60 Years Ago

posted by Mama H.

  On June 29, we will be celebrating the 60th wedding anniversary of my parents.
My two brothers and a sister-in-law are flying out from the mid-west and California, and there are a few surprises planned.  (Surprises for my parents, that is!)

We're so blessed and glad to have them living right next door.
And, in this day of broken promises and selfishness, it is growing increasingly rare to find couples still married after so many years.  We praise and thank God for their relative good health, and for keeping them together all this time.

Stay tuned for more details and photos of the celebrations!
(Don't you love a good surprise?)

Understanding Augustine

post by Mama H.

  As part of our history/literature/theology studies (just how does one really separate them ?) we just finished up reading Augustine's "Confessions" yesterday.

The work is divided into Books and each book into chapters.  Many chapters have further divisions, but the chapters are really quite short, often only a paragraph long.
It is an easy read in terms breaking it into bite-sized pieces, though it is a very thoughtful work, and will challenge your innermost thoughts, always pointing you back to the Scriptures, which I loved!

Here are a few quotes (from the latter part of the work) that really stood out to us as we read them :

Book 10, chapter 23 :
(He has been talking about finding happiness in the truth and the misery of trying to find any happiness in anything but the Truth alone)
" Thus, thus, truly thus:  the human mind so blind and sick, so base and ill-mannered, desires to lie hidden, but does not wish that anything should be hidden from it.  And yet the opposite is what happens - the mind itself is not hidden from the truth, but the truth is hidden from it.  Yet even so, for all its wretchedness, it still prefers to rejoice in truth rather than in known falsehoods.  It will, then, be happy only when, without other distractions, it comes to rejoice in that single Truth through which all things else are true."

Book 10, chapter 26 :
(on listening to and learning from God)
"He is thy best servant who does not look to hear from thee what he himself wills, but who wills rather to will what he hears from thee."

Also, from Book 10, chapter 29 :
"My whole hope is in thy exceeding great mercy - and that alone.  Give what thou commandest and command what thou wilt. .....  For he loves thee too little who loves along with thee anything else that he does not love for thy sake, O Love, who dost burn forever and art never quenched.  O Love, O my God, enkindle me!  Thou commandest continence; give what thou commandest and command what thou wilt."

We are wrapping up our studies of the barbarian invasions throughout Europe, moving on to the viking explorers, the spread of Christianity in England and Ireland, and into the Middle ages.  What a fascinating period!

May God bless your reading!

In honor of Father's day

by Christianna


Father of Mine by Sarah K. Marinee

Father of mine, some years ago
You showed me the way I ought to go;
You led my feet past the treach'rous sand
By the gentle clasp of your own strong hand.

Father of mine, let me thank you for
The prayers you prayed and the burden you bore.
Like a guiding star thro' the tempests' strife,
All your precepts have shone on my path of life.

Father of mine, when the time has passed
And the work of my life is complete at last,
When I step ashore on the glory strand
With a grateful heart I will clasp your hand.

Beware of what you find in the spice cabinet!

Posted by Gabrielle

I was making dinner this evening, and headed over to the spice cabinet for the pepper grinder. Upon opening the door, my eyes fell upon a spice jar with a most intriguing label:

Seeing as it isn't often that you find a spice jar in the cabinet labeled 'Beware!', I naturally investigated.

Turning the jar around revealed the following inscription: 'J's newly invented poltry spice!'

He says it's really spicy, so I think I may need to try this newly invented poltry spice! :)

Resting on God

Posted by Christianna

It was a Wednesday evening and I was sprawled idly on a chair.

Glancing about me, I happened to catch sight of my mother's copy of "The Valley of Vision" sitting on the shelf behind me. Nonchalantly I picked it up and opened it. These were the words that first met my eyes:

“Resting on God”

[from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan prayers]

O GOD MOST HIGH, MOST GLORIOUS,,

The thought of thine infinite serenity cheers me,

For I am toiling and moiling, troubled and distressed,

but thou art for ever at perfect peace.

Thy designs cause thee no fear or care of unfulfilment,

they stand fast as the eternal hills.

Thy power knows no bond,

thy goodness no stint.

Thou bringest order out of confusion,

and my defeats are thy victories:

The Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

I come to thee as a sinner with cares and sorrows,

to leave every concern entirely to thee,

every sin calling for Christ’s precious blood;

Revive deep spirituality in my heart;

Let me live near to the great shepherd,

hear his voice, know its tones, follow its calls.

Keep me from deception by causing me to abide in the truth,

from harm by helping me to walk in the power of the Spirit.

Give me intenser faith in the eternal verities,

burning into me by experience the things I know;

Let me never be ashamed of the truth of the gospel,

that I may bear its reproach,

vindicate it,

see Jesus as its essence,

know in it the power of the Spirit.

Lord, help me, for I am often lukewarm and chill;

unbelief mars my confidence,

sin makes me forget thee.

Let the weeds that grow in my soul be cut at their roots;

Grant me to know that I truly live only when I live to thee,

that all else is trifling.

Thy presence alone can make me holy, devout, strong and happy.

Abide in me, gracious God.

It made me sit bolt upright in my chair because the writer was having the same struggles that I was going through. It was encouraging to think that someone else had been through

the same things I was going through.