Simple Woman's Daybook..Thanksgiving Week!

FOR TODAY 

November 23, 2009

Outside my window... Sunshine!  I am loving the warmth of this fall so far.

I am thinking... about holiday plans and musical preparations!

I am thankful for... God's love, which never changes...no matter how much our circumstances do.

I am wearing... Gray fleece pullover, black pants, and fuzzy slippers :)

I am remembering... 5 years ago this time, when we were spending our last few precious weeks with my dad.  So many other things going on during that same time...the beginning of a 5-year-roller coaster!  A friend and I were reflecting last night on the *radical* changes so many of us have gone through during those years.  So thankful for the many reminders of God's love and faithfulness along with all the craziness, and for the things He has taught us about Himself through it all.

I am going... to try to keep the momentum going on projects around the house this week.  We got a lot accomplished last week, considering schedule and health issues, and it felt so good to make progress!   Looking forward to more progress this week (including creating a spot to put up the Christmas tree this weekend...:))

I am reading... finishing up The Year of Living Like Jesus, by Ed Dobson (I completely missed the review tour date on this, so I'm scrambling to get a review up in the next day or two...eek!), and Raising Children to Adore God, by Patrick Kavanaugh (I have been reading this on and off forever, and hope to post a bit about it one of these days.)  Also started, again, When All Hell Breaks Loose, You May Be Doing Something Right; Surprising Insights from the Book of Job, by Steve Lawson.  I've read bits and pieces of this at various times in the last couple of years, but am reading cover to cover this time. :)

I am hoping... for nice weather this week, particularly on Thursday.

On my mind... So many friends going through major "storms of life" right now, and friends dealing with various  grief issues this time of year.  Trying to remember always to turn my worry and hurt for them into prayers...I seem to constantly need to re-learn that lesson!

From the learning rooms... Prepping for our Advent Study so that we can start *on time*. :)  Focus on "Gratefulness" this week.

Noticing that... I'm being reminded more and more often these days of my age...former classmates becoming grandparents, being reminded during a church announcement that I no longer am a "mother of small children", and my 41st birthday rapidly approaching.  Not sure why these things are affecting me so much these days, as I have never seen myself as being particularly sensitive or worried about my own aging.  Hmm.

Pondering these words... "Heaven is often silent.  In such times [of suffering], the only answer God gives is a deeper revelation of Himself.  We learn that He is the answer we seek.  Ultimately, we must not trust a plan, but a Person.  In the face of chaos and confusion, we trust a personal God who is sovereign, wise, and good.  In these times, God invites us to learn who He is.  Only in knowing Him do we find the adequate resources to endure and conquer." ~ R.C. Sproul, in the forward to Steven Lawson's When All Hell Breaks Loose.

From the kitchen... Leftovers of Billy's yummy Alfredo Bacon Meatball pizza for lunch today. :)  Need to find my MIL's Pumpkin Bar recipe to make later in the week.  Looking forward to a big pot of chili tomorrow.  Planning to try a couple of new breakfast recipes this week...I'll post afterward if we like them. :)

Around the house... Trying hard to focus on the progress and not how much more needs to be done!  And to "keep on keeping on" with it.

One of my favorite things~ "Anonymous" notes from my Emlyn left on my desk with her sweet little drawings. :)

From my picture journal... 


For the first time since we've had this china cabinet, it actually has china in it (instead of books :)).  Yet another instance of Billy being right (he usually is! :)), and we are all enjoying the change so much.  (Hopefully I'll post the rest of that story soon.)

Simple Woman's Daybook...

November 16, 2009

Outside my window...Dark and cold.  It's almost bedtime as I'm typing this.

I am thinking... about how long it has been since I've posted!  Billy has been prodding me daily to "post something new", and a friend posted an FYI on Facebook today that I hadn't posted since October 29.  Eeek!   Brain fog has hit hard the past few weeks, and I've actually started a few posts that are still in draft. :-/

I am thankful for... mild weather!  It's been so wonderful to make it until the middle of November without needing heat!

From the learning rooms... Barebones basics right now, although we'll be doing some Thanksgiving *stuff* later this week and the first of next.

From the kitchen... Billy's been doing a lot of cooking lately, which has been such a blessing.   He is a great cook, he loves it, and it's always an adventure when he is in the kitchen! :)

I am wearing.... Razorback sweats...the house has gotten pretty chilly this evening.

I am creating... I finally made a new blog header this morning.  I'm still not terribly happy with it, but at least I got *last* Thanksgiving's photos down before this Thanksgiving!  Hopefully I'll have time to tweak it (or overhaul it completely) soon. :)

I am going... to be practicing piano like a madwoman in the next few weeks.  Our children's choir musical is coming up *way* too fast, and I've got lots of work to do. :)

I am reading... The Year of Living Like Jesus, for a book review.  Interesting reading so far.

I am hearing... Billy on the phone with his dad (he paces when he talks...and he keeps trekking through the dining room, where I am :)), and children getting ready for bed.

Around the house... Trying to figure out where in the world we are going to put a Christmas tree in the living room this year. I've got some serious re-arranging to do in there!

One of my favorite things... Seeing my children's excitement and generosity as they get ready for Christmas.  (They are almost finished with their gifts...I haven't started on mine! )

A few plans for the rest of the week:  Choir x2 on Wednesday,  the girls' GA Thanksgiving Dinner on Saturday,  Thanksgiving Dinner at church on Sunday, and a trip to the library at some point.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...  We did a little photo shoot out at the National Historic Site on Saturday.  Hopefully I'll get the rest uploaded soon. :)

To see what others are doing this week, visit Peggy at the Simple Woman's Daybook. 

I ♥ Faces...Autumn Beauty

Billy and the kids indulged me this weekend with some "photo play" time at the National Historic Site downtown.   I was sad that I missed most of the gorgeous fall photo opportunities due to our spending all of October and part of November in chicken pox quarantine, but we did manage to capture just a bit of the beautiful fall this has been.

I was tickled to realize this morning that this week's I ♥ Faces theme is "Autumn Beauty. The criteria are that the photo contain a face, and some autumn color (of any kind, not necessarily foliage).

I'll share more of these in another post, but this one of the girls was one of my favorites that contained a bit of *real* autumn color. :)

To see more I ♥ Faces entries, or to participate, visit the I ♥ Faces blog.

God is God.

"God is God. I dethrone him in my heart when I demand that he act in ways that satisfy MY idea of justice."

~Elisabeth Elliot 

Leigh McLeroy (author of The Beautiful Ache and The Sacred Ordinary) posted this quote this morning on Facebook.   Her response...and mine...was "Ouch."    It goes so perfectly with the lessons God has been teaching me in the past few years about Who He is and what that entitles Him to.  Just the other day during school, the kids and I were talking about the fact that as Creator God, God has the Absolute Right to demand anything of us He desires, and to bring any circumstance into our life He chooses.  Thankfully for us, His love ensures that those things will always be for our ultimate good, as well as His amazing glory.  

Shortly after that, I ran across a blog post I had written two years ago.  I almost laughed when I saw the title and introduction, considering how many times in the past two years God has cemented this lesson all over again.   I've been going through past blog posts for a project I'm working on, and it has been really neat to read things I'd almost forgotten I'd written, and to see God's work over the past few years.  Since I'd already been thinking of incorporating the above quote into a blog post, I decided I'd repost the 2007 version today. :)

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2007

LIke a Broken Record....

Okay, so maybe that isn't the best title. I guess something sounding like a broken record tends to have a negative connotation. But do you know that feeling when you just keep hearing the *same* message *over* and *over* and *OVER* again, everywhere you turn? And you finally realize that God *really* must want you to get this? This morning's sermon was one of those times. A *hit right between the eyes* event.

This time last year, the message I kept hearing everywhere I turned was this: "There are no surprises to God. God is not surprised or taken off guard by the circumstances you find yourself in. He has a plan for everything that happens in your life and in your family...a plan for good and not for evil, a plan to give you a future and a hope." Come to think of it...Bro. Kent said almost those very words again this morning! I needed them (desperately) a year ago, and I needed to be reminded of them today.

The message I keep running into (like a brick wall!) everywhere lately is this: "God owes us no explanation...for anything. When we begin to see our circumstances (or those of someone we love) as unfair, we must realize that what we all *deserve* is death. God created us; He has, in His infinite mercy and grace, provided a way for salvation for us. We will *never* understand all the ways of God. He is sovereign, He is all-wise and all-knowing, and we are not. But whether we understand or not, God is good, and His ways are perfect."

I guess it shouldn't have surprised me when this theme appeared yet again this morning, this time in Bro. Kent's sermon. Here are some of my notes:

John 12:37ff

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts." Isa. 55:8-9

We simply *are not able* to understand all there is to understand about God in our finite mind. Our decisions are to be made based on God's Word alone...not on our own experience or understanding.

God reveals that unbelief involves willful rejection of obvious truth.

We will always will to sin, apart from Christ--even the good things that we do apart from Him are sinful, because they are done with wrong motive.

Free will of man vs. Divine Decree...Gen. 50:20~ God didn't *make* them sin, but He meant what they did for good as part of His plan. Rom. 8:28

Just as in Joseph's case in Gen. 50, someone can sin against me grievously, they are fully responsible for that sin and God will hold them accountable for it. BUT...God is not caught off guard by it, He is not taken by surprise, He *will* use it for His purpose, He *allowed* it as part of His plan for my life. We do not understand how this is...that God does not cause them to sin, and yet the act they commit has been part of God's plan from before the beginning of time...but it points to the infinite greatness of God and His glory.

When we start to accuse God of being unfair, we had better watch out...we are on dangerous ground. Paul...Rom. 9..."So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. Who will say to me then, Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will? On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles."

The question we need to remember..."Who are we to question God?"

We deserve...the entire human race...God's wrath. But in His infinite mercy He has chosen to save some. Is it fair? It isn't *fair* that any of us are saved...we all deserve death and hell.

He is perfect in His wisdom and I am not.

He is God, and I am not.

Much to meditate on this week...

Simple Woman's Daybook...October 26

Outside my window...LOTS of leaves on the ground after the rain we had during the night.  Birds chirping LOUDLY.  Cloudy and gray, but thankfully not raining at the moment.

I am thinking...about how fast my children are growing up.  As Peter keeps reminding me (several times a day :)), he's almost 12.  Ammah Grace will be 6 in a few short months.  And how in the world did Bayley and Emlyn get to be 10 and 8??   I've been really convicted lately about making the most of every minute I have left with them before they leave home.

I am thankful for...My husband, who has shouldered way more than his "share" of responsibilities around here lately and who never complains.

From the learning rooms...Pretty much planning "bare bones basics" school this week...Bible and the 3 R's.  Dad has offered to do some science enrichment  in the evening...I'm thankful for that!

From the kitchen...I have to rave about the pizzas Billy made yesterday.  Bacon Alfredo pizzas, one with grilled chicken, and one with meatballs...absolutely the best pizzas I've ever eaten.  I hope he's making more later in the week!  Yum!

I am wearing...a warm, fuzzy black plaid fleece jacket over comfy all-black knit.  It's chilly in here this morning, and it's a comfy clothes week here. :)

I am creating...an adjusted schedule to deal with life changes since the start of the school year.  I'm so thankful for the flexibility homeschooling allows to deal with those changes always!

I am going...blessedly, not much of anywhere this week other than Wednesday night church, and an evening run to the library and store to restock perishables.  Between the chicken pox the girls are passing around, and adjusting to being a one-car family again (we've been very spoiled!:)), our "going" has all but ground to a halt.  Right now, that's actually a blessing...I'm thankful for the down time God has given.

I am reading....Same things I was reading last week, plus trying to get through a stack of library books that need to go back tomorrow! 

I am praying for...friends going through very hard times right now.  Seems like so many are going through really rough storms...some ongoing and/or multiple at once.  So thankful that God has them *all* in the palm of His hand!

I am hearing...water dripping outside, birds chirping, a quiet house (for a very few more minutes, I'm sure. :))

Around the house...So many plans, so little time and energy!  I'm trying to work through a "Make the most of my minutes and resources" plan to get some relatively simple and inexpensive things done that should make a big impact on overall "liveability".  Also looking at some longer-term plans, like what to do about our silly (very) old roof. :)

One of my favorite things...crafting with my kids, and watching their creativity flourish.

A few plans for the rest of the week:   School, housework, cooking, church.  And piano practice...LOTS of piano practice on the children's choir Christmas music!

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

Emlyn, Ammah Grace, and I had "Girls' Day" Saturday while Billy, Peter, and Bayley were at the Fall Festival.  We spent the afternoon doing some cool crafty stuff.  Em designed and created this tag all by herself.  I was really proud of her. :)  Hopefully I'll get more pics of our "Girls' Day" up soon.

Thanks to Peggy for hosting the Daybook each week.  

Thankful Thursday ~ God's Goodness

"Life is Good."

So says a whole line of apparently quite popular clothing.

I get the point.  It's a  positive-attitude, cup-half-full mentality.  All well and good.

Except...

Life isn't always good.

It just isn't.

Don't get me wrong.  Sometimes life is wonderful.   A big hug from my cuddle-girl Emlyn.  My child who struggled for years to read telling me how much she *loves* to read now and that she wants to be a writer someday.  Hearing my little one singing "The BIBLE" over and over and over again.  My big guy offering to fix lunch for his sisters because he knows I'm not feeling well.  Cooking supper alongside my sweet husband.  A note of encouragement from a friend "just because".   The list could go on and on.

But...sometimes life isn't good.

Thanks to man's sinfulness, there is evil in the world.  And all the positive-thinking, cup-half-full attitude in the world cannot erase that.  Evil, and its effects, cause life to be far from good sometimes.  The ravages of cancer.   Children experiencing the horror of abuse.   The untimely death of a young person.  Broken families. Devastating accidents.  Chronic pain and illness.  Financial crisis.  This list, also, goes on and on.

Life isn't always good.

In fact, quite frankly, sometimes it just plain stinks.

I ran across an ad for the above-mentioned company this morning, and curious, I read the story of their success.  And as I read, the thought that had come to mind when I first saw the shirts repeated itself over and over in my mind.  Not to be a pessimistic, cup-half-empty person, but "Life just isn't always good."

My next thought, immediately, was "But GOD is always good."  Always.

I am so thankful that that is unfailingly true.  That no matter what storm of life may shake us, no matter what grief, pain, disappointment, sadness, or fear we may experience, God is good.


When life is good...God is good.

When life is not good...God is good.

I am so thankful for God's goodness, and the fact that He never changes, in all the continuous changes of life.

"Circumstances aren’t the barometer of God’s love and goodness—the Cross is." 

Anne Cetas

Our Daily Bread

"For You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon You."

Psalm 86:5

"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him."

Psalm 34:8

Thanks to Lynn for hosting Thankful Thursday this month!  Visit her to see what others are thankful for today.

Watch Over Me ~ Blog Tour

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Watch Over Me
(Bethany House October 1, 2009)
by
Christa Parrish


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Christa Parrish graduated high school at 16, with every intention of becoming a surgeon. After college, however, her love of all things creative led her in another direction, and she worked in both theatre and journalism.

A winner of Associated Press awards for her reporting, Christa gave up her career after the birth of her son, Jacob. She continued to write from home, doing pro bono work for the New York Family Policy Council, where her articles appeared in Focus on the Family’s Citizen magazine. She was also a finalist in World magazine’s WORLDview short story contest, sponsored by WestBow press. She now teaches literature and writing to high school students, is a homeschool mom, and lives with her husband, author Chris Coppernoll, and son in upstate New York, where she is at work on her third novel.



ABOUT THE BOOK

Her Rescue Might Be the Miracle They Needed Things like this don't happen in Beck County. Deputy Benjamin Patil is the one to find the infant girl, hours old, abandoned in a field. As police work to identify the mother, Ben and his wife, Abbi, seem like the obvious couple to serve as foster parents. But the newborn's arrival opens old wounds for Abbi and shines a harsh light on how much Ben has changed since a devastating military tour. Their marriage teeters on the brink and now they must choose to reclaim what they once had or lose each other forever.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Watch Over Me, go HERE


My thoughts ~ This was another winner by an author with whom I was completely unfamiliar. I definitely plan to go back and read her first novel, Home Another Way, and will be watching for future releases. Parrish offers an intriguing storyline that kept me wanting to read "just one more page", with characters that grabbed my heart early on...especially teenager Matthew Savoie. This book deals with some sensitive, difficult issues, so I wouldn't recommend it for teen readers. Otherwise, it's not to be missed.