The Simple Woman's Daybook

Today I reflect on simple thoughts and simple pleasures. My leads are somewhat similar to others in The Simple Woman's Daybook group, yet a bit different as well.  

A picture to share...

Isn't this a lot like spring cleaning? Little Elijah (18 mos.) has cleaned up his room.

Outside my window...
A lone robin gathering nesting materials. I've watched this single robin for several days now. He is surely one who is preparing for his approaching family! I do hope whoever becomes Mrs. Robin will be appreciative of his diligent efforts.

Noticing the sound of...

My Beloved getting dressed for the day. We're off soon to look for a new front door! And that means lunch out, too. :-)

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Thankful for...
God's mission of mercy, that He continues to rescue me from myself.

Looking to the ways of my household...
Mostly the quiet rhythm of routine, but in addition I brushed down doors and door frames throughout the house. They're dark wood panel doors and really show collected dust. The panel doors upstairs in the bedrooms are painted white and the dust is almost invisible, but I knew it was there. It's hard to deny when the dust goes flying!

This coming week I'm looking forward to...
attending the oldest daughter's wedding of a homeschooling family that we haven't seen for awhile. A delightful family!

Thinking...

about the house about mile from us that burned this week, reminding me how temporal our homes on earth are. Praying for the family, that God will use the circumstance to draw them to Himself.
 

From the kitchen....

Minestrone soup, chock full of vegetables, and oh, so good on a chilly day!  I usually double or triple the recipe so we can have leftovers. Soup is so much better the next day!

1 bacon strip, diced

2/3 cup sliced smoked kielbasa or Polish sausage, quartered (sometimes I leave it out)

1 small onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup chopped carrot

2 tbsp chopped celery

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup canned diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can (5.5 oz) tomato juice

1/4 cup chopped zucchini

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp salt, optional

1/8 tsp pepper

1/3 cup canned pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup cooked elbow macaroni

1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

     In a large saucepan, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove to paper towel. In the drippings, saute sausage, onion and garlic for 3 minutes. Stir in the carrot and celery. Cook and stir 2 minutes longer or until sausage is lightly browned; drain.

      Stir in the broth, tomatoes, tomato juice, zucchini, and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in the beans and macaroni; heat through. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bacon.

     Yield: 2 servings     ~ from Cooking for 2 Magazine, Winter 2006

A thought from my Quiet Time....
Reading through the book of James and being reminded that the perfect result of trials that test my faith is that I may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. God’s Word tells me to consider such trials all joy. Joy?!  But how, in the midst of the difficulties and heartbreak that trials so often bring into my life, can I have fullness of joy?

By considering it joy. It starts as a willful attitude of my heart, regardless of my feelings. And that’s not to say it’s enjoyable or pleasurable or effortless or painless. It’s challenging. All commands of Scripture are. It’s not a natural response. Feelings are. But the major key to joy in my trials is how I consider it--where my thoughts go with it and about it. 

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.    ~James 1:2-4

Reflecting creativity, in His image…
Had another $10 off coupon for a fabric store, so I matched up a couple of pieces to coordinate with some fabric I already have. Sounds simple, I know, but nothing is really inconsequential.

I'm learning....
Continuing to work on the baby quilt and learning how to get points to keep their points!


Currently reading...

Almost finished the audio book, Defending Your Faith: An Introduction to Apologetics by R.C. Sproul. I've gleaned much from it, but I would like to get a hard copy and read it more closely. I listened to the book as I exercised on the treadmill and need to read more attentively, take notes, and gain more understanding. A bit to rouse your interest:

The Apologist's Task: Proof and Persuasion

Apologetics, however, does not just entail defense. It also involves offense, the positive task of constructing a case for Christianity that shows itself to be applicable to every culture, as well as being the only (and therefore the best) alternative to the world's philosophical and theological systems of thought. In other words, apologetics can be used to show that Christianity is true and that all non-Christian worldviews are false. The best way to go about constructing a case for the Christian faith is partly the concern of this book.

You may also enjoy reading what other simple women are saying and doing these days. Just click here to go to The Simple Woman's Daybook site. I'll be posting my journal on Saturdays. Do stop by again.

Having Faith~In Something

Sad Memories ~ Charles Rossiter 1854

As I've been listening to the audio book Defending Your Faith by R.C. Sproul, in which he uses rational inquiry and empirical evidence to postulate the existence of God, I often think of a young friend who gave up on her Christian faith a couple of years ago. I think of her more as her birthday is soon approaching, and wish I could take her back to the days before she was enticed away by a self-avowed atheist and declared that she no longer believes there is a God. She joined a group called Recovering from Religion, thinking that the myriad of problems she was having were caused by Christianity. Indeed, that may have been her error all along--mere religion and not a true, believing relationship with Jesus Christ, God's Son.

In Psalm 53 the psalmist says, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God,' ... God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there is anyone who understands, who seeks after God." 

My dear young friend understands so little about God. She says she is seeking truth, but she doesn't understand that God Himself is Truth. She wants to prove Him, but she is not pursuing Him, for He is not far off. If we draw near to him, He will draw near to us (James 4:8).

God through the Apostle Paul tells us in Acts 17:

The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each of us; for in Him we live and move and exist.

What my friend cannot understand, she does not accept. If we could wrap our meager minds around God, he would not be any bigger than we are. She wants her faith to be "based on evidence and reasoning that accords with her experience." Oh, my friend, the foundation of our faith cannot be our experience. It's the other way around. We interpret experiences based on our faith--be that faith in God or faith in reason. One may see death as the doorway to seeing Jesus face to face; another may see death as the end of existence. The experience, death, is the same. Faith is what makes the difference in how we interpret the experience. The real problem may be as Ravi Zacharias states in his book, Has Christianity Failed You that "It is actually a will seeking a reason to support it."

In reality, authentic atheists do not exist. The definition of an atheist is "one who denies the existence of god or gods." Someone or something rules each of us. We all set our faith somewhere--in a god, whatever we believe him or it to be. An atheist's faith is in reason or in himself or in whatever he chooses to rule him. That is an atheist's god. Paradoxical, to be sure. Even more ironic is that he defines himself by what he is not--forever drawn to the God which he shuns.

Our thoughts are not God's thoughts, nor are our ways His ways (Isaiah 55:8). I pray that my young friend will understand that the emptiness in her life (and much more is ahead with each approaching birthday without God than she can fathom) can only be filled with a vibrant faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that God will continue to draw her to Himself, for we cannot come to Him unless he draws us. I pray that He will open her eyes to see how she has been caught in The Enemy's snare as he seeks those whom he may devour.

My friend has moved hundreds of miles away and broken most contact, but I will email her soon and do more planting and some watering where others may have scattered other seed. Perhaps God will be merciful and rescue her from her desperate condition.

For it is the goodness and kindness of God that leads us to repentance (Rom. 2:4). I pray that in His mercy, His goodness and kindness would lead her back to Himself and that she will begin her next year re-birthed in him. Oh, the love that will not let us go!