Hello All!
I realize it has been AGES since I posted last.  I guess that's what happens when you're work full time hours at a part time job.  :) I realize I cannot complain in that area, I'm extremely thankful that I have a job, but as a general rule I don't have the time for posting.  I'm going to work extra hard to take some of my spare time and keep things up to date here.  I forget how much I enjoy blogging.   Bear with me, fellow bloggers, soon I shall post.  :) I do so enjoy peaking at your blogs.  Even if I cannot post, I enjoy being updated on yours. 

So Much More

My Daddy recently gave me the book: 

"So Much More" by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin.

(click on title for link)

It is VERY good! I have been encouraged and challenged by it today.  Here are some quotes from today's reading:

************

Amidst a generation of giddy, silly, loud, boisterous, undignified, and clumsy teenaged girls, picture a girl who radiates dignity, regal serenity, respectfulness, grace, a gentle and quiet voice, poise, discretion, self-command, sincerity, peace, compassion, cheerfulness and humility.

That girl would stand out as a woman of quality. 

 *************

Clothes make a statement. They proclaim to people who you are, what you believe, what you are worth, whom you belong to, what you admire, what you aspire to, what you are for, and whether you are protected or cheap.

Looking around us on the street we can see girls of all shapes and sizes and social backgrounds and beliefs. Nearly all of them have one thing in common: they are hardly wearing any clothing. Like all clothing, the clothes that we don't see these girls wearing make a very obvious statement: I am a shameless hussy...I am not worth much...I just want to get attention...I live for myself...I need to be noticed...I need to look like everyone else.

We need our messages to declare exactly the opposite--I am loved, I am cherished, I am protected, I am a woman of virtue, I am submitted to God, I am part of a civilized society, I am worth more than rubies, there is a part of me that is not to be stared at by strangers because it belongs to my future husband.

************

Godly womanhood...the very phrase sounds strange in our ears. We never hear it now. We hear about every other type 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. We believe women come nearer to 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 a 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 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.

--Peter Marshall-

Suprise!

It's official, my dear sweet sister Ana is getting married!!!

....She's going to be a beautiful April Bride....

Silent Song

Why are you downcast, O my soul?

Why so disturbed within me?

...Deep calls to deep...

By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song

is with me-- a prayer to the God of my life.

Psalm 42:5, 7-8

The son greatly wished to make a "Song of Lovely Things" to sing to his Beloved-- but he could not find singing-words.

He heard the voice of his beloved saying, "You are walking on the road where all who love Me walk.  Some of them walked this way singing, and they've left their songs behind. Find their songs.  Sing their words.  They will be your songs to Me."

 But the son became full of grief, because there come a day when he could find no words to sing-- neither his own, nor those of others.  And yet he wanted with all his heart and soul and mind to ascend to higher places, to stand in the presence of his Beloved....

And He who is love eternal whispered, "Then I, too will approach you, silent in my love."

And the son entered into this silence, to meet the eternal Beloved there....

After a while there was a sound in the gentle stillness, a voice that whispered, "Even your silence is, to Me, a song of lovely things....

 ~*~*~*~*~

My Father, there are reasons why I could feel downcast.

When I think about some parts of my life, it's hard to

pray--even harder to worship in freedom...

...relationships that are difficult...

...dreams and goals that are crumbling...

...old hurts that wound me over and over....

Some parts of me feel cold and wordless.

Is the problem that I've buried some things deep 

inside? Are you patiently calling-- through days and

months-- for me to open up to you at some deeper level?

Today, Father, I trust you to go deeper.

~A. Carmichael, I Come Quietly To Meet You~

Beautiful Beads on a Basket

::~*~::

Dried Fruit

Between Jobs

On Mondays I have a couple hours between jobs where I'm able to go sit by the fire at the local Coffee Shop Bistro and read a book, sip some coffee or the special Latte of the day and just relax before heading out again.
It's truly a blessing from the Lord.
Thank you Jesus. ~::

Early...

Christmas decorating at the Shop.  (:

Fall Shots

Rainy Day

A happy way to spend a rainy day: Inside where it's warm surrounded by antiques and cozy music.

 I Love My Job

Hay Bales

Pickin' Corn

 All the way back in August we picked some sweet corn to freeze and also to munch on. It's SO good! :)

 

^Handsome Brother Man^  (:

 

 Little Josiah Man loves his corn! If you can't tell, his little face is on the edge of a huge smile! (that my camera failed to capture.) 

(:

Wind on the Hill

No one can tell me,

Nobody knows,

Where the wind comes from,

Where the wind goes.

It's flying from somewhere

As fast as it can,

I couldn't keep up with it,

Not if I ran.

But if I stopped holding 

The string of my kite,

It would blow with the wind

For a day and a night.

And then when I found it,

Wherever it blew,

I should know that the wind

Had been going there too.

So then I could tell them

Where the wind goes...

But where the wind comes from 

Nobody knows. 

A. A. Milne

Grandma's 80th

We had the pleasure of driving out to Wyoming the first part of August for my Grandma's 80th birthday. Most of the relatives were able to make it, which was such a blessing for Grandma to be able to have her children, grandchildren and GREAT-grandchildren together for her birthday.  :) 

Here are a couple... okay a bunch... of shots that I captured while there. (:

Grandma with her grandchildren and their spouses.

 

Boys

They're still clinging to that hint of summer....

September Outing to the Park