Home, Sweetest Home

Hello dears! I hope this finds each of you growing in the love and grace of our Heavenly Father. He is so good; truly His name is the sweetest name I know. At this moment I am enjoying a lovely Tuesday morning--my dear sister Allie came home a few days ago (she had been away for about one month) and it is so good to have her home. And soon my dearest Momma will be home too . . . I am so excited and cannot wait to spend time with her just visiting and soaking in her lovely presence. :o)

Home--is there any other word like it? Home can be a house spilling over with relations or it can be the quiet palace of one. The second speaker I was blessed to listen to during the Ladies Conference was Mrs. Carla Scott. Mrs. Scott's topic, "Longing for Home" was lovely; I'd like to share some of the notes which I took. She began with a few (fun) quotes which I really enjoyed.

"You never forgive more than you've been forgiven."

(Isn't that true?)

"At twenty you worry about what people think about you, at forty years you don't worry about what people think about you, and at sixty you realize no one ever thought about you."

(Isn't that so true? :o)

She also mentioned how often home is referenced in our speech . . .
"Home sweet Home, My Home is your Home, Welcome Home, A man's castle is his Home, Come Home soon, Home is where the heart is."

Mrs. Scott went made a wonderful statement: Home matters to God--He created it. I had never realized it before but the Bible refers to the home many, many times. For instance, God promised the Israelite's a home. Naomi wanted Ruth to have a home. The early Christians worshipped in their homes. Proverbs say that the LORD will bless a godly home. In 1 Kings 11 Hadad wanted to return home and Psalms 137 describes the Babylonian captive's longing for their home. Home seems to be very biblical.

the Prodigal Son wanted to return to his home.

Mrs. Scott gave several  points which I found inspirational and lovely:

1. Why does home matter? Because home impacts all of eternity." Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end."

2. The home should be a glimpse of what God's heavenly home will be like. How? Home should be welcoming and accepting (John 14:16). Every person must feel that they ware wanted. A home should be a place of "re-"

Refreshment, Rekindling, Rest, Redemption, Reunion, Remembrance

3. Roughed up people need a place to be loved, accepted and comforted.

4. Home should be a place of joy and happiness.

 "A happy family is a glimpse of the future [heavenly] one." But how do we make our home happy? We must choose to make our home happy. Sometimes my thinking falls into a "Well, those are great ideas I'll use when I'm married have have my own home to run. But until then I have nothing to give" trap. This is a very false (and destructive) thought. True, at this moment I am merely a daughter and a sister but I have so much to give! When times get tense do I sow seeds of peace and forgiveness or do I sow seeds of distrust and malice? How do I react to my siblings teasing? Am I sweet and patient--showing them how important they are or do I sharply scold? When Mommy needs to run an errand to I respond in humility and cheerfully submit or do I carry a rebellious "if I have to" attitude. Yes, dear friends, we each must choose to make home happy.

5. Home should draw others because of who is there. This statement then asks, "Who does my home reflect?" A Christian home needs to radiate the presence of Jesus.

I know my notes were a bit scattered and please know that it did not properly reflect all that Mrs. Scott shared. But this topic is one that is close to my heart. We all come from some sort of home; for some remembering home may be a painful task. For others it may be pleasant--but we all have a present home where we can bring others in and reflect Christ. It isn't always easy but the rewards are worth everything.

May the Lord bless each of you as you go out this week and seek to make your home a pleasant one!
With so much love from your sister in Christ,


The above picture was taken from graphicsfairy.blogspot.com. Please go and visit her lovely page!
Thank you!

An Excellent Moment to Breathe.

Greetings my dear and sweet friends! I hope this finds each of you growing in our blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ's love and grace. I've missed chatting with you all, reading what is going on in your lives, and finding encouragement as you pursue your walk with God. So, HOW are YOU? :o) I am doing well; as my title hints I now have an excellent time to breathe . . . school is out! I generally enjoy school, however, once summer began to stretch and bloom all about me, I've had a very difficult time keeping my nose to the books. Thank you Lord for seeing me through the year! 

I thought for this post I would now like to share what I learned while at the Ladies Conference! (A true and real thank you to Miss Linda for reminding me! :o) So before I begin, let me skip away to light the candle, push play on the piano music, and turn some lights on because I have something lovely to tell you--and I may get a little long winded. :o)

First, it was such a blessing to spend a day and half with five other ladies from our church. It was Amazing fun getting to know each of them a little better; it was neat because we had ladies to from almost every age group, starting at 19 and going up to 70 I believe! I believe forty was the only age not present. We all met at the church around 4:30 or 5 in the morning and were quickly off on our about three hour drive to Joplin, Missouri. 

Our first speaker was Mrs. Julie Gariss. Immediately, we felt welcome as this sweet lady came upon the
stage. Her first topic was titled "Holi-mess."  (I quickly felt a connection to that one :o) Some of the verses she mentioned were Hebrews 12:14

"Follow peace with all [men], and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:"

and II Corinthians 7:1

"Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."

Holiness--without spot, clean, perfect . . . something so foreign today. Holiness--separated, pulled away, made special. There is so much meaning in this one word. I must admit that lately I've been allowing my vision to be divided away from Christ. Idols of self and earthly pleasures have fogged my sight; I have fallen away from seeking holiness. To seek after holiness means that one must seek after God for He alone is holy. I thank God for His renewed mercies and compassion He has on silly me. 

Mrs. Gariss went on to ask "Who is my [your] Daddy?" What are the attributes of God? She lists several verses which wonderfully and fearfully describe our Heavenly Father's unalterable and unending holiness. 

Exodus 19:3--When God came down on Mt. Sinai

II Samuel 6:4--When Uzziah died for touching the tabernacle

Isaiah 6:1--Isaiah's vision of the God

Oh, our Lord is an awesome God. He isn't a sweet old grandfather gently smiling upon his children's mistakes, He isn't a jolly old man ready to hand out candy and allow us to live for our complete (and mistaken) happiness. No, our God is holy. He is nothing less and therefore He can accept nothing less. Many choose to ignore the holiness of God but we mustn't. God's holiness is one of the foundation of our salvation. We need a Saviour because we are sinners and we are sinners because there is a holy God.

Mrs. Gariss had two quote which I specifically enjoyed. The first is one by A.W. Tozer which reads,

"We  take refuge from God in God"

Isn't it true? God is not one who gently overlooks sin but He is also not waiting to crush us each time we fall short of His will. No, He is merciful--seeking us as a groom seeks His bride.

"It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."

Lamentations 3:22, 23

The second lovely quote Mrs. Gariss shared was that "on her I.D. tag it says: I am His and He is mine."

Oh, such truth and security.  

This first lesson was the perfect way to start the weekend at the Ladies Conference. At the bottom of my notes I quickly wrote, "Who is my God the real holy God?" To learn that my God is holy--to know this, to rest in it would surely change my life. It would mold my character from a holi-mess into holiness. :o)

I hope I made sense in writing all of that down! :o) Lord willing, I also hope to continue posting my notes from the other sessions as the week continues. Thank you all for being so patient with me as I have been finishing up school; each of you are special blessings to me!

With much love from your sister in Christ,

Hello!

Greetings dear friends! It has been so long since I last wrote--I hope you all don't think I've fallen off the earth! No, I haven't fallen away life has just been busy! :o)  School is almost finished for this year; I am really looking forward to having time for other things--things like catching up on letters and making dresses!

Our dear home is beginning to look more and more home-y. We had HAD a schedule for moving from the basement to the upstairs but the vast amount of rain we received last two seeks ago moved things along. :o)  My family and I had been blessed to travel to Illinois to my grandparent for Easter Sunday (and we had such a good time). But while we were gone we had our dear friends and at the time house-itter call and notify that our basement was flooding!  (Oh No!) I praise the Lord for the help our friends gave us--one family came and vacuumed water out and lifted our belongings off the floor while the poor house-sitters (who got WAY more than they bargained for) did their very best to mop up floors and live in a clammy and moist area. We are truly blessed! The Lord was also good to us in that He was faithful in meeting our needs--His grace was more that sufficient as we were up late vacuuming water.

The first night wasn't so bad; we got home from our trip and immediately went to work--I think our adrenaline was pumped up. However, when the waters began to seep in the second night I will say that I was tempted to cry a few times! (And while they won't admit it. . . I think the boys considered doing so too! :o) But God was so faithful and my sweet family kept lifting and encouraging one another. My brother and I kept trying to find reasons to laugh (to keep our spirits up) and so in honor of the situation I compiled a few of our funny ideas and up-beat conversations:

1. "Look on the bright side, it could have been sewer water!"
2. "It's a good thing we haven't put carpet in yet!"
3. "The wise man built his house upon the rock . . . and the rains came tumbling down!"  (Notice that the rains did come )
4. Dad: "I think you're just pushing the water around."
    Me: "What do you mean? I had to fight the beaver and cross the swamp to get this far!" (After I had been
    mopping a puddle for quite some time).
5. Me: "Well, I guess I can be a farmer's wife. . .I passed test #3."
    Brother: "What do you mean?"
    Me: "Well, I've plucked chickens (test #1), I've done hay (test #2), and now I've had to deal with some sort of hardship (test #3). You can't be a farmer's wife without passing those. :o)
6. "Teacher, I don't have my homework finished because it floated away!"
7. "We could have had carpet down here and this could have been sewer water!" (I repeated this one on purpose because out of all of the above I think it was the most important reason to smile!)
8. "At least we have an upstairs to move into."


:o) I'm so thankful for all of the help we received during that time. We were blessed because we only got about 1 1/2 inches of water in our basement and I believe some in our area got much more.

Since we have moved upstairs alot of progress has been made. I have put some before and after photos for you all.

                                                               Kitchen: "In the Beginning"

Kitchen: Progressing 

Kitchen: Now :o)

                                                                     Left to Right View

Dining Room: Before

                                                                  Dining Room: Now

                                                     
                                                        Laundry room with floor and paint

                                                               Dining room light fixture

We're getting there! :o)  Soon the appliances will be in (I cannot wait to have an oven to cook in! Hmm...what should I bake first--crescent rolls or cookies? Or perhaps a hearty casserole?)  And I literally am bubbling over with anticipation when I think of being able to use a real sink! Hurray!

Today is a very special day. My dear friend and sister Allie is having her 20th birthday! Praise God!

I have so enjoyed Al--she is growing into such an godly young woman. She is my late night bedtime giggler, my fellow home-keeping trainee, the gardener, the fisher, she is the fire-cracker queen,my sister in Christ, and my friend. God bless you Allie as you enter this new era in life--the Golden Twenties! :o)

I love you!

Don't leave yet, I have one more thing to share with you all! :o) Missions is something which I feel the Lord has placed a desire for in my heart and I have sought out various opportunities to try and prepare myself. I found out this week that I have been accepted to attend a three month missions training program in Ghana, Africa! Praise the Lord! The program is with Charity Christian Missions--I will spend three months a a student in study and hands-on experience all while learning more and more of what is means to be disciple of Christ. I am really looking forward to this opportunity and I trust that Christ is in control.

Dear friends, please keep me in your prayers these coming months. Pray that I may rest in the Lord's timing and will and that he would prepare my heart. Also, please pray for my authorities and fellow classmates--that they each may receive a special blessing as they also prepare! And finally, please pray for my family as I prepare to go. . .I think that will be the hardest part! (For both them and myself!) I thank you all in advance for I know you will remember me. . .I'm truly am thankful for you all. Even though I cannot physically see you I am always so excited to be connected by Christ.

Thank you for sticking with me through this longer post! I hope to soon talk about all the blessings I received from the Ladies Conference!

May the Father bless you as you walk in Him! With love,