Recapping...

I started a post over a week ago, but it somehow seems like old news now, so have deleted it and am starting over.

Here's a bit of a recap...

My unravelling of the 'snug sweater' went well, and I'm happy with the way the shawl is knitting up.  Don't have a pattern so it will be interesting to see how it turns out...

On to my 8th little Shoebox scarf...

And my 4th Little House book re read...

also rewatching the TV series, an episode or two of an evening. On to Season 7

Made Cypriot salad (with variations) ...

and more oat/fruit muffins, as posted in my previous home post

On my winter walk this morning...

Passed some 'friends' that were eager to say hello...

Then back home for my coffee, toast, and a little reading...

a plain life

From the back cover...

Denver turned 21 last month (but I forgot to include the photo in my previous post)...

Sophie and Denver; me, Marnie and Tom

It's getting colder and greyer outside and rain is coming.  Glad I went for my walk this morning while the sun was still shining...

A cup of tea and some knitting sounds like a good idea!

xx

Weekend Words

From Beside the Still Waters...

Speak Life - Read: Proverbs 15

"A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit." - Proverbs 15.4

To speak life is to speak words that promote life.  These are words that encourage, elevate, build, resolve, or repair.  They include phrases such as "Good job!" "Keep it up!" "You can do it!" and many others.  Truly these are like fruit from a tree of life.

Speaking life into a situation is beautiful.  Perhaps you see an argument starting to rise.  With tactful words you can get both parties to lower their hackles and grin, relax, and resolve things.  Perhaps you see a brother or sister drooping in discouragement.  With cheerful words a spirit can be lifted, a day brightened, and clouds removed.  Or maybe you hear words of complaint or anxiety.  With God's help you can counter all these negative expressions with positive, hopeful words that speak life.

Solomon wrote in Proverb 15:23, "A word spoken in due season, how good it is!"  In Proverbs 25:11 he said, "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver."  Other translations may use the phrase "apples of gold in silver bowls," which makes a lovely picture indeed.  One man said, "I can live for two months on a good compliment."  I hope we dole out compliments much more often than once in two months.

There are many opportunities to speak life - commenting on a lovely morning, thanking an employee for his help, or noting the humour in a difficult situation.  A remark like "I love to see the sun!" can lift spirits subtly and requires no response, but it speaks life.  The huge crowds that followed Jesus indicate the tremendous drawing power of His "gracious words."  Thank God we can read many of His words of life.

John Ropp - Dannebrog, NE

A joyful spirit is a fountain of health for those who have it and those who drink from it.

From The Bible Promise Book devotional...

An Attitude of Gratitude

"I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors, for you have given me wisdom and strength.  You have told me what we asked of you and revealed to us what the king demanded." - Daniel 2:23 NLT

Prayer so often begins with gratitude, and gratitude often begins with awareness.  How many things will God do for you today?  Some of them are lasting and ongoing, like salvation and sanctification.

Others are more in the moment, like that "daily bread" that helped you pay a bill or meet a need, or those small but crucial encounters that God has in store for you on any given day - a chance meeting at the grocery store or in the hallway at work where God wants you to be available to listen, to speak an inspired word, to share a laugh, or to commiserate a loss.  Just to be a part of what God is doing beyond your life, using you to help to touch others' hearts, is humbling and fulfilling.

Set your day on a path of gratitude.  Paul wrote, "Devote yourself to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving" (Colossians 4:2 NASB).  Take a moment to appreciate God's provision in your life, and then ask Him to prepare you for a day of divine appointments.

Weekend Words

 From Be Still and Know...

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." - Colossians 3:16

Not only does God provide peace for the heart (Colossians 3:15), but HIS TRUTH for the mind. "Let the word [spoken by] the Christ, the Messiah, have its home (in your HEARTS and MINDS) and dwell in you in [all its] richness (Colossians 3:16, Amplified).

It gives instruction for daily living, encouragement, comfort, and spiritual strength.  It brings correction and reproof.  "Every Scripture is God-breathed - given by His inspiration - and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, and for training in righteousness [that is, holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose and action]" (2 Timothy 3:16, Amplified).

As we meditate on God's word and assimilate it into our lives, it becomes such a part of us that we unconsciously let it direct our daily steps.

Saturating our minds with it produces right attitudes.  It keeps our minds pure.  "Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right.  Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others.  Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about it" (Philippians 4:8, LB).

The person who lets the word become part of his life does not have the frenzied restlessness that we see in many people in this tension-filled day.

Are you spending time in the Word, letting Him speak to you through it?  Are you living in accordance with His directions in it?  "Remember what Christ taught and let His words enrich your lives and make you wise" (Colossians 3:16, LB).

Someone has said, "A Word-filled life, one in which the Word dwells richly, is filled with song."  "Teach them to each other and sing them out in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing to the Lord with thankful hearts" (Colossians 3:16, LB).

A heart filled with peace and a mind nourished by God's Word is a life filled with song.  Do you possess a peaceful heart?  A singing heart?

Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!

Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come before His presence with singing.

Know that the Lord, He is God...

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, 

And into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name...

- Psalm 100

Had the flu...

...but bouncing back.  Well, maybe not exactly bouncing, but back walking after not going for a week.  Took a video at the river this morning to show you, but it doesn't seem to want to load, so you'll just have to take my word for it.  The river was very high after all the rain we've had, although today was fine with a bit of sunshine, so a good day to get back to my walking.

One good thing about having the flu, is I sit and read and knit during the day.  Something I generally don't do.  And then I sit and read and watch episodes of Little House... of an evening!  With all this sitting, I'm glad to be able to get out and walk again!!

I'm knitting small scarves for the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes (on to my 5th now)...

As well as watching Little House dvds, I'm also re reading through the Little House books.  

A good winter pastime!

Baking soda bread...

also good in winter

And yesterday I made fruit muffins...

The original recipe is HERE, but I changed it a bit :))

Maybe some of you remember this top I started knitting a couple of years ago? 

I actually got it sewn up and just had some finishing off to do on it, but decided it was a bit snug fitting, so put it away.

Well, I got it out again today, and have started undoing it.  As I'm in 'Little House...' mode, I want to make a shawl like the red one Caroline Ingalls wears (but not in red).  The wool looks like its pink and purple in the photo, but it's actually maroon and navy (one strand of each). So, we'll see how I go with a shawl instead.

And here's a river photo from last week after some heavy rain...

And this one of the front porch and garden...

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, to discover that I had not lived." 

- Henry David Thoreau

 

Weekend Words

From The Bible Promise Book Devotional...

Made to Rejoice

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!" - Philippians 4:4 NASB

There is something wonderful and mysterious about Christian joy.  It's both emotional and deeply rooted in truth, both a command from God and a blessing to be received.  To rejoice is to be happy because of who God is and what He has done, but it's different from the transient happiness that accompanies life's ups and downs.  In fact, joy often results from tribulation, a by-product of the hope that God works out for you as you persevere through hardship (Romans 5:4).

Jesus covers joy's full scope in His teachings: "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full" (John 15:11 NKJV).  He spoke words of instruction and caution, humbling words full of promise and hope - and His desire seems to be that, as you follow and obey Him, He rejoices in you, which is certainly cause for you to rejoice.

Rejoicing, then, is also both action and response.  God rejoices when you abide in Him, bearing fruit by His power and grace (John 15:4), and you rejoice when you are of service to Him.  To be joyful is to be actively obedient to God, even as you enjoy the peace and blessing of just belonging to Him.

When I am following You, totally focused on doing Your will, Lord, that's when I feel my greatest moments of joy.  Help me to remember that.  Amen

From Beside the Still Waters...

Christ's Joy vs. Mere Happiness - Read: John 15:9-27

"These things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves" - John 17:13

The Pennsylvania welcome sign invites residents and visitors with these words, "Pursue Your Happiness." It's true that God arranged the land with breathtaking views of mountains, valleys, and rivers.  But excursions to explore the beautiful sights and sounds of nature finally come to an end, and vacationists need to get back into the normal routine of living.  Then what happens to happiness?

Jesus offers joy that underlies all other forms of God-sanctioned happiness.  But He offers it on certain conditions.  In the verses before today's Bible reading, Jesus said we need to abide in Him, the true Vine.  This presupposes that we are connected to the Vine through the new birth.  Then the sap of His joy will flow into us, the branches.  As His joy flows in, our joy becomes 'full'!

Nehemiah 8:10 tells us, "The joy of the Lord is your strength."  With this strength we can bear "much fruit," which glorifies God.  Bearing spiritual fruit brings personal joy.  In fact, joy is the second element of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).  What a joy it is to glorify God and bless others with the fruit we bear!

Another condition for having Christ's joy remain in us is to "keep his commandments."  Just as a child experiences happiness in obeying his parents, so Christ's disciples find joy in obeying Him.  Jesus said, "This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you."  Love is the first element of the fruit of the Spirit, and it provides a fertile seedbed in which joy can flourish.

 Dennis Martin- Smithville, TN

Mere happiness is fleeting; Christ's joy is enduring.

Weekend Words

 From Be Still and Know...

"And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat." - Mark 6:31

What a busy schedule! You are probably saying, "It sounds like mine."  When they were too busy to eat, it was time for a "rest break".

After a busy time of serving others, Jesus knew His disciples needed rest.  He invited them to spend time alone with Him to refresh themselves.

God knows that we, too, need rest for our inner being, so He provides "Resting Places" along our way.  In Isaiah 40:31 we learn the source of our rest.  "They that wait upon the Lord."  It is in His presence we are refreshed from the weariness of life's journey.

There is a PLACE of rest, it is "in the Lord" (Psalm 37:7).  He gives us a personal invitation to "Come unto ME."  He doesn't say, "Go," but "Come."  Resting is always IN HIM.

Rest is a GIFT.  Jesus said, "I will GIVE you rest" (Matthew 11:28).  How often we are pressured and frustrated when He is inviting us to come and receive His rest.

Rest comes through our RELATIONSHIP with him.  "For only we who believe God can enter into His place of rest" (Hebrews 4:3, LB).  Our access to God is through the person of Jesus Christ.

He may move us occasionally to new resting places.  He may move us to a place where we are alone, away from family and friends.  But He can make it a resting place for us.

One year my resting place was upon a sick bed.  Many days I could not lift my arms even an inch from the bed.  It was a difficult year, but a good one, for the Lord and I had wonderful times together.

Jesus said, "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet (His special resting place for us), and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and they Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly" (Matthew 6:6).

His personal invitation to you is, "Come apart and rest with me."  What is your answer?

The Bible Promise Book devotional...

Peace in the Midst of Fear

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV

If you let it, the world can seem scarier day after day.  Alarming news is thrown at you from every angle and every media source - everything from natural disasters to terrorist attacks.  Sin and evil are running rampant and, worse, are often widely celebrated.

From a natural perspective, it certainly seems that you have reason to fear.  But despite all this, you can have tremendous hope!  You have a God who is bigger and stronger than the worst kind of evil, and who shelters you under His wings (Psalm 91:4).  This same God will one day eradicate all evil.

Until that day, He's called you to accomplish good things which He prepared for you to do despite everything that's happening around you.  And He hasn't left you alone.  He's given you His Holy Spirit, not a spirit of fear, but His own spirit "of power and of love and of a sound mind."

You never have to fear any kind of evil.  You can have abiding peace in the midst of a scary world, because "if God is for us, who can ever be against us?" (Romans 8:31 NLT).