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Showing posts from August, 2011

719 - 751

719. Safety through a storm 720. Freedom 721. Bad dreams - and the fact that they are dreams and not reality 722. Figuring out where I've met someone who seemed really familiar 723. Sharing things I love with friends 724. Decluttering & organizing 725. Catching up around the house 726. New babies 727. The times God works us through our fears instead of around them 728. Not going anywhere 729. The boys doing the "daddy dance" through the church nursery window 730. Avonlea "talking" more and more 732. Nursing Avi (wasn't able to nurse Cole as long as I would have liked) 733. The many gifts I forget to write down 734. The playroom/laundry room in our basement 735. Sunday drives 736. Motivational blogs and speakers 737. Julie Ann Jones - direct sales blogger (but she's effecting all areas - especially organization) 738. Steam vac-ing while listening to J.A.J. 739. 3 am desk clean ups 740. Vision (referring to exci

Psalm 90

A prayer of Moses the man of God. 1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. 2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world , from everlasting to everlasting you are God. 3 You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.” 4 A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. 5 Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death— they are like the new grass of the morning: 6 In the morning it springs up new, but by evening it is dry and withered. 7 We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation. 8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. 9 All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan. 10 Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pas

Psalm 89

A maskil [ b ] of Ethan the Ezrahite. 1 I will sing of the LORD’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. 2 I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself. 3 You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, 4 ‘I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations.’” [ c ] 5 The heavens praise your wonders , LORD, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones. 6 For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD? Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings? 7 In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him. 8 Who is like you, LORD God Almighty? You, LORD, are mighty , and your faithfulness surrounds you. 9 You rule over the surging sea;

Psalm 88

A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth. [ b ] A maskil [ c ] of Heman the Ezrahite. 1 LORD, you are the God who saves me; day and night I cry out to you. 2 May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry. 3 I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death. 4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like one without strength. 5 I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care. 6 You have put me in the lowest pit , in the darkest depths. 7 Your wrath lies heavily on me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. [ d ] 8 You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape; 9 my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you , LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to you

Psalm 87

Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. A song. 1 He has founded his city on the holy mountain. 2 The LORD l oves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwellings of Jacob. 3 Glorious things are said of you, city of God: [ a ] 4 “I will record Rahab [ b ] and Babylon among those who acknowledge me— Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush [ c ] — and will say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’” [ d ] 5 Indeed, of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High himself will establish her.” 6 The LORD will write in the register of the peoples: “This one was born in Zion.” 7 As they make music they will sing , “All my fountains are i n you .”

Psalm 86

A prayer of David. 1 Hear me, LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. 2 Guard my life, for I am faithful to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God ; 3 have mercy on me, Lord, for I call to you all day long. 4 Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you. 5 You, Lord, are forgiving and good , abounding in love to all who call to you. 6 Hear my prayer, LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. 7 When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me. 8 Among the gods there is none like you , Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. 9 All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord; they will bring glory to your name. 10 For you are great and do marvelous deeds ; you alone are God. 11 Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness ; give me an undivided heart , that I may fear your name. 12

700 - 718

Listening 700. Raindrops 701. The clock ticking 702. Avonlea's breathing 703. Avonlea's sighs 704. Matt crunching cereal 705. Avonlea swallowing 706.Wind 707. Cats purring 708.Footsteps 709.The turtle trying to escape 710.Rustling pages of Matt's bible Yesterday 711. Friends singing to the Lord 712. A friends real (rather than superficial) words 713. Children laughing 714. Matt's voice 715. My voice - meaning the words I was singing 716. A sweet compliment 717. Blakes silly sounds and his interpretation of them (when I said - English please) 718. His whispers

683 - 699

683. Two very SWEET and ENCOURAGING phone calls regarding my Ugly Beautiful list 684. Having an outlet on "ugly beautiful days" 685. The dirtiness of my house leading me to a very productive day 686. Appreciating clean counters and empty sinks (since they were far from empty all day yesterday) 687. Getting all of Blake's puzzles organized 688. Blake being old enough to discuss the word of God 689. Blake's drawing of the world 690. The boys eating oatmeal 691. Blakes love of puzzles 692. Cole copying Blake 693. Getting bills paid 694. Impromptu evening plans 695. Impromptu evening plans changing 696. Blake - "can we go eat at that house with lots of colors" 697. Family dinner dates at Dos Amigos 698. Boys in sumbreros 699. Me - "Blake, this is a special kind of rice that they eat in a far away land" Blake - "But we don't eat it here"

Post from Tanja

August 19, 2011 GOD STOP! (Savoring His observable presence) God , I thank you for mist! I just saw this walking out into our lawn this morning: Can you see the rays of light through the mist? Like Holy ground. It remind me of that verse in Isaiah 44: 21 ....I have swept away your sins like the morning mists. This was the devotional I read this morning. God confirming His presence in the day. Spurgeon pg.458 "Morning and Evening" "Isacc went out to meditate in the field as the eventide" (Genesis 24:63) If those who spend so many hours in idle company, light reading, and useless pastimes could learn wisdom, they would find more interesting engagements in meditation than in the vanities which now have such charms for them. We would all know more, live nearer to God, and grow deeper in grace . Meditation chews the cud and extracts the real nutrition from the mental food gathered elsewhere (the Word).When Jesus is the theme, meditation is sweet indeed. In the fiel

Psalm 85

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. 1 You, LORD, showed favor to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. 2 You f orgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins . [ b ] 3 You set aside all your wrath and turned from your fierce anger. 4 Restore us again, God our Savior , and put away your displeasure toward us. 5 Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger through all generations? 6 Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? 7 Show us your unfailing love , LORD, and grant us your salvation . 8 I will listen to what God the LORD says; he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants— but let them not turn to folly. 9 Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. 10 Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. 11

Psalm 84

For the director of music. According to gittith. [ b ] Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. 1 How lovely is your dwelling place, LORD Almighty! 2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God . 3 Even the sparrow has found a home , and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young— a place near your altar, LORD Almighty, my King and my God. 4 are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. [ c ] 5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you , whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. 6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. [ d ] 7 They go from s trength to strength , till each appears before God in Zion. 8 Hear my prayer, LORD God Almighty; listen to me, God of Jacob. 9 Look on our shield, [ e ] O God; look with favo

Psalm 83

A song. A psalm of Asaph. 1 O God, do not remain silent; do not turn a deaf ear, do not stand aloof, O God. 2 See how your enemies growl, how your foes rear their heads. 3 With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish. 4 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation, so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.” 5 With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you— 6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites, 7 Byblos, Ammon and Amalek, Philistia, with the people of Tyre. 8 Even Assyria has joined them to reinforce Lot’s descendants. [ b ] 9 Do to them as you did to Midian, as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon, 10 who perished at Endor and became like dung on the ground. 11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, 12 who said, “Let us take possession of the pasturelands of God.” 13 Make them like tum

Psalm 82

A psalm of Asaph. 1 God presides in the great assembly; he renders judgment among the “gods”: 2 “How long will you [ a ] defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? [ b ] 3 Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. 4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. 5 “The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. 6 “I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’ 7 But you will die like mere mortals; you will fall like every other ruler.” 8 Rise up , O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance.

673-682

My entire list this morning is an Ugly Beautiful list. My house is disgusting and I'm having a hard time feeling "blessed"...but I'm going to try. First I am going to write all the things that I find discouraging. Then I am going to go back and come up with something beautiful about it. 673. I can hardly walk across my living room because so many toys were left out 674. All my dishes are blue and covered with wax because one of the boys put a crayon in the dishwasher 675. I can not see the surface of my desk because it is covered with unopened, unpaid bills 676.The boys are up WAY earlier than usual 677. Their is a layer of grime in my toilet 678. My floor is dirty 679. There is no food in my fridge - and barely any in the pantry because I haven't had time to go 680.There are piles of Avonleas "organized" clothes in the hallway that need to be put away in her room shopping 681.I don't feel like writing this list 682.My husband is nagging me abou

Post from Tanja

August 24, 2011 61) Listening to a new Sherri Underwood CD. Great worship. 62) The sound of a guitar 63) The wind today 64) Re-blooming roses. The smell! 65) The clouds today. Whispy lovely clouds. 66) A monarch flying by 67) The colors of tall phlox 68) Kids playing happily on the lawn 69) The changing angle of the light in the kitchen- fall coming! 70) The wonder of airplanes. August 16, 2011 51) flapping butterfly wings 52) large fields to walk in 53) mist in the morning 54) Nathan's face 55) Elizabeth's hair 56) growing lemon seeds 57) growing baby chicks 58) the rising sun 59) butterfly chrysalis;the gold wrapped around the top 60) making bows for elizabeth's hair The butterfly hatched yesterday 8/16/2011 Butterfly birthday party planned for tomorrow when our other hatches Lemon plant sprouts from our fresh squeezed lemonaide! Our chicks hatched last month. Bantam cochins. So pleased with these guys! A chrysalis that should hatch in a few days. Look at those
648. Learning to put God first 649. The peace that God bring despite circumstances 650. Blake's highly expressive faces and manerisms 651. Diaper/Undie only days 652. The boys playing in a mud puddle in their rain boots 653. Avonlea's digestion getting better 654. Getting a tiny bit more creative in the kitchen 655. Blake and Cole interacting with each other more and more 656. Cole's connection with Avonlea 657. A friend motivating me to get things done 658. A friend and I working through challenging situations that stretch us 659. Midnight "chats" 670. Productive late nights 671. Compliments from my husband 672. God changing me a little bit more every day
630. Second chances 631. Matt's Journal 632. Forgiving Spouses 633. Undeserved Blessing 634. Remote Control Trains 635. Inspirational Books 636. Fresh Perspective 637. The happy game 638. The Lord's love 639. Avi's laughter 640. A friends help 641. A friend's growth 642.Successful evenings 643. A daddy's love 644. Blake's communication 645. Dirty Diapers 646. Quit time in a loud room 647. A new day.
613. Life 614. The boys helping me clean 615. Cole "swimming" - Laying down in an inch of water and kicking his feet 616. Avonlea's first pony tail 617. Cole getting into his car seat by himself (and his booster seat too) 618. Getting Avonlea's Clothes organized 619. Last minute change of plans 620. God's perfect timing 621. Giving a friend a Jockey Catalog for his family - and his mom scheduling a party 622. Blake and I discussing God's goodness 623. Playing the happy game with blake 624. Finding things that were lost 625. My monkey wallet/cell phone holder/key chain 626. How much more relaxed I am with my 3rd baby - not to mention how relaxed she is 628. Looking forward to a visit with an old friend 629. Going to a picnic with new friends

603 - 612

603. The way Avonlea stares at me - especially while feeding in a dark room 604. The boys turning their sippy cup lids into trumpets and marching around the house 605. God's goodness 606. God's patience 607. Carpooling 608. Compliments 609. Blake and Cole's reaction to live Horses and Cows - back and forth between scared and excited 610. Our sign shop printer breaking, but Matt being able to fix it 611. Matts dedication and loyalty to everything he does 612. Blake comforting Cole and/or Avonlea when they cry

598 - 602

598. Prayer & fellowship with dear friends 599. Gods plans ALWAYS being bigger than ours 600. Encouraging phone messages 601. Blake coloring in the bathroom while I am in the shower  - just to be near mommy 602. Friends & a God who NEVER give up on me.

Psalm 80

1   Hear us , Shepherd of Israel,    you who  lead  Joseph like a flock. You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,     shine  forth  2  before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Awaken your might;     come  and  save  us.   3   Restore us , O God;    make your face  shine  on us,    that we may be  saved .   4  How long, LORD God Almighty,    will your anger smolder    against the prayers of your people? 5  You have  fed  them with the  bread of tears ;    you have made them  drink tears  by the bowlful. 6  You have made us an object of derision [ b ]  to our neighbors,    and our enemies mock us.   7   Restore  us, God Almighty;    make your face  shine  on us,    that we may be  saved .   8  You  transplanted  a vine from Egypt;    you  drove out  the nations and  planted  it. 9  You  cleared the ground  for it,    and it took root and  filled the land . 10  The mountains were  covered  with its shade,    the mighty cedars with its branches. 11  Its branches  reached  as far as

Photogifts

Post from Tanja

August 1 "Morning & Evening" Charles Spurgeon pg. 431 "Thou crownest the year with thy goodness"Psalm 65:11 God blesses us richly every hour of every day. When we sleep and when we wake, His mercy waits upon us. The sun may leave us a legacy of darkness, but God never ceases to shine upon His children withbeams of love. Like a river, His lovingkindness always flows with a fullness that is as inexhoustible as His own nature. Like the atmosphere which surrounds the earth and supports the life of man, the benevolence ofGod surrounds all His creatures. Rivers are swollen at certain seasons by the rain, and the atmosphere itself is sometimes filled with more fresh, more bracing, or more balmy influences than usual. It is the same with the mercy of God. It has its golden hours and its days of overflowing joy, whenthe Lord magnifies His grace before the sons of men. The psalmist tells us that the harvest is the crownig of the year. Surely these crowning mercies c

Psalm 79

1  O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;    they have defiled your holy temple,    they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble. 2  They have left the dead bodies of your servants    as food for the birds of the sky,    the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild. 3  They have poured out blood like water    all around Jerusalem,    and there is no one to bury the dead. 4  We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,    of scorn and derision to those around us.   5  How long, LORD? Will you be angry forever?    How long will your jealousy burn like fire? 6  Pour out your wrath on the nations    that do not  acknowledge  you, on the kingdoms    that do not  call  on  your name ; 7  for they have devoured Jacob    and devastated his homeland.   8  Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;    may your  mercy  come quickly to meet us,    for we are in desperate need. 9   Help  us, God our Savior,    for the  glory  of your name; deliver  us and  forgive  our