Treasures

::Perfect for November::

::Here are some albums that are floating around our house today.  Serious Italian-cafe-happiness going on here::

A Woman's Call to Prayer :: Chapter 4

Chapter 4:: Ten Reasons Women Don't Pray- Part 3

If you want a life of prayer,

 the way to get it is

by praying.

-Thomas Merton

7) Faithlessness- We don't really believe in the power of prayer.  We don't think that prayer makes any difference.  We don't believe that things might have different outcomes due to faithful and earnest prayer... therefore we don't pray.

Whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.

Matthew 21:22

Enjoy the devotional thought that follows regarding this wonderful promise from Jesus... and then, in faith and by faith, draw the bow, shoot the arrow, and in prayer send your heart's message upward to heaven!

Prayer is the bow,

the promise is the arrow:

faith is the hand which draws the bow, and

sends the arrow with the heart's message to

heaven.

The bow without the arrow is of no use; and

the arrow without the bow is of little worth; and

both, without the strength of the hand, to no

purpose.

Neither the promise without prayer,

nor prayer without the promise,

nor both without faith,

avail the Christian anything.

What was said of the Israelites, "they could not enter in

because of unbelief,"

the same may be said of many of our prayers; they

cannot enter heaven, because they are not put up in

faith.

8) Pridefulness- Prayer reflects our dependence on God.  When we fail to pray, we are saying that we don't have any needs...or worse, that we are choosing not to ask the one Person who can help us.  Our prayerlessness defiantly declares, "I'll take care of it myself, thank You!" 

So let's be quick to humble ourselves and pray and seek God's glorious face.

The self-sufficient do not pray, the self-satisfied will not pray, the self-righteous cannot pray.

The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.

Psalm 34:18

9) Inexperience- We don't pray because we don't pray! And because we don't pray, we don't know how to pray...so we don't pray.  It's a vicious cycle.  Yet prayer, like any skill, becomes easier with repetition.  The more we pray, the more we know how to pray.  And the more we know how to pray, the more we pray.  It's as simple as that.

Lord, teach us to pray

Luke 11:1

If we are willing to take hours on end to learn to

play the piano, or operate a computer, or fly an

airplane, it is sheer nonsense for us to imagine

that we can learn the high art of getting guidance

through communion with the Lord without being

willing to set aside time for it.  It is no accident

 that the Bible speaks of prayer as a form of

waiting on God.

10) Laziness-

First, I put my personal principle of "head for bed" into action as soon as the evening meal was done and the kitchen cleaned up.  No, that doesn't mean that I went to bed at six o'clock. But it does mean that at six o'clock I began to get my daughters bathed and into their pajamas.  I would also shut down the house, wash my face and brush my teeth, check the schedule for the next day and begin a to-do list, and get into my own pj's.  Then I set out my prayer notebook and Bible in the place where I would (Lord willing!) have my devotions the next morning.

Second, I put my prayer principle of "something is better than nothing" to work for me when it was actually time to pray.  I had to dispel the myth of the desired and hoped for "sweet hour of prayer" and try for something more manageable and realistic for successfully getting the discipline of daily prayer into place.

Checklist for Prayer

Access your faith-quotient- Do you believe God answers prayer? Or do you fall into the category of those Jesus addressed as "O you of little faith"?

Lord...help my unbelief.

Mark 9:24

Take time to think- Really think about what keeps you from praying.  Hold each of these ten reasons for failing to pray up to God in prayer.  Lay your soul before God, and submit your heart to Him for scrutiny.

For instance, ask in prayer:

God, is there too much of the world in my life and not enough of You?  Am I like Martha, too focused on the busy details of daily life and failing to see the big picture, the necessity of prayer? Am I living out the definition of a fool by allowing what is insignificant to rob me of the most significant use of my time- time spent praying about my life?  Have I allowed anything to create a distance between us, Lord? Father, am I neglecting to ask of You in prayer because of a failure to understand Your magnanimous nature? Or is it due to some area of sin in my life that I'm refusing to deal with? Or is my failure to pray a faith issue, a lack of trust? Or pride? Or do I just plain ole don't know how... or am I just plain ole lazy?

Desire to answer God's all- You see, you and I can know we need to pray, and we can learn the skills involved in praying.  Yet if we never desire to pray, our knowledge and skills mean nothing.  Praying will never become a habit or a discipline because the one main ingredient is missing.  My friend, it's imperative that we desire to pray!

Prayer is so simple;

It is like quietly opening a door

And slipping into the very

presence of God,

There is stillness

To listen to His voice;

Perhaps to petition,

It matters not.

Just to be there

In His presence

Is Prayer.

Pg. 42-51

A Woman's Call to Prayer :: Chapter 3

Chapter 3 ::  Ten Reason Women Don't Pray-Part 2

Prayer is one way God has provided

for us to commune with Him,

and when we accept His invitation

to commune with Him,

He will transform our hearts

and change our lives.

You and I must desire to pray, decide to pursue it, determine to keep at it and, of course, do it!

4) Distance-- If you know people well, you can usually talk easily with them.  But you probably have difficulty talking to a stranger.  And the same thing happens in our communication with God. When you and I don't have a close enough relationship with God, we find it hard to "talk" to Him.

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

James 4:8

What are some of things that can create distance in our bond with God?  Here are a few answers: Neglect. Bitterness. Laziness. Procrastination.  Sin. Distractions. Pride. I'm sure you could add to this list.

5) Ignorance--We don't understand or grasp God's goodness or His desire and ability to provide for us "exceedingly abundantly" (Ephesians 3:20) and to "supply all our need" (Philippians 4:19) Therefore, we don't ask or pray. 

What man is there among you who, if his son asks

for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for

a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, 

being evil, know how to give good gifts to your

children, how much more will your Father who is

in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Matthew 7:9-11

God is good. And God is a giving God.  but God also wants us to ask Him,  In the words of Charles Spurgeon, famed preacher-of-old, "Whether we like it or not, asking is the rule of the kingdom."

Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.

Jeremiah 33:3

You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss.

James 4:3

Ask, and it will be given to you...for everyone who asks receive.

Matthew 7:7-8

6) Sinfulness-- Oh, dear friend, we simply cannot forfeit our ability and our opportunity to pray for ourselves, our family and friends, and those in need because we are too proud or stubborn to deal with sin.  Too much is at stake--and at risk-- to hold on to secret or favorite sins.  Keep short accounts with God when it comes to sin.  And what is the best way to treat sin?  I've often been advised to deal with any sin as it comes up-- on the spot! At the exact minute that I slip up and fail!

Checklist for Prayer 

~Examine your relationship with God

Number One excuses you are allowing to keep you from prayer.

neglect    bitterness

laziness    procrastination

sin    distractions

pride    other reasons

 ~Write our verses to memorize--
Begin with Jeremiah 33:3, James 4:3, Matthew 7:7-8.

Write the verses on cards,

Write them out ten times, and

Write them on the tablet of your heart.

By having your verses on cards, you are seeing them.  By writing them out ten times with pen and paper, you are touching them.  And by writing them "on the tablet of your heart" (Proverbs 3:3)-- by saying them over and over--you are internalizing them until they become yours.

~Search your heart for sin

Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my mind and my heart....Search me, O God and know my heart...and see if there is any wicked way in me.

Psalm 26:2 and 139:23-24

...to guard against distance, stay close to God,

...to guard against ignorance, stay close to God's Word so you have a better understanding of how you should be praying, and 

... to guard against sinfulness, stay close to God by pursuing a godly life.

pg. 32-40

Blustery Day Yumminess

Today I had the whole day off of work and so I decided to cook up something delicious for supper.

Main course:

Veggie Tortellini Soup

Bread:

Rosemary Focaccia

Dessert:

Golden Apple Pie

::Perfect for a chilly, blustery day with wind gusts of up to 60mph::

A Woman's Call to Prayer :: Chapter 2

Chapter 2 :: Ten Reason Women Don't Pray-- Part 1

No praying woman accomplishes so much

with so little expenditure of time

as when she is praying.

--C. E. Cowman

1) Worldliness- We live "in the world" (John 17:11) and are effected by our worldly surroundings more than we realize or think.  There is nothing in the world that encourages us to pray.  There are no voices in the world admonishing us to be spiritually minded.  And prayer is a spiritual exercise. But prayer and praying give us a measure of immunity against the world.  For instance, I've noticed that when I get up early and make prayer a priority and take the time to seek God through His Word and prayer, a fire of passion for Him is ignited, fueled,  and fanned until its flame is brilliant.

My thoughts, my heart, my concerns, my focus, my desires all become more noble when time is taken to lift my heart heavenward through prayer. ( This is SO true!!)

He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness

Psalm 107:9

2) Busyness-- Another reason we don't pray is because we don't take the time to pray. And usually the culprit is busyness. 

We must learn to stop in the midst of all of the busyness and to stop all of the busyness... and pray.  A woman who is too busy to pray is simply too busy!

3) Foolishness-- Whenever we become consumed with what is foolish and trivial, we will also surely find ourselves failing to pray. It's a given! (And I am sure we would both agree that failing to pray might well be the ultimate act of foolishness for a woman of God!)

We lose sight of the primary thing in life-- our relationship with God. We foolishly and frivolously begin to spend our very limited and priceless time and our already-insufficient energy on wrong and inferior things.  We fail to "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness" so that all the other things we need in life can be added to us (Matthew 6:33)

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

-Jim Elliot-

Evaluate your heart-- Identify three things you can do to turn your back on the world and your heart toward spiritual things, toward the heavenly, toward the eternal. 

Now, how can you "turn your eyes upon Jesus" so that the things of this world will grow steadily more dim?

Evaluate your lifestyle--Think about your daily routine and not the multitude of ways you spend your God-given time (some of which is meant to be spent in prayer). 

Now, how can you make time for "the one thing" that Jesus pronounced most needful, for "the one thing" that shall never be taken away from you? How can you make time for prayer? How can you make your desire to pray become a reality?

Evaluate your priorities-- Ask God to show you areas of foolishness in your life. ( I know, we hate to admit it, but it's true--they're there! Pray this prayer: "Lord, please reveal those things in my life that are secondary to a life committed to prayer.  What less things are wasting my time and energy? What foolish things are wasting my time and energy? (Prov 28:13)

pg. 22-30

A Woman's Call to Prayer :: Chapter 1

I picked this book up at the local Christian book store and have been telling myself that I must read it... after I finish the other book that I am reading.  Well, ladies and gentlefolks, I have finished Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot ( a MUST read) and am now a happy reader of A Woman's Call to Prayer by Elizabeth George.  I am but 2 days into it, 2 chapters into this wealth of knowledge and I feel as though I have grown already.  I am so excited beyond words about reading this book.  I long so deeply to become a woman of prayer.  A woman so devoted to God and to prayer that everything else that I do fails in comparison with it.  I want a flame for Christ.  A flame that cannot be quenched with worldly desires.  I want to be a Woman after God's own heart...

So, what I am going to try to accomplish is a post a day on the chapter that I read that day.   I don't know what kind of a post it would really qualify as, so I am just going to call it highlights-from-my-morning-devotionals.  :) Okay, so maybe that won't work, but that will be the gist of the goal.

I am going to encourage you ladies to go and find this book whether on Amazon,  CBD, your local book store or wherever you are able to find this book and buy it!  Maybe you already have it, maybe you have already read it, but whatever the case I would like you to go along with me on my journey as I desire and strive to become a woman of prayer.  I will jot down the parts that really catch my eye for you all to see.  If you are reading it or have read it and there is something that caught your eye that I didn't post about, let me know! I would LOVE to see what you got out of it.  I want to grow but also I want you to grow with me.  It's a journey that cannot be walked alone.    If you don't want to do any of what I have asked, then by all means don't!  But please do read and admonish and encourage me when needed.

Most importantly I want ALL the glory to go to God.  He alone is responsible for any growth that we receive in our lives.  He alone is worthy. 

Chapter 1:: Beginning the Journey into Prayer

Imagine what kind of  transformation would occur in our hearts if we spent time (or more time) each day drawing near to God through His Word-- time spent on something of eternal, life-changing value!

As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God.... My soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You

--Psalm 42:1; 63:1--

Let's embark on a joint journey of learning more about prayer.  Let's seek a life lived "on bended knee." 

We just don't arrive one day at the point where we can mark "learn to pray" off our to-do list! It's as my Jim always says,  "If you want to humble the mightiest Christians, ask them about their prayer life."

Pray Now-- Put your book down, grab your kitchen timer, and go somewhere where you can shut the door or be alone.  Then pray for five minutes.  Use these initial golden minutes to share with your heavenly Father your heart's desire to answer His call upon your life to  become--and be!-- a woman of prayer.

Get Organized--Round up some kind of notebook.  Whatever it is, do what you can to make your choice personal, pleasing, and inspiring. Just choose something that will aid you and inspire you to take your first beginning steps down the path of your journey into prayer. 

Look Ahead-- Look over...and pray over...the next week on your calendar of events. Pay particular attention to the pattern of your life--of your daily routine, of the needs of those in your family or those closest to you.  Then mark on each day for the next week the exact time you will designate as your payer time.  "There is no right or wrong way to pray...except not to pray!"

He who has learned how to pray

has learned the greatest secret

of a holy and happy life.

Pg. 13-21

New Favorite

My new favorite is Thad Fiscella's Ivory Hymn from his album Vast.   Delightful.  Another artist that I just discovered that makes me really happy is Paul Cardall.   I have a few of his songs on my playlist on the side of my blog.  If you have time, take a listen to them.  :)

Vacation

We recently went to Yellowstone National Park and I took a gazillion pictures. I don't think I will be able to post pictures on this blog as much, but, if you go on over to The Blue Inglenook you'll find them all.  :) 

::Can you see her little tongue sticking out? I mean seriously... can she get any cuter?::

The Blue Inglenook

Encouragement

^{1 Peter 1}

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, ⁹obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Shout Out

I would just like to make mention of a fellow lady photographer that seriously inspires me!  I have yet to meet her in "person" but I feel like I have met her just by looking through her pictures.  You can get to know a photographer very well by what captures their eye.  So, please, take a few minutes out of your day and go look and drool over the beautiful gift that God has given her.  It will take your breath away...

Sarah W. Photography

::Hot Springs::

 Click here to see more pictures...

If you're interested

I am not sure if this is something that everybody would be interested in, but these are the pictures that I have sold so far.  I sell them to a company in town that uses them for church bulletins and possibly calendars some day.  :)  I was pretty excited to see the final project...

Tending the Garden

Click here to see more photos...

I thought this was kinda funny.   :)

Loneliness by Elisabeth Elliot

Be still and know that He is God.  When you are lonely, too much stillness is exactly the thing that seems to be laying waste your soul.  Use that stillness to quiet your heart before God.  Get to know Him.  If He is God, He is still in charge.

Remember that you are not alone.  "The Lord, He it is that doth go with thee.  He will not fail thee neither forsake thee.  Be strong and of good courage." (Deut. 31:8)  Jesus promised His disciples, "Lo, I am with you always." (Matt. 28:20)  Never mind if you cannot feel His presence.  He is there, never for one moment forgetting you.

Give thanks.  In times of my greatest loneliness I have been lifted up by the promise of 2 Corinthians 4:17, 18, "For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen." This is something to thank God for.  This loneliness itself, which seems a weight, will be far outweighed by glory.

Refuse self-pity.  Refuse it absolutely.  It is a deadly thing with power to destroy you.  Turn your thoughts to Christ who has already carried your griefs and sorrows.

 Accept your loneliness.  It is one stage, and only one stage, on a journey that brings you to God.  It will not always last.

Offer up your loneliness to God, as the little boy offered to Jesus his five loaves and two fishes.  God can transform it for the good of others.

Do something for somebody else.  No matter who or where you are, there is something you can do, somebody who needs you.   Pray that you may be an instrument of God's peace, that where there is loneliness you may bring joy.

rebellion-- if this is the will of God for me now, He doesn't love me.

rejection-- if this is what God is giving me, I won't have any part of it.

faith-- God knows exactly what He's doing

acceptance-- He loves me; He plans good things for me; I'll take it.

Peter Marshall's Challenge

The Modern challenge to motherhood is the eternal challenge-that of being godly women.  The very phrase sounds strange in our ears.  We never hear it now.

We hear about every other kind of women-- beautiful women, smart women, sophisticated  women, career women, talented women, divorced women.

But so seldom do we hear of a godly woman-- or of a godly man either, for that matter.

I believe women come nearer fulfilling their God-given function in the home than anywhere else.

It is a much nobler thing to be a good wife than to be Miss America.

It is a greater achievement to establish a Christian home than it is to produce a second-rate novel, filled with filth.

It is far, far better thing in the realms of morals to be old fashioned than to be ultra-modern.

The world has enough women who know how to hold their cocktails, who have lost all their illusions and their faith.

The world has enough women who know how to be smart.

It needs women who are willing to be simple.

The world has enough women who know how to be brilliant.

It needs some who will be brave.

The world has enough women who are popular.

It needs more who are pure.

We need women, and men, too, who would rather be morally right, than socially correct.

Let us not fool ourselves--without Christianity, without Christan education, without the principles of Christ inculcated into young life, we are simply rearing pagans.

Physically, they will be perfect.  Intellectually, they will be brilliant.   But spiritually, they will be pagan.  Let us not fool ourselves.

The twentieth century challenge to motherhood--when it is all boiled down-- is that mothers will have an experience of God...a reality which they can pass on to their children.

Peter Marshall, Mr. Jones, Meet the Master

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

***

Refrain:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

 ***

Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
O’er us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!

***

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

Helen L Lemmel 1922

The Commission

I asked the Lord to help my neighbor,

And carry the gospel to distant lands,

And to comfort the sick, but he said to me,

If you love me, be my hands.

I asked the Lord to go to the dying, 

And the orphan in the street,

And visit the prisoner, but he said to me,

If you love me, be my feet.

I asked the Lord to look to the poor,

And watch over each babe that cries.

And see each man's need, but he said to me.

If you love me, be my eyes.

I asked the Lord, I want to serve you,

But I don't know where to start.

To love is the answer, he said to me.

If you love me, be my heart.

---G. Shirie Westfall---

::~::

::Beautiful Baptisms::

Katie

Olivia

My Pictures

Treasures in the mail

Such beautiful books keep arriving at my house!! :) Of course I ordered them, but it's like Christmas every time I open the box.  :)  Click on the image to be taken to a link about the object.

To makes things even cooler, the FOXE book came with this necklace! :)

This could quite possibly be the most beautiful book I have ever owned.  :)

I know this is only the first 5, but I got all of the books.  :)

swimming, gardening, favorite shirts

1/2 a bushel