More snow today!

~*~After all of that blizzarding last weekend, the weather forecast calls for more of the same this weekend. Today it started to snow again. Big fluffy flakes and wind to blow them around in swirls. It's lovely. This picture is of my cozy house in the midst of the floating whiteness.~*~

George Muller ~ The Importance of Reading the Word

“In what way shall we attain to this settled happiness of soul? How shall we learn to enjoy God? How shall we obtain such an all-sufficient soul-satisfying portion in Him as shall enable us to let go the things of this world as vain and worthless in comparison? I answer, This happiness is to be obtained through the study of the Holy Scriptures. God has therein revealed Himself unto us in the face of Jesus Christ.”*
“The more we know of God the happier we are….when we became a little acquainted with God…our true happiness…commenced; and the more we become acquainted with Him, the more truly happy we become. What will make us so exceedingly happy in heaven? It will be the fuller knowledge of God.”
“Now… I would give a few hints to my younger fellow-believers as to the way in which to keep up spiritual enjoyment. It is absolutely needful…we should read regularly through the Scriptures, consecutively, and not pick out here and there a chapter. If we do, we remain spiritual dwarfs. I tell you so affectionately. For the first four years after my conversion I made no progress, because I neglected the Bible. But when I regularly read on through the whole with reference to my own heart and soul, I directly made progress. Then my peace and joy continued more and more. Now I have been doing this for 47 years. I have read through the whole Bible about 100 times and I always find it fresh when I begin again. Thus my peace and joy have increased more and more.”
“I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord.”
“I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the word of God, and to meditate on it…. What is the food of the inner man? Not prayer, but the word of God; and…not the simple reading of the word of God, so that it passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts.”
(* “In them…we become acquainted with the character of God. Our eyes are divinely opened to see what a lovely Being God is! And this good, gracious, loving, heavenly Father is ours—our portion for time and for eternity.”)

~George Muller

(Quotes found in When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy, by John Piper, pp.118-119)

~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Mama, my sister, and I were talking a little bit about George Muller yesterday and were reminded of these quotes that I had written down in one of my notebooks. We were encouraged by the reading aloud of these words, and I thought that perhaps the rest of you might be as well.

Fun with Beads...my candle lantern

Yesterday I was inspired to try out a new project...so in the evening while my man was working on some things here at the desk, I started. For this particular project I wanted green seed beads, which I had but were mixed in with a lot of other colors in my little jar of beads. So, I decided to try to use a nice pedestal cake plate that I had to sort all of the green beads out. It worked well, so in a couple of hours I had all of the little green beads picked up with a pair of tweezers and put into my little bowl!

Then, after the beads were sorted, I took a clean jar (from peanut butter, actually!) and copper wire that I had just polished, and worked with it until I had it so that the wire was holding the jar securely and making some pretty spirals....
This morning I was able to have lots of fun stringing the green beads onto floral wire and making different sorts of designs on the sides of the jar between the copper wire (just so that there is some sparkle when I put a candle in it!). I like how it turned out. I might have to make another one! :)

~Scarf~

(A new one that I finished this morning... I really like the colors of this multicolor yarn, don't you?)

"Next day the snow began to fall, large, slow flakes drifting on a light wind. The sky was leaden and the earth crouched beneath it drained of beauty. All the light and loveliness were in the snow itself, in the movement and glimmer of the flakes large as wild white roses, in the tide of whiteness flowing slowly over the dark earth, like moonlight or the surf of a soundless sea.... After [Mary] had rescued her six snowdrops from the garden she stayed indoors and gazed out of first one window and then another, watching how the whiteness outlined the church windows and the ledges of the tower, how it lay on the shoulders of her cupid in the garden and crept along the branches of the apple tree outside the parlour window. There were sounds at first, Bess barking, the early return of the next door car bringing the children home from school before the roads worsened, voices of people crossing the green, but with the approach of twilight they one by one fell away. Even the light wind dropped and no longer murmured in the chimney."
~from The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge

~Weekend~

I spent Thursday hand sewing and embellishing a gray corduroy curtain to go in the doorway of my mama's living room. It is turning out looking very cozy and "Mr. Badger"ish. (...if you haven't ever read The Wind in the Willows you will not be aware of the great secure, cozy, Englishy, gladdening feeling that his name is supposed to give you. I'm afraid that that is entirely your own fault. It is a book everyone should read.) I made the curtain about 20 inches longer than the distance from the top of the rod to the floor, as it is supposed to make a gloriously rich puddle on the floor. I shall have to show you a picture of it when I get it finished and hung up where it is supposed to go!

On Friday evening, my man and I drove forty minutes north to my parents' house on the farm for supper and the evening. It was so wonderful. Have I ever mentioned before the cozy, home-y-ness of my mama and papa's house? Well, it something akin to a Mr. Badger house. And the visit was made doubly wonderful by the presence of some dear friends of ours there who I have not had a chance to see in over a year. We made supper, saw the new border collie puppy (oh, my word! The cuteness. I think I want a puppy...), walked around dogs napping/watching us cook supper/chasing tennis balls under our chairs, listened to bluegrass, drank coffee and washed dishes, sang worship songs in harmony, worked on handwork around the dining room table, watched an episode of "Due South", enjoyed a bluegrass jam... We drove home late.

Saturday morning found us with a few inches of snow, so my man cleaned off our driveway. We cut up another pickup-truck-full of pallets to burn in the stove and carried in more logs from our pile behind the garage. In the evening we went to my man's parents' house to celebrate his mom's birthday. We had a really good time! We had [the best] pizza from our local "Casey's pizza", and we visited around the table for several hours talking (and drinking hot chai tea). While we were there a blizzard came up and we got six inches of snow before we left to go home!

Church was canceled on Sunday morning, so we stayed home in the snow. In the evening we took a walk around town in the snow and stopped at my man's parents'. Ana and E were busy making a snow fort in the middle of their front yard. We stayed and helped them for a while. It was so much fun! My man used the snow blower to pile the snow from all around on the top of the fort. A couple of us would be inside shoveling and scraping and another outside to shovel the snow away from the entrance as it got pushed out. It was huge by the time it was done...I've never seen a fort that big. My man and his three siblings and I could all be inside it at the same time with plenty of room to spare...we could have easily fit his parents in there too! Then of course we were all soaking wet, and of course we went inside and had popcorn and Ana and Leah showed us how to make snow ice cream (it was delicious!), and of course we stayed until 10pm! It was a good weekend.

hymn

How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds
~words by John Newton

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
In a believer’s ear!
It soothes his sorrow, heals his wounds
And drives away his fear.

It makes the wounded spirit whole
And calms the troubled breast.
Tis manna to the hungry soul
And to the weary rest.

Dear name the Rock on which I build
My Shield and Hiding Place,
My never failing treasury filled
With boundless stores of grace.

By Thee, my prayers acceptance gain,
Although with sin defiled;
Satan accuses me in vain,
And I am owned a child.

Jesus, my Shepherd, Brother, Friend,
My Prophet, Priest, and King,
My Lord, my life, my way, my end,
Accept the praise I bring.

Weak is the effort of my heart,
And cold my warmest thought;
But when I see Thee as Thou art,
I’ll praise Thee as I ought.

‘Til then I would Thy love proclaim
With every fleeting breath,
And may the music of Thy name
Refresh my soul in death.

Collage

~*~My March calendar collage project for my Mama~*~

More Love to Thee

Please take a moment to visit this post, "Extreme hymn" , at Ana's blog for a sobering reminder of what it means to give up all for the sake of knowing Christ Jesus. Pray to the Father that we might not falter in the day of tempting, but forsake all the things that the world can give us in order to be faithful to Christ!

“That is what our sacrifice of ourselves should be—“full of life”. Not desponding, morbid, morose; not gloomy, chilly, forbidding; not languid, indolent, inactive; but full of life, and warmth and energy; cheerful, and making others cheerful; ... happy, and making others happy; contented, and making other contented; doing good, and making others do good, by our lively vivid vitality—filling every corner of our own souls and bodies, filling every corner of the circle in which we move, with the fresh life blood of a warm, genial, kindly Christian heart. Doubtless this requires a sacrifice; it requires us to give up our own comfort, our own ease, our own firesides, our dear solitude, our own favorite absorbing pursuits, our shyness, our reserve, our pride, our selfishness.” ~ Arthur P. Stanley

49 degrees!

This noon when my man left to go back to work after dinner, I had a chance to step outside and breathe in our fresh, warm air. It was 49 degrees outside by the thermometer on our garage, and it felt wonderful! I was able to open a window on our porch to let some of the fresh air into the house (which felt so good...a person doesn't always realize how much they miss having the windows open!). And then, of course, I had to go outside and feel the warm, sunny sidewalk under my bare toes. (I am not the sort of person who likes wearing shoes, which makes winter a rather trying time for my toes ;).) I splashed through icy puddles and enjoyed the way that the sun was shining on everything. I can't wait to start gardening again!! I know that this is only a temporary thaw (certainly not Spring), but I am so glad that I had the opportunity to enjoy the fresh air and warm sunshine. God is good to bring joys such as these into our lives!

~*~Orange~*~

Working on afghan pieces today... I'm hoping to have the afghan done by the end of March, so I suppose I should be working on that more, don't you think? It is enjoyable to work on the little hexagons. Especially if I vary which part of the pattern I'm working on. Anyway...here I go to do some more. ~*~

Psalm 25: 1-7

Show me Your ways, O LORD;
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day.

Remember, O LORD, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses,
For they are from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions;
According to Your mercy remember me,
For Your goodness' sake, O LORD.

My Rosemary Plant
~Rosmarinus officinalis~
~*~handwork page~*~

~a lumpy potholder...my first attempt~

Alright, so you'll probably think I'm silly for being rather obsessed with taking unusual pictures (my man certainly thinks so!), but I just HAD to get the camera and snap a couple of my favorite linen curtain that hangs in my kitchen. The winter light was coming through it so pretty. I just couldn't help myself. So here you have it: Winter Light Through My Blue Linen Curtain.

English Muffin Toast

I tried my hand at making some English muffin toasting bread today, using a cookbook from my Daddy. It is a really easy one to make...no kneading, only one rise, takes 25 minutes to cook. The cornmeal makes it look nifty and rustic. :) It is not a very high-rising loaf (although that could just be my baking!), but it tastes fabulous toasted and spread with some butter!

~pictures included are: mixing the dough--my recipe--smooshing into loaf pan and sprinkling with cornmeal--rising in front of the wood stove--finished product~

A Quiet Afternoon

I was blessed to have a really good Lord's Day...an instructive Bible geography lesson during our family Bible time at church, a soul nourishing sermon about our Christ from Hebrews 3, and an encouraging time of fellowship over dinner with our church people (it was fellowship meal Sunday!).

I also had a quiet and restful afternoon. Slightly warmer winter weather, but still chilly, with the wood stove heating the main room. My man working on some things at the desk. Flannel shirt and a pot of coffee. Ummm, that coffee was tasty! I was out of my favorite kind, so for a little valentine's day surprise, Mama gave me a cute little jar full of 'Cafe Verona' in my goodie basket after church on Wednesday night, complete with a happy little heart! Isn't she the best?

While I was sipping my coffee, I had a lovely time perusing some magazines that Mama had passed along. I love looking for beautiful little pictures to cut out and use in my notebooks...and I was able to find many! Then I go through and trim them all, and then I usually sort them by how I'll use them, then by theme, then by color scheme, etc. I found so many lovely ones that I decided to decorate a whole new notebook. I suppose the notebook will be for something like homemaking, canning, gardening, cooking, hospitality or crafting notes...whatever seems to suit at the time! Yes, Mama, you read the first page correctly!