Psalms 90

"...So teach us to number our days, that we may gain heart of wisdom...

Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,

the years in which we have seen evil.

Let your work appear to Your servants...let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us..."

Anything that comes into my life that makes me need God more,

is good.

-Hudson Taylor

Daily life --

Actions speak louder than words,

but we can't let our words hinder our actions.

The written Word

"I will delight myself in Thy statutes: I will not forget Thy word.

Thy word is very pure: therefore Thy servant loveth it.

Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of Thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.

Thou hast magnified Thy word above all Thy name."

Psalms 119:16, 140, 160; 138:2

The scriptures are shallow enough for the babe to drink from without drowning, and deep enough for the greatest theologian to swim in without ever touching the bottom.

-St. Jerome

How Deep the Father's Love for Us

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure!
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away.
As wounds that mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the Man upon a cross--
My sin upon His shoulders!
Ashamed to hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers.

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished.
His dying breathe has brought me life-
I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything,
No gifts or power or wisdom.
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.

Why should I gain from His reward
I cannot give an answer.
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom.

~by Stuart Townend

Where am I?

I made an amazing discovery tonight. According to HowManyOfMe.com -- I don't exist. Now isn't that a warm fuzzy feeling?! It isn't quite so disconcerting, though, as my family is reassuring me that I really do belong here in the USA.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

For those of you who are brave enough to find out how many of you there are out there -- check it out! But don't take the statistic too seriously...I'm not!

Satisfied

God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.
-J. Piper

Oh for sweet

Tonight after I'd gotten myself ready for bed, I sat down to read a few Psalms. Charissa was having floor time (a very rare occurrence around here!) when the guys started to gather around her. I couldn't resist grabbing my camera for a quick picture... What precious moments!

"Come on Charissa -- say Josiah!"

"Now Charissa, to get strong muscles you need to..."

"I think she likes me the most -- she keeps looking at me!"

"No, Charissa, look at ME!"

Pressing on to perfection

Seeking the aid of the Holy Spirit, let us aim at perfection. Let every day see some sin crucified, some battle fought, some good done, some victory won; let every fall be followed by a rise, and every step gained become, not a resting place, but a new starting point for further and higher progress.

-Guthrie

"Be ye therefore perfect,

even as your Father in heaven is perfect."

Matthew 5:48

Humility

"Love...is not puffed up."

Then after having learned all that, you have to learn this further thing, humility - to put a seal upon your lips and forget what you have done. After you have been kind, after love has stolen forth into the world and done its beautiful work, go back into the shade again and say nothing about it. Love waives even self-satisfaction. Humility -- love hiding.

Part 9 of 9

This series on love has personally challenged me. Love is the greatest of all these things, for God is love, and love is God. The business of our lives is to have these things fitted into our characters. Is life not full of opportunities to learning to love?

Love is an effect.

And only as we fulfill the right condition can we have the effect produced. What is the cause? In the first Epistle of John you find these words: "We love because He first loved us."

This is the cause of which I have spoken. The effect follows what we love -- we love Him, we love all men. We cannot help it. Contemplate the love of Christ, and you will love. You cannot love to order. You can only look at the lovely object, and fall in love with it, and grow into likeness to it.

Loving Him you become like Him.

Love begets love.

Excerpts taken from "The Greatest Thing in the World" by Henry Drummond

1 John 3:18

"Let us not love in word or in tongue but in deed and in truth."

Speaking beautifully is little to the purpose unless one lives beautifully.
Elizabeth Prentiss

In case you've all been wondering...

...where I've been this past week, it has been very busy, needless to say! Our family spent some time in the recording studio, then were gone over the weekend, and I'm home again -- and hopefully back to blogging! Though I have missed having time to post, I also enjoyed the week of just resting in the Lord and thanking Him for what He has done.

On Thursday, I babysat my younger sisters (and brother!) for most of the day, and for a special treat I hosted a tea party for them when our work was all done...with the lacy dresses, gloves, and all the fixin's! Enjoy the pictures of some little (and big!) girls having fun dressing up!!

Posing -- with all the finery!

Pictures posted for a friend

"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,
and they shall become one."
Genesis 2:24