Summer's Life

The forgotten pictures. Reminding me of many precious moments we have shared. Jeremy and Bannon made a list of things to do this summer. Slowly Bannon and Daddy checked off things one by one. Some are on FB, some will be seen here. One of the things on the list was a hike. We gathered up ourselves, and called on our fellow hiker Miss Nancy, and headed to a beautiful mountain pond. A brave leader. Jake.

Beautiful swampy habitat.

Over and under, through the mud too. Lots of mud. Sinking, squishing, unavoidable mud.

Pretty enlightening.

Climbing rocks. An adventure.

A beaver has been here!

Lots and lots of wild raspberries. Wished we had buckets, but we enjoyed anyway.

A very good friend. One who loves these little ones.

Another checkmark went next to the lake visit. That one I did on a VERY HOT day. So hot, little Abby burned herself on the slide.

My company in the water. So sweet, so very very happy. A challenge to keep the gravel out of her mouth.

Brave and cool swimmers.

The End.

No words, but gratitude

~witnessing another beautiful miracle as I saw a tiny child on the screen. Developing, healthy. Still amazed by the wonder.

~Though swimming in some fog, there are the marshmallows. Answered prayer, genuine friendship, fresh stirrings of vision.
(Abby- "If you get lost in the fog, you can follow the marshmallows.") Sometimes the little ones say the most profound thingses.

~Enjoying made up bedtime stories, and the laughter we all share as we loudly sing "And if the devil doesn't like it he can sit on a tack." Try it, it's awesome.

~One day at a time is really the best advice. Who said that again? Oh yes, Jesus.

~It's not my strength but His. The Message translation is fun.
2 Thessalonians 1: ^11-12Because we know that this extraordinary day is just ahead, we pray for you all the time—pray that our God will make you fit for what he's called you to be, pray that he'll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy so that it all amounts to something. If your life honors the name of Jesus, he will honor you. Grace is behind and through all of this, our God giving himself freely, the Master, Jesus Christ, giving himself freely.

He never lets go

<sup>Lord, this morning, I am looking afresh to You again. Areas that You speak to me about, yet I lack the wisdom, strength, and love to see it through. Will You give up on me? Are we ever too far that Your hand can not reach us? Will Your Words be silenced by my own struggles? No, you are not mute, ever working, guiding and instructing me along the way, as imperfect as I am. Faithful even though I am not. Loving even though I am not. Thank you for not giving up on me.

Phillipians 1: 6</sup> And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.


Knowing You helps me see how to change. You change this heart of stone into a heart of flesh, for you are Spirit and Life. You set up Your own authority in our lives, placing the priorities of a different kind within. Enable me by Your Holy Spirit's power to carry through with gladness and joy Your assignment to me.

Galatians 3: ² Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. ³ How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? ⁴ Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?

2 Corinthians 4: ⁷But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

With thanksgiving today, I walk with my eyes up to the hills from where my help comes from. This is a life of fellowship and fullness knowing You.

Romans 7: ²⁴ Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? ²⁵ Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

2 Peter 1:²Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

³seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

⁴For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

This.

You'll know why I shared it.
Encouraging.
http://ebeth.typepad.com/reallearning/2009/08/encouraging.html

My Wednesday morning devotion.

In Galatians....for myself, and with the kids. Talking about the right good news. Being crucified with Christ, and letting Him live. No longer attached to the old, but becoming a new creation, through grace.

My morning devotion.

<sup>Do you ever read or hear grand messages of sacrifice and devotion and realize how far away from that mark you are? I've been reading a book that speaks of such wonderful discipleship to Christ. It's not that a life doesn't desire to live in a purely devoted way, it's all the mess that gets in the way, and it leaves one feeling...unworthy: never good enough, never nice enough, never wise enough, never loving enough, never filled with enough faith. Then, the Christian faith seems to belong more to the hall of fame for the worthy ones. All the ones who get A's next to their names in the above categories, reside there.

I am finding that the answer is not in me whipping myself up into shape to be a fit vessel. The answer lies in resting my willingness, my brokeness, all of it that He alone sees, my weaknesses, and lastly my eyes, upon Him, and into His hands. He alone holds the ability to clean, to renew, to keep, to restore, to sustain. If I try to do it on myself or my loved ones (although I do believe in love He uses us one with the other to build and sharpen our focus), then it is my own creation and work.


Psalm 51:10</sup> Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
¹²Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.

¹⁶For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

So today, my peace is resting in His work. I may try to plan my way, but He will order my steps.

How sweet it is to be loved by you.

Jeremy made the most yummy dinner bbq last night. It was pork ribs, with his own homemade bbq rub, roasted potatoes, and grilled zucchini. He cleaned the kitchen all by himself. He does that a lot. Dishes, sweeping, counters, and even the refrigerator. I am a lucky girl. Day after day he uses his summertime months to sweat and earn money so our family is taken care of. I was overwhelmed by appreciation last week while the kids and I were about town, doing whatever we wanted, and I remembered he was sweating, laboring, and thinking of us, hoping we were enjoying our days. I had a fudgcicle in his honor.

For better for worse. I feel like I got the better part of the bargain. He still loves me when I'm in my worse. A lot.

Yesterday afternoon the heat here at home, with 4 young, rowdy little people, became a bit unbearable. (Insert, Mom thank you for taking time to play with Bannon and Abby. They loved it.) We escaped to what I think is little piece of heaven on earth. The C. resevoir. I could almost faint with relaxation (not kidding) when I step out of the vehicle and put my feet on that glorious spot of earth. The cool breezes brought the warm scents of clean air and clean water directly my way. The beautiful scenes of calm water, forested mountains, and a summertime sunset is much preferred by me then any Little House on the Prairie rerun on the TV.
No pictures right now because our big bad computer is being bad and is not accepting any input. So another day, I will be overwhelming it with lots of summertime pictures lived by our family this year.

Well, I must get going. We are still in our jammies here, and there is another beautiful day to enjoy. Btw, I am 11 weeks and the nausea is dropping off nicely. It helps me feel more like myself.

Getting free from the fear of man and desire for social approval

"The way it works is something like this: The believing man is overwhelmed suddenly by a powerful feeling that only God matters; soon this works out into his mental life and conditions all his judgments and all his values. Now he finds himself free from slavery to man's opinions. Soon he learns to love above all else the assurance that he is well pleasing to the Father in heaven. "
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"That cry has come down the years and today may remind us that the gospel has the power to deliver men from the tyranny of social approval and make them free to do the will of God."

AW Tozer, God's Pursuit of Man

Noting

~I am grateful for the Holy Spirit's presence in my life that empowers me to live the life He has called me to live. You are not called to be me, I am not called to be you. Each of us unique, handcrafted for His purposes.

Romans 12: ⁶ In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. ⁷ If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. ⁸ If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

For who He is

He is slow to anger
He is gracious and compassionate
He abounds in love
His mercies never fail, they are new every morning
We can trust Him
He is the God of all comfort
Concerned for the widow and orphan
Clothed in majesty
Always working for the good of those who love Him
He does not treat us as our sins deserve
He stayed among the destitute
Being called names, accused of many things
Jesus did what His Father does
This is who He is

No ifs. No ands. No buts.