Simple Woman's Day Book

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Today I’m joining A Simple Woman's Daybook, a weekly journal page that focuses on simple thoughts and simple living.  My leads are somewhat similar to others in the group, but somewhat different as well. You may also want to read what some other simple women are saying and doing these days. I'll be posting my journal on Saturdays. Do stop by.

A picture to share...
Morning feeders

Outside my window...
Beautiful fresh fallen snow, birds flitting from the cypress to the bird feeders.

Thankful for...

Snow that brightens a gray winter day.

Noticing the sound of …

Clothes in the dryer that my dearly beloved tended to while I was photographing the birds at the feeder

Soon I hope to….

Begin a baby quilt for a new little creation who will arrive within the month

Thinking....

About our little Elijah watching the birds out the window over Christmas. Bir!
Miss you! Nana

Looking to the ways of my household....

Entered a week of dinner menus to my rotation schedule. Plan to finish up next week.

Currently reading.... 

Just began The Peacemaker by Ken Sande. Will share a review soon.

Reflecting creativity, in His image…

Added "Winter Welcome" to the boxwood wreath I used for the front door at Christmas. It's still doing well. Looking for some winter berries to add.

From the kitchen...
Making pasta salad to take to our church's Winter Dinner. Sharing the recipe:

Creamy Ranch Pasta Salad
(16-20 servings; recipe from Crowd Pleasing Sandwiches & Salads)
2 packages Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad--Ranch and Bacon
1 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
8 medium green onions, chopped (1/2 cup)
2 medium stalks celery, thinly sliced (1 cup)
    [I add 1/2 frozen green peas]
6 hard-cooked eggs, coarsely chopped
1 hard-cooked egg, sliced, if desired for garnishingpaprika, if desired for garnishing

1.  Fill 4-quart Dutch oven 2/3 full of water. Heat to boiling. Stir in contents of both pasta-vegetable pouches. Gently boil uncovered 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Drain pasta. Rinse with cold water. Shake to drain well.

2.  Stir together seasoning mixes, mayonnaise, mustard, onions, green peas, and celery  in large bowl. Stir in pasta and chopped eggs until evenly coated. Garnish with hard-cooked egg slices and paprika, if desired.

I'm learning…

To glorify God in all I do. I find that it brings more contentment to my days. I too often learn at a snail's pace.

Through This Earthly Journey

True friends draw our hearts Homeward—both toward our earthly home and our heavenly home. Such was the occasion today as I joined a few women at church in decorating for our special Winter Dinner. I was privileged to be paired with a dear lady whose fellowship was sweet as we pinned table skirts to the serving tables. We had a good hour's conversation, partly talking of the blessings each of us have in dear godly husbands who love and care for us. We are truly grateful for God's goodness flowing through them. 

Once again, My Beloved. The thoughts deepen with time —

You are the love of my life, my companion in pleasure, 

My very best friend through this earthly journey.

You are my shelter when storms are surging, 

My rock when all seems like shifting sand, 

My sharer of dreams and dreamer of plans.

You are my encourager when I want to give up or give in, 

My reminder that there’s always hope, 

My explainer of truth and thoughtful contemplation.

You are the one I want to grow gracefully old with, 

And yours is the hand I want to hold at the end of the day and into the night….

For the rest of my life.

On Delighting to Know

A phone call today kindled some thoughts on being a busybody. 

“… they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not" (I Tim. 5:13).

The context of this verse is idle young widows, who the Apostle Paul says should marry, bear children, manage their homes, and give the adversary no occasion for slander. Instead, they’re going from house to house gossiping and generally being busybodies.

Idle young widows aren’t the only ones with this problem. Younger or older, idle or not, many women are tempted to be gossips and busybodies. It’s not a harmless way to spend the day: “let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evil doer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters” (I Peter 4:15).  Being a busybody is included in a rather corrupt listing.

What is a busybody? She’s a meddler in other people’s matters and delights in gathering up as much information as she can, most often gathering in the guise of friendship. And what becomes of this information? Delighting to know—for the purpose of ‘saying what they should not.’  She’s a meddler and a neglecter. She meddles in others' affairs and neglects her own.

How does today’s woman "go about from house to house…, saying what [she] should not?" We aren’t confined today to where we can walk and talk. Many are daily in the marketplace—though working, still idle in domestic duties—where there’s much information to be gathered in the lunchroom or at the desk.  We have Internet chat rooms, email, and texting to keep us occupied hour after hour. We have the telephone where we can go from call to call, gleaning and passing along the information. Delighting to be the one who knows, who knows it first, and who is delighted to pass it on—as a prayer concern, of course.

Nancy Wilson, in her book The Fruit of Her Hands: Respect and the Christian Woman, says this about busybodies—

A few cautions come immediately to mind.  First, ask yourself if you’re a busybody. If you are working hard at home, faithfully doing your God-given duties, then you will have little time for such foolish behavior. Nevertheless, recall your recent conversations. Have you been too involved in “other people’s matters?” Do you ask questions that are really not your business? Do you pass on information about other people’s affairs? And perhaps the most revealing question: Do you delight in being the first to know and the first to tell?

Second, do you have a friend who is a busybody? Take care. You may be drawn into her bad habits. Don’t listen to her repeat all the news. Excuse yourself from inappropriate conversations. Do you have a regular group you meet with to “visit” and fellowship with: a homeschool group, a sewing group, a quilting group, or a reading group? Is the conversation on topic, or is it often about other people? Perhaps you should withdraw from such a group, if it is dominated by busybodies….They will share things freely about others that they would never say if those people were present.

Finally, if you know someone to be a busybody, keep your distance. Be careful what you tell her. Assume that everything you say will get around the community. That should motivate you to exercise discretion. Be careful what you say about your family, especially about your husband. Be sure your comments are always respectful and kind and God-honoring. That sort of news isn’t nearly as fun to pass on.

Painting~Ladies Having Tea by Henry Salem Hubbell

Home Training

Had a delightful conversation with a young mother whose heart God is turning more and more homeward. Much is happening in their lives right now as God is leading them in the discipleship of their children at home. He has also laid the path for their move back to live near her family where she grew up. What true reward and benefit will be to this extended family as multi-generational faithfulness is strengthened. What a blessing it was to share in their excited anticipation!

Oswald Chambers' thoughts on "Gratitude for Home Training":

Our family life in Perth was a very united one; each evening, after the home-lessons were done, was given up to games of various kinds. We found our enjoyment and entertainment in our home; no outside amusements could possibly compare with the fun and happiness to be found there. We never had any desire to be out playing or walking with chums.... I feel traits in my character I knew not of before, and it causes me to bow in deeper gratitude for that home training which I have now left, for the training and disciplines of life. Oh! What a mighty influence home life has on us! Indeed, we do not know how deep a debt we owe to our mothers and fathers and their training.

Shopping Differently in 2011

Well, I'm going to give it a try.  Made in China doesn't appeal to me with our economy shifting to China's control. I had seriously considered shopping differently as I was buying Christmas gifts. I began to notice even more....Made in China...Made in China...Made in China. The last straw was when my husband noticed that a devotional book we have was even printed in China!

Some are saying the U.S. will be owned by China by 2030. Do you think I'll still be able to worship as I please when that happens?  I know I'm just one small voice with a small purse, but I'm going to shop as non-China as I can. I know there's much I can do without. I don't expect to be able to eliminate China from all my purchases. Sara Bongiorni proved in her book A Year Without Made in China that it's almost impossible to do that.

But where there's a choice for me in 2011, it will not be Made in China.

Sweet Christmas Memories

Most of the Christmas things are now tucked away in the closet. Mary and Joseph and the Baby Jesus await their stay in the attic. Leftover goodies put in the freezer. Sweet memories linger.

Sweet Elijah. 

Sitting on Nana's lap.
Watching the birds out the window. 

Organizing Grandad's shirt pocket. 

Reading on Grandad's lap.
Reading on Nana's lap.

Picking apples off the Christmas tree. 

Putting them back again. 

Organizing the potatoes.

Thanks.

All Done.

Sledding down the hill.
Reading on Mommy's lap.

Drawing Nana a picture for the fridge. 

Handprints on the mirror. 

Can't bear to wash them away.

[We will] tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, 
and his might, and the wonders that he has done. 
Psalm 78:4

Sunday Ponderings ~ Accused

I've been pondering a passage from our pastor's message this morning from Romans 8. Verses 33 and 34 ask a couple of questions.

Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
Who is he that condemneth?

Who accuses us? Who condemns us? Our pastor discussed three who do--non-believers who think we're hypocritical, fellow-believers who are hypocritical along with us, and the Chief Accuser who wants God to know that we're hypocritical and unworthy of His love and concern.

Non-believers accuse Christians because they have higher standards for us than for themselves. They believe we should walk the talk. We should. Non-believers don't understand us, that we are made of clay, just as they are. They accuse us of failure because we do fail. They accuse us of hypocrisy because we are hypocritical. We are. They are. It's human. And yet there's a statement that follows the accusation question in verse 33--It is God who justifies. God redeems. Without Him we stand guilty as charged. He redeems us from ourselves and our sins and our weaknesses and our failures.

It's understandable that non-believers accuse us, but fellow-believers accuse us as well. We are all weak and faint--the accused and the accusing. We are sometimes accused incorrectly, sometimes correctly. Yet, if our hearts were truly known, we would stand even more accused. We can be thus accused only by our outward actions or omissions, but in the heart there is so much more to be weighed in the balance. I am grateful that what is in my heart can be forgiven--for it is God who justifies.

The Chief Accuser brings our names before God day and night, yet he will be cast down (Rev.12:10). I'm not concerned about Satan's accusations of me before God. God is just, and it is He who justifies. 

I would add another accuser to the list. Myself. When I am the center of my focus I evaluate all my actions and all my motivations. I don't know the full extent of the ways of my heart, but I know that there's much there that I don't like. It's when I begin to dwell on my weaknesses that I raise my own personal accusations--to myself and to God. It's easy to grow weary with ourselves. It's easy to paralyze the value we could be to those around us because we feel the weight of unworthiness. The Chief Accuser is glad of this.

We can be accused, but who condemns? That question in verse 34 is followed by another redeeming statement and another question. "It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" Not non-believers or fellow-believers, or Satan himself. Not even ourselves. 

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38).

 Painting~Reading by Jerry Barrett

Once Again

Beginning afresh. The intention of my blogging is to bring glory to God through sharing how His mercy and grace endureth forever....as He leads me homeward and upward....and perhaps to encourage another soul. So ... a new blog today to begin the new year.

The following from J.R. Miller encourages me to carry on in my brief earthly course, the beginning of my endless existence.

"It is life's largeness which most discourages earnest and conscientious people. As they think deeply of life's meaning and responsibility, they are apt to be overwhelmed by the thought of its vastness. Life has manifold, almost infinite, relations toward God and toward man. Each of these relations has its binding duties. Every life has a divine mission to fulfill—a plan of God to work out.

"Every individual life must be lived amid countless antagonisms, and in the face of countless perils. Battles must be fought, trials encountered, and sorrows endured.

"Also, the brief earthly course—is but the beginning of an endless existence, whose immortal destinies hinge upon fidelity in the present life.

"Looked at in this way, as a whole, there is something almost appalling in the thought of our responsibility in living.

"Many a person who thinks of life in this aspect, and sees it in its wholeness, has not the courage to hope for success and victory—but stands staggered, well-near paralyzed, on the threshold. Despair comes to many a heart when either duty or sorrow or danger is looked at—in the aggregate.

"But this is not the way we should view life. It does not come to us all in one piece. We do not get it even in years—but only in days—day by day. We look on before us, and as we count up the long years with their duties, struggles, and trials—and the bulk is like a mountain which no mortal can carry. But really, we never have more than:
  one day's battles to fight, or
  one day's work to do, or
  one day's burdens to bear, or 
  one day's sorrow to endure,
in any one day.

"It is wonderful how the Bible gives emphasis to this way of viewing life. When for forty years God fed His chosen people with bread from heaven, He never gave them, except on the morning before the Sabbath, more than one day's portion at a time. He positively forbade them gathering more than would suffice for the day; and if they should violate His command, what they gathered above the daily portion, would become corrupt. Thus early, God began to teach His people to live only by the day—and trust Him for tomorrow.

"At the close of the forty years, the promise given to one of the tribes was, 'As your days—so shall your strength be.' Deuteronomy 33:25. Strength was not promised in advance—enough for all of life, or even for a year, or for a month—but the promise was, that for each day, when it came with its own needs, duties, battles and griefs—enough strength would be given. As the burden increased—more strength would be imparted.

"The important thought here is, that strength is not emptied into our hearts in bulk—a supply for years to come—but is kept in reserve, and given day by day, just as the day's needs require.

"When Christ came, He gave still further emphasis to the same method of living. He said, "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today!" Matthew 6:34. He would have us fence off the days by themselves, and never look over the fence to think about tomorrow's cares.

"The thought is, that each day is, in a certain sense—a complete life by itself. It has . . .
  its own duties,
  its own trials,
  its own burdens,
  its own needs.
"It has enough to fill our heart and hands for the one full day. 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. We should put all our thought and energy and skill into the duty of each day, wasting no strength—either in grieving over yesterday's failures, or in anxiety about tomorrow's responsibilities.

"Our Lord, also, in the form of prayer which He gave his disciples, taught this lesson of living only by the day. There He has told us to ask for bread—for one day only. "Give us this day our daily bread." He again teaches us that we have to do only with the present day. We do not need tomorrow's bread now. When we need it—it will be soon enough to ask God for it, and get it. It is the 'manna lesson' over again. God is caring for us, and we are to trust Him for the supply of all our needs—as they press upon us. We are to trust Him, content to have only enough in hand for the day.

"If we can but learn to thus live by the day, without anxiety about the future—the burden will not be so crushing. We have nothing to do with life in the aggregate—that great bulk of duties, responsibilities, struggles, and trials—which belong to a course of years. We really have nothing to do even with the nearest of the days before us—tomorrow. Our sole business is with the one little day, now passing. Its burdens will not crush us—we can easily carry them until the sun goes down. We can always get along for one short day. It is the projection of life into the long future, which dismays and appalls us."

   J.R. Miller "Living by the Day" from GraceGems

Painting--Pensive, Roger Joseph Jordan
1845-1918
public domain