Fall Scenes

Nature's first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold
Her early leaf's a flower
But only so an hour

Then leaf subsides to leaf
So Eden sank to grief
So dawn goes down to day
Nothing gold can stay

                       Robert Frost

 The grapes are ready to be made into jelly!

And the jelly-maker:

The cook's assistant:

Getting ready for winter snows:

Two pals:

I love this picture of Ron and Dawn:

And this is a great picture of Annie (when she was a little younger):

My sister and I went to see Cinderella (the musical) at a local theater. It was fun! A friend of Jennifer's played Prince Charming and it was interesting to remember some of his mannerisms as he did his acting ("oh yeah, I remember how he does that!")

I embarrassed my sister though. It was the first time I had been at this particular theatre and in looking for our seats, I led her backstage by mistake! (oops!) A lady practicing her violin was horrified. "You're *not* supposed to be in here!" (Definitely an Anne of Green Gables moment...)

Here are my sister and me:

 And, here is Kevin going for a walk in his rainboots:

My sister was telling me about an incident that happened recently ...she was in Walmart and a stranger walked up to her and said, "are you related to Betty S--?" My sister said, "Why yes, she's my aunt!" The stranger said, "I knew it! I knew Betty in school" (Betty now lives on the West Coast and we haven't seen her for many years.)

It was interesting that a stranger could tell the resemblance. It made me think. Can those around us tell  that Christ is our brother?

"For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. "  Hebrews 2:17

"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2 Cor. 3:17

Now, can anyone tell me if you can see the resemblance in these brothers?

Today I asked Megan if she had a happy childhood.

"Well, it was horse-less", she answered.

Somehow, that was not the answer I was looking for!!!!!

Here is one of the promised pictures from the canoe trip of all the "boys"...already it seems like a very long time ago. Here is the group getting ready to go:

They brought everything but the kitchen sink! Guess it's good to be prepared:

Uh...did you forget the Pringles???

Debra (to Christina): "Aren't they ever going to leave???"

Moving on to camp, Uncle David & Jonathan:

and, Mike and Grandpa Dave:

Ok, you go first:

You would never know Uncle David had a stem cell transplant a few years ago. Here he looks ready for action (the guy in the vest & sunglasses):

Here they are enjoying a hike (well, sort of):

Grandpa Dave looks like he is having a good time:

One more group picture:

"I am ... completely aware of the importance of beauty in our surroundings.  I understand the effect beauty has on the psyche. If a home is devoid of beauty, it leaves me feeling flat, like a deflated balloon. A cluttered home maks me feel tired and deprived of all energy....But homemaking is not just a matter of decor. You do not have to have money to make a home delightful to the spirit.  What you need is spirit. You need the Spirit of God.

This, Lord, is what I want.  I want my home to reflect you. I am no longer interested in just pretty pictures done in compatible colors.  I could care less about collecting the latest rage.  I really want the walls of my home to reflect the work of you in my life, in our lives.  I want to look up and be reminded of my eternal Bridegroom while I create a meal. I want your presence to be the direct and indirect lighting in every room...

Decorating fads will come and go.  The ways of God are changeless. Color combinations, furniture arrangements, floral displays are temporary.  Use them. Enjoy them. Be blessed by them.  But in using them, in working with the walls of your home, never forget that a home is founded on the spirit of the people who inhabit the building. If the Spirit of God lives in the folks at your house, make sure that is reflected on the walls and gates of your home.  Bring the holy home. Let it be evident in every corner of your dwelling."                             

  from "No Ordinary Home: The Uncommon Art of Christ-Centered Homemaking" by Carol Brazo

We have been busy lately! And there have been some lovely Fall days. The Fall season is so beautiful.

Yesterday we cleaned our home in preparation for the guest missionary from Indonesia that we had, along with a few families who came. It was an interesting evening learning about the culture of Indonesia.  The sad part was learning about how our brothers and sisters in Christ are being persecuted for their faith. They need prayer for God's grace and strengthening to stand firm.

It always feels good to get the house in order, and we did a deep cleaning last week so cleaning wasn't as large a task as it could have been. We put out some more Fall decorations.

 I am also finally comfortable with stitching on linen, and will post some pictures of my progress with cross stitch projects soon.  So far I have five tens in my Creative Writing class so I am very pleased. The kids that are taking Fall semester courses are doing well also.

I haven't written in quite some time as other things in life have taken precedence, but I always enjoy reading Brenda's blog (coffeeteabooksandme). She is so inspiring!

The family went to church without me today. I was ill yesterday and woke at 4 am with more illness so am home for this Sunday. They all looked so nice going out the door, and I was so proud of them. It is a wonderful blessing to have a family that loves God.  My heart goes out to those who are struggling with family relationships, or experiencing pain from wayward children. I know the Lord cares  :)   Ruth and Billy Graham struggled with one of their sons for years, but they faithfully prayed for him. He is now serving the Lord as passionately as his father did.   God does answer prayer!

September is almost over! I can't believe how quickly these days are passing. Frank and the boys went on their canoe trip with Grandpa Dave and Uncle David. They had a good time, and when I get the pictures downloaded, I will post some! Uncle David took care of all the food which was no picnic (no pun intended!) for four growing boys, their dad, himself and Grandpa.

The girls meanwhile went out to lunch and Michael's craft store one day, and to the zoo and a Christian bookstore the next. So we managed to also have a good time! I don't have pictures of the zoo animals because the boys took all the cameras on their canoe trip  :(    But we are hoping to do one more trip to the zoo as a family before winter sets in and I hope to post some then.

School is taking up a lot of time and errands also. So far I am managing to keep ahead of Jennifer in our class, (we are taking the same course) but only just. Of course it has been years since I have been in school so that is my excuse, should she beat me grade-wise  :)  We are both enjoying it tremendously.

I have yet to clean up the two areas in the house that I really want to get organized. Hopefully this weekend.

Tonight the kids have their Kids Club, Stephen and Christina have their computer class, and Jennifer has to go to her bookkeeping job. Megan will be getting home from work at the animal hospital. She has had a tough two weeks at school with barn duty added on to her classes and her part-time job. But it is over now, and no more barn duty until November. She is happy that she got a 95 in her first math exam and the Agricultural Science teacher also calls on her often because she always has the correct answer. She credits the Apologia Science books we used in high school (written by a college professor.)

"And as thy days, so shall thy strength be..." Deuteronomy 33:25

I trust you are finding strength for each day in Him!

"...we must not be surprised if we are in for a rough time.  When a man turns to Christ and seems to be getting on pretty well (in the sense that some of his bad habits are now corrected) he often feels that it would now be natural if things went fairly smoothly.  When troubles come along - illnesses, money, new kinds of temptation - he is disappointed.  These things, he feels, might have been necessary to rouse him and make him repent in his bad old days; but why now? Because God is forcing him on, or up, to a higher level: putting him into situations where he will have to be very much braver, or more patient, or more loving, than he ever dreamed of being before.  It seems to us all unnecessary: but that is because we have not yet had the slightest notion of the tremendous thing He means to make of us.
I find I must  borrow yet another parable from George MacDonald. Imagine yourself as a living house.  God comes in to rebuild that house.  At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing.  He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed dong and so you are not surprised.  But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards.  You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace.  He intends to come and live in it Himself."

                                 from  "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis

It has been so busy lately and no time to blog! I can't believe what a difference in our day adding schooltime makes to the mix....but it is good. I am encouraged by what the kids are learning so far. We are reading a book by Hilary McKay called "The Exiles" which the kids are enjoying. It is about four sisters who go live with their grandma for a summer, and she makes them work. They are very indignant!

Some of us have started a cold virus but nothing major, just uncomfortable.  It seems too early to be Fall already!

I have gotten two tens so far in my creative writing assignments and that has really encouraged me! But the assigments do take up time and I have to be more creative not only in writing but in scheduling my day! I have wanted to clean our front porch for three days and so far have only swept it. I want to put some fall decorations out there. We did manage to decorate the kitchen tables.

Sunday's sermon was about persevering again. We opened up to Hebrews 12:1-2 and read, " Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. "

We were exhorted to throw off the sin that so easily besets us, and our baggage, the things that weigh us down and keep us distracted from God's purpose for our life. What kind of baggage are you carrying today?

Today was busy! School had to be done. The boys were in an especially fun-loving mood and it took a bit to settle them down, but we did get there. A friend called right in the middle of our school to ask if I was going to such and such (get together) tomorrow? I told her I would call her back later as I hadn't even had time to decide...and the week is filling up fast! (and as of this writing I haven't called her back yet so as soon as this is posted that's my next task!)

Then I had to run Stephen to camp to work because it's conference week, then I had to run kids to take books back to the library later in the afternoon. I was home for an hour and the phone rang and had to go back to pick up kids at camp!

Thankfully Jennifer made dinner for us, potato salad and corn and Michael grilled the hamburgers. Then Stephen and Christina had to run to their evening class.

In between I've been checking my own online class for our assignment. The teacher hasn't posted it yet which is unusual. I want to get working on it now before the weekend!

This morning I read these verses:

"Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."                                       Jeremiah 17

and then, later in the chapter, "A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary."

What a comfort those verses are! What hope they hold for us! I began to think of the promises of God that fail not. He is our sanctuary. In the midst of all our busyness, our hopes to get this or that finished, our anxieties whether it be our health, family or financial, HE is there.

A sanctuary is a place of refuge, a place to hide yourself when you need a rest, when you are weary and heavy laden, when you are lost and don't know which direction to go in. "Call unto Me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not."

A sanctuary is a safe place. A place where we need not fear.  "The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe."  Proverbs 29:25

A sanctuary is a place where God dwells. 

 "And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. "        Exodus 25

"Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?"  Psalm 77:12

God's sanctuary is a glorious place! 

"Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary."  Psalm 96:6

I hope you can find sanctuary in God today.  

"Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near"                                                        James 5:7-9 

Yesterday's sermon was about gardening, waiting, and reaping.

It was very encouraging! Pastor Mike exhorted us to persevere in well doing.  He reminded us that sometimes only the Lord sees what we do for Him (but He doesn't forget).

He talked about reaping a harvest in the proper season, and how farmers go out now and then and check their crops, and when the time is right, they reap a harvest.

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works."  Ephesians 2:10

Those good works sometimes bring weariness, discouragement, disappointment from too many expectations. But we were exhorted to "stand firm in the Lord for your labor in the Lord is not in vain." 1 Corinthians 15:58

We were reminded that each man shall have his reward for his own work (1 Corinthians 3:8).

I wonder if you are reading this, if you are tired today. Maybe you are discouraged or feel like giving up. Maybe you are suffering a trial and you look around and it seems like everyone except you has joy.

I hope you can be encouraged that your labor is not in vain! We will reap a harvest if we "faint not".

And now I better get back out to the kitchen; I can tell by the rising noise level that the kid's math worksheets are almost finished and it is time for me to "press on"!

"And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him."
                                                                                       Isaiah 30:18

"Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. "                    Isaiah 64:4

"Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD. "                Proverbs 8:34

"And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them."                   Luke 12:36

"While we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." Titus 2:13

"My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him."  Psalm 62:5

"So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:" 1 Cor. 1:7

"For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. " Galatians 5:5

So tell me. What are you waiting for?

I finished the tablerunner for my sister-in-law while my mother was visiting us this weekend.

I also finished one for my sister. I am making a tablerunner for each of my sisters. So far, I have three finished.

And, I finished the baby quilt for my nephew's little girl:

So I guess it was a productive weekend with my mom here!

I

Everyone is getting ready to go back to school! School supply sales abound...book bins are being cleared out to get ready for this year's textbooks (at least in our home...), new schedules are being made.

The long sunny days of summer are almost over.  Corn husking crew:

Backyard friends:

I realized we have to make some changes around here. For one thing, the kids have been used to a later bedtime. In summertime when hours are longer and there is no school to get ready for the next day, they can get away with going to bed late. But now that it's time to start school again, it means an earlier bedtime and earlier rising!

We also need to get the crock pot out and dust it off. Crock pot meals help a lot in a busy homeschooling household! And I need to plan my grocery list accordingly.

Annie has been very excited to start her schoolbooks again. Some of her workbooks came in the mail and she already did the first five pages in her handwriting, phonics and language book  :) 

 Jonathan, not to be outdone, did some of his school work too.

This year will be a little different. Six of us (half the household!) will be taking college courses. Jennifer is finishing her accounting degree, Megan starting her equine science studies (she had her first day of class Tuesday), and Stephen and Christina are doing a dual enrollment program; taking their first college class.

 

(Christina hopes Stephen will pay attention in class.)

Frank is taking an economics class for work (that they will pay for!) and I am taking an online writing class!

Hopefully, us "parents" will be able to keep up our end of things.

Kevin's hair was just getting too long.

Even Mommy (me!) had to agree, it was time for a haircut.

So, Jennifer volunteered to give him one. Jonathan helped.  Wow, what a change!

Hey, I think I look pretty good:

Sigh...I guess my "baby" had to grow up sometime!

Wow!!!  I am very humbled that tealady gave me this award!

I am so new to blogging, and still figuring out the glitches here and there...I can post pictures now, and know how to add comments, but some of the other stuff, well....

And, I also know that there are some days when I wake up on the wrong side of the bed and I am *not* nice!  The longer I walk with the Lord, the more I see I need His grace, His help, His working in me!

So now that I have this award, I better live up to it  :)

When my oldest son was little, he called his sister a "competation". She came running to me,  very offended. I asked him about it. "What is a competation, Stephen?"

"I don't know," he confessed. "I just know it sounded like something really bad."   !!!

"Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.  But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. "                  

                                                                       ~ James 1:21

Pastor Mike preached a sermon a couple weeks ago on humility from Daniel 4. He exhorted us to practice humility, to make frequent "pride checks", find someone we trust to be accountable to and ask them to help us with attitude adjustments.

A while ago we had to drop something off at church on a Saturday and we caught Pastor Mike vacuuming the hallway. (The church cleaning is no longer a paid position, it is volunteer, and Pastor Mike and his wife DIana's names are at the top of the list).

He is not a 'clanging cymbal' when he preaches, but he is a doer of the Word.

I think of my friend Wendy, who takes care of her parents. Wendy comes home from her full-time job at 5 pm and makes a home-cooked meal and brings it over to them. She helps them figure out health insurance (a tough one for senior citizens to handle), makes time in her busy week to chauffeur them to doctor appointments, mows their lawn.

Wendy is a doer of the Word.

To me, a hero is not someone who races around in a tight suit and cape and rescues people from gangsters or burning buildings (although firemen and police officers are in their own way, everyday heroes).

A hero is someone who practices humility; someone who isn't afraid to get their hands dirty. A hero knows what it is to be a servant. A hero is someone who is authentic.

We are fortunate to have  around us those who not only preach Christ-likeness, but practice it.

"After Francie had come in and closed the door quietly behind her - the way you were supposed to do in the library - she looked quickly at the little golden-brown pottery jug which stood at the end of the librarian's desk.  It was a season indicator.  In the fall it held a few sprigs of bittersweet and at Christmas time it held holly ...  And today, in this summer Saturday of 1912, what was the bowl holding? She moved her eyes slowly up the jug past the thin green stems and little round leaves and saw ... nasturtiums! Red, yellow, gold and ivory-white.  A head pain caught her between the eyes at the taking in of such a wonderful sight.  It was something to be remembered all her life.

"When I get big," she thought, "I will have such a brown bowl and in hot August there will be nasturtiums in it."

                                                    ~ from "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn"

                                                                      by Betty Smith

Yesterday was soooo humid! We had a few thunderstorms and rain showers, and by evening the air was so much nicer!

This morning we drove to church in the rain. The air is much cooler, a very welcome change!