Your Work Is Most Holy

Mothers of young children, your work is most holy. You are fashioning the destinies of immortal souls. The powers folded up in the little ones that you hushed to sleep in your bosoms last night are powers that shall exist forever. You are preparing them for their immortal destiny and influence. Be faithful. Take up your sacred burden reverently. Be sure that your heart is pure and that your life is sweet and holy.

~ J.R. Miller, Grace Gems 


Image ~ In the Nursery, Helen Allingham, 1848-1926

Deepen Our Home Affections

We thank You for this our earthly home. 

We thank You for the love that binds us together, 

For the refuge we find here from this world's enmities. 

Here we can trust each other, and are sure of each other's love. 

Deepen our home affections. 

Draw us closer together as a family. 

Make our home-life sweeter. 

Enable us to be more helpful to each other. 

Teach us patience in our family and in all our mingling together. 

Help us to find the best things in each other, 

And to give one to the other the best things of love we have in our hearts.

 ~ J. R. Miller, in Family Prayers for Thirteen Weeks

Image ~ Child at Prayer, Eastman Johnson 1873

public domain via Wikimedia Commons

A High Honor

It is a high honor for a woman to be chosen from among all womankind

to be the wife of a good and true man.

~ J.R. Miller in Family

Image ~ Midsummer Night, Daniel Ridgway Knight

1839-1924, public domain, Wikimedia

The Secret

Warwick Castle, Giovanni Antonio Canal Canaletto 1697-1768

The Christian's peace is not found in a place where there is no trouble—it is something which enters the heart and makes it independent of all outside conditions. 

In the ruins of many old English castles, a well is found down deep among the foundations. Thus water was provided for use in the castle in time of siege. The enemy might cut off the streams which ordinarily supplied the people in the castle with water. They might shut the gates, so that no one could go outside. But the defenders within the walls cared not for any siege while the well in the foundation gave its copious supply of pure, fresh water. 

So it is with the Christian, in whose heart the peace of God dwells. He is not dependent upon outside conditions and circumstances, for he carries in himself the secret of his joy, hope, peace, and strength.

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee. 

Isaiah 26:3

~ J.R. Miller 1840-1912 
from Gracegems.org

The Richest and Best Things

God has so constituted us that in loving and caring for our own children the richest and best things in our natures are drawn out. Many of the deepest and most valuable lessons ever learned are read from the pages of unfolding child-life. We best understand the feelings and affections of God toward us when we bend over our own child and see in our human parenthood a faint image of the divine Fatherhood.

~ J.R. Miller, in Homemaking

Painting ~ Hush, John Henry Lorimer 1856-1936

Simple Goodness in the Home

Feeding Time

It is necessary that the whole home-life and home-spirit should be in harmony with the teaching and training, if these are to make holy impressions. Simple goodness is more important than the finest theories of home government, most thoroughly and faithfully carried out. There is nothing in the daily routine of the family life which is unimportant. Indeed, it is ofttimes the things we think of as without influence, which will be found to have made the deepest impression on the tender lives of the household.

The Home Life ~ J.R. Miller,1882

Painting ~ Feeding Time, Eugene Zampighi 1859-1944
Wiki Commons public domain

Live the One Day Well

“The very best we can do for any day, for the perfecting of our life as a whole—is to live the one day well.” –J.R. Miller

I think this shall become my goal for 2015. This is to be a year of change for me and My Beloved as the days unfold. Some disappoints lie ahead, yet some gladness as well awaits us. I want to live each of those days well.

And so, beginning afresh as time allows, hoping to bring glory to My Heavenly Father as He leads me homeward and upward....and perhaps encouraging another soul who might linger on these pages.

Image ~ Vintage New Year's Postcard,  David Berry

CC BY 2.0 via flickr

Walking Toward the Beginning

I resonated with this thought from J.R. Miller. Perhaps some of you do as well. ~ ~ ~

Old age ought to be the most beautiful period of a good life. Yet not always is it so. There are elements in the experience of old age which make it hard to keep the inner life ever in a state of renewal. The bodily powers are decaying. The senses are growing dull. It is lonely. There is in memory a record of empty cribs and vacant chairs, of sacred mounds in the cemetery. The work of life has dropped from the hands. It is not easy to keep the joy in living in the heart in such experiences. Yet that is the problem of true Christian living. While the outward man decays, the inward man should be renewed day by day. This is possible, too, as many Christian old people have proved. Keeping near the heart of Christ is again, as always, the secret. Faith gives a new meaning to life. It is seen no more in its relation to earth and what is gone, but in its relation to immortality and what is to come. The Christian old man’s best days are not behind him, but always before him. He is walking, not toward the end, but toward the beginning. The dissolving of the earthly tabernacle is a pledge that the house not made with hands is almost ready.

~ J.R. Miller

Painting ~ Teasing the Kitten, Joseph Clark 1834-1926
via iamachild.com

Divine Blessing

We need the divine blessing on everything we have and everything we do. Surely there is no work, no plan, no undertaking in all the range of the possible things we may do in the longest and busiest lifetime, on which we so much desire God's benediction as upon our home. In nothing else are so many sacred interests and such momentous responsibilities involved. Nowhere else in life do we meet such difficult and delicate duties. In nothing else is failure so disastrous.

~ J.R. Miller in Homemaking (1882)

Painting ~ Mother and Child 1885, Jones Francis Coates 1857-1932
public domain via Wiki Commons

Flowers Out of Sorrow

There is sorrow in our church family. A sister in Christ, who has suffered much, lingers near death's door.

Much of the most beautiful life in this world comes out of sorrow. As "fair flowers bloom upon rough stalks," so many of the fairest flowers of human life grow upon the rough stalks of suffering. We see that those who in heaven wear the whitest robes, and sing the loudest songs of victory, are they who have come out of great tribulation. Heaven's highest places are filling, not from earth's homes of glad festivity and tearless joy—but from its chambers of pain; its valleys of struggle where the battle is hard; and its scenes of sorrow, where pale cheeks are wet with tears, and where hearts are broken. The God of the Bible—is the God of the bowed down, whom he lifts up into his strength.

J.R. Miller ~ Grace Gems

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 23:6

Image ~  The Rose Garden of Retiro Park in Madreid (Spain)
 by Felipe Gabaldón via Flikr / Wikipedia Commons
Creative Commons 2.0 Generic
 

Love Always Serves

The Little Helpmate, Kilburne

Sharing a thought from Secrets of Happy Home Life by J.R. Miller:  

Love always serves, or it is not love at all.

The greatest in Christ's kingdom are those who serve the most unselfishly. Husband and wife vie with each other in loving and serving. They mutually bear each other's burdens. The husband is the head, but he never says so; never reminds his wife of it; never claims authority; and defers to her in everything. 

 

The wife recognizes her husband as head, honors him, looks up to him with esteem and confidence—all the more because he never demands subjection. Thus true love in husband and wife never has any trouble about rights or place. Side by side they stand, these two wedded lovers, each a part of the other, each incomplete, a mere fragment without the other, but strong in their happy union in love.

Painting ~ The Little Helpmate by George Goodwin Kilburne 1839-1924
Wikigallery public domain

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...  

Roses and Peonies in the Front Yard

Outside my window...

An absolutely gorgeous, sunny day with roses and peonies in bloom.

Thankful...   

For the good fellowship that I had this afternoon with kindred spirits at a baby shower.  My spirit is always refreshed when I cross paths with homeschooling friends from our homeschooling days.

Thinking...     

What a blessing is in store for one of these dear friends who will soon be a grandma and have her grandbaby living nearby. What a blessing for all of them! "Free babysitting whenever we want it," as the mommy-to-be said. 

  Proverbs 17:6--Grandchildren are the crown of the aged.

Learning... 

To wait on God. Even though I cannot see Him at work, I do see the leaves rustle every now and then. :-)
  

Around the house.... 

The dining room table is covered in boxes and piles of pictures. Getting all the family pictures organized and, hopefully, into albums. Sure wish I'd done this throughout the years. It would have made our girls' birthday photo books much easier to do!

From the kitchen....

Bow Tie Pasta with Bacon, Tomatoes, and Zucchini

8 oz. (4 cups) uncooked bow tie pasta (farfalle)
1/2 lb. bacon (I don't use that much)
1 large onion, cut into 1/2-inch wedges 
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 small zucchini, cut in half lengthwise, sliced
1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 19 oz. cannellini beans, drained, rinsed
1 tsp. brown sugar

Cook bow tie pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Discard bacon drippings. Add onion and garlic to bacon in skillet. Cook over medium high heat for 1-2 minutes or until onion begins to brown. Add zucchini; cook 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes, brown sugar, and beans; cook over medium heat for 10-12 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally.

Drain bow tie pasta. Pour tomato mixture over pasta.
6 (1  1/3 cup) servings

From the Sewing Room...

Trying to figure out how to do a cover seam with my serger so I can hem some knit tops.
  
Noticing the sound of...  
Neighbors' grandsons playing basketball in their driveway. 
 

A thought from my Quiet Time....

As I was once again reading the account of the birth of Jesus and how the shepherds "when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child, and all that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds" (Luke 2), I paused at the next sentence: "But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." I wondered why 'she kept all these things,' because it was truly wonderful news. I began to think of the bumper stickers that say, "I'm the proud parent of a ...." and how she could have been boasting about what her son was going to do, or at least that she was especially chosen to bear Him. Indeed, Mary was chosen for special parenthood, but she had a heart of humility. Jesus was known for his humility--I think He learned it from His mother.

Currently reading...

The Family by J.R. Miller. Sharing a paragraph with you as I reflect on this new little life soon coming to this young couple:

"What we want to do with our children is not merely to control them and keep them in order, but to implant true principles deep in their hearts which shall rule their whole lives; to shape their character from within into Christlike beauty, and to make of them noble men and women, strong for battle and for duty. They are to be trained rather than governed. Growth of character, not merely good behavior, is the object of all home governing and teaching. Therefore the home influence is far more important than the home laws, and the parents' lives are of more moment than their teachings."

This coming week I'm looking forward to...

Hopefully, having an additional pastor for our church to help with the ministry. The decision will be made Sunday evening.

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.

Count Yourself Richer

 

"He is a coward who shrinks from the discovery of his own faults. We should be glad always to learn of any hidden unloveliness in ourselves. Someone says, "Count yourself richer that day in which you discover a new fault in yourself—not richer because it is there—but richer because it is no longer a hidden fault; and if you have not yet found all your faults, pray to have them revealed to you, even if the revelation must come in a way which hurts your pride." "

~ J.R. Miller 

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts. And see if any wicked way be in me and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23-24

                                                              Painting ~ Gentle Shepherd by Sir Daniel Macnee