This is the day

 

This is the day the Lord has made;

we will rejoice and be glad in it!

Psalm 118:24

My motto for this week is "to really, really live", 

to make the most of each minute, and redeem the time.

I was very inspired by reading this letter by Rachel at Finding Joy. 

Read it yourself, and see how beautiful it is!

A Fruitful Tree

 I just finished reading another chapter from Alexander Whyte's Bible Characters from the Old and New Testament, which I previously mentioned here.


This time I was reading a chapter titled, The Man Who Sowed a Mustard Seed.  I had to share this except below with the parents and grandparents who might be taking a moment to stop by my page.  It is such an encouragement!

"...Among ourselves that small mustard seed is eminently a parable for all parents. For every little word that a parent speaks to his child : every little action of a parent in the sight of his child: every little attitude even, and movement of his: every glance of his eye, and every accent of his voice—are all so many mustard seeds sown in the little garden of his child's mind and heart.

Every little Scripture lesson learned together: every little prayer offered together: and, especially, alone together: every little occasional word to explain, and to make interesting, his child's little lesson and little prayer every wise little word spoken to his child about his own and his child's Saviour—every such small seed dropped by a parent's hand will yet spring up to his everlasting surprise, and to his everlasting harvest. 

Let all parents... lay this little parable well home to their imagination and to their heart. Let them not despise the day of small things. Let them have a great faith, and a great assurance of faith, in such small things as these. 

Let them have a great faith in Him, and in His wisdom, and His love, and in His faithfulness, who is continually, both in nature and in grace, folding up the greatest trees in the smallest seeds. And never more so than in the way He folds up your child's whole future in your little acts of faith, and prayer, and love, and wisdom, and patience, and hopefulness, done at home. 

Despise it not, for a great tree is in it. A great, a fragrant, and a fruitful tree, under which you will one day sit rejoicing in the shelter of it, and in the sweet fruitfulness of it."





I was unable to locate a credit to give for the photo of the mustard tree, which I found on a Google Image Search.

Guest Post - A Peace Within

Today, for a Thoughtful Thursday, we have a guest post from Noellen, of Comfort and Conversation.  I so enjoyed her post the other day, that I asked her if I could share it with you.
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Peace from God is not just an emotion that is with you when times are good, when life is calm.  His peace is always in you, even when times are rough.  It's easy to "feel" peaceful when everything is in order in your life.  But not so easy when life brings you challenges.  It's during these times that you need to stop and reflect and ask yourself, "Is the peace of God with me now?"

In my study recently, I have been reading A Woman's Walk with God by Elizabeth George and I quote the following passage from her book:

Are you in turmoil, or are you trusting and at peace? Are you running around in circles, or are you resting in the Lord? Are your words revealing a sense of panic and pressure, or are they words that edify and encourage, that minister grace to those who hear (Ephesians 4:29)? Are your actions reflecting the priorities God would have you set? Is your relationship with Him first, or are you too busy to sit at His feet and enjoy His presence? The woman who wrote the following words knew busyness...until the Lord interrupted.  Let's learn from her.

I'm Busy Lord!

I'm busy Lord. Surely You can see

The thousand things that wait for me!

The dishes still lie in the sink - 

I cannot stop to pray and think.

Lord, I know you understand,

For You gave these children to my hand;

And now they cry and need me so,

Lord, You understand. I'd better go.

Now I've got them all to sleep,

I'd better dust and mop and sweep.

I must thaw out the meat for stew,

And the ironing is long overdue!

And kindly my Lord answered me,

"Why do you from My presence flee?

I have so much for you today.

My child, I want to hear you pray.

"I love you, child, I want you here

To rest and listen-to shed a tear.

What if Paul had stopped to say,

"Lord, I'm too busy to write letters today!"?

"No, my child, I'm what you need,

Through household duties you can speed,

Yet when you're through, there's emptiness

If this quiet time you miss."

Oh, thank You, Lord, for showing me

How much I need to wait on Thee.

For what's an undone dish or two

Compared with sharing time with You?!

May the peace of God be with you today!

The Value of Time

I love old books, and I have several vintage school books, primers, and readers that I have bought at estate sales and such.  Sometimes, when I can't sleep at night from a cold, or pregnancy discomforts, I read them until I am sleepy again.  One that I found had many good articles and poems was Bancroft's Fifth Reader, and in particular, the piece on The Economy of Time.  You can find it here on Google: "The Economy of Time" from Bancroft's Fifth Reader.
Just like many people, I have a tendency to waste away the minutes that add up to quarter hours, half hours, and eventually, whole hours...time that can be filled with useful things...like improvements to self, mentally, spiritually, physically; or profitable time spent with children or family and friends.  When I read this article, I printed it, and put it in the front of my household management binder as a very good reminder to me.  I will share a few quotes with you:


"...The man who has wasted the precious hours of life's seed-time finds that he cannot reap a harvest in life's autumn. Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine; but lost time is gone forever."

"Rely upon it, if you are a miser of moments, if you hoard up and turn to account odd minutes and half-hours, you will at last be wealthier in intellectual acquisition, wealthier in good deeds harvested, than thousands whose time is all their own."

"The small stones that fill up the crevices are almost as essential to the firm wall as the great stones; and so the wise use of spare time contributes not a little to the building up of a man's mind in good proportions, and with strength."

Also today, I wanted to share with you a link to some great animal coloring page printables, found on Animal Jr.com.  I'm going to print out some of the cute owl pages for my littlest one, who loves owls.
Free Kids Coloring Pages

And now I'm off to make the most of my minutes today! Happy Friday!

Clock Photo by Suat Eman, FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Your House Speaks for You

I have many things that I would like to post about this morning, but limited time, as workers will be here shortly to continue fixing our gas pipe leak. I was thinking last night, after workers had left, of how they walk through the house, and get a picture of who we are, without us even saying a word.  One thing I always wonder, is what people think when they see we don't have a television! Other ways your house can be an extension of your example, is in materialism or lack thereof; keeping up with trends of the world; love and respect for your husband shown in care for the household; training of the children shown in their responsible treatment of their belongings.  Just a little something to think about!

Recommended Reading

I have recently been reading Bible Characters from the Old and New Testament, by Alexander Whyte. It is an old book that I was able to check out through my library's extended network of out-of-the-area universities and libraries. Some sections I have particularly appreciated were about Ruth's devotion and love for her mother-in-law, Naomi: “ just that relationship that should be entered on by all men and women with much watchfulness, solicitousness, prayer, tenderness, sympathy, and loyalty; in short, with the mind and heart of Ruth...and Naomi”.

Other sections that have been enlightening are about Esther and her opportunities, and the reminder of the opportunities we have in our circle that we sometime overlook: “Only open your eyes, and you will see all around you your circle set of God, and all dazzling you with its endless and splendid opportunities. Your most commonplace, and most monotonous, most uninteresting, and most every-day circle so shines, if you only saw it aright.”

Other applications we can take into our modern lives from Bible characters, from Alexander Whyte's book include Daniel, his humility and devoted prayer life; and weighing our days on the balances, as Belshazzar was weighed on the balances by God. I am grateful for such helpful reading material!

A warm welcome to my new blog

Lately, my life has improved because of one simple change. That change was starting to read blogs! I have benefited so much from the information and resources and thoughts people have shared on their blogs.  I have found delicious recipes, household organization tips (which I really needed!), hairstyle tutorials for longer hair, homeschool ideas, and christian living inspiration.  To all of you stay at home moms (and daughters) who are sharing a piece of your lives, it is not in vain! You are really making a difference, one person at a time.  I enjoy this new blogging world so much, I thought I would give a try at joining in.  I plan to write about projects I am working on, fun or interesting activities I do with my children, thoughts about christian life, food I've made and enjoyed and more. I hope you might take away a little inspiration or an uplifting.