Tea

"The cup of tea on arrival at a country house is a thing which, as a rule, I particularly enjoy. I like the crackling logs, the shaded lights, the scent of buttered toast, the general atmosphere of leisured coziness." ~P.G.Wodehouse The Code of the Woosters

"Christopher Robin was home by this time, because it was the afternoon, and he was so glad to see them that they stayed there until nearly tea-time, and then they had a Very Nearly tea, which is one you forget about afterwards, and hurried on to Pooh Corner, so as to see Eeyore before it was too late to have a Proper Tea with Owl." ~A.A.Milne The House at Pooh Corner

"Cynthia came in quietly and set a cup of tea before him. he kissed her hand, inexpressibly grateful, and she went back to the kitchen. When we view the little things with thanksgiving, even they become big things." ~Jan Karon These High, Green Hills

"Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast,

Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round,

And, while the bubbling and loud hissing urn

Throws up a steamy column and the cups

That cheer but not inebriate, wait on each,

So let us welcome peaceful ev'ning in."

~William Cowper

Knitting

I am learning to knit, so I decided to try to use up some yarn that I had from previous projects in a sort of striped scarf. I need the practice! And hopefully my man can use it to keep warm with on these cold winter days...that is, if I finish it before spring!

Psalm 18:1-3

"I will love You, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies."

Blue

A Call to Faithfulness...in the everyday!

I was very much encouraged by an article that I read this morning about being a young wife. Or maybe the word is more properly, convicted. The article was an exhortation to young wives to spend their time wisely and to not waste the "extra" time that they have now that they are married and keeping their home, but don't have children yet to take up their time! It was a good reminder of how we are to think about our days. It seems to me that this sort of thing would be a good reminder to any of us, whether married with children, or still single. The principle is the same. Our life is the Lord's and we are to spend it serving Him (through serving our families!). I would encourage you to take a few moments and read this article! http://www.kindlingpublications.com/articles/view.php?rid=55

Cozy Winter Evening

We had a blizzardy sort of day today...snowing and blowing. But now it's calm again. I even saw sunshine for a few minutes in the mid-afternoon! Time to get ready for supper and the return of my man from work. I plugged in my lit Christmas star (that belongs on the top of our Christmas tree, but I couldn't part with it when I put the Christmas things away...so I stuck it in my curtain!), and lit my tea lights... Now I'm going to go drink my mug of tea and start supper. Hope you have a good evening. Take some time to ponder God's blessings in your life!

Monday Morning

I have such a lovely little snowstorm outside of my windows this morning! Big, fluffy flakes steadily coming down. I love the fresh start of Mondays! I was able to get my house straightened from the weekend projects last evening, and I was able to wake up to a fairly straightened house, which is always a good thing.

My man and I got to go visit my parents’ house yesterday for Sunday dinner. It’s always wonderful to visit them at the farm! Mama had a wonderful dinner ready for us when we got there…roast pork, mashed potatoes, carrots, gravy, salad, bread, huckleberry jam…uuummm! I miss the winter sunshine coming in the sliding glass door next to the table, and watching the barn cats sun themselves on the deck. Mama made fresh blonde brownies in the afternoon, and we watched old episodes of “Petticoat Junction”…delightful! It is so good to spend time with my siblings. We have all been busy for a while and haven’t been getting together much, so it was so good to be with them. Mama and my sister made homemade pizza for supper. There's nothing like Mama’s pizza. :) We had a very good time.

I tried a new sort of herb tea this morning called “Gypsy Cold Care”, with elder and yarrow flowers, and peppermint and such. It’s delicious! And I’ve had a chance to talk to my mama on the cell phone this morning already. She gave me an idea for dinner…homemade creamy tomato soup and fresh popovers! Perfect for getting my man warm on a cold day. : )

I need to start sewing on a couple of winter skirts for my sister. One is out of a lovely orange corduroy and the other is denim. The skirt will be made in three tiers of ruffles…so that there’s room to actually do something in them. I have been working on some lace for one of them, but am not sure exactly where I am going to put it on the skirt yet! It’s turning out pretty, though.

Well, I should go do some vacuuming and start on my tomato soup. I am listening to audio recordings of the books “The Saturdays” and “The Four Story Mistake” by Elizabeth Enright this morning while I do my work. Delightful!

Lord's Day's Hymn

“A certain man made a great supper, and bade many.” Luke14:16

How sweet and awful is the place
With Christ within the doors,
While everlasting love displays
The choicest of her stores.

While all our hearts and all our songs
Join to admire the feast,
Each of us cry, with thankful tongues,
“Lord, why was I a guest?

“Why was I made to hear thy voice,
And enter why there’s room,
When thousands make the wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?”

‘Twas the same love that spread the feast
That sweetly drew us in;
Else we had still refused to taste,
And perished in our sins.

Pity the nations, O our God,
Constrain the earth to come;
Send thy victorious Word abroad,
And bring the strangers home.

We long to see thy churches full,
That all the chosen race
May, with one voice and heart and soul,
Sing thy redeeming grace. Amen.

Written by Isaac Watts, 1707

Hiraeth

hiraeth [m.] welsh
(n.) yearning, longing, nostalgia; homesickness, grief

“It is difficult to define hiraeth but to me it means the consciousness of man being out of his home area and that which is dear to him. That is why it can be felt even among a host of peoples amidst nature’s beauty. Like a Christian yearning for heaven.”
~D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

“There have been times when I think we do not desire heaven; but more often I find myself wondering whether, in our heart of hearts, we have ever desired anything else….It is the secret signature of each soul, the incommunicable and unappeasable want, the thing we desired before we met our wives or made our friends or chose our work, and which we shall still desire on our deathbeds, when the mind no longer knows wife or friend or work….All your life an unattainable ecstasy has hovered just beyond the grasp of your consciousness. The day is coming when you will wake to find, beyond all hope, that you have attained it.”
~C.S. Lewis The Problem of Pain

“It was when I was happiest that I longed most….The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing…to find the place where all the beauty came from.”
~C.S. Lewis Till We Have Faces

Snippets

Abide In Christ

(Quote from Andrew Murray’s book Abide in Christ)

“In all your daily life, its ways and its work, abide in Jesus as your wisdom. Your body and your daily life share in the great salvation: in Christ, the wisdom of God, provision has been made for their guidance too. Your body is His temple, your daily life the sphere for glorifying Him: it is to Him a matter of deep interest that all your earthly concerns should be guided aright. Only trust His sympathy, believe His love, and wait for His guidance—it will be given. Abiding in Him, the mind will be calmed and freed from passion, the judgment cleared and strengthened, the light of heaven will shine on earthly things, and your prayer for wisdom, like Solomon’s, will be fulfilled above what you ask or think.
And so, especially in any work you do for God, abide in Jesus as your wisdom. ‘We are created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them’; let all fear or doubt lest we should not know exactly what these works are, be put far away. In Christ we are created for them: He will show us what they are, and how to do them. Cultivate the habit of rejoicing in the assurance that the divine wisdom is guiding you, even where you do not yet see the way.
All you can wish to know is perfectly clear to Him. As Man, as Mediator, He has access to the counsels of Deity, to the secrets of Providence, in your interest, and on your behalf. If you will but trust Him fully, and abide in Him entirely, you can be confident of having unerring guidance.”

Snowflakes

I found a nifty website with lots of cut-out paper snowflake designs over at 4:53's blog. It seems that you can either download existing patterns or create your own. I don't have the software to download them, but maybe you will! (I did try my hand at creating one, though:)!) There are some really lovely snowflakes there! The address is: http://snowflakes.barkleyus.com/

My Baby Herbs

Can you see them? They are in the little clay pots on top of my canisters! Aren't they adorable? I got them as a Christmas present. Basil, Parsley, Marjoram, and Thyme. I love herbs. They are about long enough to start snipping and using in things!

The quote inside my little shadowbox on the wall is a reminder to me from Brother Lawrence:

"I possess God as tranquility in the bustle of my kitchen...as if I were on my knees before the blessed sacrament....It is not necessary to have great things to do. I turn my little omelet in the pan for the love of God....When I cannot do anything else, it is enough for me to have lifted a straw from the earth for the love of God." ~ from Practicing the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence

It is my wish that I would daily learn more of what it is to give everything that I do as a gift to God, in worship of Him.

Grateful

“But I have trusted in Your mercy;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
I will sing to the LORD,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.”
Psalm 13:5-6

Wednesday morning…and it feels like Monday! It’s my first normal day this week because of the need to spend the last several days dealing with sickness. But thanks to our Lord’s mercy we are recovering, and my Man was able to go back to work this morning!



I am now enjoying my morning routine. I love my morning routine. There is so much time in front of you to get things done in in the morning…I like that! First, starting a fire in the woodstove: the small pieces of pine and newspaper, then the log. My Man had the good idea to make our woodpile in our porch this year, so I don’t have to go out into the cold to get wood for the fire in the morning! I wasn’t at all familiar with how to start a fire at first, but usually it starts the first time now. I love hearing it start to catch the pine…the crackling as the flames reach the sap. And then when I put more in, the fire makes a Whooshing sound as the others catch on fire! And then a warm house.

After breakfast is my coffee and reading time. It was good to get back to reading this morning. There is such peace and joy in the reading of the Word. It makes an enormous difference in one’s day. A friend mentioned that she uses the MacArthur daily Bible, and how much of a help that had been to her, so I decided to try that this year (since my Man already had a copy). It has been very helpful for me as well!

I am thankful for so many things this morning...for instance:
* That my Man’s high fever has come down and that he’s feeling better. I am inexperienced in taking care of a person when they’re that sick, and when it’s my big, strong man it’s even worse.
*That I have the World’s Best In-Laws living here in the very same town with me. They let us come over and sit on their couch when we didn’t want to be sick by ourselves, and took care of our every need. When we were at home they brought things from the store for us, let us borrow medicine when we needed it, took us to the doctor, fixed our door handle :), folded my clean towels, and much more! My dear sister-in-law (of http://www.anas-corner.blogspot.com/) even helped me get my house back in order yesterday.

*half-n-half for my coffee…not a necessity in this world, but I very much appreciate it!

*A cell phone to talk to my Mama and Papa on when I can’t see them…

*Snow outside of my windows to sparkle in the sunshine and keep me happy!

* Green leaf lettuce…I love opening my refrigerator door and seeing those dozens of green ruffles in the bouquet thing that they come in.

*A warm house that isn’t too messy right now :).

Anyway, I have many more things that I'm thankful for, but I am just glad that it’s another morning!

My Kitchen

This Lord's Day's Hymn

"Jesus Christ: whom having not seen, ye love..." 1 Peter 1:7-8

O Saviour, precious Saviour,
Whom yet unseen we love,
O Name of might and favor,
All other names above;
We worship thee, we bless thee,
To thee alone we sing;
We praise thee, and confess thee
Our holy Lord and King.

O Bringer of salvation,
Who wondrously hast wrought,
Thyself the revelation
Of love beyond our thought;
We worship thee, we bless thee,
To thee alone we sing;
We praise thee, and confess thee
Our gracious Lord and King.

In thee all fullness dwelleth,
All grace and power divine:
The glory that excelleth,
O Son of God, is thine;
We worship thee, we bless thee,
To thee alone we sing;
We praise thee and confess thee
Our glorious Lord and King

O grant the consummation
Of this our song above
In endless adoration,
And everlasting love;
Then shall we praise and bless thee
Where perfect praises ring,
And evermore confess thee
Our Saviour and our King. Amen.

~Frances R. Havergal, 1870
(to the tune of MEIRIONYDD 7.6.7.6.D.,
Welsh hymn melody,
Ascribed to William Lloyd, 1840)

Welcome!

Welcome to The Rose Garden! This is my first blog venture so I pray that you would be kind as I figure all of this out. :) My hope and prayer is that you would be encouraged as you visit my blog, and that, by God's grace, I would be able to share some of the joy and hope that I have as a sinner saved by my Beautiful Savior. He has blessed me so greatly in giving me access to the Father. No hope could be greater than mine! And as if that were not enough to give me reason to praise Him for eternity, He lavishes upon me blessings and joys in my everyday life. I am blessed to be married to a wonderful man (handsome and godly...what better combination?!), and have a wonderful home life filled with many joys and beauties. I am by no means perfect, as I am sure you will see in the course of time! But I take hope in Jesus "who is able to keep [me] from stumbling and to present [me] blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy" (Jude 24, ESV). Please, come rejoice with me in these daily blessings!