Happy Mother's Day!

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.

A Butterfly Birthday Cake

We recently had a small birthday party for my youngest, and my children's favorite thing is to pick the kind of cake that they want me to make.  A butterfly cake was the choice for my little one, and after searching butterfly cake pictures on Google, here is what I came up with...

That is made from one 9" round cake, cut in half, with a little notch taken out of each half. M&M's are the candy decorating the top and sides, along with large gumdrops, and decorating crystal sprinkles. Some inspiration was found at the M& M ideas page, and Bake, Decorate, Celebrate.  I had to get ready after I made that one, so I asked my husband to decorate the other however he wanted.  Here is his decorated cake....

Isn't that neat?  The kids liked his as much as mine, but both were greatly enjoyed!

Hearts for Home

Today I want to join in with Gae at Cherished Hearts at Home.  Here are her words about her weekly link-up:

"In today’s busy and aggressive society mothers at home are not given much encouragement to be committed to their role in being home.

In my weekly 'Hearts for Home' post I am encouraging myself and others to commit to thinking about what 4-6 things we can do each week to bring our thoughts, prayers and actions to keeping our 'Hearts for Home'."

So my list for the remainder of the week is as follows:

1. Get started on my mornings earlier, and keep plugging along...in other words, make the most of the morning time.  I did yesterday, and everything went that much smoother!
2. Read to the children a lot this week; it's a cooler, grayer week, perfect for snuggling up with books.
3. Have a "Daddy Day"...in which we email pictures of what's going on in our day, call him more frequently, greet him with a treat or craft for him when he gets home...make him feel special and involved.
4. Get to a pumpkin patch to add to the children's pleasant fall memories.
5. Make fudge for me for the family.  :-)
6. Don't get on the computer too much!  (Which means I must go now!)

How are you keeping your hearts for home?
 

Generations on My Wall

A couple of years ago, a cousin of mine shared some wonderful old family photos with me, as well as all the information she had on my maternal grandparents and great grandparents.  I wanted to be able to remember these family ancestors who made my family possible, who struggled and came over to America, so that now my family enjoys the blessings here...so I framed the photos in pretty gold frames and have a hall family display.

In the picture above, my great grandmother Victoria, and my great grandfather, Peter, are seated. My grandmother is the baby, and the boy is her brother.  The other two girls are cousins.  Victoria and Peter are both from Poland, near the Czech border.  They didn't meet until they were here in America.  Victoria came over to America, by herself, at age 16! What courage.  I want my children to see these pictures, and ask questions about them, and feel a connection to the past.

This is Victoria many, many years later, with her daughter (my Grandma), and two of her grandchildren.  My mom is the cute little one on the left.  Love you, Mom!
My husband's grandmother has a very interesting life story as well...and I'll have to share that another time!  Have a great Friday!

PS...Check out the neat giveaway at a blog I follow called Pioneer Beauty. It's for a very pretty Jane Austen book, Sense and Sensibility.
PPS...Another terrific giveaway is for a modest skirt from New Creation Apparel...check it out at A Wise Woman Builds Her Home.