"No. Honestly. I just KNEW."

"Ok, Ok. Now tell us the nuts and bolts of how you knew."

"That's all I can tell you. I just knew." (another huge smile)

How do I know when I'm at peace with God? I just know...with a deep, restful, beyond understanding knowing. And it seems that the longer that the "Lord and I walk through the fields together", my spirit is more and more sensitive as to whether I am at peace with Him. He is faithful to lead and guide, bringing me back to an ever deeper closeness with Himself, when I have begun to drift or made a decision that was not His best.

He is SO good. There is no better feeling on earth than being at complete peace with God our Father.

Sewing modest clothing

I have seen post after post from women that are frustrated at trying to purchase decent clothing for themselves and their children, specially their daughters. We have become a culture that wants to flaunt our bodies. In the process, clothing designers have moved that philosophy down to even our children...and people are buying them.

It is sad that at 4 and 5 years of age, my husband and I are having to teach our children to look away and guard their eyes when there are those walking around stores in little more than bikinis. It is a skill that they will need to utilize for the rest of their lives. "Oh, be careful little eyes what you see..."

I understand that there are different perspectives on what is modest, but I am simply presenting here a few ideas that we have incorporated.

Though this post has the potential to get into quite a debate, my heart is to share that it is possible to sew modest dresses for your daughters and yourselves (I'm talking to women here although I'm sure there's men out there that may want to tackle such a project as well.) if that is on your heart. I am here to say, "Rah! Rah! Rah! Rah! You! Can! Do! It!"

I haven't been sewing clothes for too long. Maybe 5 years or so. In that amount of time I have learned tons. In fact I just learned how to put in an invisible zipper. Hint: you need a special foot on your sewing machine that makes it really easy. For the most part, follow the pattern, and you will learn basic techniques that transfer to most sewing projects. Of course there's always tricks to the trade as they say, but you can do quite well without them.

When I was in high school, I made a quilt and some other smaller projects in home economics class. I will never forget what I was taught there: use lots of pins and a good sewer will be a good riper. I don't see myself as a great sewer yet, but I have done my fair share of ripping out seams and pins are my friends even though it takes me a bit longer. The finished product is much more satisfying for me.

Here is a jean jumper dress that I made some time ago. It is starting to get worn-looking, but my daughter loves it. I put daisy buttons on for fun. I can find shirts to wear underneath at Walmart or garage sales. I also have had her wear pants as she is quite an active child! I know some make pantaloons. I have considered that, but now that my daughter is 5, she likes the thin sweatpants that I find cheap. I just got a pattern at Walmart or JoAnn Fabric and lengthened the skirt.



Here is a dress that I recently made. I got the pattern here. They do a great job and I've been more than happy with their products.


Here is the most recent dress, hot off the press. This type takes longer because you are basically making two dresses; a regular dress with a jumper over the top. But, I really like them, so every once in awhile I do it.

I hope that your are encouraged to give sewing a try if you are frustrated with what is out in clothing stores. Like I mentioned, I'm not the best seamstress out there, but if someone has questions, I'd be happy to try to help you.

"Praise the Lord!" and flowers

My 5 year old daughter absolutely LOVES flowers. She is bringing me flowers at least a couple times a day. I enjoy it so much. When I'm driving home, I often stop to pick up the mail on our main road. While I'm walking across the road, she jumps out to pick a couple flowers that are in the ditch. She knows where every flower is on our property and she is the first to notice any new ones that sprout up. She must be my mother and grandmother's heir!

In the last few weeks we have really noticed our need for rain around here. The lawn looks ratty because we are afraid we'll kill it totally if we mow. In some ways it's pretty. The daisies have started blooming in the grass again. So last week my children were in their rooms for nap time. My daughter doesn't take a nap so often anymore, but she needs to rest so that mommy can rest. After 20 minutes or so, she comes out of her room with a bouquet of flowers for me.

"Did you go out your window to get these?" (Her window is only 2' off the ground. Great for fire escaping. Not so great for "fun" escapes.)

"Yes! And mommy look at this one! It's so pretty. I got it out of the garden and this one I got in the grass by the trees and this one was growing by the house...."

What could I say? They WERE pretty.

She also loves the garden. She is forever saying, "Mom! Come out here! I have to show you something!" So I go out and she jumps in excitement at the zucchini, the peas or the broccoli.

Being the dramatist that she is, the same day she went through her window to get me flowers, she came out of her room again and said, "Praise the Lord, it's going to rain! Mom, I looked out my window and it's dark over our house and PRAISE THE LORD it's going to rain!"

And you know, she was right. After weeks of not a drop of rain, we got a gully washer. The thunder woke my 18 month old from his nap and my other son woke up so everyone was awake and watching the wonderful, nourishing rain. My 18 month old went about crazy. He's a slow one for talking, but he was screeching and pointing for me to follow him to the window. When I complied, he would climb up the couch and up into the window sill to screech and point some more. If I walked away, the sequence started all over again until I followed him back to the window.

There's no doubt about it. Praise the Lord for His love for us in the big and the little things of this life!

Ps 34:1-3

I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall
continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the
humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
O magnify the LORD with me, and let
us exalt his name together.

KJV

Companion Planting

A few weeks ago I wrote this post about building our raised bed gardens. Since then the majority of the garden has gone hog wild and it has been so much fun to watch those plants grow! I had heard about companion planting before, but had never tried to implement it. Well, this spring I had ordered a couple books on companion planting, but this book is by far my favorite. Sally Jean Cunningham has done an excellent job of writing a fun, informative and inspiring book called Great Garden Companions. I devoured it and tried to incorporate most of her ideas. There are going to be some changes next year, but overall I'm thrilled with how my garden is growing. Hopefully we will have trellises inbetween the boxes for viney crops and flowers to grow on next year to utilize space better and give it an added flare of fun. And, I'm going to try starting my flowers for the boxes from seed to save some money, for a homeschool educational project and just for fun.

My pictures do not really show it well, but it may give you a bit of an idea of how things are going. Even though my boxes are 4' x 48', it is divided into 4' x 8' sections. This section has broccoli, cauliflower, asters and marigolds. We just picked our first head of broccoli for supper last night and I'm going to have to get much of it cut and in the freezer tomorrow.

This one is quite hard to see, but there are peas growing up a wire trellis on the north side of the section, then a watermelon plant that is taking over with onions, asters, zinnias, marigolds and my daughter's geranium. Oh, and there were radishes interspersed too. You can see the soaker hose coming out the end of the box. That has saved me MUCH time in watering!
Here are my tomatoes with basil peaking up between the plants. In the past we have used cattle panels for trellising up the tomatoes, but it just didn't happen this year. They are sturdy, and work wonderfully. You just stack the panels 3 high with about 1' inbetween layers and use 2x4's or something for a frame. They are a bit hard to explain, but really quite simple. I'll have a picture next year! You can see white PVC piping at the base of the plants. I't 6' pipe that is cut in 6'-8' lengths. I use those around the new scrawny plants when I first put them in the ground. That way they are protected from the wind. I haven't figured out how to start tomato plants from seed without them being scrawny and leggy, but they seem to take off just fine once they are in the ground and they've always produced for me. I hear that some people have problems with cutworm, but I've never had that problem when using these around the base of the plants.
And here is the "3 sisters". It's kind of silly to plant corn in raised bed gardens. I'm going to have to stand on a ladder to reach the corn, but I just HAD to try it! You plant corn seeds in a 2' circle. When they come up a bit, plant pole beans just outside the corn. Then plant squash inbetween. The pole beans are growing up the corn and the squash is a ground cover for weeds. It works beautifully, but the squash really needs more room than a 4' x 8' section. It's going over the sides and into my potatoes and broccoli. Oh well. Next year those trellises between the boxes will really help.
So there you have a brief overview of some companion planting techniques. I hope it's helpful for anyone that may be considering such a venture. It is tons of fun, but you have to get over the fact that it's not a traditional way of gardening. It's cheerful to have all the flowers in amongst the vegetables and there's good reason for having them, but for those that have never seen such a technique, it may take some getting used to.

Happy gardening!

The "Lost Forty"

Yesterday we took an excursion to a little known treasure of a state park. The "Lost Forty" is 144 acres of land that was surveyed incorrectly years ago. The team of surveyors at the time apparently didn't want to go out in the cold rain of November and thought that a nearby lake was larger than it was. Hence the 144 acres was never logged. Because of that, it is a rare look into what this area looked like before the loggers came. 350 year old red and white pines tower above you as you meander on the walking trail. A couple of the trees my husband and I could barely touch hands around the trunk.

The children just loved it! Sincer there wasn't anyone around, we let them run down the paths as long as they stayed in sight. We had a regular homeschool field trip, learning to identify the trees, what happens to trees when a forest fire goes through (a fire went through part of the area years ago and you can tell which way the fire was heading by the marks on the base of the tree trunk) and the history of the area. Of course pictures don't do justice to the magnificence of the area, but I had to try!

We were the only ones there when we first arrived and by the time we left, only one other vehicle was there, but we never saw them, and a van was pulling up. It was amazing to us that on a national holiday, no one was really there. Yet, you really could get lost getting to the Lost Forty, with lots of gravel roads. It feels like you are in the middle of nowhere, yet what a special middle-of-nowhere place it is!

Ps 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the
firmament sheweth his handywork.
KJV

Blogs of Beauty

Sallie at A Gracious Home is again hosting the Blogs of Beauty Awards. Nominations are open until July 9th. This is a great way to get the word out about your favorite blogs by Christian women and find out about other wonderfully gifted and God-fearing ladies in bloggerland.

Have fun nominating and browsing!

Times have changed

My husband's mother is quite the technology tackler. She had Web TV for emailing for a few years. Then she was getting frustrated with that. She tried a laptop and now has a pretty high-tech deskstop with a 19" monitor. I won't tell you how old she is, but suffice it to say that she has some years under her belt and most her age have never understood what the world wide web is.
We got her a web cam a few months ago so we could see each other when we talked as we live about 3 1/2 hours from each other. It took a bit of practice, but she is doing great.

A couple days ago, my husband was talking to her over the internet and she got a phone call. I had to chuckle when I heard her say, "I'm on the web cam with my son...yea, I'll call you back later."

Twenty years ago, I don't think very many people would have had a clue what that was, and most of her relatives and friends her age probably still don't.

Then the conversation went to my husband walking her through doing a web search for a new part for her dishwasher.

"Now type this in the Google box."
"Now do you see this?"
"Click there."
"Scroll down."
"Now which model do you have?"
"Is that the part you need?"

They found the part and he had her save the page on her favorites.

I thought it was all pretty amazing.

Sandbox

When we built our house, we had to haul in sand for under the cement slab. Needless to say, the front of our house turned into an excellent sandbox.

Now that we are planning on putting a patio on the front, we thought we better build a regular one for them, so last week we put one together. The children all helped my husband with bringing screws and support boards.

Today they were burying themselves up to their rib cage in the sand.

Like father, like son

Last night after supper, my husband said with a smile as he often does, "That was great, honey. Thank you!" Then, as he had projects to attend to right away, he got up from the table and headed outside.

Fifteen seconds later, my 4 year old son said as he was leaving the table to follow after his dad, "That was great, honey. Thank you!"

I smiled. My daughter giggled. It was so cute.

Sick and praising the Lord

The last few weeks have been a bit of a blur. I have been sick much.

Yes, we are expecting baby #4 in our house around the end of January and we are all very excited!

Despite times when I have felt too awful to get out of bed and having the flu over the weekend, God has been with me through it all. I admit to having to remind myself of that fact.

I have been blessed with friends that have come to help me cook and clean at times. My wonderful hubby has burnt the candle at both ends to keep up with work and cleaning the house. On Monday, a special friend came unexpectedly, folded my huge pile of laundry and brought lunch. I almost cried.

Today, praise the Lord, I am able to function!

Ps 34:1

I will bless the LORD at all times:

his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

KJV

Backrubs

Yes, my husband gives me wonderful backrubs. But if I am craving a backrub in the middle of the day when he is at work, I've found a tolerable option:

Just lay on the floor and your children will crawl all over you like a jungle gym.

It kind of works.